themselves are problematised, raising the question of whether procedural autonomy constitutes a principle of law expressing national sovereignty, a principle for delimiting competences, or a reminder that the profound variation in the cultural foundations of procedural law must be respected. It could also be a simple abbreviation of the line of argumentation in the case law of the CJEU, or perhaps the CJEU does not recognise the procedural autonomy of Member States at all, which is “little more lip service than reality” or a kind of “euphemism.” Residual powers may be more descriptive than procedural autonomy, and even the word ‘procedural’ has been questioned, since ‘autonomy of execution’ or ‘corrective autonomy’ could be more precise labels. Beyond direct harmonisation, attention must be paid to sectoral and spillover effects: the introduction of instruments such as collective actions, disclosure rules, or mediation in specific domains can fragment the national system and trigger broader reforms (spillovers), thereby restricting national room for manoeuvre far more than initially appears. Therefore, there is a well-founded doubt about whether the term procedural autonomy still adequately describes the powers of Member States in matters of private law and civil procedure, or whether its content has become too narrow or ambiguous to fulfil this descriptive function. Among the fundamental unresolved issues in European administrative law, and certainly in other branches, e.g., jurisdiction, is the role of Member States’ procedural autonomy as a counterweight to the increasing Europeanisation of national legal systems. Although the CJEU has addressed the concept in numerous decisions, its legal nature remains obscure and controversial. Some regard it as a euphemistic description with no normative relevance, while others regard the protected diversity of administrative law in Member States as a true “identity factor” for safeguarding national sovereignty. 35 THE PRINCIPLE OF MEMBER STATES’ PROCEDURAL AUTONOMY
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