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A German View on the European Charter of Fundamental Rights: Effect on the Bundesverfassungsgericht

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 October 2017

Jürgen Schwarze
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Extract

As already stated in the title of this article I will present a German view on the European Charter of Fundamental Rights. In Germany, like almost everywhere else, the views of lawyers hardly ever coincide—at least not completely. This is also true concerning a matter which has often been regarded as a typical German problem or to use the less diplomatic French expression, une querelle allemande: that is the need for a proper dogmatic concept of the protection of human rights in EC law.

In the first part, I will follow the title to the letter and illustrate the legal effect of the Charter on the German Constitutional Court (Bundesverfassungsgericht) in a narrow sense. In the second part, I would like to extend my report, and consider the general acceptance of the Charter in Germany in a broader sense. I will conclude with a personal statement on the Charter.

Type
Research Article
Information
Cambridge Yearbook of European Legal Studies , Volume 3 , 2000 , pp. 407 - 423
Copyright
Copyright © Centre for European Legal Studies, Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge 2000

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References

1 Presidency Conclusions, Nice European Council Meeting, I.2; SN 400/00. See also Schwarze, J. “The birth of a European constitutional order—Résumé” in Schwarze, J. (ed.) The birth of a European constitutional order (Baden-Baden, Nomos, 2001) 562 et seq Google Scholar.

2 Fischer, K.H. Der Vertrag von Nizza (Baden-Baden, Nomos, 2001) 77, 269Google Scholar.

3 Ibid. at 263.

4 Interview of Roman Herzog in Spiegel 25/2000, 42, 46.

5 Annex IV to the Presidency Conclusions of the Cologne European Council, SN 150/99.

6 See Grabenwarter, C. “Die Charta der Grundrechte für die Europäische Union” (2001) DVBL 1, 11 Google Scholar.

7 Case C-44/79 Hauer [1979] ECR 3727, para. 15.

8 OJ 1977 C 103/1.

9 See also Opinion of AG Alber in Case C-340/99 TNT Traco SpA v. Poste Italiane SpA, of 1 February 2001, para. 95. AG Alber referred to the Charter as one source of fundamental values and principles of the EC; furthermore Opinion of AG Mischo in Cases C-122/99 P and C-125/99 Germany & Sweden v. Council, of 22 February 2001, para. 97; Opinion of AG Jacobs in Case C-270/99 Z. v. European Parliament, of 22 March 2001, para. 40.

10 Case T-112/98 Mannesmannröbren-Werke AG, Judgment of 28 February 2001, para. 76.

11 Engel, C. The European Charter of Fundamental Rights (Max-Planclc-Projektgruppe Recht der Gemeinschaftsgüter, Preprint, 2001/2) 13 Google Scholar.

12 Herzog, above n 4 at 42.

13 See Grabenwarter, above n 6 at 11.

14 BVerfGE 73, 339, 383 et seq.

15 This occurred during a debate on the Charter in the Bundestag on 20 October 2000. All parliamentary parties welcomed the Charter in principle.

16 See Däubler-Gmelin, H. “Eine europäische Charta der Grundrechte” (2000) EuZW 1 Google Scholar; Däubler-Gmelin, H. “Vom Marktbürger zum EU-Bürger” FAZ, 10 January 2000, 11 Google Scholar.

17 Schwarze above n 1 at 533.

18 Limbach J. “Die Kooperation der Gerichte in der zukünftigen europäischen Grundrechtsarchitektur” (2000) EuCRZ 417, 419; Herzog, above n 4 at 42.

19 BVerfGE 37, 271.

20 See also Limbach, above n 18 at 417.

21 As actual guarantees of fundamental rights as well as unwritten general principles of administrative law. For further details see: Schwarze, J. European Administrative Law (Baden-Baden, Nomos, 1992)Google Scholar.

22 BVerfGE 73, 339.

23 BVerfGE 37, 271.

24 BVerfGE 89, 155, 188.

25 BVerfGE 89, 155, at 175; BVerfGE 73, 339, at 387.

26 See Everling, U. “Bundesverfassungsgericht und Gerichtshof der Europäischen Gemeinschaften nach dem Maastricht-Urteil” in Randelzhofer, Scholz, Wilke, (eds.) Gedächtnisschrift für Eberhard Crabitz (Munich, C.H. Beck, 1995) 57 Google Scholar; Frowein, J.A. “Das Maastricht-Urteil und die Grenzen der Verfassungsgerichtsbarkeit” 54 (1994) ZaöRV, 1 Google Scholar; Tomuschat, C. “Die Europäische Union unter Aufsicht des Bundesverfassungsgerichtes” (1993) EuGRZ, 489 Google Scholar.

27 See Limbach, above n 18 at 419; Nicolaysen G. and Nowak C. “Teilrückzug des BVerfG aus der Kontrolle der Rechtmäßigkeit gemeinschaflicher Rechtsakte: Neuere Entwicklungen und Perspektiven” (2001) NJW, 1233.

28 Hirsch, G. “Gemeinschaftsgrundrechte: Rechtsprechung des EuGH, Verhältnis zum Grundgesetz, EU-Charta” in Vertretung der Europäischen Kommission in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland (ed.), Gespräche, Europäische, Heft 2/1999, Eine europäische Charta der Grundrechte, Beitrag zur gemeinsamen Identität (Berlin, 1999) 43, 48Google Scholar.

29 BVerfG, Decision of 17 February 2000—2 BvR 1210/98—Alean, EuZW 2000, 445.

30 BVerwGE 106, 328.

31 Case C-24/95 Land Rheinland-Pfalz v. Alean Deutschland [1997] ECR I-1591.

32 For more details on the extent to which national constitutional law has been influenced by EC law see Schwarze, J. “Synoptic evaluation of the national reports and comparative legal prospects” in Schwarze, J. (ed.) Administrative Law under European Influence (Baden-Baden, Nomos, 1996)Google Scholar.

33 BVerfG, 2 BvL 1/97 of 7 June 2000, 1; (2000) NJW, 3124 et seq.

34 Everling, U. “Will Europe slip on Bananas? The Bananas Judgment of the Court of Justice and national Courts” 33 (1996) CMLRev 401 Google Scholar.

35 (2000) NJW 3124, 3125; Limbach, above n 18 at 420.

36 Scholz, R. in Maunz & Dürig GG-Kommentar (Munich, C.H. Beck, 1994)Google Scholar Art. 23, note 61.

37 BVerfG, 2 BvL 1/97 of 7 June 2000, 64; (2000) NJW, 3124, 3125.

38 BVerfG, 1 BvR 1036/99 of 9 January 2001, 1, (2001) NJW, 1267.

39 BVerfG, 1 BvR 1036/99 of 9 January 2001, 23, (2001) NJW, 1267, 1268.

40 With the recent exception of the Austrian Constitutional Court (österreichischer Verfassungsgerichtshof) in the Adria Pipelines Case (Case C-143/99 Adria Pipelines v. Finanzlandesdirektion für Kärnten, OJ 1999 C 188/18) and the regional Hessian State Court (Staatsgerichtshof des Landes Hessen) in the Badeck Case (Case C-158/97 Georg Badeck et al., [2000] ECR I-1875.

41 Case C-48/93 Factortame [1996] ECR I-1029.

42 See Schwarze, above n 1 at 538 et seq.

43 See Limbach, above n 18 at 420.

44 Ibid. In this context the recent proposition of Judge Di Fabio at the Bundesverfassungsgericht should be mentioned. He suggested establishing alongside the European Court of Justice a common European constitutional court, consisting of judges from the national constitutional courts of the Member States. In this way the balance between Member States and the EU would also be symbolised in the jurisprudence. See Di Fabio, U. “Ist die Staatswerdung Europas unausweichlich?” FAZ, 2 February 2001, 8 Google Scholar.

45 Hirsch, G. “Ein Bekenntnis zu den Grundwerten”, FAZ, 12 October 2000, 11 Google Scholar.

46 For more details see Dorau, C. and Jacobi, P. “The debate over a ‘European Constitution’: Is it Solely a German Concern?” 6 (2000) European Public Law, 413 CrossRefGoogle Scholar, 416 et seq.

47 Schachtschneider, A. “Jeder Widerspruch gegen die Charta ist angezeigt” Zeit-Fragen Sonderbeilage, October 2000, 1 Google Scholar et seq.

48 FAZ, 5 April 2001, 8.

49 See Hirsch, G. “Ein Bekenntnis zu den Grundwerten” FAZ 12 October 2000, 11 Google Scholar.

50 See Benda, E. “Europa als Grundrechtsgemeinschaft” in Festschrift für F. Schäfer, (1980) S. 12 (22 f.)Google Scholar; B. Beutler, B. “1996—auf dem Weg zu einer europäischen Verfassung?” (Kritische Justiz, 1996) 52 Google Scholar, 62 et seq.; opposing opinion however: Frowein, J. A. “Die Verfassung der Europäischen Union aus der Sicht der Mitgliedstaaten” (1995) EuR, 315, 326 Google Scholar et seq., preferring to revert to the ECHR; also Cromme, F. “Der Verfassungsentwurf des institutionellen Ausschusses des Europäischen Parlaments” (1995) ZG 256, 261 Google Scholar.

51 See Schwarze, J. “Art. 220 EGV”, note 17 in Schwarze, J. (ed.), EU-Kommentar (Baden-Baden, Nomos, 2000)Google Scholar.

52 See Hilf, M. “Die Charta der Grundrechte der Europäischen Union” (2000) N/W supplement to n° 39/2000, 5 Google Scholar.

53 Limbach, above n 18 at 417.

54 See the article of the German Minister of Justice Däubler-Gmelin, H. “Eine europäische Charta der Grundrechte—Beitrag zur gemeinsamen Identität” (2000) EuZW S. 1 Google Scholar; Däubler-Gmelin, H. “Vom Marktbürger zum EU-Bürger” FAZ 10 January 2000, 11 Google Scholar; as well as Schwarze, J. “Probleme des europäischen Grundrechtsschutzes” in Festschrift für A. Deringer, (Baden-Baden, Nomos, 1993), 160 Google Scholar, 174; Everling, U. “Weiterentwicklung des Grundrechts schutzes durch den Europäischen Gerichtshof” in Weidenfeld, W. (ed.) Der Schutz der Grundrechte in der Europäischen Gemeinschaft (Europa-Union-Verlag, 1992) 73 Google Scholar, 77; Hilf M. above n 52 at 6.

55 Herzog R. “Demokratische Legitimation in Europa, in den Nationalstaaten, in den Regionen”, Ansprache von Bundespräsident Roman Herzog zur Eröffnung des Symposiums an der Universität Freiburg am 28 April 1999, 17.

56 See also Tomuschat, C. “Manche Rechte bedürfen der Konkretisierung” FAZ 7 Google Scholar August 2000, 13.

57 See Lenz, Chr. “note to the Gibraltar-judgment, ECHR, judgment of 18 February 1999, Denise Matthews v. U.K.” (1999) EuZW, 311, 312.

58 Limbach, above n 18 at 420.

59 See also Zuleeg, M. “Zum Verhältnis nationaler und europäischer Grundrechte” (2000) EuGRZ, 511 Google Scholar, 516.

60 See also Alber, S &. Widmaier U. “Die EU-Charta der Grundrechte und ihre Auswirkung auf die Rechtsprechung” (2000) EuGRZ, 497, 500; Tomuschat, C. “Manche Rechte bedürfen der Konkretisierung” FAZ 7 August 2000, 13 Google Scholar.

61 Tomuschat, ibid, at 13

62 Annex IV to the Presidency Conclusions of the Cologne European Council, SN 150/99.

63 J. A. Frowein, J.A. “Durchsetzung und Bindung der Grundrechte” in Eine Charta der Grundrechte—Beitrag zur gemeinsamen Identität, Dokumentation einer Tagung in Köln am 27 April 1999, edited by the Vertretung der Europäischen Kommission in der Bundesrepublik Deutschland, Bonn 1999, 96 Google Scholar, 98 et seq.

64 Case C-273/97 Angela Maria Sirdar v. The Army Board [1999] ECR I-7403.

65 Case C-285/98, Tanja Kreil v. Germany [2000] ECR I-0069.

66 For greater detail, see Schwarze, above n 1 at 152 et seq.

67 Art. 12a s. 4 GG states that in a case of defence, women can, under certain circumstances and by law or on the basis of a law, be drafted into service in the civil hospital sector. Art. 12a s. 4 (2) GG states that “under no circumstances ‘can they do’ armed service”. Whether para. 2 applies only to the scenario of conscription in a case of defence or whether it also concerns voluntary service is answered by Schwarze, above n 66 at 153, with further references.

68 Schwarze, above n 66 at 43; Scholz, R. “Nicht durch einen Federstrich des einfachen Gesetzgebers” FAZ 24 August 2000, 10 Google Scholar.

69 For a recent example for the ECJ’s emphasis of the importance of the distribution of competences see case C-376/98, Germany v. Parliament and Council [2000] ECR I-8419.

70 See Schwarze, above n 1 at 564 et seq.