Niels Kirst | School of Law and Government

Niels Kirst

Niels Kirst is a Ph.D. student at the School of Law and Government of the Dublin City University. Having a background in European and International Law, he worked and conducted research at the Court of Justice of the European Union, the German Foreign Office, and at an independent think tank based in Brussels in the area of EU law, as well as in the fields of foreign policy and antitrust.

Education:

Bachelor of Philosophy and Economics, University of Heidelberg, Germany 2013 - 2016

Master of International and European Law, European School of Law, University of Toulouse Capitole, France, 2017 - 2018

LL.M. in European Law, European College of Paris, University Paris II (Pantheon-Assas), 2018 - 2019

Supervisor:

Prof. Federico Fabbrini

Thesis Title:

The General Principles of European Union law as a way to safeguard the rule of law within the Member States?

Thesis Abstract:

Political developments in some Member States of the European Union have called into question the respect for the rule of law. The rule of law is one of the fundamental values enshrined in Article 2 Treaty on European Union. In recent years, some Member States have deviated from this fundamental principle. In a Union, which is "determined to lay the foundations of an ever-closer union among the peoples of Europe, […]." this is a legally and democratically alarming development that the Union’s founders did not foresee. 

The aim of this research project is to examine the role of the general principles of European Union law and to analyse how they relate to the fundamental values of the European Union enshrined in Article 2 TEU.

The fundamental values of the European Union are related to the general principles of European Union law, which the Court developed through decades of case-law. The European Court of Justice is currently in the vanguard role to protect the EU values in the rule of law crisis. Provided that there is a connection between the fundamental values, such as the rule of law, and the general principles of European Union law, can the Court of Justice use the general principles as a means to protect the rule of law within the Member States?

The research question of this project is whether and how the general principles of European Union law can be used by the Court of Justice to defend the rule of law within the Member States.

Areas of Interest:

Rule of Law, EU Law, Internal Market, Free Movement provisions, Court of Justice of the European Union, Brexit, Competition Law, Legal Technology, Law & Economics

Email address: niels.kirst2@mail.dcu.ie