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Administrative Tribunal of Luxembourg, 15 July 2022, case no 44377 and Court of Appeal of Luxembourg, 31 March 2023, case no 47873COn 15 July 2022, the Administrative Tribunal of Luxembourg annulled the decisions by which the Luxembourg Minister for Agriculture, Viticulture, and Consumer Protection had banned all glyphosate-based products. On 31 March 2023, the Court of Appeal upheld the ruling of the Administrative Tribunal. The ground of annulment was the breach by the Luxembourg State of the adversarial principle enshrined in Article 9 of the Grand-Ducal Regulation of 8 June 1979. Yet, for the sake of completeness, the Administrative Tribunal and the Court of Appeal verified the compliance of the decisions banning glyphosate-based products with Articles 36, 41 and 44 of Regulation no 1107/2009. Against this backdrop, this case note provides a critical assessment of the rulings of the Administrative Tribunal and the Court of Appeal from the perspective of European Union law. This analysis might prove to be useful as it enables us to shed light on the conditions allowing Member States to withdraw the authorisation of plant protection products under Regulation no 1107/2009 as well as to identify the hurdles that Member States might need to overcome when banning glyphosate-based products from their territory.

By acknowledging the flexible and complex nature of the precautionary principle under EU law and by referring to methodological pluralism, the goal of this paper is to provide a polycentric interpretation of this principle based on diversity rather than uniformity. The polycentric interpretation is anchored in the construction of the network of the precautionary principle. This allows for the unitas multiplex between the different definitions and applications of this principle to be identified and assessed. The core claim of this paper is that the polycentric interpretation of the precautionary principle can be built on two concepts: anticipation and action that represent the two main knots of its network. These knots are not isolated, but they are connected via some links to other knots that constitute the main concepts allowing identifying and applying the precautionary principle under EU law.

By acknowledging the flexible and complex nature of the precautionary principle in EU law, the purpose of this paper is to provide a polycentric interpretation of this principle based on diversity rather than uniformity. To achieve this objective, a methodology derived from the methodological pluralism is employed. This allows for the unitas multiplex between the different definitions and applications of the precautionary principle to be researched. The core claim of this paper is that the polycentric interpretation of the precautionary principle can be built on two concepts: anticipation and action. In the first part of this paper, I argue that anticipation implies the qualification by law and the evaluation by the science of uncertain risks. In the second part, I consider that, after having anticipated the time of action, decision-makers should act based on the precautionary principle. However, the action undertaken has different meanings and consequences from the procedural and substantive perspective. From the procedural side, the decision-makers should take into account this principle, while they remain free, on the substantive side, to adopt a precautionary measure.

This report sets forth the main findings of the research that we carried out at the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg under the request, and for the benefit of, the Ministry of Health of Luxembourg.

The decision of the EU Commission, based on positive advice from the European Medicines Agency, to grant conditional marketing authorisation to Covid-19 vaccines should be qualified as a precautionary measure. Under the established case law of the CJEU, the conditions for the application of this principle are met. Such conditions are the existence of a risk to the environment and public health and uncertainty. Given this qualification as a precautionary measure, whether the Commission had complied with the procedural obligations that surround the implementation of this principle under EU law was assessed. Some shortcomings are identified concerning the risk assessment conducted by the European Medicines Agency and the risk management carried out by the Commission.

Il contributo analizza alcuni cicli profani, oggi solo parzialmente esistenti, di Uomini e Donne illustri dell'antichità, commissionati a metà Quattrocento nell'Italia centro-settentrionale da grandi capitani che furono, in alcuni casi, anche signori di territori e città. Si approfondisce, specificatamente, il contesto politico, sociale e culturale di città quali Perugia, Milano e Camerino, evidenziando il legame esistente fra le corti ivi presenti e fornendo nuovi contributi in merito ai programmi pittorici, alle fonti letterarie, al significato ideologico e politico, al successo iconografico. Nella ricostruzione del perduto grande ruolo ha avuto la consultazione delle testimonianze manoscritte e lo spoglio del materiale archivistico, fondamentale per una storia dell'arte che valuti consapevolmente la quantità e il significato delle assenze.The paper analyses some profane cycles, today only partially existing, of illustrious Men and Women of the antiquity, commissioned in the mid-15th century in central-northern Italy by great captains who were, in some cases, also lords of territories and cities. In particular, the political, social and cultural context of cities such as Perugia, Milan and Camerino is explored, highlighting the links between the courts present there, and providing new contributions on pictorial programmes, literary sources, ideological and political significance, and iconographic success. In the reconstruction of the lost, a great role has been played by the consultation of manuscript testimonies and the perusal of archival material, fundamental for an art history that consciously evaluates the quantity and significance of absences.

Administrative Tribunal of Guadeloupe 28 March 2020, case n° 2000295 (Judge for interim relief); French Council of State 4 April 2020, cases n° 439904, 439905 (Judge for interim relief)Based on the precautionary principle and to protect the right to life under Article L. 521-2 of the French Code of Administrative Justice, the Administrative Tribunal of Guadeloupe (Judge for interim relief) ordered the Regional Health Agency of Guadeloupe and the University Hospital Centre of Guadeloupe to procure 200,000 COVID-19 screening tests corresponding to half of the population of Guadeloupe and to buy the doses necessary for the treatment of the COVID-19 epidemic with hydroxychloroquine and azithromycin for 20,000 patients. On appeal, the French Council of State, by disregarding the application of the precautionary principle and with controversial reasoning concerning the relationship between discretionary power and scientific uncertainty, annulled the decision of the Administrative Tribunal of Guadeloupe.

Coronavirus and climate change are not two different crises. They represent two sides of the same significant turmoil relating to the progressive degradation of our environmental and health ecosystems. Against this backdrop, and in light of, not only, the cyclical time of pandemics, but also of the predictable occurrence of a new pandemic associated with the worsening of the climate crisis, what should EU law do to prevent and better manage the occurrence of such risks? To answer this question, the core claim of this paper is that the EU should implement a common, coordinated, and consistent risk management strategy