Market Freedoms, Fundamental Rights, and the European Public Order: Views from Cyprus*

Abstract

The objective of this article is to study in a comparative perspective the evolution of legal interests involved in the protection of fundamental rights/freedoms in the EU constitutional legal order,1 as perceived by the Court of Justice of the European Union (‘CJEU’) in its case-law with respect to Cyprus. The most obvious interest of this article lies in the analysis of the principles of European integration of Cyprus as set out by the Court in its jurisprudence. Beyond this immediate academic interest,2 and most importantly, it is argued that this case-law participates in the broader construction of the EU constitutional legal order through the development of the protection of fundamental rights/freedoms in the EU.3 This case-law arguably takes the legal enforcement of individual rights granted under EU law to new horizons, by revisiting EU law principles in the context of the EU–Cyprus relations. Ultimately, it illustrates the ever-growing impact of rights-based claims on the EU constitutional legal order, arguably participating at the EU level in the construction of a ‘European public order’4 devoted to the effective judicial protection of individual rights in Europe. This article therefore extends into the realm of international law, both through the public sphere with a review of the protection of fundamental rights inter alia under the European Convention of Human Rights (‘ECHR’) and through the private sphere with the consideration of legal issues arising in transnational civil and commercial disputes.