Jurisdiction(s):
European Union

Challenging EU Directives: Annulment, Preliminary References and Plea of Illegality (TFEU 263, 267, 277): Admissibility, Standing, Grounds, Interim Relief and Appeals

Published by a LexisNexis EU Law expert

Practice notes

In brief

Settled case law makes clear that only the Court of Justice of the European Union has authority to declare an EU act invalid. Under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), the validity of an EU Directive can be contested in several ways:

by filing a direct action for annulment before the Court of Justice under Article 263 TFEU;
by challenging the Directive’s validity indirectly in proceedings before a national court. Such proceedings are aimed at the national measures used to transpose the Directive, and the national court may request the Court of Justice to examine the Directive’s validity via the preliminary reference route in Article 267 TFEU;
by invoking a collateral challenge under Article 277 TFEU (plea of illegality) attached to a principal direct action brought under Article 263 TFEU.

Direct action for annulment

Cases brought under Article 263 TFEU must satisfy both admissibility conditions and the substantive grounds for annulment...

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Darren Harvey

King’s College London

Dr Darren Harvey is a Senior Lecturer in Law and Director of Undergraduate Studies at The Dickson Poon School of Law, King’s College London. Prior to joining King’s, Dr Harvey was an Early Career Fellow in EU law at Edinburgh Law School. He wrote his doctoral thesis on constitutional review by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) at the University of Cambridge. Before writing his thesis, Darren worked as a research assistant to Prof. Thomas Giegerich at the Jean Monnet Chair of European Union Law and European Integration. Darren holds a Master of Laws (LLM) degree in European Law from the Europa Institut at Saarland University, and an LLB (Hons) from Edinburgh Law School. Darren has published widely on many different areas of EU law. He has taught a wide range of EU law and Public Law courses at both...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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