The German Constitutional Court’s decision about the European Central Bank’s OMT [Outright Monetary Transactions] mechanism: A masterpiece of judicial arrogance. European Policy Briefs No. 30, April 2014

The German Constitutional Court (BVG) recently referred different questions to the European Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling. They concern the legality of the European Central Bank’s Outright Monetary Transaction mechanism created in 2012. Simultaneously, the German Court has threatened to disrupt the implementation of OTM in Germany if its very restrictive analysis is not validated by the European Court of Justice. This raises fundamental questions about the future efficiency of the ECB’s monetary policy, the damage to the independence of the ECB, the balance of power between judges and political organs in charge of economic policy, in Germany and in Europe, and finally the relationship between the BVG and other national or European courts

Oeuvres de Monsieur de Montesquieu.- V. 2

Tomo 2: Les X derniers livres de l'esprit des loix ; La défense de l'esprit des loix ; Lysimaque ; Remerciment sincère ; La table générale des matières de l'esprit des loix .- [4], XVI, 643 p., [1] en bl. ; [ ]2, a-b4, A-Z4, 2A-2Z4, 3A-3Z4, 4A-4L4, 4M2

Del espiritu de las leyes

Pie de imp. del vol. III: Madrid, en la Imprenta de doña Rosa Sanz.Retrato de Montesquieu en p. II del vol. I: "Aº Guerrero dibº", "Esteban Boix grabó

Constitutional Ethnography: An Introduction

Constitutional ethnography is the study of the central legal elements of polities using methods that are capable of recovering the lived detail of the politico-legal landscape. This article provides an introduction to this sort of study by contrasting constitutional ethnography with multivariate analysis and with nationalist constitutional analysis. The article advocates not a universal one-size-fits-all theory or an elegant model that abstracts away the distinctive, but instead outlines an approach that can identify a set of repertoires found in real cases. Learning the set of repertoires that constitutional ethnography reveals, one can see more deeply into particular cases. Constitutional ethnography has as its goal, then, not prediction but comprehension, not explained variation but thematization

New leadership in a new European Union. Egmont European Affairs Paper, 2006

Everybody is talking about the lack of leadership in the European Union. Blair’s or Chirac’s declarations are read as mere tactical moves designed to gain leadership. Barroso is often presented as lacking leadership. The European Council is seen as devoid of any leader. Such analysis is often followed by a few nostalgic comments about the Delors-Kohl-Mitterrand era, or for older souls, about the Schuman-Adenauer-Spaak era. It is very easy to see that there is presently a problem of leadership in the European Union, a little more difficult to describe it, and much more difficult to propose solutions. The present note tries nevertheless to explore this question through looking at the past. First, it tries to define what leadership of Europe means – or could mean. Secondly, it enumerates the (numerous) reasons why this question has thoroughly changed during the last 15 years. Finally, it examines how far traditional sources of leadership are likely to be valid also in the future