Going beyond ‘judicial dialogues’ and ‘conflict-and-power’ approaches to the analysis of national constitutional courts' role in the EU – The idea of European constitutional democracy – National constitutional courts constrain individual autonomy expanded by European integration – National constitutional courts defend the scope for political autonomy – Against national constitutional courts' displacement – Simmenthal II – After the ‘Rights Revolution’ in Europe – National constitutional courts' references to the ECJ – Ordinary courts challenging national constitutional courts through the preliminar y reference procedure – Parallel references – National constitutional courts enforcing EU law – National constitutional courts challenging EU law

German Constitutional Court decision of 30 June 2009 on the compatibility of the Lisbon Treaty with the German Constitution – ‘Identity’ key word of the Lissabon-Urteil – The national identity clause in the current Union Treaty – Nation: people and state; diachronic and synchronic identity – Constitutional patriotism – The national identity clause in the Lisbon Union Treaty – Volksidentität and state identity – Verfassungsidentität: diachronic identity – Identité constitutionnelle de la France: synchronic identity – confidence and diffidence in the Union

Misconception of the EU is the reason for increasing scepticism – multilevel constitutionalism: conceptualising the EU as a matter of the citizens – critiques and the defence of multilevel constitutionalism – European treaties as a form of a new supranational social contract – embedded autonomy in a system of divided sovereignty – explaining and enhancing democratic legitimacy of the EU – the legitimising principles of additionality, of voluntariness and of open democracy – taking ownership of the EU and taking subsidiarity seriously – backing the European monetary policy by new competences for a common economic and fiscal policies – engaging in European policies as a way out of the crisis.

Access to state-held information essential in a democratic society – Traditional reluctance of the European Court of Human Rights to apply Article 10 European Convention on Human Rights in access to information cases – Positive obligations and new perspectives: initiatives within the Council of Europe – Parallel with the Inter-American Court of Human Rights – Sdruženi Jihočeské Matky decision of the European Court: the beginning of a new era?

Winner: national parliaments or European Parliament? – Differences between Lisbon Treaty and Constitutional Treaty – Latent rivalry – Lisbon innovation – National parliaments now actors in the Union? – Early warning mechanism as solution of compromise – Dual system of the two protocols: yellow and orange cards – Review – Compliance – Interparliamentary co-operation – Complexity of COSAC's involvement – Link between proportionality and subsidiarity – Conception of representative democracy – Position of the Court of Justice

Historical background of the Italian Constitution – Main features – Golden age of constitutional enforcement – Italian political renewal – Fathers and sons – The great reform proposal – The 2006 referendum – The upshot.

The European citizens' initiative (ECI) is a new device of participatory democracy, which has its own characteristics, unknown to date at any level of national or trans-national government. It is designed to allow the citizens to take an active role within the law-making process of the EU. The specific features of this process affect the legal nature as well as the functioning of the new participatory device. Both will depend strongly on the European law, which shall determine the procedures and conditions required for the ECI.

History and background of the comitology system in the European Union – The continuing problem of the involvement of the European Parliament – The new comitology decision of the Council of Ministers: introduction of a comitology procedure concerning ‘quasi-legislative measures’ – Genesis of the 2006 reform: negotiations within the Council and with the Parliament – Accompanying political declarations – Evaluation: a substantial shift in the relations between the institutions in relation to law-making.

EU Free Trade Agreements joint organs – Comprehensive powers beyond executive implementation – Democratic legitimacy concerns – Establishment of treaty bodies in CETA as a conferral of public powers – Limits to delegation prescribed by EU constitutional law – Mechanisms to strengthen the control of the European Parliament over the treaty bodies’ decision-making

Czech Lustration Acts: basic features – Among the most far-reaching in the postcommunist countries in Europe – Challenges for the rule of law – 2001: Czech Constitutional Court upholds their validity – Case-law of the European Court of Human Rights – ‘Transition-to-democracy’ circumstances that justified their adoption have ceased to exist

European Union – Common Foreign and Security Policy – Changes with the abolition of the pillar structure by the Lisbon Treaty – Common Security and Defence Policy – Executive order of the EU – Between supranationalism and intergovernmentalism – The role of the High Representative – Joint political leadership – The European External Action Service as an administrative infrastructure – Constitutionalisation of foreign affairs

Types of flexibility – Tension: demands for diversity v. logic of uniformity – United Kingdom and differentiation under Maastricht and Amsterdam – Court of Justice (77/05 and 137/05) on Articles 4 and 5 Schengen Protocol: a clear signal disapproving UK's ‘pick and choose’ approach – Lisbon Protocols: unparalleled possibilities for differentiation coupled with coercive procedural constraints and threats of ‘expulsion’.

EU Rule of law crisis – Article 2 TEU – EU values – EU fundamental rights – Freedom of speech – Member state courts – Interpretation of national law in conformity with Article 2 TEU values – Preliminary reference – Duty of referral – Criminal liability of judges – Reverse Solange – ASJP judgment – Judicial applicability of Article 2 TEU – Value-oriented interpretation of EU law – Mutual Amplification – Essence of EU fundamental rights – L.M. judgment – Aranyosi judgment – Federal balance – Red lines – Systemic deficiencies – Solange presumption – Mutual trust

Hungarian constitutional law – New Basic Law – Continuity with the previous democratic Constitution – Vision of the political community embedded in the new Basic Law – The level of protection of fundamental rights – Continuity and lack of foreseeability in the organisation of the state – European legal procedures against or about Hungary – The life prospects of the new Basic Law – Danger of constitutional crisis whenever the government does not hold a constitution-amending majority

Institutional and normative convergence – Common Foreign and Security Policy – Pillar Structure – External Relations – Role of the Court – Normative Consistency – EU Legal Order – Legal Nature CFSP – Treaty of Lisbon – Legal Instruments – Decision-Making

Five language rights models: human rights model, ‘old’ minority rights model, ‘new’ minority rights model, indigenous peoples rights model, and official-language rights model – Different philosophical and legal foundations and very different concerns: personal autonomy and development, social integration and cohesion, ethnocultural preservation, and political integration – Sociological and historical context of each state is key factor in the type of linguistic accommodation sought by minorities

Problems with militant democracy and democratic defence approaches – a new typology of initiatives opposing populist parties: democratic defence as ‘normal politics’ – populist opponents: public authorities, parties and civil society – tolerant and intolerant modes of engagement with populists – intolerant initiatives opposing populist parties – rights restrictions by public authorities – ostracism by political parties – coercive confrontation by civil society actors – tolerant initiatives opposing populist parties – ‘ordinary’ legal controls and pedagogy by public authorities – forbearance by political parties – adversarialism by civil society actors