Portuguese Republic v Council [1999] ECLI:EU:C:1999:574

Reasons AGAINST direct enforcement of international treaties, given by ECJ in light of case Portugal v Council, included: 

1. No specific remedy given in World Trade Organisation (WTO) agreements (compensation is alternative to enforcement); 

2. WTO was still founded on vague principle of mutually advantageous negotiations and not precise law

   • Under WTO agreements there was much scope for countries to breach WTO rules and therefore it was not going to enforce its own obligations when it could not be assured of other countries acting likewise.

Some say this undermines WTO agreements, whereas others say that because WTO agreements have so many critics we should be wary about binding ourselves to them further.