The Implementation of EU Law in the Austrian Legal System

di Maria Bertel

SOMMARIO: 1. Introduction – 2. Implementation of EU Law – 3. Two systems, separate but intertwined – 4. The Austrian legal framework for the implementation – 5. Aspects of implementation – 6. Conclusions.

The following paper analyses the implementation of EU law into Austrian law. I will in a first step define the term of “implementation”, as the further analysis varies depending on the scope of the definition. Opting for a rather broad definition allows to examine all three state powers, i.e. legislation, administration and judiciary. I will then present selected challenges the different state powers are facing when implementing EU law (e.g. chal-lenges arising from the Austrian federal system, coordination, etc.).
In order to better understand these challenges, it is necessary to set out the constitutional framework for the implementation. This encompasses, amongst others, aspects of the constitutional distribution of competences and the role of the legality principle in the Austrian legal system which explains the fundamental role the legislator plays in implementing EU law.
Moreover, special consideration is given to the Constitutional Court, which after its 2012 land-mark judgement treats some guarantees of the Fundamental Rights Charter as a standard of scrutiny when assessing the constitutionality of infra-constitutional law (of laws and administrative and judicial decisions).