In the Theoria part of this issue, dedicated to Statehood in the European Union, Professor Evangelos Venizelos (Aristotle University of Thessaloniki) deals with Statehood and Sovereignty: The Difficult Equilibrium between European Union and Member States in Crisis Management - Refugee Crisis and Brexit. Starting with his definition of the current crisis in the EU, from the financial one to that of refugee and migration flows but also including the part of the crisis caused by a political initiative (of the UK government) and not by economic or international reasons and turned into an institutional and political crisis of Europe as an entity with community and intergovernmental characteristics, he puts the question: Who is the most effective crisis manager, the nation state or the EU?
A series of papers, originally presented in a Colloquium held at the University of Luxembourg on 10 December 2013, entitled “L’Etat dans l’Union européenne, Passion d’un grand acteur” follows, on an article by Professor Emeritus Nikos Scandamis bearing the same title. These papers attempt to explore the rich ground of European Governance or Governance of Europe, taking as a starting point the above mentioned article. Professor Eleftheria Neframi (Université du Luxembourg) introduces the exploration and Professor Nikos Scandamis reports on the state at stake in European integration. Professor Olivier Dubos (Université de Bordeaux), Professor Emilios Christodoulidis (University of Glasgow), Professor Emeritus Michel Troper (Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense), and Professor Johan van der Walt (University of Luxembourg), all dwell into the genealogies and methodologies at the root of the juncture of the national state and the transnational Union and into what the project of a social Europe means today.
In the Praxis section, Professor Dr. Christos Gortsos (Panteion University) examines the impact of the current fiscal crisis in the euro area on the Greek banking system and the measures adopted to preserve its stability. In the same section, a series of interesting judgments dealing with the Debt Crisis and its repercussions are summarized and commented on by members of the judiciary (Council of State): Associate Judge Theodora Ziamou, Nikolaos Vagionakis and Christina Tzemou, Assistant Judges, Nikolaos Nikolakis and Eirini Spanaki, Assistant Judges, and Georgia Skiada, Assistant Judge.
