The changes made by the Lisbon Treaty suggest that its entry into force in December 2009 marks a new stage in the shaping of the EU's commitment to the protection of fundamental rights. This book's concern is to provide an examination of the several (and interlocking) challenges which the Lisbon reforms present. The book will not only address the fresh and intriguing challenges for the EU as an entity committed to the protection and promotion of fundamental rights presented by developments 'post-Lisbon', but also a number of conundrums about the scope and method of protection of fundamental rights in the EU which existed 'pre-Lisbon' and which endure. The book consists of three parts. The first part is concerned with the safeguarding of fundamental rights in Europe's internal market. The second part of the book is entitled 'The Scope of Fundamental Rights in EU Law' and the chapters discuss the reach of fundamental rights and their horizontal dimension. The last part of this book deals with 'The Constitutional Dimension of Fundamental Rights' analysing the special relationship between the ECJ and the ECtHR and the issue of rights competition between the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights and national rights catalogues.

The first part of the book reviews the multi-level system of protection currently operating in Europe and its constitutional implications. The Charter is analysed from a legal, political and practical standpoint. The activity of the European Parliament as a fundamental rights actor will also be examined, as well as the right to a fair trial and to effective judicial protection before and by the EU Courts. The second part of the volume addresses the impact of a binding Charter on specific areas of EU Law. The order in which the contributions have been set out reflects the structure of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union: free circulation of persons; the internal market; the area of freedom security and justice (civil and criminal aspects); social rights protection; environmental policy; enlargement; international trade and the Common Foreign and Security Policy.

This monograph offers a longitudinal analysis of the developments in the European fundamental rights arena during the last decade. Decisions of critical importance on the future of the EU need to be taken by the EU institutions and the Member States' governments. The ‘existential’ crisis affecting Europe is essentially a crisis of values revealing a lack of shared vision. Based on this premise, this monograph contributes to the debate on how to overcome the current impasse. By situating the analysis of the EU in the context of a wider Europe, which includes the ECHR (and its interpretation by the ECtHR), this work challenges the idea that the project of European integration should be abandoned. Instead it proposes a re-orientation of this process, conceptualised as a dynamic interaction of different actors, sources and laws on fundamental rights within the wider Europe. Following an evaluation of the current fundamental rights’ regimes, the monograph proposes a model of effective governance of fundamental rights in Europe based on the doctrines of dialogical constitutionalism and agency. This original and innovative contribution is enriched by findings from British Academy funded research on the European architecture of fundamental rights post-Lisbon Treaty.

This book analyses the new architecture for the protection of fundamental rights in Europe after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. As a starting point, it identifies how the EU has gained a prominent role in promoting and protecting fundamental rights at European level despite the absence of an unlimited mandate to address fundamental rights violations. This new setting affects the traditional relationship between the EU, the ECHR system and the Member States and, in the absence of EU accession to the ECHR, enhances the risk of tensions and conflicts between the case law of the two European Courts. Examples of these tensions and conflicts are explored in the Area of Freedom Security and Justice, which is one of the most fundamental rights-sensitive areas of EU law and one of the busiest areas of activity for the CJEU. The book offers new insights into existing rules on the resolution of conflicts between EU and ECHR law before mapping out techniques actually used by domestic courts to avoid or address such conflicts.

This insightful book analyses the role that EU general principles have taken in the protection of fundamental rights within the EU since the Lisbon Treaty. In particular, the author focuses on the relationship between written law (the Charter of Fundamental Rights) and unwritten law (the general principles) within the institutional framework of the EU. The book demonstrates that due to their complementary and autonomous function toward the protection of fundamental rights, the general principles still play a key role within the Union despite the binding force of the Charter.

The first book to examine the creation and function of the EU Fundamental Rights Agency.

The book contains 24 contributions from European law scholars and practitioners analysing the constitutional basis of the European Union and the normative orientation of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) as well as the central economic and monetary provisions (TFEU) after the Reform Treaty of Lisbon. Presenting the findings of a European research team, which is composed of authors from eight Member States, the publication underlines the aspiration of the editors to thoroughly analyse the constitutional law of the European Union currently in force.

Since its formation the European Union has expanded beyond all expectations, and this expansion seems set to continue as more countries seek accession and the scope of EU law expands, touching more and more aspects of its citizens' lives. The EU has never been stronger and yet it now appears to be reaching a crisis point, beset on all sides by conflict and challenges to its legitimacy. Nationalist sentiment is on the rise and the Eurozone crisis has had a deep and lasting impact. EU law, always controversial, continues to perplex, not least because it remains difficult to analyse. What is the EU? An international organization, or a federation? Should its legal concepts be measured against national standards, or another norm? The Oxford Handbook of European Union Law illuminates the richness and complexity of the debates surrounding the law and policies of the EU. Comprising eight sections, it examines how we are to conceptualize EU law; the architecture of EU law; making and administering EU law; the economic constitution and the citizen; regulation of the market place; economic, monetary, and fiscal union; the Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice; and what lies beyond the regulatory state. Each chapter summarizes, analyses, and reflects on the state of play in a given area, and suggests how it is likely to develop in the foreseeable future. Written by an international team of leading commentators, this Oxford Handbook creates a vivid and provocative tapestry of the key issues shaping the laws of the European Union.