On May 3rd, 2002 the Court of First Instance (CFI) issued its ruling in the case Jégo-Quéré. According to its press release published at the same day, the CFI had undergone the task to “redefine the rules governing individual access to the Community courts” recognizing, thus, “the need to ensure effective protection of legal rights for European citizens and businesses.”

In January 1999 German Foreign Minister J. Fischer called for a debate on the creation of a constitution for the European Union. Since then, many German politicians have exposed their vision of the future of Europe and its constitution. However, even one year later, the matter appeared still to be a ‘German concern’ only.

On 25 July 2002, the Court rejected the proposals of AG Jacobs and the CFI to reconsider its traditional case law on private applicants’ standing to challenge generally applicable EC acts according to Article 230 para. 4 EC. This rejection hardly came as a surprise. However, the Court's motivation for the ‘restauration’ of its traditional approach is interesting. In substance, the Court held that the Member States are responsible for both the existence and the elimination of lacunae in the EC system of judicial remedies.