One of the most remarkable results of the elections for the European Parliament on 4–7 June 2009 is that the Swedish Piratpartiet won one seat, to which another will be added if the Treaty of Lisbon enters into force. One of the aims of this party is a reform of copyright law to restore the, in its eyes, lost balance between the potentially conflicting interests of creating and spreading culture. The party strives for, among other things, the decriminalisation of all non-commercial copying and use of copyrighted material on the internet.

European Court of Justice decision of 25 July 2008, Case C-127/08, Metock et al. v. Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform – EU citizens and their third-country family members – ECJ largely reverses Akrich case-law – Dividing line between national and Community competences on immigration – ‘Reverse discrimination’ not a matter of concern for Community law – Analysis of repercussions of decision on EU and national legal orders

Constitutionality of ethnic and racial statistics for research purposes – Principles of indivisibility and equality in Article 1 of the French Constitution – Visible minorities, discrimination and positive action measures – French republican conception of citizenship – Use of the word ‘race’ – Fear of misuse of ethnic and racial statistics – French alternative of territorial measures – Educational and fiscal advantages – Violation of the right to equal access to education – Ghettoisation – Problems in consideration of Directive 2000/43 (the Race Directive)

Founding principles and rights in new Statuti (fundamental regional charters) – Expression of sub – national constitutionalism? – Constitutional court: Statuti not regional constitutions – Provisions on founding principles and rights ‘cultural statements’ lacking any legal effect – Tertium Genus in addition to ‘prescriptive’ and ‘programmatic’ norms? – Various scenarios for potential legal conflicts between the national Constitution and the ‘cultural statements’

Relationships between international, EU, domestic law – Different legal orders – Different jurisdictions – Validity, rank, effects of international law in EU legal order – Kadi – Court of First Instance in Kadi – Advocate-General in Kadi – European Court of Justice in Kadi – Pluralism concept of AG Maduro – European legal pluralism reconsidered

International law in constitutional change of EU – Rigidity of amendment – EU amending and accession treaties not reviewable – International law in internal development of Union law – Conventions/treaties by member states jointly – Acts of the representatives of the governments – International law in the agreements with third states – Exportation of legal rules – Conditionality policies – Legislating through international agreements

Constitutionalism – Kadi ruling of EU Court of First Instance – Erosion of ‘total’ constitutional order by reallocation of public power – Constitutional vision challenge of networks approach – Emerging human rights hierarchy – Rudimentary international value system – Ius cogens and erga omnes – Barcelona Traction – Core human rights elements – Enforcement through regional and domestic courts – Review of Security Council resolutions

Direct effect of international agreements – WTO – Current jurisprudence and theories – Implications for separation of powers and checks and balances – Justiciability – Criticism of current standards: precision and reciprocity – Reversal of dual concept in EU external relations

On 21 January 2009 the Belgian Constitutional Court terminated a long-lasting dispute over the conditions for affiliation to the care insurance scheme established by the Flemish Community. What started out as a classical conflict over the division of competences in Belgium resulted in a discussion about the impact of European Community (EC) law on the constitutional autonomy of the member states. Despite the entanglement between Belgian constitutional law and EC law, the Flemish care insurance case reveals the different perspectives of both legal orders. In this case, the dialogue between the Belgian Constitutional Court and the European Court of Justice (ECJ) through the preliminary ruling procedure could not prevent reverse discrimination.