EU soft law typically serves as an interpretative tool helping with enforcement of EU hard law, especially when hard law provisions are indeterminate or open-textured. The power of soft law making brings with it the risk that an EU institution issues a soft law act going beyond the binding provisions that it is intended to interpret. In such a scenario, the soft law act does not ensure the enforcement of EU hard law, but rather sets new rules, which may be considered as circumventing the legislative process. This is just one of the reasons, why it seems vital to make EU soft law acts subject to judicial review by the CJEU.
Author: Pavlína Hubková
Pavlína Hubková joined the DTU REMS II in March 2019. She studied law and international economic relations in Prague and completed a research LL.M. programme at the European University Institute in Florence. She worked in a law firm, at the administrative court in Prague and at the Court of Justice of the EU. She is qualified to perform the duties of a judge in the Czech Republic. Her research interests include various aspects of EU law, administrative law, competition law and regulatory issues, global administrative law, judiciary, and the intersection of law and economics. Her current research, under the supervision of Prof. Joana Mendes, focuses on judicial use of soft law.