On 1 September 2024, following the reform of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the EU (→ eucrim 1/2024, 16), amendments to the respective Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice and of the General Court entered into force. The amendments modernise and simplify the procedures before the two courts. In particular, the provisions lay down new rules enabling the transfer of part of the jurisdiction to hand over preliminary rulings from the Court of Justice to the General Court. The provisions have been applicable since 1 October 2024.

Jurisdiction is given to the General Court of the EU in the following six specific areas:

1. The common system of value added tax;
2. Excise duties;
3. The customs code;
4. The tariff classification of goods under the combined nomenclature;
5. Compensation and assistance to passengers in the event of denied boarding or delay or cancellation of transport services;
6. The system for greenhouse gas emission allowance trading.

The amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice lay down detailed rules for the initial processing of requests for a preliminary ruling submitted to the Court of Justice in order to determine which court has jurisdiction to deal with them. In addition, new provisions ensure that requests for a preliminary ruling - which the General Court refers to the Court of Justice on the ground that they require a decision of principle likely to affect the unity or consistency of Union law - are dealt with swiftly. The amendments also lay down detailed rules for written observations submitted by interested persons in preliminary ruling cases that will be the subject of a decision from 1 September 2024, unless such person objects, and specifies online publication within a reasonable time after the closing of the case. In this regard, the new "Practice Directions to parties concerning cases brought before the Court of Justice" provide details on how to raise such objections. Further to the new rules on preliminary rulings, the amended Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice now also include the following:

• The possibility, for the parties or their representatives, to make oral submissions by means of videoconference, in compliance with the legal and technical requirements laid down in the Practice Directions to Parties;
• Clarified rules on the protection of personal data and on the methods of lodging/service of procedural documents;
• A new provision setting out the arrangements for the broadcasting of hearings and for the delivery of judgments and opinions before the Court of Justice.

The amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the General Court first concern certain aspects of the structure and organisation of the General Court:

• They provide for the creation of an Intermediate Chamber between chambers of five judges and the Grand Chamber sitting with fifteen judges. The Intermediate Chamber is composed of nine judges and presided over by the Vice-President of the General Court.
• Requests for a preliminary ruling are assigned to chambers (sitting with five judges) with particular responsibility for hearing and determining these cases without prejudice to the possibility of referring them to another court formation, depending on the difficulty and importance of the case.
• Judges called upon to perform the duties of an Advocate General in preliminary ruling cases and those called upon to replace them if they are prevented from acting are elected by the General Court. They assist the court formation responsible in all preliminary ruling cases, mirroring the participation of Advocates General in proceedings before the Court of Justice.

Secondly, the new rules lay down the procedures under which requests for a preliminary ruling transmitted by the Court of Justice are dealt with by the General Court. To provide the same safeguards as those applied by the Court of Justice, the General Court has largely reproduced the relevant provisions of the Rules of Procedure of the Court of Justice.

Additionally, further amendments to the Rules of Procedure of the General Court include the following:

• Removal of registry charges for extracts from the register of the Registry, copies of procedural documents, and authenticated copies of orders and judgments;
• Modernisation of the rules concerning the methods of lodging/service of procedural documents;
• Possibility to proceed via simple decision in order to take procedural measures, which hitherto required the adoption of an order (reopening of oral part and joinder of cases in the absence of a request for confidential treatment);
• Limitation period for lodging a modification of the application where the annulment of a measure is sought or it is replaced or amended by another measure with the same subject matter;
• Possibility of a direct measure of inquiry requesting information or the production of material without prior adoption of a measure of organisation of procedure;
• Clarification and streamlining of the rules on assignment to a court formation regarding ancillary claims (rectification, failure to adjudicate, setting aside judgments by default, third-party proceedings, interpretation, revision, dispute on costs);
• Broadcasting of hearings before the General Court, which will be possible only after the entry into force of an implementing decision.

Lastly, the new Rules of Procedures are accompanied by new Practice Rules of the General Court that explain and detail the provisions of the Rules of Procedure of the General Court as regards, inter alia, the handling of preliminary ruling requests before the General Court, the protection of personal data, the confidential treatment of certain data in direct actions, the submission of procedural documents and their annexes, and participation in hearings, including per videoconference.