Facts
- Internationale Handelsgesellschaft mbH, a German exporter, had to obtain export licences and lodge monetary deposits under German implementing rules for the Common Agricultural Policy.
- The company argued that these national requirements clashed with directly applicable EU regulations governing agricultural exports.
- A German administrative court questioned the compatibility of the domestic measure and referred validity and interpretation questions to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) under Article 177 EEC (now Article 267 TFEU).
- During the reference, the German Federal Constitutional Court indicated that fundamental rights in the Basic Law might, in extreme cases, justify refusing to apply an EU measure, thereby hinting at a constitutional limit on EU law.
Issues
- Whether fundamental rights provisions in the German Basic Law could restrict the applicability of EU regulations within Germany.
- Whether the German licensing and deposit scheme was inconsistent with the relevant EU regulations on agricultural exports.
Decision
- The ECJ ruled that the validity of an EU act can be assessed only against EU law; national constitutional provisions cannot diminish its effect.
- EU law therefore enjoys primacy over every form of national law, including constitutional norms designed to safeguard fundamental rights.
- The Court nonetheless confirmed that fundamental rights constitute general principles of EU law and are protected by the ECJ itself.
- On the merits, the deposit requirement conflicted with the applicable EU agricultural rules and was consequently inapplicable.
Legal Principles
- Supremacy: EU rules prevail over conflicting national legislation regardless of its hierarchical rank.
- Uniformity and effectiveness: Allowing each Member State’s constitution to override EU measures would jeopardise the uniform and effective operation of the Union legal order.
- Fundamental rights as general principles: National courts may not review EU acts by their own constitutions “so long as” equivalent protection exists at Union level (Solange I).
- Preliminary rulings: Under Article 177 EEC, only the ECJ may determine the validity and interpretation of EU law; national courts are bound by its rulings.
Conclusion
The Court confirmed the unconditional primacy of EU law, invalidated the German export-deposit scheme, and located the protection of fundamental rights within EU law itself, excluding parallel constitutional review by Member States.
