Risk Regulation in the EU Internal Market

2019 ◽  
pp. 47-85
Author(s):  
Maria Weimer
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Institutional Context ◽  
Internal Market ◽  
Market Regulation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Risk Regulation ◽  
Single European Act ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines the evolution of risk regulation in the European Union since the Single European Act, with particular emphasis on how the legal and institutional context of the internal market has shaped the EU approach to risk. It first traces the emergence of supranational risk regulation in the EU with the ‘1992 project’ before discussing treaty reforms in the 1990s which strengthened the function of risk regulation as a justification of EU internal market regulation. It then considers the legitimacy dilemma faced by the EU with regard to risk regulation, focusing on the debate over the scope of political discretion that the precautionary principle should provide. It also analyses the application of the principles of risk and cost-benefit analysis to control discretion through science and economics, respectively. Finally, it explores risk regulation challenges arising from the legal-institutional, socio-economic, and cultural diversity in the Member States.

scholarly journals “I would like to see that one is able to say I’m proud of being a citizen of the EU…” – the way Hungarian people see Europe and the European Union

2012 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-135
Author(s):  
Borbála Göncz
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Main Question ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Subject ◽  
People’S Attitudes ◽  
Emotional Approach ◽  
The Eu ◽  
The Way

This paper explores the concepts of Europe, Europeanism and European Union, their meaning to Hungarians, how people define them and how they relate to these concepts through the analysis of qualitative in-depth interviews. The main question is whether the discourse, expressing attitudes towards Europe and the European Union, are of symbolic or utilitarian character. The symbolic way to relate to the EU is based on principles, an ideological or an emotional approach of the subject, while the pragmatic or utilitarian logic is based on rational cost-benefit analysis. The main argument of this current paper is that the way Hungarians tend to relate to the EU is rather utilitarian and it is the utilitarian logic that represents the relevant frame to understand people’s attitudes on the subject.

Risk Regulation in the Internal Market

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Weimer
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Genetically Modified Organisms ◽  
New Technologies ◽  
Agricultural Biotechnology ◽  
Social Sustainability ◽  
Internal Market ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Risk Regulation ◽  
Social Concerns ◽  
The Eu

This book offers a topical inquiry into the legal and political limits of European Union regulation in the field of risk and new technologies surrounded by techno-scientific complexity, uncertainty, and societal contestation. It uses agricultural biotechnology as a paradigmatic example to illustrate the complex intersection between environmental, public health, economic, and social concerns in risk regulation. The text analyses the drawbacks of the European Union approach to agricultural biotechnology showing that its reductionism, that is, the narrow understanding of the risks associated with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) as well as the exclusion of broader societal concerns related to environmental and social sustainability, has undermined both the legitimacy and effectiveness of EU regulation in this area. Resistance to this approach, however, has also triggered legal innovations prompting us to rethink EU internal market law, including the way in which it manages the tensions between unity and diversity, and between social and economic concerns. This book examines how far the EU can go in harmonizing regulatory approaches to risk. At the same time, it proposes new ways of rethinking EU risk regulation to make it more responsive to different perspectives on risk and technology.

scholarly journals Dr Torben Holvad

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-13
Author(s):  
Aránzazu Berbey Álvarez
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Quantitative Methods ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Multicriteria Analysis ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Data Envelopment ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Benefit Analysis ◽  
Transport Economics ◽  
European University

Torben Holvad is Analysis Team Leader at the European Union Agency for Railways (France). He obtained Economics degrees from Copenhagen University (MSc) and the European University Institute in Florence (PhD). He has more than 30 years of experience in applied economic analysis. His skills and expertise correspond to backgrounds like: Quantitative methods, Data Envelopment Analysis, Impact Assessment, Cost Benefit Analysis, Transport Economics, Multicriteria analysis, Economics of regulation, Data analysis, Health economics.

1. The origins of the European Union and EU law

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elspeth Berry ◽  
Matthew J. Homewood ◽  
Barbara Bogusz
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Single European Act ◽  
Charter Of Fundamental Rights ◽  
History Of ◽  
Complete Series ◽  
Explanatory Text ◽  
Treaty Of Rome ◽  
The Eu

Titles in the Complete series combine extracts from a wide range of primary materials with clear explanatory text to provide readers with a complete introductory resource. This chapter discusses the history of the European Union. It covers the historical rationale for the EU; the aims of the EU; the four stages of economic integration; economic and political difficulties; expansion of membership; institutional developments; legal developments; closer European integration; the Treaty of Rome (1957), the Single European Act (1986); the Treaty on European Union (1992); the Treaty of Amsterdam (1997); the Charter of Fundamental Rights; the Treaty of Nice (2001); the Treaty of Lisbon (2007); and the potential process for and impact of ‘Brexit’.

6. Free movement of persons

2020 ◽  
pp. 121-153
Author(s):  
Matthew J. Homewood
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Member State ◽  
General Principle ◽  
Internal Market ◽  
Free Movement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Scope Of Application ◽  
Free Movement Of Persons ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu

This chapter discusses the law on the free movement of persons in the EU. Free movement of persons is one of the four ‘freedoms’ of the internal market. Original EC Treaty provisions granted free movement rights to the economically active—workers, persons exercising the right of establishment, and persons providing services in another Member State. The Treaty also set out the general principle of non-discrimination on grounds of nationality, ‘within the scope of application of the Treaty’. All these provisions are now contained in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Early secondary legislation granted rights to family members, students, retired persons, and persons of independent means. The Citizenship Directive 2004/38 consolidated this legislation.

scholarly journals Regulatory Measurements in Policy Coordinated Practices: The Case of Promoting Renewable Energy and Cleaner Transport in Sweden

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1687 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Hansson ◽  
Lena Nerhagen
Keyword(s):  
Impact Assessment ◽  
Cost Benefit Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Cost Benefit ◽  
Policy Coordination ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Directive ◽  
Better Regulation ◽  
Regulatory Impact ◽  
The Eu

International organisations, such as the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union (EU), are seeking to implement a cohesive Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) system in order to achieve better regulation and increased unity and transparency. Central to these evaluations is the use of cost-benefit analysis (CBA) and related tools. A comprehensive analysis of the use of impact assessment in the EU shows that many assessments lack important economic components. This paper draws on an extensive document study of the Swedish policy making process related to the EU Directive 2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources. The aim of the paper is to examine how CBA is presented, negotiated and accounted for by central actors within a policy setting influenced by negotiation and policy coordination. The paper departs from a theoretical perspective on policy coordination and shows how this factor must be considered when explaining the low use of CBA. It concludes that the Swedish policy tradition, wherein the national government relies on consensus-based coordination between agencies, might counteract a more explicit assessment of different policy options. The paper also proposes a model that can be used for further studies on CBA and policy coordination.

scholarly journals Shadow Zones: Transparency and Pesticides Regulation in the European Union

2019 ◽  
Vol 21 ◽  
pp. 243-272
Author(s):  
Olivia HAMLYN
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Active Substance ◽  
Plant Protection ◽  
Plant Protection Product ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Risk Regulation ◽  
Member States ◽  
Product Regulation ◽  
Active Substances ◽  
The Eu

AbstractIn recent years, pesticides have captured the attention of both policymakers and the general public. A particular focus has been the transparency of the EU-level procedure for approving active substances, spurred by controversies surrounding the active substance glyphosate. Active substances are the ingredient in pesticides with the pesticidal effect. Once an active substance is approved at EU level, the pesticide containing that active substance must be authorised by each Member State. For this purpose, the EU's 2009 Plant Protection Product Regulation divides Member States into three zones—Northern, Central, and Southern—within which, zonal rapporteur Member States evaluate applications for authorisation. National authorisation decisions are based on these zonal evaluations. This novel system governing pesticides is under-researched. Furthermore, unlike active substance approval, the transparency of pesticide authorisation escapes public and policy scrutiny. Drawing on empirical research conducted for the European Parliament, this article evaluates the transparency of the zonal pesticide authorisation procedure. It thus contributes to the literature on transparency a detailed exploration of transparency in a highly complex, decentred, and polycentric risk regulation regime. While it finds that the zonal pesticide authorisation procedure, generally speaking, does not operate transparently, it argues further that levels of transparency within the regime as a whole may vary significantly depending on multiple different factors. It introduces the concept of ‘chiaroscuro regulation’ to characterise and understand these varying levels of transparency across different elements of the regime and considers some of its implications.

scholarly journals Polityka konkurencji Unii Europejskiej w warunkach globalizacji gospodarki światowej

2016 ◽  
pp. 43-59
Author(s):  
Ewa Latoszek ◽  
Agnieszka Kłos
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Commission ◽  
Competition Policy ◽  
World Economy ◽  
Internal Market ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
The World ◽  
The Eu

The aim of this article is to present the essence of competition policy and its implementation in the European Union in the context of ongoing globalization of the world economy. The paper will present selected factors that stimulate the process of globalization, main objectives and tools supporting the functioning of the EU internal market, and the place of the European Commission as a body that enforces compliance with the rules of competition by companies and the Member States.

Negative and Positive Integration in EU Economic Law: Between Strategic Denial and Cognitive Dissonance?

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (8) ◽  
pp. 979-1012 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pedro Caro de Sousa
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Market Integration ◽  
Due Process ◽  
Political Process ◽  
Prima Facie ◽  
Internal Market ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Degree Of Control ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Eu

It is a generally held assumption that the EU economic free movement rights are tools in the creation of a European internal market; and that their main goal is the (negative) market integration of different national markets. Yet these freedoms do not determine how market integration is to proceed, or which kind of integrated European market will emerge. The resulting market may be more or less regulated, and the creation of the relevant regulatory rules may be allocated to a variety of sources. These options are reflected in the different proposed tests used to determine whether a national measure prima facie infringes one of the market freedoms. The proposed tests fall into two main categories—broad tests and narrow tests—and each type has its own implications for European integration. Broad tests, usually associated with obstacle tests or even with economic due process clauses, tend to be seen as having three main outcomes. One result of broad tests is centralization, implying that ultimate decisions concerning the legitimacy of national law rests with EU institutions, and particularly with the Court of Justice of the European Union (“the Court” or “CJEU”). Another outcome of broad tests is the possible harmonization of national laws through the European political process by increasing the amount of national legislation susceptible to being harmonized under Articles 114 to 118 on the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (“TFEU”). A third consequence of broad tests is deregulation through the elimination of national rules creating obstacles to trade. Alternatively, narrow approaches-usually associated with discrimination or typological tests-are usually coupled with regulatory pluralism via a greater degree of control of the harmonization competences of the EU, decentralization through the protection of a greater sphere of Member States' autonomy, and economic agnosticism. Views on the potential outcomes of broad and narrow tests are, in turn, related to normative debates about the ideal levels of centralization, harmonization, and regulation in the internal market.

25. Public Opinion and the European Union

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simona Guerra ◽  
Lauren M. McLaren
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Opinion ◽  
Political Development ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Constitutional Treaty ◽  
Single European Act ◽  
Mass Opinion ◽  
The Eu

This chapter examines trends in public opinion toward the European Union. Through the mid-1980s, EU member governments and bureaucrats were interested in limited public involvement in the integration process. With the introduction of the Single European Act and later the Constitutional Treaty and the Lisbon Treaty, member states began selling their varying visions of a renewed European project that would contribute to the further economic and political development of the EU integration process. The chapter first considers general perceptions of the EU before assessing the key factors that are believed to account for differences in mass opinion regarding the EU. These include rational utilitarianism, perceptions of the national government, political psychology factors such as cognitive mobilization and concerns about the loss of national identity, and the role of mass media in shaping attitudes towards the EU. The chapter concludes with an analysis of the level of trust towards EU institutions.

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