Official Languages, National Identities and the Protection of Minorities: A Complex Legal Puzzle

This article focuses on three aspects that, in our opinion, make the Court of Justice's (ECJ) judgment in Cilevics particularly interesting. First, it is a ruling that shows the progressive involvement of national constitutional courts in the mechanism of the preliminary ruling procedure governed by Article 267 TFEU. The second reason that makes the case interesting concerns the use of Article 4(2) TEU on the duty to respect national identity. Finally, the judgement is of great interest because, by refusing to carry out a strict proportionality test the ECJ not only makes it difficult to understand exactly what elements are relevant when appraising the admissibility of a derogation to EU law grounded on the respect for national specificities traceable to Article 4(2) TEU; failure to balance the different interests concerned leads the Court to disregard the need to protect the rights of the large Russian speaking minority in Latvia in accordance with Article 22 of the Charter.