Choice of forum, European citizenship and fundamental rights: the position of the defendant

The Court of Justice has stated that ‘the founding treaties of the EU, unlike ordinary international treaties, established a new legal order, possessing its own institutions, for the benefit of which the Member States thereof have limited their sovereign rights, in ever wider fields, and the subjects of which comprise not only those States but also their nationals’. The wording highlights the differences between the European legal order (the European Union (EU) and its Member States) and the international legal order. Whereas international law is regarded as a matter between states, the Court’s characterisation of the European Union expressly makes room for individuals, EU citizens to be more precise. In line with this, Article 3(2) of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) states that the EU shall offer its citizens an area of freedom, security and justice without internal frontiers, in which the free movement of persons is ensured in conjunction with appropriate measures with respect to external border controls, asylum, immigration, and the prevention and combating of crime.