Rule of Law and Human Rights in Europe and the World in Times of Contestation

The last two decades have seen the emergence of numerous sites of resistance to the EU. The Greek opposition to austerity measures, the massive and EU-wide contestation of Covid-prevention measures, the gilets jaunes protest, not to mention the 2016 British referendum, are just a few examples of the increasing contestation of the EU integration, of - some of - its policies, and of their - perceived - impact on citizens’ rights. The Summer school lectures will take seriously the different expressions of contestation the European Union is facing. Contestation will be broadly defined, as the social practice of merely objecting to norms by rejecting them or by refusing to implement them. It is also a mode of critique through critical engagement in a discourse about these principles, rules, and values. The Summer School will thus address different but related topics. It will first ask what is the object of contestation: what the EU does or what the EU is? Is there enough space, in EU law, to institutionalize contestation?