Fundamental Rights and Legal Wrongs: The Two Sides of the Same EU Coin

Volume 22, Issue 1, January 2016 is a Special Issue with the theme 'Fundamental Rights In Crisis'. Issue edited by: Elisabeth Lambert Abdelgawad, Gaëtan CliquennoisAbstract
This article argues that the relationship of EU fundamental rights to the rest of EU law can only be understood if the former are seen as an integral part of a general vision of what EU law is about. This vision conceives EU law as concerned to secure the government of a European political economy. In turn, it has come to shape the interpretation and incidence of EU fundamental rights with the latter conceived as a central tool for incorporating the individual into and asserting her place within the government of the European political economy. A paradox has therefore emerged. EU fundamental rights have become ever more pervasive in EU law, and it is couched more frequently in their terms, but these same fundamental rights seem ineffectual to deal with the suffering caused by events such as the crisis.