The Role of EU Internal Policies in Implementing Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Options to Achieve Kyoto Targets

This paper reviews the role of internal European Union (EU) policies and measures in implementing the target for greenhouse gas mitigation in the Kyoto Protocol. It starts with a discussion of the EU Burden Sharing Agreement, which distributes the target between Member States. This leads to a review of the appropriate level of implementation of policies, i.e. at the EU level or Member State level. There is a role for the flexible mechanisms of the Protocol, particularly emission permit trading, in complementing Member State policies at the EU level. The implementation is to be done against the background of three major factors which may have an important bearing on the policies: the probable long-term requirement of substantial reductions in greenhouse gas emissions a changing structure of energy markets, following liberalisation of the gas and electricity markets EU enlargement to include economies in transition with the potential for further substantial reductions in emissions.The paper concludes with a discussion of ancillary benefits of the policies that may be substantial and a summary of the position as regards the "unfinished business" of the Protocol to be discussed at the Conference of the Parties in the Hague in November 2000.     

The Role of Flexibility Mechanisms in EU Climate Strategy: Lessons Learned and Future Challenges?

The main objective of this paper is to examine the evolution of European Union (EU) climate strategy, scrutinising in particular developments in EU's views on the so-called flexibility or Kyoto mechanisms. In brief, the paper argues that there has been a gradual change in EU's views, from the role of a sceptic in the run-up to Kyoto towards becoming more of a frontrunner on emissions trading in recent years. The need to 'save Kyoto' and the protracted development of EU climate policy are highlighted as two of the most important drivers behind this process of change. This paper also discusses some of the lessons learned from international negotiations and the development of EU climate policy. Finally, and drawing upon the lessons learned, the paper explores key future challenges for the further development of EU climate strategy.     

Burden Sharing and Fairness Principles in International Climate Policy

One of the major challenges facing participants in the global climate change negotiations is to find a scheme of burden sharing that can be accepted as "fair" by all or at least most governments. In this article we first explore which basic principles of fairness seem to be sufficiently widely recognized to serve as a normative basis for such a scheme. We then examine a set of proposals for differentiating obligations that have been submitted by governments in the negotiations leading up to the Kyoto Protocol to see which principles have been honored. In the concluding section we discuss the implications of our analysis for the design of more specific burden sharing rules.     

Norway and Emissions Trading: From Global Front-Runner to EU Follower

A striking convergence has taken place in the design of the Norwegian and EU greenhouse gas emissions trading systems from 1998 to 2004. This article argues that the Norwegian adaptation to the EU did not take place as a consequence of perceived legal obligations under the European Economic Area agreement. Nor did it take place due to Norwegian actors being persuaded about the merits of the EU design. The main explanation has to do with interests. The EU market and politics are of course generally very important for Norway. However, before the US pulled out of the Kyoto Protocol in 2001, the Norwegian outlook in climate politics was global. The US pull-out accelerated the development and hence the attractiveness of the EU trading system and resulted in EU emissions trading as the most probable and possibly only international market for Norway to link up to. Hence, this analysis provides further support to the importance of being sensitive to the global context and institutional interaction when analyzing the relationship between the EU and its neighboring countries.     

European Regional Policy and Backward Regions: Implications Towards EU Enlargement

In this paper we show that the success of the EU Regional Policy, in terms of boosting growth in objective 1 regions, will mean a big opportunity for Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) and hence the increases in competition arising from an enlarged European market combined with a suitable regional development policy should in the future boost the growth of those countries. In the last part of the paper we made a simulation for the funding envelope from 2007, based on the 2000–2006 budget. We show that the figures of the Agenda 2000 provide enough financial support for 90% of the total CEEC population and for 75% of current objective 1 population.     

EU accession and the hardening of soft budget constraints: some macro evidence

The hardening of soft budget constraints (SBCs) is a central element in transforming the economies of Central and Eastern Europe into market economies. This paper presents macro evidence on budget hardening of transition economies comparing the performance of EU accession countries relative to non-accession countries. We estimate SBC hardening for 21 transition economies in a partial adjustment model by measuring the reaction of employment to output changes over a 10-year period. The paper finds that accession candidates have reduced excess labour demand substantially relative to non-accession countries.

The Scope for Joint Implementation in the EU Candidate Countries

Central and Eastern European Candidate countries are involved in negotiations with the EU on the implementation of the Acquis Communautaire in their domestic law. These countries are also preparing themselves for international co-operation in the framework of the Kyoto Protocol. Through this co-operation the Candidate countries will most likely transfer GHG emission reduction credits to other industrialised countries listed in Annex B of the Protocol. This can take place through JI project co-operation and/or International Emissions Trading. This paper argues that the Acquis environmental requirements will in general lead to GHG emission reduction in the Candidate countries, which will reduce the scope for JI in these countries. The extent to which the JI scope will be reduced depends, among others, on the timing of entering the EU and the transitional arrangements between the EU and the Candidates.     

论欧盟温室气体控制法律和政策的方法论意义

欧盟关于温室气体排放削减的法律和政策为我国有关温室气体减排的法律和政策的完善提供了很多可资借鉴的东西。从方法论的角度看,值得借鉴的东西主要有:对各种温室气体的统一控制;温室气体减排同经济社会发展相结合;政府管制、市场手段、企业自愿协议和技术开发等方法的互补应用和温室气体排放控制政策制定程序的民主性。     

Market Darwinism vs. Market Creationism: Adaptability and Fairness in the Design of Greenhouse Gas Trading Mechanisms

International rule-making and compliance routines with respect to the Kyoto Protocol are evolving rapidly. This paper examines potential designs of emissions-trading programs by comparing the emissions credit trading (ECT) and cap-and-trade models for achieving cost-effective reductions in atmospheric greenhouse-gas (GHG) loading in terms of their adaptability and fairness. Adaptability is a valuable attribute when markets and their governing institutions are evolving rapidly or when regulated entities do not yet have well-established and predictable compliance routines. Fairness in both procedures and outcomes is central to efforts to establish and maintain institutions of international governance. The key difference concerns the awarding of tradable emission rights, which occurs at the launch of a cap-and-trade program but following when firms reduce emissions below baselines in an ECT scheme. Implications of this difference are explored in terms of institutional adaptability and fairness during program-design stages. By not locking in emission rights at the outset, and by being amenable to incremental roll-out, ECT appears to have superior adaptive and fairness qualities during periods of rapid institutional evolution.     

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.     

合作与牵制:气候变化的国际法律机制及其应对

全球气候变化问题是当前的热点话题,各国在参与实施《联合国气候变化框架公约》及《东京议定书》中都在积极寻求制高点。因此在全球气候变化的控制和实施方面,国际社会体现出合作与牵制两种表现,牵制是在谈判中的牵制,谈判是相互牵制的谈判,这两种表现中,合作是目的,牵制是手段。发展中国家要在2012年之前做好充分准备具有一定的挑战性,需要处理好合作与牵制的关系,我国面临的问题具有一定的独特性,处理好控制全球气候变化方面的合作与牵制的关系,积极应对全球气候变化问题。     

行政诉讼受案范围扩大之研究

首先,分析了我国行政诉讼受案范围存在的价值基础和确立原则,然后,分析了行政诉讼受案范围的现状与确立模式上的缺陷,指出受案范围过窄已成为行政诉讼法的最突出的问题,应当使用概括式加上否定列举式重构我国行政诉讼的受案范围。再次,主张将部分抽象行政行为和内部行政行为纳入受案范围,取消行政终局行为。最后,还应当从法律所保护的行政相对人利益角度、当事人角度和司法审查的内容等角度扩大人民法院的司法审查范围。     

论欧盟版权改革对短视频分享平台责任之启示

短视频产业的规模化导致与短视频分享有关的纠纷有所增长。较之传统视频平台之经营模式,短视频平台所提供内容更为碎片化。这些微小内容的版权问题基于其快销的商业模式,以现有的通知移除规则管理,似乎力有不逮。恰逢欧盟2019年4月通过《数字单一市场版权改革指令》(CDDSM),其中第17条被称之为过滤责任条款,矫正了平台注意义务范围,这对短视频平台的侵权乱象或可有效规制。中国应谨慎分析过滤责任,考虑试验性采用《指令》第17条提出的尽力而为+通知移除规制的两级制义务模式,因应时代需求,改善救济渠道。     

试论俄罗斯不批准《京都议定书》的原因和法律后果——以《气候变化框架公约》第九次缔约方会议为例

在<气候变化框架公约>第九次缔约方会议上,由于俄罗斯仍然拒绝批准<京都议定书>,致使议定书仍不能生效.俄罗斯拒绝批准议定书的主要原因是本国的"经济效益"重于温室效应.虽然俄罗斯不批准议定书的行为,未构成国际不当行为,从而无须承担国际责任,但该行为在很大程度上与国际法的诚意原则的基本精神相抵触,是国际社会所公认的国际背信行为.     

Fighting Windmills: The Coalition of Industrialists and Environmentalists in the Climate Change Issue

This paper extends the political economy idea developed by Ackerman and Hassler [Clean Coal/Dirty Air, or How the Clean Air Act became a Multibillion-Dollar Bail-out for High Sulfur Coal Producers and What Should Be Done About It. New Haven: Yale University Press], which suggested that a coalition of environmentalists and industrialists successfully lobbied the US Congress. More strict technology-based standards for new emitting sources than for existing sources was the resulting policy outcome serving the common interest of the coalition because it offered both a barrier to entry for new firms and improved environmental quality. We focus on the case of international climate negotiations and the promotion of wind-based energy. Along the lines of the Ackerman and Hassler approach, we suggest that one reason for EU eagerness to push forward ambitious reduction target levels (and thereby promote new green industries) could be a similar coalition between industrialists and environmentalists. Such a strategy can be seen in the context of the Bootleggers and Baptist theory developed by Yandle [Bootleggers and Baptists: the Education of a Regulatory Economist, Regulation, 7, 12–16], where the Baptists (in our case the environmentalists) demand changes in behaviour on moral grounds. In contrast, the Bootleggers (the producers of renewable energy), who profit from the very regulation, keep a low profile. The actual heavy subsidisation of renewable energy sources, such as wind energy, can be viewed as a successful policy outcome for the coalition of industrialists and environmentalists offering both market protection and improved environmental quality. Solving the current dead-lock in international climate negotiations may well imply fighting the strong coalition of industrialists and environmentalists. Such a political battle may turn out to be just as tough as fighting windmills and needs to be addressed in future and more rigorous empirical research. At the end of the day, transparent incentives of relevant stakeholders in the climate change issue are necessary preconditions for progress in the climate change negotiations.JEL Classification: Q28,H2, H4     

我国气候变化立法的缺陷及其对策分析

我国气候变化立法存在着一些较为明显的缺陷,这在一定程度上制约着我国温室气体排放控制战略的实施。目前,气候变化问题已经成为威胁人类生存和发展的一大国际环境问题。温室气体的排放控制战略是《气候变化框架公约》所确立的应对气候变化问题的根本举措。我国应当按照《气候变化框架公约》和《京都议定书》的法律要求,健全和完善气候变化立法以进一步控制温室气体的排放量,从而为全球气候变化问题的应对做出更大的贡献。     

欧盟地理标志产品使用规则研究

通过对"Prosciutto di Parma"一案的评析,对欧盟地理标志或原产地名称产品使用规则的内容进行阐述,并介绍规则的修改以及撤销、新旧条例之间在产品使用规则方面规定的差异。指出研究欧共体第510/2006号条例第4条的规定对我国地理标志保护的意义。     

论英国刑事证明责任

本文以英国刑事证明责任一般概念和刑事证明责任的两种类型为基础 ,对英国刑事证明责任的分配机制作了较为全面的分析和评述。作者认为 ,英国刑事证明责任始终归于控诉一方 ,被告人在总体上不负证明责任。但被告人不承担证明自己无罪的责任不具有普遍意义 ,在诉讼的特定阶段和某些特定案件中 ,被告人同样承担一定的证明责任 ,同时随着英国对犯罪控制和司法效率的重视 ,被告人的这一证明责任有进一步强化的趋势。     

对证明责任和证明标准的理论反思

一般认为,"证明责任"与"举证责任"两者含义基本相同,且可以通用、互换,但实际上两者的内涵并非等同,不能简单地将两者作为相同概念混用。虽然分析哲学有这样的箴言:词没有固定不变的含义,它的含义取决于具体语境的上下文对它的具体委托是什么。但是作为法律术语,若唯以通过分析上下文方能确定其含义,难免会在学术讨论中引起不必要的误解和麻烦,甚至会在写作中因断章引用他人词句而导致己文辞不达意。因此,笔者认为有必要通过对证明责任及其相关概念争议的分析,探究证明责任的具体含义,并反思我国民事证明标准的界定。     

论《京都议定书》对国际政治和国际经济的潜在影响

《京都议定书》是国际社会在防止全球气候变暖的国际合作方面取得的一份具有里程碑意义的国际法文件。《京都议定书》对国际政治将产生如下影响:发展中国家,尤其是中国、印度等发展中大国承受着越来越大的减排压力;推动欧盟一体化的进程,并进一步提升欧盟的国际政治地位;发展中国家阵营内部呈现出进一步分化的趋势。《京都议定书》对国际经济的影响主要表现在:对各国总体的经济福利产生影响;《京都议定书》产生的“碳泄漏”问题可能使得缔约国在竞争力和产业结构调整等方面发生一系列变化;对国际资本流动产生影响;《京都议定书》将推动能源技术的进步,尤其是推动低碳技术和高能效技术的创新与扩散。