‘Constitutional Foundations of, and Limitations to, EU Integration in France

Abstract:

The constitutional bases of EU integration in France as well as the limitations for the integration process derived from these provisions have been subject to considerable interpretative developments in the case law of the supreme decision-making bodies exercising judicial functions in France in recent years. This article gives an overview of the relevant constitutional provisions that open up the French legal order towards EU law and examines these crucial developments in French jurisprudence. The article does so in adopting a systematic approach that differentiates between, first, the constitutional foundations of EU integration, second, the constitutional limitations to the further transfer of competences to the EU through amendments of primary law, and, third, the constitutional confines to the legal effects of secondary law.