Fundamental Rights Come Off the Bench - Manifest Breaches of Fundamental Rights as a Public Policy Exception in the Real Madrid Case

Abstract

In 2014, the European Court of Justice clearly prioritised the EU’s position on the unity and effectiveness of EU law over the protection of fundamental rights (Opinion 2/13). Ten years later, in October 2024, a judgment pitting football against the media seems to have turned the tables. In Real Madrid vs Le Monde, the Court held that excessive defamation damages may breach the freedom of the press and trigger the public policy exception. This is a significant shift, prioritising fundamental rights protection over the traditional objective of seamless judicial cooperation across the EU.

Keywords

• CJEU
• Charta der Grundrechte | Europäische Union
• ECJ
• EU
• EU Charta
• EuGH