The German Chancellor has stated that she would “conduct all negotiations with a view to ensuring that Claude Juncker becomes President”. But the qualifications she continues to make suggest that she very much remains willing to hide behind Cameron and a minority of other leaders to aim for “a compromise” that will leave democratic aspirations in Europe severely harmed. Citizens have good reasons to be concerned.
Offenbar findet kurz nach den Wahlen, die Viktor Orbán und der FIDESz-KDNP-Koalition erneut eine Zweidrittelmehrheit beschert haben, ein regelrechter Crackdown gegen die verbliebene unabhängige Presse statt. Und ausgerechnet unsere eigene Deutsche Telekom AG muss sich dabei einige unangenehme Fragen nach ihrer Rolle dabei gefallen lassen.
This article is available only in German.
The European courts have been rather active in finding Hungary in violation of European constitutional and human rights minimum standards in April and in May 2014. In the most recent judgment in this line of cases, Baka v Hungary, the ECtHR found that the last chief justice of the Hungarian Supreme Court, András Baka, had been removed from office through constitution-making before the end of his term due to his criticism of the government’s judicial reforms. The Baka case is symptomatic of a fundamental shortcoming of Hungary’s new constitutional reality: the suppression and expulsion of dissent from the domestic political sphere. Sadly, the timing of the ECtHR’s judgment is perfect, as it comes at a time when the government is taking intense legal steps and other measures silence dissenting voices even further.
Typically, researchers go for impact; impact on other research, other legal practices along legal research, notably in the legislative, administrative and judicial branches. And the very idea of research includes the element of sharing – and sharing your results is easier if you are understood. In order to take part in the relevant discussions you need to go for two publication channels in parallel: national discourse and communication in foreign languages.
Jack Balkin, professor of constitutional law at Yale University and founder of one of the most widely read blogs on constitutional law in the US, talks about what it means to run a scholarly blog.
Dorothée de Nève, Expertin für Nichtwähler_innenforschung, im Interview über Wahlverweigerung und Protest, und warum politische Appelle, zur Wahl zu gehen, nicht nur nichts fruchten, sondern sogar kontraproduktiv sind.
The European Parliament is institutionally shielded against any tangible negative consequences of the shameful election results actually derailing vital policies. ‘Europe’, in the first place, is a way to protect the Member States from their own stupid, homophobic and racist people (among others), and the EP is the worst possible place for parochial hatred policies. The remedy against turning EP elections into xenophobic crusades of the vile would be to make the EP a full-fledged Parliament.
Privacy heißt, für mich bleiben zu können. Eine Grenze ziehen zu dürfen zwischen mir und der Gesellschaft, ab der sie mich in Ruhe lassen muss und ich von ihrer moralischen, politischen und ökonomischen Inanspruchnahme unbehelligt bleibe. Mich undurchsichtig machen, mich verhüllen, mich verbergen zu dürfen, in meinen Kleidern am Leib, in den Wänden meiner Wohnung, in meiner eigenen Person. Das Google-Urteil des EuGH hat eine Menge Kritik erfahren, weil es das Informationsinteresse der Öffentlichkeit und die Meinungsfreiheit derer, die Informationen verbreiten wollen, nicht ausreichend schützt. Sollten wir uns nicht mindestens genau so viel Sorgen um jenes Recht auf Privacy machen, das das Google-Urteil eigentlich schützen soll? Reflexionen über das Recht auf Vergessen anlässlich eines Vortrags von Jack Balkin zu Freedom of Speech im Überwachungsstaat.
This article is available only in German.
13. September 2025
Giovanni Capoccia
12. September 2025
Anne Peters
12. September 2025
Anne Peters