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 “post-politics” 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 counterparts’ wishes in the rest of Europe. In this EPIN Commentary the authors argue that – beyond the political significance of SYRIZA’s third electoral victory in seven months – this vote of confidence brings certain characteristics of both Greek and EU politics into sharper relief. The high-risk political activism undertaken by Syriza’s 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 – 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 ‘leftist’ 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 EU’s 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

L’usage du soft law dans le système juridique international et ses implications sémantiques et pratiques sur la notion de règle de droit

Cet article propose une réflexion autour du soft law et de son usage croissant dans les pratiques internationales. En vue de saisir les raisons du déploiement du soft law, l’idée d’une graduation de la « légalisation » au niveau international est mise en avant. Après avoir essayé d’identifier ces actes du soft law, l’attention se porte sur leur « juridicité atténuée » qui constitue leur principale spécificité sur le plan conceptuel. Les actes du soft law se distinguent des actes conventionnels à caractère contraignant du droit international par le fait qu’ils n’ont pas nécessairement ni immédiatement un caractère juridique, et par conséquent, ne sont pas forcément contraignants. Le soft law se particularise aussi, du point de vue de la pratique, par les différents rôles qu’il remplit par rapport au droit dur. Son usage est favorisé par son caractère « allégé » sur le plan procédural et par sa faculté d’extension de la marge d’action gouvernementale au niveau international. Enfin, la partie conclusive insiste sur les conséquences sémantiques que l’usage du soft law entraîne concernant la notion de la règle de droit. À la conception unifiée et hiérarchisée du droit se substitue une conception « éclatée » du droit où la contrainte n’est plus un élément constitutif, mais fonctionnel de l’ordre 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 “reduced juridicity”, 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 don’t have necessarily or immediately a legal character, and consequently, they aren’t 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 “light” 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 “exploded” conception of law where the constraint isn’t 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

Émulations 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 universities’ 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 Ökonomen fungiert sie als ein Spiegel französischer Probleme. Angesichts der eigenen schrumpfenden Wirtschaftskraft beinhaltet die Debatte sowohl Kritik am nationalen Regulierungssystem wie an den europäischen Spielregeln. Außerdem hat die Krise einen fundamentalen Unterschied in der Wahrnehmung des europäischen Projekts zwischen Frankreich und Deutschland offenbart. Während Deutschland hinsichtlich des Umbaus der Wirtschafts- und Währungsunion einen legalistischen Ansatz verfolgt, schwankt die französische Position zwischen einer Legitimierung der Regeln und der Gewährung von Ausnahmen zum Stabilitätspakt. Hinzu kommen auf französischer Seite Zweifel gegenüber einer asymmetrischen Entscheidungsfindung in der EU. Die Unterzeichnung des dritten Rettungspakets für 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 VassalosÉmulations 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 universities’ 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 leaders’ 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: “Since the end of the Cold War, most democratic breakdowns have been caused not by generals and soldiers but by elected governments themselves” (Levitsky and Ziblatt, 2018)