The national or the constitutional identity, a new legal notion

Authors

  • Pierre Bon

Keywords:

European Union, national identity, constitutional identity, European Court of Justice, Constitutional Court, European integration, constitutional jurisprudence

Abstract

The notions of national identity, or constitutional identity, apart from their political or social dimension, also have a legal dimension expressed in positive law and in jurisprudence. This article analyses their manifestation in the relationships between the European Union and some member States, including Spain, France, Italy and Germany. It looks at the way the concepts are expressed in the jurisprudence of the constitutional courts and the constitutional texts of each country, as well as in the European Union primary law and the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice. It then analyses the constraints that this concept may place on European integration and the revision of constitutional texts.

Issue

Section

STUDIES