23 February 2024
A roundtable on the topic: “The Role of Law and Courts in a Changing European Union” took place on 23 February 2024. It was organized by the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law together with the Central European Professors’ Network under the auspices of the Central European Academy. The speakers were Maja Lukić Radović, Associate Professor, and Marija Vlajković, Teaching Assistant and a PhD candidate, both from the Department of International Law and International Relations, University of Belgrade Faculty of Law. Participants were master students, PhD students as well as members of the Academia and the civil society sector.
After the introductory remarks by both speakers, Professor Lukić Radović took the floor and presented her topic, on the role of the Court of Justice of the EU in the ever-changing EU. She pointed out how the CJEU followed the evolution of the EU political and legal system, and how in many instances it, in fact, instigated the development of the EU principles and values. In particular, Professor Lukić Radović emphasized the importance of the principle of supremacy of EU law, which was in the early beginnings of the European integration process, and developed by the European Court of Justice (now Court of Justice of the EU) as one of the key pillars of the supranational legal order. Professor Lukić Radović explained how the CJEU gradually used the interplay between the principles of the rule of law and supremacy of EU law with the doctrine of fundamental rights to carefully manage the gradual constitutionalization of EU law over the course of several decades. In particular, she explained how the interplay between these legal and political concepts has been multi-faceted: at times, the rule of law and supremacy principles were indispensable for promoting fundamental rights at Member State level. In other situations, the principle of rule of law and the fundamental rights were relied upon as a limit to the principle of supremacy of EU law, protecting Member States’ national constitutional values. Thereafter, Maja Lukić Radović proceeded to elaborate on the importance of the CJEU as the principal judicial organ of such complex entity as the EU. She accentuated the independence of the judiciaries in Member States of the European Union, which is a core aspect of the Rule of Law in the EU. The independence of Supreme Courts in EU Member States is essential to securing uniform application of EU law across Member States. One of its tenets is the requirement in European law that Member States ensure that once appointed, judges are free from influence or pressurewhen carrying out their roles. Maja Lukić Radović also underlined the importance of the role of the national courts as European courts, as well as of standardizing European principles for their independent, efficient and effective work. She also mentioned recent case-law of the Court of Justice of the EU, where the Court itself draw connection between Article 2 of the Treaty on the EU dealing with common values, on one side, and Article 19 of the same Treaty, which stipulates that “Member States shall provide remedies sufficient to ensure effective legal protection in the fields covered by Union law”, on the other. She pointed out that in the recent years, with the evolution of the EU legal system, the Court of Justice has become more and more pro-active when it comes to ensuring the protection of the rule of law by the judiciary, on both national and supranational level. Maja Lukić Radović further elaborated on the role of the CJEU in protecting fundamental rights, in terms of ensuring that EU legislation and actions of its institutions comply with the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. By providing a judicial check on the actions of EU institutions and Member States when they implement EU law, the CJEU guarantees that fundamental rights are consistently protected across the EU, reinforcing the rule of law and the protection of individual rights within the Union.
The presentation of Marija Vlajković ensued. She presented the most important case-law of the CJEU regarding the protection of common European values, with special emphasis on the Rule of Law protection. This presented a logical continuation of a thorough analysis provided by Maja Lukić Radović on a more general level. Marija talked about the importance of the so-called judicial dialogue between the national courts, on one side, and the supranational court, on the other. She pointed out to the latest cases of the rule of law backsliding and analyzed the Court’s activism in that respect. She also underlined the importance of judicial culture when it comes to the protection of the values titled in Article 2 of the Treaty on the EU. Marija focused on very important cases decided before the Court of Justice of the EU regarding the question of the relativization of the principle of supremacy of EU Law, as well as the latest argument favored by national courts revolving around the protection of constitutional identity. Thus, by analyzing national constitutional identity traits protected by national constitutional courts and European constitutional identity, protected by the CJEU, Marija provided a thorough insight on a very important role of the Court of Justice of the EU in the complex endeavor of balancing the conflicting interests. Finaly, Marija underlined that the CJEU interprets and enforces EU law, ensuring that it does not override fundamental aspects of Member States’ constitutional identities. This balance is instrumental for maintaining the integrity of both EU law and the national constitutional principles, fostering mutual respect and cooperation between the EU and its Member States.
After the two presentations, a discussion and a Q&A Session with the participants and attendees were held. The questions that were raised tackled the enforcement of the CJEU judgments, the relationship between the European Court of Human Rights and Court of Justice of the European Union, the legal value of the principles and values from the Treaty and how the CJEU can contribute to a better protection of the said principles and values.
The event was wrapped up with closing remarks by Professor Maja Lukić Radović, who thanked all the participants for a fruitful discussion.
