Treinta años de ius publicum commune europeo en España

Abstract

This dissertation briefly examines the process by which a body of common public law has been introduced in the Spanish legal system, over the last 30 years, under the influence of the EU law. The origins of that ius commune can be traced to the general principles recognized and applied by the European Court of Justice. In doing so, the ECJ has drawn first and foremost on common legal principles in the various EU member states. These general principles have taken a round-trip though: once they have been reshaped as a ‘European synthesis’, they have reenter the Member States legal systems as rules with a far reaching mandatory effect, binding national public bodies not only when they are implementing Union law, but also when their actions lay outside the scope of EU law. In order to explain this course, this paper proceeds through three different examples: the power and duty of national courts to apply interim relief in order to ensure the full effectiveness of EU law, Member State liability for breach of EU law and the doctrine of legitimate expectations.