Employee Rights on Transfer of Undertakings: Italian Legislation and EC Law

Abstract:  The authors examine the conformity with Community law of the recent regulatory changes introduced to the Italian legal system regarding the safeguarding of employees' rights during transfers of undertakings. The investigation takes place on the assumption that the principle of primacy of Community law applies, which first and foremost means that it must be verified whether the domestic legislation in question complies with the interpretation given to the relative provisions of Community law. According to the authors' opinion, domestic law could be judged as non-conforming to the interpretation that has been given by the Court of Justice, so that the question may be brought before the Court of Justice ex Article 226 EC or by recourse to the preliminary ruling procedure under Article 234 EC, which reveal cases of incorrect implementation of the Directive.     

Energy Security and the Division of Competences between the European Community and its Member States

Abstract: Securing energy supply for Europe has been for decades at the forefront of the energy policies of individual European Community member countries. However, dealing with energy issues in general and securing energy supply in particular is a new phenomenon within the EU's regulatory framework. One important issue which has not yet been discussed by legal scholars and which has been questioned repeatedly by energy experts, is the question who is actually responsible to guarantee security of energy supply in Europe? Is it the European Community alone? Is it the Member States alone? Or is it both? This question cannot be answered without a detailed legal analysis of the EU law in general, and EU law on division of competences between the Community and the Member States in particular. This article seeks to highlight the complications of this area of law within the EU and expand it to cover the energy sector in order to determine who and under what circumstances is responsible for guaranteeing security of energy supply for the consumers within the EU borders.     

欧盟核安全立法的新发展及其对中国的启示

欧盟一直重视核安全立法,《建立欧洲原子能共同体条约》缔造了欧盟成员国和平利用核能的合作框架,它在一个集中的监控系统下保证了欧盟核能的供应安全。欧盟在2011年3月福岛第一核电站事故后,加快推进核安全方面法律和政策的制定进程,尤其在放射性废物和核废料安全、辐射防护基本安全方面都采取了最新的立法措施,确保欧盟核能在保证安全的基础上正常发展。我国应借鉴欧盟经验,坚持国际核安全标准,加强核废料和放射性废物安全管理立法,建立较为完善的核安全法律框架。     

Up Against a Wall: Europe's Options for Regulating Biotechnology through Regulatory Anarchy

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Sisters in Arms: European Community Law and Sex Equality in the Armed Forces

Abstract: Recently the European Court of Justice has been shedding a new light on the limits of Community competence for defence. This article analyses the rulings in Sirdar, Kreil, and Dory with regards to two interrelated issues. First it discusses the effect of Community law on the equality of men and women in the armed forces of the Member States. Second, it deals with the impact of these decisions on the constitutional order of the European Union. The article argues that Community law has a considerable impact on defence‐related national law. Therefore the analysis ultimately contributes to a narrow aspect of the constitutional debate: the demarcation of competencies between the Member States and the Community in matters related to defence.>     

Legitimacy for a Supranational European Political Order—Derivative,Regulatory or Deliberative?

This paper discusses some models purported to legitimise a European supranational legal order. In particular, the author focuses on an application of the so-called regulatory model to the complex structure of the European Community and the European Union. First of all, he tackles the very concept of legitimacy, contrasting it with both efficacy and efficiency. Secondly, he summarises the most prominent positions in the long-standing debate on the sources of legitimation for the European Community. Thirdly, in this perspective, he analyses several, sometimes contradictory, notions of the rule of law. His contention is that we can single out five fundamental notions of the rule of law and that some but not all of them are incompatible with or oppose democracy. Finally, the paper addresses the regulatory model as a possible application of the rule of the law to the European supranational order. The conclusion is that the regulatory model should be rejected if it is presented as an alternative to classical democratic thought, though it might be fruitful if reshaped differently and no longer assessed from a functionalist standpoint of deliberation.     

论行政监管权与法治

行政监管制度在中国建立的十几年间,监管效果并不理想,市场经济和现代监管制度尚未完全建立,监管权力失灵已经开始显现,这种消极现象不可能通过市场经济自身的力量消除,必须遵循法治原则,通过法律对行政权力进行规制。     

完善食品安全中的政府监管法律责任

近几年来,由于食品安全事故频发,引起整个社会包括法学界的普遍关注。政府是食品安全领域中的监管者,在食品安全监管中负有不可替代的责任,但现行法律中对政府的监管责任的规定却十分不到位,存在重食品生产者、销售者的法律责任,轻政府监管部门的法律责任;相关法律对政府监管责任规定概括、缺乏可操作性、不全面以及无相关责任追究程序等问题。为此,必须完善食品安全中的政府监管法律责任,从归责原则到具体法条的设定,都应做到科学、具体、行之有效,使政府的监管责任落到实处。     

An Assessment of the Recast of Community Equality Laws

Abstract:  This article explores some of the issues arising from the decision taken in 2003 to 'recast for modernisation' the directives on equal treatment between men and women. It examines the meaning and significance of the recast technique itself and considers the rationale for applying the recast to certain, but not all, of the equality Directives. The article attempts a first-level analysis of the main issues arising from the recast in terms of the substance of Community gender discrimination law. It is also argued that the recast has the potential to improve Community equality law and not just in terms of readability.     

美国联邦政府的煤矿安全生产监管制度研究

中美两国都是世界上最主的煤炭生产国和消费国.但是,两国的煤矿安全状况却存在较大差异.除了煤炭产业结构、技术水平和资源禀赋等因素之外,煤矿安全监管法治建设也是导致这一差异的重原因.美国煤矿安全生产立法经历多轮修订,不断纠正历次重大煤矿事故暴露出的监管缺陷,建立起独立高效的煤矿安全监管体系,完善煤矿安全监察和事故调查程序,优化了法律责任和执法机制.此外,煤矿安全监察员和煤矿从业人员的强制培训制度,也可以有效加强监管机构的监管能力和监管对象的合规水平.而美国矿山安全和健康委员会独立负责的行政复议,有效保障了对行政执法行为的纠错和对相对人的救济功能.这些经验值得中国参考借鉴.     

核安全独立监管的路径选择

提高核安全水平需要强化核安全监管的独立性。核安全监管独立性的本质是核安全监管机构能够在不受其他主体的不当影响下就核安全相关问题做出决定,并有能力履行规定的核安全监管职责。核安全独立监管的法理基础是核安全问题的专业性要求、政监分离的原则和监管政策稳定性的需求。核安全监管机构根据其设置模式主要分为与传统行政部门合并的核安全监管机构、隶属于传统行政部门的核安全监管机构和独立于传统行政部门的核安全监管机构。核安全监管机构的独立性是一个相对概念。提高我国核安全监管机构的独立性,需要制定核安全法明确其法律地位,规定其统一行使核安全监管权,并将其设为直属于国务院的核安全监管机构或部门(委)以提高其行政级别。     

Dismantling or Strengthening Labour Law: The Case of the European Court of Justice

Abstract: The European Court of Justice is increasingly accused of dismantling labour law. The unusually sharp criticism is mainly motivated by four determining, though concealed reasons. First, the fact that many decisions address conflicts familiar to national law which are however largely repressed in the national context; second, the crisis of the national labour markets and the ensuing attempts to fence them off from the consequences of advancing integration; third, the inconsistent policies of a Union caught between the prevailing orientation towards a distinctly economic Community and the demands of a slowly progressing political Union; and fourth, the Union's difficulties to meet its own claims. As a result, the Court of Justice is more and more distracted from its judicial role and forced into a regulatory function. Hence, it is important to recall that a consistent integration process inevitably requires abandoning national regulations and creating a growing body of common rules intended to realise the common objectives. Further, the Union must more than ever attempt to correct its structural deficiencies and lay down fundamental rights, both in order to give direction to its regulatory interventions, and to limit them. Finally, the time has come for a clear specialisation of the European Court of Justice itself, as well as a systematic review of the conditions governing preliminary rulings, in order to avoid any further instrumen-talisation of the Court for the solution ofinternal conflicts of the Member States.     

Judges as legislators

Among the regulatory measures intended to control the transboundary movement of hazardous waste is the European Community Regulation concerning the Supervision and Control of Shipments of Waste within, into and out of the European Community, 1993, and it is this Regulation, in particular, that this work intends to treat. In this context, the European Parliament's attempts to counteract the weight of economic argument in favour of the conflicting interests of human health and the environment will be examined. Despite international and European Community regulation, it is submitted that double standards in law and practice are continually applied to the transboundary movement of hazardous waste. Emphasis will be placed on both the international and European dilemma of defining hazardous waste.     

Fair Trial Rights and the European Community's Fight Against Fraud

The article surveys action taken by the European Community to combat fraud affecting its financial interests, focusing on the development of investigative authority granted to OLAF, the European‘Office Pour La Lutte Anti Fraude’ and its impact on the procedural rights of the alleged defrauder. It shows that the involvement of OLAF can be crucial for a national fraud investigation and subsequent criminal prosecution and that it meets the criteria set out by the Strasbourg organs for the applicability of Article 6 ECH. The article explores whether the legal sources governing the activities of OLAF or national—or rather, Community—law guarantee sufficient protection for the alleged defrauder and thus pay respect to principles arising from the rule of law in law enforcement. It is shown that general principles of Community law, which were mostly established in antitrust law, may provide a certain protection for the suspect, but may not protect him in all regards. It is thus argued that, in the long run, it will be necessary to provide special fair‐trial rights which offer protection to alleged defrauders from those infringements arising out of the specific features of a Community investigation.     

Regulatory enforcement in the presence of a court system

The responsibilities of a regulatory agency involved in the law enforcement process vary considerably. In this paper we consider three different legal procedures in the process of law enforcement: First, we assume that the regulatory agency is in charge of the detection of offenses. Conviction takes place via court trial. Second, we assume that the regulatory agency has the power to fine an individual if there is some evidence that he did not comply with the law. An individual who has been fined by the agency has the right to lodge an appeal. If he makes use of this right, the question whether or not he complied with the law will be reconsidered. Here we discuss two different legal procedures: The case is decided by court, and the regulatory agency is required to provide sufficient evidence for its decision. Or, the agency reconsiders its decision and decides whether or not to press charges in court. We formalize these three legal procedures in a game-theoretic context and analyze the implications of the procedural regulations on the decision of a potential offender to behave illegally.     

经济法的法价值范畴研究

本文全面而深刻地论证了经济法的法律价值 ,认为经济法的法权价值在于对权力的规制 ,资源价值在于追求发展公平 ,而社会价值则在于维护经济安全     

Risks, Costs and Alternatives in EC Environmental Legislation: The Case of 'REACH'

European Community standards of environmental law are commonly framed in terms of the risks of activities to human health and the environment. Under this cover of uni-dimensional concern, considerations of an activity's benefits, regulatory costs and the availability of alternatives play a crucial role in the regulatory practice. The REACH proposal is a first and ambitious attempt to bring these other dimensions to the fore and give them shape. This article analyses this approach, identifies its merits and flaws, and develops a scheme that makes the complex calculus practicable. It is submitted that the scheme is applicable also in other areas of EC environmental law.     

Reforming the Market or the State? Article 30 and the European Constitution: Economic Freedom and Political Rights

This article takes as its starting-point the relationship between Article 30 of 30 of the EC Treaty (general rule on the free movement of goods) and the European Constitution. On the one hand, it examines Article 30 in the context of the constitutional dilemmas facing the European Union, particularly the balance of powers to be defined between Member States and the Union, between public power and the market, and between the legitimacy of Community law vis à vis that of national law. On the other hand, it reviews different conceptions of the European Economic Constitution by analysing the role of Article 30 in the review of market regulation.     

Looking for Coherence within the European Community*

Abstract: This paper discusses the relationship between the idea of coherence and the legal order set up by the European Community. It focuses on a specific dimension of this relationship and shows how the appeals to coherence made by the European Court of Justice have shaped a particular branch of the European legal order, namely, the judicial review of Community acts. The analysis of the Court of Justice's case law in this field shows that in its extensive use of coherence the Court of Justice explored and brought into play different types of coherence and, while it failed to distinguish between them, it made use of sorts of coherence that thus far legal theorists have disregarded. The article concludes that a closer collaboration between legal theory and legal practice would be profitable for both legal theorists and Community law specialists.     

Community trade mark case law round-up 2006

Legal Context: This article looks at the important decisions of 2006 on theCommunity Trade Mark made by the Court of First Instance, theEuropean Court of Justice and the OHIM. These cases concernthe application of Council Regulation 40/94 on the CommunityTrade Mark, and also preliminary rulings from the European Courtof Justice on the interpretation of Council Directive 89/104(the Trade Mark Directive). Key Points: The volume of case law relating to Community trade marks, notto mention the variety of official languages in which the lawis interpreted, makes it almost impossible for even the conscientiouspractitioner to keep abreast with developments as they occur. This article provides an overview of the shifts in Communitytrade mark practice, in terms of not only the relatively accessiblesubstantive law but also the far more diffuse areas of procedurallaw and Office practice. In seeking to review and explain these shifts, the authors haveadopted a view of the case law that is functional rather thanphilosophical. In doing so, they lay bare the manner in whichthe institutions that administer and adjudicate Community trademark issues interrelate to one another. Practical Significance: Practitioners can quickly find the important decisions from2006 relating to particular articles of the Council Regulation40/94 on the Community Trade Mark. This article provides an overview of the most significant trademark cases decided in 2006 by the European Courts of Justiceand the OHIM Boards of Appeal. The article enables practitionersto access rapidly the key decisions of 2006. The cases discussed concern the application of Council Regulation40/94 on the Community trade mark (‘CTMR’), CommissionRegulation 2868/95 implementing the CTMR (‘CTMIR’),and Council Directive 89/104 (the ‘Trade Mark Directive’).