Transnational Law Commons^™

Law, Fiscal Federalism, And Austerity, R. Daniel Kelemen

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

In response to the Eurozone crisis, European Union leaders have undertaken a number of dramatic reforms, including the imposition of a new regime for fiscal governance of Eurozone Member States. The 2012 Fiscal Compact Treaty, one of the lynchpins of this package of reforms, requires states to incorporate judicially enforceable balanced-budget rules into national law. This article explores this effort to judicialize austerity in the European Union, focusing on two interrelated sets of questions. First, why did EU leaders turn to the courts and ask them to become the stewards of fiscal discipline, and second, should we expect the effort …

Potential Exit From The Eurozone: The Case Of Spain, Antonio Estella

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

According to a recent opinion poll that covered seven members of the Eurozone, Spain would be the Member State of this group that is most in favor of leaving the euro. In this public opinion context, and above all since the summer of 2012, debate has been growing in this country about the prospects of its exiting the European Monetary Union. In this article I argue that there are good reasons for taking this debate seriously. Using Spain as a case study, I analyze what the determinants of this decision could be. In particular, I analyze the economic determinants that …

Austerity, The European Council, And The Institutional Future Of The European Union: A Proposal To Strengthen The Presidency Of The European Council, Federico Fabbrini

Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies

This article contextualizes the resilience of austerity in Europe, explaining it in light of the transformations in the EU system of governance. As the article maintains, since the eruption of the Eurocrisis, the European Council-the body congressing the heads of state and government of the EU member states together with its President and the President of the European Commission-has risen to the center of EU governance. In an intergovernmental institution such as the European Council, however, larger and wealthier states have been able to impose their preferences on other states-a development that is at odds with the anti-hegemonic nature of …

The Globalization Of Crime Control: The Use Of Non-Criminal Justice Responses For Countering Organized Crime, Bjarni Halldor Sigursteinsson

LLM Theses

This thesis examines domestic authorities’ use of non-criminal justice responses to counter organized crime. Examples of responses used to counter outlaw motorcycle gangs in Canada, Germany, and Iceland are provided. These responses are significantly different from most international efforts focusing on criminal norms and cooperation in criminal matters.

As harmonization of legislation, policies and practices in this field become an international focus, I examine the role currently played by the European Union in promoting these non-criminal justice 'alternative' enforcement strategies for the purpose of furthering the development of international and domestic efforts to counter organized crime.

This study concludes that …

Why Should We Not Protest For Consumption Tax Reduction? Consumption Tax Rate As A Partial Mechanism For Increasing Consumer Wealth, Limor Riza, Noam Sher

Loyola of Los Angeles International and Comparative Law Review

If you are an activist protesting against the high costs of living, we would like to offer you one suggestion: do not demand that the government reduce consumption tax. Social activists tend to believe that a government policy reducing consumption tax can, by itself, benefit the general population. This paper explains our suggestion to the contrary.

The tax field alone is insufficient for consumption tax reduction to be effective in increasing consumer wealth over benefiting suppliers. Due to cognitive biases, or heuristics, when the government changes consumption tax rates in order to increase consumers’ well-being, suppliers are able to …