Articles for tag: EU, Polexit, Polnischer Verfassungsgerichtshof, Rechtsstaatlichkeit

Poland and Europe at a Critical Juncture. What has happened? What is happening? What’s next?

The European institutions must be able to protect the European narrative in Poland because this is what most Poles expect of the EU. And with each passing day, the frustration and the discouragement set in because people see and read about the ECJ decisions and see nothing tangible happen. And then they ask the most dramatic of questions: What does Europe mean for us? This is a critical and dramatic juncture because Europe must not afford losing the support of Polish citizenry. Therefore, Brussels must stop considering the Polish case as a mere problem of bad governance of yet another recalcitrant member state. It would serve European leaders well to finally recognize the constitutional stakes involved and enforce all these in the name of Europe and its citizens.

16. August 2021

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Machines Learning the Rule of Law

On 21 April 2021, the European Commission proposed the world’s first Artificial Intelligence Act, with the intention to explicitly protect the rule of law against the “rule of technology”. Despite this expressed goal, the normative power of the regulation raises serious concerns from the perspective of fundamental rights protection.

13. Juli 2021

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Neglected Actors at the Conference on the Future of Europe

Judges are prominent actors with a significant impact on European integration. Yet, no references to them appear in the Joint Declaration on the Conference on the Future of Europe. This corresponds to a view, unsustainable in the age of extensive access to information, that judges sit in ivory towers and speak exclusively through their decisions that other actors then explain to the broader public.

30. Juni 2021

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The Northern Ireland Protocol »Sausage Wars«

Five years after the Brexit referendum, the legal stalemate on the Protocol on Ireland and Northern Ireland the impasse between the UK and the EU continues, despite the conclusion of the Withdrawal Agreement and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. While the concept of “state civil disobedience” could be applied to the UK government’s actions since, this is an inappropriate means to conceptualise the conflict. Instead, the more familiar concept of legally justified exceptions to obligations would have been a more appropriate means of pre-empting the dispute during the creation of the Protocol.

24. Juni 2021

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Eine Konferenz zur Zukunft Europas

Zum diesjährigen Europatag am 9. Mai 2021 wurde von dem Präsidenten des Europäischen Parlaments, dem Präsidenten des Europäischen Rates und der Präsidentin der Europäischen Kommission eine Konferenz zur Zukunft Europas eröffnet. Die Konferenz soll europäischen Bürgern die Möglichkeit zur Mitsprache geben, dabei sollten auch Politiker auf nationaler und europäischer Ebene gestalterisch tätig werden.

3. Juni 2021

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Between European Commitment and ‚Taking the Law Seriously‘

On 27 April 2021, the Constitutional Law Committee of the Finnish Parliament adopted its much-awaited opinion on the EU’s Own Resources Decision. It established that its approval requires a qualified majority and thus a significant bulk of votes from the opposition, which has been highly critical of the package. Now, for many MPs, the situation creates an impossible dilemma between their European commitment and taking the law seriously.

29. April 2021

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From Captured State to Captive Mind

Finding two history professors guilty of allegedly defaming the good name of an individual by researching his alleged role in the Holocaust must not be treated as yet another run-of-the-mill litigation instigated by a relative concerned about a tarnished good name. Rather, Poland seems to be entering an unchartered territory of settling the score by way of the long arm of the law. The sacred dignity of the Polish nation hidden under the convenient argument from protecting the “good name” of individuals takes center stage and overshadows the need to have a robust historical discourse.

3. April 2021

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Corona Constitutional #57: Reisen mit dem Digitalen Grünen Pass

Am 17. März hat die EU-Kommission einen Gesetzes-Vorschlag für ein europäisches Impfzertifikat, den sogenannten Digitalen Grünen Pass, vorgestellt. Damit sollen EU-Bürger, die eine Immunisierung, einen negativen PCR-Test oder Anti-Körper gegen das Corona-Virus nachweisen können, bald wieder innerhalb Europas reisen können. Vor allem Urlaubsländer wie Österreich und Griechenland hatten sich für den Digitalen Grünen Pass eingesetzt. Seit Wochen gibt es bereits Diskussion darüber, wie ein europäisches Impfzertifikat aussehen könnte und ob eine solche Maßnahme mit den EU-Grundrechten vereinbar wäre. Diese Fragen diskutiert Luise Quaritsch mit WALTHER MICHL. Er ist Habilitand am Institut für Politik und Öffentliches Recht der LMU München und er Associate Editor des Verfassungsblogs, zuständig für Europarechtsthemen.

18. März 2021

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Vaccination for Vacation

The European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen announced on 1 March that the Commission will put forward a proposal for a “digital green pass” on 17 March, which would enable safe cross-border movement of three categories of individuals: those who have been vaccinated, those who have developed antibodies after recovering from COVID-19 and those who can produce a negative PCR test. This concept could enable individuals to travel across Europe without unduly discriminating citizens. By contrast, "EU vaccination certificates" would violate EU law and unduly discriminate citizens.

16. März 2021

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