17 April 2024
Solidarity Crimes, Legitimacy Limits
The criminalisation of humanitarianism has become pervasive in the EU over the last two decades. Overbroad definitions of the crimes of facilitation of irregular entry, transit and stay produce well known noxious effects on the human rights of migrants and civil society organisations. Nevertheless, the tendency has been to tighten the rules rather than contesting the EU’s failure to pursue a migration control system that is ‘fair towards third-country nationals’ and constructed ‘with respect for fundamental rights.’ In this blogpost, I argue that the EU legislator’s disregard for the human rights impacts of the facilitation regime constitutes an abuse of power. Legislative measures that have the effect of subverting legally enshrined principles (Arts 2, 6 & 21 TEU) and suppress the rights of civil society and the migrants with whom they engage are incompatible with core democratic premises. Continue reading >>
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18 November 2022
The Terrible Plight of Internally Displaced Persons in Central Africa
In a never-ending humanitarian crisis, Central Africa is host to the largest community of internally displaced persons (IDPs). In early November, thousands of new IDPs, including a high number of children, found shelter in overcrowded and unsanitary camps in Goma and Lubero, in the North Kivu provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) fleeing violence in the area, caused by the intensifying fighting between the Congolese armed forces and non-state armed group M23. It is for this reason of permanent insecurity in the area that I argue that the adoption of a specific binding legal instrument could ease the management of the IDPs in the region. The adoption of such an instrument would find one of its foundations in the concept of “solidarity”. Continue reading >>
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19 May 2020
VB Live: “Whatever it takes?” – COVID-19 as an (existential) crisis for the European Union
Session II of our discussion series on the COVID-19 crisis from a German, European and International Perspective, jointly organized by IFHV and Verfassungsblog - streamed live here on Verfassungsblog from 4:00 - 5:45 pm. Join now! Continue reading >>12 May 2020
Constitutional Constraints meet Political Pressure
The Finnish Constitutional Law Committee had already in April adopted a critical position towards the COVID 19 crisis measures in the EU. Last week the Committee continued its critical examination. It came to the conclusion that the Eurogroup decision to essentially remove all conditionality from the new loan facility of the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) is incompatible with the Finnish Constitution and expressed serious doubts about its compatibility with EU law. The Committee also repeated its concerns about the accumulation of financial risks deriving from EU membership. Continue reading >>
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18 March 2020
In der Pandemie stirbt die europäische Solidarität
Im Angesicht von Corona versuchen die Regierungen in Europa momentan, Wege zu finden, das Virus einzudämmen. Vieles erscheint auf den ersten Blick sinnvoll, um die Entwicklung zu verlangsamen, und als Symbolik, um auf den Ernst der Situation hinzuweisen. Viele Länder des Schengen-Raumes haben obendrein die Wiedereinführung von Binnengrenzkontrollen und absolute Einreiseverbote für Personen aus „Risikogebieten" beschlossen. Auch dies dient angeblich dazu, das Wachstum der Infektionsrate abzuflachen, zeigt aber ein ordnungspolitisch überformtes Verständnis von Virusbekämpfung, dem die notwendige gesundheitspolitische Komponente weitgehend fehlt. Continue reading >>23 January 2020
‘Zombie Urbanism’ and the Search for New Sources of Solidarity
How can ‘staged urbanism’ provide spaces of urban citizenship? Under what conditions can urban citizenship “contribute to overall democratic integration within and beyond nation-states”? Continue reading >>
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10 November 2018
Responding to the Nation-State Law: Norms and Narratives of Solidarity in Israeli Constitutional Law
The Nation-State Law saga revealed in Israel’s constitutional politics three constitutional narratives while only two are conventionally recognized. . This third narrative is usually disregarded by the Israeli Jewish public and perceived as marginal or even as an existential threat. But in the debates about the Nation-State Law the force of this narrative became apparent and it is about time to shed light on the presence and the value of this alternative narrative. Continue reading >>
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18 January 2016
Asyl und Migration – Recht und Wirklichkeit
Vernünftige und angemessene Reaktionen in Gesetzgebung und Rechtsanwendung sind, wie so häufig, auch in der Asyl- und Migrationspolitik zugleich die kompliziertesten, unbequemsten und langwierigsten, aber letztlich doch die einzig möglichen Wege, auch wenn sie die Ziele nicht immer zu vollster Zufriedenheit erreichen werden. Leider ist viel Zeit durch gut gemeinte Appelle, auch solche an die gesamteuropäische Solidarität, durch halbherzige bis völlig ungeeignete Reaktionen und teilweise durch abstruse, jenseits des rechtlich Möglichen und des tatsächlich Vollziehbaren liegende Reaktionsvorschläge vergeudet worden. Je länger dieser Zustand andauert, desto schmerzlicher für alle wird das schlussendlich unausweichliche Umsteuern. Continue reading >>15 December 2015
European Defence: Myth or Reality?
After the attacks of November 13, the French President François Hollande called for Europe’s help in the fight against ISIS and islamist terror. Europe justified its inaction by arguing that the Treaties leave no choice. Especially, Article 42 would only make viable the intergovernmental procedure, i.e. bilateral agreements that every state should stipulate with France. It cannot be neglected, though, that the first six paragraphs of Article 42 draw a common strategy in the defence and foreign affairs sectors, which has to be followed with the consent of all the States. Now, this shared – even if not exclusive – competence of the EU was not triggered. Why not? Continue reading >>
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15 December 2015
European Defence: Myth or Reality?
After the attacks of November 13, the French President François Hollande called for Europe’s help in the fight against ISIS and islamist terror. Europe justified its inaction by arguing that the Treaties leave no choice. Especially, Article 42 would only make viable the intergovernmental procedure, i.e. bilateral agreements that every state should stipulate with France. It cannot be neglected, though, that the first six paragraphs of Article 42 draw a common strategy in the defence and foreign affairs sectors, which has to be followed with the consent of all the States. Now, this shared – even if not exclusive – competence of the EU was not triggered. Why not? Continue reading >>
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