The concept of national identity as a limit to the supremacy of the EU law and as a justification for the violation of the rule of law: the reaction of the Court of Justice of the European Union

Details

Supervisors

Rizcallah, Cecilia

Faculty

Institut d'études européennes Saint-Louis

Degree label

Master de spécialisation interdisciplinaire en études européennes (horaire décalé)

Abstract

enThis paper examines the notion of national identity as a legal concept at the EU level and how it has come to be politically manipulated. In the first part, the theoretical concepts of national and constitutional identity are examined, the importance of national identity is briefly discussed and then the paper proceeds into more legal considerations, like Article 4(2) TEU and its identity clause as well as the supremacy of EU law. Based on these, we then turn to some examples of abuse of national identity on the basis of Article 4(2) TEU as a tool in the hands of some Member States to deconstruct the rule of law and the primacy of EU law in general. In the second part of the attention is drawn to the reaction of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) towards various instances of misuse or abuse of national identity taking a closer look to relevant case-law through a qualitative approach. Various cases are discussed. Then, the paper concludes.