An Ever More Powerful Court?:
The Political
Constraints of Legal Integration in the European Union
by Dorte Sindbjerg Martinsen (Author)
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has
become famed - and often shamed - for its political power. In scholarly
literature, this supranational court has been regarded as a 'master of
integration' for its capacity to strengthen integration, sometimes against the
will of member states. In the public debate, the CJEU has been severely
criticized for extending EU competences at the expense of the member states. In
An Ever More Powerful Court? The Political Constraints of Legal Integration in
the European Union, Dorte Sindbjerg Martinsen challenges these views with her
careful examination of how judicial-legislative interactions determine the
scope and limits of European integration in the daily EU decision-making
process.
Methodologically, the book takes a step forward in the
examination of judicial influence, suggesting a 'law attainment' approach as a
novel method, combined with a large set of interviews with the current
decision-makers of social Europe. Through a study of social policy developments
from 1957 to 2014, as well as a critical analysis of three case studies - EU
regulation of working time; patients' rights in cross-border healthcare; and EU
posting of worker regulations - Martinsen reveals the dynamics behind legal and
political integration and the CJEU's ability to foster political change for a European
Union social policy.
