From ‘administrative cooperation’ in the application of European Union law to ‘administrative cooperation’ in the protection of European rights and liberties

La cooperazione tra amministrazioni pubbliche è ormai considerata un elemento fondamentale della governance europea. Da una parte, la stessa favorisce la corretta applicazione del diritto europeo a livello nazionale; dall’altra, rappresenta il principio fondante di svariati meccanismi volti a tutelare i cittadini nei confronti di atti illegittimi di amministrazioni nazionali che hanno violato il diritto europeo. In questo senso, nell’ultimo decennio, sono sorte una serie di reti di cooperazione volte a garantire un’alternativa alle Corti nazionali. L’articolo si divide in due sezioni. Nella prima, si tratta del principio di cooperazione amministrativa nell’applicazione del diritto europeo e dei problemi giuridici ad esso collegati, soprattutto in termini di tutela giurisdizionale. Nella seconda parte, vengono analizzate alcune reti di cooperazione per la risoluzione delle controversie: la rete SOLVIT, la Public Procurement Network (in materia di appalti) e la rete europea degli Ombudsmen. In conclusione, viene fatto cenno alla iniziativa della Commissione europea: Single Market Assistance Services initiative.

European law scholars acknowledge that cooperation amongst public administrations in Europe has ‘become the backbone of the EU’s unique system of government and governance’. All in all, it has been pointed out that the principle of (administrative) cooperation is crucial for the correct application of European Union (EU) law. However, cooperation is also the very principle around that revolve several initiatives, launched to provide an alternative to the courts in protecting individuals against alleged misapplications of European law by national authorities. Hence, cooperation networks of national authorities (and European institutions) have been set up to provide a response to the needs of the European citizen who has to deal with a new ‘European administration’ and also to make administrative practices better and more consistent throughout Europe. This article is divided into two main sections.The first section deals with the principle of administrative cooperation in the application of EU law and with the legal problems (especially in terms of judicial review) that stem from ‘cross-border’ composite decision-making procedures. The second section focuses on the cooperation networks that during the last decade have been developed to resolve problems arising when EU rights are not respected by national public authorities: namely the SOLVIT network, the Public Procurement Network and the Network of Ombudsmen. Finally, a brief account is given of the Single Market Assistance Services initiative.