Iniziano i lavori della Cattedra Jean Monnet “Verba volant, sed imperant? The legal challenges of EU communication”

Communication, especially in the digital and social dimension, has acquired an increasingly important role in the regulation of social phenomena. The EU is in no way immune from this evolution. Conversely, its very peculiar nature (not a sheer international organization, not yet a State) makes even more difficult to properly communicate its actions and to deal with its communications. The legal science has devoted very little attention so far to the communications of EU institutions, since they were perceived as being either a mere demonstration of functions and powers already provided for by legal texts, or a simple anticipation of a decision to be subsequently taken through legal acts. In a nutshell, the typical approach of legal scholars to communication can be summarized by an old Latin motto, which says: ‘verba volant, scripta manent’. Spoken words fly away, only what is written remains – and, thus, deserves to be taken into consideration, being able to impose rights and obligations on individuals. However, in the information society we are currently living in, this approach is not fully convincing, as demonstrated by the many legal cases brought before EU Courts against press releases and announcements (for instance, Gauweiler, NF, EMA/ELA…). Against this framework, the Chair aims at developing interdisciplinary approaches to assess the legal implications of EU Communication, both for the multi-level system of EU sources of law and for their justiciability – Coordinator: Professor Jacopo Alberti, University of Ferrara.