Following a surge of refugee arrivals in Europe in 2015, the numbers of new arrivals have significantly declined and the issue of asylum has ceased to dominate the political agenda. Nevertheless, the European Union remains deeply divided on how to establish responsibility-sharing among its member states and how to reform the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). Despite intense political debates, no effective cooperation among European states for the common provision of humanitarian protection has been established.
By constraining the powers of executives and developing a political culture of accountability, national parliaments play a key role in the fight against corruption. However, their normative powers may be marginalized in the process of democratic consolidation. Based on original research from three European states, Emilija Tudzarovska-Gjorgjievska argues that weak parliaments contribute to the vicious […]
Criticisms directed at the European Union (EU) and its institutions over the past decade have often been interpreted as a sign of fundamental weakness. However, using the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) as an example, Claire Godet argues that contestation should not be seen as a sign of failure, but rather as an opportunity for […]
In the wake of the financial crisis, EU governments spent taxpayers’ money to rescue European banks. That displaced a financial crisis into political systems by straining public finances and social protections in all EU member states. Some states were brought to the point of insolvency, and the survival of the EU’s single currency, perhaps even […]
24-hours after the EU referendum of 24 June 2016, I posted this on my blog: ‘Just over half of those who voted bought manky lies dressed up as a better life after Brexit. ‘They were told they’d get their country back. Their lives would be transformed. More jobs, homes, schools and hospitals. Less migrants. No […]
On Monday, 10th Feb, I attended the UCL’s European Careers Event 2020. It was organised for graduates, particularly of the UCL and others. Since I am not an institutionalised academic, I do not have a piece of first-hand knowledge to what talks are taking places in the European Studies Departments across the country about the […]
Shawn Donnelly Is economic nationalism still alive when it comes to banking in the EU, and if so, what drives it? How have EU institutions responded so far? And in the process, do the Commission and the Single Resolution Board (SRB) have flexibility on the enforcement of bank resolution rules and can these rules be […]
36 hours. That’s about how long we actually had a wide-spread debate about what’s actually in the Withdrawal Agreement, back when it was agreed late in 2018. Yes, it’s been thrown around in debate ever since, but it was only for that brief window that the substance got a decent sounding and consideration in the […]
What is the ‘responsible university’? What does it mean for universities to address the Sustainable Development Goals? And what is specific about universities in the Nordic countries? These are some of the questions addressed in a new book ‘Responsible University: Exploring the Nordic Context and Beyond’, edited by Mads P. Sørensen (Aarhus University, Denmark), Lars […]
A new issue of The Baltic Yearbook of International Law – Volume 17 (2017/2018) 1, has been recently published. The number contains the articles: Hent Kalmo, „Principles and Pragmatism in State Succession: Bargaining in the Economic Affairs Commission of the Tartu Peace Conference“, pp. 1–23 Jaanika Erne, „On the Borders of Law, History and Politics: […]