Upon conceiving constitutionalism on the scale of the nation-state as transparent and unproblematic, one may think global constitutionalism to be a mere utopia. On closer analysis, however, legitimation of nation-state constitutionalism turns out to be much more complex and … [Read more...]

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This article assesses how, 50 years after the ECJ delivered its judgment in Van Gend and Loos (VGL), the doctrine of direct effect of international law has fared outside the European Union. While obviously the core of VGL (that is, that it is EU law, not national law, which … [Read more...]

Van Gend en Loos (VGL) established the conceptual premises of a crucial issue to shape the relationships between the European Union and international law: the function of direct effect as a powerful instrument to guarantee that the rules of one system are complied with in another … [Read more...]

This essay argues, contrary to the widespread beliefs that prevailed after 1989, that the experience of post-communist countries and their peoples, both before and after 1989, can bring something new to our understanding of Europe’s present predicament: sometimes as … [Read more...]