Andrew Duff

How to make the Brexit deal formal, legally-binding and irreversible

Whatever one thinks (and one does) about the British renegotiation of its terms of EU membership, one can only marvel at the prime minister’s bravado when he insists on the changes being ‘formal, legally-binding and irreversible’. Nobody expected David Cameron to be so categorical when he embarked on his long-anticipated speech and ‘Dear Donald’ letter, eventually delivered on 10 November. Surely somebody warned him that to demand something so trenchant would pose huge legal problems? Continue reading >>

Mark Dawson, Floris de Witte

Europe Does Need a Constitution. But Of What Kind?

Matej Avbelj’s contribution ‘Now Europe Needs a Constitution’ is surely right in its diagnosis that constitutionalism must play a role in the re-generation of the EU. The gulf between the EU’s leaders and its population, and between distinct groups of EU states, is wider than it has ever been. If constitutionalism is an act of ‘putting things in common’ in a spirit of open dialogue, of deciding on the crucial question about the type of society we want to live in, such a discussion about Europe’s future is sorely needed. The key question, however, is not whether Europe needs a Constitution but what kind of Constitution the EU should build. Many commentators suggest that the lesson to be learned from the failed constitutional project in the early 2000s is that it was too ambitious: too laden with constitutional symbolism and state-paradigms. Perhaps, we argue, the failed constitutional project was not ambitious enough: it made no attempt to break with the models of the previous EU Treaties and in doing so, to capture the political imagination of Europe’s citizenry. Continue reading >>

Christoph Möllers

Über die Selbstrechtfertigung unabhängiger Institutionen

In der letzten Woche hörte ich auf einer Tagung den […] Continue reading >>

Anna Lübbe

Die Angst vor der syrischen Großfamilie: Familiennachzug für Syrer aussetzen?

Kaum hat man sich in der Koalition darüber verständigt, an Deutschlands Grenzen keine Transit-Lager einzurichten, ist ein Streit um den Familiennachzug zu Syrern entbrannt. Syrische Schutzsuchende sollen künftig nicht den Konventionsflüchtlingsstatus (Schutz vor Verfolgung), sondern den subsidiären Schutzstatus (u.a. Bürgerkriegsflüchtlinge) erhalten und dann ihre Familienangehörigen nicht mehr nachziehen dürfen. Einmal abgesehen von der Fragwürdigkeit der derzeit kursierenden Kalkulationen: Wäre die geplante Beschränkung denn rechtlich zulässig? Continue reading >>

Ibtissem Guenfoud

Dieudonné before the Strasbourg Court: Negationism isn’t freedom of expression

Satire is protected by the right to freedom of expression. Holocaust denial is not. This is the bottom line of yesterday’s decision by the European Court of Human Rights in the case of the French comedian Dieudonné M’Bala M’Bala, notorious for his frequent run-ins with French courts for antisemitic speech, defamation, or advocation of terrorism, and also known for his political involvement with right-wing extremists. Continue reading >>

Kenneth Armstrong

Brexit, Voice and Loyalty: What ‘New Settlement’ for the UK in the EU?

The UK Prime Minister, David Cameron has finally found time to write a letter to the European Council President Donald Tusk setting out the basis for the UK’s renegotiated membership of the EU. Although in recent weeks, European leaders have complained that they lacked clarity as to what it was that Mr Cameron would seek in these negotiations – despite his recent tour of European capitals – in the end, the themes contained in the letter have been well rehearsed both by the Prime Minister, and more recently by the UK Chancellor in his speech to the BDI in Germany. There are four pillars to the ‘new settlement’ sought by the UK government: economic governance, competitiveness, sovereignty and immigration. The Prime Minister’s stated aim is – through voice – for the UK to remain a member of the EU, albeit an EU with differentiated membership obligations. As he reiterated in a speech at Chatham House to trail the letter to Donald Tusk, if he succeeds in his negotiations, the Prime Minister will campaign for the UK to remain in the EU. He also made clear that a vote for Brexit would be just that, with no second referendum to seek a better deal. So what then are the key policy planks supporting the four-pillars? Continue reading >>

Ibtissem Guenfoud

Boycott calls and double standards: another French limitation on freedom of expression

France, once the motherland of human rights, is increasingly clamping down on freedom of expression. According to a recent decision by the French Supreme Court, calling for boycott on Israeli goods is illegal under french law. Fourteen members of the activist group Boycott, Divestment & Sanctions (BDS), campaigning for the economic, academic, sports and cultural boycott of Israel, learned it the hard way in two decisions of October 20th which confirmed on the highest level of criminal jurisdiction their conviction to 12,000 € in damages and 1,000 € in fine. Joining Israel, France makes for the only european country to penalize boycott calls on products of Israeli origin. Continue reading >>

Melina Lehrian

Verteilung unbegleiteter minderjähriger Geflüchteter auf die Bundesländer: eine Sache des Kindeswohls?

Unbegleitete minderjährige Geflüchtete werden künftig wie Erwachsene auch auf die Bundesländer verteilt. Dafür sorgt das „Gesetz zur Verbesserung der Unterbringung, Versorgung und Betreuung ausländischer Kinder und Jugendlicher", das am Sonntag in Kraft getreten ist. Die Neuregelungen werden vor allem mit dem Vorrang des Kindeswohls gerechtfertigt, der sich aus Art. 3 der UN-Kinderrechtskonvention ergibt. Doch trägt die Neuregelung wirklich den Belangen des Kindeswohls Rechnung und läuft ihnen nicht vielmehr zuwider? Continue reading >>