The Swedish courts, just as national courts in other member states, are these days integrated into a European legal and judicial system comprising the whole of the EU. Of core importance for the application and impact of EU law within the Swedish legal system, is the practice of requesting preliminary rulings from the EU Court of Justice. Today, it is more common for Swedish courts to request preliminary rulings, but the statistics suggests that there still exists a significant restrictiveness.

In the SIEPS report Preliminary Rulings by the Court of Justice – The Attitude and Practice of the Swedish Courts, Ulf Bernitz, Professor of European Law, argues that this restrictiveness might function to the detriment of the legal security of the parties in cases involving EU law.

The report is in Swedish, with a summary in English.

Download available here.