Constitution

Ireland will vote on two changes to its Constitution. But the nature of the proposed changes poses major challenges to constructive public debate.

Political positions on Scotland’s relationship with the EU are largely determined by opinions on independence, hampering meaningful debate.

Designed to safeguard against a return of authoritarianism, the Italian constitutional framework leaves little space for direct democracy – yet referendums are not uncommon in the country.

Short-term fixes in times of crisis are no longer enough if the Eurozone is the key to an ever closer union.

Could reforms on the horizon in Greece mean the end of environmental protection?

The anti-government protests in Poland seem quite disconnected from the legacy of Solidarity, which seems to have been left behind, while it remains to be seen whether the emergence of new political actors signals a genuine shift in the political landscape. An interview with Sociologist Jan Sowa by Claudia Ciobanu.

After a surge of support in the Presidential and General Elections last year, the right-wing national conservative Law and Justice Party now dominates Polish politics.

The recent accession of the right-wing Law and Justice Party (PiS) to power has seen the judiciary and legal systems in Poland struck by swift and far-reaching reforms, and the trend shows no sign of slowing. With the phrase “constitutional crisis” being increasingly heard, it is time to examine what is happening to the legal system in Poland.

The events of the last couple of weeks in Poland are no peripheral abomination, and certainly no exception. They are a part of a global trend of liberal democratic models becoming weaker and weaker, a trend which can also be found in the heart of Europe.

In 2013, Rui Tavares, then Portuguese Member of the European Parliament among the Greens-EFA group, put forward a report that investigated the threats to fundamental rights that Orban’s government had given rise to in Hungary since 2010, and proposed mechanisms for a common European response to such actions, both in Hungary and potential future similar cases.