The article presents the evolution and meaning of the concept of “constitutional traditions common to the Member States” in EU law. The Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) used this concept for the fi rst time in Internationale Handelsgesellschaft, in December 1970, by taking over a concept coined in 1949 for the Council of Europe. The author argues that on the whole there is only a limited added value to the concept of common cons...