Het geweldsmonopolie en de constitutionele identiteit van EU-lidstaten naar aanleiding van twee Franse constitutioneelrechtelijke uitspraken

This case note essay analyzes the manner in which the Conseil constitutionnel and the Conseil d'Etat dealt with elements of France's constitutional identity that they did not find protected in substantive EU law, both of which regard the monopoly of violence. It reflects on the way this French constitutional case law manages to take constitutional identity seriously without necessarily running into conflicts with EU law. Also, it provides occasion to reflect on the different manner of approaching the state's monopoly of physical violence - which the EU does not claim - in France, as compared to the Netherlands where recent stances of government and parliament suggest the state's monopoly is no longer exclusive, but - contrary to France - can indeed be privatized.