Intervention of Pauline Dubarry in the European Court of Justice
Today, Thursday 25th of April 2024, the sixth edition of Euromad has officially started, and with it, the newest addition to it: the European Court of Justice.
To get the debates going, Pauline Dubarry, a prosecutor who have worked for the french permanent representation of the EU, made a significative intervention and contribution to the debates. Knowing the true inner workings of the European Court of Justice, she cleared various points in order for the debates to be as realistic as possible. The European Court of Justice being a new addition to Euromad, nobody knew what to expect, and her contribution helped many delegates reaffirm their positions and learn about the reality of the EU and the Court of Justice.
During her intervention, she explained the workings of the Court of Justice: thus, she noted the difference between the European Union and the Council of Europe, two different institutions that are nevertheless often mistaken and that have very different origins. She also explained the effectiveness and weight of the Court of Justice in the rest of the EU institutions, specifying that it has no political weight, and reminding us that the actors are judges supposed to ensure a consistent interpretation, application and implementation of EU law and treaties in all the 27 member states, and not politicians defending their country’s own interests. Finally, she recalled the limits of the Court of Justice and of the EU.
In an interview, she expressed her personal attachment to this project, stating that we are “working on a topic in which I worked a lot and that I’m very much interested in”. It was her passion for European negotiations and the initiative of Euromad, being able to see students participating in such negotiations, that attracted her and motivated her to assist to today’s debates: “I loved doing European negotiations. I think you can have a lot of fun negotiating, even when you’re negotiating difficult topics, and it’s a very rich human experience. So I was happy to share this and see how you would deal with such negotiations.”
She finally concluded with a very optimistic message, stating how impressed she was with “the level of the pupils and the level of preparation” and expressing her interest in seeing the debates within the commissions evolve.
Hannah Kim Rosales