The EU and Russian Aggression: Perspectives from Kant, Hobbes, and Machiavelli

Insight

Abstract: This Insight examines the stance the EU should adopt towards the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the basis of the political thought of Immanuel Kant, Thomas Hobbes, and Niccolò Machiavelli. Taking as its starting point Josep Borrell’s comment that “we are too much Kantians and not enough Hobbesians” at the 2022 EU Ambassadors’...

Mutual Trust and EU Accession to the ECHR: Are We Over the Opinion 2/13 Hurdle?

Insight

Abstract: After more than forty years of discussion and a decade after the CJEU struck down EU accession to the ECHR in Opinion 2/13, negotiators provisionally approved a new version of the Accession Instruments in March 2023. This Insight examines how this new draft of the Accession Instruments has addressed the mutual trust concerns...

Sanctions and the Geopolitical Commission: The War over Ukraine and the Transformation of EU Governance

Insight

Abstract: As a result of the invasion of Ukraine, the Commission has been increasing its weight throughout the EU sanctions process. This transformation is visible in the formation, implementation and communication of sanctions. Formulation has become less member state-driven, implementation has undergone some steps towards centralisation, and...

The Preliminary Ruling Procedure 2.0

Insight

Abstract: The end of 2022 saw the publication of the proposal for reform of the preliminary ruling procedure, drafted by the Court of Justice of the EU. If the proposal goes through, it will bring about one of the most significant changes in the EU judicial system in its seventy years’ history. In this Insight, I start with an overview of the...

Five Surgical Strikes on the Treaties of the European Union

Insight

An Unusual Insight: A short premise by the Board of Editors. This is an unusual Insight. It does not look at the existing law of the Union but rather at its possible and auspicious development. It does not ad-dress only the scholarly world, but also the much wider circle of persons interested in the future of the Union. In spite of this feature, or...

Simple Abstention and Constructive Abstention in the Context of International Economic Sanctions: Two Too Similar Sides of the Same Coin?

Insight

Abstract: Constructive abstention, provided for in art. 31(2) TEU, has been conceived of as an instrument applicable to CFSP acts. As art. 215 TFEU establishes an integrated regime in which CFSP decisions and TFEU regulations are interdependent on each other, the issue arises as to whether the scope of constructive abstention can be extended to...

The Green Deal and the Case for a Soil Health Framework Directive

Highlight

Keywords: soil – Green Deal – climate change – Framework Directive – environmental law – subsidiarity.

In its 2020 Report on the State of the Environment, the European Environment Agency highlighted the increasingly serious degradation of EU soils.[1] Soils constitute largely...

Il Green Deal europeo e il sistema delle risorse proprie

Insight

Abstract: Over the past few years, the EU action has been increasingly focused on addressing environmental protection issues and implementing policies to fight against climate change. The ambitious environmental policy of the EU, the Green Deal being part of it, stressed the issues concerning its financing. Against this backdrop, the aim of this...

Navigating Art. 218 TFEU: Third States’ Accession to International Conventions and the Position of the EU in This Respect

Insight

Abstract: Setting the general procedure to be followed for the conclusion of international agreements, art. 218 TFEU allocates the powers of the different institutions involved and – compared to the pre-Lisbon legal framework – strengthens the role of the European Parliament. It is therefore with respect to this provision that the status and...

Transparency of Legislative Procedures and Access to Acts of Trilogues: Case T-540/15, De Capitani v. European Parliament

Insight

Abstract: On 22 March 2018, for the first time the General Court ruled on access to documents of trilogues (case T-540/15, De Capitani v. European Parliament). These are informal meetings between representatives of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, which negotiate to reach an agreement, which must subsequently be...

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