Skip to content
  • Verfassungs
    blog
  • Verfassungs
    debate
  • Verfassungs
    podcast
  • Verfassungs
    editorial
  • Support ♥︎
  • About
    • What we do
    • Who we are
    • Authors
    • Funding
  • Submissions
  • Projects
    • OZOR
    • 9/119/11 jährt sich zum 20. Mal. Welche Spuren hat dieses Ereignis in der globalen und nationalen Verfassungs- und Menschenrechtsarchitektur hinterlassen? Dieser Frage wollen wir in einer Folge von Online-Symposien nachgehen. Gefördert von der Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung bringen wir Rechtswissenschaftler_innen aus verschiedenen Regionen und Rechtskulturen darüber ins Gespräch, was aus den Erfahrungen der vergangenen zwei Jahrzehnte in Hinblick auf Völkerrecht und internationale Menschenrechte, Asyl und Migration, Überwachung im öffentlichen und privaten Raum, Presse- und Informationsfreiheit, Menschenwürde sowie Rechtsstaatlichkeit und Justiz zu lernen ist.
    • Journal
    • Books

Search

Search

Results for {phrase} ({results_count} of {results_count_total})

Displaying {results_count} results of {results_count_total}

Generic filters
Support us ♥︎
  • About
    • Who we are
    • What we do
    • Authors
    • Funding
  • Submissions
  • Projects
    • OZOR
    • 9/11
    • Journal
    • Books
Search

Results for {phrase} ({results_count} of {results_count_total})

Displaying {results_count} results of {results_count_total}

Generic filters
04 April 2023
Kim Lane Scheppele, John Morijn

Frozen

After years of inaction, the European Commission and Council jointly acted to freeze EU funds totaling more than €28.7 billion for Hungary and more than €110 billion for Poland at the end of 2022, citing rule-of-law violations. Surprisingly, the decisions were taken not just (or even primarily) using the new Conditionality Regulation designed for that purpose. Instead, they used a variety of other legal tools to which rule-of-law conditionality was attached. It remains somewhat mysterious, however, precisely which funds and what proportion of those funds have been suspended, and how those suspensions have been legally justified. This post, a shorter version of a SIEPS paper that will be published soon, describes what we know about the complex set of funding suspensions intended to make EU Member States pay for their rule-of-law violations. Continue reading >>
0
28 März 2023
Olga Ceran, Ylenia Guerra

The Council’s Conditionality Decision as a Violation of Academic Freedom?

On 15 December 2022, the Council’s suspended various EU budgetary commitments towards Hungary, the first application of the so-called Rule of Law Conditionality Regulation. The measure also froze access to Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe funds for 21 Hungarian universities that remain under the management of public interest trusts, thereby effectively denying access to these funds to a large pool of scholars and students. The decision raises important questions regarding the scope of protection afforded to final beneficiaries of EU funds. We suggest that a deeper engagement with the rights and interests of final beneficiaries in the context of the Conditionality Regulation necessitates a reconceptualisation of the EU’s understanding of and responsibility for academic freedom. Continue reading >>
0
15 März 2023
Gábor Polyák

Too Much for Others, too Little for Us

The draft of the European Media Freedom Act (EMFA) published last September appears to constitute, in part, an attempt to respond to the systematic erosion of media freedom in Hungary since 2010. The European Commission seems to be aware of how unsuccessful it has been in addressing the problem. Thus, even though the rule of law proceedings against Hungary found a serious violation of media freedom, the conditionality procedure and the Charter of Fundamental Rights eligibility criteria inquiry failed to address the issue. Against this backdrop, this blogpost will analyse the draft EMFA’s capacity to respond to the unique challenges posed by the Hungarian media freedom landscape. Continue reading >>
1
04 März 2023
Lena Kaiser

A New Chapter in the European Rule of Law Saga?

‘[B]y adopting the legislation cited in the first paragraph, Hungary has infringed Article 2 TEU‘. At first glance, this plea seems almost unspectacular. Yet, when one takes a closer look, this very plea demonstrates the European Commission’s attempt to write nothing less than a new chapter in the saga of the European rule of law crisis. The Commission’s action concerns the controversial Hungarian law of the Fidesz government, which restricts information about transsexuality and homosexuality. This blog post aims to provide an overview over the recent development and the academic debate regarding the justiciability of Art. 2 TEU in this context. I argue that although the mobilisation of Art. 2 TEU as a stand-alone provision might open new doors to tackle the democratic backsliding in some Member States, this approach has to be handled with great care. Continue reading >>
0
21 Februar 2023
Eszter Polgári, Tamás Dombos

Ignorance and Evil

On 2 February 2023, the Hungarian Constitutional Court published its long-awaited decision on legal gender recognition. For the first time, the Constitutional Court reviewed the provisions introduced into the Act on Registry Procedure in late May 2020 requiring the registration of the sex at birth (instead of sex) and banning any modification to that registry entry. With its decision, the Constitutional Court chose to remain concordant with the perceived political expectations, blatantly served the interest of the government majority, and echoed their fixation of biologically determined sex. Continue reading >>
2
21 Februar 2023
Jannes Dresler

Der Brüsseler Testballon

Über das Amtsblatt der Europäischen Union vom 13. Februar 2023 eröffnete die Kommission den Blick auf eine gegen Ungarn eingereichte Klageschrift. Im Vertragsverletzungsverfahren begehrt sie die Feststellung eines Unionsrechtsverstoßes durch das vom ungarischen Parlament in 2021 verabschiedete Gesetz über ein strengeres Vorgehen gegen pädophile Straftäter und die Änderung bestimmter Gesetze zum Schutz von Kindern. Die Kommission schlägt mit der Klageschrift einen neuen Weg ein, da sie den vorgebrachten Verstoß in einem Punkt auf Art. 2 EUV als solchen, das heißt auf die isolierte Bestimmung, stützt. Continue reading >>
0
24 Dezember 2022
Anna Wójcik

A fragmented response to media freedom at risk in the Union

The Polish and Hungarian governments have famously parted ways over responses to the Russo-Ukraine war. However, internally, both continue to rely on similar structural changes in the media environment that help them target voters and undermine elections fairness. The EU’s response to the media freedom and pluralism crisis in Hungary and Poland has been more restrained and also qualitatively different from its answer to the judicial independence crisis or threats to academic freedoms and minority rights. Continue reading >>
0
09 Dezember 2022
Maximilian Steinbeis

The Red Card

Israeli Alarm and German Complacency Continue reading >>
0
08 Dezember 2022
Thu Nguyen

The Hungary Files

The battle over the rule of law in Hungary is coming to a head. Two separate but related dossiers landed on the EU Council’s agenda on Tuesday, 6 December: firstly, whether to suspend 7.5 billion Euros in funds under the EU’s cohesion policy under the new rule of law conditionality mechanism; and secondly, whether to approve the Hungarian national recovery and resilience plan. Both files are currently stuck in a political limbo as the member states cannot agree on a common course of action, complicated by the fact that Orbán is holding his veto over Brussel’s head on an aid package for Ukraine and a global corporate tax, both of which require unanimity in the Council. Now the question is: Who will move first, Orbán or the other member states? Continue reading >>
1
06 Dezember 2022
Kati Cseres

The Commission’s missed opportunity to reclaim competition law for the Rechtsstaat

On 30 November 2022, the European Commission took two important decisions to protect the EU budget against possible breaches of the rule of law in Hungary. First, the Commission concluded that the conditions for applying the Conditionality mechanism in Hungary remain and Hungary needs to take further and more credible action to eliminate the remaining risks for the EU budget. Second, the Commission has assessed Hungary’s Recovery and Resilience Plan and froze the disbursement of the RRF until the full and effective implementation of 27 ”super milestones” has taken place. Unfortunately, with these measures, missed opportunity to reclaim the importance of competition law in the Rechtsstaat. Continue reading >>
1
  • 1
  • 2
  • ...
  • 6
  • Next

Verfassungsblog is a journalistic and academic forum of debate on topical events and developments in constitutional law and politics in Germany, the emerging common European constitutional space and beyond.

Newsletter

Email
GE EN I hereby subscribe to receive information about new articles and services of verfassungsblog.de. I know that I may withdraw my consent at any time. More information in the privacy policy.
Imprint Privacy