Justice & Home Affairs
A special version of a stolen election – the case of Hungary
Hungary’s recent general elections present a different picture from the classic images of stolen polls characterised by ballot stuffing and large scale fraud. Instead, they are marked by an absence of a level playing field and systematic abuse of democratic institutions, argue experts from the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (TASZ).
Is it better to breach EU law than run the risk of incurring US ire?
The Bank Melli Iran v Telekom Deutschland case is significant, because it highlights the intrusive impact of US extraterritorial sanctions and spotlights the weaknesses in the EU response, writes Dick Roche.
The illusions and perils of restrictive migration policies
The recent condemnations of the number of migrants pushed back at the EU’s external borders, the generalisation of migration control within the EU, and the new inflows following the outbreak of war in Ukraine interrogate the suitability of the current restrictive migration policies in Europe, writes Emmanuel Comte.
Time for Europe to stand on its own two feet
The way the US recently applied the Magnitsky Act in Bulgaria may have been beneficial for the country struggling with its mafia, but was a humiliation vis-a-vis the EU, Dick Roche writes.
The Brief, powered by The Martens Centre — Word on the wire
Waves of desperate people are trying to reach the EU: Images coming from the Poland-Belarus border this week have reopened the wounds in the very tissue of Europe that have barely scarred over since the first migration crisis in 2015.
Why the Commission should ignore Poland’s ‘false compromise’
If the European Commission bends to Polish government pressure it will not fix the rule of law crisis but deepen it, argue Tineke Strik and Thijs Reuten.
Time for some perspective: The Polish court was not controversial
Despite the outcry among liberal elites following last week's Polish court ruling, the EU treaties clearly set out the boundaries between national constitutions and EU law. It's time for some perspective, writes Judit Varga.
Surveillance is at the heart of the EU’s migration control agenda
The EU's new model of refugee camps make liberal use of new technologies and modern methods of surveillance, writes Petra Molnar.
The Brief, powered by EHFG — Replacing tents with concrete
The EU’s repackaged migration pact could be finalised in the weeks after next year’s French presidential elections. At least that’s what Commission Vice-President Margaritis Schinas told this website.
The Brief — Show me the money
Fining countries for refusing to comply with EU law is one of the little-used sticks at the European Commission’s disposal. The success in using it so far has been mixed. There are numerous cases when the country in question has simply refused to pay up.
The Brief – Flattery by imitation
There’s no flattery like imitation, at least when it comes to migration control. Taking their lead from aggressive migration control measures in Denmark and the UK, Lithuania’s parliament last week approved the mass detention of migrants, in a move meant to deter high numbers crossing into the EU from Belarus.
The Brief, powered by ESA – Contracting out asylum
With the EU’s latest plans for a pact on migration and asylum making little more progress than their predecessors, member states are taking matters into their own hands and not just the usual suspects.
Catalan pardons are welcome but the political conflict is not over
The release of nine Catalan pro-independence leaders is a welcome end to years of suffering. But the political battle is far from over, writes Jordi Solé i Ferrando.
Time for transatlantic leadership on refugee resettlement
As numbers of displaced people across the world reach an all-time high, it’s time to restore transatlantic leadership on refugee resettlement, writes David Miliband.
The Brief, powered by ITI – Nothing left to say
We are looking into it. That is the answer that the Guardian of the Treaties - documents that enshrine the principles of equality and human rights into EU law - gave in response to a new Hungarian law that tramples those very rights by lumping together LGBTQI+ people in with paedophiles.
The Parliament and the Rule of Law: an elephant in a china shop
The European Parliament is going beyond its mandate in its pursuit of punishment for Hungary, writes Judit Varga.
The Brief, powered by UNESDA – American leadership is back
Like it or not, American leadership is back. If you ask Bulgarians, they are ecstatic that the US has dealt a heavy blow to a mafia system the EU tacitly tolerated.
The Brief, powered by APPLiA – Blackmail over borders
When Margaritis Schinas says that “no one can blackmail the European Union”, Morocco and other neighbourhood states might well think that the EU’s Migration Commissioner is bluffing. The decision by Rabat to allow thousands of migrants into the Spanish enclave...
The Brief, powered by APPLiA – Hanging on the telephone
The EU's latest bad boy, Slovenian Prime Minister Janez Janša, finally addressed the press corps in Brussels on Wednesday, if only for a dozen minutes and via zoom, at a joint press conference with European Parliament President David Sassoli.
The Brief, powered by APPLiA – Passing the rule of law parcel
For such a supposedly all–powerful and overbearing institution, the European Commission isn’t half timid sometimes, even when it comes to defending what are supposed to be its own fundamental values.
The Brief, powered by FACEBOOK – Hold your horses
A crowd running from water cannons. An accredited journalist refused entry. The roar of police helicopters above a horde of shielded officers. Riderless horses roaming the streets. You’d be forgiven for thinking this was a scene from an uprising. But...
‘Innovative ways’ of evading responsibilities for refugees
A regrettable result of the EU-Turkey Statement from 2016 is that the model continues to serve to EU member states seeking innovative ways to evade responsibility for refugees, writes Charlotte Slente.
The Brief, powered by amfori – EU’s ‘toolbox fetishism’
Next to the rule of law dilemma, growing assaults on media freedom are posing another test for the EU’s resolve and unity. The question is whether yet another ‘toolbox’ can solve the problem. Do you remember the then European Commissioner...