Every now and again, the idea pops up that the EU Institutions should be liable in damages for their legislative activities on a no fault basis. The Court of Justice handed down two judgments in October 2014 one of which expressly deals with that issue. The judgments in Case C-611/12 P Giordano v Commission, EU:C:2014:2282, and in Joined Cases C-12/13 P and C-13/13 P Buono and others v Commission, EU:C:2014:2284, are interesting not just for that reason but because they address several issues:

• Whether the EU institutions could be liable to pay damages because of measures they had adopted that were legal and thus be liable without fault;
• Whether the fishing ban could result in “actual and certain” harm;
• Whether a judgment of the Court of Justice constituted a new element of law, and
• Whether the oral proceedings should be reopened after the Advocate general had delivered his opinion.

Let’s look at each of those aspects of the case in turn. But first, here’s what happened. Continue reading →