The former Economic Secretary to the Treasury appointed Otto Thoresen to carry out a review examining the feasibility of delivering a national approach to generic financial advice. The aim was to ensure greater access to high quality affordable financial advice for those most vulnerable to the consequences of poor financial decision-making.
Nicholas Economides and William N. Hebert, “Patents and Antitrust: Application to Adjacent Markets” (August 1, 2007)
We examine the intersection of patents and antitrust where a patent holder uses the monopoly power it possesses in the market for a patented product to exclude competitors in an adjacent market and attempt to monopolize or monopolize the adjacent market. The present scheme for awarding patents cannot judge when the issuance of a patent will lead to the appropriate balance between innovation and efficiency. Where a patent holder’s invention uses an interface with adjacent products, the patent holder may be tempted to extend its patent monopoly into adjacent markets that depend upon the interface with the patented invention. Economic theory suggests that it is inappropriate to immunize a patent holder from antitrust liability when it attempts to extend its patent monopoly into adjacent markets, because it could decrease consumer surplus. Courts have expressed their reluctance to scrutinize a patent holder’s innovations and design changes, because of the potential benefits of the innovations and their reluctance to second-guess the marketplace. However, applying traditional antitrust principles, courts have found that monopolists could be liable for unlawfully extending their monopoly positions into adjacent markets in the areas of computer peripherals and software applications; aftermarkets for replacement parts, service and maintenance of durable goods; design changes to medical devices; and changes in drug formulas. While the patent laws provide a spur to innovation by granting limited monopoly rights, the antitrust laws curb the excessive reach of these monopoly rights by acting as a check on excessive expansion of the scope of the patent grant.
Download the paper (*).
Portugalia si Danemarca au ratificat tratatul, iar in Germania si Cehia au fost sesizate Curtile constitutionale. Despre acestea aici (*) si aici (*).
De patruzeci de ani CEE, CE sau UE au repurtat victorii prin adoptarea celebrelor directive in materie societara. Practica CJCE a depasit asteptarile si Comisia a facut un plan de actualizare a acestor directive, unele prafuite in epoca internetului.
Comisia incearca sa reduca costurile care nu sunt necesare si care ar constitui bariere administrative pentru dreptul european al societatilor.
Comunicarea Comisiei: Commission cuts unnecessary administrative burdens in EU company law (*)
O stire notabila; e de urmarit ce se va intampla in viitor.
THE EU is to drop a case aimed at forcing Irish religious schools to employ teachers who don’t believe in the religious “ethos” of the school and may even hold anti-religious beliefs.
In a significant change of policy, EU Commission President Barosso said it will now not be pursuing a case against Ireland’s alleged breach of EU rules on equal opportunity.
In a highly controversial move, EU Equal Opportunities Commissioner Vladimir Spidla issued a “reasoned opinion”, warning that exemptions for religious organisations from equality rules under Irish law are in conflict with EU rules.
As EU law takes precedence over Irish law, the move was widely seen as a prelude to court action and hefty fines.
According to the exemption in Irish law, Church-run schools, hospitals and charities can choose not to employ people who contradict their ethos. So a Catholic school has the right not to employ an atheist teacher.
The exemption was negotiated a number of years ago and upheld by the EU’s council of ministers. But last February the European Commission decided that the exemptions granted to such bodies were “too broad” and told the government to comply with the EU’s stricter equality directive or face a multimillion euro fine.
But now EU Commission President has said the EU will not pursue the matter.
“There is no intention to bring Ireland to court on that ground. That’s not going to happen,” said Mr Barosso.
The Iona Institute, a Catholic pressure group, had described the commission’s threat as a “huge blow to the concept of religious freedom”.
Minister for European Affairs Dick Roche strongly welcomed the news. “Mr Barosso’s comments are very positive. I look forward to seeing the final adjudication by the commission,” he said
The climbdown reflects intense pressure on the EU to avoid antagonising the Irish in advance of crucial referendum on the Lisbon Treaty.
De aici (*)
O stire notabila, care merita comentata. Ea vizeaza in special pe activistii care cred ca nediscriminarea coboara dintr-un empireu juridic postmodern… Cand iese treaba e bine & frumos, cand nu…
The European Commission has abandoned its plans to protect gays and lesbians against discrimination under pressure from Germany.
An anti-discrimination bill against all forms of discrimination on the grounds laid out in Article 13 of the Amsterdam Treaty had been announced as part of the commission’s work programme for 2008.
However, the European executive is now retreating to the safe grounds of focussing solely on disability protection.
The commission is afraid that more conservative member states will endanger the unanimity needed by member states.
Restul aici (*).
Nu am stiut, insa dl. Ovidiu Hurduzeu are site! Ceea ce este o veste excelenta! Site-ul se gaseste aici.
Este de citit.
By + Cardinal George Pell
Archbishop of Sydney
20/4/2008
Canada has just experienced the coldest winter and the heaviest snowfalls since 1970-1, which was called a once in a thousand years event. Another 18 centimetres of snow would set an all time record.
A Kingston newspaper had a marvellous cartoon of a tough old Canadian, rugged up against the cold and hacking the ice off the windscreen of his car. The caption read “Global warming my a…”!
In China the Chinese New Year coincided with a fierce cold snap and snow storms which prevented many city workers returning to their villages for the celebrations. Police had to deal with the ensuing riots. London has just experienced snow at Easter.
The world is much bigger than both China and Canada combined, which might be the exceptions to the new rule of man-made global warming, but they are inconvenient facts for the climate change bandwagon.
And it is an intolerant bandwagon with loud exaggerated claims that the issue is settled and that an unchallenged consensus among scientists confirms the hypothesis of dangerous humanly caused global warming. In fact the issue is far from settled.
Politicians sceptical of these claims would need unusual courage to resist the strong tides of public opinion. However the rest of us are not so constrained and we should consider all the available information.
Three points are of some significance.
Last December more than 100 prominent international scientists, some of them members of the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warned the U.N. that attempting to control the earth’s climate was “ultimately futile”. So did 500 experts in Manhattan in March. Fighting climate change was distracting governments from helping the most vulnerable citizens adapt to the threat of inevitable natural climate changes, whatever they might prove to be. Futile attempts to prevent global climate change would be a tragic misallocation of resources, they claimed.
Secondly none of the natural changes observed with glaciers, sea-levels and species migration is outside the bounds of known variability, including the warming of 0.1 to 0.2 degrees Celsius per decade in the late twentieth century. But the 1930s decade was warmer than the 1990s.
Most importantly the global temperature has not increased since 2001. Global warming has ceased (New Statesman 19/12/2007).
This finding invalidates the global warming hypotheses because the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere continues to increase and the temperature should be increasing too. It isn’t.
The last point to be acknowledged is that today’s computer models cannot predict climate over long periods because there are too many unknowns and variables.
We should never forget that while computers are miracles of human ingenuity, able to assimilate extraordinary amounts of information in the briefest time, they are also limited, cannot think for themselves and are totally obedient to their last human master.
More than this is needed to predict the future.
Sursa (*).
… are un studiu privind sanatatea in jurisprudenta mentionatei instante supreme. Pentru ca, trebuie sa stiti, in respectivul stat, diversele institutii, Curte de casatie, Curte de conturi etc., in rapoartele lor anuale, publica studii si sinteze, alaturi de recomandari, studii ce ar face sa roseasca obrazul multor fetze sensibile dintre “expertzii” nostri…
Aici (*).
…ori, noi fiind anglofonfi, am spune “civil service” si am traduce – precum am mai vazut – “serviciul civil”…
Lasand gluma la o parte, documentul in cauza, impreuna cu alte documente, poate fi gasit aici (*).
Finnish immigration minister Astrid Thors on Friday (18 April) announced that only if they receive written guarantees that migrants will be fairly processed, will they return migrants to Greece.
Last week, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees recommended that European states halt the sending of refugees to Greece, complaining that procedural norms and conditions were not being met.
“[Refugees] often lack the most basic entitlements, such as interpreters and legal aid, to ensure that their claims receive adequate scrutiny from the asylum authorities,” the UN agency said in a statement.
As a matter of course, Greece arrests all migrants missing the appropriate documentation and detains them for three months.
According to EU rules in place since 2003 – the so-called Dublin II Regulation – the first EU member state that a migrant enters should be the one to examine his or her asylum application, meaning that other member states regularly send asylum claimants back to Greece, as the country is often the first EU country a migrant steps foot in.
Greece argues that this puts an undue burden on it as well as other EU border states such as Spain, Italy, Cyprus and Malta.
Athens has denied accusation that it handles asylum seekers poorly. At the end of March, the Greek minister of the interior, Procopios Pavlopoulos, wrote to his Slovenian counterpart – Slovenia currently holds the six-month rotating presidency of the EU – and requested that European justice ministers discuss the matter.
Greece respects the human rights of migrants and “EU fundamental values” at all times, Mr Pavlopoulos said in the letter.
The letter said that police and port authority officers “carry out their duties with eagerness and self-denial abiding by the Greek Constitution and legislation.”
It went on to say that “third-country nationals” are “received by State officials with all due respect comporting to the principles of human rights.”
“It is often the case that State officials do more than their duties dictate.”
However, the Finnish move is not the first time a European country has halted sending refugees to Greece. In February, Norway – which together with Iceland is a signatory to the Dublin agreements without being part of the EU – suspended all such transfers, and Germany shortly followed by ending the return of unaccompanied minors to the country.
In March, a Swedish migration court refused the extradition of an Iraqi asylum-seeker to Greece, fearing he would not receive proper treatment.
Sursa (*).
Ce se mai intampla pe la altii…
A national pro-life student group denounced the actions of a Yale art student who claims to have artificially inseminated herself and then induced in herself several abortions as part of an art project. The national group, Students for Life America, has also called on abortion-rights organizations to condemn the student’s actions.
According to the April 17 edition of the Yale Daily News, a so-called art project of Yale senior Aliza Shvarts will display physical blood samples and videos of her abortions in the stated goal that the exhibit will “spark conversation and debate on the relationship between art and the human body.” In the Yale Daily News article, Shvarts said she was not ashamed of the exhibition and has become “increasingly comfortable” discussing her induced miscarriages in everyday conversation.
Articolul complet si sursa (x)
Poate va amintiti cunoscutul banc ante-decembrist cu Bula, sor-sa si sifilisul (“asta ne mai lipsea”…). Ei bine, Curtea Constitutionala din Columbia s-a pronuntat recent… Decizia, in limba spaniola, aici (*).
After considering the arguments of domestic and international human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, the Constitutional Court found that same-sex partners should be given the same pension and health benefits as a family is. The court acknowledged that to exclude same-sex partners would violate the principle of non-discrimination and human dignity as the expression of personal autonomy, protected by international law.
“Same-sex partners in Colombia now have a broader legal framework to guarantee their equality,” said Jose Miguel Vivanco, director of the Americas Division at Human Rights Watch. “Colombia’s court set an example for the region; other countries should follow suit.”
Restul stirii aici (*).
Discursul Papei aici (*) si aici (*). Desi nu suntem catolici, trebuie sa recunoastem faptul ca episcopul Romei este unul dintre cei mai eruditi oameni ai prezentului.
Stitzi prea bine criteriile din capitala daneza, precum si referirile din rapoarte de monitorizare la Consiliul Europei. Articolul desi se refera la extindere, nu este asa de istoric precum pare.
Kochenov, Dimitry, “An Argument for Closer Cooperation Between the European Union and the Council of Europe in the Field of EU Enlargement Regulation” . Croatian Yearbook of European Law & Policy, Vol. 2, pp. 311-341, 2006 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=953960
Judging by the Copenhagen-related documents that regulated the preparation of the 5th enlargement of the European Union, the role played by the Council of Europe in the pre-accession was only minimal. This paper poses a question whether it would be beneficial to continue regulating enlargements along the same line. Alternatively to the presently adopted practice, the Council of Europe, which has its own effective system of human rights protection monitoring, might be invited to play a more active role in the preparation of the enlargements to come, which would make the application of the principle of conditionality more effective. Such a development would be in line with the recent moves towards closer cooperation between the two organisations and, especially, the Guidelines on the Relations between the Council of Europe and the European Union, appended to the Council of Europe Warsaw Summit Action Plan (2005), the recommendations contained in the recent Junker Report on the European Union – Council of Europe relations and the conclusions of the Brussels European Council (2006).
Laurence R. Helfer, Redesigning the European Court of Human Rights: Embeddedness as a Deep Structural Principle of the European Human Rights Regime, Journal of International Law, Vol. 19, p. 125, 2008 Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1021798
The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) is the crown jewel of the world’s most advanced international system for protecting civil and political liberties. In recent years, however, the ECtHR has become a victim of its own success. The Court now faces a docket crisis of massive proportions, the consequence of the growing number of states subject to its jurisdiction, its favourable public reputation, its expansive interpretations of individual liberties, a distrust of domestic judiciaries in some countries, and entrenched human rights problems in others. In response to this growing backlog of individual complaints, the Council of Europe has, over the last five years, considered numerous proposals to restructure the European human rights regime and redesign the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). This article argues that these proposals should be understood not as ministerial changes in supranational judicial procedure, nor as resolving a debate over whether the ECtHR should strive for individual or constitutional justice, but rather as raising more fundamental questions concerning the Court’s future identity. In particular, the article argues for recognition of ‘embeddedness‘ in national legal systems as a deep structural principle of the ECHR, a principle that functions as a necessary counterpoint to the subsidiary doctrine that has animated the Convention since its founding. Embeddedness does not substitute ECtHR rulings for the decisions of national parliaments or domestic courts. Rather, it requires the Council of Europe and the Court to bolster the mechanisms for governments to remedy human rights violations at home, obviating the need for individuals to seek supranational relief and restoring countries to a position in which the ECtHR’s deference to national decision-makers is appropriate.
Olivier De Schutter, Julie Ringelheim, Ethnic Profiling: A Rising Challenge for European Human Rights Law, Modern Law Review Vol. 71 Iss. 3, 358-384. [*]
Ethnic profiling, defined as the use of racial, ethnic or religious background as a determining criterion for the adoption of law enforcement decisions, has been rising significantly in Europe, in particular in the wake of the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001. This article examines whether European human rights law is well equipped to deal with this challenge, and if not, how it should be reformed. Against the widely held assumption that personal data protection legislation is insufficiently protective of ‘sensitive’ data relating to race or ethnicity, it explains instead why combating ethnic profiling has been made more difficult, rather than less, by an overly protective reading of the requirements of data protection laws. It then discusses the additional measures that European states could take to address more effectively the human rights concerns prompted by the development of ethnic profiling.
Comunicare jurisdicţională consolidată a Comisiei în temeiul Regulamentului (CE) nr. 139/2004 al Consiliului privind controlul concentrărilor economice între întreprinderi [*]
Reducing the Role of Government — The Chinese Experiment
China, India, and the Law of the World Trade Organization
Diane M. Ring, What’s at Stake in the Sovereignty Debate?: International Tax and the Nation-State, Forthcoming in Virginia Journal of International Law, Vol. 49 (2008). [*]
The international tax problems of today are typically beyond the scope of a single nation to solve. However, the prospect of multinational problem solving, often under the auspices of an international organization, unleashes objections grounded in sovereignty. Despite widespread reliance on sovereignty arguments, little attention has been directed at what precisely is meant by sovereignty and what place it has in international tax policy. This article contends that a loss of sovereignty undermines both significant functional roles played by a nation-state (revenue and fiscal policy) and important normative governance values (accountability and democratic legitimacy). Whether these limitations are severe enough to demand that a sovereign state recall its taxing powers from an international body (or not surrender them initially) depends on the nature of the powers in question and the necessity for a coordinated global response.
Part I develops the basic nexus between sovereignty and taxation. Part II examines the use of sovereignty in the debates and analyses surrounding three international tax case studies. Drawing upon the case studies, Part III considers how sovereignty claims are manipulated in tax debates, how states think about sovereignty in taxation, and what their decisions, in turn, suggest about the future of international tax and the prospects for international cooperation.
Consiliul de Stat a decis pe 10 aprilie a.c. si a anulat partial un decret din 2006 in materia spalarii banilor.
De la EUObserver (*).
Rich countries criticised for lack of leadership on climate change
Mr Pachauri urged other countries to follow Europe’s initiative and also set ambitious targets for carbon cuts.
China and India, two of the fastest-growing economies and seen as essential signatories for any climate deal if it is to have an impact, “would like to see some level of ambition on the part of the developed countries before they make any voluntary commitments of their own,” he said.
Mr Pachauri also underlined that more money was needed to assist developing countries’ adaptation to the possible impacts of global warming, as well as “some tangible efforts to make technology transfer a reality.”
European Competition Law Review [*, *]
Volume 29, Issue 4, 2008
Massimo Motta, On Cartel Deterrence and Fines in the European Union, European Competition Law Review, Volume 29, Issue 4, 2008
This paper assesses-with the help of some simple quantitative analysis-the European Commission’s practice against cartels, with particular reference to fines. It then discusses policies which can be used to increase cartel deterrence.
Alex Petrasincu, The European Commission’s New Guidelines on the Assessment of Non-Horizontal Mergers-Great Expectations Disappointed, European Competition Law Review, Volume 29, Issue 4, 2008
The European Commission recently published its Guidelines on the assessment of non-horizontal mergers. This article examines the Guidelines’ approach to non-horizontal mergers by comparing it to the Commission’s enforcement practice. At first glance, the Guidelines seem to describe the analysis of vertical and conglomerate mergers in a rather comprehensive manner. An in-depth examination however reveals that the Guidelines raise many questions.
Tjarda Van Der Vijver, Exemptions to Third Party Access for New Infrastructures in the European Community Gas Sector-The Exception that Defies the Rule?, European Competition Law Review, Volume 29, Issue 4, 2008
In order to stimulate competition in the European gas sector, the Second Gas Directive puts forward the principle of third party access (TPA). Exemptions to TPA can be made if these are necessary to built new infrastructures. This article examines how the national authorities deal with such exemptions. It concludes that exemptions are more easily granted than the underlying texts suggest, but that there are understandable reasons for this.
Hanna Anttilainen-Mochnacz, Two-step Transaction Structures in the Context of the EC Merger Regulation: To Have or to Hold?, European Competition Law Review, Volume 29, Issue 4, 2008
Two-step transaction structures such as “pooling”, “warehousing” and options may solve commercial needs but face increasing hurdles in the context of the EC merger control rules. This article considers the various interpretation problems raised by such structures as well as considering some pertinent past case law.
John F. Blakney, Olivia Wright, The North American Price Discrimination Law Debate: Considerations for Europe, European Competition Law Review, Volume 29, Issue 4, 2008
This article looks to Canadian competition law to argue the merits of a tailored price discrimination prohibition of demonstrably anti-competitive conduct for European competition law, particularly in the buyer side or upstream markets where market power can arise at market shares well below those generally applied for general abuse of dominance and anti-monopolization prohibitions.
Moritz Lorenz, The New Chinese Competition Act, European Competition Law Review, Volume 29, Issue 4, 2008
On August 30, 2007, China passed its first complete competition law following over 10 years of debate. The new act comes into force on August 1, 2008. China will then have a law which contains the “classic three pillars of competition law”, specifically a prohibition on anti-competitive agreements and a prohibition on abuse of dominance and merger control. Until now these areas were only covered by very fragmented regulations. In addition, the new act contains a prohibition on the abuse of sovereign power to reduce or eliminate competition. With the new legislation the People’s Republic of China has achieved another step on the road to transforming itself from a planned to a free market economy, and the new law markedly changes the legal framework for the activities of foreign companies. The following article provides an overview of the changes and in so doing draws comparisons with the EC regime.
David Wirth, Niall Collins, Assessing the Cost-Benefit Impact within the De Minimis Exception, European Competition Law Review, Volume 29, Issue 4, 2008
This article provides an overview of the Office of Fair Trading’s “New Guidelines”, published in November 2007 and revising their de minimis guidance. It assesses how this guidance has been applied in recent public transport merger decisions, and calls attention to factors potentially relevant to mergers in other sectors.
Case Comment
Gerard Rothschild, The Battle of the Buses: Chester City Council v Arriva Plc, European Competition Law Review, Volume 29, Issue 4, 2008
This article analyses the English High Court’s decision in Chester City Council v Arriva Plc. The expedited claim under s.18 of the Competition Act 1998 alleged abuse of dominance by predatory action influencing the sale of a municipal bus company. The article considers market analysis, standard of proof and approach to expert evidence in such a claim.
Book Reviews
Stephen Tupper, Regulating Utilities and Promoting Competition-Lessons for the Future; Utility Regulation in Competitive Markets-Problems and Progress, European Competition Law Review, Volume 29, Issue 4, 2008