The impact of the European Court of Justice on the principle of proportionality

Abstract

One of the most important principles of EU administrative law is that of proportionality. The principle of proportionality is defined in Article 5 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU), but the legal concept has been recognised by the European Court of Justice since the 1950s as one of the general principles of EU law. Proportionality regulates the exercise of authority in terms of adjudicating whether the actions undertaken by EU institutions are within set limits. According to this rule, the action of institutions should be limited to that which is necessary to achieve the objectives of the treaties. In other words, the degree of action by the institutions must be in line with the goal being pursued. This article starts with an analysis of the meaning of proportionality, drawn from the approaches in practice of EU judges, and proceeds to an examination of the three types of issues that can be detected from their judgments: cases involving discretionary political choice, or which are of a social, political or economic nature; those related to the violation of rights under EU law; and those involving a disproportionate fine or imposition.