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2. Institutions

Powers, constraints, and transformations 
 

This stream studies how institutional arrangements are affected by interactions and harmonisation between local, national, European, and international legal orders. It is concerned with matters of international peace and security, issues of accountability and legitimacy deficit, new modes of governance, the emergence and resolution of economic, political, and financial crises, and with safeguarding the rule of law, sovereignty and the autonomy of States. Special attention is given to the balance of powers between national parliaments, courts, governments, and their EU counterparts.

Research in this stream is geared towards mapping changes and new developments within various legal orders and identifying how this affects existing institutional structures and arrangements. It also examines how crises challenge the competences of different institutions to protect matters of national, regional, and international concern.

Some important questions include whether traditional ideas such as legitimacy, accountability, and the separation of powers are still appropriate to today’s context, and how institutions within the various legal orders can foster the rule of law, protect rights and values, or shape future integration. Also relevant is how institutions and legal instruments shape integration processes, how they can protect fundamental rights and non-economic values, and how they do, can, and should respond to developments such as the dissatisfaction of EU citizens and the rise of new technologies.

2. Institutional transformation - research pillar

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​Institutional transformations research takes place in the following institutes and groups:

 GLaw-Net  
 MCEL  
 MCT  
 M-EPLI   
 METRO​   
 MICS
 Montesquieu

 

Institutions - focal points

  • Shape the future progress of integration
    The research in this pillar focuses on the changing relationship between the national European and international legal orders and the institutional transformations that are taking place within these orders.

    It thus examines how institutions and legal instruments may shape the future progress of integration and vice versa, and ultimately the rule of law. One of its focal points is the interaction between national and European levels, particularly with respect to the relation between national parliaments and the European Parliament, national/ constitutional courts and the European Courts, and national executives and the European Commission.

  • New modes of governance
    Equally, possibilities to introduce novel institutional arrangements so as to accommodate increased flexibility and more respect for the heterogeneity of the EU and its Member States is also scrutinised, including questions regarding EU membership.

    Research in this pillar will moreover address the institutional transformations caused by new modes of governance and regulation and the increasing power of the executive, and the rise of new institutional actors such as agencies both at the national and the EU level. This necessitates a profound reflection on the roles of constitutional and administrative courts and parliaments. In this regard, an important subject of study will be the appropriateness of current notions of separation or balance of powers, legitimacy and accountability.

  • Protection of fundamental rights 
    Including questions as to how national authorities and governments need to act in the face of dissatisfaction of citizens with the EU.The impact of these institutional transformations on the protection of fundamental rights and non-economic values will also be taken into account.

    The focus on economic integration and the rise of new technologies, for example, requires legal scholarship to study both fundamental rights and principles, such as nondiscrimination, equality, privacy, personal data protection, legal certainty, legitimate expectations, effective judicial remedies and non-economic values such as the protection of health, safety, and the environment. Here the EU is used as an example only. Similar issues arise also in the context of the UN and regional public international organisations.