The European legal system was not always as effective as it is now at influencing state behaviour and compelling compliance. This book explains why national courts took on a role enforcing European law against their governments, and why governments accepted a change that compromised sovereignty.

She then shows how harnessing national courts to funnel private litigant challenges through to the ECJ and enforce European law supremacy contributed fundamentally to the emergence of an international rule of law in Europe, where national governments are held accountable to their European legal obligations, and where states actually avoid policies that might conflict with European law.

1. The making of an International Rule of Law in Europe
2. National Judicial Interests and the Process of Legal Integration in Europe
3. German Judicial Acceptance of European Law Supremacy
4. French Judicial Acceptance of European Law Supremacy
5. Winning Political Support: Why Did National Governments Accept a Judicial Revolution that Transferred Away National Sovereignty?
6. The Transformation of the European Legal System and the Rule of Law in Europe
Bibliography
Index