Suchergebnisse

In this article we show why a major initiative announced by the European Commission in 2006 to reform the EU anti-dumping policy after two years of very intense political activity became bogged down in a fully preserving the legislative status quo. Adapted from the source document.

Large emissions of greenhouse gases are expected to cause major environmental problems in the future. European policy makers have therefore declared that they aim to implement cost-efficient and fair policies to reduce carbon emissions. The purpose of this paper is to assess whether the cost of the EU policies for 2020 can be reduced through the inclusion of carbon sequestration as and abatement option while also equity is improved. The assessment is done by numerical calculations using a chance-constrained partial equilibrium model of the EU Emissions Trading Scheme and national effort-sharing targets, where forest sequestration is introduced as an uncertain abatement option. Fairness is evaluated by calculation of Gini-coefficients for six equity criteria to policy outcomes. The estimated Gini-coefficients range between 0.11 and 0.32 for the current policy, between 0.16 and 0.66 if sequestration is included and treated as certain, and between 0.19 and 0.38 when uncertainty about sequestration is taken into account and policy-makers wish to meet targets with at least 90 percent probability. The results show that fairness is reduced when sequestration is included and that the impact is larger when sequestration is treated as certain.

"Op 1 januari 2019 trad de eerste EU-antibelastingontwijkingsrichtlijn in werking, kortweg ATAD1 genoemd. Deze richtlijn introduceerde drie nieuwe regelingen in de Nederlandse belastingwetten. Deze titel verheldert en schetst voor u als praktiserend fiscalist een compleet beeld van deze regelingen. Inclusief concrete voorbeelden, al dan niet ontleend aan de wetsgeschiedenis. 'ATAD1' werpt een uitgebreid licht op de drie nieuwe regelingen in de Nederlandse belastingwetten die werden geïntroduceerd met de komst van de eerste EU-antibelastingontwijkingsrichtlijn (ATAD1). De regelingen betreffen:- Een regeling in de VPB betreffende de zogenoemde controlled foreign company, kortweg CFC genoemd;- Een algemene renteaftrekmaatregel in de VPB in de vorm van een earningsstrippingbepaling;- Een nieuwe uitstelregeling in de Invorderingswet 1990 voor de exitheffing in de VPB"

On 1 January 1995 Sweden became member of the European Union. This basic fact is not mentioned in Sweden's fundamental law. Nor does the Swedish constitution have anything to say about the important changes to the practice of public policymaking that have taken place since Sweden joined the EU. At the same time, it is indeed apparent that the basic rules of the political game in Sweden have been transformed dramatically after EU accession. This constitutional change, however has taken place without any substantial changes being made to the wording of the most important of Sweden's four fundamental laws, i.e., the Instrument of Government (regeringsformen). Constitutional change can be brought about in two different ways: Constitutional amendment, or explicit constitutional change, refers to a change of the rules of the game which implies a modified wording of the constitutional text. Constitutional alteration, or implicit constitutional change, means the constitutional document itself remains unaltered while its meaning is changed through judicial interpretation or legislative action. How frequently used are these different methods when it comes to the constitutional changes brought about by EU membership? How can we explain the differences between member states? How can these competing methods for constitutional change be normatively justified? Is one of them to be preferred? The research project "Hur regleras EU-medlemskapet?" seeks to answer these questions in a comparative study on how EU membership regulated in different member states. Adapted from the source document.

Analysis of what Swedish membership in the EU has meant for Swedish policy at the national level. Has its structure and set of priorities changed and if so, how? Compares changes in Swedish policy in the areas of business, agriculture, environmental protection, social life, education, gender equality, asylum and migration, law enforcement, foreign relations and security, communities, and development

The European Union's merchandising policies have been a successful enterprise, whereas sensitive political items of safety, defense and international policies were not its priority. Since the 1990's however the EU tries to define itself in relationship to the rest of the world, of which the Common Foreign and Safety Policy (Gemeenschappelijk Buitenlands- en Veiligheidsbeleid, GBVB) is a good example with which the EU promotes and defends its interests internationally. Moreover, through the GBVB, the EU takes part in crisis control activities, as for example on the Balkans. An analysis of EU interventions and behavior during the wars in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina, with explanations for the limited successes achieved, in particular by lack of its member states to cooperate in a unified action, partly based on differences of opinion, partly on a lack of national profit to be gained from the region concerned. Differences of opinion often based on conflicting national interests, and highly influence - negatively - on the GBVB's effectivity. To be more influential on a global scale, member states should compromise their proper interests into a unified voice, and bind together their bilateral relations into cooperation. Furthermore, problems regarding coherence and continuity exist by means of an often changing chairmanship of the EU, making the flow of information and mandates irregular, therewith reducing the GBVB's into a reactive organ, where dynamic activity is needed. References. O. van Zijl

This introductory article sketches the problematique of this special issue on 'Subsidiarity in the European Union and beyond'. It starts with a short historical overview of the origins, meanings and implementation of the subsidiarity principle within the EU. Subsequently, it problematizes the concept and application of subsidiarity in a multilevel governance context by examining two fundamental characteristics of this essentially contested concept that render it fascinating to study: its complexity and power-relevance. The relatively new concept of global subsidiarity is briefly discussed to situate the intra-EU discussion in a wider context. This introduction ends by discussing some of the findings of the special issue's two substantial articles -- that both deal with policy topics in which different competence regimes meet -- in light of the subsidiarity problematique. Adapted from the source document.

De uitslag van het referendum op 1 juni 2005 over het Europees Grondwettelijke Verdrag legde op dramatische wijze de kloof bloot tussen politieke en publieke opinie als het gaat over Europese beleidsvorming. Tegelijk heeft het Grondwettelijk Verdrag laten zien dat nationale politici en bestuurders er niet in slagen te functioneren als adequate verbindingsschakels tussen 'Europa' en burgers. Tegen deze achtergrond geeft de WRR (naar aanleiding van een adviesaanvraag van de regering) aan hoe de legitimiteit van EU-beleid en de EU als systeem in Nederland kan worden vergroot. De raad analyseert d

Forest management affects the quantity of CO2 emissions in the atmosphere by carbon sequestration in standing biomass, carbon storage in forest products and production of bioenergy that replace fossil fuels. The main question in this paper is whether forest sequestration is worth increasing at the expense of bioenergy and forest products to achieve EU's emission reduction target to 2050 cost-effectively. The assessment is based on numerical calculations using a dynamic, partial equilibrium model of cost-effective solutions, where three abatement methods in the forest sector are included together with abatement in the fossil fuel sector. The results show that forest sequestration in standing biomass is cost-effective compared to bioenergy. When sequestration is taken into account, net present costs for meeting EU carbon targets can be reduced by 18%. This is achieved through an increase in annual carbon sequestration by 30-158 million ton CO2. The overall cost of reaching the 80 per cent carbon reduction target amounts to 2,002 billion Euros when sequestration is included in the policy, but increases to 2,371 billion Euros without sequestration. Results suggest that forests can serve as a cost-efficient carbon sink over the considered time period.

The Iraq War has once again spotlighted the divisions within the European Union that have prevented a unified foreign policy & strategy in its leadership. While the common market & currency, along with the accession of ten new member states have contributed greatly to a sense of European unity, the reliance on majority consensus & "soft security" neither ensures effective supranational policy making, nor does it eliminate the tension caused by the international leadership claims of three European Union members: GB, France, & Germany. The former two are both nuclear powers & permanent members of the Security Council, while the latter is one of the world's leading economies, & the dominant one in Europe; each has its own interests & orientations (eg, the transatlantic reflex of GB, the Continental reflex of France, & the pacifism of Germany). It is proposed that the European Union give more coordinating & directive power to the Union Ministry for Foreign Affairs to ensure a common foreign policy for the continent. A. Siegel

A special regulatory regime applies to products of recombinant nucleic acid modifications. A ruling from the European Court of Justice has interpreted this regulatory regime in a way that it also applies to emerging mutagenesis techniques. Elsewhere regulatory progress is also ongoing. In 2015, Argentina launched a regulatory framework, followed by Chile in 2017 and recently Brazil and Colombia. In March 2018, the USDA announced that it will not regulate genome-edited plants differently if they could have also been developed through traditional breeding. Canada has an altogether different approach with their Plants with Novel Traits regulations. Australia is currently reviewing its Gene Technology Act. This article illustrates the deviation of the European Union's (EU's) approach from the one of most of the other countries studied here. Whereas the EU does not implement a case-by-case approach, this approach is taken by several other jurisdictions. Also, the EU court ruling adheres to a process-based approach while most other countries have a stronger emphasis on the regulation of the resulting product. It is concluded that, unless a functioning identity preservation system for products of directed mutagenesis can be established, the deviation results in a risk of asynchronous approvals and disruptions in international trade.