Lectures at the Partner University in Athens
The University of Athens, as it is commonly known, was founded in 1837 by Otto, the first king of modern Greece. It is one of the University of Siegen’s partner universities (for more information on exchange programs, see the Erasmus and Exchange page).
At the invitation of Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ekaterini N. Iliadou, who is responsible for the exchange program with Siegen in Athens, Prof. Rösler spoke in the advanced course on public law (8th semester) on “The Relationship of the National Legal Order with EU Law.” Prof. Rösler devoted the first part of his lecture to the inherent logic of EU integration—an “ever closer Union”—which began in 1951 with the European Coal and Steel Community. Prof. Rösler dialectically contrasted this with the perspective of national law, specifically the case law of the Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG). In this context, Prof. Rösler discussed a series of decisions addressing the question of the primacy of EU law in relation to German constitutional law: Following the “Lisbon” decision of 2009 and the “Honeywell” decision of 2010, the BVerfG’s ultra vires case law culminated in the 2020 ECB decision on Public Sector Purchases (PSPP program) of the European Central Bank, in which the BVerfG affirmed for the first time that an EU legal act had exceeded its authority.
In Prof. Iliadou’s lecture on “General Administrative Law” (2nd semester), Prof. Rösler spoke on “Constitutional and Administrative Law – A Federal System.” He explained the historical and cultural background of federalism in Germany, which, as a vertical manifestation of the separation of powers, complements the classic horizontal separation of powers into the legislative, executive, and judicial branches. In doing so, Prof. Rösler compared the federal government’s legislative authority, which is ultimately much more extensive than that of the federal states. However, federal law is primarily enforced by institutions of the 16 states. In this context, Prof. Rösler particularly emphasized the principle of the rule of law under Article 20(3) of the Basic Law and discussed the principle of legality and the primacy of law, as well as the principle of proportionality.
Prof. Rösler delivered the remaining lectures as part of the course taught by Prof. Dr. Theodora Antoniou, who, like Prof. Iliadou, earned her doctorate in Germany in the German language. First, Prof. Rösler once again addressed the relationship between EU and national law with students in the master’s-level course “National and International Protection of Social Fundamental Rights.” Subsequently, in another lecture, Prof. Rösler discussed “Current Issues of Fundamental Rights Protection in Germany.” Drawing on Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) case law, Prof. Rösler explained controversial topics such as the shooting down of a hijacked passenger plane in the event of an extreme threat, euthanasia, gender quotas, the legal recognition of transgender individuals, the headscarf ban, same-sex marriage, child marriage, and, finally, employee co-determination in the workplace.
The lectures, each attended by well over a hundred participants, led to lively discussions. Although Greece does not have a constitutional court, a wide range of influences became apparent—influences that extend not only to constitutional law but also to civil law (see the entry on the Greek Civil Code of 1940/1946 in the Concise Dictionary of European Private Law). The foundation lies in the shared tradition of both legal systems, which is why, even today, a disproportionately large number of Greek lawyers study, earn their doctorates, and publish in German in Germany.
