ABSTRACT

The chapter presents the shortcomings of the principle of equality as a source of European Union (EU) law and discusses these shortcomings in light of the origin and development of the principle as a transnational phenomenon. It analyses the national transposition and implementation of a legal principle created through the process. The chapter examines resistance in transposition as a question of the procedural and substantive legitimacy of a supranational rule based on transnational principles. It describes the principle as a freestanding principle challenging national acts. The chapter explores ‘principle’ as an unwritten rule or basic consideration recognised as a common interpretation vehicle. The principle of equality can be traced back to the ancient Greek philosophers. In Mangold, the Court declared that the principle of non-discrimination on grounds of age must be regarded as an autonomous freestanding principle of European Unionlaw. A principle found in constitutional traditions common to Member States could be referred to as a transnational principle.