Week 4: General principles of EU LAW. Sources of EU law Structure and Hierarchy of Legal Norms
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Analysis of key general principles of EU LAW
Individual Rights
Internationale Handelsgesellschaft
The Court tackled the issue of protecting individual rights in Internationale Handelsgesellschaft (1970).
A German company, Internationale Handelsgesellschaft, challenged the EU’s agricultural export licensing system. It argued that the license system impeded its right to freely conduct business, as guaranteed by the German constitution.
The German court hearing the challenge asked the Court of Justice whether the EU is required to respect certain human rights standards. The Judges concluded that respect for fundamental rights is an essential part of the general principles of EU law, which the Court is responsible for upholding.
Defrenne
This principle was developed further in Defrenne v SABENA (1976).
An air hostess, Ms Defrenne, sued her former employer, the Belgian airline SABENA, claiming compensation for the loss she had suffered in terms of salary and other entitlements as a result of unequal remuneration of female and male members of the air crew performing identical duties. The Court ruled that the principle of equal pay for men and women could be relied on before national courts in cases between individuals and their employers. Ms Defrenne could use EU law in her case against her airline employer before her national court in order to ensure gender equality in the workplace.
