Challenges to the Primacy of European Union Law: the legal repercussions of the German Federal Constitutional Court's decision of 5th May 2020

Abstract: The aim of the article is to analyze the infringement procedure brought by the European Commission against Germany (INFR(2021)2114), and resulting from the decision handed down by the German Federal Constitutional Court on 5 th May 2020. In this decision, the German Court deprived a CJEU judgment of its legal effect in Germany, which would violate the Principle of the Primacy of EU law. To this end, the article analyzes the EU regulatory system, highlighting the principle of primacy and supranationality, and the role of the European Commission as “Guardian of the Treaties”, as well as the repercussions in other countries, such as Poland and Hungary. It concludes that the case involving the German Constitutional Court is a dangerous precedent for the Primacy of EU law, as it has been able to threaten the stability and legal certainty of the EU legal order, necessary preconditions for the functioning of regional integration itself.