Abstract: To properly understand the various factors that have been conducive to diplomatic tensions between Spain and Morocco, following the mass arrival of migrants crossing the border of the Ceuta enclave in May 2021, we need to move the debate beyond the recurrent reference to “blackmail”. The instrumentalization of migration for political and...
Abstract: Parallel trade of pharmaceuticals is one of the most contended issues emerging from this industrial sector, which requires to strike a sensitive balance between the fundamental tenets of the internal market (particularly the free movement of goods), the Member States’ competence in regulating the prices of medicines and the conflicting...
Abstract: The migration crisis at the EU-Belorussian border is escalating and the potential for grave human rights violations against third country-nationals stuck between the two “titans” is more and more likely to materialize. This Insight aims to provide an overview of the emergency measures that have been adopted at the national and EU...
Abstract: The Temporary Protection Directive (TPD) is one of the most controversial pieces of EU legislation. Adopted back in 2001 and never implemented, it has been at the margins of EU migration and asylum policies until, on 3 March 2022, the Home Affairs Ministers of the EU27 reached an “historic agreement” on its activation. This Insight...
Abstract: In 1996, the Court of Justice ruled out that prosecutors could refer questions for a preliminary ruling on the grounds that their task is not to settle a dispute in complete independence but to submit it to a court by means of criminal prosecution. In case C-66/20 XK ECLI:EU:C:2021:200, the Court was asked to deal with the same...
Abstract: In application of art. 3 Brussels II-bis a spouse can only have one habitual residence even if he/she share his/her time between two Member States. The court has the duty to establish his/her habitual residence taking into account the place where such person has the main centre of his or her interests and a stable presence....
Abstract: The climate crisis is – as far as we can see in 2021 – the greatest challenge of the 21st century. The existence of global warming as a human-made problem and the abstract need of transiting away from fossil energy sources is largely accepted. The question, however, of how to best achieve this transition is a major bone of contention –...
Abstract: Third country nationals are in a “weak” position when it comes to issuing a uniform Schengen short-term visa. The EU acquis on visas, and most notably the Visa Code, is still a domain strongly marked by State sovereignty, wide margin of appreciation and scarce transparency in the decision-making process. The EU Court of Justice...