Book contents
- Constitutional Identity in a Europe of Multilevel Constitutionalism
- Constitutional Identity in a Europe of Multilevel Constitutionalism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Part I Constitutional Identity Introduced and Its EU Law Dimension
- Part II Constitutional Identity and Its Member State Law Dimension
- 3 Constitutional Identity in Austria
- 4 Constitutional Identity in Belgium
- 5 Constitutional Identity in the Czech Republic
- 6 Constitutional Identity in Denmark
- 7 Constitutional Identity in France
- 8 Constitutional Identity in Germany
- 9 Constitutional Identity in Ireland
- 10 Constitutional Identity in Italy
- 11 Constitutional Identity in the Netherlands
- 12 Constitutional Identity in Poland
- 13 Constitutional Identity in Spain
- 14 Constitutional Identity in the United Kingdom
- Part III Comparative Constitutional Identity and Multilevel Constitutionalism
- Index
7 - Constitutional Identity in France
Vices and – Above All – Virtues
from Part II - Constitutional Identity and Its Member State Law Dimension
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 03 October 2019
- Constitutional Identity in a Europe of Multilevel Constitutionalism
- Constitutional Identity in a Europe of Multilevel Constitutionalism
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Contributors
- Acknowledgements
- Part I Constitutional Identity Introduced and Its EU Law Dimension
- Part II Constitutional Identity and Its Member State Law Dimension
- 3 Constitutional Identity in Austria
- 4 Constitutional Identity in Belgium
- 5 Constitutional Identity in the Czech Republic
- 6 Constitutional Identity in Denmark
- 7 Constitutional Identity in France
- 8 Constitutional Identity in Germany
- 9 Constitutional Identity in Ireland
- 10 Constitutional Identity in Italy
- 11 Constitutional Identity in the Netherlands
- 12 Constitutional Identity in Poland
- 13 Constitutional Identity in Spain
- 14 Constitutional Identity in the United Kingdom
- Part III Comparative Constitutional Identity and Multilevel Constitutionalism
- Index
Summary
On the face of it, from the perspective of some orthodox EU lawyers, constitutional identity may sound like another open-ended limit to EU integration – and a limit of the worst kind. Admittedly, if over-extensively relied on and construed in a very conservative manner, identity can be a powerful weapon in the hands of constitutional court justices who would somehow transfer warfare between Member States from actual frontlines to judicial terrain. Yet this chapter argues that there are not only – or perhaps even mainly – vices attached to national constitutional identity, at least in the French approach. As long as it is used wisely, that concept may indeed have several virtuous effects at the systemic and also the substantive level. It is ultimately for the alchemists of constitutional identity (that is, constitutional courts, in conjunction with the Court of Justice of the European Union) to decide to make of that concept either a bridge between legal orders, a porous boundary, or a thick and high wall.
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- Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2019
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