The European ‘Nomofilachia’ and the Principle of Proportionality

Abstract

*The European Court of Justice greatly contributes to the guarantees that Community law will be uniformly interpreted and applied (“nomofilachia”) and the rights which individuals derive from the Community legal order will be effectively protected. This essay analyses some aspects of the European Union “nomofilachia”; the research is developed in two steps which are strictly correlated. In the first part, it will be underlined how the uniform interpretation and the uniform application of EC law go beyond the provisions of art. 234 of the EC Treat; and are supported by new kind of relations among the Court of Justice, national courts and national administrations. In the second part of the research, it will be highlighted the impact of the general principles of the European Community legal system, moulded through the “nomofilachia” function of the Luxembourg Court, as regards the activities of national administrations. The analysis gives a particular attention to the evolutionary dynamics of the proportionality principle. All these aspects work in a contemporary context of deep transformation of the traditional relations among law, courts, administrations and citizens. * This essay is the joint work of both authors with Barone primary responsible for paragraph 1,2,3,4,9 and Ansaldi for paragraph 5,6,7,8.