Articles for category: EU

Football at a Crossroads

The CJEU shook the world of football with its Diarra ruling on Friday, October 4. The impact of the ruling is all but a surprise for me. In a way, the FIFA transfer system was always on shaky legal grounds in terms of EU internal market law. Now, the chickens have come home to roost and key parts of the football transfer system have been brutally set aside. I aim to explain why the Diarra ruling marks a crucial turning point for football, its economy and even its identity.

25. Oktober 2024

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Getting a Grip on Migration but Mind European Law!

On September 13, the new Dutch government led by Dick Schoof outlined its programme for the next years. Unsurprisingly, a major point of this programme regards asylum and migration, for which the greatest ambition is to install the strictest regime ever and to include the Netherlands within the category of Member States of the European Union with the strictest admission rules. This post reviews these proposals through the lens of European Law to challenge their legal feasibility and flag the potential incompatibility with Dutch obligations stemming from EU and international law.

23. Oktober 2024

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New Structure, New Priorities

Von der Leyen has recently unveiled the new structure of the next Commission. At first sight it looks like a relatively light structure composed of only three hierarchical levels: the President on top, six Executive Vice-Presidents in the middle and the Commissioners at the bottom. However, as this post will argue, the new Commission is likely to become more hierarchical and less coordinated than before. Moreover, the new structure also reflects changing priorities that will lead to a less green agenda and increased competitiveness of the EU.

15. Oktober 2024

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Taking Locus Standi of International Actors Seriously

On October 4th 2024 the Court of Justice issued its judgement in Front Polisario II upholding the judgement in which GC annulled Council’s decision on the conclusion of the trade agreement between European Union and Morocco. In its landmark judgement the Court acknowledged the legal standing of Front Polisario – the liberation movement representing rights of the people of Western Sahara. The Court’s findings advance the flexible and adequate approach on access to EU’s courts – and for that are worth applauding.

15. Oktober 2024

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Bridging the CFSP Gap

The CJEU interprets its Common Foreign and Security Policy jurisdiction in light of the objectives set by the Lisbon Treaty, thereby integrating part and parcel of the CFSP into the rest of the European Union acquis. This aligns the CFSP with the general principles and constitutional rules set in the Treaty. As the Court advances the integration of CFSP jurisdiction within the broader EU legal order, the judgements of 10 September 2024 in Neves 77 Solutions and KS and KD v Council and Others serve as landmark ruling for the future of judicial review in CFSP.

15. Oktober 2024

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Drop Bothsideism

Western media are not equipped to handle right-wing populists like Donald Trump, Orbán, or the AfD. Moreover, constitutional theorists who argue that democracy should be purely procedural are joining the populist chorus. In our current age of populism we keep telling ourselves that everyone’s voice is always equally valid – also when based on lies and disinformation. It’s just another “point of view”. What populism has undermined is the right but also the courage to call out those who deliberately spread lies as well as those who in doing so openly use democratic institutions to destroy democracy.

11. Oktober 2024

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Dismissing the Genuine Link by Disregarding Constitutional Principles

The struggle over the Maltese investment citizenship scheme is probably one of the fiercest debates of EU constitutional law. The conflict revolves around the question of whether EU law contains requirements for the acquisition of Union citizenship and whether these requirements consist in a “genuine link” between the respective state and individual. The recent Opinion by AG Collins provides us with an extremely narrow and astonishingly one-sided view. In particular, he seeks to make us believe that there are no sound ways to anchor a genuine link requirement in EU law. Martijn van den Brink finds it “hard to disagree with the Advocate General”. Respectfully, I disagree.

9. Oktober 2024

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Umkämpfte Meilensteine

Am 28. August 2024 haben vier Richterverbände bekanntgegeben, dass sie Berufung gegen den Medel-Beschluss des Gerichts der Europäischen Union eingelegt haben. Das Verfahren verdient bereits deshalb Aufmerksamkeit, weil es wieder einmal das ewige Thema des Individualrechtsschutzes vor den Gerichten der Europäischen Union betrifft. Darüber hinaus – und von noch größerer Relevanz – wirft die Rechtssache wichtige, unbeantwortete materielle Fragen der Rechtsstaatskonditionalität auf. Insbesondere steht die Wirksamkeit des Instituts erneut auf dem Prüfstand – verhandelt erstmals im Kontext von NextGenerationEU.

2. Oktober 2024

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Towards Shared European Finances

The EU is once again eyeing a workaround to address an emerging challenge. A few days ago, former ECB President Mario Draghi issued a landmark report to stem the EU’s decline, calling for a massive investment of 800 billion euro annually. Draghi’s proposal is in line with an emerging post-pandemic pattern in EU policymaking. This pattern is characterized by flexible, ad-hoc measures that are implemented outside of the bloc’s treaty framework. We celebrate the boldness and effective design of this important template, even as we recognize some legal creativity necessary to carry out bold moves.

26. September 2024

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La Commission, c’est moi?

Contrary to cartoonish portrayals of Ursula von der Leyen as a latter-day Caesar, who may be illegitimately presidentialising the Commission, the current Commission President is merely furthering a more centralised vision of the institution that is implicit in the extent of her organisational powers under Article 17(6) TEU. While there are strong legal and constitutionally moral arguments for an alternative, more plural executive understanding of the Commission, the Treaties leave room for a contest between presidentialist and pluralist visions to take place across time in the political arena. Moreover, a more presidential conception of the Commission, while it may raise some questions regarding the mode of election of the Commission President and the role of the Commission, may also possess some positives.

25. September 2024

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