Il significato delle tradizioni costituzionali comuni nell'Unione europea

Abstract

The concept of “common constitutional traditions” arises from a well-settled case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Communities It was mentioned for the first time in the early Seventies. Eventually the concept was introduced as a mainstream provision in the1992 Maastricht Treaty. To-date the concept is still embodied in the text of the 2007 Lisbon Treat, where it is defined as a “source of fundamental rights”. The present study aims at highlighting both the scope and the rationale behind the provision of article 6 of the EU Treaty, enshrining the authority principle of the “common constitutional tradition”, in comparison to a possibly conflicting role of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.