Cover The Origins of European Union Law
series "Universale Paperbacks il Mulino"
pp. 248, Brossura, 978-88-15-12609-2
publication year 2009

ANTONIO GRILLI

The Origins of European Union Law

This text examines the origins of community law from the establishment of the European Coal and Steel Community up to the early Sixties: a crucial decade for the emergence of a new kind of law, which was neither national, nor federal, nor codified. It stemmed from extra-legislative needs such as doctrine and jurisprudence, especially the Court of Justice in which the advocates general Maurice Lagrange (a Frenchman) and Karl Roemer (a German) played such a central role, but its construction was neither organic nor code-based; rather, it developed on basis of isolated "pillars", a shared fabric of great principles accompanied by a corpus of Treaties. EU law is thus "bizarre", a product of illustrious legal practitioners who were inspired by the ideal of a united Europe.

Contents: Preface - Introduction: An Unexplored Field - 2. Difficult Beginnings, among Enthusiasm and Stagnation - 3. The Birth of the European Communities and the Ensuing Reactions: From Hope to Caution - 4. The Birth of "European" Law: Style and Method of the First Court of Justice Advocats General, Karl Roemer and Maurice Lagrange - 5. Roemer, Lagrange, and the Construction of European Law: "Common Principles" rather than Codes - 6. The European Communities' Court of Justice: Promotion and Celebration of European Law - 7. Maurice Lagrange's Way Forward - 8. European Administration: Hierarchical Principles and Spirit of Solidarity - 9. Operational Jurists at Europe's Service: The Communities' "Service Juridique Commun" - Conclusion.

Antonio Grilli, a scholar of the history of law and institutions, used to teach and conduct research at the University of Trier (Germany). He is currently a European Union official.

Premessa
Introduzione
1. Inizi tormentati, tra entusiasmi e stasi
2. La nascita delle Comunità europee e le reazioni
3. La nascita di un «diritto europeo»
4. Roemer, Lagrange e la costruzione del diritto europeo
5. La Corte di giustizia delle Comunità europee
6. Il percorso europeo di Maurice Lagrange
7. L'amministrazione europea, tra principio gerarchico e spirito di solidarietà
8. Giuristi operativi al servizio dell'Europa: il Service juridique commun delle Comunità
Conclusioni
Bibliografia
Indice dei nomi