(RE)MINDING THE PRIMATE OF THE RULES OF EUROPEAN LAW: THE HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF THE PRIMACY AND ITS FIRST JURISPRUDENTIAL CONSECUTIONS

The integration processes which fomented the emergence of the European Union have established an autonomous legal order in the European area. In addition to its consolidated independence of national jurisdictions, it has been understood since the 1960s that the precepts of Community Law override the legal order of the Member States, even under a constitutional angle. In this context, this article reviews the unnumbered questions raised by the principle of primacy, as well as the national and the Union European Court’s statements about that tenet’s suitability and scope.