The Charter of Nice and Domestic Constitutional Courts: What Perspectives?

In an important judgment handed down in March 2012, the Constitutional Court of Austria began to use the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights as a standard of review in constitutional adjudication. This essay analyzes the attitudes of national constitutional courts towards the Charter, in a comparative perspective. In particular, it inquires as to whether the incorporation of the Charter into EU primary law after the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty can be seen as a turning point in this respect. The results of the analysis are assessed in light of the transformations which the so-called European model of constitutional adjudication has undergone in recent years.