ECJ Kick them while they’re down

The UK government is leading the charge against the European Court of Justice. It wants to take away the retrospective effect of ECJ judgements, according to the Financial Times. The immediate goal is to save the Inland Revenue a few billion on tax refunds. But the ultimate goal is more ambitious – to curb the Court’s federalist tendencies. The principle of this debate is simple. Since the advent of the single market in 1992, the ECJ has consistently ruled that national tax calculations should n...