The recently introduced EU Omnibus package aims at “simplifying” corporate sustainability reporting and due diligence requirements envisaged under the European Green Deal. Reflecting on its wider effects on sustainability and human rights for the Global South, this article argues that the reform overlooks the realities of informal economies and risks diminishing the EU’s credibility as the global forerunner for corporate governance.
Bus stops all around Europe are filling with colourful advertisements of NextGenerationEU. This is your tax euros at work seeking to convince citizens that the flagship program of President von der Leyen’s first term has been an unqualified success. The leaked drafts on the EU’s next MFF verify that the Commission’s plan mimics the features of the NGEU. This model should be subjected to critical assessment, as it is ill-suited to addressing geopolitical challenges facing the EU today.
Fünf Fragen an Florian Meinel
Five Questions to Florian Meinel
The Trump administration is engaged in a battle over the “mode of rule” of the American society. Although the battle is not primarily directed against the courts, judges may quickly get involved. Many see them as a primary defense of the liberal order. Proponents of the attacks on the established order argue that the judges overstep their mandate if they curb the power of the presidency. Elon Musk has even called for impeachment and removal of troublesome judges. Is there anything US judges can learn from the experience of their German colleagues in the 1930’s?
Romania was recently rocked by the annulment of presidential elections in December 2024, a crisis stifled by the March 2025 invalidation of Georgescu’s candidacy in do-over elections. Mr. Georgescu, an ultranationalist firebrand, presents himself in a MAGA-style as the tribune of “the People” and a warrior against a “Soros-driven” elite conspiracy. Europhile opponents present the invalidations as valiant examples of militant democracy and rule of law in action. I argue that the story is both simpler and more complex, partly a local variant of “authoritarian liberalism”, partly an example of idiosyncratic Eastern traditions of the RoL in Euro-friendly attire.
Meat is at the center of interrelated environmental and public health crises: climate change, biodiversity loss, deforestation, pandemics, food insecurity, unhealthy and unsustainable diets, and institutionalized animal suffering. While eating or not eating meat has traditionally been seen as a private choice, it is increasingly becoming a public and political issue, as the social, ecological, and ethical costs of industrialized meat production are becoming more visible and prominent. Scientific evidence is piling indicating the need for a sustainable food system and dietary transitions away from animal-based foods.
In the previous Law and Justice administration, the Public Prosecutor’s Office (PPO) had been significantly compromised. Under the Prosecutor General Ziobro, it systemically pursued political and business opponents, quashed dissent, and silenced critical voices. Well over a year has passed since these dark times have officially ended. Poland’s new government has promised to bring justice to the victims and assure accountability for the prosecutors. The Open Dialogue Foundation has analysed the nation-wide audit of the PPO’s cases and concluded – the reality is disappointing.
At the end of 2024, the current Dutch government proposed new legislation in the shape of the “asylum crisis measures legislation” and a “two-status-system legislation”. Through advisory reports by the Council for the Judiciary, the broader public was properly introduced to the government’s plans. The reports strongly urge the government not to pursue these proposals for their potential consequences on the judiciary and implementation of the new EU Asylum Pact. Although some of these individual measures may be legal, a holistic approach shows that it is the sum of these parts that finds itself at odds with EU law, balancing on the edge of loyalty and legality.
India’s data protection framework has been in the making for over a decade. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act was passed by Parliament in 2023, and the draft Digital Personal Data Protection Rules were released in January 2025 for public consultation. In this piece, I argue that the draft Rules do little to clarify India’s murky position on cross-border data flows. The ambiguous wording of the text grants unfettered discretion to the executive in operationalizing the localization mandate. Moreover, the lack of legislative protections for citizen privacy, coupled with missed opportunities to establish robust institutional frameworks undermines India’s own data diplomacy project.
13. September 2025
Giovanni Capoccia
12. September 2025
Anne Peters
12. September 2025
Anne Peters