Theorising general principles of EU law in perspective : high expectations, modest means and the Court of Justice

Abstract

The aim of our contribution is to introduce and discuss three papers presented at the first panel of the Conference that dealt with selected theoretical questions surrounding the general principles of EU law. We discuss the papers in the context of the judicial decision-making of the Court of Justice of the European Union (hereinafter the Court). More concretely, we engage with three concerns and challenges that the papers pose to the nature, role and function of the general principles: first, the underused potential of EU customary law as a source of general principles of EU law; second, the role of the Court in the general endeavour of the juristic field or community to elaborate a theory of general principles of EU law, and to bind structural and substantive principles of EU law into a coherent whole; and third, the particular nature of legality as a general principle of EU law. Before we proceed with the discussion, we introduce the main arguments of the papers: we inquire into how they contribute to an understanding of the operation of general principles in the context of legal reasoning, as it is used in concrete decision-making contexts, and how they complement each other.