‘Space to breathe: subsidiarity, the Court of Justice and EU free movement law.’

My thesis examines the position of subsidiarity as an enforceable legal principle in EU law. It argues that, to date, discussion of the principle’s function in European integration remains overly focused on its effect as restraint on the Union legislature. In the first part of my thesis, I seek to challenge this assumption. I question whether or not the principle could and, ultimately, should also apply as a brake on the interpretative authority of the Court of Justice. Arguing that subsidiarity does indeed have a role to play in this context, I then turn to examine, in the second part of the thesis, the implications of this conclusion for the Court’s interpretation of the Treaty provisions on intra-EU movement. In the final analysis, I argue that the subsidiarity principle necessitates an adjustment in the Court’s current approach to the interpretation of the Treaty free movement provisions. This, in turn, has a positive effect on delimiting the appropriate scope of Member State regulatory autonomy.

Publications:

 ‘Subsidiarity and the Court of Justice: missing pieces in the subsidiarity jigsaw?' Journal of Common Market Studies (forthcoming).

‘The evolving scope of Art 63(1) TEFU,’ in L. Gormley and N. Nic Shuibhne (Eds.) From Single Market to Economic Union – Essays in honour of John A.  Usher, (OUP, forthcoming, 2011).

Teaching responsibilities:

Course Tutor: EC Law (Ord.) 2007 -

Guest lecturer EU (Ord.) Course 2010

Other areas of research interest:

-EU competition law

-EU capital market integration

-EU emissions trading law and policy

Full CV available on request

In September 2011 I will take up a lectureship at Liverpool Law School