ABSTRACT
This conclusion presents some closing thoughts on the concepts discussed in the various chapters of this book. The book tries to solve what were considered the most relevant puzzles posed by the rulings, scrutinizing courts from both a legal and political perspective and trying to provide for an integrative approach. It provides a better understanding of the behaviour of judicial actors in the process of European integration. The book develops a reflection on the cases that combines comparative constitutional law, European law and judicial politics. It analyzes in more detail the interaction between the two outcomes of the research: decisions on the merits and statements of Kompetenz-Kompetenz. The book provides models of judicial behaviour which could account for national higher courts (NHCs)' decisions. It assumes that one of the NHCs' institutional goals was self-empowerment and that a number of intervening factors could explain why some NHCs placed more emphasis on it than others.
