TTIP and legislative‒executive relations in EU trade policy

Abstract

This paper analyses Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) negotiations in order to assess how the move towards tighter economic integration within the EU?US strategic partnership impacts on legislative?executive relations in EU trade policy. The analysis examines the institutional, substantive and party political dimensions of national parliaments’ scrutiny of the Common Commercial Policy. Based on insights into both domestic and EU channels of parliamentary monitoring of TTIP negotiations, the paper argues that, although the government remains the central object of democratic control, the involvement of national parliaments in transatlantic trade extends to encompass the EU’s own transatlantic and trade policies. This is rooted in the legislatures’ legal capacity to constrain the executive in the negotiation, conclusion and, where applicable, ratification phases of EU trade agreements. It is argued that national parliamentary influence takes the shape of politicisation of the legitimacy of the expected policy outcomes of these agreements.     

National Parliaments and EU Fiscal Integration

This article analyses the impact of the euro crisis on national parliaments and examines their response to the deepening of EU fiscal integration and the correspondent limitation of their budgetary autonomy. It argues that the sovereign debt crisis has provoked the emergence of new channels of parliamentary involvement in EU economic governance. National parliaments have acquired various rights of approval in the European Semester, strengthened the accountability of national governments, reinforced their scrutiny over budgeting, improved their access to information, and created domestic and supranational avenues for deliberation and political contestation of European integration. In these respects, they have undergone further Europeanisation. While these reforms do not outweigh the centralisation of EU powers, they represent an embryonic step in the parliamentary adaptation to the nascent EU fiscal regime. Yet they are unlikely substantially to influence EMU policy‐making processes, because of the democratic disconnect inherent in the EU's multilevel constitution.     

Evaluation of population variation at 17 autosomal STR and 16 Y-STR haplotype loci in Croatians

Seventeen autosomal STR loci (D8S1179, D21S11, D7S820, CSF1PO, D3S1358, TH01, D13S317, D16S539, D2S1338, D19S433, VWA, TPOX, D18S51, D5S818, FGA, Penta E and Penta D) and 16 Y-STR haplotype loci (DYS19, DYS385, DYS389I, DYS398II, DYS390, DYS391, DYS392, DYS393, DYS437, DYS438, DYS439, DYS448, DYS456, DYS458, DYS635 and GATA H4.1) were analyzed in the sample of 200 unrelated Croatians. The agreement with HWE was confirmed for all autosomal STR loci. The combined power of discrimination (PD) and the combined power of exclusion (PE) for the 17 autosomal STR loci were 0.999999999999999999682299331476 and 0.99999995, respectively. Penta E proved to be the most informative autosomal STR locus. Among 200 Croatian males, 197 Y-STR haplotypes were identified and haplotype diversity was estimated at 0.9998 ± 0.0005.     

Prediction of stature based on radiographic measurements of cadaver long bones: a study of the Croatian population

We tested a new approach to the stature prediction that could be used in the identification process of human skeletal remains of unknown identity. The stature of 19 female and 21 male adult cadavers was measured within 24 h after death and considered to be equal to the living stature. The antero-posterior radiographs of all limbs were taken, and the maximum length of the six long bones was measured from radiographs. There was a significant difference in the stature and maximum length of long bones between female and male cadavers (p<0.001 for all). The correlation between the stature and long bone length was the best for the humerus in females (r=0.792) and the tibia in males (r=0.891). Regression equations specific to the Croatian population were computed separately for each long bone in males and females and proven to be reliable in predicting the living stature of the individual.     

Game of courts: A tale of principles and institutions

The ontological, terminological and conceptual confusion that surrounds the concept of ‘general principles of European Union law’ is far from being resolved. The constitutional interlocutors—the Court of Justice of the European Union and the highest courts in Member States—have at times fiercely argued about their different understanding of general principles, whereas European legal scholarship has failed to convincingly clarify the intricacies surrounding this source of law. Instead of engaging with a more abstract, theoretical question of what general principles are, this paper reflects on the practical, functionalist question: how are they used by the Court of Justice and what are some of their functions and implications? To do so, it enquires into contextual, institutional and strategic features of the Court's behaviour and jurisprudence and responses of the highest national judiciaries to this jurisprudence. The aim is to offer an alternative account of the Court's jurisprudence on general principles.     

Discriminant function sexing of fragmentary and complete femora: standards for contemporary Croatia

Determining sex is one of the first and most important steps in identifying decomposed corpses or skeletal remains. Previous studies have demonstrated that populations differ from each other in size and proportion and that these differences can affect metric assessment of sex. This paper establishes standards for determining sex from fragmentary and complete femurs in a modern Croatian population. The sample is composed of 195 femora (104 male and 91 female) from positively identified victims of the 1991 War in Croatia. Six discriminant functions were generated. one using seven variables, three using two variables, and two employing one variable. Results show that complete femora can be sexed with 94.4% accuracy. The same overall accuracy, with slight differences in male/female accuracy, was achieved using a combination of two variables defining the epiphyses, and with the variable maximum diameter of the femoral head.     

Identification and analysis of human remains recovered from wells from the 1991 War in Croatia

From 1996 to the present, the remains of 61 individuals killed during the 1991 War in Croatia were recovered from both dried out and functioning wells. Positive identification was established in 60.7% or 37/61 cases. Remains recovered from the same geographical region but from non-well settings were identified in 77.4% or 1256/1623 cases. The purpose of this paper is to report on the taphonomic, demographic and trauma characteristics of remains recovered from wells and identify factors responsible for the discrepancy in the identification ratios. The age and sex distributions in the well and non-well series were similar, as were the frequencies of recovered personal documents, jewelry and other artifacts. The taphonomic features of the remains were, however, significantly different. Preservation of remains was considerably better in non-well settings (1400/1623 or 86.3% compared to 40/61 or 65.5% in wells). Congruently, commingling of remains was more frequent in wells (26/61 or 42.6% compared to 77/1623 or 4.7% in non-well settings). In bodies recovered from non-well settings the preservation, state and commingling of the remains were strongly correlated with positive identification. None of these features were correlated with the identification of bodies from wells. Instead, identification of remains from wells was significantly affected by the presence or absence of water in the well. As both series have similar frequencies, and identical rankings of identification factors, the reason for the discrepancy in the identification ratios lies in the fact that by themselves, these factors were rarely sufficient for positive identification. In both series the majority of identifications (51.4% in the well, and 58.1% in the non-well series) were established through a combination of biological and non-biological features. The significantly lower identification ratio in the well series resulted from the difficult recovery conditions in wells with significant amounts of water, and the negative effect that water had on the preservation of clothing, personal artifacts and some dental features. Significant differences were also noted in the types and locations of perimortem traumas. There is a significantly higher frequency of entrance gunshot wounds to the back of the head, suggestive of execution style murders, in the well series.     

Case of Fatal Starvation: Can Stable Isotope Analysis Serve to Support Morphological Diagnosis and Approximate the Length of Starvation?

The diagnosis of death as a result of starvation is established on anthropological measurements, visual appearance of the deceased on external and internal examination, microscopic analysis, laboratory testing, and exclusion of other causes of death. Herein, we present our findings on a case of 95‐year‐old man who died of starvation. After the diagnosis of starvation was established by traditional forensic medicine methods, we have conducted retrospective segmental analysis of stable carbon (δ¹³C) and nitrogen (δ¹⁵N) isotope ratios in hair sample. This method reveals periods of starvation through decrease in δ¹³C and increase in δ¹⁵N along the strand of hair. Our analysis revealed the decrease of 0.6 ‰ in δ¹³C during the last 10–12 weeks prior to death, similar as reported in other investigations. Also, a decrease of 0.7 ‰ in δ¹⁵N during the last 8–10 weeks prior to death was determined that was different than observed in previous studies.     

Shot Through the Heart—Firepower and Potential Lethality of Air Weapons

Although certain air weapons attain muzzle velocities comparable to some firearms, their successful use for committing suicide is rarely seen. Herein, we report a case of a young female died shortly after urgent admission to the hospital with penetrating gunshot wound to the chest. The autopsy revealed perforation of the pericardium and two perforative defects to the right heart ventricle. Injury was inflicted by a 0.177 caliber pellet, fired from an air rifle found near her body. Investigation ruled the death as suicide. The used air rifle fired the pellet with the energy density of 1.9 J/mm², substantially above the threshold for inflicting injury. The pellet penetrated through two layers of cotton fabric and several layers of tissue to inflict fatal injury to the heart. In addition, we provide an insight into the wounding potential of air weapons, which illustrates the need for greater caution in handling those devices.