Bilyana Petkova

Data Protection in the US and the EU: the Case for Federal Solutions

Which level is better placed to provide efficient data protection – the federal or the state level? This question is topical both in the United States and in the European Union. In the US, there are concerns regarding the increased fragmentation of American data privacy law and the lack of relevant federal consolidation. In the EU, the proposed General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) supposed to replace the Directive of 1995 was met with opposition regarding the “over-centralization of powers” in the European institutions. Continue reading >>

Roman Lehner

Tausche Britannien gegen Schottland, oder: Volkssouveränität mal ganz anders

Ein Austritt des Vereinigten Königreichs aus der EU ist zur realen Möglichkeit geworden. Dies sollte eine Frage in den Fokus rücken, die sowohl im politischen als auch im rechtswissenschaftlichen Diskurs bislang keine große Rolle spielt: Was wird eigentlich aus den (Unions-) Bürgern? Mit Vollzug des Austritts leben Unionsbürger aus fremden Staaten, die sich in dem austretenden Staat niedergelassen haben, plötzlich außerhalb des Unionsgebiets, womit ihre Unionsbürgerrechte hier keine Geltung mehr finden. Umgekehrt mutieren die Bürger des Austrittsstaates im Verhältnis zu Rest-Union eo ipso zu Drittstaatsangehörigen, was zum Verlust des Unionsbürgerstatus überhaupt führt.Diese ungeheuerliche Konsequenz ist weder theoretisch noch dogmatisch hinreichend reflektiert. Im Fall eines „Brexits“ wird sie sich aber unmittelbar stellen. Dies könnte Anlass sein, das Verhältnis zwischen nationaler (Volks-) Souveränität und den Rechten der Unionsbürger zu neu zu denken. Ist der Unionsbürger nicht am Ende (auch) ein Souverän? Continue reading >>

Christoph Möllers

Richter und Staatsanwälte – besser in zwei Vereinen

Der „Verein der Bundesrichter und Bundesanwälte beim Bundesgerichtshof“ hat in […] Continue reading >>

Emma Peters

Der Sonderermittler zum NSA-Untersuchungsausschuss – eine Mogelpackung?

Im Streit um die Einsicht der NSA-Untersuchungsausschussmitglieder in die sog. Selektorenlisten hat die Bundesregierung einen Kompromissvorschlag gemacht: Sie schlägt vor, einen Sonderbeauftragten einzusetzen, der die Liste sichten und anschließend dem Untersuchungsausschuss Bericht erstatten soll. Nach diesem Vorschlag setzt die Bundesregierung den Sonderbeauftragten formal ein und bestimmt, welche Erkenntnisse der Beauftragte dem Ausschuss mitgeteilt werden sollen. Der Untersuchungsausschuss hat lediglich ein Mitspracherecht: er kann Personen vorschlagen und Fragen zur Prüfung vorgeben. Doch ob das verfassungsrechtlich überhaupt geht, ist zweifelhaft: Wird ein derartig bestellter Sonderbeauftragter der Funktion und dem Recht des Bundestages zur Kontrolle der Exekutive gerecht? Continue reading >>

Cormac Mac Amhlaigh

Greece: a constitutionalist’s two (euro)cents.

Greece is obviously at the forefront of many EU scholars’ minds over the past number of weeks. There has been an avalanche of commentary and analysis on the Greek bailout negotiations both from those with intimate knowledge of the situation and familiarity with Greek politics, the EMU and sovereign debt crises as well speculation from the sidelines from those of us more ignorant of these matters. Therefore as someone whose credibility in the debate (such as it is) is limited to the expertise of the constitutional lawyer with a good familiarity of EU law generally, I have limited my two (euro)cents on the topic to a number of (mostly factual) propositions related to the crisis for what they are worth. Most I think are obvious and (hopefully) few are contentious but I think that they are worth (re)stating in the context of the war of words and recrimination from all sides present in the debate in recent days. Continue reading >>

Michael Ioannidis

The Euro Summit deal: defeat or victory? A response to Robert Howse

Avoiding Grexit is, of course, the important achievement of the Agreement. But this counts as a success no more than surviving self-inflicted wounds: Concrete discussions on Grexit revived only in the last months and especially after the recent referendum. They are actually the product of the negotiation strategy itself. If we are looking for success then, we are left with debt relief and the new conditionality. Continue reading >>

Lorenzo Zucca

Damned if you do, Damned if you don’t: Reflections on Brexit and Grexit

Greece might leave the Euro zone, the UK might leave the European Union, Scotland might leave the UK. The naif belief that the market will fix inequality and take care of political unity will have to face reality: Equality and solidarity are not provided by the market, nor are they to be expected without governing institutions. Either there is a clear vision that binds together countries by providing safety nets and solidarity. Or the union will break apart. Continue reading >>

Robert Howse

The Deal on Greek Debt: Political Gamechanger for Europe, Tactical Retreat (not Surrender) by Tsipras

The conventional wisdom, delivered before anyone could really ponder the fine print of the Greek debt deal, is that Tsipras surrendered to the creditors in a humiliating defeat. His referendum and prior tenacity in negotiations proved futile,according to the predominant account that has emerged in the media and the twitter and blog worlds. Wrong on all counts. And here's why. Continue reading >>

Matthias Goldmann

Eine Schuldenrestrukturierung setzt keinen Grexit voraus!

Bundesfinanzminister Wolfgang Schäubles Behauptung, Griechenland könne wegen Art. 125 AEUV nur außerhalb der Eurozone seine Schulden gegenüber anderen Euro-Staaten und EFSF bzw. ESM restrukturieren, beruht auf einem Denkfehler, wenn nicht gar auf einem Taschenspielertrick. Die Pringle-Rechtsprechung des EuGH zeigt: Das Europarecht schaufelt sich nicht sein eigenes Grab. Man muss es nicht erst umgehen, um die Ziele der Union wahrhaft zu verwirklichen. Continue reading >>

Detlef von Daniels

The battle over Europe

In the Anglophone press and in some intellectual circles there appears to be a broad alliance favouring an “end to austerity”. What all these positions share is that they treat the crisis as a matter of theoretical dispute: If only the correct economic or philosophical view would prevail the appropriate course of action would be clear. The current situation might help to remind us, the theorists, that in the course of actions we can only watch and sometimes, like when Hegel saw Napoleon, get a glimpse of world history. It might also remind us that before theoria was invented as an eternal idea a different, more mundane view reigned: Heraclitus's reflection of polemos (war, fight, struggle) as the father of all things. Continue reading >>

Andrew Duff

How to Leave the Euro More or Less Legally

There is much speculation, some of it silly, about how to leave the euro if you want to. The ordinary way requires unanimity in the Council, so Greece (or anyone else) could veto the plan. So is there a way for Greece to exit the euro by qualified majority voting (QMV)? Here the logical thing to do is turn to the decision-making process that applies to joining the euro, and reverse the thrust. Continue reading >>

Alberto Alemanno

The EU elephant in the Greek room: What would EU citizens have voted for in the referendum?

July 5, 2015 will go down in history as a game changer for Europe, regardless of what you think, or would have voted for, in the Greek referendum. The future of the Eurozone is no longer a private affaire by EU leaders and creditors but – amid an ill-designed and largely unanticipated referendum – suddenly became the object of a transnational and pan-European political conversation about our collective future. For the first time, no single EU citizen – regardless of her passport – could credibly claim not to care about what was going on in another Member State. Continue reading >>

Alexandros Kessopoulos, Ntina Tzouvala

Why the Greferendum IS NOT a Problem under Greek Constitutional Law

Amongst mounting controversies surrounding the Greek bailout program and the referendum called by the Greek government, questions about the constitutionality of the initiative have been raised. The matter is of great importance, since the Council of the State will rule on the constitutionality of the bill this Friday. Given what is at stake, this might seem to be a totally peripheral question. That said, we will attempt a response, so as to clarify certain legal questions and also to point at the uses and abuses of constitutional arguments. Continue reading >>

Pavlos Eleftheriadis

Greece: voting for or against Europe

A ‘no’ result in the Greek referendum next Sunday will set in motion the process of disengagement from the Eurozone. It is true that the EU cannot throw Greece out of the Euro. There is no legal mechanism for ‘Grexit’ as Syriza’s ministers say again and again. But this is irrelevant. The mechanism will work the other way round: the Greek government will beg for Grexit, when it finds out that it absolutely has to recapitalise its banks within a matter of days and discovers that the unilateral creation of a new currency is against EU law. Continue reading >>