Debating Europe's Justice Deficit: The EU, Swabian Housewives, Rawls, and Ryanair

Grainne De Burca 

New York University (NYU) - Law School

Dimitry Kochenov 

University of Groningen - Faculty of Law

Andrew Trevor Williams 

University of Warwick - School of Law
November 2013

EUI Department of Law Research Paper No. 11 
Abstract:      

This edited working paper proposes a new way of appraising the process of European integration, taking the notion of Justice as a starting point. With a number of contributions from the leading theorists of EU integration as well as younger scholars and practitioners of European law, it adopts a multi-faceted approach to what the editors branded as a possible "justice deficit" in Europe, looking at procedural as well as substantive elements of justice, also connecting justice with legitimacy, democracy, the rule of law, and other key principles of European law. Taking justice seriously is no doubt an indispensable element of any mature constitutional system. In starting the debate on justice in the EU context and immediately involving a number of leading scholars into the debate, the working paper aims at bridging an important gap in our theorising of European integration and law by starting a wide exchange on the topic of key importance, which is the essence of Justice, informing the integration project in Europe.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 67

Keywords: justice, democracy, legitimacy, rule of law, internal market

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2368156