Law and policy in European integration (1960s-1990s

Research Project

From its beginnings, European integration required legal solutions to very concrete policy issues and led to the creation of a large body of policy-relevant law – ranging from agriculture and competition to the environment and social policy. The project focuses on the relationship between law and policy in European integration from the 1960s to the 1990s.

The relationship between law and policy goes both ways. On the one hand, we explore how European law shaped European policy-making. To what extent did legal actors – lawyers within the institutions and courts – enable or obstruct the development of various policies and the legal instruments chosen? What legal norms, ideas and doctrines did they employ in doing so? On the other hand, we investigate how European policy shaped European law. How is this influence reflected in legislation and judicial decisions? The objective of the project is to enhance our understanding of what ‘integration through law’ means, particularly with a view to European policy areas that have increasingly come to shape the lives and livelihoods of European citizens.

Based on the result of the Annual Conference 2021’s discussion and contributions, an edited book is forthcoming to advance this so-far underresearched field.