The scope of protection of single letter marks: An attempt to reconcile the status quo of European Union case law

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-50
Author(s):  
Irenah S Klink
2007 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 281-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
THOMAS KÖNIG ◽  
BJORN LINDBERG ◽  
SANDRA LECHNER ◽  
WINFRIED POHLMEIER

This article is a study of bicameral conflict resolution between the Council and the European Parliament in the European Union, which has established a bicameral conciliation process under the co-decision procedure. Scholars commonly agree that the European Parliament has gained power under the co-decision procedure, but the impact of the conciliation process on the power distribution between the Council and the European Parliament remains unclear. The scholarly debate suggests that the power of the institutional actors depends on their proximity to the status quo, the (im-)patience and the specific preference distribution of the institutional actors, although most analyses assume that the Commission plays an insignificant role. Using an ordered probit model, this study examines the power distribution between the two institutional actors, the factors for their bargaining success and the role of the Commission in the period between 1999 and 2002. The findings show that the European Parliament wins most conflicts, but that the Council is more successful in multi-dimensional disputes. The results confirm some theoretical claims made in the literature, such as the importance of the status quo location and of preference cohesiveness. However, they also reject a major assumption in the literature on the irrelevance of the Commission in the conciliation process, which we show to have an influential informational position for parliamentary success.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens T. Theilen

This study offers a critical account of the reasoning employed by the European Court of Human Rights, particularly its references to European consensus. Based on an in-depth analysis of the Court’s case-law against the backdrop of human rights theory, it will be of interest to both practitioners and theorists. While European consensus is often understood as providing an objective benchmark within the Court’s reasoning, this study argues to the contrary that it forms part of the very structures of argument that render human rights law indeterminate. It suggests that foregrounding consensus and the Court’s legitimacy serves to entrench the status quo and puts forward novel ways of approaching human rights to enable social transformation.


2008 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 341-371 ◽  
Author(s):  
ALEXANDRA HENNESSY

ABSTRACTWhy do German policymakers support some aspects of a single European pension market, but not others? This article argues that the German government’s preferences towards European Union (EU) pension directives are best explained by combining historical institutionalism (HI) and domestic discourse analysis (DA). Each approach by itself is insufficient to account for the observed variation between 1991 and 2007. Arguments based on party ideologies offer less explanatory power. HI explains why all governments – Kohl, Schröder, and Merkel – protected employer-sponsored book reserve pensions, a cornerstone of Germany’s coordinated market economy, from the scope of EU directives. DA allows us to grasp how interests were reframed. While the status quo stance of the Kohl government succeeded in delegitimizing supporters of alternative pension security concepts, the Schröder administration imposed an economically efficient pension reform without much public support. The grand coalition, in turn, abandoned Chancellor Merkel’s initial plan to expand second-tier pensions in the light of rising pressures that the Left Party posed for the Social Democratic coalition partner.


2016 ◽  
Vol 17 (S1) ◽  
pp. 131-142 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Wikinson

The result of the Brexit referendum sends shockwaves through the political fabric of the UK, Europe and beyond. It is the latest instance in a series of anti-systemic shocks to hit the EU, but will almost certainly not be the last, as discontent with the status quo and a disconnected elite continues unabated across the Continent (and is replicated across the Atlantic), and the European Union provides a convenient target for voters to express their anger and resentment.


Obiter ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 88-105
Author(s):  
Lux Lesley Kubjana

Sexual harassment at the workplace has become commonplace in South Africa, as is the case elsewhere in the world. International study that investigated the prevalence of sexual harassment at workplaces points that although it affects both men and women, most reported incidents portray women as more prone than men. Similar outlook is reflected in South Africa. The author is of the view that these numbers provide an opportunity to reflect and review the status quo insofar as regulation of sexual harassment is concerned. While this article acknowledges the general will to combat sexual harassment in South Africa, it raises concerns about both the regulation of and the interpretation of the sexual harassment regulatory framework. These two components do not seem to complement one another as they should. This is evident from a reading of the Code of Good Practice on the Handling of Sexual Harassment Cases, both in its original and amended form, which have leanings towards a subjective and guilt-presuming inquiry in the determination of what constitutes sexual harassment. Irreconcilable CCMA and court decisions bear testimony to this claim. First, the article argues that a subjective approach is susceptible to abuse and provides a breeding ground for more inconsistencies in sexual harassment jurisprudence. Moreover, individual perception cannot be determinative. Secondly, it bemoans the pattern by courts and the CCMA of overlooking the grammatical meaning of the words used in the Code of Good Practice. This article argues for the adoption of a pragmatic and objective approach based on facts and logic when dealing with sexual harassment at the workplace.


Author(s):  
Emilie M. Hafner-Burton

This chapter considers the status quo—the punishments and rewards used by steward states as part of their foreign policy to advance human rights today. Although they are not the only stewards, the chapter focuses on the United States and the European Union and the ways that they already use their political authority, resources, and reach for human rights promotion. The limits of punishments, such as military intervention and nonmilitary punishments, and rewards are discussed, along with two important lessons about how stewards can be more effective: one concerns localization, and the other is about setting priorities. The chapter argues that a more strategic use of state power has enormous potential to enhance the effectiveness of stewardship.


Author(s):  
Dickson Brice

This chapter charts the way in which the Irish Supreme Court has applied the law of the European Community/Union. It takes the reader through several seminal cases which illustrate the Court’s readiness to accommodate EC/EU standards within domestic Irish law. These include the Campus Oil case, the Crotty case, the Meagher case, the Maher case, and the Pringle case. This entails explaining and critiquing the Supreme Court’s approach to the doctrine of separation of powers and the status of EC/EU law within the Irish Constitution. The case-law in this field illustrates how activist the Supreme Court can sometimes be. The chapter ends by looking at other respects in which the Supreme Court has interacted with EU law


Author(s):  
Lisa Waddington

The EU’s accession to the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) implies an important role for the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). Given that the Court has the task of interpreting the CRPD as an instrument of EU law and, in particular, ensuring that EU secondary legislation is interpreted in a manner which is compatible with the Convention wherever possible, it is not surprising to find references to the CRPD in a number of judgments and Opinions of its Advocate General rendered both before, and primarily after, the conclusion of the CRPD by the EU. This chapter explores those judgments and Opinions in some depth, looking at the status of international agreements concluded by the EU; how the CRPD has been incorporated into EU law; and discussing case law that has referred to the CRPD, and analysing the extent to and way in which the CJEU has interpreted the CRPD.


2020 ◽  
Vol XXIII (2) ◽  
pp. 201-206
Author(s):  
Cojocaru Iulian

The instability of the security environment is dangerous and can become devastating for a state, a region, a continent or even for the whole world if the necessary measures are not taken immediately. The main issues that have, over time, underpinned the European project were security and social welfare. These aspects are still important today and are very topical, representing at the same time the main objectives of the European Union, even if the changes are fast, and the security environment we live in is particularly fragile. For over half a century, the European Union has continuously contributed to maintaining peace, stability and prosperity, raised the standards of living, launched a single currency and has constantly evolved to create a single market in which people, goods, services and the capital can move freely, as if it were in the territory of a single country. Now, the European Union must face the existing challenges and adapt to the changes in the security environment. The adaptation to the new, to the changes, is the fundamental property of the European Union, and this must change and at the same time adapt the mode of action in relation to the alternatives that have occurred both from a quantitative and qualitative point of view.At present, the adaptability of the European Union in the new global security context is precisely its ability to understand the changes and make the necessary adjustments immediately to the current requirements, to react promptly with appropriate responses that will lead to the restoration of the status quo.


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