New network member Thomas Streinz (NYU) has alerted us to an intriguing decision of the Bundesverfassungsgericht, Case 2 BvR 2735/14, published last week, which adds another chapter to the ongoing saga of the complex relationship between Karlsruhe and Luxembourg. Thomas' perceptive analysis of the decision is below. The decision (in German) can be found here, and the English press release is available here.
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The present decision concerns the classic problem of fundamental rights protection against acts of EU law that gave rise to the Solange I+II decisions. There had been rumors about an impeding “Solange III” decision for some time, but a closer look reveals that the German Constitutional Court uses a different tool out of its how-to-check-EU-law-toolbox: Identitätskontrolle. The Court held that human dignity -- as the paramount value under German constitutional law, and thus part of its constitutional identity -- needs to be safeguarded by precluding the enforcement of a European arrest warrant against an American citizen who was sentenced to 30 years in prison in absentia in Italy.