National constitutional courts in the European constitutional democracy

Abstract

This article critically assesses the transformation of national constitutional courts' place in the law and politics of the EU and its member states. This process eliminates the difference between constitutional and ordinary national courts, which is crucial for the institutional implementation of the discourse theory of law and democracy. It also disrupts the symbiotic relationship between national constitutional democracies established after World War II and European integration. The article argues that maintaining the special place of national constitutional courts is in the vital interest of both the EU and its member states, understood together as the European Constitutional Democracy-the central notion developed in this article in order to support an argument that should speak to both EU lawyers and national constitutionalists.