Full Description
This edited volume is a comprehensive and extensive analysis of key legal developments of the EU and its Member States during the two-decade period of the largest EU enlargement spanning 2004-2024, with insights on the EU's future. The accession of ten countries (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) was an unprecedented event in its scale and its long-lasting effects on security, stability and prosperity in Europe. Today's EU is the result of not only how Member States have benefitted from opportunities but also how they have responded to crises.
Part I emphasizes the EU as a peace-orientated integration through (the rule of) law. Part II reveals EU identity as a value-based legal entity and EU membership as a constitutional value among other aspects such as accession treaties and the experience of particular States (Latvia, Lithuania, Poland) with some historical discourse. Part III explores different aspects of European integration, such as principles of effectiveness and proportionality, issues of external relations, common foreign and security policy and the rule of law, jurisdiction of the EU Court of Justice and EU law-affected developments in national criminal law, civil law and procedure. Part IV addresses crucial issues pending for the Union in the nearest future, mainly further EU enlargement with a focus on Ukraine's accession (and the related issue of seeking justice) as well as the topics of the relation between EU law and national law and EU future reform.
The book is a source of knowledge and inspiration for researchers and practitioners in the field of EU law and should also be useful for anyone interested in EU law, EU membership, and EU law-affected fields of domestic law and further European integration.
Indrė Isokaitė-Valužė is an Associate Professor at the Law Faculty of Vilnius University in Lithuania.
Haroldas Šinkūnas is a Professor at the Law Faculty of Vilnius University in Lithuania.
Contents
Part I. Introduction.- 1. The European Union as a Peace-orientated Integration through (the Rule of) Law and EU Membership in a Shifting International Landscape: An Introduction.- Part II. European Union Membership and Values.- 2. From the Union of Lublin to the European Union - The Common Path of Poland and Lithuania in the Process of Integration through Law.- 3.- Membership in the European Union as a Constitutional Value and Obligation.- 4. Values of the European Union in the Face of Crises: Protected, Challenged, Modified?.- 5. The Legal Framework of the EU's Enlargement under the Magnifying Glass: The 2003 Accession Treaty before the EU Courts.- 6. Europeanization of National Constitutional Identity: 20 Years of Latvia in the European Union.- Part III. European Integration: A Closer Look into Several Areas.- 7. Impact of the Interpretation of the Principle of Effectiveness in the Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union on National Case Law.- 8. Hearing of a Child as a Reflection of the Influence of European Union Law on Polish Civil Procedural Law.- 9. Amendments in the Legal Acts Dealing with Criminal Offences in Lithuania: Impact and Insights for the Future.- 10. Application of the Principle of Proportionality: Criminal Law Aspects in the Case Law of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Lithuania and the Court of Justice of the European Union.- 11. Jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Field of the Common Foreign and Security Policy and the Principle of Rule of Law.- 12.- Development and Challenges of the European Union's External Relations.- 13. The Impact of the Judgements of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Protection of the Rule of Law during Constitutional Crisis in Poland.- 14. Judicial Review of Administrative Decisions by the Court of Justice of the European Union and by Lithuanian Courts.- 15. Development of Criminal Law in Latvia in the Last 20 Years - the Impact and Expression of EU Law.- Part IV. The Future of the European Union: Thinking Ahead.- 16. Small and Medium-Sized Central European Member States vs. EU Reform.- 17. 20 Years Later: Lessons from Latvia's Accession to the European Union and Their Implications for Ukraine's European Union Membership.- 18. European Union and Core International Crimes: Support of Ukraine in the Fight against Impunity.- 19. European Union Law in the Case-Law of the Lithuanian Constitutional Court: Still an Open Question?.- 20. Legal Mechanism of European Values Implementation as a Key Requirement on the Way to Ukraine's Accession to the European Union.- 21. Ukraine's Accession to the European Union: Legislative Dimension.
