Month: March 2019

The “VAR” annuls the goal of the European Commission to FC Barcelona and the Spanish teams win. Commentary on the Judgment of the General Court (Fourth Chamber) of 26 February 2019 Fútbol Club Barcelona v European Commission Case T-865/16

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by Javier Porras Belarra, Professor and researcher at the Faculty of Law, CEU San Pablo University (Madrid)

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Today (almost) no one doubts that football not only is the star sport in Europe (without detracting from all the rest) but also has become an industry that generates millions of euros around sports clubs[i]. This circumstance increased throughout the 20th century but it became especially marked in the 90s and the beginning of the 21st century when the income of sports clubs in this field increased the most. There have been many actions that have contributed to this phenomenon (the professionalization of the major leagues, the updating and improvement of European competitions by UEFA[ii] or the consequences of the freedom of movement of workers athletes within the European Union with independence of his nationality thanks to the famous Bosman case[iii]).

In this sense, shortly after the accession of Spain to the then European Communities, a new sports law was passed in this country[iv]. Through this law the figure of the SAD (Sports Public Limited Companies) was created as a variant of the typical corporations of commercial law. Under the praiseworthy purpose of providing greater control and transparency to the structures of professional football, the Law established a kind of punishment or sanction for “indebted” clubs, forcing them to adopt the legal form of SAD, which theoretically guaranteed a better and clearer future performance while allowing the “healthy” entities to continue competing under the legal associative form of the sports clubs.
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The impact of Brexit on the Common Security and Defence Policy of the European Union

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by Ana Torres Rego, Master's degree in EU Law of UMinho

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The winning of the campaign “Vote Leave”, in the referendum of 23 June 2016 held with the view to expiry the United Kingdom’s accession Treaty, turned out to be one of the biggest challenges facing the modern history of the European Union.

For its turn, if on the occasion when Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union was invoked in 2016 the earlier speeches of the Britain Prime Minister Theresa May can be summarised as “Brexit means Brexit” – as an answer against free movement of people; in the recent past, the increased awareness of the high cost for all parties involved of a hard Brexit has opened space for dialogue and negotiation.

The change of direction noted from October 2016 to March 2017 is very clear in the formal communication[i] notifying the United Kingdom’s intention to leave the European Union sent by Mrs. May to the European Council. That letter, where concerns related with the state of defence of the EU from security threats are strongly expressed, suggests first and foremost the British willingness to keep a special relation with the European Union in defence and security matters in order to ensure the status of security power for both among the potencies in the international order.
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Europe’s hopes and fears

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Burning Man 2006

by Mariana Canotilho, Editor
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According to the latest Eurobarometer, published in December 2018, immigration is the EU citizens’ main concern at the moment. With terrorism quickly falling, citizens are increasingly worried about Member States’ public finances (again!), the economy, and climate change (which is reaching new highs in every barometer).

The common feature between all these concerns is the fear of losing one’s way of life. European democracies are supposed to be about just that – democracy – but also about social cohesion, a broad catalogue of fundamental rights (including social and economic rights), freedom and peace. A citizen of a EU Member State expects to ‘live a good life’; a safe and prosperous life, using his or her capabilities to the fullest. A life that is free from fear of poverty, of economic and social turmoil and of uncertainty.

The multiple and complex crises of the last decade have highlighted that such a life is no longer possible for many people, in the EU. In a way, all the crises have flown into the big sea of the Union’s fundamental problem, which seems to be a crisis of solidarity. Solidarity towards migrants, who flee from war and disaster, but also towards southern countries dealing with economic and social upheaval (due to decisions that were not only their fault) or eastern European countries facing a scary turn in the direction of ‘illiberal democracies’. The Union’s answers have been late and not nearly enough.
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Editorial of March 2019

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 by Allan F. Tatham, Professor at the Faculty of Law of University CEU San Pablo

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“Shindler’s Wish” Fulfilled and More? The Possibilities for Re-enfranchisement of UK nationals and EU citizens in a future People’s Vote on Brexit

Introduction

In the afternoon of 25 February 2019, with just over four weeks to go before the country’s expected withdrawal from the European Union, the UK Labour Party leader, Jeremy Corbyn, finally announced his party’s support for a second referendum on the issue.[1] Having already been passed as a resolution by the Labour Party conference in autumn 2018[2] and supported by the majority of party members,[3] it no doubt took the recent resignations of MPs from the party[4] finally to persuade the widely-regarded Eurosceptic Corbyn to swallow the bitter pill for a People’s Vote (PV) on the Brexit deal, “secured” by the cabinet of Prime Minister Theresa May.[5]

However, within the furore caused by his change of heart still hanging in the air, even if (and, at this stage, it is still a very big “if”) the UK Parliament were to vote in favour of a second popular vote, several points will need to be addressed anew.
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