Judicial control of the politics of differentiated integration

Abstract

This chapter examines to what extent the Court of Justice of the European Union has contributed to shape, through its case law, the legal feasibility (and therefore also the political attractivity) of the various modes of differentiated integration (opt-outs for single countries, enhanced cooperation, and international agreements between groups of EU states). The Court has traditionally sought to restrict the possibility for single Member States to derogate from common European legal norms. By contrast, it has generally supported the recourse to differentiated integration by large groups of Member States when such initiatives, in the Court’s opinion, contribute to advance the European integration process.