Montesquieu (MI) research meeting

The primacy of EU law is a central principle of the European Union’s legal order since the seminal judgments in Van Gend en Loos, Costa v ENEL and Simmenthal. Some may argue that it is essential to the operation of the Union itself – and that questioning it would undermine the very notion of the Union itself. Nonetheless, several constitutional courts have taken the opportunity to engage with the Court of Justice on its primacy doctrine, with Solange and Maastricht only being two words that immediately conjure up memories of jurisprudential interventions from the EU Member States that appeared to throw down the proverbial gauntlet to Luxembourg. 

That said, what about the position of primacy today? More importantly, what about the national constitutional courts and their views on primacy? Is it universally accepted, emphatically loathed, or does the truth lie somewhere in between?

Finally, is there a need to change course and calibrate the idea of primacy – or is it the best the EU legal order can achieve? During this meeting Prashant will present his PhD research, in which he analyzes the recent jurisprudence of several national constitutional courts, reviews the attitude adopted by national constitutional courts towards the primacy of European Union law and reflects on possible ways forward for the relationship between the Court of Justice and its Member State interlocutors.