CONFLICT OF NORMS IN EUROPEAN UNION LAW AND THE LEGAL REASONING OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE A thesis submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Gerard Martin Conway School of Law Brunel University December 2010 ii Abstract: This thesis examines the topic of conflict of norms in European Union (EU) law and the legal reasoning of the European Court of Justice (ECJ), arguing that the framework of conflict of norms provides conceptual insight into justification and the role of value choices in legal reasoning. After examining the theory of conflict of norms, which seems to have been relatively under-studied generally and especially in EU law, it examines three particular aspects of norm conflict resolution in the legal reasoning of the ECJ and EU law: conflict of interpretative norms, especially the opposition between conserving and innovative interpretation; conflicts of human rights norms, looking in particular at the idea of a hierarchy of rights and of specificationism in the articulation of rights; and conflicts of competence norms. It concludes that the scope exists for a fuller justification of the choice of norms in the legal reasoning of the ECJ and generally in EU law and offers a perspective on how the values articulated by the EU suggest particular approaches to norm conflict resolution by the ECJ in its decision-making in these fields, in particular, a greater resort to lex specialis and originalist or historical interpretation, in contrast to its current method. iii Summary Table of Contents Notes and Acknowledgments………………………………………………………… ......x Table of Abbreviations……………………………………………………………… ...... xii Table of Treaties and Legislation……………………………………………………... xvi Table of Cases………………………………………………………………………… ... xix Chapter 1 – Values and Conflicts of Norms in EU Law and the Legal Reasoning of the European Court of Justice – Introduction and Framework……… ................................................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 –Reasons for Norm Conflict in EU Law ............................................... 14 Chapter 3 – Conflicts of Norms in Legal Reasoning and Values in EU Law ………………………………………………………………………………………………66 Chapter 4 – Conflicts of Interpretative Norms in the Legal Reasoning of the ECJ …………………………………………………………………………………………… .. 127 Chapter 5 – Conflicts of Fundamental Values in EU Law and the Legal Reasoning of the ECJ ……………………………………………………………………………… .. 207 Chapter 6 – Conflicts of Competence Norms in EU Law and the Legal Reasoning of the ECJ ................................................................................................... ………267 Chapter 7 – Conclusion………………………………………………………………... 329 Appendix I – Translation……………………………………………………………….340 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………… ...... 351 iv Detailed Table of Contents Notes and Acknowledgments……………………………………………………… ......... x Table of Abbreviations……………………………………………………………… ...... xii Table of Treaties and Legal Instruments………………………………… .. ……… ....xv Table of Cases………………………………………………………………………… ..xviii Chapter 1 – Values and Conflicts of Norms in EU Law and the Legal Reasoning of the ECJ 1.1 Introduction: Scope and Subject Matter …………………..1 1.2 Summaries of Content of Chapters..........………………...10 Chapter 2 –Reasons for Norm Conflict in EU Law 2.1 Reasons for Norm Conflict Inherent in Any Legal System…......................................................................…......14 2.1.1 The Temporal Element……………………...………...14 2.1.2 Vagueness and Generality……………………...……..15 2.1.3 Complexity of Subject Matter………………...............16 2.1.4 Value Pluralism……………………………..…...........16 2.1.5 Discontinuity in the Identity of the Law-Maker….......18 2.2 Reasons for Norm Conflict particular to EU Law…….........20 2.2.1 Linguistic Diversity.......................................................20 2.2.2 The ‘Supranational’ Doctrines of Direct Effect and Supremacy and the Logic of the ‘Integration Imperative’ relative to Traditional Public International Law...........................................…….…………21 2.2.3 The Continuing Question of EU Competence in the Context of Enduring Member State Sovereignty..........25 2.2.4 Pluralistic Membership of the EU Legislature..…….....29 v 2.2.5 The Sources of EU Law…....................……………….30 2.2.6 The Relationship of EU Law with the Law of the Member States………………...………………….................35 2.2.7 The Interaction of EU Law with the Legal System of the Council of Europe…….................................................43 2.3. General Methodology……………….………………….............44 2.4 The General Theoretical Context of Norm Conflict In Contemporary Anglo-American Legal Theory….…………..…...51 2.4.1 Introduction………...............................................……51 2.4.2 Dworkin on Coherence..................................................51 2.4.3 Raz on Coherence..........................................................56 2.4.4 General Remarks on Coherence, Dworkin, and Raz.....60 2.4.5 Structuralist and Systems Accounts of Law…....……..61 2.4.6 Concluding Remarks to the Section and Chapter…......65 Chapter 3 – Conflict of Norms in Legal Reasoning and Values in EU Law Law 3.1 Introduction……………………………………..........................66 3.2. Rules v. Principles in Legal Reasoning……….….....................68 3.3 Values and the EU Legal System.................................................72 3.3.1 Normativity in Law.......................................................72 3.3.2 Normativity in EU Law.................................................76 3.3.2.1 Introduction.....................................................76 3.3.2.2 Human Dignity...............................................77 3.3.2.3 Integration and Solidarity...............................79 3.3.2.4 Democracy and the Rule of Law....................80 3.3.2.5 Human Rights and Equality............................91 3.3.2.6 The Principles of Conferral, Subsidiarity.......94 3.3.2.7 Summary of Values in the Treaties................95 3.4. Conceptual Clarity and Legal Concepts: Hohfeld’s Analysis.....96 3.5 Rules of Norm Conflict in Legal Reasoning……......………....103 3.5.1 The Definition of Norm Conflict.............…………....103 3.5.2 A Typology of Norm Conflict……………......…...…109 vi 3.5.2.1 Types of Substantive Legal Norms...............109 3.5.2.2 Types of Interpretative Legal Norms....…....113 3.6 Norm Conflict Rules....................……………………….…......116 3.6.1 Lex Superior .................................................................118 3.6.2 Lex Specialis ................................................................120 3.6.3 Lex Posterior ...............................................................123 3.7 Concluding Comments...............................................................124 Chapter 4 – Conflicts of Interpretative Norms in the Legal Reasoning of the European Court of Justice 4.1 Introduction………………………………….............................127 4.2 The Debate on Conserving versus Innovative Interpretation and its Underlying Values ………....................................................135 4.3 Specific Justification of Subjective Originalist Interpretation....151 4.3.1 Legal Texts and Intention……………………............151 4.3.2 Legal Texts and Collective or Corporate Intention.............................................................. 159 4.4 Overview of Practice of the Luxembourg and Strasbourg Courts…............................................................................................165 4.5 Case Study – Caselaw Doctrine on Non-Discriminatory Obstacles..….....................................................................................170 4.6 An Overview of Norm Conflict in Caselaw and Legal Reasoning of the ECJ........................................................................177 4.6.1 Introduction.....................……….................................177 4.6.2 Some General Comments on Conflict of Interpretative Norms in ECJ Caselaw...................................180 4.6.3 Explicit Articulation of Substantive Norm Conflict by the ECJ.............................................................................183 4.6.4 Norm Conflict and ‘Constitutionalising’ the Community/Union........... …………………………....................…187 4.6.5 Free Movement Caselaw ……...……......…...............196 4.6.6 Linguistic Conflict of Norms.......................................199 vii 4.7 Conclusion……………………………...………………….…..204 Chapter 5 – Conflicts of Fundamental Values in EU Law and the Legal Reasoning of the ECJ 5.1 Introduction…………………………………………………….207 5.2 Reprising the Coppel-O’Neill v. Weiler-Lockhart Debate.........217 5.3 Hierarchy and Specification……....……………………......…..247 5.4 Conclusion..................................................................................263 Chapter 6 – Conflicts of Competence Norms in EU Law and the Legal Reasoning of the ECJ 6.1. Introduction…............………………………………………………....267 6.2 Competence as a Legal Concept…............…………………………….281 6.3 Conflicts of Competence Norms in the EU and the Principle of Subsidiarity...................……............……………………..289 6.4 The Competence of the Member States Distinguished from the Competence of the EU Institutions…….…..........…………….....292 6.5 The Impact of the Lisbon Treaty………………………............………295 6.6 Case Studies: ………………………......................................................298 6.6.1 An Example from Social Europe.............................................298 6.6.2 External Relations....................................................................304