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Levando em conta os processos relativos ao clima pendentes no Tribunal Constitucional Federal e partindo da sugestão de um direito fundamental europeu à proteção ambiental recentemente introduzida no debate pelo escritor Ferdinand von Schirach, o artigo examina as possibilidades e limites jurídicos que os direitos fundamentais podem ter no contexto alemão e europeu. Em seu resultado, ele defende um direito fundamental de caráter procedimental e acionável à proteção ambiental bem como – com vistas aos limites do planeta (na proteção climática: meta de 1,5-2 graus) o reconhecimento de um direito fundamental ao mínimo existencial ecológico que implique uma inversão do ônus da argumentação e da prova.

Der Status des Unionsbürgers ist durch seine individuellen Rechte definiert. Die europäischen Grundfreiheiten schützen seit dem bahnbrechenden van Gend & Loos-Urteil des EuGH die wirtschaftliche Handlungsfreiheit des „Marktbürgers“ gegenüber Beeinträchtigungen der Mitgliedstaaten und mobilisieren solchermaßen die Unionsbürger für die Verwirklichung des Binnenmarkts. Demgegenüber sind Anknüpfungspunkte der europäischen Grundrechte primär Freiheitsbeschränkungen seitens der Organe der Europäischen Union. Nicht zuletzt aufgrund der Kompetenzfragen, die insbesondere im Bereich der Grundfreiheiten auch eine demokratietheoretische Dimension haben, bedarf es in der EU einer klaren Abgrenzung zwischen Grundfreiheiten und Grundrechten, ebenso wie einer wohl austarierten Bindung der Mitgliedstaaten an Unionsgrundrechte. Insoweit gilt es, eine in sich konsistente und schlüssige Dogmatik der europäischen Bürgerrechte zu entwickeln.

The European treaties assign goals and tasks to the European Union that sometimes do correspond to the conferral of a very limited competence by the member states. Using the corona crisis as an example, the text highlights the problematic nature of this discrepancy between European objectives and European competences. Finally, an argument is made for supplementing competences in the area of health policy with regard to cross-border pandemics.

Gerade die enormen Herausforderungen der Gegenwart - Digitalisierung und Dekarbonisierung - verlangen nach mitunter tiefgreifenden Innovationen. In rechtlicher Perspektive ist in den europäischen Grundrechten der Forschungs- und Wirtschaftsfreiheit ein Innovationsprinzip enthalten, das freilich nicht als Gegenprinzip zum Vorsorgeprinzip verstanden werden kann, sondern vielmehr mit diesem im Rahmen der Verhältnismäßigkeit in Ausgleich gebracht werden muss. Auf dieser Basis ist es Aufgabe des EU-Gesetzgebers, seine Regulierung im Rahmen der europäischen Better-Regulation-Agenda innovationsoffen auszugestalten. Er hat im Lichte des Verhältnismäßigkeitsprinzips zu prüfen, welche Form der Regulierung eine innovationsoffene, aber zugleich vorsorgeorientierte Politik angemessenen verwirklicht. Durch Alternativenprüfungen und Mechanismen experimenteller Gesetzgebung können erwünschte Innovationen angereizt und gelenkt werden.

Cybersecurity in the financial sector is a dynamic and evolving policy field with unique challenges and specific characteristics. While it has recently received a lot of attention from disciplines like Economics and Politics, legal literature on this topic, especially with regard to EU law, still lags behind. This is surprising, given that cybersecurity in the EU is characterized by complex governance structures, a variety of legal sources, and a wide range of different rule makers and involved actors, and given that only a clear legal framework with efficient institutions at both EU and Member State level can provide for a safe digital environment. The purpose of this Article, therefore, is twofold: On the one hand, it aims to introduce the legal aspects of cybersecurity in the financial sector while taking stock of existing cybersecurity schemes, including their strengths and weaknesses from a legal perspective. On the other hand, it will set out key elements that cybersecurity regulation in the financial sector must respect in order to be effective and come up with reform proposals to make the EU financial sector more cybersecure.

Tackling the ongoing European ‘polycrisis’ has been complicated by the lack of a consensus between the Member States and among European citizens about the role they want the European Union (EU) to play, its tasks and its future. A Union that has become more diverse due to enlargement now has to deepen in areas that are highly sensitive domestically. Against the backdrop of the scenarios presented in the European Commission’s White Paper on the Future of Europe the author argues for a more flexible working method of the EU. This method should be based on more efficiency by focusing on political priorities and implementing a new concept of cooperative enforcement together with a common understanding of subsidiarity. Where no consensus can be reached greater flexibility and - in the long run - a new architecture of the EU should allow for pioneer groups to move ahead and to lead by positive example.

Mit seinen Beschlüssen zum »Recht auf Vergessen« (RaV) vom 6. November 2019[1] hat der Erste Senat des BVerfG eine Trendwende im Hinblick auf das Verhältnis von nationalen zu europäischen Grundrechten eingeleitet: Die Charta der Grundrechte der Europäischen Union (GRCh) wird in Abweichung von der bisherigen Rechtsprechung, die von einer strikten Trennung der Prüf- und Zuständigkeitssphären ausging, nunmehr zum unmittelbaren Prüfungsmaßstab für das BVerfG. Ferner wird für Bereiche, in denen das Unionsrecht den Mitgliedstaaten Spielräume lässt, eine widerlegbare Vermutung dafür ausgesprochen, dass die deutschen Grundrechte die Garantie der Unionsgrundrechte in aller Regel mitgewährleisten. Zugleich wird der Weg für eine parallele Anwendung von nationalen und europäischen Grundrechten geebnet. Dem föderalen Verbunddenken entsprechend betont das BVerfG die Kooperation mit dem Gerichtshof der Europäischen Union (EuGH), gleichwohl wird die Frage aufgeworfen, ob es sich damit zur zentralen Kontrollinstanz für die Einhaltung deutscher und europäischer Grundrechte in Deutschland macht.

German abstract: Mit Blick auf die beim BVerfG anhangigen Klimaklagen und ausgehend vom Vorschlag eines europaischen Grundrechts auf Umweltschutz, den der Schriftsteller Ferdinand von Schirach kurzlich in die Debatte eingebracht hat, untersucht der Beitrag die rechtlichen Moglichkeiten und Grenzen, die deutsche und europaische Grundrechte im Kontext der Klimapolitik spielen konnen. Er pladiert im Ergebnis fur ein einklagbares prozedurales Grundrecht auf Umweltschutz sowie – mit Blick auf die planetaren Grenzen (im Klimaschutz: 1,5-2 Grad-Ziel) – die Anerkennung eines Grundrechts auf das okologische Existenzminimum, das eine Umkehr der Darlegungs- und Beweislast in sich tragt. English abstract: With a view to the climate lawsuits pending before the German Federal Constitutional Court and based on the proposal of a European fundamental right to environmental protection recently introduced into the debate by the author Ferdinand von Schirach, the article examines the legal possibilities and limits that German and European fundamental rights can play in the context of climate policy. As a result, it argues for an enforceable procedural fundamental right to environmental protection as well as - with a view to planetary boundaries (in climate protection: 1.5-2 degree target) - the recognition of a fundamental right to the ecological subsistence level, which entails a reversal of the burden of explanation and proof.

Innovation is an essential element of sustainable growth. While the internal market is defined by the objective of a "highly competitive social market economy, aiming at full employment and social progress, and a high level of protection and improvement of the quality of the environment" (Article 3 (3) TEU) innovation becomes a precondition of a sustainable and green economy. It leads to higher productivity and competitiveness while also bringing social and environmental benefits. By definition, innovation cannot be preordained. It takes place in response to diverse incentives. The policymaker’s task is not to pick winners but to ensure that the entire economy becomes better-suited for innovative outcomes. Regulation matters at all stages of the innovation cycle, from research and development, to diffusion, commercialisation and beyond. Therefore, a toolbox of innovation-enabling legislation can help to unleash the innovative potential of European companies and individuals. The author is of the opinion that the innovation principle should - in a fair balance with other treaty based principles - be integrated in all of its stages and expressed through a range of instruments. The resulting cultural change will mean that innovation will be better accepted as a sustainable way of addressing Europe’s societal challenges and improving its green growth prospects. Also, he concludes, that regulation has the potential to drive innovation when it is well-designed, flexible and regularly updated to reflect market developments.

Under Pressure: The EU After Brexit. This statement marks the beginning of this contribution. Following, the author analyzes the European Integration after more than 60 years and examines a New Working Method for the EU. To visualize the topic the author uses the example of the Euro Area. The article concludes with a comparison to the corona crisis, the Recovery Plan and Next Generation EU as well as a final conclusion regarding to the Conference on the Future of Europe 2020-2022.

German Abstract: Mehr Solidaritat? Derzeit wird uber weitere Schritte in der Corona-Krise beraten. Wer Corona-Bonds fordert, muss aber auch uber eine grundlegende Reform des Euroraums mit mehr europaischer Kontrolle sprechen. Der Autor untersucht in diesem Beitrag drei Stufen europaischer Solidaritat in der Corona-Krise. English Abstract: More solidarity? Further steps in the Corona crisis are currently under discussion. But those who call for corona bonds must also talk about a fundamental reform of the euro area with more European control. In this article, the author examines three stages of European solidarity in the Corona crisis.

The crisis in the Eurozone is still far from being solved. The current institutional setting of the European Treaties was not capable of dealing efficiently and legitimately with the fundamental issues of the crisis: the banking crisis, the sovereign debt crisis and the competitiveness crisis, that led at the same time to a crisis of European democracy. It has proven to be insufficient to prevent or to resolve a financial and economic crisis in a sustainable manner. Against this backdrop the Five Presidents’ Report on Completing Europe´s Economic and Monetary Union from 22 June 2015 highlighted the need ‘to move from a system of rules and guidelines for national economic policy making to a system of further sovereignty sharing within common institutions’ till 2025. This contribution discusses possible options that range from rather intergovernmental concepts with the Council and the Euro Group at its heart to more supranational concepts based with the Commission, ranging from a European Economic Government to a European Economic and Finance Minister. With regard to the principle of democracy it elaborates on different options on the role of the European Parliament and national parliaments.

Public goods reflect a complex construct between the principle of solidarity and the principle of subsidiarity in European Union law. This policy brief concisely contextualises public goods in European law and shows that they can act as a point of reference for the distribution of competences between the EU and the Member States, thus contributing to the upcoming Conference on the Future of Europe.

This article analyses the judicial conflict between the German Federal Constitutional Court (GFCC) and the Court of the European Union (ECJ) about the European Central Bank’s (ECB) PSPP-Programme. The author examines, if the BVerfG is ruling against the primacy of EU law in the name of democracy.

Restore Credibility and Trust by Enforcing the Rule of Law: For the past few years, the rule of law – a core value and fundamental principle of the EU and its member states – has been under pressure. This happened not as a result of a major political event but rather in a process of constant erosion. Therefore, in the next politico-institutional cycle, the EU should according to the author close the gap between promise and delivery by reinforcing the “community of law”. The author finishes this article with some suggestions for the European Union.

Mit der zunehmenden Vertiefung der Europaischen Integration ist auch die Frage nach einer Begrenzung der Kompetenzen der Union immer mehr ins Blickfeld geruckt. Die Aktualitat dieser Debatte wurde erst jungst wieder im Zusammenhang mit dem von der Kommission veroffentlichten „Weisbuch zur Zukunft Europas“ deutlich.

German Abstract: Der Autor untersucht in diesem Beitrag die Reichweite der Einzelermachtigung zur Binnenmarktharmonisierung im Rahmen der Europaischen Union. Dabei geht er auch auf historische Entwicklungen, Reformuberlegungen und Kompetenzkonflikte ein. Das Ergebnis wird in zehn pragnanten Thesen zusammengefasst. English Abstract: In this article, the author examines the scope of the conferred power to harmonise the internal market within the framework of the European Union. In doing so, he also addresses historical developments, reform considerations and conflicts of competence. The result is summarised in ten concise theses.