Articles for category: Europa

Frozen

After years of inaction, the European Commission and Council jointly acted to freeze EU funds totaling more than €28.7 billion for Hungary and more than €110 billion for Poland at the end of 2022, citing rule-of-law violations. Surprisingly, the decisions were taken not just (or even primarily) using the new Conditionality Regulation designed for that purpose. Instead, they used a variety of other legal tools to which rule-of-law conditionality was attached. It remains somewhat mysterious, however, precisely which funds and what proportion of those funds have been suspended, and how those suspensions have been legally justified. This post, a shorter version of a SIEPS paper that will be published soon, describes what we know about the complex set of funding suspensions intended to make EU Member States pay for their rule-of-law violations.

4. April 2023

, , ,

Die private Durchsetzung des Unionsrechts

Welche Ansprüche bestehen bei Verstoß gegen unionsrechtlich fundierte Normen, die keine eigenen Rechtsfolgenanordnungen vorsehen – diese Frage ist seit einigen Jahren zu einem zentralen Thema (auch) des Privatrechts geworden. Im Kern geht es um ein Problem, das sich in allen föderal organisierten oder supranational beeinflussten Rechtsordnungen stellt: Wie kann trotz der Ebenentrennung von (unionalen) Rechten („rights“) und (nationaler) Rechtsdurchsetzung („remedies“) eine wirksame Durchsetzung der Regeln der höheren Ebene durch die niedrigere Ebene gewährleistet werden – und welche Rolle spielt in diesem System das Privatrecht? Die Diesel-Entscheidung C-100/21 der Großen Kammer des EuGH gibt neue Impulse für eine Debatte, die das Privatrecht noch lange beschäftigen wird.

3. April 2023

, ,

A Fond Embrace?

As with any relationship, significant anniversaries offer us an opportunity to take stock. Looking backwards allows us not only to appreciate how far we have come, but also, perhaps, to reflect on the direction in which we might be heading. To date, upwards of 2,200 judgments of the Irish courts have considered EU or Community law in some form. Against this context, this short contribution reflects on the reception of EU law in the Irish courts since 1973.

3. April 2023

, , ,

Number Crunching EU Law and the Irish Legal Order

In this short piece, I will outline a few of the extremes of the Irish relationship with Europe that I have personally studied or encountered and its impact in my view. Many years ago, I wrote a dissertation on the relationship between EU law and the Irish legal order, on the unravelling dynamic since accession, focussing upon the preliminary reference data. I felt it was a deserving topic precisely because there was so little interest as to the relationship between EU law and Ireland. Ireland was uniformly always excluded from major US and EU political science studies that have been iconic in shaping views on EU integration.

30. März 2023

, , , ,

How EU Membership Transformed Ireland’s Socio-Legal Norms: The Case of Abortion

In 1973, Ireland joined what would become the European Union (EU) in the first ever enlargement of the project of European integration. To say that 50 years of EU membership have been transformative for Ireland is an understatement. By all benchmarks considered, Ireland is a radically different country today than it was when it joined the EU. Abortion provides the best example of this.

29. März 2023

, , , ,

Die Deutschen und ihr Auto

Am 23. September 2015 trat Martin Winterkorn als Vorstandsvorsitzender von VW wegen des sog. Abgasskandals zurück. Man möchte meinen, dass fast acht Jahre später dessen juristische Aufarbeitung abgeschlossen oder zumindest weit vorangeschritten ist. Doch mit seiner vergangene Woche verkündeten Entscheidung stellt der EuGH die bisherige rechtliche Beurteilung des Bundesgerichtshofs und diverser Oberlandesgerichte grundlegend in Frage. Wie ist es dazu gekommen? Der Beitrag will versuchen, darauf eine weniger dogmatische, sondern primär privatrechtstheoretische Antwort zu geben. Meine These ist, dass hier hintergründig ein spezifisch privatrechtliches mit einem unionsrechtlichen Systemdenken konfligiert.

29. März 2023

, , ,

Navigating Uncharted Waters?

This contribution will briefly assess Ireland’s participation in the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) after ‘Brexit’. It will first review the way in which the ‘opt-in/opt-out’ arrangements still apply to Ireland, before considering how Ireland’s position might have evolved after Brexit. In this respect, it will feature some recent cases of the CJEU. Although Ireland considers the UK to be a safe third country for refugees, it is likely that their respective asylum policies will diverge even further, owing to their now very different positions with respect to EU law and especially the CEAS.

28. März 2023

, , , ,

Limitations of the Transnational ne bis in idem Principle in EU Law

No-one shall be tried or punished twice for the same offence. This principle is part of the fundamental law protection in the EU, but can be limited under certain conditions. In Case C-365/21, decided on 23 March 2023, the ECJ has confirmed the validity of an important limitation of the transnational ne bis in idem guarantee. Another case which arose in the context of the Diesel scandal involving German automobile producer Volkswagen and is still pending before the European Court of Justice gives the Court a new opportunity to set new standards regarding limitations of the ne bis in idem principle in cases involving different Member States and to strengthen this principle which is of great importance for the completion of a genuine area of freedom, security and justice.

27. März 2023

, , ,

The Quality of Sovereignty

It can generally be agreed that the purpose of sovereignty is to enable a government to protect the best interests of its citizens. To what extent did UK membership of the EU preclude this? In the context of the EU, the discussion on sovereignty tends to focus on quantity – the greater the scope of action of the EU and its institutions, the lower the sovereignty of the member states. From this perspective, sovereignty is a zero-sum affair – less means less. However, sovereignty can also be assessed from a qualitative perspective, with a focus on its quality, or character, rather than its scope.

27. März 2023

, , , ,

Political Advertising and Disinformation

Over a year ago, the European Commission presented its Proposal for a Regulation on the transparency and targeting of political advertising (COM(2021) 731 final). Recently, the Council presented its General Approach, followed by the position of the European Parliament (EP). While stakeholders are waiting for the trilogue negotiations to shape the final text of the legislation, critical voices are raising concerns. Concerns are that under the future regulation online platforms might have to de-amplify such independent content

23. März 2023

, , , ,