Giacinto della Cananea (University of Rome Tor Vergata – Law Department) has posted A Law on EU Administrative Procedures: Implications for National Legal Orders on SSRN. Here is the abstract:
Proposals of a general law on EU administrative procedure are debated in academic circles and in official meetings. After explaining why administrative procedures are not only legally important, but also increasingly important, this chapter briefly summarizes the main arguments in favor and against a codification of the administrative procedures of the EU. Next, the chapter analyzes the scope of application of recent proposals and focuses on their impact on national systems of administrative law. Three intended consequences are considered: a) the exclusion of a legislative framework which works as a lex generali also for national authorities; b) the favor for a lex specialis; c) national authorities’ use of EU rules as guidance However, the chapter argues that these intended consequences are not the only possible consequences. Indeed, any proposed general act can produce legal effects if a national piece of legislation makes a renvoi to it. Its contents can also be used in the interpretation of the general principles of EU law, especially if the courts follow the canon of constitutional interpretation that maximizes the importance of such principles and, more generally, of EU law.