Sofia Castelli

BBA-E
Costa v. ENEL (Case 6/64)
In 1962, the Italian Republic nationalized the production and distribution of electric energy and founded
ENEL (Ente Nazionale Energia Elettrica). Mr. Costa was an Italian lawyer and shareholder of Edison Volta, the
departed stock corporation that was significantly affected by the ENEL nationalization. After this, Costa shares
were expropriated, and due to this he was opposed to nationalization. He claimed that he was not duty-bound to
pay the electricity bill of 1,925 lire that was sent to him (0.99 € in 1964). Costa then brought his case to the Justice
of the Peace of Milan who referred the case to the European Court of Justice, demanding whether the Italian law
had violated several articles of the European Economic Community Treaty (EEC) regarding nationalization and
asked to apply Article-177 of the Treaty to obtain an interpretation on those articles. The main legal problem
concerned the question whether it was Court’s task to arbitrate on the Italian law providing the nationalization. In
1964, the Italian Constitution Court gave judgement that it was to apply “lex-posterior derogate legi
anteriori/priori”- therefore, the Treaty which had been incorporated in 1958 could not prevail over the Law
No.1643 concerning nationalization which was established in 1962.
The article 177 of EEC Treaty states that “the Court of Justice shall have jurisdiction to give preliminary
ruling concerning (a)the interpretation of this Treaty […] Where such a question is raised before any court […]
of a Member State, that court may […] request the Court of Justice to give a ruling thereon”. According to the
article, Costa should have the right to refer the case to the ECJ in order to obtain an interpretation on the Treaty.
According to Italy, the ECJ had no jurisdiction and therefore stated that the referred queries were
“absolutely inadmissible”. They believed that the Justice of the Peace should only exercise Italian law and not
even take in consideration the EEC Law. The ECJ answered to Italy’s objection saying that it was a query of
national constitutional law whether the nationalization breached Community law or not. After the ruling, in the
name of Community law, the Court created the doctrine of supremacy: “the EEC Treaty has created its own legal
system which […] became an integral part of the legal systems of the Member States and which their courts are
bound to apply”, therefore it was admissible that the Justice of the Peace referred the case to the Court in order to
verify its accuracy of the Community law. Moreover, the Court declared that the Member States which are part of
the Treaty “have limited their sovereign rights […] and have thus created a body of law which binds both their
nationals and themselves” meaning that after the Treaty’s establishment, the States lost the power to unilaterally
create laws which could go against the regulation settled by the European Treaties.
The Costa v. ENEL Case has established the priority of EEC law over national law. Through this case the
supremacy doctrine was created, meaning that the Member States have limited powers and that the superior body
represents them with the power to make the final decisions. Thanks to the Court’s ruling the role of the Court of
Justice in Treaty interpretation was confirmed; Costa v. ENEL was the case that turned the ECJ into a definitely
political player and the promoter of the European integration. Following the introduction of the direct effect
principle (case Van Gend&Loos), Costa was able to appeal to a European provision before a national court.

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 Works Cited

Costa v. ENEL - Judgment of 15.7.1964- case 6/64 - http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-

content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:61964CJ0006&from=EN

Mangold, A. “Costa v ENEL (1964) On the Importance of Contemporary Legal History.” Academia.edu - Share Research,
www.academia.edu/454331/Costa_v_ENEL_1964_On_the_Importance_of_Contemporary_Legal_History

“Treaty Provisions.” Competition Provisions after the Lisbon Treaty – European Commission,
ec.europa.eu/competition/information/treaty.html.

EUR-Lex Access to European Union Law. EUR-Lex - l14547 - EN - EUR-Lex, eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-

content/EN/TXT/?uri=LEGISSUM%3Al14547