Foreword of K. Lenaerts, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union

• Author: Court of Justice of the European Union
• Pages: 8-9

Annual Repor t 2018 | Judicial Act ivity

Foreword of K. Lenaerts, President of the Court of Justice of the European Union

Foreword

One hundred years ago, Europe was devastated by a particularly deadly conic t. Today, more than 500 million

citizens of all gener ations are witn essing an unprece dented histor ical journey th at has given ris e to a

Community an d then a European Union, a carr ier of fundamental values com mon to its Member States an d

a guarantor, through it s institutions, of peace, f reedom, democracy, the rule of la w and respect for human

rights.

This tremendou s achievement, patient ly built over several dec ades, must remain engrave d in our collective

memory a t this dicult tim e in European histor y.

As I write thi s preface, the future remains uncer tain about the outcome of the p olitical process that began

after the ref erendum on the Unite d Kingdom’s memb ership of the Europe an Union on 23 June 2016.

Th e mig rat ion c ris is a ec tin g our con tin ent i s, b eyo nd i ts dr ama tic huma n di mens ion , a s ourc e of some tim es

intense tensions bet ween Member States and fuels reexes of identit y withdrawal in many public opinions.

Concerns about re spect for the values i nherent in the rule of law have al so emerged in some Member St ates.

These sources of c risis or tension have a direc t impact on the acti vities of our instit ution. Over the past y ear,

the Court of Justi ce has thus had to deal with the rst questi ons relating to Brexit, includin g whether a Member

State, afte r having notied the European Counc il of its intention to leave the Union, may re voke that notication.

Asylum cases continue to ow in, draining in their wake issues t hat, under the guise of a highly te chnical

nature, involve c onsiderable human and societ al challenges. Several ca ses, related to respec t for the rule of

law, have also been bro ught before the Court of Jus tice.

In this troubled cl imate, the Court of Justice of t he European Union must remain a sta ble and fundamental

pillar of the European p roject. It is up to it to work , through the unwavering commi tment of all its Members

and sta, towards consolidating the founding values of t his project. To contribute, through high -quality,

eectiv e and transparent just ice, to restoring the conde nce of all  citizens, workers , consumers, businesses,

political de cision-maker s and public manager s — in European integratio n. To tirelessly est ablish itself as a

guarantor of the f undamental valu es inherent in a Union gov erned by the rule o f law, values that can not

tolerate any form of concession or compromise.

KOEN LENAERTS

President of the Cour t of Justice

of the European Union

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