TY - JOUR
T1 - Establishing a Constitutional Practice of European Law:
T2 - The History of the Legal Service of the European Executive, 1952-65
AU - Rasmussen, Morten
PY - 2012/8
Y1 - 2012/8
N2 - The origins of the constitutional practice of European law clearly lie in the two famous rulings of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) Van Gend en Loos (1963) and Costa v. E.N.E.L (1964). Despite this, very little is known for sure about the genesis of the ECJ's interpretation or the dynamics within the Court at the time. Most accounts focus on the role of the ECJ in revolutionising European law. Using recently disclosed archival material, this article traces the role of the Legal Service of the European executive in the development of the constitutional practice. It demonstrates that the Legal Service played a crucial role both in terms of devising the legal philosophy behind the two rulings and in the establishing of a professional and academic field of European law, which would underpin the constitutional practice. At the same time it shows that the ECJ-although it adopted the legal philosophy recommended by the Legal Service-did this in a cautious and restricted manner to minimise national resistance.
AB - The origins of the constitutional practice of European law clearly lie in the two famous rulings of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) Van Gend en Loos (1963) and Costa v. E.N.E.L (1964). Despite this, very little is known for sure about the genesis of the ECJ's interpretation or the dynamics within the Court at the time. Most accounts focus on the role of the ECJ in revolutionising European law. Using recently disclosed archival material, this article traces the role of the Legal Service of the European executive in the development of the constitutional practice. It demonstrates that the Legal Service played a crucial role both in terms of devising the legal philosophy behind the two rulings and in the establishing of a professional and academic field of European law, which would underpin the constitutional practice. At the same time it shows that the ECJ-although it adopted the legal philosophy recommended by the Legal Service-did this in a cautious and restricted manner to minimise national resistance.
KW - Faculty of Humanities
KW - HIstory of European law
KW - History of European integration
KW - legal service of the Commission
U2 - 10.1017/s0960777312000252
DO - 10.1017/s0960777312000252
M3 - Journal article
SN - 0960-7773
VL - 21
SP - 375
EP - 399
JO - Contemporary European History
JF - Contemporary European History
IS - 3
ER -