Uses the EU Treaty framework to (re)assess the legitimacy of the Court of Justice's institutional role in European integration.
Examines the European Court as an institutional actor and how it exercises additional, quasi-legislative functions beyond its original mandate. Essential reading for EU scholars in the fields of law and political science with interests in the study of the Court of Justice and its institutional role in European integration.
Introduction; 1. The EU Treaty framework as constitutional touchstone; 2. The EU Treaty framework and the constitutional context of European integration; 3. The Court of Justice, the Treaty framework, and constitutional issue No. 1; 4. The Court of Justice, the Treaty framework and constitutional issue No. 2; 5. The Court of Justice, The Treaty framework and constitutional issue No. 3; 6. The feedback loop: the Court of Justice and its interlocutors; 7. Conclusion: three contemporary problems, four reform proposals.