Articles for category: Europa

Von der Leyen Faces the Vote

On July 10, 2025, the European Parliament votes on a motion of censure against Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and her entire College of Commissioners. The pending vote against von der Leyen provides a compelling case study for examining the evolving role of the censure motion as both a legal instrument of accountability and a political tool for inter-institutional dialogue. While the motion's immediate prospects for success remain minimal, its deployment illuminates fundamental questions about democratic legitimacy, institutional loyalty, and the constitutional evolution of EU governance structures towards a post-Lisbon parliamentary democracy’s logic.

9. Juli 2025

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A Legal Scalpel Instead of an Axe

Hungary appears to be assuming the role of a Trojan horse in the European Union, advancing the interests of foreign powers. Of particular concern is Hungary’s conduct in the field of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, especially in light of its obstruction of EU sanctions against Russia. Thus far, the EU’s conventional instruments have proven insufficient in curbing Hungary’s veto strategy. For this reason, I propose a path that is both legally feasible and politically realistic: a reinterpretation of Article 7 TEU that would allow for a targeted use of the instrument.

9. Juli 2025

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Rights for Non-Humans in EU Law

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The recognition of animals and nature as potential rights holders has long been a controversial proposition within European legal discourse. However, we believe that the EU legal order is more hospitable to such recognition than one might expect. In a recent article, we argued for a rights-based reinterpretation of EU animal welfare and environmental protection laws. EU constitutional and secondary laws can be construed as entailing legal rights for non-human entities – even if these rights are not explicit the texts. We consider how the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights and other EU legal acts may support a post-anthropocentric vision of Union law.

3. Juli 2025

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Externalising Migration Control

On 20th of May 2025, the European Court of Human Rights declared the case of S.S. and others v Italy inadmissible under Art.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights. The decision marks a missed opportunity. Instead of addressing the question of functional jurisdiction in the context of externalised migration control, the Court found that Italy does not enjoy extraterritorial jurisdiction over a group of irregular migrants whose ship was wrecked on the high seas near the Libyan coast. The ruling is another illustration of how externalised border control and “pull-back” policies are becoming normalised in Europe.

2. Juli 2025

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A Child’s Right to Non-Anthropocentric Education

The European Charter on Fundamental Human Rights is not concerned about animal rights. Although the Charter is silent about animals, it is possible to connect certain human rights it enshrines to animals in a manner that can foment animal rights. The protection of a healthy environment in Article 37 is an obvious choice. A lesser theorized human right in the Charter similarly has considerable potential to benefit animals: the right to education under Article 14.

1. Juli 2025

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A European Charter of Fundamental Human Obligations

The effort to anchor animal rights in the European Charter of Fundamental Rights has gained relevance in light of the widespread commodification of animals within the EU’s market-driven integration process. While commendable in principle, incorporating animal rights into the Charter risks serving a largely symbolic function if it diverts attention from the more pressing task of reconfiguring what I take to be the six foundational institutions of private law in capitalist political economy: property, contract, corporation, tort, labor, and consumption. These institutions reinforce the binary between the human subject and the other-than-human object, a division that enables the commodification of non-human beings.

30. Juni 2025

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Animal Law Jurisprudence in the EU and Beyond

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Animals have largely been left out in EU law scholarship and environmental law studies. The role of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights has not been discussed to any greater extent. In this symposium, we discuss the pros and cons of the EU Charter for securing sufficient animal protection in the Member States. More specifically, the contributions in this symposium explore a number of questions such as that of the legal standing of animals and animal rights in the context of the EU, and reflecting on the relationship between animal rights and the EU.

30. Juni 2025

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The European Union’s Fantastical Constitution

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Recently, von Bogdandy and Spieker decided to boldly go where not even they had dared to go before. To overcome the possible Hungarian veto on prolonging EU sanctions against Russia, they propose that the explicit requirement in Article 31(1) TEU for such decisions to be taken by the Council acting unanimously should be overcome on the basis of Article 2 TEU. In their view, a Hungarian veto against further sanctions would violate the value of solidarity and the Hungarian vote should therefore not count. We argue that this would launch us into a whole new, and in our view, dangerous galaxy.

27. Juni 2025

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The Return of Golden Shares and Global Politics

The Trump Administration just announced that the Japanese steel giant Nippon Steel has granted it a powerful “golden share” in U.S. Steel as a condition for its acquisition of this major US-American steel manufacturer. While the EU has largely constrained the use of such instruments under internal market law, the US now appears willing to deploy them as symbols of industrial revival and national strength. In its response to the increasing global (geo)economic competition, the EU and its member states should resist this trend and instead refine targeted FDI screening mechanisms to reconcile national security with internal market integrity.

26. Juni 2025

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