Publication details
Ústava a právo Evropské unie
| Title in English | The Constitution of the Czech Republic and EU law |
|---|---|
| Authors | |
| Year of publication | 2023 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Právo a bezpečnost |
| Citation | |
| Web | Plný text časopisu. |
| Keywords | Constitutional Court; European law; European Union; Court of Justice of the EU. |
| Attached files | |
| Description | The constitution is the highest and basic legal source of the state. In the event of a conflict between the values contained in the constitution of a Member State of the European Union and European Union law, the conflict must be resolved in accordance with the general relationship between the constitutional law of the Member State and European Union law. The Constitution of the Czech Republic gives priority to ratified international treaties over laws and thus by-laws. However, this precedence does not apply to constitutional laws. From the point of view of the Constitution of the Czech Republic, a constitutional norm is binding on the territory of Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia, even if it is in conflict with EU law, which are international treaties (primary EU law) or regulations and directives issued on the basis of it (secondary EU law). The theory of the primacy of EU law over the entire legal order of a Member State, including its constitution, is based on the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU. However, this approach is not supported by the international treaties of the European Union and is based only on the application of a similar principle in international law. However, the essence of international contract law is that a party must agree to any international agreement as a party to the agreement. However, many matters of EU secondary law can be taken by majority decision even against the will of a Member State. The question of the primacy of a particular legal system is linked to the question of sovereignty. If a Member State does not lose its sovereignty by joining the European Union, the law of another entity, including the European Union, cannot take precedence over its highest legal norms - the constitution. If we override the law of the EU over the constitutions of their member states even without the consent of these member states, it applies that by joining the EU the member state loses sovereignty. Because the Accession Treaty signed by the Czech Republic before accession to the EU, which was voted in a referendum, does not stipulate that the Czech Republic loses its sovereignty, nor does it stipulate the principle of the primacy of EU law over the Czech Republic's constitutional laws. Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the EU, the Czech Republic is still a sovereign state. Its basic values are in the constitution and are not subject to any foreign law. |