The principle of collegiality in the Commission's decision-making : legal substance and institutional practice

The European Commission decides collegially, meaning that every member of the college is equal in the adoption of decisions. The principle of collegiality is a core legal principle of the Commission’s internal decision-making and dictates how the institution legitimately develops, implements and enforces policy in a multinational polity. Because of collegiality, Commissioners bear collective responsibility for the decisions they adopt. This in turn guarantees the Commissioners’ independence from Member States and acts as a safeguard to the Commission’s supranational character. My research focuses on the legal substance of the principle of collegiality, its implementation in the Commission’s decision-making and how collegiality has evolved to adapt to changing institutional and political dynamics. The legal analysis of the principle is complemented by empirical research to retrace implementation in the different layers of decision-making (college-services) and according to the different functions performed by the Commission in its enforcement, administrative and legislative activities. Targeted case studies in specific functional areas help assess how the legal definition of collegiality matches up with reality.The thesis argues that although collegial procedures permeate every aspect of the Commission’s decision-making, there is a gap between the legal concept of collegiality and its actual practice. Formally, the college of Commissioners adopts all decisions, regardless of whether they are legislative proposals or competition decisions. Behind the scenes, however, the principle is implemented with different intensities and in different ways depending on the functions performed by the Commission. These variations raise the question of how to ensure the unity of the Commission as a collegial body despite the diversification of decision-making functions. They also encourage an examination of how the principle of collegiality affects the Commission’s role in the current EU institutional, legal and political setting

Fairness and international law : within or without?

Starting from a notion of fairness that relies on taking all legitimate interests involved into account, this paper identifies fairness as a regulative idea to assess and criticise the law, but also to apply and to progressively develop it. After addressing ways and means to realise fairness in applying international law and to set it up as a ‘learning system’, it focuses on ‘fairness over space and time’, and asks under which conditions interests of distant strangers and of past and future generations should be taken into account in the application of international law

The role of comparative law in the analysis of judicial behavior

Published: 16 March 2022Comparing and contextualizing what judges say about the law is the job of comparative legal analysis. Studying internal and external forces that explain the judges’ choices and their societal effects is the core domain of the comparative study of judicial behavior. Although walls may seem to separate these two projects in terms of their theoretical approaches and methods, the barriers—and the obstacles—are more imagined than real. In an effort to highlight the complementarities between the two areas of studies—and issue what amounts to a standing invitation to comparative lawyers to contribute their specialized knowledge to the analysis of judging—the Article turns first to the aspirations of the study of judicial behavior. Next, we introduce six core theories of judging, along with the methods and data used to assess their implications. Along the way, we flag opportunities for future research, emphasizing potential collaborations among all scholars with an interest in comparative legal analysis

The crisis of culture : identity politics and the empire of norms

Published: 21 March 2024Are we confronting a new culture—global, online, individualistic? Or is our existing concept of culture in crisis, as explicit, normative systems replace implicit, social values? Olivier Roy’s new book explains today’s fractures via the extension of individual political and sexual freedoms from the 1960s. For Roy, twentieth-century youth culture disconnected traditional political protest from class, region or ethnicity, fashioning an identity premised on repudiation rather than inheritance of shared history or values. Having spread across generations under neoliberalism and the internet, youth culture is now individualised, ersatz. Without a shared culture, everything becomes an explicit code of how to speak and act, often online. Identities are now defined by socially fragmenting personal traits, creating affinity-based sub-cultures seeking safe spaces: universities for the left, gated communities and hard borders for the right. Increased left- and right-wing references to ‘identity’ fail to confront this deeper crisis of culture and community. Our only option, Roy argues, is to restore social bonds at the grassroots or citizenship level.-- Introduction -- 1 The crisis in question -- 2 Anthropological culture : the erasure of shared implicit understandings -- 3 Culture as canon : the fragility of transmission -- 4 The crisis of imaginaries -- 5 Communication : a matter of codes -- 6 Can we choose our sex or race? -- 7 Suffering and reparation -- 8 The joy of norms -- Conclusion : human, not human enoug

Not a threat? : Russian elites’ disregard for the ‘Islamist danger’ in the North Caucasus in the 1990s

The opposition between Moscow and Islamism is often seen in the academic literature and in Russian and Western policy circles as axiomatic. That idea is however largely a construction that has emerged over the past twenty years as the Russian state under Vladimir Putin fought a never-ending war against separatist groups who had embraced Islamism in the North Caucasus. Neither Russian political and security elites, nor its academic research institutes saw Islamism in the North Caucasus as a major domestic threat in the 1990s, including after Russia’s defeat in the First Chechen War. Influenced by the Soviet legacy of relations with Islam, they perceived Islamism as alien to Russia and associated its rise to foreign influence from Muslim countries and, remarkably, at times the West. Instead of Islamism, they continued to emphasize the threat represented by ethnonationalism for the stability of the North Caucasu

Моніторинг плюралізму медіа в цифрову еру : Попереднє дослідження впровадження Моніторингу плюралізму медіа 2023 в Україні

This report presents the results of a preliminary study for the implementation of the Media Pluralism Monitor in Ukraine for the year 2023 (MPM2024). The MPM is a holistic tool aimed at assessing the risk to media pluralism in the EU member states and candidate countries. It considers legal, political, and economic variables relevant for analyzing the levels of media pluralism in a democratic society. The Media Pluralism Monitor has been implemented annually by the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom since 2013/2014.Цей звіт є попереднім дослідженням впровадження Моніторингу плюралізму медіа за 2023 рік (МПМ2024) в Україні. МПМ є комплексним інструментом, спрямованим на оцінку ризиків для плюралізму медіа в країнах-членах ЄС та окремих країнах-кандидатах на вступ до ЄС. МПМ враховує правові, політичні та економічні змінні, які мають істотне значення для аналізу рівнів плюралізму медіа-систем у демократичному суспільстві. Моніторинг плюралізму медіа здійснюється на регулярній основі Центром плюралізму медіа та свободи медіа з 2013/2014 року.The Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom is co-financed by the European Union

War, human rights, and double standards

This contribution was delivered on 24 May 2024 in Badia Fiesolana (EUI) on the occasion of the hybrid 2024 edition of EUI State of the UnionThe European Union’s response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine was seen as determined and united. Accordingly, European member states pulled together to offer temporary protection to millions of Ukrainians displaced by the conflict. European institutions organised and coordinated unprecedented sanctions. European people experienced a profound energy crisis and began an equally profound energy transition. And, at least up to the end of 2023, all levels of governments worked to help support Ukraine with both humanitarian and military assistance in that country’s efforts to resist and repel Russian aggression. Within Europe, this showunder of solidarity was cause for celebration in most seats of power. Outside Europe, however, the reception was very different. Many voices expressed dismay at the economic and humanitarian consequences of a prolonged conflict. Many also questioned why European responses to Ukraine were so different from European responses to other conflicts and refugee flows. Hamas’ attack on the South of Israel and the Israeli government’s response in Gaza only deepened concern about European commitment to the protection of human rights, and about its double standards and racialised politics, both within and outside Europe. Such concerns are not easily dismissed. They chip away at European self-perception of civilian power or normative power even as they threaten to undermine Europe’s relations with other countries and its role in a changing world order. The challenge for European leaders is to explain such a gap in perception and action and ultimately the connection between European policy and European proclaimed values

Монитор медијског плурализма у дигиталној ери. Примена Монитора медијског плурализма у државама чланицама Европске уније и земљама кандидатима у 2023. Национални извештај : Србија

This report presents the results of the implementation of the Media Pluralism Monitor in Serbia for the year 2023 (MPM2024). The MPM is a holistic tool aimed at assessing the risk to media pluralism in the EU member states and candidate countries. It considers legal, political, and economic variables relevant for analyzing the levels of media pluralism in a democratic society. The Media Pluralism Monitor has been implemented annually by the Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom since 2013/2014.Овај извештај представља резултате имплементације Монитора медијског плурализма у Србији у 2023. години (МПМ2024). МПМ је холистички алат усмерен на процену ризика за медијски плурализам у државама чланицама ЕУ и одабраним земљама кандидатима. МПМ укључује правне, политичке и економске варијабле које су релевантне за анализу нивоа плуралитета медијских система у демократском друштву. Монитор медијског плурализма спроводи Центар за медијски плурализам и слободу медија редовно од 2013/2014.The Centre for Media Pluralism and Media Freedom is co-financed by the European Union

Financial regulation and economic integration : central counterparties in WTO, economic integration agreements, and EU competition law

Defence date: 8 April 2020Examining Board: Prof. Stefan Grundmann, European University Institute (supervisor); Prof. Petros C. Mavroidis, European University Institute, Columbia Law School; Prof. Christos V. Gortsos, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens; Prof. Lorenzo Stranghellini, University of FlorenceThis thesis investigates the interplay between financial regulation and economic integration in the context of financial market infrastructure. This inquiry is driven by the prominence of both regulatory frameworks and economic integration platforms in determining the degree of liberalization for financial services sectors. In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, clearinghouses have emerged as essential financial institutions for the financial system as the result of regulatory overhaul. This thesis examines their role within three major economic integration settings, namely, the WTO, Economic Integration Agreements and EU Competition law, and explores whether a more harmonious relationship between financial regulation and economic integration is feasible and, if so, how it can be achieved. Given the existing body of literature falls short of providing a critical eye on the relationship between the regulation of clearinghouses and the abovementioned economic integration models, this thesis aims to fill this lacuna. The overarching question put forward by this study seeks to identify the parameters pertinent to promoting or discouraging the liberalization of financial market infrastructure within the different economic integration settings covered by the analytical framework of the thesis. Against this backdrop, the thesis underscores the existence of both structural barriers to trade (e.g. in the form of inadequate regulatory transparency) and trade-facilitating tools (e.g. the use of competition law and policy in the EU) that can impede and foster the further integration of financial market infrastructure, respectively. Ultimately, the thesis extrapolates policy recommendations in respect of utilizing a number of tools that can contribute to further liberalization of the financial market infrastructure without jeopardizing the financial system’s soundness and integrity should States decide to pursue this objective

Riders on the storm : the politics of disruption in European member states during the COVID-19 pandemic

This paper explores how democracies handle the trade-off between public safety and fundamental democratic principles. We show that an exogenous shock, like the pandemic, creates incentives for governing elites to deploy self-empowering mechanisms to avoid institutional checks and balances – with lasting consequences for democratic performance. We examine this prospect in Italy and Romania. These cases have a long history of institutional gridlock; such history reinforces incentives to work around traditional institutions in responding to the pandemic. While the two cases vary in terms of the quality and resilience of their democratic institutions, we find that elites displayed a similar propensity to overlook the intricate institutional balances during a moment of crisis. In Italy, the executive strengthened its power relative to the legislature; in Romania, the strengthening is relative to the judiciary. This finding has implications in assessing the risk for falling standards of liberal democracy across the European Union