Statement of the President of the Italian Council of State on the occasion of the assumption of the presidency of ACA-Europe
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​​​​​​​Leipzig 31 May 2021

Dear President, dear colleagues,

Today the General Assembly entrusts the Presidency of our Association to the Italian Council of State for the next two years.

Before outlining the main elements of our presidency, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the German presidency.

President Rennert and his staff have been able to identify, and develop, a number of very interesting topics that Italy will certainly carry on during its mandate.

In the numerous and well organized Seminars under the German presidency, we have learned a great deal through sharing experiences in relation to various topics of mutual interest.

But, this is not all. The organization and finances of ACA are in excellent shape, and Germany has launched a much–needed reform of the 2000 Aca’ Statutes which, in the meantime, have become obsolete. A“thankless task” indeed, but at the same time necessary in order to guarantee the smooth functioning of our Association.

To summarize, the outcome of these three years is truly remarkable! Congratulations to Klaus – and many thanks to you and your team, from all of us.

Of course, these results were also achieved thanks to the ever effective and constant support of the Brussels General Secretariat, with Geert Debersaques and his staff, namely Veerle Vertongen, Joris Casneuf and Katty Luvau. A warm applause also to them!

The Italian presidency will focus, as you already know, on the so-called horizontal dialogue among Supreme Administrative Courts. What Germany initiated, and Italy, from today onwards, will carry forward, will be to verify, in a historical, comparative, supranational perspective, the possibility of developing a homogeneous judicial review of public power, within European legal space. From a different point of view, the aim would be to achieve a common standard of legal protection of individuals and enterprises by European administrative Courts, covering also non-harmonised areas. An effective European citizenship requires common standards of legal protection by Courts in the European legal space. In order to reach this goal, with a view to fostering and enhancing an effective common judicial culture, two key aspects will be pursued during the presidency of the Italian Consiglio di Stato.

I refer, first of all, to the judges’ exchange programme, according the strong conviction that this is one of the most fruitful parts of Aca- Europe’s activity. Linked to this, as part of our transversal analysis project, we aim to produce a glossary of legal terms accepted by all members of the ACA-Europe.

Secondly, in line with the German Presidency, we would continue to strengthen and improve - where possible - the Jurifast platform, which collects the main decisions of national Supreme Administrative Courts; the platform has proved to be particularly effective during the pandemic, by providing a useful tool to exchange these Supreme Courts experiences in these times.

Dear colleagues,

The Italian presidency programme will work as follows. It is subdivided in a total of six seminars, three of which will be held in Italy and the others respectively in Paris, Madrid and Riga.

For the location of the first seminar, now scheduled for the 3rd of October 2021, we have selected a symbolic place, full of meaning for the history of the European Union: the European University Institute, situated in Fiesole, not far from Florence.

I would thank you all for replying our questionnaire “Law, Courts and guidelines for the public administration”. Thanks to the replies we received, it has been possible to draft a stimulating general report which analyses, in depth, the conforming effect of the decisions of the Supreme Courts, in relation both to the decided case, as well as to the elaboration of principles and/or guidelines that may direct the future activity of public bodies.

I do not want to anticipate anything else, but I am confident that the General Report will be the basis for stimulating and fruitful panels. In the next month, we are planning to send letters to set up the four panels envisaged for Fiesole.

Our colleagues of French Conseil d’Etat will then invite us to Paris in December 2021. The topic chosen is “Disputes concerning acts by regulatory authorities”. We believe that this topic could serve as an excellent example of how the Courts exercise control over such acts, which are characterized by a high level of technical discretion, analysing which tools are provided by the national laws and how these tools are used by judges.

The first General Assembly will take place in Rome, at the Council of State, in May 2022. The topic we will propose is “Judicial techniques for citizens and companies protection towards the public administration: actions and remedies”, namely the types of actions that can be brought before the administrative judge: action of annulment of administrative acts; action of ascertainment; as well as action of condemnation to pay sums of money or to compensate damages caused by the unlawful action of the public administration.

Then, it will the time of the Seminar organized by our Spanish friends in Madrid (October 2022). Initially, their Seminar “The general principles of law in the resolution of disputes by contentious-administrative jurisdiction” was scheduled for March 2022.

However, with the bringing forward of the French Seminar to December 2021, and the first General Assembly and Colloquium in May 2022, it has been agreed with the new Presidente de la Sala de lo Contencioso –Administrativo del Tribunal Supremo de España, D. Cesar Tolosa Tribiño, that it would be better to avoid an overlap of engagements in the first semester of 2022 and a vacuum in the second part of the year. Thus, we decided to postpone the Spanish seminar to October 2022.

This seminar will focus on the modalities through which judges apply the general clauses (proportionality, reasonability, rationality, fairness, logic, non-contradiction, “bona fides”, etc.,) for the resolution of disputes between individuals and public administrations, especially in non-harmonised sectors, such as urban planning and construction, cultural heritage, commerce and public services, etc…

The last General Assembly and Colloquium will take place in Naples in May 2023, the city where I was born; perhaps one of the most fascinating city of Europe, but plenty of contradictions. The Neapolitan location, also for this reason, has been chosen to discuss the issues of “Public services to individuals and social rights”. Indeed, in this seminar the perspective should be to start from the point of view of citizens. It will focus on social services and on the related right of individuals to receive efficient administrative services (i.e. non-economic public services) in non-harmonized sectors, such as health, education, public housing, etc….

Following the excellent model of the German presidency, we have decided to propose to hold the last Seminar of our Presidency in a country of Northern Europe (Latvia). The Chief Justice Mr Ivars Bickovics replied positively. The time scheduled would be approximately June 2023 and the topic “The inactivity of public administrations: judicial remedies”. Given the obligation of the public administration to issue a decision within a given deadline, set by law, the seminar aims at examining all the issues related to the inertia of the public administration, in relation to applications provided to individuals or enterprises.

Considering the complete frame of seminars, I sincerely hope that, after two years of work, they will provide us with a broad picture of how European Courts can ensure the values of European citizenship and the single market “in action” throughout all our Countries.

To conclude:

​​​​​​​Cher Klaus, Chers collègues

Je voudrais souligner le fait que tous les pays invités à collaborer sous notre présidence l’ont accepté avec enthousiasme, et j'ai le plaisir de remercier chaleureusement tous les représentants des Cours susmentionnées qui accompagneront le Conseil d'État italien tout au long de ce voyage de deux ans. Nous resterons également en contact régulier avec la Commission européenne qui, loin d’être uniquement notre principal et généreux sponsor financier, montre un intérêt croissant pour les questions liées à l’État de droit en Europe. Je voudrais également souhaiter chaleureusement la bienvenue à la Cour administrative suprême finlandaise, qui assure aujourd'hui la vice-présidence d'Aca-Europe. Monsieur le Président Kuusiniemi, bienvenue à bord!

(I would like to underline the fact that all countries we have involved in our presidency have accepted enthusiastically, and it is my pleasure to warmly thank all the Representatives of the aforementioned Courts who will accompany the Italian Council of State along this two-year journey. We will also stay in close touch with the European Commission which, far from being only our main financial generous sponsor, is also showing a growing interest in issues related to the Rule of law in Europe. I would also like to extend a warm welcome to the Finnish Supreme Administrative Court, which today takes over the Vice-Presidency of Aca-Europe. Mr. President Kuusiniemi, welcome on board !)

I am already looking forward to seeing you again in Fiesole in October, hopefully in presence, looking at the future of our Association (and our lives) with a renewed optimism.

Thank you!