Overview

This book examines the role of the European Court of Justice in the regulation of the internal market from a competence perspective. However, rather than focusing on the Court’s role in enforcing the limits of EU competence in the EU’s political decision making, it explores a related, albeit understudied, question: to what extent does the Court observe the constitutional limits of EU competence and its own institutional powers in the interpretation of EU internal market law laid down in the Treaties? The book provides an answer to this question through the analysis of EU free movement case law in light of the constitutional principles that govern the allocation of competences and powers in the EU: conferral, subsidiarity and proportionality, on the vertical level, and institutional balance, on the horizontal level. Why should the Court be bound by these principles? What do they mean when applied to judicial practice? To what extent are they observed in the free movement case law? The book argues that the Court’s observance of the four principles has been inconsistent, thereby creating substantive and constitutional tensions in the EU’s relationship with the Member States and upsetting the institutional balance of powers between the EU legislature and judiciary. Shortlisted for the UACES Best Book Prize 2023 Runner-up of the 2024 Peter Birks Prize for Outstanding Legal Scholarship

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9781509964161

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Reviews

[A]n enjoyable read, written with great clarity, and with multiple cross-references and periodic summaries, which bring all elements of the analysis together and facilitate an understanding of the issues at stake. Representing an intellectually stimulating analysis of judicial authority, it should spark the curiosity of EU legal scholars and practitioners alike. * European Law Review *

[A]n enjoyable read, written with great clarity, and with multiple cross-references and periodic summaries, which bring all elements of the analysis together and facilitate an understanding of the issues at stake. Representing an intellectually stimulating analysis of judicial authority, it should spark the curiosity of EU legal scholars and practitioners alike. -- Eadaoin Ní Chaoimh, Université Saint-Louis, Bruxelles * European Law Review * Velyvyte’s critical stance toward litigation is a healthy and justified antidote to the enthusiasm EU lawyers often show for judge-made law … [W]ell worth reading, offering stimulating and in part novel perspectives on the EU judiciary and its authority relative to other institutions. -- Martijn van den Brink, Hertie School, Germany * Modern Law Review *

Author Information

Vilija Velyvyte is British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow at the Law Faculty of the University of Oxford, UK.

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