With its judgement 254 of 26 November 2020, the Constitutional Court confirmed its loyal collaboration with the Court of Justice of the European Union and declared inadmissible the constitutional legitimacy issues raised by the Naples Court of Appeal on the Jobs Act provisions related to collective dismissals which violated the selection criteria.
The reasoning for the Constitutional Court’s sentence 254/2020 reads as follows, “there is an inseparable link between the role of the Court of Justice of the European Union, called upon to safeguard respect for the law in the interpretation and application of the treaties” and the role of national courts, which must ensure”effective judicial protection in areas governed by EU law” (article 19 of the treaty). In an integrated system of safeguards, loyal and constructive cooperation between the various jurisdictions, each called upon to safeguard fundamental rights in a systemic and unbroken protection manner, plays a crucial role”.
The raised issues of legitimacy and the European Court’s ruling
Before discussing the merits of the Constitutional Court’s ruling, it should be noted that,regarding the infringement of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union rules, the Naples Court of Appeal had decided to simultaneously propose a preliminary ruling to the Court of Justice of the European Union, in order to clarify “the contents of the Chart of Fundamental Rights”, to then assume “a direct relevance in the ruling of constitutionality” and consistency with constitutional principles.
The Court of Justice ruled first which, with the order of 4 June 2020, confirmed that proposed issues were clearly inadmissible sustaining the absence “of a connection between an act of law of the European Union and the national measure in question”, a connection required by article 51, paragraph 1, of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. This does not mean a mere similarity between the issues being examined and an indirect influence that one issue exercises on the other”.
In other words, the Court of Luxembourg did not find any connection between national legislation concerning selection criteria in the field of collective dismissals and an act of law of the European Union and therefore could not assume any position on the alleged infringement of the Charter.
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