Prioritatea dreptului Uniunii Europene și consecințele sale asupra configurării dreptului românesc de către Curtea Constituțională
The Priority of European Union Law and its Consequences on the Configuration of Romanian Law by the Constitutional Court

Author(s): Maria-Cristina Solacolu
Subject(s): Law, Constitution, Jurisprudence, Constitutional Law, EU-Legislation
Published by: Universul Juridic
Keywords: Primacy of EU law; Constitution; Legal order; Monism;
Summary/Abstract: The primacy of European Union law over national law was enunciated, as a principle, by the Court of Justice, which stated that the founding treaties of the European Communities had created a new legal order, integrated with the national order of the Member States, awarding precedence to community law/European Union law over national law whenever the two are in conflict. Although this principle is accepted, by national courts, when the conflict arises between EU law and ordinary, or even organic, national laws, the primacy of European Union law over the Member States’ constitutions has been repeatedly challenged by the constitutional courts in several Member States. The Romanian Constitution was modified in 2003, in preparation for Romania's accession to the European Union, which required integrating the acquis communautaire and modifying conflicting national laws. Consequently, up until the present time there have not been any conflicts between EU dispositions and constitutional ones. However, future changes in national or Union legislation might give way to such a conflict, in which case the Constitutional Court would have to decide whether it recognises the primacy of EU law over the Romanian Constitution. The article shall present the concept of primacy, the various perspectives on it as seen in the ca se of law of the Court of Justice and that of the Member States’ courts, and the relevant Romanian legislation.

• Details
• Contents