The use of soft law in the external dimension of EU migration law has become particularly visible recently. However, this might be a sign of a more general path to soft regulation undertaken by the EU in external affairs. Through a survey of Memoranda of Understanding from 1974 to 2019, Ilaria Ronconi and Salvo Nicolosi explain that the EU has been increasingly relying on soft law arrangements, but its use differs across various policy areas,  with major risks for the constitutional fabric of EU law, especially in the area of migration.

Ilaria Ronconi is an LLM student in European Law at Utrecht University.
Salvo Nicolosi is a RENFORCE Senior Researcher and Associate Professor in European and International Law at Utrecht University Law School.

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At the end of the European Commission 2019-2024 mandate, this post reflects on the legislative changes proposed by the European Commission to improve the sustainability of the agri-food sector. Overall, the new regulatory developments can be seen as a positive step towards sustainability in the sector, but much remains to be done as the definition of sustainability remains unclear and many areas do not appear to be on the path to sustainability, argues Clara Colonna.

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The rise of digital platforms like Google and Facebook has transformed the media landscape, allowing them to distribute press publishers’ content while often monetising it without fair compensation. To address this, the EU introduced the Digital Single Market Directive (DSM), aiming to ensure fair use and remuneration for publishers. However, Poland’s implementation of the DSM has faced significant hurdles, revealing the challenges in establishing effective secondary rights for publishers and enforcement mechanisms, argues Malgorzata Kozak.

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In March, the European Commission proposed its Defence Industrial Strategy and accompanying Regulation aimed at achieving “structural defence readiness.” Although promoted as a paradigm shift, the proposed Regulation contains little innovation compared to earlier initiatives and is unlikely to fix the industry’s problems, argues Isaak de Kroon.

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There are plans, especially in the West, to confiscate Russian assets with a view to transferring them to Ukraine. These plans are in tension with international law. New customary international law could crystallize, but normative developments would need the support of non-Western states to legally materialize, argues Cedric Ryngaert.

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