Fundamental Rights, Federal States, and Sovereignty: Some Random Remarks

• Published in: Croatian yearbook of European law & policy Vol. 13; no. 13; pp. VII - XVIII
• Main Author: H Regan, Donald
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Zagreb Sveuciliste u Zagrebu, Pravni Fakultet 01.01.2017; University of Zagreb, Faculty of Law
• Subjects: Sovereignty
• ISSN: 1845-5662; 1848-9958
• DOI: 10.3935/cyelp.13.2017.299

I am not an EU lawyer. The days are long gone when I could know a substantial fraction of EU law just by knowing about the free movement of goods. I get a fleeting glimpse of where the EU is going every year at the Jean Monnet Seminar in Dubrovnik, but no more than a glimpse. Still, when the editors invited me to write this Editorial Note, I could not refuse. Looking for inspiration, I read or reread all the previous twelve Notes. This was an enjoyable and informative exercise in itself, but only a few of the essays suggested topics I might have anything to say about. There were a few, however. And so, without claiming to advance discussion within the EU in any way, I will venture a few idle remarks on how some of that discussion struck this outsider. Specifically, I want to juxtapose some suggestions and assertions made in those Notes about the EU with some observations about the US and (just at the end) Canada.