A Federal Question Doctrine for EU Fundamental Rights Law: Making Sense of Articles 51 and 53 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights

Abstract

The EU Fundamental Rights Charter should be understood as acknowledging that fundamental rights are the foundation of European democracies and thus underlying EU integration, and that the division of powers between the EU and its Member States is ultimately in the interest of people. This would leave room for the overprotection of rights as a matter of national or international law. Such a rights-based approach would respect international human rights law and fit into EU internal market, citizenship and private law. Respect for Member State powers would serve as a limiting factor to this approach by limiting the extent of judicial review by the Court of Justice of the EU.