Las Regiones Constitucionales Autónomas. Un estatus especial en la Unión Europea

Abstract

EU regional «blindness» has been linked to the dominant interpretation of the principle of institutional or constitutional autonomy according to which each Member State is free to structure itself as it sees fit as long as it complies with its EU obligations, without the Community institutions having any legal authority to interpellation with respect to the said state organization. Arguments that sought to justify any possible breaches of Community law by Member States on the basis of their complex internal constitutional structures have been strongly rejected, the corollary of this principle of constitutional autonomy, the principles of character and responsibility of States in international law: it is the whole State that is responsible for any non-compliance attributable to any of its bodies. This initial blindness has been transformed through case law, without awaiting the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, amidst growing sensitivity to infra-state entities, especially toward constitutionally autonomous regions, which has led to a new interpretation of the principle of institutional or constitutional autonomy. Under this new concept, the EU respects the constitutional organization of the Member States, including regional or local autonomy and precisely to be able to respect the organization the EU is obliged to «see it». This sensitivity towards internal diversity requires an attitude of acknowledgement and respect on the part of the Community institutions, and an attitude of Community loyalty on the part of the constitutionally autonomous regions: respect for Community law, non-discrimination… On requiring the Union to respect «equality of Member States before the Treaties as well as their national identities, inherent in the fundamental political and constitutional structures thereof, also with regard to local and regional autonomy», the Lisbon Treaty may lead to the recognition of a new status or European institute: the status of the «constitutional autonomous regions», a new wording of the special status that at that time Alain Lamassoure demanded for certain European regions.