The Digital Services Act has landed on an increased centralization of its enforcement powers in the hands of the European Commission. The rationale behind this centralized enforcement is understandable, particularly in light of the experience with GDPR enforcement. At the same time, it raises crucial questions about the future recurrence of such centralizaion in the Commission's hands, and the separation of powers more broadly.
The Digital Services Act (DSA) has finally been published in the Official Journal of the European Union on 27 October 2022. This publication marks the end of a years-long drafting and negotiation process, and opens a new chapter: that of its enforcement, practicable access to justice, and potential to set global precedents.
Entscheidungen über die Rechtmäßigkeit und Gültigkeit von Parlamentswahlen berühren den Kern rechtsstaatlicher Garantien im demokratischen Prozess. Umso erstaunlicher ist es, dass einige unserer europäischen Nachbarländer für die Wahlprüfung immer noch auf rein parlamentarische Verfahren vertrauen. Der Europäische Gerichtshof für Menschenrechte hat das 2020 moniert, dabei aber eine kaum erklärliche Hintertür offengelassen.
Over the last year and a half, the European Border Coast Guard Agency has been under an unprecedented scrutiny. The Frontex saga started in 2020 when investigative journalists published ground-breaking findings, revealing how the Agency was breaching the law being complicit with human rights violations committed by Greek authorities. National Parliaments could play a bigger role in monitoring Frontex, serving as a complementary avenue for democratic oversight, in addition to the European Parliament.
Die Frage nach einheitlicher Auslegung und Vorrang des Unionsrechts wirft eine Grundsatzfrage nach der Zuordnung und der Verteilung justizieller Macht im Rahmen der europäischen Integrationsgemeinschaft auf. Aus Sicht der unionsrechtlichen Praxis erscheint die nun mit neuer Vehemenz einsetzende Diskussion jedoch aus der Zeit gefallen. Es bedarf eines gewandelten Verständnisses der überkommenen Staatlichkeit um angemessen auf die aktuellen Herausforderungen zu reagieren.
On 18 October 2022, the European Court of Human Rights handed down its judgement in the case of Mørck Jensen v. Denmark, upholding the applicant’s conviction under Danish law of breaching the prohibition on entry into and stay in a conflict zone in order to participate in armed hostilities on the side of one party to an ongoing armed conflict. In its judgment, the Court consciously opted to take an objective or neutral stance towards the question of whether there may exist ‘right’ reasons to travel to a hot conflict zone in order to actively participate in armed activities.
The ongoing process to negotiate a UN treaty on business and human rights has its 8th annual session this week in Geneva. Though embraced by many NGOs, this initiative has so far failed to secure widespread support amongst states with wide divergences remaining regarding the proposed instrument’s objectives and design, as well as its relationship to the UN 2011 Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, an earlier soft law instrument championed by governments, businesses and international actors. Yet there may be light on the horizon.
In part III of our analysis of the anti-corruption framework, we will look at another aspect of the Hungarian “reforms”: a new procedure that seems to allow the general public to challenge in court the decisions of Hungarian public prosecutors to drop corruption cases. The new procedure is nearly impossible to use and adds little value to existing controls on the public prosecutor. In addition, the Hungarian Constitutional Court may declare it unconstitutional in any event.
On 10 October 2022, the High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs, Josep Borrell, delivered a remarkably clear speech (for a diplomat) at the EU Ambassadors Annual Conference 2022, in which he drew conclusions about the current state of the Union’s foreign policy. A few days later, on 17 October 2022, the Council for Foreign Affairs agreed on establishing the European Union Military Assistance Mission in support of Ukraine (‘EUMAM Ukraine’). Normally, such EU military operations are carried out overseas. However, this does not seem to be the case here, raising legal questions as to whether this action has a sufficient legal basis in the EU Treaties.
Blasphemy used to be a grave offence once. Now, it is on the decline, making room for freedom of expression. Yet, two judgments of last week show that blasphemy has managed to re-enter the stage through the back door. In this blogpost, I argue that although both cases ended well, i.e. were decided in favour of freedom of expression of artists and activists, both courts erred in their assessment of the role of religion and religious sentiment in European secular democracies.
13. September 2025
Giovanni Capoccia
12. September 2025
Anne Peters
12. September 2025
Anne Peters