Contentious changes in the laws of Poland and Hungary have deepened concerns about disregard for the rule of law in the European Union. This analysis suggests that Member States have entrusted the Union with a legal mandate and means to ensure respect for the rule of law, including at national level.
Through the Lisbon Treaty, the national parliaments were entrusted with the task of reviewing proposals of EU legislation in the light of the principle of subsidiarity, a task which in the special protocol on subsidiarity is called the Early Warning Mechanism. In this analysis the author argues that the review should be seen as a constitutional dialogue and not as a narrow legal control.
The European Semester of policy coordination, which is the core of EU’s new institutional architecture for economic and social governance, introduced since the beginning of the Euro crisis, has prompted questions about the nature and dynamics of the EU’s emerging socio-economic governance architecture. In this report, Jonathan Zeitlin and Bart Vanhercke argue that since 2011, there has been a partial but progressive ‘socialization’ of the European Semester.
For about fifteen years, the European Commission has taken initiatives to provide better regulation. Since the introduction of the early warning mechanism, enabling the national parliaments to have a say on whether or not the legislative proposals comply with the principle of subsidiarity, it is arguably even more important that the legislative proposals maintain a high degree of quality.
The 2014 European Parliament elections took place after many years of severe austerity policies, comprehensive bailout programmes and increasing political resistance to European integration. Due to the strengthened role of the European Parliament by the Lisbon Treaty, the expectations on public interest, media coverage and electoral participation grew.
The Eurozone crisis and its management prompted dramatic changes to social rights and entitlements, specifically in the Member States which were most severely affected by the economic downturn. Fundamental rights, including fundamental social rights, from different sources can be a means to contest those crisis-imposed changes.
Beggars have increasingly become a common sight in Swedish cities. This, in turn, has led to a renewed discussion on the situation for the Roma in Southeast Europe.
Development cooperation traditionally has played an important role in the European Union’s external policy. This report provides a well-timed evaluation of the impact of the Treaty of Lisbon in this particular policy area.
In connection with the financial crisis, we have seen a fall in house prices in many EU member states. At the same time, the economic decline in several countries appears to have been amplified by high household debts.
The so-called dual apprenticeship system, which is used in for example Germany, has often been viewed as a remedy for the high unemployment among young people in the EU. In this report, Professor Jonas Olofsson compares the apprenticeship systems in Austria, Denmark, England, Germany and Norway in order to draw lessons from different practices.