Gas Supply and EU–Russia Relations

Drawing on New Institutional Economics (NIE) theory, the article argues that EU energy policy towards Russia damages security of supply because it neglects the specific aims and propensities of Russia and Gazprom. EU Commission initiatives are based on the promotion of interdependence through market opening, favouring a policy of competition over security of supply. The reason for this focus is found in the EU's embedded inclination towards liberal markets. Russia, by contrast, has chosen suboptimal state control of natural resources over the frontier capitalism of the 1990s. Sustainability of the current rent based system and geopolitical considerations are essential to Russia and Gazprom. In this situation a pragmatic approach that aims at security of supply and security of demand seems to be more successful. In this approach, liberalisation of the market can only be a long-term goal.     

The Evolving Structure of the Environmental Justice Movement in the United States: New Models for Democratic Decision-Making

Over the last two decades in the United States, mainstream environmental organizations have reduced, rather than increased, democratic participation by citizens in environmental problem-solving. The environmental justice movement, on the other hand, has served to enlarge the constituency of the environmental movement by incorporating poorer communities and oppressed people of color into environmental decision making process; build community capacity by developing campaigns and projects that address the common links between various social and environmental problems; and facilitate community empowerment by emphasizing grassroots organizing over advocacy. This paper outlines the different components in the environmental justice movement. It is our contention that if researchers and policymakers continue to conceive of the ecological crisis as a collection of unrelated problems, then it is possible that some combination of regulations, incentives, and technical innovations can keep pollution and resource destruction at tolerable levels for more affluent socioeconomic populations. However, poor working class communities and people of color which lack the political–economic resources to defend themselves will continue to suffer the worst abuses. However, if the interdependency of issues is emphasized as advocated by the environmental justice movement, then a transformative environmental politics can be invented.     

How Can the European Union Contribute to a COP-6 Agreement? An Overview for Policy Makers

During the 6th Conference of Parties (COP-6) in The Hague, the Netherlands, November 2000, crucial progress on a number of outstanding issues related to the Kyoto Protocol will have to be made to open the way for its early ratification, if not to save it from complete failure. Given the present lack of internal US political support for the Kyoto Protocol, the EU may play a pivotal role in making the Kyoto Protocol agreement a reality even without initial ratification of the US, if its able to provide sufficient leadership. In this overview article we discuss the main issues under negotiation, the problems of finding agreement and opportunities for the EU to catalyse a compromise agreement at COP-6, building on key scientific papers as included in this issue and discussions at the European Forum on Integrated Environmental Assessment Climate Policy Workshop in Amsterdam. Key elements are the inclusion of sinks, the use of the Kyoto Protocol mechanisms as a supplement to domestic action and the international compliance system. Domestic implementation of climate policy is a major factor for the EU's credibility.     

Schriftformerfordernis für Schuldbeitritt mit Sicherungszweck

Das Schriftformerfordernis des § 1346 Abs 2 ABGB ist ohne Beschr?nkung auf Verbrauchergesch?fte auf alle F?lle einer Interzession iSv § 25c KSchG anzuwenden. Die alte Rechtsprechung zur Formfreiheit eines zum Zweck der Gutstehung erkl?rten Schuldbeitritts kann nicht aufrecht erhalten werden. Ausschlaggebend für das Vorliegen einer Interzession iSv § 25c KSchG ist ausschlie?lich, ob der Dritte die Haftung für eine materiell fremde Schuld übernimmt. Entscheidend ist daher, dass der Interzedent (typischerweise) damit rechnen kann, die Schuld (zumindest wegen seines Regressanspruchs) letztlich materiell nicht tragen zu müssen. Die blo? formelle Haftung des Interzedenten muss für den Gl?ubiger erkennbar sein. Für den Beitritt zu einer materiell fremden Schuld besteht die Formpflicht analog zu § 1346 Abs 2 ABGB auch dann, wenn für den Interzedenten erkennbar ist, dass ein allf?lliger Regressanspruch faktisch nicht durchsetzbar w?re.