Index Based Regional Analysis: The Case of the Former Soviet Union and Russia

This paper presents a methodology for analysing inter-regional differences and identifying a suitable combination of policies for a set of regions. The methodology is based on the development of a composite index and is applied to compare (i) the members of the Former Soviet Union (FSU) and (ii) the regions of Russia. All variables considered and incorporated in the relevant index are (1) scaled from 0–100, so that the index is independent of units of measurement, and (2) weighted using survey results. According to the adapted regional development index Lithuania is on the top of the ranking followed by Latvia, Estonia, Ukraine, Belarus, Georgia, Russia, Armenia, Moldova, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan, and Tajikistan. The FSU countries are positioned on a regional development index – per capita income mapping to investigate whether emphasis should be placed on regional, environmental or sustainable development policies. Finally, an index that incorporates various socioeconomic components is computed for the regions of Russia which are subsequently classified based on the value of this index. This classification shows that the regions with the best index values are in the Central–Southern part of the country (with the exception of Sackha Republic, which is in the West). The regions with the lower index values are in the Western part of the country and in parts of Central Russia (Mariel republic, Moldovia Republic, Perm region).     

Direct Concern in Regional Policy: The European Court of Justice and the Southern Question

For a few years, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has declared inadmissible, for lack of direct concern, a number of annulment actions initiated by sub‐state actors in the context of regional policy. This article compares the ECJ's holdings with the General Court's more generous application of the ‘direct concern’ standard in some of the same disputes, and argues in favour of the General Court's approach. The cases hereby analysed pertain to the implementation of structural funds in Southern Italy. Relating regional policy to the historical unfolding of the ‘Southern Question’, this article examines the unexpected opportunity for civic and administrative renewal brought by regional policy to Italy's South in the late 1990s, and links standing for sub‐state actors to the long‐term realisation of that opportunity. It further argues that a more direct judicial involvement with territorial policies would prompt taxonomic renewal in EU law as a discipline.     

Constitutionalising Subsidiarity in Integrated Markets: The Case of Tobacco Regulation in the European Union

Abstract:  The article establishes three propositions. First, if a constitution establishes the principles of subsidiarity and proportionality as legal principles, questions of competencies are closely tied up with questions of regulatory policy. This means that the Treaty carves out a powerful role for the Court of Justice to assess the jurisdictional reasonableness of market intervention when reviewing whether the EU was legally competent to act. Second, general scepticism about courts being able to play such a demanding role in policing jurisdictional boundaries in federal systems are unjustified in the EU. The new procedure established in the Constitutional Treaty, which is likely to be included in any renegotiated constitutional settlement, involves national Parliaments and the Commission building a written record addressing the relevant policy issues on which the court can base its review. Additionally national courts serve as an external check on the Court of Justice, disciplining the Court of Justice to focus on taking competencies seriously or facing the prospect of national courts disapplying EU law on the grounds that it was enacted ultra vires. Third, even though there are some promising points of departure in its case law, the Court of Justice has not yet adopted a doctrinal framework that effectively operationalises the Treaty's commitment to subsidiarity and proportionality in the context of the common market.     

Strategies of police cooperation: comparing the Southern Chinese seaboard with the European Union

A number of police cooperation strategies have developed around the Southern Chinese seaboard, which encompasses the coastal provinces of Mainland China, Taiwan, and the Special Administrative Regions of Hong Kong and Macau. Cooperation mechanisms in the region encompass intelligence sharing strategies and establishment of the Electronic Communal Information Sharing Platform (ECISP), common investigations, regular meetings, practitioner exchanges, and training. Although conducted on a regular basis, these cooperation strategies mostly lack a formally binding legal basis, relying purely on informal practitioner efforts at best supported by Memoranda of Understanding. Due to their historical independence all police forces involved in cooperation at the Southern Chinese seaboard have had to establish strategies to overcome legal, organisational and cultural differences. This region could therefore be compared to cooperation networks between sovereign nation-states in other regions. The historical development of Greater China’s highly informal, practitioner driven approach to cooperation is reminiscent of early forms of cooperation between the police agencies of states that are now members of the European Union (EU). This paper explores the development of both informal and formal strategies established among police agencies around the Southern Chinese seaboard and compares them with the EU to enhance the historical, political and legal understanding of the two regions.     

The Trade Union Movement and the European Union: Judgment Day

Abstract: The trade union movement faces a challenge to the legality of transnational collective action as violating economic freedoms in the EC Treaty. How are disparities in wages and working conditions among the Member States to be accommodated? Are national social models protected? Does the internal market allow for trade union collective action? How does EU law affect the balance of economic power in a transnational economy? What is the role of courts in resolving economic conflicts? This article analyses the responses to these questions as referred to the European Court of Justice by the English Court of Appeal and offers some conclusions. The purpose is to highlight the different positions adopted by the old Member States and the new accession Member States as regards the underlying substantive issues, and the options available to the Court of Justice in answering the questions posed.     

Abolishing Exequatur in the European Union: The European Enforcement Order

Netherlands International Law Review -     

The Telecommunications Law of the European Union

Abstract: This article is intended to give an overview of the law as it stands on telecommunications at the Community level. Over the past ten years the telecommunications law and policy of the European Community have developed rapidly along the twin axes of liberalisation (deregulation) and harmonisation (reregulation). The innovative use of Article 90 EEC has been central to liberalisation, while most harmonisation legislation has been based on open network provision (ONP) passed under Article 100a. The article concludes that, now the national monopolies have been largely dismantled, new issues will arise in the competitive market.     

公民身份的扩展与欧盟区域人权保护原则

在全球化的推动下,区域政府间的政治联盟和公民身份都获得巨大发展,成为区域法治的重要力量.承载着自由权利、政治权利和社会权利的公民身份,为区域法治提供了合法性基础,从而成为区域人权保护原则的主体性力量;公民身份的结构性联系和基本权利的内在勾连意味着,公民身份的理念与制度的扩展必然要求在区域人权保护中坚持一体保护原则、多重保护原则和司法保护原则.     

The Evolution of Anti-dumping Legislation of European Union

The Course of DevelopmentJanuary 1, 1958 entry into force of the "European Econ-omic Community (EEC) Treaty", more commonly known as the"Rome Treaty," the establishment of the first European Econ-omic Community established based on the principle of the Cu…     

The Collective Labour Law of the European Union

Abstract: The collective labour law of the European Union is embedded in a variety of legal measures incorporating principles of collective labour law reflecting national experience. The dynamic of its development has been the spill-over effect of these principles, through their translation into the status of EU law, and their development by decisions of the European Court of Justice. The article outlines a framework of principles which, it is argued, are currently embodied in the collective labour law of the EU. They include collectively bargained labour standards, workers' collective representation, workers' participation, and protection of strikers against dismissal. In addition, there is a parallel principle of collective solidarity emerging in the social security law of the EU. The principle of collective negotiation of labour law introduced by the Protocol and Agreement on Social Policy may be seen as the founding constitutional basis for the collective labour law of the European Union.     

The Democratic Costs of Constitutionalisation: The European Case

There is little doubt that the European Union suffers from a legitimacy deficit. However, the causes of this deficit and, as a consequence, the remedies are contested. This article wants to show that an important, but often overlooked, cause for the legitimacy deficit lies in the overconstitutionalization of the EU. The European Treaties have been constitutionalized by the ECJ, but are full of provisions that would be ordinary law in states. Constitutionalization means de‐politicization. What has been regulated on the constitutional level is no longer open for political decision‐making. Thus, in the EU political decisions of high salience are not only withdrawn from the democratically legitimized institutions, but also immunized against political correction. Therefore, the consequences from the constitutionalization have to be drawn: The Treaties should be reduced to those norms that reflect the functions of a constitution, whereas all the other parts have to be downgraded to the level of secondary law.     

The European Union Qualification Directive: The Creation of a Subsidiary Protection Regime

The European Union Qualification Directive is the first supranationalinstrument to seek to harmonize complementary protection (termed‘subsidiary protection’ in the EU). Though it hasshifted complementary protection beyond the realm of ad hocdomestic practices to a codified regime, it entrenches a protectionhierarchy that unjustifiably differentiates between the rightsand status accorded to Convention refugees vis-à-visbeneficiaries of subsidiary protection. This article tracesthe development of the Qualification Directive by examiningpreparatory documents and drafting records. It discusses changesto the categories of persons granted subsidiary protection aswell as to the substantive rights attaching to that status.In particular, it criticizes the narrowing-down of originally-proposedcategories of persons eligible for subsidiary protection, arguingthat omitting to provide for known groups of extra-Conventionrefugees does not eliminate them, but simply creates new categoriesof unprotected persons. It also highlights the absence of anyinternational legal basis on which to base distinctions betweenthe rights granted to Convention refugees vis-à-vis beneficiariesof subsidiary protection. It concludes that the QualificationDirective represents a regional, political manifestation ofthe broader legal concept of complementary protection, and assuch does not provide a model for emulation at the internationallevel.     

欧盟区域刑事合作进程中的制度缺陷与对策——从《马斯特里赫特条约》到《里斯本条约》

从《马斯特里赫特条约》到《里斯本条约》,随着一体化进程的不断发展,欧盟逐步加强了对内部区域刑事合作的影响。但是,这种变化的＂代价＂则分别体现为：成员国全体一致的决策机制、＂框架决定＂立法中的＂民主赤字＂,以及成员国利用＂紧急刹车＂条款以规避关乎其切身利益的敏感立法的适用等。本文重点探讨这些制度缺陷,进而评析欧盟在相关问题上的对策。