FUTURE-MAPPING THE DIRECTIONS OF EU LAW: HOW DO WE PREDICT THE FUTURE OF EU LAW?
Abstract: European Union (EU) law is an academic subject that was initially taught in the United States in the 1960s without any caselaw existing. Nowadays, it is a subject dominated by highly court-centric analysis which involves studying or analysing the Court of Justice of the European Union. However, the conventional sources of EU law as a subject (caselaw, legislation, secondary literature) are increasingly studied through new empirical means. Data-based analysis of caselaw is now increasingly common. This raises the question as to how mainstream such methods will become. The distinctiveness of EU law from a methodological perspective as a relatively recent subject with a highly dominant court is signifi cant. The relationship between the past and future is a complexity at the heart of EU law, where “forwards” integration has always been central. Future-mapping EU law is argued to be understudied. EU law increasingly expands its reach now also globally. Can court-centric approaches going forward accurately capture its many new subjects and objects? The article considers how critical approaches have evolved as to EU studies. It considers how critical approaches can examine the shifting subjects and objects of EU law. The article gives an overview of the methodological state of EU law. It advocates a non-court-centric future of EU law and a focus upon interdisciplinary methodology with EU law. It also advocates critical studies of EU law.
Keywords: methodology; future-mapping; EU law; court-centric- CJEUcritical studies
