The position of Boards of Appeal: between Functional Continuity and Independence

This chapter illustrates the peculiar nature of the Boards of Appeal (BoA) of EU agencies, which has been affected by two fundamental changes in the general landscape of the EU system of judicial protection. The changes include the fall of the specialized tribunals, which resulted in greater room for the development of the BoAs and the introduction of the filter mechanism in Article 58a of the Statute of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). It evaluates how the changes have affected the institutional position of the BoAs of the EU agencies and elaborates how they might evolve over the next few years. The chapter discusses the traditional understanding of the BoAs, framing the misleading principle of functional continuity and its relationship with that of independence. It also reviews the main elements of the functional, institutional, personal, and financial independence of BoAs. Boards of Appeal, BoA, judicial protection, EU system, filter mechanism, Article 58a, CJEU, functional continuity