EU supremacy and the german constitution Flashcards
Cosa v ENEL (what international law is)
we know that every international treaty acts like a contract. pacta sunt servanda. agreements must be kept. this applies to countrys through treaties also. in the case of Costa v ENEL the Italian government refused to accept that EU international law was supreme. they argued that they had incorporated international law into their domestic system however, this then allowed the derogation of EU law through future domestic laws which repealed EU law. this was taken to the EU court of justice and it was held that EU law was indeed supreme. EU law could not be overriden by domestic legislation
internationale handelsgesellschaft
solange 1
The european court expressed their absolute view of EU supremacy and Germany responded with its theory of supremacy. While the german constitution expressly allowed for the transfer of sovereign powers, such a transfer was limited and controlled by national law. the transfer was limited and controlled by the national constitution.
the german constitution challenged this conception of EU supremacy. was about importing and exporting metal. the German constitutional court doubted as to whether EU law could violate the constitutional protections afforded to german citizens through germanys basic law. The system of deposits instituted by
Regulation No 120/67 is contrary to the
principles of freedom of action and disposition, of economic liberty and of
proportionality stemming in particular
from Articles 2 (1) and 14 of the German
Basic Law.
Community institutions are bound
by Community law alone and that in their
regard the protection conferred by the
fundamental rights of national constitutions flows only from Community law,
written or unwritten
stauder
in Stauder, a dispute arose regarding the german basic law and the rights of an individuals dignity was breached. a request of his name was needed. the german court did not challenge the supremacy of EU law, but rather challenged the regime that the decision was compatible with the general principles of community law in force. the COJ fount that identification by name was not needed.
The plaintiff in the main action is entitled to buy butter at reduced prices because he is a beneficiary of the
welfare scheme for those disabled in the war. However, he considers it illegal to make the appearance of the
name of the beneficiary on the stub mentioned above a condition for buying the butter.
It follows that the provision in question must be interpreted as not requiring - although it does not prohibit
- the identification of beneficiaries by name. The Commission was thus able to publish on 29 July 1969 an
amending decision to this effect. Each of the Member States is accordingly now able to choose from a
number of methods by which the coupons may refer to the person concerned.
solange 2
In the Wünsche Handelsgesellschaft case, the German Constitutional Court abandoned its
reservations about the standard of European fundamental rights protection subsequent to its
decision in the Internationale Handelsgesellschaft. In Wünsche Handelsgesellschaft the
German court decided that it would no longer examine the compatibility of Community
legislation with German fundamental rights as long as (thus “solange”) the European Court
continues to protect fundamental rights adequately. In other words, the German Constitutional
Court is willing to trust the European Court to strike down Community legislation that is
contrary to fundamental rights.
the case of Maastricht
the german court affirmed that they are bound to the treaty on the EU.
they said that it is the responsibility of the EU to keep fundamental rights protection afforded to the german citizens.
they said that if the fundamental rights are broken then the german court would protect their rights for them.
the german court said that it can review how EU laws are enacted. to see whether they are in conformity with the rights conferred on them.
the german court said that if a regulation was used for binding the states then this would not have effect in the german system
