Christophe Hillion

• Hillion, Christophe; Pavone, Tommaso & Scherz, Antoinette (2026). Democratic frontsliding in the European Union: the problem of autocratic enclaves and the case for restorative disobedience. Journal of European Public Policy. ISSN 1350-1763. doi: 10.1080/13501763.2026.2655936. Full text in Research Archive
• Petti, Alessandro; Hillion, Christophe & Bekkedal, Tarjei (2025). Fundamental Rights protection in Europe: Shedding light on a system of interrelated regimes. Maastricht Journal of European and Comparative Law (MJ). ISSN 1023-263X. 32(2), p. 110–110. doi: 10.1177/1023263x251342875. Full text in Research Archive
• Fredriksen, Halvard Haukeland; Hillion, Christophe & Stokke, Sander (2023). National report: Norway. In Kornezov, Alexander (Eds.), Mutual trust, mutual recognition and the rule of law. Ciela Norma. ISSN 9789542843399. p. 475–491. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe (2023). Deepening Cooperation between the EU and Its Neighbours in Foreign Policy, Security and Defence–the Norway Way. In Marquardt, Stephen & Blockmans, Steven (Ed.), The European Union's Contribution to International Peace and Security. De Gruyter Brill. ISSN 9789004532106. p. 187–213. doi: 10.1163/9789004532106_009. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe (2023). The case-by-case cooperation between the EU and Switzerland in foreign policy, security and defence. In Maresceau, Marc & Tobler, Christa (Ed.), Switzerland and the EU. A Challenging Relationship. De Gruyter Brill. ISSN 9789004529984. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe (2023). THE EU EXTERNAL ACTION AS MANDATE TO UPHOLD THE RULE OF LAW OUTSIDE AND INSIDE THE UNION. The Columbia journal of European law. ISSN 1076-6715. 29(2), p. 228–282. Full text in Research Archive
• Dougan, Michael & Hillion, Christophe (2022). The EU’s duty to respect hungarian sovereignty: An action plan. Common market law review. ISSN 0165-0750. 59, p. 181–202. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre & Fredriksen, Halvard Haukeland (2021). The ‘special relationship’ between the EU and the EEA EFTA States and the free movement of persons in an extended area of freedom, security and justice - Case C-897/19 PPU, Ruska Federacija v. I.N., judgment of the CJEU (Grand Chamber) of 2 April 2020. Common market law review. ISSN 0165-0750. 58(3), p. 851–876. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2020). Editorial Comments: Disease and Recovery in (COVID afflicted) Europe. Common market law review. ISSN 0165-0750. 57(3), p. 619–630. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2020). Poland and Hungary are withdrawing from the EU. Verfassungsblog. ISSN 2366-7044. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre & Chamon, Merijn (2020). Facultative Mixity and Sincere Cooperation, EU External Relations Post-Lisbon : The Law and Practice of Facultative Mixity. Brill | Nijhoff. ISSN 9789004421981. doi: 10.1163/9789004421981_006. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2018). Article 127 and Article 128 EEA. In Arnesen, Finn; Fredriksen, Halvard Haukeland; Graver, Hans Petter; Mestad, Ola & Vedder, Christoph (Ed.), Agreement on the European Economic Area - A Commentary. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG. ISSN 9783848732197. p. 953–968. doi: 10.5771/9783845275796-961. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2018). Article 118 EEA. In Arnesen, Finn; Fredriksen, Halvard Haukeland; Graver, Hans Petter; Mestad, Ola & Vedder, Christoph (Ed.), Agreement on the European Economic Area - A Commentary. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG. ISSN 9783848732197. p. 904–912. doi: 10.5771/9783845275796-904. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2018). Withdrawal under article 50 TEU: an integration-friendly prosess. Common market law review. ISSN 0165-0750. 55(spec.iss.), p. 29–56. doi: 10.54648/cola2018059. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Article 50TEU acknowledges the right of Member States to withdraw from the EU, and contains a specific procedure. It also constitutes the legal basis of an exceptional EU competence whose purpose is to ensure that a Member’s departure is “orderly”. This qualification entails the conclusion of an agreement between the parties on the terms of the withdrawal, but also presupposes that the withdrawal does not undermine the integrity of the EU legal order, while contributing to the fulfilment of the Union’s integration objective. The unprecedented exercise of that competence has enriched the law of European integration: core components of the constitutional identity of the EU have been (re)affirmed, the role of its institutions bolstered, and Union membership law further articulated. Paradoxically, withdrawal may therefore be envisaged as an integration-friendly process.

• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2018). Conferral, Cooperation and Balance in the Institutional Framework of EU External Action. In Cremona, Marise (Eds.), Structural principles in EU external relations law. Hart Publishing Ltd. ISSN 9781782259978. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre & Wessel, Ramses A. (2018). The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’: three levels of judicial control over the CFSP. In Blockmans, Steven & Koutrakos, Panos (Ed.), Research Handbook on the EU’s Common Foreign and Security Policy. Edward Elgar Publishing. ISSN 9781785364075. p. 65–87. doi: 10.4337/9781785364082.00011. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre; Bekkedal, Tarjei & Andenæs, Mads (2018). Brexit, EØS og Norge. Lov og Rett. ISSN 0024-6980. 57(10), p. 604–624. doi: 10.18261/issn.1504-3061-2018-10-03. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2018). Brexit Means Br(EEA)Xit: The UK withdrawal from the EU and its implications for the EEA. Common market law review. ISSN 0165-0750. 55(1), p. 135–156. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre & Bernard, Elsa (2017). La préparation européenne du Brexit : le cadre des négociations. In Bernard, Elsa & Ho-Dac, Marion (Ed.), Le Brexit : enjeux régionaux, nationaux et internationaux. Bruylant. ISSN 9782802759829. p. 37–56. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2017). Adaptation for autonomy? Candidates for EU membership and the CFSP. Global Affairs. ISSN 2334-0460. doi: 10.1080/23340460.2017.1415505. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2017). Adaptation for autonomy? Candidates for EU membership and the CFSP. Global Affairs. ISSN 2334-0460. doi: 10.1080/23340460.2017.1415505. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe (2016). Decentralised Integration? Fundamental Rights Protection in the EU Common Foreign and Security Policy. European Papers (EP). 1(1), p. 55–66. doi: 10.15166/2499-8249/5. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2016). ‘Decentralised integration? The protection of fundamental rights in EU Common Foreign and Security Policy´. European Papers (EP). Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2016). The Protection of fundamental rights in the EU common foreign and security policy - "a half measure"? Europarättslig tidskrift. ISSN 1403-8722. 19(1), p. 45–56. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2015). Masters or servants? Member states in the EU enlargement process. EPC Issue Paper. ISSN 1782-494X. p. 19–28. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2015). Leaving the European Union. In Ackermann, Thomas & Köndgen, Johannes (Ed.), Privat- und Wirtschaftsrecht in Europa : Festschrift für Wulf-Henning Roth zum 70. Geburtstag. C.H. Beck. ISSN 9783406680021. p. 213–224. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2015). Accession and Withdrawal in the Law of the European Union. In Chalmers, Damian & Amull, Anthony (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of European Union Law. Oxford University Press. ISSN 9780199672646. doi: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199672646.013.7. Full text in Research Archive

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• Hillion, Christophe (2023). Reversing a Member State’s Regression and Restoring (its) EU Membership. Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG. ISBN 9783756000791. 40 p. doi: 10.5771/9783748914938-497. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Since it concerns Member States of the European Union, the process referred to as ‘Transition 2.0’ is necessarily embedded in EU law. As EU members, transitioning States must restore their constitutional democracies in compliance with the relevant requirements of the Union as common legal order, particularly as they derive from Article 2 TEU. Such a compliance is critical to rebuild trust in the transitioning States’ ability to participate in the EU. The paper discusses the significance of the duty of ‘non-regression’ in structuring the process of transition, and envisages its possible operationalisation in terms of obligations binding the transitioning States, the other Member States and EU institutions, respectively.

• Hillion, Christophe (2021). Empowering the Filibuster – the EU General Conditionality Mechanism in the European Council. C.H. Beck. ISBN 9788382357554. 16 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2019). EU Enlargement, Extra-Territorial Application of EU Law and the International Dimension. Hart Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781509923380. 13 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre & Wessel, Ramses A. (2017). The European Union and International Dispute Settlement: Mapping Principles and Conditions. Hart Publishing Ltd. ISBN 9781509903238. 26 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2017). This way, please! A legal appraisal of the EU withdrawal clause. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107172197. 19 p. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2016). ‘”Leaving the European Union - The Union way’ in T. Ackermann & J. Köndgen (eds) Privat- und Wirtschaftrecht in Europa (München, C.H.Beck, 2015) pp. 213-224. Verlag C.H. Beck. ISBN 9783406680021. 10 p. Full text in Research Archive

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• Hillion, Christophe (2025). Making a success of EU enlargement: three proposals. doi: https:/sieps.se/media/552hh44r/sieps_2025_2op.pdf. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe; Pavone, Tommaso & Scherz, Antoinette (2025). Poland Shows that Restoring Democracy Takes More than an Election. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  In the European Union (EU), glimmers of democratic renewal have pierced a somber decade of democratic erosion. Since the illiberal Law and Justice (PiS) government in Poland was voted out of office in October 2023, scholars and policymakers have been grappling with how to restore liberal democracy and what role the EU should play. After PiS came to power in 2015, it made systemic and often unconstitutional changes to Poland’s political edifice by undermining judicial independence, coopting the media, and dismantling the rule of law. The pro-democracy Civic Coalition’s electoral victory in October 2023 was therefore celebrated as a rare exemplar of democratic restoration in a context where liberal democracy remains threatened in Europe and around the world. But undoing the damage of years of seeping autocratization and “democratic backsliding” is proving to be much harder than simply winning an election. In a new paper, we illuminate the promises and perils of what we call democratic “frontsliding”—the piecemeal restoration of liberal democratic institutions and practices after a period of democratic backsliding. Unlike other pathways to democratization that build democracy from scratch—sweeping revolutions, for example, that trigger the sudden collapse of an autocratic state—democratic frontsliding proceeds incrementally as a patchworked process that begins (but hardly ends) with electoral change.

• Hillion, Christophe (2024). Leading by example? Strengthening the fundamentals of membership within the EU and in accession countries. doi: https:/www.stiftung-genshagen.de/en/publikationen/enlarging-the-union-consolidating-democracy-which-role-for-the-weimar-triangle/. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe (2024). Another “Big Bang” enlargement? Three candid suggestions to start preparing. Common market law review. ISSN 0165-0750. 61, p. 899–912. Full text in Research Archive
• Petrov, Roman & Hillion, Christophe (2022). "Accession through war” – Ukraine’s road to the EU. Common market law review. ISSN 0165-0750. 59(5), p. 1289–1300. doi: 10.54648/cola2022092. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2021). Compromising (on) the general conditionality mechanism and the rule of law. Common market law review. ISSN 0165-0750. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  There was a sigh of relief at the European Council meeting, in December 2020.1 After weeks of uncertainty, the Hungarian and Polish governments were persuaded not to veto the adoption of the new EU financial package. The Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) and the “Next Generation EU” (NGEU) instrument were seemingly saved; the recovery of COVID19- afflicted Europe could finally begin. The way the settlement was reached is, however, less cause for celebration.

• Hillion, Christophe (2021). The European Council and domestic assaults on the EU constitutional order. Verfassungsblog. ISSN 2366-7044. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe (2021). Last station before 'Polexit'. EULawLive. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2018). A stronger Common Foreign and Security Policy for a self-reliant Union? Common market law review. ISSN 0165-0750. 55, p. 1675–1684. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2017). Le cadre juridique du Brexit. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2017). Article 50 TEU – A legal basis for an integration-friendly withdrawal from the EU. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2016). Legal framework of withdrawal from the EU. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2015). Safeguarding EU values in the Member States – Is something finally happening? Common market law review. ISSN 0165-0750. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe; Pavone, Tommaso & Scherz, Antoinette (2025). Democratic Frontsliding in the European Union: The Problem of Autocratic Enclaves and the Case for Restorative Disobedience. APSA Preprints. doi: 10.33774/apsa-2025-d7m1b-v2. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  After countless warnings of a democratic recession, there are glimmers of democratic renewal, especially in the European Union. As an illiberal government in Poland was voted out of office, policymakers began debating how to restore liberal democracy and what role the EU should play. We answer by theorizing “democratic frontsliding” –the piecemeal restoration of liberal democratic institutions and practices after a period of democratic erosion– and explain how obstructions to frontsliding can be overcome, leveraging Poland as an exemplary case study. Frontsliding confronts the problem of “autocratic enclaves:” illiberal elites who survive a democratizing election and wield their institutional powers to obstruct democratization. To dismantle autocratic enclaves, we argue that a government may need transgressive acts of defiance and conscientious rule-breaking, which we call “restorative disobedience.” We develop normative criteria for restorative disobedience to prevent its abuse and explain how the EU can mandate, incentivize, and support restorative disobedience.

• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre; Damjanovski, Ivan & Preshova, Denis (2020). Uniformity and Differentiation in the Fundamentals of EU Membership: The EU Rule of Law Acquis in the Pre- and Post- accession Contexts. EU Integration and Differentiation for Effectiveness and Accountability. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre & Blockmans, Steven (2020). From self-doubt to self-assurance: the European External Action Service as the indispensable support for a geopolitical EU. The Centre for European Policy Studies. ISSN 9789461387837. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2019). Norway and the changing Common Foreign and Security Policy of the European Union. Norwegian Institute of International Affairs. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  For decades, Norway has cooperated with the European Union in matters of foreign policy, security and defence. It has thus participated in EU civilian and military operations, aligned itself with EU political declarations and restrictive measures against states and/or individuals, and collaborated with the European Defence Agency. Unlike other frameworks of cooperation between the EU and Norway, such as the EEA and Schengen agreements, the cooperation in foreign policy, security and defence does not rely on a single setup, with elaborate institutional arrangements and dynamic obligations. Rather, Norway joins forces with the Union in an ad hoc fashion and often based on informal arrangements. This allows for flexibility, but also entails that Norway has few formal channels for exerting influence on EU CFSP decisions to which it subsequently subscribes. Against this backdrop, and as the EU has become more active in this policy area, Norway has shown a renewed interest in deepening its relationship with the Union in CFSP matters. This report examines the ways in which Norway can enhance its cooperation and develop its institutional arrangements with the EU in this fast-evolving field. The discussion is based on an assessment of what the EU is able to offer in view of its constitutional framework, as informed by its on-going discussions with the UK on a future security partnership post-Brexit. Given the increasing interactions between the CFSP and other fields of the EU’s activities, the analysis also discusses whether Norway may draw a cooperation dividend from its participation in the single market through the EEA, to build a deeper and more participatory cooperation with the EU in CFSP matters. The report envisages four possible ways of enhancing the Norway-EU cooperation in the area CFSP: an extension of the present cooperation by ad hoc participation in new CFSP initiatives, a more active use of other existing EU-Norway frameworks of cooperation including the EEA, the setting up of a distinct EU-Norway CFSP agreement and the participation in a multilateralised EU-UK CFSP partnership.

• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2017). The UK withdrawal from the EU - Legal implications for Norway as party to the EEA Agreement. Norsk Utenrikspolitisk Institutt. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  By leaving the European Union, the United Kingdom withdraws from all EU international commitments. The disentanglement of the UK from the EU, Brexit, will thus affect third states and organisations with which the EU entertains relations. Norway will be no exception, particularly in view of the many agreements the country has concluded with the EU, covering a wide range of areas and entailing a high degree of integration with the Union’s legal order, the EEA being the most important of these agreements.

• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre; Alvik, Ivar & Bekkedal, Tarjei (2016). Norges plass i partnerskapet mellom EU og USA – institusjonelle og regulatoriske aspekter. Norsk Utenrikspolitisk Institutt. ISSN 9788270023370. Full text in Research Archive Show summary

  Abstract Det følgende omfatter to delrapporter som tjener som underlagsmateriale for sammenfatningene i hovedrapporten TTIP og Norge: Virkninger og handlingsvalg; henholdsvis delrapport I: Norsk deltakelse i handels-partnerskapet mellom EU og USA og delrapport II: Investeringsbeskyttelse og investor-stat tvisteløsning i TTIP – implikasjoner for Norge. Rapportene behandler spørsmålet om eventuell norsk tilknytning til TTIP fra et rettslig perspektiv. Vi peker i den sammenheng på relevante konstitusjonelle problemstillinger norsk deltakelse kan komme i berøring med. Utgangspunktet for vår analyse er at Grunnloven åpner for at Norge påtar seg omfattende folkerettslige forpliktelser. Det viktige er at Stortinget vet hva det gjør og har kontroll med fremtidig utvikling. Derfor er det særlig konkret anvendelse og videreutvikling av traktatforpliktelsene som er interessant å studere nærmere fra et rettslig perspektiv. Slik dynamikk finner sted gjennom regulatorisk samarbeid som leder frem til nye forpliktelser, og ved tvisteløsning – særlig den planlagte investorstat tvisteløsningsmekanismen. Delrapportene er blitt til gjennom samarbeid oss tre imellom. Delrapport I er i hovedsak ført i pennen av Tarjei Bekkedal mens delrapport II i hovedsak er ført i pennen av Ivar Alvik.

• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre (2016). Leaving the European Union, the Union way : A legal analysis of Article 50 TEU. Swedish Institute for European Policy Studies. Full text in Research Archive
• Hillion, Christophe Alfred Pierre & Blockmans, Steven (2015). Europe's self-defence: Tous pour un et un pour tous? CEPS. Full text in Research Archive

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