How Does the European Court of Justice Treat Precedents in Its Case Law? Cartesio and Damseaux from a Different Perspective: Part I

This article discusses the Cartesio Oktató és Szolgáltató Bt (hereinafter ‘Cartesio’) case, the latest decision of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) on the issue of transfer of seat of companies within the European Union (EU). The analysis of the case is placed to a more general framework, namely the treatment of previous case law by the ECJ, as the Cartesio case follows a controversial line of cases on the freedom of establishment of companies which it was expected to either clarify and confirm or overrule. Thus, the article’s main focus is on how the ECJ dealt with Cartesio in relation to previous case law. In addition, it also compares the ECJ’s approach with that of the Advocate General and it examines the consequences of the case to the right of establishment of EU companies.