Nullification and Secession in the EU constitutional order of States

Skoutaris, Nikos ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5998-7319 and Martinico, Giuseppe (2024) Nullification and Secession in the EU constitutional order of States. North Carolina Journal of International Law. ISSN 0743-1759 (In Press)

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Abstract

Since its establishment, the European Union (EU) has been living in a state of perpetual crisis. The withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) brought to the fore the centrifugal dynamics that the Union has been facing. At the same time, “the notion of an issue-based withdrawal from the overarching ‘federal’ pact—what is often referred to in American constitutional thought as nullification—is commonly invoked” either by political means, such as in the case of the Greek referendum on the Euro-crisis measures, or by judicial means—for instance, the decision of the German Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) on 5 May 2020. Simultaneously, some EU countries have been trying to somehow challenge the notion that respect to the foundational values enshrined in Article 2 TEU is a conditio sine qua non for EU membership. A closer look at those examples sheds light on the reality that unless such issue-based withdrawal is somehow recognized in primary legislation, such as in the case of opt-outs, “nullification” faces insurmountable constraints within the EU constitutional order. That leaves the recalcitrant Member States with the option of functional secession from the voluntary Union per Article 50 TEU. The experience of Brexit, however, underlines that such complete withdrawal is also fraught with difficulty. Using the comparative historical argument, the article shows that the crisis the EU is experiencing contains significant federal dynamics.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions ,/dk/atira/pure/sustainabledevelopmentgoals/peace_justice_and_strong_institutions
Faculty \ School:	Faculty of Social Sciences > School of Law
UEA Research Groups:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > International Law
Depositing User:	LivePure Connector
Date Deposited:	03 Oct 2024 09:30
Last Modified:	03 Oct 2024 09:30
URI:	https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/96865
DOI:	issn:0743-1759

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