Jurisdiction(s):
European Union

Direct effect of EU law: vertical and horizontal scope, criteria, sources, emanations of the State, incidental and general‑principle horizontal effect, key case law; state liability and UK Withdrawal Agreement

Published by a LexisNexis EU Law expert

Practice notes

What is direct effect of EU law?

The doctrine of direct effect is a central principle of EU law fashioned by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in Van Gend en Loos. It provides a route for individuals to rely on EU law to assert rights in the courts of Member States—a remedy where EU obligations are not upheld. In Van Gend en Loos, the relevant EU rule was a Treaty article, i.e. primary law. The transport company Van Gend & Loos had brought goods from Germany into the Netherlands and was required to pay customs duties it regarded as contrary to Article 12 of the EEC Treaty (now Article 30 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU)), which bars increases in customs duties in trade between Member States. The preliminary reference addressed the incompatibility between national law and the Treaty provisions. The Court of Justice responded to the Netherlands court by formulating the principle of direct effect, thereby granting the company a direct safeguard of its rights under Community law before the national court. The court said that: ‘...the Community constitutes...

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Laura Bolado

Laura worked in EU law for over two decades making it one her main area of expertise. In 2002 she worked for the European Commission (Brussels) and relocated to London in 2003 to work for the European Medicines Agency. There she gained first-hand experience on the functioning of the EU which she later applied in legal roles at pharmaceutical companies and law firms before turning to a more generalist approach to EU law at LexisNexis. At LexisNexis she helped develop and maintain EU Tracker (writing on the implementation of EU Directives in different EU jurisdictions, etc.) and assisted various departments with EU law matters in her EU Law Specialist capacity. Laura also delivered EU law training to several interns and legal professionals. Laura left LexisNexis in late 2013 to explore her options in different environments. In 2014 Laura lectured EU law at...

Web page updated on 21/05/2026

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