The Public and Private Sides of Harmonized Standards:James Elliott Construction v. Irish Asphalt

Abstract

AbstractInJames Elliott v. Irish Asphalt, the Court of Justice of the Union addresses the interplay between the EU legal order and harmonized standards—i.e. non-binding technical specifications for products drafted by private bodies upon request of the Commission. The judgment offers interesting insights from the public law and the private law points of view. This Article touches upon both aspects. First, it considers that the Court extends its jurisdiction over harmonized standards under Article 267 TFEU, thus paving the way for a deeper intersection between European judiciary and technical standardization. Second, the paper highlights the Court's understanding of the interplay between harmonized standards and national private law. In this latter regard, it is argued that a rigid separation between technical standards and legal provisions might be excessively formalistic considering the use of technical standards in practice.