Protection of Fundamental Rights in Europe

This monograph offers a longitudinal analysis of the developments in the European fundamental rights arena during the last decade. Decisions of critical importance on the future of the EU need to be taken by the EU institutions and the Member States' governments. The 'existential' crisis affecting Europe is essentially a crisis of values revealing a lack of shared vision. Based on this premise, this monograph contributes to the debate on how to overcome the current impasse. By situating the analysis of the EU in the context of a wider Europe, which includes the ECHR (and its interpretation by the ECtHR), this work challenges the idea that the project of European integration should be abandoned. Instead it proposes a re-orientation of this process, conceptualised as a dynamic interaction of different actors, sources and laws on fundamental rights within the wider Europe. Following an evaluation of the current fundamental rights' regimes, the monograph proposes a model of effective governance of fundamental rights in Europe based on the doctrines of dialogical constitutionalism and agency. This original and innovative contribution is enriched by findings from British Academy funded research on the European architecture of fundamental rights post-Lisbon Treaty.

Unique methodological approach based on doctrinal legal analysis, theoretical socio-legal insights and empirical data Original empirical data deriving from more than 30 interviews with the Judges of the two European Courts, EU and Council of Europe's officials and policy makers Timely placed within a new and emerging scholarship on European integration and the dynamics of the relationship between the EU and CoE

Inhalt

1 Integration and Fundamental Rights in Europe.- 2 Expanding Theories of Constitutionalism and Legal Pluralism: 'Integration Through Rights' in Europe.- 3 Dialogic Constitutionalism and its Application to Fundamental Rights.- 4 European Integration Through Rights: A Balancing Exercise and the Quest for Uniformity.- 5 The Concept of Agency in Making Policy on Fundamental Rights.- 6 Current Obstacles and Future Challenges of Integration in Europe.- 7 Conclusions.- Appendices.