Successfully Articulating National Constitutional Identity Claims: Strait Is the Gate and Narrow Is the Way

Abstract

Article 4(2) Treaty of the European Union (TEU) has not played any autonomous role up to now. Cases involving that provision have not been handled differently by the Court than cases involving derogations to free movement. In this article, after an analysis of the existingcase law on Article 4(2) TEU, I make the case for a bolder and exceptional use of Article 4(2) TEU where genuine national constitutional identity claims (NCI claims) directly clash with provisions of EU law. I provide a normative framework of analysis to identify genuine NCI claims and determine how the Court should address them. ‘Strait is the gate and narrow is the way’ is certainly a relevant metaphor to capture the possibility for genuine NCI claims to be successful. In view of its own mission and constraints, the Court is only to accept well motivated, narrow claims that are strictly based on crucial and distinctive features of national law that are embedded in the national Constitution and do not run against the own constitutional identity of the Union. Member State constitutional identity, Article 4(2) TEU, Extraordinary function, Constitutional conflicts, Instructions for use, Constitutional courts, Court of Justice, Balancing between national identity and fundamental rights, European Union constitutional identity, National and European constitutionalism