Publications
230 PublicationsThe Balkan Turtle Race – A warning for Ukraine
Zeno, an Athenian philosopher, once imagined a race between Achilles and a slow-moving turtle. The turtle was given a head start, which decided the race. However slowly the turtle moved, Zeno argued, Achilles would never be able to catch up. This is how the current EU accession process for the Western Balkans works. This is dangerous. It is also easy to remedy, if there is the will.
Le bulldozer polonais – Vers un accord gagnant-gagnant-gagnant pour la Pologne, l’UE et la Commission européenne
Aujourd’hui, la Commission européenne, l’exécutif de l’UE, doit prendre une décision capitale. Elle doit se tourner vers la Cour européenne de justice (CEJ) et requérir une amende sans précédent contre un gouvernement qui refuse d’appliquer l’un des arrêts les plus importants de l’histoire de l’intégration européenne, rendu par la CEJ. En mettant ainsi Ziobro au pied du mur, la Commission européenne et la CEJ parviendraient non seulement à sauver l’Etat de droit en Pologne et préserver l’ordre juridique de l’UE, mais aussi, à rompre le charme, en détruisant cette fascination qu’éprouve une minorité radicale de plus en plus réduite, pour le ministre polonais.
The Polish Bulldozer – Towards a win-win-win for Poland, the EU and the European Commission
Today the European Commission faces a momentous decision on Poland. It must turn to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and ask for an unprecedented penalty payment from a government which is refusing to implement one of the most important ECJ judgements in the history of European integration. By calling minister of justice Zbigniew Ziobro’s bluff the European Commission and the ECJ not only save the rule of law in Poland and preserve the EU’s legal order but also break his spell over a shrinking radical minority.
A 5 billion Euro penalty to save the rule of law – How infringement penalties are set
When member states violate EU law or refuse to implement judgements by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) EU institutions are not powerless: the European Commission can propose, and the ECJ impose, financial sanctions.
Inside the system Ziobro built
No member state in the history of the EU has ever gone as far in subjugating its courts to executive control as the current Polish government. In a few years, PiS has changed the whole system of appointment, promotion and disciplining of judges and prosecutors, with a view to strengthening executive control. It captured the Constitutional Tribunal.
“As simple as it is appalling.” The Navalny debate highlights
What should happen next? What does it mean to say that “all options are on the table” to ensure that Navalny is released and that judgements are implemented? Or that “there are possibilities” of action for the body responsible for the execution of all Strasbourg Court judgements, the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, currently chaired by Germany?
An Article 19 Mechanism - The need for a robust defence of EU rule of law
The EU faces three major crises today. One is a public health crisis, which threatens hundreds of thousands of lives. One is an unprecedented economic and social crisis, which puts at risk the employment and livelihoods of tens of millions of Europeans. And then there is a crisis of core values that underpin the European project: the rule of law and the checks and balances of liberal democracy. These are under attack today from inside and outside the Union.
The wizard, the virus and a pot of gold - Viktor Orban and the future of European solidarity
30 March 2020 was a dark day in the history of EU assistance. It highlighted the fact that this system of solidarity had gone fundamentally wrong. Europeans now need to find better ways to defend the values enshrined in their treaties, not with pious words and empty threats, but in the language of power and money that politicians like Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orban will understand.
The Aegean Tragedy – Key facts and key steps
Priorities this winter: end the humanitarian emergency on the islands; avoid a new humanitarian emergency on the mainland; reduce the number of people crossing the Balkan route; ensure that there are no push backs at any border in South East Europe.
Hamster in the Wheel - Credibility and EU Balkan policy
Balkan enlargement was in crisis even before EU leaders failed to agree in 2019 on opening accession talks with North Macedonia and Albania. Unless there is a change in methodology and pace, no Western Balkan country is likely to be a member of the EU by 2030.
How to implement the EU-Turkey Statement: Phase II – Key facts and key steps
Priorities this winter: end the humanitarian emergency on the islands; avoid a new humanitarian emergency on the mainland; reduce the number of people crossing the Balkan route; ensure that there are no push backs at any border in South East Europe.
Poland’s deepening crisis - When the rule of law dies in Europe
No member state in the history of the EU has ever gone as far in subjugating its courts to executive control as the current Polish government. The Polish case has become a test whether it is possible to create a Soviet-style justice system in an EU member state; a system where the control of courts, prosecutors and judges lies with the executive and a single party.
How are they doing? European Commission assessments of North Macedonia, Serbia and Albania (April 2019)
The Hypnotist – Aleksandar Vucic, John Bolton and the return of the past
It is remarkable how little change there has been in the key personnel in Serbian politics since the fall of Slobodan Milosevic in 2000. It is not surprising, therefore, that the old nationalist idea of redrawing borders on the basis of ethnicity has continued to be so prominent. What is surprising is the recent success that Serbian president Aleksandar Vucic has had in repackaging this old idea as progressive, non-conventional, out-of-the-box thinking. Why not, the siren song goes (again), adjust some borders along ethnic lines, as long as the process is negotiated peacefully and leads to reconciliation?
Core facts: The EU-Turkey Statement three years on
AB-Türkiye Bildirisi - Üç Yıllık Uygulama Bilançosu
The disciplinary system for judges in Poland - The case for infringement proceedings
This opinion accompanies the ESI report "Under Siege: Why Polish courts matter for Europe". It sets out the legal basis for the European Commission to initiate infringement proceedings against Poland in respect of recent reforms to the disciplinary system for Polish judges.
Under Siege – Why Polish courts matter for Europe
In countries respectful of the rule of law the disciplinary system for judges is meant to uphold standards and prevent abuse. It does not do so in Poland. No other European democracy has a system like the Polish one. Nowhere else is there such a concentration of powers in the hands of one man.
The power of focus - Proposal for a European human rights entry ban commission
Today there is an urgent need to defend key human rights norms, such as the bans on torture, on political imprisonment and on extra-judicial killings. Leaders in many countries are questioning these norms and the international treaties that protect them; in others they are violated with impunity. European democracies have an interest to send a strong message to human rights violators and the wider public that these actions remain wrong and shameful.