Holger Hestermeyer
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hhesterm.bsky.social
Holger Hestermeyer
@hhesterm.bsky.social

Professor of Int’l & EU Law, Diplomatic Academy Vienna. Past: Prof., founding Director CIGAD at King's College London, specialist adviser House of Lords EU Select Committee, Référendaire CJEU

Political science 58%
Business 20%

The BBC is a trusted name with broad global appeal - soft power like that allows the U.K. to punch significantly above its weight.
My book about Britain ends with a memory.
Of the first time I ever worked at Broadcasting House as a guest commentator, what that meant to me, and what the BBC means for 🇬🇧’s place in the world.
The idea that the World Service could end is awful, and frankly embarrassing for the British Government.
And another bites the dust?

The BBC World Service will run out of funding in just seven weeks. Its funding arrangement with the Foreign Office finishes at the end of March. There is no plan for what happens next.

www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...
My book about Britain ends with a memory.
Of the first time I ever worked at Broadcasting House as a guest commentator, what that meant to me, and what the BBC means for 🇬🇧’s place in the world.
The idea that the World Service could end is awful, and frankly embarrassing for the British Government.

And somehow that fits in nicely with Rubio, son of non-citizens at the time of his birth, portraying immigration as evil or in the UK Badenoch or Braverman doing the same. Our reality of complex belongings is barely even recognized by those that are model examples of that complexity. /3

The Brazilian skiier is half-Norwegian and competed for Norway, where he largely grew up, until 2023. If he would have won for Norway, few would have noticed. But he, same person, won for Brazil. /2

Its fascinating to watch the commentary on Brazil's skiing victory. In our imaginary, there are fixed nations with utter clarity of who belongs to which one. Reality has changed to a dramatic extent. /1

This is not the first time I see statistics showing France to be more pro-US than Britain. It‘s quite astonishing

I tend to disagree (I am not sure, though, maybe we mean 5he same thing). For me it is not the framework that is dead, but polarised societies voting for polarised politics resulting in a dysfunctional system - in MS not less than in the EU.
The Lisbon Treaty is dead. It created an - imperfect - institutional balance, checks and balances, accountability, separation of powers. But the constitutional framework has effectively ceased to function. Unclear how the vacuum will be filled. The EU’s democracy is on a precipice
Swedish deputy PM: European leaders must ‘toughen up,’ stop waiting for Brussels, US
NY Fed report says Americans pay for almost all of Trump's tariffs reut.rs/4643ERt
NY Fed report says Americans pay for almost all of Trump's tariffs
Americans are shouldering almost all of President Donald Trump’s import tax surge, a report from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York said on Thursday.
reut.rs

Reposted by Holger Hestermeyer

The Lisbon Treaty is dead. It created an - imperfect - institutional balance, checks and balances, accountability, separation of powers. But the constitutional framework has effectively ceased to function. Unclear how the vacuum will be filled. The EU’s democracy is on a precipice

Here's the Norwegian request to waive immunities. He's suspected of passive bribery / aggravated corruption under Norwegian law. Not sure the remaining functional immunities actually caused a problem, but anyway: waived now. rm.coe.int/1550-1-6-art...
rm.coe.int

rm.coe.int

If you were wondering like me why Jagland's immunities had to be lifted, here's the answer: the SG of the CoE benefits from full diplomatic immunities (Art. 16 of the General Agreement). These end with his office, however for acts performed in his function they continue (Art. 39(2) VCDR) - until now

The age of the ’who even knows what was agreed’ trade deal

Reposted by Holger Hestermeyer

The disapproval resolution over Trump's tariffs against Canada has passed the House, over Speaker Johnson's objections.

It now goes to the Senate - where it's passed before.
www.politico.com/news/2026/02...
House votes to disapprove of Trump's Canada tariffs
Six Republicans voted in favor of the resolution, which now goes to the Senate. The president would almost certainly veto it.
www.politico.com

Monaco based expat choosing to put more foreigners than U.K. players in his football team complains about expats and foreigners working in the U.K.
'The UK has been colonised by immigrants', says INEOS boss and Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe
'The UK has been colonised by immigrants', says INEOS boss and Man Utd co-owner Sir Jim Ratcliffe
Britain has been "colonised" by immigrants, who are draining resources from the state, Sir Jim Ratcliffe, one of the country's richest and most influential men, has told Sky News.
news.sky.com

The cynicism of ‘populism’ knows neither principles nor bounds. They will say A today, B tomorrow all in the service of the cause. And some of them might have even forgotten what the cause is.
🇵🇱⚖️I promised a banger on the rule-of-law crisis in Poland, so... here it is. A group of PiS MPs have lodged a case with the Constitutional Tribunal, asking it to find the rules of electing the judges of the same Tribunal, introduced in 2016 by a PiS majority, to be unconstitutional. 1/

And this goes for the whole US v EU economy thing

A quick reminder: all of this - economy, security etc. - is supposed to improve people’s lives. If you destroy your environment, have a low life expectancy, work like crazy all the time and justify abuse with the S&P, you have a problem. /1
🇵🇱⚖️I promised a banger on the rule-of-law crisis in Poland, so... here it is. A group of PiS MPs have lodged a case with the Constitutional Tribunal, asking it to find the rules of electing the judges of the same Tribunal, introduced in 2016 by a PiS majority, to be unconstitutional. 1/

Always willing to defer to Nansen on questions like that!

Trump is doing a social science experiment: how awful can the US be to foreigners and still attract their business and investment? So far the answer is: pretty damn awful.

Reposted by Holger Hestermeyer

huh. missed this story the other day and... wut? as.ft.com/r/3aadc0ac-1...
US embassy in London denies visas to executives over minor offences
[FREE TO READ] Immigration lawyers say top-level corporate figures and tech leaders among those barred from visiting America
as.ft.com

Na, that could be the US, right there. Without a map, who would know?

Ministerial austerity has ended: they finally have money for maps!

Reposted by Holger Hestermeyer

GOP revolt sinks effort to block votes on Trump’s tariffs
GOP revolt sinks effort to block votes on Trump’s tariffs
House Speaker Mike Johnson’s bid to block future votes on President Donald Trump’s tariffs failed Tuesday after an internal GOP revolt. Three Republican lawmakers, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Kevin Kiley of California and Don Bacon of Nebraska, joined Democrats to defeat a key procedural measure 217-214. That gives Democrats the opportunity to force a vote as soon as this week on a resolution disapproving of the president’s 25 percent duties on Canadian goods. House Republican leadership spent most of Tuesday whipping votes after a small group of tariff-skeptic Republicans led by Massie and Kiley pushed back against the procedural maneuver, which would keep the House from voting on resolutions disapproving of Trump’s tariffs through July. A previous GOP measure blocking tariff votes expired on Jan. 31. Tuesday’s defeat appears to end a nearly year-long effort by Republican leadership to shield its members from politically difficult votes on tariffs, as voters and businesses tire from the uncertainty fomented by Trump’s favorite geopolitical tool. “I don’t think that the House should be limiting the authority of members and enlarging the power of leadership at the expense of our members,” Kiley said in an interview after voting “no.” “That’s what this does, so I think it’s important for the House as an institution,” he added. House leaders used the procedural measure last March to block efforts to force a vote on the national emergency Trump used to implement the tariffs on Canada, China and Mexico. House Republicans voted to extend it a second time in September. In that time, the Senate has passed four resolutions disapproving of the tariffs — two related to the tariffs on Canadian goods, one on tariffs on Brazil and one on the “reciprocal” tariffs Trump has imposed on nearly every country. Johnson on Tuesday urged his members to support the procedural measure, arguing that any disapproval vote should wait until after the Supreme Court determines whether Trump has the authority to use a 1977 economic powers law to impose sweeping tariffs across the globe. That ruling could come as late as the end of June or beginning of July. Democrats have already prepared several tariff resolutions for a vote, hoping to force Republicans to go on the record regarding their support for Trump’s historic tariff levels. The votes are largely symbolic — even if the Senate again approves the measures, Trump can veto the resolutions, which would take a two-thirds majority to overturn. The House Rules Committee is expected to reconvene Tuesday night to advance a modified measure without the tariff provision, providing for floor consideration of the three bills in the original rule as well as a GOP elections bill, the SAVE America Act. Meredith Lee Hill and Calen Razor contributed to this report.
dlvr.it

The judiciary reneging on science due to politics.

Reposted by Holger Hestermeyer

Reposted by Markus W. Gehring

Jochen Abr. Frowein, an extraordinary scholar of international law, a former vice-president of the european commission on human rights and director of the MPI Heidelberg has passed away. I am grateful for so many kind words, so many memories, including a visit to King‘s College London. RIP.