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

Table of contents

– 7 – Table of contents Foreword 9 Reader information and acknowledgments 11 Some commonly used abbreviations 13 Introduction 15 General purpose and method: beyond dogmatics 17 General object: federalism 21 1. Influence and the toolbox concept: Some preliminary considerations pertaining to method 27 1.1 Methodological problems pertaining to the object of the inquiry 29 1.2 The toolbox concept 39 2. Belgian federalism: A cursory overview 55 2.1 A doubly stratified federal structure 60 2.2 Bipolar and centrifugal federalism institutionalized 67 2.3 The Constitutional Court situated in the Belgian federal system 75 3. The Belgian Constitutional Court and federalism 85 3.1 Different ways of examining (case-)law 87 3.2 “Foundational” principles 93 3.2.1 Conferral 93 3.2.2 Material exclusivity 103 3.2.3 Territorial exclusivity 112 3.3 “Incidental” principles in the toolbox 133 3.3.1 Specific “(con)textual” constraints 133 3.3.2 Proportionality 145 Beyond Federal Dogmatics – 8 – 3.3.3 Federal loyalty 152 3.3.4 Implied powers 155 3.3.5 Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) 158 3.4 Interaction in the Constitutional Court’s toolbox 170 4. European influence on Constitutional Court case law 185 4.1 Preliminary observations 187 4.2 European law and the Constitutional Court 195 4.3 European law as a streamlining tool 199 4.3.1 European law as a (quasi) political tool for evacuation of conflict 199 4.3.2 European law as an argumentative tool in the context of the EMU 207 4.3.3 European law as an argumentative tool reinforcing cooperation 211 4.4 Rule of law values and the limits of instrumentalization by the Constitutional Court 218 4.4.1 Authoritative texts 226 4.4.2 Precedent 233 4.4.3 Coherence, with the example of coherent EMU-principles 241 4.5 More explanatory value? Two caveats 247 5. Three partial explanations and the road ahead 253 5.1 Integration of European law in constitutional jurisprudence 257 5.2 The (ever) expanding Europe 259 5.3 Diversity in unity: autonomous concepts 265 5.4 The road ahead 268 Conclusion 277 ...