Conference: National constitutional identity 10 years on

At the same time as it introduced the European (Political) Union and two intergovernmental pillars, the Maastricht Treaty also explicitly underlined, for the first time, that ‘[t]he Union shall respect the national identities of its Member States’ (art. 6-3 TEU). The concept of ‘constitutional identity’ subsequently became increasingly used by (some) constitutional courts too. Following the same trend, the Lisbon Treaty further enhanced the importance of the respect of Member States’ national identities by the EU, and its article 4-2 TEU now refers to the need for the Union to 'respect their national identities inherent in their fundamental structures, political and constitutional, inclusive of regional and local self-government.'
Against this background, this event aims to offer a reflection on the use of the National constitutional identity clause ten years after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. To this end, it proposes a new evaluation of this concept, as well as a new analysis of its functions.

Conveners: Monica Claes, Bruno de Witte, Diane Fromage