Over the past few years, 'national constitutional identity' has become the new buzzword in European constitutionalism. Much has been written about the concept involving the Member States' national constitutional identities: it has been welcomed for (finally) accommodating constitutional particularities in EU law, demonized for potentially disintegrating the EU, and wielded as a 'sword' by certain constitutional courts. Scholars, judges, and advocates in general have rendered the concept currently so fashionable and, yet, so ambivalent, that an in-depth analysis is warranted to put some order into the intense debate over constitutional identity. This collection brings together a series of contributions in order to shed some light into the dark corners of constitutional identity. To this end, a threefold approach has been followed: a conceptual or philosophical approach, an approach based on EU law, and an analysis of the case-law of several European courts. First, the book explores what constitutional identity means and who decides on it. Further, the contributions analyze (and at times unveil) the areas that might collide or at least interact with constitutional identity. Among other issues, the book touches upon EU law primacy , Article 53 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights, EU criminal law and the essential functions of the State, and the existence of an EU 'constitutional core' enjoyable and enforceable through EU citizenship. Finally, the book deals with the case-law of European courts on national constitutional identity, including the perspective of various national constitutional courts, such as those of Eastern and Central European Member States, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the much-less analyzed European Court of Human Rights. (Series: Law and Cosmopolitan Values - Vol. 4)

Presents a critical outline and comparison of selected EU Member State constitutional identities in the context of EU multilevel constitutionalism.

With a focus on how national identity impacts the decision-making of the European Court of Justice, Elke Cloots provides an innovative adjudication scheme that purports to assist the ECJ in its search for a proper balance between respect for national identity and European integration.

This two-volume book, published open access, brings together leading scholars of constitutional law from twenty-nine European countries to revisit the role of national constitutions at a time when decision-making has increasingly shifted to the European and transnational level. It offers important insights into three areas. First, it explores how constitutions reflect the transfer of powers from domestic to European and global institutions. Secondly, it revisits substantive constitutional values, such as the protection of constitutional rights, the rule of law, democratic participation and constitutional review, along with constitutional court judgments that tackle the protection of these rights and values in the transnational context, e.g. with regard to the Data Retention Directive, the European Arrest Warrant, the ESM Treaty, and EU and IMF austerity measures. The responsiveness of the ECJ regarding the above rights and values, along with the standard of protection, is also assessed. Thirdly, challenges in the context of global governance in relation to judicial review, democratic control and accountability are examined. On a broader level, the contributors were also invited to reflect on what has increasingly been described as the erosion or ‘twilight’ of constitutionalism, or a shift to a thin version of the rule of law, democracy and judicial review in the context of Europeanisation and globalisation processes. The national reports are complemented by a separately published comparative study, which identifies a number of broader trends and challenges that are shared across several Member States and warrant wider discussion. The research for this publication and the comparative study were carried out within the framework of the ERC-funded project ‘The Role and Future of National Constitutions in European and Global Governance’. The book is aimed at scholars, researchers, judges and legal advisors working on the interface between national constitutional law and EU and transnational law. The extradition cases are also of interest to scholars and practitioners in the field of criminal law. Anneli Albi is Professor of European Law at the University of Kent, United Kingdom. Samo Bardutzky is Assistant Professor of Constitutional Law at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia.

"Argues that a constitution acquires an identity through experience--from a mix of the political aspirations and commitments that express a nation's past and the desire to transcend that past. It is changeable but resistant to its own destruction and manifests itself in various ways, as Jacobsohn shows in examples as far flung as India, Ireland, Israel, and the United States. Jacobsohn argues that the presence of disharmony--both the tensions within a constitutional order and those that exist between a constitutional document and the society it seeks to regulate--is critical to understnading the theory and dynamics of constitutional identity"--Jacket.

The Oxford Handbook of the European Union brings together numerous acknowledged specialists in their field to provide a comprehensive and clear assessment of the nature, evolution, workings, and impact of European integration.

A highly topical examination of the effect of European integration on relations between states and minority nations. This new collection brings together the leading specialists in the field, and covers a wide range of cases, from Northern Ireland in the West, to Estonia and Latvia in the East, and Cyprus in the South-East. The contributors assess how European integration has affected the preparedness of states to accommodate minorities across a range of fundamental criteria, including: enhanced rights protection; autonomy; the provision of a voice for minorities in the European and international arena; and the promotion of cross-border cooperation among communities dissected by state frontiers. The comprehensive chapters stress the importance of the nationality question, and the fact that, contrary to the hopes and beliefs of many on the left and right, it is not going to go away. Beginning with an introductory essay that summarizes the impact of European integration on the nationalities question, this accessible book will be of strong interest to scholars and researchers of politics, nationalism, ethnic conflict and European studies.

The author is presenting a broadly structured study about the first fifty years of European integration, its geopolitical context and academic reflection. His study is based on the two-fold thesis that since a few years, the European Union is going through a process of its Second Founding while simultaneously changing its rationale.

The contributors to this volume, all leading specialists in the field of EU studies, examine the trajectory of the EU and draw on the theoretical tools of historical institutionalism to assess the central political challenges facing the EU.

Food, water, health, housing, and education are fundamental to human freedom and dignity, yet only recently have legal systems begun to secure these fundamental individual interests as rights. This book analyses the transformation of socio-economic rights into constitutional rights, and their impact on public law and constitutional theory.