The transfer to the General Court of part of the jurisdiction to give preliminary rulings

In A.U.B.D. – Legal Forum No. 1/2026, a speech was published by Associate Professor Mirela Stancu, Ph.D., a judge at the Tribunal, entitled “The Transfer to the General Court of Part of the Jurisdiction to Issue Preliminary Rulings,” on the occasion of the events marking the conferral of an honorary doctorate upon Professor Koen Lenaerts, Ph.D., President of the Court of Justice of the European Union, held at the Faculty of Law of the University of Bucharest on March 27, 2026.

The speech highlights the fact that, following the 2024 amendment to the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union, jurisdiction over preliminary rulings in six specific areas was transferred to the General Court: the common system of value-added tax, excise duties, the Customs Code, the tariff classification of goods in the Combined Nomenclature, compensation and assistance for passengers in the event of denied boarding, delays, or cancellations of transport services, and the greenhouse gas emissions trading scheme.

To address this new type of case, the General Court has revised its Rules of Procedure, created a dedicated registry, established two specialized chambers, and appointed three Advocates General to assist the specialized chambers. In accordance with the “one-stop shop” principle, the Court of Justice first determines whether a case falls exclusively within the transferred areas and, if so, refers it to the General Court. The case is then assigned on a rotating basis to a reporting judge from one of the two specialized chambers, the parties are notified, and the proceedings are opened for written observations.

Between November 2024 and April 2026, 123 applications were filed with the one-stop shop, of which 101 were transferred. The Court issued its first ruling on preliminary questions on July 9, 2025, and by April 2026, it had issued 17 rulings, including two in which the questions were referred by courts in Romania.

Keywords: transfer of authority, preliminary questions, VAT, excise taxes, Customs Code, tariff classification, passenger compensation, trading in greenhouse gas emission allowances.