Legal Value of Values. Article 2 TEU: Interplay With Other EU Primary Law Provisions and Judicial Remedies (La valeur juridique des valeurs. L’article 2 TUE : relations avec d’autres dispositions de droit primaire de l’Union européenne et remèdes juridictionnels.)

Abstract

The legal value of values. Article 2 TEU: interplay with other EU Article 2 TEU lists the founding values of the EU. Among those, this provision mentions human dignity, freedom, democracy, equality and the rule of law. These values do not only represent the profound roots, but also the founding identity of the EU legal construction.

A recent stream of case law issued by the European Court of Justice has put flesh and bones to the content of Article 2 TEU. This jurisprudence has also highlighted a more herculean application of the EU supreme values protected under Article 2 TEU. Some examples of this case law development are the Associação Sindical dos Juízes Portuguese and the LM judgments. In these cases, Article 2 TEU was applied jointly with Article 19 TEU, interpreted as a source of the principle of effective judicial protection.

This article offers a study of the content and implications of Article 2 TEU in the light of the recent European Court of Justice’s jurisprudence. The analysis is structured as follows. First, the article discusses the content of Article 2 TEU and its interplay with other Treaties’ provisions. In this context, the article focuses on the requirements stemming from Article 2 TEU in the field of the judicial independence. Second, the article moves on to the relationship between Article 2 TEU and the principle of mutual trust among the Member States in the area of freedom, security and justice. Third, the article analyses the interactions between Article 2 TEU and the protection of fundamental rights. Finally, the enforceable nature of Article 2 TEU will be discussed. In this regard, the article suggests interpreting Article 2 TEU as a standstill clause, imposing on the Member States compliance standards not only before, but also after accession to the EU.

Keywords: Article 2TEU

JEL Classification: K