| Abstract [eng] |
THE INTERPRETATION OF THE PRINCIPE OF PROPORTIONALITY IN THE PRACTICE OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE SUMMARY The topic of this thesis is: the interpretation of the principle of proportionality pursuant to the practice of the European Court of Justice. It discusses the very beginning of this principle and its establishment in the law of the European Union: from the 1951 Treaty of Paris to the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. The European Court of Justice explains the principle of proportionality as a concept of justice. The Court uses this principle’s criteria, which are sometimes also called a test of proportionality, in its practice. These criteria demand that suitable measures, necessary in settling the disputes that arise in the European Union, are used in the pursuance of lawful aims. The use of the principle of proportionality occupies a special place in evaluating the behaviour of the member states when they operate at the limits of Community law and when national measures, which the Consolidated Treaty of the European Union grants and allows them to use, are debated. The use of these national measures restricts the exercise of the freedoms of contract, i.e. the free movement of services, goods, people, and capital. By interpreting and following the principle of proportionality in the practice of the European Court of Justice, the granted freedoms are guaranteed and the behaviour of the states evaluated in pursuing the set aims of the European Union. The aim of this thesis is, on the basis of the practice of the European Court of Justice, to reveal the content of the principle of proportionality and the specifics of its use as well as to discuss each specific freedom granted by the European Union in its proper context. |
