Articles for category: Focus

Rescue Package for Fundamental Rights: Comments by MICHAELA HAILBRONNER

The Heidelberg proposal, with its suggestion of the adoption of a Reverse-Solange Doctrine by the CJEU, has sparked considerable debate. Much of this debate has focused on the question how such a doctrine would fit into the current body of European law and whether its adoption would represent a legitimate exercise of judicial power by the CFEU. What has been largely absent from this debate, however, is the question how we should imagine the real-life consequences of the adoption and application of the Reverse-Solange doctrine. Daniel Thym and Dimitri Kochenov have touched upon this issue, but the question deserves a ... continue reading

17. April 2012

Rescue Package for Fundamental Rights: Further Comments by DANIEL HALBERSTAM

Peter Lindseth’s post directed at my own intervention on the Heidelberg proposal deserves a response, if only because it opens up debate about a basic divide in scholarship on the European Union.  Do we understand the Union as an administrative or a constitutional construct?  This has important consequences for both democracy and how we understand the “reverse-Solange” approach. The Lens of Judicial Interpretation: Administrative or Constitutional? Peter points to the non-delegation doctrine in the United States.  It no longer declares administrative delegation unconstitutional but provides a canon of interpretation to limit authority from shifting away from the U.S. Congress towards ... continue reading

3. April 2012

Rescue Package For Fundamental Rights: Comments by ANTJE WIENER

While “safety umbrella” (German: “Rettungsschirm”) is perhaps not the word of the month, the Solange Reversed proposal suggested by the Bogdandy team makes a strong case for linking fundamental rights and citizenship. Both are type 1 norms of constitutionalism, i.e. norms which express fundamental ethical values of a community and which are therefore generally agreed among democratic actors. As such, both fundamental norms are uncontested in the way they are defined by Article 2 (fundamental rights) and Article 20 (citizenship rights) of the Lisbon Treaty (TEU), respectively.

22. März 2012

Rettungsschirm für Grundrechte: Anmerkungen von ANTJE WIENER

Auch wenn „Rettungsschirm“ nicht unbedingt das Wort des Monats ist stellt der Vorschlag des Bogdandy-Teams für eine umgekehrte Solange-Doktrin (im Folgenden als Solange-Reversed Vorschlag bezeichnet) eine überzeugende starke Argumentation für die Verbindung von Grundrechten und Bürgerschaft dar. Sowohl Grundrechte als auch Bürgerschaft sind Verfassungsnormen vom Typ 1, also Normen, die grundlegende ethische Werte einer Gemeinschaft ausdrücken und über die sich demokratische Akteure daher grundlegend einig sind. Als solche sind beide Fundamentalnormen in ihrer Definition in Artikel 2 (Grundrechte) und Artikel 20 (Bürgerrechte) des Vertrags von Lissabon (EUV) unumstritten. Was sich verändert hat – und damit möglicherweise kontroverse Diskussionen auslösen wird ... continue reading

22. März 2012

Rescue Package for Fundamental Rights: Comments by MATTIAS KUMM

Hungarian Premier Victor Orban and his ruling party Fidesz, after having received 53% of the votes in the previous election but 68% of parliamentary seats, have transformed Hungarian institutions, effectively asserting and entrenching control over courts and the justice system, the media and the electoral system to align them with the interests of the ruling party (Jan-Werner Müller and Kim Lane Scheppele have provided compelling descriptions). This slide to authoritarianism should be a concern to constitutionalists, wherever it occurs, but it should be of special concern to EU citizens.

29. Februar 2012

Rettungsschirm für Grundrechte: Anmerkungen von MATTIAS KUMM

Ungarns Ministerpräsident Victor Orban und die von ihm kontrollierte Regierungspartei Fidesz sind seit der letzten Parlamentswahl 2010, bei der sie 53% der Wählerstimmen aber 68% der Sitze im Parlament auf sich vereinen konnten, dabei, das ungarische Verfassungssystem neu auszurichten. Dabei etabliert die Regierungspartei die Kontrolle über die Gerichte und das Justizsystem, die Medien und das Wahlsystem und erlässt zudem Regeln, die sicherstellen, dass auch bei veränderten Mehrheiten in der Zukunft die politischen Entscheidungen der Regierung nicht rückgängig gemacht werden können (Jan-Werner Müller und Kim Lane Scheppele haben dazu überzeugende Beschreibungen geliefert). Diese Hinwendung zu einem autoritären Nationalismus sollte, wo immer ... continue reading

29. Februar 2012

Rescue Package for Fundamental Rights: Further Comments from PETER LINDSETH

It is a tribute to the thoughtfulness of the Heidelberg proposal that it has stimulated such a provocative exchange of views so far. It is quite obvious that, regardless of one’s position vis-à-vis the merits of ‘reverse Solange’, there is widely shared concern regarding the evolution of the Hungarian regime. Therefore, at least on an instrumental level, the debate is primarily over the proper balance between judicial and political approaches in challenging that evolution, a debate that the Heidelberg proposal has stimulated quite nicely. But on a deeper level—one of principle—the debate has been over the character of European integration ... continue reading

28. Februar 2012

Rescue Package for Fundamental Rights: Comments by RENATA UITZ

In order to full appreciate the Heidelberg proposal, I believe it is important to read it not only as a reaction to the developments of the last year and a half in Hungary, but as a response to a deeper problem of the European Union, of which the Hungarian case is only a grave symptom. From the EU perspective what makes the Hungarian case worthy of reflection is the lack of compelling force in the reactions of the EU to national developments which clearly appeared to go against fundamental principles of constitutionalism, rule of law and the protection of human ... continue reading

27. Februar 2012

Rescue Package for Fundamental Rights: Comments by DIMITRY KOCHENOV

Armin von Bogdandy and his team have come up with a most fascinating proposal which advances our understanding of the profound connection between EU citizenship and rights. While the general line of argument in the proposal is promising, it is submitted that the proposal is probably not as innovative and not as practical as its authors suggest. Nevertheless, it is an important starting point for further scrutiny of the evolution of the interrelation between EU citizenship, fundamental rights, and the division of competences between the EU and the Member States. In my response I adopt an approach to EU federalism ... continue reading

27. Februar 2012

Rescue Package for Fundamental Rights: Comments by WOJCIECH SADURSKI

The Hungarian debacle is both a challenge and an opportunity for the EU. It is a challenge, because for the first time the EU faces the situation of one of its member states so blatantly and clearly violating certain principles of democracy and human rights protection, taken for granted as part of the moral values upon which the EU is built. (The first time, because the “Haider affair”, often invoked in this context, cannot be seen as a precedent, for reasons mentioned below.) But it is also an opportunity. An opportunity for the EU to demonstrate that it takes its ... continue reading

24. Februar 2012