Preliminary ruling procedure

The preliminary ruling procedure is a cooperation mechanism between courts of EU Member States and the Court of Justice of the European Union. A national court may, and sometimes must, refer a question on the interpretation of EU law or the validity of an EU act before deciding a case. The ruling binds the referring court and guides others. Swiss courts do not use this procedure because Switzerland is not an EU Member State, but CJEU interpretations may matter when Swiss-EU agreements or EU-derived concepts are applied.