Friday, March 14, 2014
Committee (Omni Shoreham)
What makes a prophecy become true? Is it inevitable? Or is it decided by the actions (or reactions) of others? For Oedipus, the prophecy of patricide and incest was fulfilled despite the efforts to avoid it. The Court of Justice of the EU is no stranger to prophetic pronouncements. At Luxembourg, the Court is called upon to interpret justice and EU Law; just as at Delphi, the Oracle was called upon to interpret the vapours of fate. The Court has been the source of many legal principles (such supremacy, primacy and direct effect) which, while revolutionary upon their pronouncement, are now largely accepted facts of European constitutional discourse. However, do these principles exist because they were already necessary aspects of EU law, or did they, by pronouncement and repetition, become self-fulfilling realities?
Framed by the drama of Oedipus Rex, this paper answers these questions through the case study of the evolution of EU citizenship driven by the ‘Delphic’ phrase of Grzelczyk – “union citizenship is destined to become the fundamental status of national citizens”. Tracing the use of the Court’s ‘prophetic’ phrase through EU legal and judicial discourse, I argue that it serves as a 'self-fulfilling prophecy': a source of consistency, legitimacy and reasoning for the, albeit incremental, advancement of EU citizenship. However, the ultimate destiny of EU citizenship and all principles of EU law is dependent not upon the Oracle, but upon Oedipus - the subjects of prophecy, and the citizens of the EU.
