EU Law - Direct Effect

Direct effect allows rights under EU law to be enforced within a domestic court system. Vertical direct effect allows rights to be enforced against an emanation of the state while horizontal direct effect allows rights to be enforced against other individuals or against companies. Direct effect is also conditional on the type of EU law that is being enforced. Treaties are a form of primary legislation and have vertical and horizontal direct effect so long as the relevant treaty article matches the conditions set out in Van Gend en Loos (1963): Clear and unconditional Prohibition Not dependent on member state implementation Regulations are directly applicable and as such also have vertical and horizontal direct effect. Directives, in principle, only have vertical direct effect because they are an obligation for member states to implement them. Even then they can only be enforced when they grant rights to individuals (Defrenne v SABENA (No. 2) (1979)) and the time limit for implementation has passed (Pubblico Ministero v Ratti (1979)). However there is a way that directives can have horizontal direct effect and this is known as indirect effect. This works because the courts themselves can be considered as emanations of the state and so in their judgments have to enforce EU law between individuals. This concept first arose in Von Colson v Land Nordrhein-Westfalen (1984) and was applied in the UK through Lister v Forth Dry Dock [1989]. An emanation of the state was defined in Foster v British Gas plc [1990] as a body that: Provides a public service Under the control of the state Has special powers beyond those of individuals