European Union Law in Portuguese Courts: An Appraisal of the First Twenty-five Years after the Accession

Summary:

This article provides an outline of the application of European Union (EU) law by Portuguese courts during the first two and a half decades of Portugal's membership of the EU. It starts by tracing the evolution of preliminary references sent by Portuguese judges. The latter provide a first glimpse of the 'Europeanization' of Portuguese judges, but do not reveal more than the 'tip of the iceberg' of cases that involve the application of EU law. To fill this gap, the article then considers cases where EU law was applied without the assistance of the European Court of Justice (ECJ hereafter CJEU).

Special attention is given to quoting of the case law of the Luxembourg court and to the application of the 'constitutional principles' of supremacy, direct effect, and state responsibility. The articles ends with a reflection on the reasons that may explain the absence of a more robust cooperation between the Portuguese courts and the ECJ, and a discussion of possible pathways of reform that could foster the application of EU law in the Portuguese legal order.