Official Languages, National Identities and the Protection of Minorities: A Complex Legal Puzzle

Abstract

What is the scope of application of Article 4(2) TEU? What is the relationship between the duty to respect national identity and the obligation to respect linguistic diversity, including speaking minorities within the Member States? In this case note, we will analyse the Boriss Cilevičs case, in which the Court of Justice gave a response to these questions that is in many ways both unclear and problematic. There are three aspects that, in our opinion, make this Court of Justice judgment particularly interesting. First, it is a ruling that shows the progressive involvement of national constitutional courts in the mechanism of the preliminary ruling procedure governed by Article 267 TFEU. The second reason that makes the case interesting concerns the use of Article 4(2) TEU on the duty to respect national identity.1