It was not until 1969 that the Court of Justice established a body of caselaw
to serve as a framework of fundamental rights. This was because in the
early years the Court had rejected all actions relating to basic rights on the
grounds that it need not concern itself with matters falling within the scope
of national constitutional law. The Court had to alter its position not least
because it was itself the embodiment of the primacy of Union law and its
precedence over national law; this primacy can only be firmly established
if Union law is sufficient in itself to guarantee the protection of basic rights
with the same legal force as under the national constitutions.
The starting point in this case-law was the Stauder judgment, in which the
point at issue was the fact that a recipient of welfare benefits for war victims
regarded the requirement that he give his name when registering for the
purchase of butter at reduced prices at Christmas time as a violation of his
human dignity and the principle of equality. Although the Court of Justice
came to the conclusion, in interpreting the Community provision, that it
was not necessary for recipients to give their name so that, in fact, consideration
of the question of a violation of a fundamental right was superfluous, it
declared finally that the general fundamental principles of the Community
legal order, which the Court of Justice had to safeguard, included respect for
fundamental rights. This was the first time that the Court of Justice recognised
the existence of an EU framework of fundamental rights of its own.
Initially, the Court developed its safeguards for fundamental rights from
a number of provisions in the Treaties. This is especially the case for the
numerous bans on discrimination which, in specific circumstances, address
particular aspects of the general principle of equality. Examples are the prohibition
of any discrimination on grounds of nationality (Article 18 TFEU),
preventing people being treated differently on the grounds of gender, race,
ethnic origin, religion or beliefs, disability, age or sexual orientation
(Article 10 TFEU), the equal treatment of goods and persons in relation
to the four basic freedoms (freedom of movement of goods — Article 34
TFEU; freedom of movement of persons — Article 45 TFEU; the right of
establishment — Article 49 TFEU; and freedom to provide services — Article
57 TFEU), freedom of competition (Article 101 et seq. TFEU) and
equal pay for men and women (Article 157 TFEU). The four fundamental
freedoms of the Community, which guarantee the basic freedoms of professional
life, can also be regarded as a Community fundamental right to freedom
of movement and freedom to choose and practise a profession. Explicit