Paper Titles & Abstracts

The Court of Justice has established many definitions in its 60-year service; one of them is that of worker, which the Court said should have a Union-wide meaning to ensure that Member States do not use national definitions as disguised protectionism. The variety of the cases brought before the Court has meant that it has even had to rule on the definition of the term 'measure'. Since the introduction of the Union citizenship and having seen the Court's interpretation of the rights it confers to EU citizens, Union-wide definition of concepts are even more important to safeguard our rights. However, the Court has not done been as expansive in the case of other definitions such as that of 'spouse'. This is very pertinent in the case of the right to marry which is protected by the Charter, but it may be restricted by national practices as the Charter of Fundamental Rights suggests. This restriction will clearly be detrimental to non-traditional couples and families, but the Court, or the Union, has not demonstrated the same willingness to adopt a less restrictive approach. This article shall examine the Court's previous rulings on definitions of Union concepts, shall assess the importance of inclusive definitions after the introduction of EU citizenship, and shall argue that the Court and the Union should be more willing to apply the same teleological tools to the cases of spouses and non-traditional unions.