EU Law and Semiotics

The European Union is one of the ‘big ideas’ of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and has been built on the idea of the European Community, which it supersedes. Seen in this light the emergent law of the European Union is becoming omnipresent in so many ways and yet it does not appear to have been the subject of as much semiotic study as it deserves. This paper takes a multilingual stance and explores emerging EC and EU law from a perspective of a lawyer-linguist practitioner in the field. The purpose is to describe a range of practitioner ‘realities’ and to explore how semiotics provides a tool for analysis and insights for a better understanding and awareness of EU law, with particular emphasis on the legislative, or law-making aspects.     

Review of Books on Private Law and EU Law

Books reviewed in this article:
H. Kötz, Europäisches Vertragsrecht, Band I: Abschluß, Gültigkeit und Inhalt des Vertrages
H. Kötz, A. Flessner, European Contract Law, vol. 1: Formation, Validity, and Content of Contract; Contract and Third Parties
U. Drobing, Private Law in the European Union     

欧洲一体化与动产物权法

欧盟主要是一个经济意义上的联盟,建立欧洲统一大市场的目的决定了首先在财产法领域实现趋同具有重要的意义.动产物权法是欧洲一体化进程中值得我们关注的重要领域,其法律规定趋同直接影响共同市场的建立和运转.动产所有权跨境移转及动产担保物权的课题也被正确地看作是调整欧洲私法和谐与统一活动的核心.因此有必要深入分析成员国相关立法中术语、制度方面存在的差异对内部市场顺利运行构成的现实或潜在的障碍,阐述这种情形得以形成的经济和历史背景.此外,也不能忽视促进动产担保物权法律一体化的推动力,即经济因素.     

欧盟公司法创新与"准法"

欧盟公司法的国际化协调在涉及根深蒂固的文化传统领域遭遇立法僵局 ,绕道而行回避了一些敏感问题。90年代兴起的“准法”这种中间调节机制消融了这些坚冰 ,成为进一步走向融合与趋同的催化剂。     

EU Equality Law: Three Recent Developments

This article analyses three recent developments within the EU that have an impact on EU equality legislation: the coming into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, the Proposal to extend the material scope of the provisions against discrimination on the ground of religion and belief, disability, age and sexual orientation beyond the area of employment, and the case law of the European Court of Justice regarding the EU Equality Directives of 2000. It will assess whether these three developments have led to improved protection against discrimination for people in the EU.     

一体化进程中的欧盟税法

欧盟税法反映了欧盟税制协调的成果。欧盟税法在目标、功能、法律渊源等方面都不同于某一主权国家的税法;它的实现主要取决于其成员国的意志。就世界范围而言,欧盟一体化的税法在调整范围和调整深度方面也已经远远走在了各区域经济体的前面,但尚未达到任何一个联邦国家的联邦税法发展的程度。展望未来,欧盟税法一体化的发展仍将经历一个漫长而曲折的过程。     

The Rule of Law and EU Expansion

The article seeks to further discussion about the European Union's identification of the rule of law as a fundamental principle and pre-requisite for EU membership by prospective member states, despite the lack of a uniform Community-wide understanding of this concept. In this article, three points will be explored. Firstly, it will briefly examine the rule of law principle within the EU, as a contested concept, despite its pre-eminence as a fundamental principle upon which EU membership is based. Because of its contested nature, there exists across the EU, conceptual variations, leading to the problem of an apparent absence of a uniform conception of the rule of law. Secondly, the article will identify some of the main conflicts between the EU making this rule of law a pre-requisite for membership and the lack of a uniform conception for this fundamental principle. Thirdly, the article explores how these conflicts affect the development of legal cultures of prospective member states and what potential problems these conflicts imply. The article focuses on the European Union's lack of a uniform understanding of the rule of law and how this affects prospective member states from Central and Eastern Europe. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Triangular Relationship Between Nationality,EU Citizenship and Migration in EU Law: A Tale of Competing Competences

Within the legal framework of the EU, the Member States have remained competent to regulate who qualifies as a national. As nationals of a Member State are simultaneously EU citizens and enjoy the right to intra-EU mobility, it is the Member States who, through their Nationality Laws, determine who is to be classed as an EU citizen and who enjoys the right to intra-EU mobility. This article explores whether Member State competence to regulate nationality matters has been affected by the introduction of EU citizenship and/or developments in intra-EU mobility rights, the contents of which are determined primarily by the EU.

     

Psychological Injury and Law: Assumptions and Foundations, Controversies and Myths, Needed Directions

Psychological injury and law is a fast-developing field that is constructing a set of foundational assumptions and core knowledge guiding its science and practice. At the same time, it is marked by controversies, functions in an adversarial legal system and related systems, and is bedeviled by myths. I present a list of 25 basic assumptions, core knowledge, controversies, myths, and needed directions. With well-designed conceptualization and research on critical issues, the assumptions and core knowledge base in the field of psychological injury and law can continue to improve in quality, reducing its controversies and myths, and moderating the impact of the adversarial nature of the legal system and related systems in which it must function.     

Personality under EU Law: A Conceptual Answer towards the Pluralisation of the EU

Although the trend towards pluralisation within the institutional framework of the EU is somewhat reflected in theoretical efforts, legal scholarship's answer remains incomplete. Acknowledging that legal personality is always relative—ie related to a particular legal system—personality under EU Law should be recognised and developed as a distinct category. This allows for reconsideration and rearrangement of inter‐ and intrapersonal relations in EU Law: inter‐institutional agreements can gain firmer legal ground, the recognition of hierarchical structures within the EU executive branch can advance the maintenance of the rule of law, legal protection of the Union's citizens shall be advanced, and options as well as limits to privatising organisation at the EU level shall be formulated. On the whole, methodological self‐reflection along these lines is bound to lead to a valuable contribution of legal research in times of EU crisis.     

Bounded Discretion in EU Law: A Limited Judicial Paradigm in a Changing EU

Against the background of the reinforcement of the EU executive pursuant to the post‐2008 economic and financial market regulatory reforms, this article deconstructs the prevailing distinction between an executive body's discretion to make policy choices and its discretion when conducting technical assessments. This distinction, which arises out of the current judicial paradigm for discretion, has contributed to the re‐allocation of executive authority within the EU (sanctioned in UK v Parliament and Council and Gauweiler v Deutscher Bundestag). The article traces the distinction's roots in legal conceptions that have shaped legal‐administrative thinking since the early days of the Etat de Droit or Rechstaat. It proposes a public‐interest‐regarding conception of discretion where, in an institutional context where courts’ reviewing role may be limited, discretion's relationship to law is a matter of how legal norms may operate in the spheres of discretion that they attribute to decision‐makers, rather than how courts may review an exercise of discretion.     

欧盟合并控制法的根本变革

在全球经济一体化、欧盟实施货币一体化、成员增加之际 ,欧盟开始了对欧盟合并控制制度的进一步完善。 2 0 0 4年初 ,欧盟理事会通过了新的合并控制条例 ,欧盟委员会通过了与之配套的欧盟历史上第一个合并评估准则 ,代表着欧盟的合并控制制度发生了根本性的变化。欧盟新合并条例 ,实体上采取了新的合并控制标准 ,由支配地位标准改为重大阻碍有效竞争标准 ;程序上在坚持单一程序原则的基础上 ,实行欧盟委员会与成员国双向移交的模式。合并评估准则建立了合并效果评估的法律框架和评估因素 ,在合并评估中正式认可了效率的积极作用。