The development of the European Union and the decisions of the German Constitutional Court

Abstract

Until today, many see the moves towards European integration as the only escape from the extreme forms of nationalism Europe experienced before 1945 and which devastated the whole continent in World War II. In the recent debate on the EURO currency crisis the argument of more and deeper integration as the only possible way is again very present. But the integration process means a transfer of state powers from the member states to the EU organs and therefore finally a reduction of the national sovereignty of the member states. There has always been criticism regarding this weakening of national sovereignty or at least regarding the extent of a transfer of powers. With the advancement of the integration process and the increasing amount of competences of the EU organs even the question came up, how many competences and which kind of powers must urgently remain with the national states for them to be preserved as sovereign states. Therefore the process of integration has always been on debate and at every stage critically accompanied by the constitutional courts of the member states. This article gives a background to understand the historical dimension of the problem in general and especially the discussion in Germany and the development of the position of the German Federal Constitutional Court.