The Preconditions for the Admission of the Preventive Measure Based on an European Arrest Warrant

In addition to the mandatory “grounds for refusing to execute an European arrest warrant, the legislator” also provided for some optional grounds on the basis of which the competent judicial bodies “of the executing Member State may refuse to execute an European arrest warrant”. These provisions give the courts of the executing Member State the right to invoke or not to invoke them and, implicitly, the right to execute or not to execute an European arrest warrant. In our view, the refusal to execute the warrant must be complemented by the establishment “of direct links between the judicial authorities of the two Member States”, with regard to adopting a solution to the situation. In this context, given the complexity of the cases, the specific circumstances of the crimes, as well as other elements, the two judicial authorities involved will have to ascertain the incidence of another European institution, namely the transfer of proceedings in criminal matters.

Could NATO (still) defend Europe?

NATO has been ‘adapting’ for a decade and has made significant progress in meeting the coming challenges to Europe defence. However, power is relative and the nature of future war across the multi-domains of air, sea, land, cyber, space, information, and knowledge, allied to the accelerating speed of war, also reveals profound Allied weaknesses. Whilst the Americans are increasingly overstretched trying to cover the expanding space and technology of warfare, Europeans are decidedly under-stretched, unable, or unwilling to meet the demands of defence, too often seeing defence as a budget to be raided for domestic political concerns. Ultimately, NATO is in the business of deterrence, for if it fails defence seems unlikely, short of a rapid descent into all-out nuclear war. Europeans must thus understand that NATO is essentially a European institution, and it can only fulfil its mission as a defensive Alliance if they give the Alliance the means and tools to maintain a minimum but credible conventional force and nuclear force deterrent.

Using Supra-Covered Bonds to Enhance Liquidity in the Euro Area: Assessment of Advantages for the Banking Sector

The discussion on the necessity of a larger volume of very highly quality liquid assets (VHQLA) in the euro area has been very extensive. The debate on expanding the pool of comparable euro area assets focuses on “safe assets”, often on various combinations of government bonds, most of which would not entail a strong increase in euro VHQLA. This paper explores a different option, complementary to the existing ones, based on the creation of a safe European asset backed by fully private assets. The paper proposes the issuance of supra-covered bonds by a central European institution. The latter are bonds issued by the central issuer and backed by covered bonds, which banks would have created using their mortgages as their cover pool. The aim is to increase substantially the outstanding amount of euro VHQLA. Such an asset would also be very beneficial during crisis periods, such as the current COVID19 crisis, by allowing banks to transform mortgages into very high quality liquid assets that can be used for funding and as a collateral in operations with the Eurosystem, thus enhancing the possible credit to sustain small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper assesses the main effects of such a proposal on banks under different possible scenarios.

Compatibility of UNESCO and Council of Europe Cultural Heritage Concepts

The same year that UNESCO adopted the Convention for the Protection of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, the Republic of Serbia became a member of the Council of Europe. The protection of the intangible and cultural heritage in the Republic of Serbia is done according to the regulations of these two institutions. This paper is based on a comparative analysis of two (for intangible) cultural heritage, the most important documents of individual institutions: the 2003 UNESCO Convention on the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity and the 2005 Council of Europe Framework Convention on the Value of Cultural Heritage for Society. The aim of the paper is to compare the cultural conceptions of UNESCO and the Council of Europe, and to show whether there are differences in the cultural policies of one global and one European institution in this field.

Du Projet européen à l’Europe des projets: Soixante ans de présence et d’influence françaises à la Banque européenne d’investissement (1958-2018)

This article aims to better define the vectors as well as the objectives of French influence at the European Investment Bank (EIB), a European institution created in 1957 which annually mobilises a volume of funding equivalent to the Commission’s budget. For the main part, French influence was exercised individually, through the French members of the Management Committee as well as the French managers of the Bank, in a context where the French Ministry of Finance, which represents the French government at the Bank’s governing bodies, is sometimes reluctant, often inactive, and exceptionally proactive on new initiatives. Based on visions, models and experiences in which France retained a comparative advantage, this influencewas instrumental in the promotion of key policies in three areas: EIB finances and the promotion of a common currency, the financing of small and medium-sized enterprises and innovation and external mandates (Mediterranean and ACP States in particular). Over the past twenty years, successive enlargements, the erosion of France's comparative advantages and the decline of its linguistic and cultural influence have precipitated, as in the European Commission, the loss of an influence which had really started in the mid-1970s.