The fundamental rights implications of EU legislation: some constitutional challenges

The architecture of the EU system of protection of fundamental rights is uniquely complex. The web of Charter and Convention articles is closely interwoven with general principles of EU law, Treaty provisions as well as with rights enshrined in EU legislation. The latter have received limited attention to date. EU legislation increasingly directly or indirectly, explicitly or implicitly, sets fundamental rights standards or marks the presence of Union law - thereby allowing the European Court of Justice to do so. The variety of EU legislation with fundamental rights implications sheds light on the active dimension of EU fundamental rights policy and poses multiple challenges for the interaction between the European and domestic legal orders that are explored in this article).