Articles for author: Fernanda G. Nicola

Mirroring Society’s Struggles

The Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) stands as a central institution in the European legal and political landscape. Its judgments not only shape the trajectory of European integration but also reveal deeper EU Law Stories – ideological clashes, conflicting narratives and distributive consequences with the subtle emergence of winners and losers in each case. Yet, these dimensions often remain hidden behind the opaque language of the increasingly lengthy rulings and traditional doctrinal analysis.

9. Mai 2025

, ,

First Time as Tragedy, Second Time as Farce

In December 2023 the Hungarian Parliament speedily adopted the Act on the Protection of National Sovereignty and by February 2024 the government had already designated the Sovereignty Protection Office (SPO) for its enforcement. The history repeats itself, first time as tragedy, second time as farce. The current activities of the SPO exemplify the Hungarian government’s ongoing efforts to undermine free and independent society. It is crucial for the Union and European civil society to once again act swiftly to prevent the harassment of journalists and the potential disappearance of NGOs.

5. September 2024

,

Au revoir to Neoliberalism?

The oscillation between a social or a neoliberal paradigm in law as it appears prominently in this volume brings me back to my dissertation years when, between Trento (Italy) and Cambridge (U.S.), I was trying to map the role of la doctrine in the political economy of EU consumer law from the mid-1980s to the late 2000s. My puzzlement was always: where were European and private law scholars while these struggles were taking place in Brussels, Luxembourg and Barcelona?

2. September 2020

, , ,