The legal effect of Directives: policy, rules and exceptions

Abstract: This article reconsiders the legal effect of Directives for private parties within Community law. This is a vexed issue that has generated significant academic commentary and much case law. The qualifications and exceptions to the basic proposition that Directives do not have horizontal direct effect continue to grow, thereby rendering this overall area even more complex than it was hitherto. The article seeks to shed light on this topic by subjecting to critical scrutiny the policy underlying the 'core rule' that denies horizontal direct effect to
Directives, and considering whether the judicially created exceptions or qualifications to that policy are consistent with it.

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