Democratic backsliding has become such a defining trend in global politics over the past decades that the democratisation of the European Union has gone largely unnoticed.[1] After the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon on 1 December 2009, however, the EU has been advancing its transition from a [...]
The verdicts of the EU Court of Justice (ECJ) in the cases of Poland and Hungary concerning the rule of law, which have been delivered on 16 February, are not only consequential for the functioning of the EU but also shed new light on the relation between the UK and [...]
The war, in which the Ukrainian army and citizens are defending the sovereignty of their country against foreign aggression, is about values. The values of human dignity, respect for life, democracy and the rule of law are under attack from a superpower, which is still thinking in geopolitical terms of [...]
During the last meeting of the European Council, which she attended, Angela Merkel raised the perennial question as to what the European Union is. Reflecting on the debate in the Council about the objections of some member states against the introduction of the conditionality mechanism, she asked whether we are [...]
The Treaty of Lisbon sheds fresh light on the purposes of EU citizenship education. The hallmark of the 2007 Lisbon Treaty is that it construes the EU as a dual democracy. The EU is not merely a Union of democratic States, but also functions as a democracy of its own.[1] [...]
