Beyond Federal Dogmatics: The Influence of EU Law on Belgian Constitutional Case Law Regarding Federalism

4. European influence on Constitutional Court case law

4. European influence on Constitutional Court case law – 187 – 4.1 Preliminary observations 122. A kaleidoscopic, colorful reality without a central theory. Many authors have delved into the ‘colorful reality’742 of the relationship between European law and the Constitutional Court. A whole array of questions has been raised, and often treated from different angles or perspectives743 . Not so long ago, scholars744 usually discussed the relationship between international law and national (constitutional) law in light of the jurisprudence of the Court, generally comparing the European ‘primacy’ perspective, as elaborated in Costa745 and Internationale Handelsgesellschaft746 , with the Constitutional Court case law since the Lanaken judgment747 , where the Court, 742 Jan Wouters & Dries Van Eeckhoutte, Epiloog. Doorwerking: een kleurrijke realiteit, in Doorwerking , supra note 226. 743 Cf. Piet Van Nuffel, Doorwerking van Europees Gemeenschapsrecht in de Belgische rechtsorde, in Doorwerking, supra note 226, 337 et seq. (explaining how the question of penetration is much more complex than the mere question of primacy); also see Willem Verrijdt, Het Grondwettelijk Hof en het Unierecht: over een constitutioneel pluralism en rechterlijke dialoog in De invloed van het Europees recht op het Belgisch (privaat)recht 41 (Vincent Sagaert, Ilse Samoy & Evelyne Terryn eds. 2012) (trying to capture the relationship from the viewpoint of constitutional pluralism). 744 Some standard references in Belgian scholarship include the reports of the 2005 Symposium De verhouding tussen het Arbitragehof, de rechterlijke macht en de Raad van State (Alex Arts, Ivan Verougstraete & Robert Andersen eds.); André Alen, De hiërarchie der rechtsnormen in Staatsrecht (Themis Cahier 36) 11 (André Alen & Paul Lemmens 2006); Bribosia, supra note 233, at p. 35 et seq.; Philippe Brouwers & Henri Simonart, Le conflit entre la Constitution et le droit international conventionnel dans la jurisprudence de la Cour d’arbitrage, 1995 Cahiers de Droit européen 7; Jan Delva, De impact van het Europese verdragsrecht op de rechtspraak van het Arbitragehof – Een poging tot kritische doorlichting, 50 TBP 637, 638-639 (1995); Patricia Popelier, De visie van het Grondwettelijk Hof op de verhouding tussen de Grondwet en het internationaal recht : een discussie op gang gebracht door het arrest van het Grondwettelijk Hof nr. 26/91, 2007 CDPK 227; Vanden Heede & Goedertier, supra note 226; Jacques Velu, Contrôle de constitutionnalité et contrôle de compatibilité avec les traités (Discourse by the First A-G during the solemn inauguration of the Court of Cassation of Sep. 1, 1992) 201 et seq. (1992). Also see Patricia Popelier, Prejudiciële vragen bij samenloop van grondrechten. Prioriteit voor bescherming van grondrechten of voor bescherming van de wet? 2009-10 RW 50 (trying to show how the debate has been recharacterized in terms of precedence of Courts and see particularly, references at p. 59-60, but compare (showing that the debate is ongoing) Marc Verdussen, La Cour Constitutionnelle, partenaire de la Cour de Justice de l’Union Européenne, 2011 RBDC 81, 85 et seq. (in terms of traditional primacy, but also emphasizing dialogue)). Some further references are available in Stef Feyen, Verdragsrechtelijke inwerking. Enkele overwegingen omtrent de inwerkingsmechanismen in de Belgische rechtsorde en hun rechtstheoretische grondslag, 2008 CDPK 166, esp. 179 et seq. 745 Case 6-64 (June 15, 1964). 746 Case 11/70 (Dec. 17, 1970). 747 CA No. 26/91 (Oct. 16, 1991). European influence on Constitutional Court case law – 188 – notwithstanding the utterly monistic jurisprudence of the Belgian Court of Cassation748 , held that it can (contentiously) review legislation approving treaties, partly relying on specific provisions in the SLCC on European law749 . Next to that, focus was laid on how European law substantively influences Belgian (constitutional) law750 and still others discussed the relationship in terms of what could be called procedural effects751 . In the framework of EMU we ourselves already hinted at the fact that international law does occupy a prominent place in the Court’s jurisprudence. All these different perspectives could be deemed, or at least made relevant in the course of examining whether European law influences the case law of the Constitutional Court. However, no credible and readily deployable general and coherent theory of the influence of European law on the jurisprudence of the Court exists, at least not from the viewpoint of the Constitutional Court’s reasoning and case law (some call the Court’s jurisprudence incoherent752 , others go for the more polite ‘nuanced’753 ). As regards the influence of European law on federalism, confusion seems to be the rule rather than the exception too: on the...