“Clash of Titans” 2.0. From conflicting EU general principles to conflicting jurisdictional authorities: the Court of Justice and the Danish Supreme Court in the Dansk Industri case

Abstract

The present papers focuses on the reception by the Danish Supreme Court of the CJEU decision in the Dansk Industri case. Instead of disapplying a national provision which was found by the CJEU to be inconsistent with the general principle of non-discrimination of grounds of age, the Danish Supreme Court stresses that the Law of Accession of the Kingdom of Denmark to the European Union does not cover general principles of EU law and the national provision cannot be disapplied. The selective approach of the Danish Supreme Court raises a number of concerns which this paper highlights: first, a clear misunderstanding regarding the functioning of general principles of EU law; second, a violation of the duty of sincere cooperation and the relate doctrine of supremacy of EU law; third, an arguable assessment of the effects of the Charter of fundamental rights.