Tag: European Union

The quest for a more effective mechanism to enforce the value of the rule of law

In the realm of compliance and enforcement of values under Article 2 TEU, in particular of the rule of law, multiple solutions have been advanced by constitutional scholars. For instance, interesting to examine are the key academic proposals selected by Kochenov in this respect. Although these academic endeavours may provide policymakers with good food for…

Exclusive: Yanis Varoufakis starts a new italian political movement in March 2018

Speaking at a Diem 25 Belfast meeting on Saturday afternoon, former Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis exclusively told SocialNews of a new Italian political movement. Thanks to Kathryn Johnston. “In Italy the political party scene is very sad. But at the level of civic, at the level of local government, there are some very interesting and…

The EU and the new Labor Directive

Back in 1991 the European Union, at the time still EEC, had just started tidying up the complicated matter of labor law. In particular, the focus was laid on the applicable conditions included in work contracts and work relationships. Then a 20 year long silence, time in which -without the need of being expert analyst-…

From the Great Wall of China to a Great Economic Power

Exactly 40 years ago, in 1978, Deng Xiaoping took China by the reins and led it on a path of mass economic reform; dismantling the agriculture sector and encouraging foreign investment which revived an advanced economic system that had been stagnating and declining for nearly five centuries. Of course, such a rapid growth was in-part…

The Spanish deadlock in Catalonia

A referendum was held on 1 October 2017 to decide whether Catalonia, an autonomous region of northeastern Spain, should declare itself an independent country. This was declared illegal and incompatible by the Spanish Constitution. An extensive police report delivered to the Court on December 15 concluded that the independence movement had systematically encouraged “hatred” of…

European army: why and how

The proposal for a more structured cooperation on defence and security issues across the European Union has been in development for a number of years. The current European Defence Initiative, comes from a proposal for an enhanced European Union defence, presented by France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg in Brussels in 2003. The European Defence Agency…

Brexit: humble pie?

Who knows what will be on the menu when Theresa May dines with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker today? Until after they meet, there can be no certainty about the terms that have been placed on the table. Ireland have already said that they doubt enough progress has been made over the weekend to avoid…