Avoiding the Rain or Learning to Dance in It: The Hesitations of the Spanish Constitutional Court

This chapter will present the Spanish Constitutional Court’s hesitations regarding the application of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. The basic assumptions of the Spanish Constitutional Court about European integration are essentially the same as when Spain joined the European Communities in 1986. It never entertained concern or ambition to challenge the rising penetration of EC/EU law into national legal orders. From the beginning, it has practised a sort of pragmatical hybridisation of the constitutional parameter of review, initially regarding international human rights standards. When the need arose, it did not see any problem applying the same approach, first, to EC/EU law and, later, to the Charter of Fundamental Rights as interpreted by the CJEU and to apply its level of protection indirectly, under the disguise of national fundamental rights. The chapter will track the origins and continuity over time of that approach and discuss its advantages and disadvantages.