H v. Council: Strengthening the Rule of Law in the Sphere of the CFSP, One Step at a Time

In its judgment in the case of H v. Council et al., the Grand Chamber recognised the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union to assess the validity under EU law of a decision by the Chief of Personnel of the European Union Police Mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina (EUPM) to redeploy an Italian magistrate, seconded to the EUPM in Sarajevo, to the post of Criminal Justice Adviser in another location in that country. The question was salient in light of the jurisdictional carve-out in the sphere of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) provided for in Art. 24, para. 1, TEU and Art. 275 TFEU. Before the Court, the parties had advanced diverging interpretations of these provisions aimed at recognising or ruling out the Court's jurisdiction. The Court took an alternative path, relying on Art. 270 TFEU on jurisdiction over staff management disputes to confirm its jurisdiction in the case at bar. This Insight contextualises the Court's ruling by pointing to the deficiencies in the system of judicial protection in the sphere of the CFSP. In addition, it argues in favour of a broad reading of the exceptions to the exclusion of the Court's jurisdiction in the sphere of the CFSP. In support of this argument, the Insight assesses the arguments in this direction advanced by the appellant and the European Commission.