Direct Effect in EU Law

Debating the lights and shadows of direct effect, today

The seminar aims at offering an innovative understanding of direct effect in EU law from historical, theoretical, doctrinal, and practical perspectives. It will attempt to revisit the past, present, and future of this revolutionary and transformative principle. The idea underpinning the seminar builds upon the OUP book (EU Law Library Series, 2025) authored by Professor Gallo, whereby it is asserted that the evolution of direct effect, as both a legal and political construct, has not been properly articulated by the CJEU and that, for this reason, direct effect lacks nowadays a clear legal framing as to its core components and consequences. Gallo seeks thus to reconstruct direct effect beyond the Van Gend & Loos doctrine and will ultimately submit possible solutions for its appropriate comprehension and enforcement.

Professor Daniele GalloProfessor of EU Law and Co-Director of the LLM in EU Law and Policies at Luiss University (Rome)

Daniele Gallo is Full Professor of EU Law and Co-Director of the LLM in EU Law and Policies at Luiss University (Rome), where he held a JM Chair and was the Deputy-Provost for the European Alliance ENGAGE.EU. He has been recurring visiting professor in several universities, such as Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris), Sciences Po Aix (Aix-en-Provence) and the School of Law of American University (Washington DC). Previously, he has been EU Fulbright Schuman Scholar at Fordham Law School (New York), DAAD Fellow at the Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht (Heidelberg), and Jean Monnet Fellow at the EUI (Florence). He is the author of four monographs, including Direct Effect in EU Law (OUP, 2025). He regularly pleads before the CJEU and the European Commission.

Discussant

Andrea Biondi, Professor of European Union Law and the Advocate General for Italy at the Court of Justice of the European Union General

Professor Andrea Biondi is a distinguished legal scholar and practitioner, currently serving as the Advocate General for Italy at the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).

He also continues to hold his longstanding position of Professor of European Union Law and Director of the Centre of European Law at King’s College London. Professor Biondi is widely published and sits on the advisory boards of several leading legal journals. His research focuses on European Union law, particularly state aid, trade regulation, and judicial protection of EU rights. Previously, he has served as Vice Chair of the Board of Appeal of the EU Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER).

Following this event will be a free drinks reception. Please do join us.

To keep updated with the Centre of European Law's latest events you can subscribe to their mailing list which can be found here.