Thread by @Raphael_Hogarth

Heard the government saying there's only a very small number of UK references to the ECJ on citizens' rights? You're going to be hearing a lot of this. Here's the UK's relationship with the European Court, in CHARTS, from @instituteforgov

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The UK is taken before the ECJ less often than other member states that joined the EU at a similar time.
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This is partly because we tend to resolve our cases earlier than other member states – once the European Commission sends a “letter of formal notice” saying it’s not happy, Whitehall kicks into gear to sort out the problem.
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When the UK does get taken to court, it wins more often than most. Headline success rate of about 25%.

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Caveat: we don’t defend every case.
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So what do we get taken to court on most? By a very comfortable margin, the environment. No wonder @michaelgove is suggesting new institutions for environmental enforcement after Brexit.
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What about references from the UK courts to the ECJ? On the volume of these, the UK is about average in the EU27.
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As the government says, there are about two references per year from the UK courts to the ECJ on citizens’ rights. That’s quite a lot compared to other member states, but comparisons difficult because population size will make a big difference.

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For lots more analysis *and lots more caveats*, read our @instituteforgov report.
/ENDS
instituteforgovernment.org.uk/publications/w…