Founding Principles of EU Law. A Theoretical and Doctrinal Sketch

Armin Von Bogdandy

Max Planck Society for the Advancement of the Sciences - Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law 
June 1, 2010

Revus 12 | 2010. 35-56
Abstract:     

The article provides the groundwork for the constitutional law approach to EU legal scholarship. It stresses the special role of the basic principles of the EU legal order, explaining their dimensions, foundations and their functions. First of all, legal principles play a special role in ordering the legal material into a meaningful whole, a function the author entitles doctrinal constructivism. Furthermore, they can supply arguments for the creative application of the law and can at the same time help to maintain and further legal infrastructure. The author also explains their legal and integrative aspects and their constitutional characteristics and illustrates their significance for establishing unity of EU law in light of heterogeneous primary law.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 23

Keywords: basic principles, constitutional law, constitutional theory, European Union, functions of legal scholarship

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2427443