Articles for category: Deutschland

The battle over Europe

In the Anglophone press and in some intellectual circles there appears to be a broad alliance favouring an “end to austerity”. What all these positions share is that they treat the crisis as a matter of theoretical dispute: If only the correct economic or philosophical view would prevail the appropriate course of action would be clear. The current situation might help to remind us, the theorists, that in the course of actions we can only watch and sometimes, like when Hegel saw Napoleon, get a glimpse of world history. It might also remind us that before theoria was invented as an eternal idea a different, more mundane view reigned: Heraclitus's reflection of polemos (war, fight, struggle) as the father of all things.

11. Juli 2015

Lustration and guilt: Evolution of the Venice Commission’s approach

On 19 June 2015 the Venice Commission issued its final opinion on the Law on government cleansing (lustration law) of Ukraine. Compared to the interim opinion, the final document is much more favorable to the Ukraine’s lustration initiative. One of the most interesting changes concerns the role of guilt in the lustration framework.

11. Juli 2015

Merkel, Tsipras und die Schwierigkeit, das offensichtlich Richtige zu tun

In dem aktuellen Drama um Griechenland sehen sich zwei europäische Politiker mit der Erwartung konfrontiert, etwas offensichtlich Richtiges, aber gleichzeitig offenkundig Unmögliches zu tun. Alexis Tsipras soll aus Griechenland endlich einen funktionalen Staat machen, Angela Merkel soll Griechenland endlich aus der Schuldenfalle rauslassen. Wenn das so offensichtlich ist, warum tun sie es dann nicht? Ein großer Teil der Öffentlichkeit übt sich in personalisierender Kompetenz- und Motivationsdiagnostik. Ich halte einen anderen Punkt für interessanter.

8. Juli 2015

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How to Leave the Euro More or Less Legally

There is much speculation, some of it silly, about how to leave the euro if you want to. The ordinary way requires unanimity in the Council, so Greece (or anyone else) could veto the plan. So is there a way for Greece to exit the euro by qualified majority voting (QMV)? Here the logical thing to do is turn to the decision-making process that applies to joining the euro, and reverse the thrust.

8. Juli 2015

The EU elephant in the Greek room: What would EU citizens have voted for in the referendum?

July 5, 2015 will go down in history as a game changer for Europe, regardless of what you think, or would have voted for, in the Greek referendum. The future of the Eurozone is no longer a private affaire by EU leaders and creditors but – amid an ill-designed and largely unanticipated referendum – suddenly became the object of a transnational and pan-European political conversation about our collective future. For the first time, no single EU citizen – regardless of her passport – could credibly claim not to care about what was going on in another Member State.

6. Juli 2015

Why the Greferendum IS NOT a Problem under Greek Constitutional Law

Amongst mounting controversies surrounding the Greek bailout program and the referendum called by the Greek government, questions about the constitutionality of the initiative have been raised. The matter is of great importance, since the Council of the State will rule on the constitutionality of the bill this Friday. Given what is at stake, this might seem to be a totally peripheral question. That said, we will attempt a response, so as to clarify certain legal questions and also to point at the uses and abuses of constitutional arguments.

2. Juli 2015

Commentaire sur la loi sur le renseignement

La nouvelle loi sur le renseignement devait assurer le difficile équilibre entre la transparence démocratique et le secret-défense, l’efficacité de la sécurité et la garantie des libertés, la nécessité de la réflexion et celle de l’urgence.

2. Juli 2015

Greece: voting for or against Europe

A ‘no’ result in the Greek referendum next Sunday will set in motion the process of disengagement from the Eurozone. It is true that the EU cannot throw Greece out of the Euro. There is no legal mechanism for ‘Grexit’ as Syriza’s ministers say again and again. But this is irrelevant. The mechanism will work the other way round: the Greek government will beg for Grexit, when it finds out that it absolutely has to recapitalise its banks within a matter of days and discovers that the unilateral creation of a new currency is against EU law.

1. Juli 2015

Transplanting the Law of Policing? – Comparative Legal Reflections on a Symposium with Barry Friedman

Can the law of policing (Polizeirecht) be transplanted? Comparative views on this particular field of law are rare. Nevertheless, I will argue that are good reasons to approach this field with a comparative, if not transnational lens. Analyzing law from a comparative perspective almost always means digging for principles. This entails questions such as these: What is “policing”? Does “policing” require legislation? What follows for the law of policing from general constitutional principles?

1. Juli 2015

Democratic Russian Roulette

It is inevitable to speak about Greece today. There is a generalized feeling of astonishment about the Greek government’s decision to hold a referendum on the Eurogroup’s second-to-last offer laid down on Thursday. The astonishment has basically two strands: some say it is economic and political suicide for Greece; some say it is the most dignified way out for the Greek people (and its government). I am personally not astonished. I am enraged.

28. Juni 2015