25 June 2016
Five Questions on Brexit to NTINA TZOUVALA
Young international law scholar Ntina Tzouvala on the difference between the "will of the people" and a manouevre of the political elite, and on the danger for Europe to carry around a constitutional corpse. Continue reading >>
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25 June 2016
Five Questions on Brexit to KENNETH ARMSTRONG
... and five very succinct answers by Cambridge EU law professor Kenneth Armstrong, Continue reading >>
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24 June 2016
Five Questions on Brexit to JO SHAW
Edinburgh EU citizenship law expert Jo Shaw's answers to my set of questions on the occasion of the Brexit referendum. Continue reading >>
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24 June 2016
Five Questions on Brexit to GERTRUDE LÜBBE-WOLFF
Former Constitutional Court Judge Gertrude Lübbe-Wolff on why she deeply regrets to see the British go, on the reversibility of the Brexit decision, and on an independent Scotland's prospects to continued EU membership. Continue reading >>
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16 June 2016
Britain’s Neverendum on Europe
The UK Prime Minister has told us that the June 23rd vote will settle ‘once and for all’ Britain’s vexed relationship with Europe. I wouldn’t count on it. The current marathon is only beginning. The upcoming referendum has all the hallmarks of a ‘neverendum’: a campaign that tries to resolve an issue yet only succeeds in polarizing opinion yet further, guaranteeing its presence on the political agenda for years, if not decades, to come. Continue reading >>
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16 June 2016
The Brexit Vote: The Wrong Question for Britain and Europe
Referendums are supposed to provide decisive interventions in the affairs of state. Yet the referendum theory is in fact deeply flawed. European ‘membership’ for a country of Britain’s size, influence and location should be less a matter of ‘yes or no’ than one of ‘more or less’. The reduction of a complex and graduated choice to a basic dichotomy simply does not reflect the position or serve the interests of the vast majority who will be affected by the outcome. What is more, and worse, the crude logic of either-or plebiscitary politics threatens to become a self-fulfilling prophecy. Continue reading >>17 March 2016
Hungary’s Struggle: In a Permanent State of Exception
The Hungarian government has called for a referendum on EU relocation quota plan and declared a “nationwide migrant crisis”. The justification given by the government for these measures was the “massive immigration” which “endangers the jobs of Hungarians and redraws Hungary’s cultural and religious identity”. The argument went that, due to a “migrant crisis” the Hungarian government needed a greater room for maneuvre, not limited by constitutional constraints, in order to manage the crisis. This argument presupposes that, as a result of the migrant crisis, Hungary has ended up in a state of exception, when constitutional guarantees have to be limited or suspended; essential powers have to be concentrated in the hands of the prime minister, until the crisis is overcome. Continue reading >>10 February 2016
What will happen if the Dutch vote ‘No’ in the Referendum on the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement?
On 6 April 2016, a referendum on the approval of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement will be held in the Netherlands. This is the direct result of a new law that gives citizens the right to initiate a so-called ‘corrective’ referendum to refute decisions taken at the political level. If the "No" camp prevails, as polls suggest it will, that would not be a victory for democracy as proclaimed by the Dutch initiators of the referendum but rather the opposite. Allowing a relatively small part of the population in a relatively small member state to block the entry into force of an agreement which is approved by the national parliaments of 29 countries and the European Parliament would be very cynical. It would also undermine the consistency and legitimacy of the EU’s external action taking into account that other, largely comparable agreements would remain unaffected. Continue reading >>07 October 2015
The ‘Brexit’ Referendum: We Need to Talk about the (General Election) Franchise
The franchise for the ,Brexit' referendum will mostly follow eligibility for voting in a UK general election. This invites serious reflection on the anomalies of the current general election franchise in the UK: Citizens living abroad are not allowed to vote, and neither are EU citizens from other countries – unless they are Irish, Cypriots or Maltese who are enfranchised as citizens of member states of the Commonwealth. Could this be challenged under EU or ECHR law? Continue reading >>
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18 July 2012