Fourteen Years for a Mere Designation
On 5 March 2026, in its C-613/24 judgment, the CJEU fined Portugal for €10 million for its failure to comply with a 2019 judgment (C-290/18) on the Habitats Directive. In addition, the Court imposed a daily penalty payment of €41,250 until the judgment is fully complied with. This ruling is in many ways arguably a straightforward enforcement case. However, it demonstrates that enforcement action even for basic implementation simply takes too long. In addition, it highlights the need for follow-up action under Article 260 of the TFEU to ensure that judgments are actually implemented.
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Voting for Illiberalism
On 8 February 2026, Portuguese voters will decide a presidential runoff between António José Seguro, backed by the Socialist Party, and André Ventura, leader of the far-right Chega. The argument I advance here, however, is analytical rather than electoral: that this election crystallizes a confrontation between two models of democracy – one liberal, rooted in the constitutional settlement that emerged from the 1974 revolution, and one illiberal, that treats constitutional constraints as obstacles to the expression of popular will rather than as safeguards of it.
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In memoriam Catarina de Albuquerque
With the sudden passing of Catarina de Albuquerque on 7 October 2025, the human rights community has lost a champion whose contribution to the promotion of socio-economic rights in the last twenty years can hardly be overstated. Many of us have also lost a dear colleague and mentor. The wave of public condolences and expressions of empathy following her sudden death has been remarkable. Catarina has been described to me as the “mother” of the human rights to water and sanitation – and this is how she will be remembered.
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