e impression that the EU is still more of an intergovernmental organization than a supra-national one” (Gallagher 114). The Court of Justice is another branch of the European Union. If the Court of Justice was able to run without any problems or flaws it would turn the European Union into a Supra-national organization. The Court of Justice consists of fifteen members, one judge from each member state. The role of the Court of Justice is to apply the laws and constitution of the European Union, which originate from the treaties. The Member States are bound by the decisions made by the Court. No state can refuse a judgment made by the Court, unlike the judgments made by another international organization such as the International Court of Justice. Although treaties don’t specifically state, it is known and accepted that EU law overrides domestic law. Therefore the European Court of Justice is the highest authority in the EU. The Court allows for Member States to bring other members to before the Court in order to settle disputes. The problem that arises for the Court is its lack of a police force or army to enforce its judgments. The Court has to rely on the armies of the member states to enforce its rulings. Most of the time this leads to difficulty in ensuring that the judgments are implemented. The best records of compliance generally lie in the North and the worst in the South. The Scandinavian countries have great records of compliance while Italy was receiving fines for each day it wasn’t in compliance with the Courts judgment regarding urban water treatment. The compliance by the Member States to the judgments of the Court may be greatly increased if the Court was to establish a policing group or army. This would require huge amounts of capital, which the EU does not have (Gallagher 115-117). Finally another aspect of the European Union that leads it to resemble an Intergovernmental organization is its low level ...
