The EU Approach towards Disaster Management - A Critical Appraisal in the Light of the Action Put in Place to Face the COVID-19 Pandemic

The purpose of this contribution is neither to provide a comprehensive analysis of all legal tools elaborated in Europe to face disaster scenarios nor to review their global effectiveness. Instead, it intends to carry out a legal assessment of the most relevant trends of EU disaster law in light of the EU reaction to the COVID-19 pandemic. With this in mind, the remainder of this contribution has been divided into four further sections. Section 2 provides a summary of the impact generated by the measures adopted at the EU level to face the pandemic on the allocation of competencies among the Union and its Members States. In the light of this, Section 3 describes the roles and responsibilities assumed by different EU institutions in dealing with the crisis, assessing their impact on the institutional framework (and balance) of the Union. Section 4 realises a general reflection on the main features and legal implications characterizing the instruments adopted by the Union in that context, with a particular emphasis on the recurrent use of soft-law acts. A summary of major outcomes is contained in Section 5

EU Citizenship and Money: A Liaison Dangereuse? International and EU Legal Issues Concerning the Selling of EU Citizenship

The pressure exerted by the economic and financial crisis has led EU actors to reshape the way in which some of the most relevant features of EU law are interpreted and applied. A significant example of such a "resilient approach" is given by the EU citizenship regime, which has revealed a Janus-faced attitude vis-\ue0-vis the crisis. On the one hand, the contents of EU citizenship\u2014and in particular the right to free movement\u2014have been considered by some EU countries as a threat to their state budget. On the other hand, some EU countries have used the EU citizenship regime as a tool to help them face the budget constraints brought on by the crisis. A clear example of the latter attitude is represented by the investor and citizenship schemes that have recently been adopted by Cyprus and Malta, where EU citizenship is reshaped as a "commodity" that can be sold\u2014subject to certain conditions\u2014by Member States. This article tries to shed light, from a legal point of view, on the practice of selling EU citizenship. After a short illustration of the schemes involved and the reactions they have provoked from EU institutions (notably, the European Parliament and European Commission), this contribution will consider possible limits to the selling of EU citizenship: first it will assess possible limits under international law, and then it will consider the specific obligations arising out of EU law. The article closes with a summary of the author's main findings

Europe(2020)

This contribution intends carrying out a legal reflection on the most relevant trends emerging from the response the European Union (EU) has elaborated in this respect of the COVID-19 pandemic. The piece has been divided into four parts. Part 1 provides a summary of the impact generated by the measures adopted at the EU level on the allocation of competences among the Union and its Member States, the latter representing a crucial element of every legal discourse on the Union. In the light of that analysis, Part 2 describes the roles and responsibilities assumed by different EU institutions in dealing with the crisis. In doing so, it assesses the impact of the EU’s response on the institutional framework (and balance) of the Union. Part 3 provides a general reflection on the main features characterising the instruments adopted by the Union in that context, with a particular emphasis on the recurrent use of soft-law acts. Finally, Part 4 zooms in on the major developments that occurred in 2020 regarding the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (ucpm), due to its major relevance in the EU disaster law discourse

Europe (2019)

The article describes the major developments occurred in Europe with regard to disaster law