The Legitimacy of Free Movement Case Law: Process and Substance

The chapter investigates how the European Court of Justice has coped with the free movement provisions of the Treaties; has its case law been legitimate? The fundamental starting point of the analysis is simple. The European Court of Justice is both a court and a European institution. As a result, it needs to comply with two sets of standards: those required of judicial institutions and those required of EU institutions. In other words, two questions need to be answered: has the Court behaved like a court should, and has the Court observed the limits that EU institutions should observe? It will be argued that while many aspects of the Court’s work in the field of free movement can be criticised, the final verdict should not be overly harsh, given the context