The EU in Search for Stronger Enforcement Rules: Assessing the Proposed Amendments to Trade Enforcement Regulation 654/2014

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (4) ◽  
pp. 865-884
Author(s):  
Wolfgang Weiß ◽  
Cornelia Furculita

Abstract Considering the new focus of the European Union (EU) trade policy on strengthening the enforcement of trade rules, the article presents the proposed amendments to the EU Trade Enforcement Regulation 654/2014. It analyzes the EU Commission proposal and the amendments suggested by the European Parliament Committee on International Trade (INTA), in particular with regard to uncooperative third parties and the provision of immediate countermeasures. The amendments will be assessed in view of their legality under World Trade Organization (WTO), Free Trade Agreement (FTA), and general international law and in view of their political implications for the EU’s multilateralist stance. Finally, the opportunity to amend Regulation 654/2014 to use it for the enforcement of FTA trade and sustainable development chapters will be explored. The analysis shows that the shift towards more effective enforcement should be pursued with due care for respecting existing international legal commitments and with more caution to multilateralism.

2018 ◽  
Vol 77 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-32
Author(s):  
Rumiana Yotova

ON 16 May 2017, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered its Opinion 2/15 concerning the competence of the EU to conclude the Free Trade Agreement with Singapore (EUSFTA) (ECLI:EU:C:2017:376). The Opinion was requested by the Commission which argued, with the support of the European Parliament (EP), that the EU had exclusive competence to conclude the EUSFTA. The Council and 25 of the Member States countered that the EUSFTA should be concluded as a mixed agreement – that is, by the EU and each of its members – because some of its provisions fell under the shared competence of the organisation or the competence of the Member States alone.


2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 208-222
Author(s):  
Heidi Stockhaus

The new free trade agreement with the European Union will bring Vietnam’s economic integration to a new level once it enters into force. In the past, the associated economic growth has led to environmental deterioration due to inappropriate regulations and poor enforcement. Currently, environmental problems are visible everywhere and attract the attention of citizens as well as lawmakers. The new free trade agreement establishes a framework for sustainable development in the context of trade and investment. The relevant provisions aim to maintain Vietnam’s right to regulate for the targeted protection level, require the country to take measures to mitigate the pressure on the environment, and open the door for cooperation with the European Union. However, it remains to be seen, whether these provisions balance the risks associated with the increase in trade and investment through the free trade agreement.


Rules controlling State aid and subsidies on the EU and the WTO level can have a decisive influence on both regulatory and distributive decision-making. This field of law has grown exponentially in importance and complexity over the past decades. Rules on State aid and subsidies control are one of the key instruments to ensure that public spending and regulatory measures do not lead to discriminatory distortions of competition. As a consequence, hardly any part of national law is free from review under criteria of State aid and subsidy regulation. In turn, State aid and subsidies law is linked to economic, constitutional, administrative law of the EU and the Member States as well as to public international law. This book provides expert opinion and commentary on the diverse dimensions of this complex and vital area of law. Critically analysing and explaining developments and current approaches in State aid law and subsidies, the chapters take into account not only the legal dimensions but also the economic and political implications. They address the EU law applicable to State aid in the aftermath of the recent State Modernisation reform, and coverage includes: an in-depth analysis of the notion of State aid as interpreted by the Court's cases-law and the Commission's practice; the rules on compatibility of State aid with the internal market; the rules governing the procedure before the Commission; the litigation before the Court of Justice of the European Union; and analysis of the other trade defence instruments, including WTO subsidy law and EU anti-subsidy law.


Author(s):  
Detlef Nolte ◽  
Clarissa Correa Ribeiro Neto

Abstract The relations with the European Union (EU) began almost with the Mercosur’s creation. After signing a first framework agreement in 1995, the EU and Mercosur began negotiating a comprehensive interregional partnership with a free trade agreement since 1999. Negotiations were conducted with ups and downs, suspended, and resumed over a period of more than 20 years, and up to Mercosur’s 30th anniversary there is still no free trade agreement ratified with the EU. Based on the broad literature on the relations between the EU and Mercosur (both by European and Latin American authors) and on the analysis of official documents and declarations from the EU and Mercosur, this paper proposes some explanations as to why these negotiations have progressed so slowly and faced so many obstacles.


Author(s):  
M.V. Buromenskiy ◽  
P.V. Otenko

Complex and comparative analysis of the election and nomination procedure of Commissioners and the President of the EU Commission has been made from the date of creation of the High Authority within the European Coal and Steal Community until the establishment of the modern EU Commission in accordance with the last amendments that have been made by the Lisbon Treaty. It is proved that due to the entering into force of the Maastricht Treaty, sharpening of the «democratic deficit» problem and because of other political processes at the beginning of 1990’s within the European Communities, European Parliament obtained ample powers and leverage on the functioning, election and nomination procedure of Сommissioners and the President of the EU Commission. It is emphasized that election and nomination procedure of Commissioners and the President of the EU Commission is sufficiently politicized and bureaucratized at the contemporary stage of the existence of the European Union. The definition of the phenomenon «politicization of the EU Commission» has been specified. It is outlined that the phenomenon of politicization of the EU Commission has both positive and negative consequences on the EU Commission and the EU as a whole. It is established that «politicization» of the EU Commission may cause disruption of the cornerstone principles on which the EU has been created, first of all those principles that are related to the theory of functionalism in International Law.


PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (8) ◽  
pp. e0256242
Author(s):  
Julieth P. Cubillos T. ◽  
Béla Soltész ◽  
László Vasa

Generally, research and studies about commodities focus on price trends, analysis in terms of international competitiveness, market position structure, rate of net exports, market share, and concentration index. This paper has developed an analysis of the most influential agricultural commodities traded from Colombia to European Union, which are bananas, coffee, and palm oil. Analyzing the economic and commercial effects in two traditional agricultural commodities from Colombia (bananas and coffee) with the rise of palm oil as a commodity in the trade relation with its partner; the European Union. The structure draws from the overview of general aspects and the behavior of Colombian foreign trade, as diversification of export products and trade partners, to focus on the characteristics of the trade relationship between the European Union and Colombia. The aim is analyze the proportional relation between bananas, coffee, and palm oil exported to the EU, according to three indicators, the volume of production, exports share, and trade value, from 2008 until 2019, identifying the trends before and after the implementation of the free trade agreement. Finally, with the coefficient correlation, determine the agricultural commodity that has the strongest and positive relationship with the total agricultural exports value from Colombia to the European Union.


2020 ◽  
pp. 92-97
Author(s):  
A. V. Kuznetsov

The article examines the norms of international law and the legislation of the EU countries. The list of main provisions of constitutional and legal restrictions in the European Union countries is presented. The application of the norms is described Human rights conventions. The principle of implementing legal acts in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic is considered. A comparative analysis of legal restrictive measures in the States of the European Union is carried out.


Author(s):  
Pavlos Eleftheriadis

This book offers a legal and political theory of the European Union. Many political and legal philosophers compare the EU to a federal union. They believe that its basic laws should be subject to the standards of constitutional law. They thus find it lacking or incomplete. This book offers a rival theory. If one looks more closely at the treaties and the precedents of the European courts, one sees that the substance of EU law is international, not constitutional. Just like international law, it applies primarily to the relations between states. It binds domestic institutions directly only when the local constitutions allow it. The member states have democratically chosen to adapt their constitutional arrangements in order to share legislative and executive powers with their partners. The legal architecture of the European Union is thus best understood under a theory of dualism and not pluralism. According to this internationalist view, EU law is part of the law of nations and its distinction from domestic law is a matter of substance, not form. This arrangement is supported by a cosmopolitan theory of international justice, which we may call progressive internationalism. The EU is a union of democratic peoples, that freely organize their interdependence on the basis of principles of equality and reciprocity. Its central principles are not the principles of a constitution, but cosmopolitan principles of accountability, liberty, and fairness,


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