The standard of fundamental rights protection according to the EU Charter: What is the role of national standards (and courts)?

The EU Charter of Fundamental Rights – and more generally the legal and judicial environment that has been taking shape since the recognition of its primary law status – has an interesting potential to act as a bridge to national (constitutional) standards. To substantiate this claim, firstly, I discuss the current approach of the Court of Justiceto the determination of the standard of fundamental rights protection. I argue that this approach is imbued – rightly, in my view – with a subsidiarity rationale. As a second step, I reflect on how, thanks to the role of national courts, the Court’s approach may become more open to the contribution of the Member States’ constitutional standards.