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Verschlagwortet: European Union

re:constitution / Rule of Law Reflections

Bridging Brexit and the Values Crisis: From Constitutional Resistance to Deliberation?

By Oliver Garner. It may have seemed that the EU’s “Rule of Law crisis” was finally being resolved as 2023 commenced. For the first time since 2015, action by the EU institutions induced both Hungary and Poland to adopt legislation on the organisation of their judiciaries. The decisive factor appears to have been the use of financial pressure through the withholding of EU funds. Nevertheless, problems on a number of fronts suggest that this will not be the silver bullet to solve the values crisis.

Issues / re:constitution

Elections, Rule of Law and Democracy in Greece

By Taygeti Michalakea. In the 2023 elections, Greece’s ‘New Democracy’ party won a second term with 40.5% of the vote, while the opposition Syriza received only 17.8%. Smaller far-right parties also gained seats, raising concerns about the rule of law. Issues such as weakened independent institutions, lack of media freedom, widespread surveillance, and political interference in the judiciary are contributing to this decline. This text explores how these factors are undermining democracy and eroding fundamental freedoms in Greece.

re:constitution / Rule of Law Reflections

Taking Rights Consciousness Seriously: A Rights-Based Approach to Promoting Rule of Law Culture in the EU

By Catherine Warin. This article argues that enhancing rights consciousness across societies in Europe can help make individual rights a reality and strengthen individual and collective confidence in the EU’s legal system. The author gives a brief reminder of the nature, function and value of rights in the EU legal system and discusses rights consciousness as a precondition for rights effectiveness.

Issues / re:constitution

Fighting Impunity Through Intermediaries: The European Union, International Criminal Justice, and the Rule of Law

By Raphael Oidtmann. What legal principle – that may also be derived from its treaty framework – determined and guided EU support towards Ukraine? This contribution argues that at least certain streams of EU assistance for Ukraine in countering the Russian Federation’s aggression – namely those aimed at ending impunity for international crimes – have been organized within a distinct rule of law context.

Issues / re:constitution

‘Instrumentalisation of Migrants’ and the EU-Belarus Border Crisis: Facts and Fictions

By Aleksandra Ancite-Jepifánova. Recent years have seen an increase in the violation of asylum-seeker rights in the EU, including through so-called pushbacks. These practices have typically not been authorised by domestic legislation and have been denied or concealed by the relevant Member States. However, this changed with the crisis at the EU-Belarus border that has unfolded since summer 2021.

Conversations / Reviews

The Two-Edged Sea: Heterotopias of Contemporary Mediterranean Migrant Literature – an Interview with Nahrain Al-Mousawi

Nahrain Al-Mousawi is a scholar of Arabic and Anglophone literature of the Middle East and North Africa, primarily dealing with postcolonial, migration, and Mediterranean literature. She is the author of The Two-Edged Sea: Heterotopias of Contemporary Mediterranean Migrant Literature (Gorgias Press, 2021). A conversation with Alex Favalli.

#criticaljunctures / #DossierUkraine

We Didn’t Start the Fire: Military Interventions from Kosovo to Kiev

By Katarina Ristić. Only a few days before the attack on Ukraine, Russian president Vladimir Putin responded to those scandalized by the prospect of a war in Europe, reminding Europeans that such a war had already taken place. In 1999, he said, it was the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) – not Russia – that had started a “large-scale military operation that included air strikes against a European capital, Belgrade”.

Academic Freedom / re:constitution

“Resisting Multiple Pressures – Perspectives on Academic Freedom in Europe” – Side Note on the re:constitution Seminar

By László Detre. re:constitution is a joint program of the Forum Transregionale Studien and Democracy Reporting International, funded by the Stiftung Mercator. Re:constitution awards fellowships, inspires and organizes topical seminars, and offers fact-based analysis on and around the rule of law and democracy in the European Union.