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15 March 2022

Reimagining a European Constitution

At this point, it is almost trite to say that the invasion of Ukraine has thrown the world order into tailspin. Unimaginable steps have been taken by the European Union and its Member States in the weeks since the invasion. These steps have already started to have significant consequences for discussions on the future of EU constitutionalism. Arguably, the appetite and political will for change is unprecedented and could serve to unplug EU constitutionalism from its sclerotic tendencies – it must be capitalised on. Continue reading >>
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04 November 2021

Who monitors compliance with fundamental values in EU Member States?

In 2014, the European Commission created a framework for the rule of law and the European Parliament has repeatedly proposed to extend this procedure to an Annual Monitoring Cycle on Democracy, the Rule of Law and Fundamental Rights. The insistence with which this proposal is formulated is intriguing because a similar procedure already existed in the Council of Europe for almost 30 years, under the responsibility of the Parliamentary Assembly. What are the political interests and practical considerations that underly what at first glance looks like a competition between the two European organizations? Continue reading >>
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04 August 2019

On the Rule of Law Turn on Kirchberg – Part II

The times of constitutional crisis call for a more robust approach to institutions and their respective spheres of competence and expertise. Courts of law are in the business of enforcing the rule of law. The European Court of Justice must currently rely on the unwritten and implicit understandings of the constitution to fulfill its task. Continue reading >>
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31 March 2016

How to protect European Values in the Polish Constitutional Crisis

Does the Polish development concern us — the European citizens and the European institutions we have set up? There is a functional and a normative argument to state that it does. The normative argument is that the European Union organizes a community of states that profess allegiance to a set of fundamental values—among others, democracy, the rule of law, and human rights. The functional reason is that the European legal space presupposes mutual trust. European law operates on the presumption that all institutions are law-abiding. Otherwise, the legal edifice crumbles. Continue reading >>