17 research outputs found
The 2015 Greek Referendum. EPIN Commentary No. 24, 3 July 2015
The Greek government called a snap referendum on the proposals advanced by the EU partners and creditor, i.e. the draft Agreement submitted by the EU/IMF to the Eurogroup of 25 June 2015. There has been a major controversy among Greek constitutional lawyers about whether this referendum meets constitutional requirements. No doubt, the constitutional validity of this referendum could be challenged on pure normative terms (nature of the question, time limit); yet this shock call for a referendum appeared as the only political solution for the Greek government facing the dilemma of whether to take the plunge of having five-months of negotiations transformed into a negative-sum game
Greece as an example of âpost-politicsâ in the eurozone. EPIN Commentary No. 28/9 November 2015
The negotiations between Greece and the EU and IMF tested the unity, limits, stamina and financial interdependence of eurozone member states. Greece emerged wounded from the fray, but Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has established beyond doubt his dominance in Greek politics, in defiance of partisan competitors at home and his counterpartsâ wishes in the rest of Europe.
In this EPIN Commentary the authors argue that â beyond the political significance of SYRIZAâs third electoral victory in seven months â this vote of confidence brings certain characteristics of both Greek and EU politics into sharper relief. The high-risk political activism undertaken by Syrizaâs leadership in the first half of 2015 has (re)opened the debate about what kind of EU we live in, and contributed to the creation of another type of discourse in Europe â one that has so far been the preserve of established elites
Reshaping politics of the left and centre in Greece after the 2014 EP election. EPIN Commentary No. 21/10 September 2014
The political landscape in Greece is confused and volatile at the moment; the right and extreme- right-wing parties are accorded a disproportionately large place in political debate, while the radical left-wing SYRIZA party is attempting to maintain a âleftistâ profile and demonstrate its capacity to govern through a strategy of image normalisation.
These tensions make it very difficult for the Greek government to stick to the EUâs tough reform agenda. The governing coalition is trying to conceal the social effects of implementing structural policy reforms, even postponing some measures to avoid bearing their political cost. At the same time, it is adopting a very rushed, and thus quite worrying, attitude towards a fast-track growth agenda, without taking into consideration the conditions for sustainable economic development
Greece in limbo: Post-election 2015 scenarios. EPIN Commentary No. 22/ 21 January 2015
In the run-up to elections in Greece on January 25th, this EPIN commentary explores the likelihood and consequences of four potential post-election scenarios:
1. Syriza single-party majority government or Syriza-led coalition government with anti-austerity parties
2. Syriza-led coalition government with pro-austerity parties or Syriza minority government
3. New Democracy government or ND-led coalition government
4. No government is formed
Lâusage du soft law dans le systĂšme juridique international et ses implications sĂ©mantiques et pratiques sur la notion de rĂšgle de droit
Cet article propose une rĂ©flexion autour du soft law et de son usage croissant dans les pratiques internationales. En vue de saisir les raisons du dĂ©ploiement du soft law, lâidĂ©e dâune graduation de la « lĂ©galisation » au niveau international est mise en avant. AprĂšs avoir essayĂ© dâidentifier ces actes du soft law, lâattention se porte sur leur « juridicitĂ© attĂ©nuĂ©e » qui constitue leur principale spĂ©cificitĂ© sur le plan conceptuel. Les actes du soft law se distinguent des actes conventionnels Ă caractĂšre contraignant du droit international par le fait quâils nâont pas nĂ©cessairement ni immĂ©diatement un caractĂšre juridique, et par consĂ©quent, ne sont pas forcĂ©ment contraignants. Le soft law se particularise aussi, du point de vue de la pratique, par les diffĂ©rents rĂŽles quâil remplit par rapport au droit dur. Son usage est favorisĂ© par son caractĂšre « allĂ©gé » sur le plan procĂ©dural et par sa facultĂ© dâextension de la marge dâaction gouvernementale au niveau international. Enfin, la partie conclusive insiste sur les consĂ©quences sĂ©mantiques que lâusage du soft law entraĂźne concernant la notion de la rĂšgle de droit. Ă la conception unifiĂ©e et hiĂ©rarchisĂ©e du droit se substitue une conception « éclatĂ©e » du droit oĂč la contrainte nâest plus un Ă©lĂ©ment constitutif, mais fonctionnel de lâordre juridique international.This article proposes a reflection on soft law and its growing use in international practices. In order to understand the reasons of the soft law expansion, the idea of the variability of legalization at the international level is put forward.After trying to identify the soft law acts, our attention is oriented to the âreduced juridicityâ, which constitutes their main specificity at the conceptual level. The soft law acts are distinguished from conventional restricting acts of international law by the fact that they donât have necessarily or immediately a legal character, and consequently, they arenât systematically restricting.Soft law is specific also from a practical point of view because of different roles that it accomplishes with regard to the hard law. Its use is favoured by its âlightâ character at the procedural level and by its faculty of extension of the room of manoeuvre of governments at the international level.Finally, the conclusion lays particular stress on the semantic consequences the soft law use involves regarding the notion of law rule. The unified and hierarchical conception of law is replaced by an âexplodedâ conception of law where the constraint isnât anymore a constituent but a functional element of the international legal order
The Implementation of a Campus Police in Greece. A Breach of the Anti-authoritarian Historical Heritage of Greek Universities : Interview with Filippa Chatzistavrou and Yiorgos Vassalos
Ămulations received Filippa Chatzistavrou and Yiorgos Vassalos for an interview on the events currently happening in Greek higher education institutions. Invoking law-and-order purposes, Greek authorities have recently decided to introduce a police corps to public universities. This breach in universitiesâ autonomy has prompted numerous criticisms and mobilizations of Greek students and university staff. Filippa Chatzistavrou and Yiorgos Vassalos shed light on these events and examine them in the context of the Greek financial crisis and the subsequent privatization trend.
Publié: 2023-09-04
Comment citer: Chatzistavrou, F., Vassalos, Y. . et Mavrot, C. (2023) « The Implementation of a Campus Police in Greece. A Breach of the Anti-authoritarian Historical Heritage of Greek Universities: Interview with Filippa Chatzistavrou and Yiorgos Vassalos », Emulations - Revue de sciences sociales, 997. doi: 10.14428/emulations.interviews.05 .
Numéro: Rubrique Entretien
Das französische Dilemma im Spiegel der Griechenland-Krise
Die Griechenland-Krise ist in Frankreich seit 2010 Gegenstand einer landesweiten Debatte. In der öffentlichen Meinung und in den Auseinandersetzungen zwischen Politikern und Ăkonomen fungiert sie als ein Spiegel französischer Probleme. Angesichts der eigenen schrumpfenden Wirtschaftskraft beinhaltet die Debatte sowohl Kritik am nationalen Regulierungssystem wie an den europĂ€ischen Spielregeln. AuĂerdem hat die Krise einen fundamentalen Unterschied in der Wahrnehmung des europĂ€ischen Projekts zwischen Frankreich und Deutschland offenbart. WĂ€hrend Deutschland hinsichtlich des Umbaus der Wirtschafts- und WĂ€hrungsunion einen legalistischen Ansatz verfolgt, schwankt die französische Position zwischen einer Legitimierung der Regeln und der GewĂ€hrung von Ausnahmen zum StabilitĂ€tspakt. Hinzu kommen auf französischer Seite Zweifel gegenĂŒber einer asymmetrischen Entscheidungsfindung in der EU. Die Unterzeichnung des dritten Rettungspakets fĂŒr Griechenland sehen die Autoren deshalb als eine Rettung Europas wie auch der deutsch-französischen Beziehungen
The Implementation of a Campus Police in Greece. A Breach of the Anti-authoritarian Historical Heritage of Greek Universities: Interview with Filippa Chatzistavrou and Yiorgos Vassalos
Interview with Filippa Chatzistavrou and Yiorgos VassalosĂmulations received Filippa Chatzistavrou and Yiorgos Vassalos for an interview on the events currently happening in Greek higher education institutions. Invoking law-and-order purposes, Greek authorities have recently decided to introduce a police corps to public universities. This breach in universitiesâ autonomy has prompted numerous criticisms and mobilizations of Greek students and university staff. Filippa Chatzistavrou and Yiorgos Vassalos shed light on these events and examine them in the context of the Greek financial crisis and the subsequent privatization trend
Towards a shared agenda for EU reform
UIDB/04627/2020
UIDP/04627/2020Relations between southern European member states have often been marked by a loose cooperation or, worse, by logics of competition. Precisely when regional groupings within the EU are increasingly shaping the agenda, these dynamics have hindered the capacity of France, Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain to pursue shared interests and objectives, while acting as a force for good for the European integration project. Recent events such as the post-pandemic recovery or the war in Ukraine show that, when cooperation occurs, positive results can be achieved. Southern member states can capitalise on a certain ideological affinity and a pro-European vision, despite their governments belonging to different political groups. They share converging interests in the areas of fiscal policy and economic governance, strategic autonomy in energy and technology and even foreign policy priorities, particularly towards the Mediterranean and relations with other global powers. This joint publication by six southern European think tanks identifies several policy areas for fruitful cooperation between southern European member states.publishersversionpublishe
Deliberative Democracy in the EU. Countering Populism with Participation and Debate. CEPS Paperback
Elections are the preferred way to freely transfer power from one
term to the next and from one political party or coalition to another.
They are an essential element of democracy. But if the process of
power transfer is corrupted, democracy risks collapse. Reliance on
voters, civil society organisations and neutral observers to fully
exercise their freedoms as laid down in international human rights
conventions is an integral part of holding democratic elections.
Without free, fair and regular elections, liberal democracy is
inconceivable.
Elections are no guarantee that democracy will take root and
hold, however. If the history of political participation in Europe over
the past 800 years is anything to go by, successful attempts at gaining
voice have been patchy, while leadersâ attempts to silence these
voices and consolidate their own power have been almost constant
(Blockmans, 2020).
Recent developments in certain EU member states have again
shown us that democratically elected leaders will try and use
majoritarian rule to curb freedoms, overstep the constitutional limits
of their powers, protect the interests of their cronies and recycle
themselves through seemingly free and fair elections. In their recent
book How Democracies Die, two Harvard professors of politics write:
âSince the end of the Cold War, most democratic breakdowns have
been caused not by generals and soldiers but by elected governments
themselvesâ (Levitsky and Ziblatt, 2018)