Pedro Sánchez threatens the rule of law in Spain

The leader of the Socialist Party in Spain, Pedro Sánchez, has secured an agreement for his re-election as prime minister. Despite winning fewer seats …

Migration: Mandatory solidarity or flexible subsidiarity?

Heading into the European elections next year, voters will most likely view migration as one of their top priorities. It is one of the …

Creating an EU ethics culture

Transparency and accountability are vital pillars of democratic governance. However, the series of scandals that rocked the European Union over the last few years …

Overlooked benefits of the current EU institutional set-up

In my opinion, we often overlook the benefits of the current EU. It is based on constitutional frameworks that, to a very large extent, …

Will centralisation resolve the EU’s asylum woes?

In June, the European Parliament and Council of the EU reached a provisional agreement to transform the European Asylum Support Office (EASO) into a …

Rent Control: another such victory, and we are done

Last month, the Berlin Rent Control Act was found to violate the German constitution. This was the right call, but the Federal Constitutional Court …

How to contain the crisis and reform the Polish justice system?

The crisis in the rule of law that Poland has witnessed since 2015 must be contained as soon as possible. Any proposal to restore …

Rule of law in Poland 2020

As a member of various international and European organisations, Poland is bound by the requirement to respect the rule of law so as to …

Decentralise financing to improve the rule of law

The new Commission report on the rule of law in the EU has found that ‘there are serious challenges, cases where the resilience of …

Rule of law in Poland

The presidential elections in Poland in 2020, which were won by the incumbent Andrzej Duda, the candidate of the ruling Law and Justice party, …

The rise of power politics

 

The Covid-19 pandemic has not only led to a health and economic crisis across Europe, but also a political one. Political leaders …

Polish Minority Rights and the EU

Polish president, Andrzej Duda, and his close political ally, the Law and Justice Party, PiS, have not been shy of controversies during this last …

How current funding mechanisms allow for the misuse of EU cohesion funds

The EU’s Cohesion Policy comprises almost a third of the current seven-year budget. However, there is controversy as to whether cohesion projects have been …

Violations of the rule of law principles in Poland despite recent amendments

On 21 November, public opinion in Poland and the EU was surprised by the ruling Law and Justice’s (PiS) proposal “backtracking on controversial reforms …

Who are the ‘Gilets Jaunes’ protestors?

The French ‘Gilets Jaunes’ started their protests a month ago and since then the global media landscape has interpreted their actions and demands in …

Poland on Orbán’s Lap

It is Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán who is to defend the Law and Justice (PiS) government against the consequences of violations of the …

Black Friday for freedom and rule of law in Poland

On 24 November in many places around the world shops and their customers celebrated “Black Friday”, with promotional sales and special offers. This tradition, …

The right to housing: a threat to property rights?

Nicolò Zanon, November 2015
In this IBL Occasional Paper, the author – a Justice of Italy’s Constitutional Court – discusses the legal and economic …