Die Grundrechte der Europäischen Union. System und allgemeine Grundrechtslehren

Despite the desire to establish a firm legal understanding of the Fundamental Rights in European Union Law, these rights have largely maintained their character as a legal mystery, appearing in various different shapes and forms when seen through the lenses of the different actors. The European Court of Justice and institutional practice blend various human rights traditions, while national courts and national legal scholars tend to dwell in the more or less splendid isolation of their respective legal culture. The draft EU Charter of Fundamental Rights has absorbed this fractured nature. The present work digs down to the roots of the legal problems and finds the solution in the common denominator of traditions and the structure of European Union Law, developed as General Doctrines of Fundamental Rights through a sysematic approach. The application of this approach to EU Law is to a large extent pioneering work. The research topics background ist defined by the central role that fundamental rights play in the EU Process of Constitutionalization. The existing system of complex interaction between national and Union Law, often referred to as multilevel constitutionalism or "Verfassungsverbund", also entails multilevel fundamental rights. Legal discourse in that regard has often been narrowly focussed on potential conflict; in conrast, the draft EU Charter of Fundamental Rights has highlighted the positive side of guaratees in EU Law. When it comes to legal substance however, the naked text of the Charter is both, overpromising and incomplete. It promises too much on social rights, while it lacks clear provisions on the scope and limitation of rights. Besides, even as a binding legal text, the Charter would still not fully derogate the General Principes of EU Law which still are the key source of fundamental rights. Seen in conjunction with this background, it is first and foremost the general legal landscape that defines the scope and the possible limitations of Fundamental Rights. The peculiarities of EU Law amend and modify traditional concepts of fundamental Rights in national and international law. These traditional concepts and the structure of European Union Law shape Fundamental Rights in EU Law, and only a systematic approach developing General Doctrines of Fundamental Rights can provide answers to the plethora of open questions.