Inaugural Lecture Prof. Takis Tridimas: Do we have too many European rights?

Do we have too many European rights?

Rights creation is in the genes of the EU. In its seminal judgment in Van Gend en Loos (1963), the Court of Justice established the principle of direct effect, according to which EU law can directly grant enforceable rights to individuals. This transformative ruling essentially abolished the State’s monopoly to grant rights, which has existed since the birth of the nation state, and sowed the seeds of a nascent form of European citizenship.

EU law has since expanded in scope and intensity and now represents the greatest source of law reform in all Member States. Yet, rights generation by courts has increasingly come under attack.

The majoritarian critique claims that human rights undermine majoritarian government; the anti-integrationist critique asserts that too many rights are created by supra-national courts and calls for the repatriation of powers to sovereigns; and the anti-democracy critique questions democracy and the rules-based order in their foundations.

The lecture will engage with these critiques, unpack what it means to be a European citizen, and reflect on the role of courts, especially supranational courts, in governance.

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• 18.00 – 18.15

  Opening remarks
  Prof. Jens Kreisel (Rector, University of Luxembourg)

• 18.15 – 19.00

  Do we have too many European rights?
  Prof. Takis Tridimas (Director, Luxembourg Centre for European Law, University of Luxembourg)

• 19.00 – 20.00

  Cocktail Reception

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  Prof. Takis Tridimas

  Luxembourg Centre for European Law, University of Luxembourg

  Director

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  Prof. Jens Kreisel

  University of Luxembourg

  Rector

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