Transnational convergence of public procurement policy: a ‘bottom-up’ analysis of policy networks and the international harmonisation of accessibility standards for information and communication technology

This article seeks to examine how public procurement policies for information and communication technology (ICT), aimed at improving the accessibility of ICT for persons with disabilities, have converged internationally. Convergence, in this instance, refers to the international harmonisation or acceptance of common standards and norms. Distinguishing itself from the predominant authorship in the area, this article seeks to explore convergence from a ‘bottom-up’ perspective, by examining the influence of networks of public and private actors on the design of public procurement standards for accessible ICT. Specifically, it will seek to answer how these actors and networks (varying in their level of coordination) have contributed to policy design in a unique area, public procurement of ICT goods and services. The influence of these networks will be discussed through the use of policy documents and semi-structured interviews, to provide empirical support for examining this ‘bottom-up’ analysis and distinguish it from the standard ‘top-down’ model usually employed in this field. This article also focuses on the role of policy actors in the United States and European Union that participated in the harmonisation of public procurement policy and the legal norms and instruments that give these policies their legal effect.     

Public procurement as a means to achieving social gains – progress and challenges in European legislation and standards for accessible information and communication technology

This article explores the European Commission goal of improving the quality and level of accessibility in mainstream information and communication technology (ICT) goods and services available in Member States through the use of public procurement legislation and performance standards. Over the past two decades, the Commission has encouraged Member States to adopt common requirements for accessibility and to strengthen efforts to use these requirements in public procurement. In the absence of significant improvements in the level of accessibility over this time, the Commission has more recently committed to bringing forward legislative proposals to harmonize the accessibility requirements used by Member States. A new procurement directive package contains stronger obligations on public bodies to include accessibility as mandatory requirements in Technical Specifications. In parallel to this, a standardization mandate by the Commission to the European Standards Organizations (ESOs) concluded in March 2014 with the publication of the first European standard on ICT accessibility. In light of these developments, this article analyses the trajectory of European policy in the field of accessibility over the last two decades, and the interplay between European public procurement, standardization and law. It examines how far these developments have succeeded in bringing into being a public procurement eco-system that will nudge the market in Europe to producing affordable and accessible ICT products and services for persons with disabilities.     

A Disabled Market: Free Movement of Goods and Services in the EU and Disability Accessibility

Individuals with a disability who wish to use goods and services can have a variety of specific needs, ranging from accessible written information to standard products and services which have disability accessibility features built into them. In light thereof, this article focuses on the impact which Community law has had, and could potentially have, on ensuring an EU‐wide market in products and services which are accessible to consumers with a disability. The article examines the (possible) impact of a variety of provisions, including the rules relating to the free movement of goods and services (Articles 28 and 49 EC, respectively), the internal market (Articles 94 and 95 EC), non‐discrimination (Article 13 EC), EU citizenship provisions, and the work of the European standardisation bodies such as CEN. The central question throughout the article is does EC law allow for, or discourage, the establishment of mandatory disability accessibility standards at the national or EU level, and have the provisions been used to permit or establish such standards to date?     

The Reuse of Public Sector Information in Europe and Its Impact on Transparency

The dissemination of public sector information is not carried out exclusively by public administration. A significant proportion of public sector information constitutes the raw material used by the content industry to offer goods and services and by citizens to provide richer information. In the European Union, Directive 2003/98/EC on the reuse of public sector information establishes a set of rules governing the reuse of public sector information. Although this rule is not intended to provide greater transparency, the re‐use of public sector information could have this effect. This article sets out the European policy on public sector information reuse and it looks in depth at the content of Spanish Act 37/2007, of 16 November, about the reuse of public sector information, as a case study, outlining some of the instruments that have been used in Spain as well as in other Member States to promote the reuse of public sector information.     

To block or not to block: European approaches to content regulation,and implications for freedom of expression

Based on the limited effectiveness of state laws, and lack of harmonization at international level a number of states started to introduce policies to block access to Internet content and websites deemed illegal which are situated outside their legal jurisdiction. However, blocking policies are not always subject to due process principles, decisions are not necessarily taken by the courts of law, and often administrative bodies or Internet hotlines run by the private sector decide which content or website should be subject to blocking. Therefore, increasingly, the compatibility of blocking action is questioned with regards to the fundamental right of freedom of expression. This article assesses significant developments at the pan-European level with regards to the development, and implementation of Internet content blocking policies. Adaptation of content blocking policies from certain member states of both the European Union and the Council of Europe will be used to assess the nature and implementation of access blocking policies. It will be argued that there could be a breach of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights if blocking measures or filtering tools are used at state level to silence politically motivated speech on the Internet.     

Implementation of Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act of 1996: access to telecommunications services, telecommunications equipment, and customer premises equipment by persons with disabilities--FCC. Notice of proposed rulemaking

This Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) is an important step in the Commission's effort to increase the accessibility of telecommunications services and equipment to Americans with disabilities. The NPRM proposes a framework for implementing section 255 of the Communications Act of 1934 (Act), which requires telecommunications equipment manufacturers and service providers to ensure that their equipment and services are accessible to persons with disabilities, to the extent it is readily achievable to do so. In addition, if accessibility is not readily achievable, section 255 requires manufacturers and service providers to ensure compatibility with existing peripheral devices or specialized customer premises equipment commonly used by individuals with disabilities to achieve access, to the extent it is readily achievable to do so. The NPRM first explores the Commission's legal authority to establish rules implementing section 255. The NPRM then seeks comment on the interpretation of specific statutory terms that are relevant to the proceeding. Finally, the NPRM seeks comment on proposals to implement and enforce the requirement that telecommunications equipment and services be made accessible to the extent readily achievable. The actions proposed in the NPRM are needed to ensure that people with disabilities are not left behind in the telecommunications revolution and consequently isolated from contemporary life.     

Reconciling transparency and privacy through the European Digital Identity

Where lies the balance between privacy and transparency? It is an everlasting question, that lied at the heart of the recent judgement of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The case concerned the Ultimate Beneficial Ownership registry which contains the information of who has a financial interest in companies. The registry was open to the public. The wide accessibility aimed to increase transparency and thereby prevent money laundering and the financing of terrorism (MLFT). The registry was open to public access and the question to the CJEU was whether the accessibility was lawful. The judgement of the CJEU declared the wide accessibility to be unlawful. The judgement acknowledges the importance of the concept of transparency but nevertheless considers the public access to be unproportionate. Leaving the question of how to balance transparency with privacy. The answer can be found in redesigning the European electronic Identity. This case-note will first discuss the facts of the case in section 2. The note will then continue by summarizing the opinion of the Advocate General in section 3. In section 4 the note will summarize the judgement of the CJEU. The case note will end in section 5 with an analysis of the impact of the case in relation to developing a digital European Identity.     

Regulating assisted reproductive technologies in Victoria: the impact of changing policy concerning the accessibility of in vitro fertilisation for preimplantation tissue-typing

On 1 January 2010, the Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act 2008 (Vic) came into force. The legislation was the outcome of a detailed review and consultation process undertaken by the Victorian Law Reform Commission. Arguably, the change to the regulatory framework represents a significant shift in policy compared to previous regulatory approaches on this topic in Victoria. This article considers the impact of the new legislation on eligibility for reproductive treatments, focusing on the accessibility of such services for the purpose of creating a "saviour sibling". It also highlights the impact of the Victorian regulatory body's decision to abolish its regulatory policies on preimplantation genetic diagnosis and preimplantation tissue-typing, concluding that the regulatory approach in relation to these latter issues is similar to other Australian jurisdictions where such practices are not addressed by a statutory framework.     

政务信息公开满意度影响因素分析——以政府网站为例

以政府网络为视角,研究政务信息公开满意度影响因素,有助于政府部门改进信息化服务工作,提高公众满意度。本文通过对美国顾客满意度指数模型(ACSI)进行改进并参考欧洲顾客满意度指数模型(ECSI),构建了我国政府网站政务信息公开满意度模型,运用问卷调查和结构方程模型(SEM)对所构建模型进行实证检验,从公众视角揭示我国政府网站政务信息公开满意度的影响因素。研究表明,公众感知质量和公众感知价值对政务信息公开满意度产生直接正向影响,公众预期对政务信息公开满意度产生间接正向影响,政务信息公开满意度对政府形象有显著直接正向影响、对公众信任有间接正向影响。     

Services of General Interest in EC Law: Matching Values to Regulatory Technique in the Public and Privatised Sectors

All the European Union Member States have long traditions of state activity in providing key services (such as the utilities, health and education) to their citizens and underpinning both such direct provision and provision of services by non‐state actors with certain administrative or legal guarantees. In European Community doctrines they are referred to as ‘services of general interest’ within which is a narrower class of ‘services of general economic interest’. The diverse national public service traditions have been challenged both by the requirements of the single market and by other pressures such as fiscal crisis and broader public sector reform. This article examines the means by which services to which special principles should be applied can be identified and focuses on the range of sometimes contradictory values denoted by the term ‘services of general interest’, examining the range of regime types (based on hierarchical, competition‐based and community forms) by which those values might be pursued. The concluding section suggests that the matching of values to techniques should not be made according to the importance of the values to be pursued, but rather by reference to which techniques are likely to be effective given the configuration of interests and capacities and existing culture within the target domain.     

Enforcing eAccessibility: is the current legal framework adequate?

Regulating the web and information and communication technology (ICT) is a hot-button issue that often becomes misconstrued as the self-interests of private parties. In fact, ensuring accessibility for people with disabilities is often not a priority for companies that provide ICT goods and services. In this manner, people with disabilities are excluded from the global ICT market, which presents a problem of rights assessment and a market gap. By examining the way law and policy implement and augment the state of eAccessibility, this article aims to critically assess the eAccessibility legal framework. It focuses on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, the European Union relevant legislation, and on national legislation, taking as a case study two representative countries: Ireland and Spain. These countries have been chosen due to their high and low ‘Measuring eAccessibility’ scores, respectively. The particular technology chosen for examination includes websites, self-service terminals and mobile phone apps.     

Unveiling a role for the EU? The ‘headscarf controversy’ in European schools

Many European countries have introduced laws and policies which proscribe religious clothing in public educational institutions. The European Convention on Human Rights has been deployed to uphold such actions, the European Court of Human Rights recognising that States should be able to limit the manifestation of religious beliefs. National courts considering the matter in terms of religious freedom (as opposed to discrimination) have reached similar conclusions. Most affected States are members of the European Union as well as the Council of Europe. This article will argue that it is more likely that European Union law could be engaged by an aggrieved teacher to challenge national law.     

Financing Services of General Interest in the EU: How do Public Procurement and State Aids Interact to Demarcate between Market Forces and Protection?

Abstract:  The present article reveals the interplay between public procurement and state financing of public services within the regulatory régime of state aids. The symbiotic flexibility embedded in the regime of regulating the award of public contracts which permits the introduction of public policy considerations in dispersing public services is established. This finding removes the often-misunderstood justification of public procurement as an economic exercise, and places its regulation in the centre of an ordo-liberal interpretation of the European integration process. The significance of public procurement for the financing of services of general interest is verified through an asymmetric geometry analysis. The article concludes that the public procurement framework will be relied upon for two main purposes: first to insert competitiveness within the public sector and market forces in the provision of services of general interest and secondly, to be used by the European judiciary and the European Commission as a system to verify conceptual links, create compatibility safeguards and authenticate established principles applicable in state aid regulation.     

Using the Wrong Policy Tools: Education,Charity, and Public Benefit

A recent decision on the application of public benefit under the Charities Act 2006 sidestepped the political debate surrounding the charitable status of independent fee‐charging schools. The broader political context nevertheless underscores the legislative reforms, and this article questions whether the new statutory public benefit requirement has utility as a welfare policy tool in the field of education. It examines the public benefit requirement in charity law against the backdrop of government policy towards education and the broader political agenda for a mixed economy of welfare provision, and argues that the difficulties Labour faced in developing its education policies were replicated in the application of the post‐Act public benefit requirement to fee‐charging schools. As a result, achieving broader policy goals for widening educational opportunity through public benefit was almost impossible given the regulatory framework and the principles upon which charity law is founded.     

Taking fundamental rights seriously in the Digital Services Act's platform liability regime

This article highlights how the EU fundamental rights framework should inform the liability regime of platforms foreseen in secondary EU law, in particular with regard to the reform of the E-commerce directive by the Digital Services Act. In order to identify all possible tensions between the liability regime of platforms on the one hand, and fundamental rights on the other hand, and in order to contribute to a well-balanced and proportionate European legal instrument, this article addresses these potential conflicts from the standpoint of users (those who share content and those who access it), platforms, regulators and other stakeholders involved. Section 2 delves into the intricate landscape of online intermediary liability, interrogating how the E-Commerce Directive and the emerging Digital Services Act grapple with the delicate equilibrium between shielding intermediaries and upholding the competing rights of other stakeholders. The article then navigates in Section 3 the fraught terrain of fundamental rights as articulated by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) under the aegis of the European Convention on Human Rights and the EU Charter. This section poses an urgent inquiry: can the DSA's foundational principles reconcile these legal frameworks in a manner that fuels democracy rather than stifles it through inadvertent censorship? Section 4 then delves into the intricate relationship between fundamental rights and the DSA reform. This section conducts a comprehensive analysis of the key provisions of the DSA, emphasising how they underscore the importance of fundamental rights. In addition to mapping out the strengths of the framework the section also identifies existing limitations within the DSA and suggests potential pathways for further refinement and improvement. This article concludes by outlining key avenues for achieving a balanced and fundamental rights-compliant regulatory framework for platform liability within the EU.     

The State of Gender Equality Law in the European Union

Abstract:  This article assesses critically the recent law and policy initiatives in European Union gender equality. As a fundamental right, the principle of gender equality is to apply in all areas of EU law. Its scope has been extended to the access to and supply of goods and services and, according to the European Court of Justice, to the Third Pillar. Despite efforts to render the principle visible and accessible, a number of provisions remain unclear and contradictory. The contribution of external actors in this field is set to help safeguarding and enhancing the Community gender equality acquis .     

The Management of New Forms of Governance by Former Accession Countries of the European Union: Institutional Twinning in Estonia and Hungary

Abstract: At the Copenhagen summit of 1993, the European Union introduced three criteria for accession to the European Union—political, economic, and adoption of the acquis—combined in 1995 with the necessity, for the candidate states, to have the institutional capacity to implement the acquis.?Until the reform of the PHARE programme in 1997, the European Union did not have any cooperation programme for institution‐building. Conceived as an innovative instrument in European external cooperation, institutional twinnings are inspired, in their design and their implementation, by new methods of governance emerging from the internal policies of the European Union (new public management, open method of coordination). How did the candidate countries interpret and implement institutional twinnings? Can one simply speak of institutional transfers or are the results of cooperation between Western and Eastern élites and experts of a more complex nature? This article attempts to draw some lessons from the experience of twinning on the basis of sectoral case studies in two countries, Estonia and Hungary, which took part to the EU enlargement of May 2004.     

New assisted reproductive technology laws in Victoria: a genuine overhaul or just cut and paste?

A new Assisted Reproductive Treatment Act was passed in Victoria on December 2008 and came into effect on 1 January 2010. The new legislation changed who was eligible for assisted reproductive technology (ART) and the types of services that clinics could provide. This article reports on interviews with service providers in Victoria who experience first hand the impact of legislation on clinical practice and patients, as well as regulators who are able to provide insight into the values underpinning the regulatory framework. The new legislation was viewed by all participants as an improvement on the old Act because of the removal of discriminatory and ambiguous aspects. The authors argue that while some of the details of the legislation have changed, the underlying principles and the framework have not.     

网络服务提供者的民事责任问题浅析--以欧盟电子商务指令中的相关规范为中心

随着计算机网络服务的日益发展,许多新的法律问题接踵而至,给我国现有法律体制提出挑战.其中一个十分迫切的问题就是,如何针对网络上发生的非法行为,合理地界定网络服务提供者的责任.这个问题不仅关系到这一新兴行业的生存与发展,而且也关系到对网络服务消费者及相关权利人权益的保护.为此,通过对欧洲有关国家及欧盟的有关立法规定的分析,归纳它们在关于网络服务提供者的民事责任规定上的若干特点,并阐明其对中国相关立法的借鉴意义.     

Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) accessibility guidelines for buildings and facilities. Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board. Final guidelines

The Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Board is issuing final guidelines to assist the Department of Justice to establish accessibility standards for new construction and alterations in places of public accommodation and commercial facilities, as required by title III the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990. The guidelines will ensure that newly constructed and altered portions of buildings and facilities covered by title III of the ADA are readily accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities in terms of architecture and design, and communication. The Department of Justice has proposed to adopt the guidelines as the accessibility standards for new construction and alterations in places of public accommodation and commercial facilities for purposes of title III of the ADA.