Articles for category: EU

Democracy or Domination

The urgency of Europe’s creep towards plutocracy calls for a similarly urgent response. Competition law, given its history and potential as a tool of anti-domination, is a natural fit to protect and revitalise democracy in Europe from the threats posed by excessive concentrations of private power. For it to be effective for that purpose, competition scholars must clearly articulate which democratic values, like non-domination, competition law should seek to pursue, and clear-mindedly design mechanisms through which to channel them.

23. Januar 2025

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Zuckerberg’s Strategy

On January 7, 2025, and in the days following, the founder and CEO of Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, made a series of statements that framed Meta's previous and future content policy with an evidently strategic intention. The change of content moderation policy, as described in three comprehensive points in his personal announcement on his own platforms, may even sound reasonable, as discussed below. However, the reasoning and the framing of these changes appear to show that Meta is up to something entirely different from just further optimizing its curation of content on its platforms.

21. Januar 2025

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One Year After Wałęsa v. Poland

Despite some progress, the Polish government faces immense political and structural hurdles in implementing ECtHR judgments concenring the rule of law. Because November 2025 marks one year since the ECtHR issued the pilot judgment in Wałęsa v. Poland, it is a good moment to reflect on the progress made by the current authorities in implementing ECtHR judgments. This post delves into the steps taken, the obstacles ahead, and the question of whether a coherent plan exists to navigate this legal and constitutional crisis.

20. Dezember 2024

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The 2025 Polish Presidency of the Council

Poland’s 2025 Presidency of the Council of the EU arrives at a moment of political turbulence and high stakes, with security as its flagship theme. This short period will see the return of Donald Trump, the volatile German snap parliamentary election, and the buildup to Poland's own presidential election. While Poland’s government promises a fresh, value-driven approach, its own challenges in fully restoring the rule of law and balancing pragmatism with EU ideals may temper its ambitions.

18. Dezember 2024

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Clash of Prosecutors

In Kroatien spielt sich ein bislang beispielloser Konflikt zwischen der kroatischen Staatsanwaltschaft und der erst 2021 eingeführten Europäischen Staatsanwaltschaft (EUStA) ab, nachdem unter anderem der Gesundheitsminister, Vili Beroš, wegen eines Korruptionsskandals festgenommen wurde. Der Konflikt gipfelte in einem Schreiben an die Kommission, in dem die EUStA systematische Rechtsstaatsdefizite anprangert und sie zum Einschreiten auffordert. Insgesamt wird deutlich, dass sich die EU in Kroatien derzeit, insbesondere durch die Arbeit der EUStA, neue Legitimität erarbeitet, weil sie aktiv gegen Korruption vorgeht.

13. Dezember 2024

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A Right to Anonymity in the Digital Age

Although digital anonymity is associated with a wide range of opportunities, it also stands in the way of successful criminal prosecution. The right to respect private and family life under the the EU Charter as well as the right to protection of personal data are of fundamental importance for natural persons. However, since life is increasingly taking place online, anonymity can be exploited to spread hate, discriminatory content, and fake news. Considering these risks, the ECJ has opened the door to data retention in Europe and thereby restricted digital anonymity.

2. Dezember 2024

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Data Retention Laws and La Quadrature du Net II

La Quadrature du Net II has been criticized for allowing generalized metadata retention measures. However, it is important not to lose sight of the fact that the law must not become a mechanism for protecting criminals. The scale of online rights violations are a real problem. P2P networks are not only a threat to copyright protection, but also an environment for the distribution of content related to serious crime. It is therefore necessary to strike a balance between these two concerns and to propose solutions that adequately protect users without guaranteeing impunity for criminals.

2. Dezember 2024

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New Media, New Data and a Dark Foreboding

After the major shift in surveillance practices from state power and control to big tech corporations and monetisation, we are currently witnessing yet another Zeitenwende: Surveillance practices as a means of hybrid warfare, with the AI-driven vision of accessing what people think and feel. This type of surveillance produces knowledge that not only claims to reveal what people are likely to do in the future but also what they feel and think. The consequences of this epistemological bending are potentially grave.

29. November 2024

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Testing the Waters of Private Data Pools

Nowadays, data is mostly collected not by state actors but by businesses. In 2010, the German Constitutional Court held that the legislator has to evaluate the overall level of surveillance in Germany before enacting new data retention obligations. In light of the recent rejuvenised discussions about data retention and a general surveillance account, this text explores whether such an account needs to consider private data pools and what is required for a successful evaluation.

29. November 2024

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Compensation for Victims of Violent Crimes

On 7 November 2024, the CJEU provided clarifications for building a cohesive EU-wide framework for compensating crime victims. The ruling not only curtails Member States’ discretion in interpreting key concepts that are critical to defining eligibility for compensation, but it also strengthens the interplay between the Compensation Directive and the Victims’ Rights Directive. This judgment reinforces the the harmonized definition of victim established in Article 2 of the Victims’ Rights Directive, solidifying its status for determining those entitled to victim’s rights.

28. November 2024

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