Foreword: Constitutional Courts in the European Legal System After the Treaty of Lisbon and the Euro-Crisis

The paper provides for an introduction to the special issue of the German Law Journal on the topic of preliminary references to the CJEU by the highest jurisdictions. Following an introduction based on a comparative analysis of the status quo and the potential of the use of the preliminary reference by Constitutional Courts, Part One is devoted to the multilevel system of constitutional adjudication in which Constitutional Courts are requested to act so as to include the national level, the EU, and the system of the ECHR. Part Two is devoted to long-standing or (newly) stabilized relationships between the CJEU and Constitutional Courts. Part Three deals with Constitutional Courts that have referred preliminary questions to the CJEU. Part Four analyzes the cases of Courts that have not yet issued a preliminary reference to the CJEU. Part Five includes a series of comparative analyses of how Constitutional Courts perceive their role in the "dialogue" with the CJEU and on their use of the preliminary reference procedure in crucial sectors. In the final paper, new questions are put forward and lead to a depiction of "Europe" as a space of constitutional interdependence.