Religion and EU Institutions

2013 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 326-331 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pasquale Annicchino
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Commission ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Religious Groups ◽  
European Institutions ◽  
Religious Associations ◽  
Dialogue Seminar

The implementation of Article 17(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) has always been one of the central topics of discussion for legal scholars analysing the relationships between religious groups and European institutions. According to Article 17, the European Union shall maintain an open, transparent and regular dialogue with churches, religious associations or communities, philosophical organisations and non-confessional organisations. In the case in hand, the complainant, the European Humanist Federation (EHF) decided to lodge a complaint before the European Ombudsman when the European Commission rejected the proposal for a dialogue seminar.

Environmental Inspections at the EU: The imperative to move forward

elni Review ◽  
2009 ◽  
pp. 79-82
Author(s):  
Ana Barreira
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Environmental Policy ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Current Status ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Community Law ◽  
European Institutions ◽  
The Eu ◽  
The Way

The European Commission has recognised that “[l]aws do not serve their full purpose unless they are properly applied and enforced”. In addition “[t]he European Institutions and the Member States should continue to develop their work to ensure that Community law is correctly applied and implemented”. There are diverse tools for guaranteeing compliance such as compliance indicators, compliance and enforcement strategies and environmental inspections, the purpose of which is to supervise compliance. This article focuses on the latter. Firstly, the way in which this instrument was incorporated under Community environmental policy is examined. Secondly, the current status of environmental inspections at EU level is briefly analysed. Thereafter, it will concentrate on the proposals for the review of this tool, ending with some recommendations on how environmental inspections should be regulated in the European Union with a focus on the demands of European Environmental Bureau (EEB) on this matter.

Open Access in Practice

2020 ◽  
pp. 128-172
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Open Access ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Copyright Law ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The Political ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Specific Policy ◽  
European Institutions

The basic scope of the European Union is the political and economic unification through harmonisation of European Member States' national regulations and associated frameworks. Should the European Union aim to harmonise and unify these national regulations, it is only reasonable to do so through copyright-specific policy provisions implemented by the European countries. The European copyright regime could potentially facilitate open access practice, should this practice be tailored to policy-making actors regarding the European copyright law framework. This chapter examines efforts and initiatives made by the European institutions (e.g., European Commission, European Parliament) in order to construct a coherent copyright framework for the European Union Members.

La corrupción en el seno de las instituciones de la Unión Europea: responsabilidades, investigación administrativa y control judicial

2016 ◽  
pp. 237-266
Author(s):  
David ORDÓÑEZ SOLÍS
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Lisbon Treaty ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Disciplinary Actions ◽  
National Courts ◽  
European Institutions ◽  
European Public ◽  
Financial Interests ◽  
Set Up

LABURPENA: Europako Batasunaren erakundeetan ere ustelkeria dagoela egiaztatu da. Bruselako politikariak eta funtzionarioak politika, diziplina eta, jakina, zigor kontroleko prozeduren mende daude. 1999an, eta Europako Batzordean detektatutako ustelkeria dela eta, Europako erakundeak hartutako erabakiari esker, martxan jarri zen Iruzurraren aurkako Borrokatzeko Europako Bulegoa (OLAF), ustelkeria eta ez-betetze larriak ikertzeko. 2009an, Lisboako Tratatuan Europako fiskaltza eratzea proposatu zen, Europako mailan egindako delituen —bereziki, Euro¬pako Batasunaren finantza interesetan eragina duten delituak— ikerketa judizialak egiteko. Kasu bietan, ikerketen ondorioz, diziplina eta zigor neurriak ezar daitezke. Eremu horretan, epaimahaiek xede berezia dute, alegia: politika eta diziplina erantzukizuna badago, justizia auzitegiak du legalitatearen kontrola; aldiz, nazioko zigor epaileek baino ezin dizkiete ezarri zigor zehapenak Europako Batasuneko politikariei eta funtzionarioei. RESUMEN: En el seno de las instituciones de la Unión Europea también se ha comprobado la existencia de corrupción. Los políticos y los funcionarios de Bruselas están sometidos a procedimientos de control político, disciplinario y, desde luego, penal. En 1999 y a raíz de la corrupción detectada en la Comisión Europea se puso en marcha la Oficina Europea de Lucha contra el Fraude (OLAF) en virtud de un acuerdo de las instituciones europeas con el fin de investigar la corrupción y los incumplimientos graves. En 2009 el Tratado de Lisboa ha previsto el establecimiento de una Fiscalía Europea que impulse las investigaciones judiciales relacionadas con los delitos europeos, en particular los que afectan a los intereses financieros de la Unión. En ambos casos las investigaciones pueden concluir con la imposición de medidas disciplinarias y penales. En este ámbito los tribunales tienen una misión esencial: en el caso de la responsabilidad política y disciplinaria el control de la legalidad corresponde al Tribunal de Justicia; en cambio, las sanciones penales a los políticos y funcionarios de la Unión Europea solo pueden imponerlas los jueces penales nacionales. ABSTRACT: Corruption also lives within the institutions of the European Union. Members and officials of the European institutions are responsible and submitted to political, disciplinary and criminal actions. As a consequence of the corruption unveiled in the European Commission in 1999, the European Anti-Fraud Office (OLAF) was set up by the agreement of the European institutions in order to investigate frauds and serious misconducts. Moreover, the Lisbon Treaty has foreseen the setting up of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office whose mandate is to investigate, prosecute and bring to judgment the perpetrators ofoffences against the Union’s financial interests. These organisms allow performing administrative and criminal inquiries regarding European officials. Tribunals, both European and National, are committed to control the disciplinary actions (European Courts) and criminal lawsuits (National Courts) against European politicians and officials.

Austrian Veto against European Union Membership Negotiations with Turkey

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-122
Author(s):  
Ewa Kaczan-Winiarska
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Security Policy ◽  
Negotiation Process ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Strategic Partner ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
European Standards ◽  
The Eu

The Austrian government is extremely sceptical about the accession negotiations which are conducted by the European Commission on behalf of the European Union with Turkey and calls for the negotiation process to end. Serious reservations of Vienna have been raised by the current political situation in Turkey under the rule of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, as well as by the standards of democracy in Turkey, which differ greatly from European standards. Serious deficiencies in rule of law, freedom of speech and independence of the judiciary, confirmed in the latest European Commission report on Turkey, do not justify, from Vienna’s point of view, the continuation of talks with Ankara on EU membership. In fact, Austria’s scepticism about the European perspective for Turkey has a longer tradition. This was marked previously in 2005 when the accession negotiations began. Until now, Austria’s position has not had enough clout within the European arena. Pragmatic cooperation with Turkey as a strategic partner of the EU, both in the context of the migration crisis and security policy, proved to be a key factor. The question is whether Austria, which took over the EU presidency from 1.7.2018, will be able to more strongly accentuate its reservations about Turkey and even build an alliance of Member States strong enough to block Turkey’s accession process.

Legal Maxims: Summaries and Extracts from Selected Case Law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sébastien Brisard ◽  
Guglielmo Cantillo ◽  
Ramona Grimberger ◽  
Victoria Hanley-Emilsson ◽  
Rebeka Hevesi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Vice President ◽  
Case Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Grand Chamber

Council of the European Union v. European Commission, Case C-409/13, Grand Chamber, Judgment, 14 April 2015European Commission v. Vanbreda Risk & Benefits, Case C‑35/15 P(R), Order of the Vice-President of the Court, 23 April 2015Geoffrey Léger v. Ministre des Affaires sociales, de la Santé et des Droits des femmes, Établissement français du sang...

scholarly journals Sustainability in the European Union: Analyzing the Discourse of the European Green Deal

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 80
Author(s):  
Eva Eckert ◽  
Oleksandra Kovalevska
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Critical Discourse Analysis ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
Main Question ◽  
The European Union ◽  
International Media ◽  
Institutional Power ◽  
The One ◽  
The Eu

In the European Union, the concern for sustainability has been legitimized by its politically and ecologically motivated discourse disseminated through recent policies of the European Commission and the local as well as international media. In the article, we question the very meaning of sustainability and examine the European Green Deal, the major political document issued by the EC in 2019. The main question pursued in the study is whether expectations verbalized in the Green Deal’s plans, programs, strategies, and developments hold up to the scrutiny of critical discourse analysis. We compare the Green Deal’s treatment of sustainability to how sustainability is presented in environmental and social science scholarship and point out that research, on the one hand, and the politically motivated discourse, on the other, do not correlate and often actually contradict each other. We conclude that sustainability discourse and its keywords, lexicon, and phraseology have become a channel through which political institutions in the EU such as the European Commission sideline crucial environmental issues and endorse their own presence. The Green Deal discourse shapes political and institutional power of the Commission and the EU.

scholarly journals A Review of Bioplastics and Their Adoption in the Circular Economy

Polymers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 1229
Author(s):  
Alberto Di Bartolo ◽  
Giulia Infurna ◽  
Nadka Tzankova Dintcheva
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Life Cycle Assessment ◽  
Life Cycle ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Environmental Risks ◽  
Plastic Waste ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Sustainable Society ◽  
Net Zero

The European Union is working towards the 2050 net-zero emissions goal and tackling the ever-growing environmental and sustainability crisis by implementing the European Green Deal. The shift towards a more sustainable society is intertwined with the production, use, and disposal of plastic in the European economy. Emissions generated by plastic production, plastic waste, littering and leakage in nature, insufficient recycling, are some of the issues addressed by the European Commission. Adoption of bioplastics–plastics that are biodegradable, bio-based, or both–is under assessment as one way to decouple society from the use of fossil resources, and to mitigate specific environmental risks related to plastic waste. In this work, we aim at reviewing the field of bioplastics, including standards and life cycle assessment studies, and discuss some of the challenges that can be currently identified with the adoption of these materials.

scholarly journals Joint bodies in the European Union's international agreements: Delegating powers to the European Commission in EU external relations

2021 ◽  
pp. 146511652110273
Author(s):  
Markus Gastinger ◽  
Andreas Dür
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Empirical Support ◽  
International Agreements ◽  
Principal Agent ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Original Dataset ◽  
Voting Rule ◽  
External Relations ◽  
Set Up

In many international agreements, the European Union sets up joint bodies such as ‘association councils’ or ‘joint committees’. These institutions bring together European Union and third-country officials for agreement implementation. To date, we know surprisingly little about how much discretion the European Commission enjoys in them. Drawing on a principal–agent framework, we hypothesise that the complexity of agreements, the voting rule, conflict within the Council, and agency losses can explain Commission discretion in these institutions. Drawing on an original dataset covering nearly 300 such joint bodies set up by the European Union since 1992, we find robust empirical support for all expectations except for the agency loss thesis. Our findings suggest that the European Commission is the primary actor in the implementation of many of the European Union's international agreements, allowing it to influence EU external relations beyond what is currently acknowledged in the literature.

scholarly journals The common energy market of the European Union – utopia or reality?

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-102 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ana-Maria Iulia Şanta
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Renewable Energy ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Social Impact ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Energy Market ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Legal Provisions ◽  
Energy Union ◽  
The Common

Abstract The European Commission has the initiative to foster the sector of renewable energy and to build an Energy Union, with a common energy market at the level of the European Union, but is this only an utopic vision or is this possible to achieve? The topic of clean energy is very new and of great interest for the European Union, which is shown by the fact that the European Commission recently adopted on the 30th November 2016 the package “Clean Energy for All Europeans”, which contains proposals for the modernization of the energy market at the level of the European Union. But which are the challenges such a project is confronted with? According to the literature, such challenges are related to the process of liberalization of electricity markets. Conflicts between national interest and international actors of the energy market might occur. Due to the oligopolistic structure of the energy market, there are several barriers to the market entry. In order to answer to the research questions, case studies regarding the liberalization of the energy market will be analyzed in a comparative manner, offering an international overview. Furthermore, the legal provisions on which the common energy policy of the European Union relies, will be analyzed, as well as their economic and social impact. The package “Clean Energy for All Europeans” comprises a proposal of the revised Renewable energy Directive, energy efficiency measures and issues related to the Energy Union Governance. It contains as well proposals for the electricity market design, which will be analyzed and the present paper outlines the contribution of this proposal in building a common energy market of the European Union. What role does competition play in implementing the common energy market of the European Union? Which role do competition authorities have in this context? These are interesting aspects to be analyzed in the present paper.

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