DELI Hosts Advocate General Andrea Biondi for Annual Lecture on ECJ Case Law after Brexit
The event opened with remarks from Dr. Tanya Ní Mhuirthile, Head of the School of Law and Government at DCU, and Prof. Federico Fabbrini, Founding Director of DELI and the DCU Brexit Institute, who framed the court’s evolving role in a post-Brexit world.
Delivering the keynote lecture, Prof. Andrea Biondi, Advocate General at the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and Director of the Centre of European Law at King’s College London, provided a wide-ranging analysis of how ECJ jurisprudence continues to shape legal issues between the EU and UK despite the formal end of membership.
“Things have changed. One of the cornerstones of European law is mutual trust between Member States — now gone between the UK and the EU, and that loss is showing in the courts,” Biondi observed, reflecting on key recent cases that reveal new legal and procedural boundaries.
While noting the absence of the UK from structures like the EEA or Schengen, Biondi emphasized that the relationship is far from conventional:
“The UK may no longer be a Member State, but it's not just any third country either. A distinct level of trust must still underpin the EU–UK relationship.”
He also pointed to the enduring importance of legal dialogue in certain sectors, despite the limits of ECJ jurisdiction:
“Even as jurisdiction recedes, the dialogue will hopefully continue. If you take the energy sector, it’s an area where the TCA still has strong potential for collaboration.”
The lecture provided a timely reminder that Brexit has not severed legal ties entirely and that the ECJ remains a vital reference point in defining the complex EU–UK dynamic moving forward.
