Corte costituzionale italiana, Corti costituzionali europee e rinvio pregiudiziale: il dialogo diretto con la Corte di giustizia dell'Unione europea e le sue possibili implicazioni a breve e lungo termine

This article analyses the direct dialogue between the EU Court of Justice and the Constitutional Courts, developed through the preliminary ruling procedure. The starting point is the decision of the Italian Constitutional Court to submit a preliminary question to the EU Court of Justice, in the context – for the first time – of an incidental question of constitutionality. By its questions, the italian Court asks whether the directive 1999/70/EC pre-cludes Italian employment legislation, which permits to appoint the supply teachers under successive fixed-term contracts without setting a limit on the total duration of such appointments and with no provision for the payment of damages in the event of their abuse. With its preliminary ruling (and the previous one of 2008, raised in the context of a direct pro-ceeding), the Italian Constitutional Court adds a new dimension in its relations with the EU Court of Justice, taking into a context characterized by: i) a very cooperative attitude of the UE Court of Justice towards Constitutional Courts and ii) a positive answer by the Constitutional Courts that, af-ter a period of reluctance, now use more often the preliminary ruling mechanism. In this contest, the development of a direct dialogue between supreme Courts has positives con-sequences in the short and long term. In the first one, the EU Court of Justice, by answering the questions referred by the Constitutional Courts, is showing more positives considerations to their in-stances. In the second one, the UE Court of Justice is confronted with the challenge that involves the Constitutional Courts in the development of more widely shared principles and values.