Abstract
Th is book is a result of a common project of the Centre for Comparative Law of Charles University in Prague and the Institute for Austrian and European Public Law of Vienna University of Economics and Business, with the support of the Oxford based foundation Europaeum. The objective of the book is to inquire into the phenomenon of eff et utile.
Emerging as an interpretative technique in the practice of French courts, effet utile soon made its way into the working methods of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). In this new setting, paired with a teleological method of interpretation, it became a powerful tool for increasing the impact of the fragmented European Union law.
Since then, eff et utile has permeated many areas of law, ranging from constitutional and administrative to competition and corporate law. Many EU Member States' courts adopted eff et utile into their methodological arsenal.
It can be argued that eff et utile has became a sort of a value on its own right, undergoing a transformation from a mere interpretative tool to a general principle of law. The authors trace the origins of eff et utile into French law and follow its development in specific areas of EU law and practices of the Member States.
In particular, they look critically into the practice of the Court of Justice that seems too often to call for effet utile when lacking more general guidelines. Ultimately, the authors - scholars and practitioners - ask what the essence of eff et utile is, how it should be applied and what its relation to other techniques and principles is.