The History of European Union Law

Bill Davies is Associate Professor at the Department of Justice, Law & Criminology, American University and a leading expert on the legal history of European integration. He is the author of Resisting the European Court of Justice (2012) editor of EU Law Stories (2017) and has also published on American legal history: Timothy B. Dyk: The Education of a Federal Judge (2022). Morten Rasmussen is Associate Professor at the SAXO Institute, University of Copenhagen and a leading expert on the legal histories of European integration and the League of Nations. He has published numerous articles and book chapters on these topics and is co-editor of The Cambridge Handbook of the League of Nations and International law (forthcoming 2026).

• History and theory – towards a new history of European law Morten Rasmussen; Part I. Supranational Institutions and Transnational Actors and the Battle over the Constitutional Practice of European Law: 1. Inside the European court of justice: a biographical approach Vera Fritz; 2. At the vanguard of European constitutionalism: the role of the legal service of the European commission Sigfrido M. Ramírez Pérez; 3. The European parliament and the constitutionalisation of European law Jan-Henrik Meyer; 4. Academic allies: transnational European law academia and the development of the constitutional practice Rebekka Byberg; 5. Intergovernmentalism on the rise – the council in the battle over the constitutional practice of European law Philip Bajon; Part II. Member State Reception of the Constitutional Practice of European Law: 6. The solange admonition – the necessity of structural congruence between Germany and Europe Bill Davies; 7. To be or not to be – France and European law Alexandre Bernier and Morten Rasmussen; 8. Blazing a trail – the Netherlands and European law Karin van Leeuwen; 9. A job for the civil servants – Denmark and European law Jonas Langeland Pedersen; Archives consulted; Bibliography.