Populism, the principle of primacy and the values of the EU

This presentation examines the constitutional counter-narratives developed by populist governments and movements to contest the primacy of EU law and the core values underpinning European integration. Rather than pursuing a formal exit from the Union, these actors seek to foster internal disintegration by reinterpreting or denying the binding nature of EU obligations, often through instrumental, selective, and abusive readings of national constitutional law. 

The study analyses key case studies in which constitutional identity, sovereignty, and democratic legitimacy are invoked to resist the authority of the Court of Justice of the European Union and the principle of EU law primacy. By reconstructing theoretically these counter-narratives, the paper demonstrates how populist actors engage in a form of legal resistance that undermines the foundational consensus of the EU legal order, threatening its coherence and long-term viability.

Discussant: Massimo Fichera, Maastricht Centre for Law and Jurisprudence, Faculty of Law, Maastricht.