The Legal Profession in the european Union – a Comparative Analysis of Four Member States

Cross-border legal practice has finally become reality in Europe mainly thanks to two factors: the legal framework offered to EC lawyers by the EC legislator and the effect of globalization on legal profession. This article focuses primarily on the success of EC/EU efforts in abolishing obstacles to the free movement of lawyers. Particular attention is drawn to the Establishment Directive, adopted in 1998, opening up new perspectives for lawyers. Secondly, it discusses how globalization has contributed to this development. In relation to the above, this article also explores the new concept of establishment stemming from the expansion of law firms in Europe. Thirdly and mainly, it considers the national positions and the difficulties in harmonizing the legal professions throughout Europe. The examples of four Member States: the UK, France, Germany and Italy demonstrate how much they differ from each other as far as the needs, expectations and rules governing the legal profession. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

“欧盟2020战略”对中国可持续发展的启示

"欧盟2020战略"是继里斯本战略之后,指导欧盟下一个十年经济发展的全新规划。该文对"欧盟2020战略"重点内容进行了解读,通过分析当前中国可持续发展的情况,结合中国"十二五"规划的内容,阐释了"欧盟2020战略"对中国可持续发展的启示。     

Assessing Kaliningrad's Geostrategic Role: The Russian Periphery and A Baltic Concern

Recent developments in post-communist Europe and Latvia in particular have raised questions about political stability in new democracies there. This article argues for taking a long-term perspective on this problem in place of short-term judgments. In doing so, it makes special reference to the EU's political conditionality and its impacts on Latvia and then applies comparative lessons on democratic consolidation based on the concept of ‘partial regimes’. It becomes clear in this analysis that the consolidation process in Latvia has advanced over the past decade and more and, in this respect, the EU did have an important, though limited and rather specific, impact. Yet this process is still incomplete, with historical legacies being a major factor. The ethnic divide has also remained largely unresolved, party development problems have persisted and the public is still unconvinced by the actual democracy they see before them and is alienated by political elite behavior in particular. Hence, Latvia does not have a defective democracy as such, but further change is necessary before democratic consolidation may be achieved there.     

Trust in the information society

Trust is an important feature for all users of the Internet who rely on the safety and security of network technologies and systems for their daily lives. Trust, or the lack of it, has also been identified by the European Commission’s Digital Agenda as a major barrier to further development of the information society in Europe. One of the areas in which concerns have been raised is in relation to children’s safety online. As a result, substantial efforts have been made by policymakers and by the industry to build greater trust and confidence in online digital safety. This paper examines what trust means in the context of children’s use of the Internet. Should policy on trust enhancement, for instance, include children’s own trust in the technologies or services they use or is it sufficient to seek to reinforce parental and adult confidence that children can be adequately protected? What is required to build that trust from either perspective? Does it need, or should it include a relationship of trust between parents and children? To tease out these questions further, the paper examines current European Union policy frameworks on digital safety, particularly industry responses to the call for a more trusted Internet environment for children, and argues that technical solutions to be effective need to carefully balance a number of competing objectives and to be sufficiently grounded in evidence of parental and child experience of the Internet.     

Regulating electronic identity in the European Union: An analysis of the Lisbon Treaty’s competences and legal basis for eID

This paper discusses the feasibility of EU legal action in the field of electronic identity (eID) within the new distribution of legal competences and the provision of novel legal basis engendered by the Treaty of Lisbon. The article attempts to find a ‘legal anchor’ to the idea of a pan-European electronic identity within EU law, looking at the issues of competences and legal basis. After examining various different areas of competence and the most feasible (and probable) candidates for a legal basis supporting an EU legal framework for eID, the paper argues that the latter should be found in the combination of Article 16 TFEU (concerning the right to the protection of personal data) with Article 3 TUE, and Articles 26 and 114 TFEU (concerning the establishment and functioning of the Internal Market), which also constitute the area of competence where an eID legal initiative can be pursued.     

Security,privacy and freedom and the EU legal and policy framework for biometrics

The adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon and the granting to the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the same legal force as the Treaty has lent a new impulse to the consideration of fundamental human rights by the European Union (EU). The question remains, however, as to how this legal discourse, centred upon human rights, is actually shaping the EU regulatory framework in specific policy domains. The aim of this paper is to critically appraise the ways that the fundamental rights of security, privacy and freedom guaranteed by the Charter are being construed in the context of EU law and policy on biometrics, an ethically and morally sensitive security technology whose development and use are being actively promoted by the EU. We conclude that the interpretation of the pertinent rights, as well as their balancing, owes a great deal to the goals of EU policies for research and development, and under the auspices of Freedom, Security and Justice, shaped largely by political and economic considerations. These considerations then tend to prevail over ethically or morally-based legal claims.     

EU和WTO预防原则解释和适用比较研究

预防原则是国际法上重要的法律原则,其法律地位存在很大争议,不同国际组织对其认可和适用的程度不尽相同。欧盟的预防原则理念领先于其他国家和地区,在区域内的实践呈扩大的趋势。WTO框架内预防原则的实践则发展缓慢,由于宗旨的不同和背后利益集团的博弈,与欧盟的预防原则立法和实践存在较大差异。     

论欧盟公共采购法采购主体的界定标准及其对我国的借鉴意义

欧盟公共采购法包括三类主体———公共部门、经营四个指定公用事业行业的公共企业和在政府授予的特殊或排他性权利基础上开展经营的私有企业。其中将公共部门纳入政府采购是由于委托—代理关系的存在,而将企业纳入政府采购是为了防止政府对企业的采购过程施加影响。相比之下我国政府采购法规定的采购主体仅限于公共部门的范畴,这是由我国目前的社会经济发展需要决定的。政府采购法的采购主体制度不是一成不变的,应随着社会经济发展需要的变化而发展变迁,我国国有企业改革完成后,也应将国有企业按照不同性质进行分类,一部分由竞争法调整,一部分纳入政府采购法的调整范围。