Towards a New Chapter of the Taricco Saga

Recently, the conflict between the Italian Constitutional Court (ICC) and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in the so-called Taricco Saga came to an end. In fact, the dialogue between the courts, which began in 2015 after the decision of the Grand Chamber of the ECJ in the Taricco case and was followed by the dispute between the ICC and the ECJ in the M.A.S. case, was finally concluded by the ICC. At first glance, peace seems to have been preserved. Nevertheless, a definite end to the Taricco conflict is not yet in sight. On the one hand, the ECJ did not make a turnaround on both the principle of primacy of EU Law and the general admissibility of the Taricco rule. On the other hand, even the ICC was equally uncompromising in its final decision by refusing any national implementation of the Taricco rule. Therefore, the national judgment defuses the Taricco bomb only at first sight, still holding enough ammunition for a new conflict regarding the Taricco rule. Beyond the individual national case of Taricco, however, fundamental issues regarding the separation of powers remain. Therefore, in the not too distant future, new chapters of the Taricco Saga will probably have to be added.