Suchergebnisse

Democratic backsliding in the countries which joined the EU in this century poses questions as to how it may be understood and remedied. This article explains the phenomenon as a search for a specific social contract between the illiberal forces and the societies they seek to govern, setting the hypothesis against the experiences of three particularly problematic Member States: Hungary, Poland and Romania. Potential and actual responses by European institutions to this challenge, with particular emphasis on the ground-breaking potential of infringement proceedings to support the domestic division of powers, are discussed next. Finally, the paper analyses how seemingly unrelated broader EU policies have inadvertently contributed to the democratic backsliding.

The regulatory approach to tech companies in the internal market is in the process of being rebalanced from maximizing economic benefits to minimizing social and political costs. The article analyses this trend, and the reasons for the change. It recapitulates the main economic and political benefits, as well as the costs of establishing a European market for online activities, then discusses the outcome of the positive integration in this domain before and after the 2015 Digital Single Market Strategy. The ECJ's stance in the recent cases on Uber is explained, followed by an elucidation of shortcomings in the legal arguments underpinning these decisions. The conclusions emphasize that the current approach to the Digital Single Market – both for positive and negative integration – might cripple the internal market profoundly. If so, the cleavage between countries able to take advantage of the digital revolution and those unable to do so will widen.

The article discusses the institutional framework for three important economic policies - macroeconomic governance, cohesion policy and innovation policy - and examines their relationship with the generally inauspicious economic outlook of the European Union. It explains in particular how the newly established excessive imbalance procedure has been practicallydisabled by political forces, why the regions benefitting from the cohesion policy for a long time have seriously contributed to the ongoing economic crisis, and why the EU innovation policy finds it very difficult to support a harmonious development of the Union.The article also pays attention to thosedevelopmentswhich are particularly important for economic growth in the EU but still remain outside the mainstream economic policies. Necessary adjustments establishing a more credible framework of economic prosperity - the contribution argues - are primarily hindered by domestic politics and democratic dynamics rather than by Treaty constraints.Economic prospects of the EU will remain gloomy unless this political constitution is properly altered.

The unfolding of the euro area crisis has revealed fundamental political, economic and legal shortcomings of the macroeconomic governance in the Union. This contribution first demonstrates that the original legal architecture of the EMU has proven conducive to accelerating imbalances produced by the political and economic dynamics of the euro. It then describes how the legal underpinnings of the EMU fell victim of the accelerating crisis and proceeds to discuss the legal countermeasures recently agreed at the EU level, from rescue funds to the six-pack reform and the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance. The article argues that all those measures essentially follow the same intergovernmental governance paradigm which had previously proven entirely inefficient. The euro area falters, because it is - just as is the macroeconomic picture - not a real community, but an aggregate outcome of national policies exposed to substantially destabilizing forces of the monetary union. The text wraps up with a conclusion that only when the governance paradigm is entirely overhauled may the crisis be contained.

Despite the fact that the European Union has had specific rules on access to official documents for more than ten years now, their boundaries are still unclear as to why and when the institutions may refuse access. In many respects the lingering doubts have been elicited by the ECJ itself, as the Court often hesitates whether to pursue a restrictive interpretation of the exceptions or whether to protect discretionary powers of the institutions. This contribution describes how the most recent case law of the Luxembourg courts meanders between the two options. Furthermore, it critically analyses both the origins and the results of this process, by concentrating on paradoxes stemming from two radically different judicial approaches applied to the same area of law. Inconsistencies as to review standards in respect of access cases are all the more puzzling considering that decisions of the ECJ ignore - and often contradict - the fundamental freedom of expression, as protected by the European Convention on Human Rights. After analysing the issue, the author proposes modifications to the judicial approach of the ECJ. They are aimed at enhancing congruity with the Strasbourg jurisprudence and at improving the balance between diverging interests involved.