Energy and Trans-European Networks

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jens-Peter Schneider
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Energy Policy ◽  
European Community ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Energy Mix ◽  
Limited Role ◽  
In The Beginning

The European Union has established a growing and increasingly complex legal framework for production, trade and consumption of energy during the last decades. In the beginning, the former European Communities played only a very limited role, as energy policy fell mainly into the competences of the Member States. Neither the Treaty on the European Community for Coal and Steel (1951) nor the EURATOM-Treaty (1957) limited the national competences to regulate the national energy mix or the structure of energy industries. A remnant of this former primacy of national competencies can be found in Article 192(2) TFEU.

scholarly journals Constituent power, citizenship, and the European Union

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
James Gallagher
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Participatory Democracy ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Citizen Involvement ◽  
Official Journal ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Constituent Power ◽  
Member States ◽  
Treaty Of Lisbon ◽  
The Eu

<p>The European Union (EU) has undergone constant political and economic integration since its inception in 1952. It has developed from a community in the aftermath of World War Two, into a Union of diverse states with its own political and legal system. It is the best example of international integration and co-operation in the world.  A number of treaties represent the primary law of the EU. The treaties represent the EU’s commitment to promote human rights, freedom, democracy, equality, and the rule of law. The Treaty of Lisbon¹ was introduced and adopted by the Member States to increase participatory democracy within the EU. Originally called the Reform Treaty, it amended the existing EU and EC treaties, providing the EU with the legal framework to meet the future challenges and to respond to the increasing demands of the citizens’ for a more transparent and open institution.  The European Parliament is the only directly elected institution of the EU, and traditionally had the least amount of power of the EU institutions. The Lisbon Treaty attempted to address the so-called democratic deficit through a range of institutional reforms that recognised the importance of European citizen involvement in the EU. Citizen involvement in the EU has also been increased through the implementation of the European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI). The ECI represents a further step towards the EU becoming a true participatory democracy.  This purpose of this paper is to critically assess the democratic involvement of European citizens in the operation of the EU, and how the constitutional foundation of the EU provides for this involvement. The paper will seek to answer to what extent European Citizens’ have the ability to affect real and meaningful change upon the EU, a power that currently sits with the governments of Member States.  Democracy is often associated with the power of the citizens to affect change in the institutions that govern them. The theory of constituent power goes one step further and argues that it gives citizens the ability to alter not only the governing institutions, but the also the power that those institutions exercise. This begins with an introduction of the main institutions of the EU, before moving to discuss the theory of constituent power, before assessing what factors would be necessary for constitutent power to be successful in the EU.  ¹ Official Journal of the European Union 2007 No C 306/1 (herein after referred to as the Treaty of Lisbon). Adopted 2008, entered into force 1 December 2009.</p>

The Practices of ‘Splitting’ and ‘Common Accord’ Under Scrutiny: the European Parliament‘s Request for an Opinion of the European Court of Justice on the Istanbul Convention

2020 ◽  
Vol 45 (4) ◽  
pp. 472-486
Author(s):  
Elizaveta Samoilova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
European Court ◽  
Forms Of Violence ◽  
Istanbul Convention ◽  
The Eu

Abstract With all eyes on the recent global COVID-19 pandemic, another pandemic has been growing in the shadows: violence against women. The Council of Europe’s Istanbul Convention creates a legal framework in order to protect women against all forms of violence. Its ratification process, however, has faced considerable challenges, particularly in the Central and Eastern European Member States. This article discusses the basic elements of the Istanbul Convention, reflects on the ratification process in the EU and its Member States, and sets out the main legal issues raised in the European Parliament’s request for an opinion (A-1/19 of 22 November 2019) to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Special focus is put on the choice of the correct EU legal basis and the practices of ‘splitting’ and ‘common accord’. This article argues that the European Parliament’s request for an opinion provides the perfect opportunity for the Court of Justice of the European Union to further clarify the law and the practice of concluding mixed agreements by the EU and its Member States.

Circular Migration between Fact and Fiction

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 184-209 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jan Schneider ◽  
Bernd Parusel
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Circular Migration ◽  
Member States ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
Clear Cut ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Third Country Nationals

Political actors in the European Union and in the eu member states have arrived to maintain that managed circular migration can generate benefits both for the destination countries and for the countries of origin of the migrants. Despite the fact that Germany so far has barely engaged in fostering circular migration through distinct programmes, a not inconsiderable share of foreigners from third countries living in Germany today can be viewed as circular migrants. This paper takes an inventory of the extent and characteristics of such spontaneous back-and-forth cross border movements by providing a specific, clear-cut definition for circular migration and thus analysing stock data on third country nationals residing in Germany. Furthermore, we scrutinise the German legal framework with a view to its propensity to encourage patterns of circular migration.

Caught Between National and Supranational Values: Limitations to Judicial Cooperation in Criminal Matters as Part of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice within the European Union

2008 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-72
Author(s):  
Olivia den Hollander
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Judicial Cooperation ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Third ◽  
The One ◽  
Criminal Matters ◽  
The Eu

AbstractCurrently, the European Union is based on both supranational (first pillar) and international (second and third pillar) law. The third pillar signifies police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters and although formally based on international law, it has been under increasing "supranational pressure" by the developments in the "Area of Freedom, Security and Justice". This Area is focused on a set of common values and principles closely tied to those of the single market and its four "freedoms". The main argument of this article is that the legal framework of the third pillar is an impediment to judicial cooperation in criminal matters in general, and to the coordination of conflicts of jurisdiction and the principle of ne bis in idem in particular. The legal framework of the third pillar finds itself in the middle of an identity crisis, since it can neither be identified as a traditional intergovernmental, nor as a supranational institutional framework. Criminal law is a politically sensitive matter, which on the one hand explains why the EU member states are reluctant to submit their powers over the issue to the European level and on the other hand, it implies that if the EU member states really want to cooperate on such an intensive level, they will have to submit some of their powers in order to strengthen EU constitutional law. The article suggests a reform of the third pillar through the method of "communitization", which is exactly what will happen in case the EU Reform Treaty will enter into force. This would offer the ingredients for a true international community in which the ambitious agenda of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice can realise its aim of a common set of values and principles which supersedes those of each of the member states individually.

scholarly journals Legal framework for establishing a single maritime transport space without barriers

2016 ◽  
Vol 52 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-182
Author(s):  
Biserka Rukavina ◽  
Loris Rak ◽  
Silvana Buneta
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Information System ◽  
European Commission ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Traffic Monitoring ◽  
Maritime Transport ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Republic

This paper provides an overview of activities of the European Commission for establishing a single European maritime transport space and indicates whether and to what extent the adopted strategy documents have established their operations in practice. Directive 2010/65/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on reporting formalities for ships arriving in and/or departing from ports of the Member States and repealing Directive 2002/6/ EC, as well as Directive 2002/59/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing the Community vessel traffic monitoring and information system, which represent significant legislative achievements of the European Union in the process of reducing administrative burdens to which ships are exposed in the maritime transport, are particularly analyzed. Reasons for amending Directive 2002/59/EC are especially explained. In the last part of the paper, authors review the achievements of the Republic of Croatia regarding the implementation of measures for the establishment of a single European maritime transport space. Based on the results of a comparative overview of solutions contained in the Directives and Croatian bylaws, authors point to the existence of non-compliance and to the need for further action.

scholarly journals Qualitative monitoring of information infrastructures: A case study of INSPIRE

2016 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 330-344 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian Masser ◽  
Joep Crompvoets
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
European Community ◽  
Spatial Information ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Information Infrastructures ◽  
Building Information ◽  
Nature Of Information

This paper considers the experience of the implementation of the Directive 2007/2/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 14 March 2007 establishing an Infrastructure for Spatial Information in the European Community (INSPIRE) as a case study of qualitative monitoring in building information infrastructures. It considers the nature of information infrastructures and possible approaches to qualitative monitoring in situations of this kind and describes the outcomes of two rounds of qualitative country reports prepared by the European Union national Member States in 2010 and 2013. The findings of the analysis highlight the great diversity of approaches developed by the participating countries and the complexity of the tasks involved as well as pointing to a number of areas of potential research on the implementation of information infrastructures.

scholarly journals Cross-Border Conversions in the European Union After the Polbud Case

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 63-77
Author(s):  
Iryna Basova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Freedom Of Establishment ◽  
Member States ◽  
Cross Border ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
A Company ◽  
Legislative Measures

Cross-border conversions may be considered as an achievement of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU, Court) since its case law paves the way towards acceptance of such cross-border operations in all Member States. In the Polbud case, the CJEU clarified the scope of the freedom of establishment in regard to cross-border conversions. That judgement should give an impulse to those Member States whose law remains silent on the issue, lacks regulation or is not in line with the provisions on the freedom of establishment, to take appropriate legislative measures. However, a creation of a legal framework at the European level is still needed to provide a commonly-accepted procedure for such operations, to secure protection for vulnerable constituencies of a company, to prevent abusive practices and to regulate cooperation between the states which are involved in cross-border conversions.

scholarly journals La inmigración legal en el marco de la Política Común de Inmigración de la Unión Europea: De un papel secundario a un protagonismo sobrevenido

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Isabel Lirola Delgado ◽  
Ángeles Fernández Liste
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Significant Progress ◽  
Member States ◽  
European Institutions ◽  
Labour Immigration ◽  
Legal Immigration

Resumen: El presente trabajo pretende analizar el tratamiento del que ha sido objeto la inmigración legal dentro de la Política Común de Inmigración de la Unión Europea. Desde sus inicios, las Instituciones Europeas se han mostrado partidarias de impulsar la configuración de un marco jurídico para la inmigración legal, en tanto que los Estados miembros se han mantenido reacios a avances significativos. El resultado ha sido la aprobación paulatina de directivas que recogen acuerdos de mínimos, sólo regulan determinadas categorías sectoriales de inmigrantes y que han sido adoptadas según las necesidades de los Estados miembros. Ante esta situación y en un escenario de presión migratoria constante hacia una Unión Europa envejecida y con carencias para cubrir ciertos puestos de trabajo, la adecuada regulación de la inmigración legal se configura como un medio necesario para afrontar dichos retos en el marco de la Agenda Europea de Migración. Abstract: This paper aims to analyze the treatment which has been given to legal immigration in the frame of the European Union Common Immigration Policy. Since the early steps of such policy, the European Institutions have shown in favour of promoting a common legal framework for labour immigration, while Member States have been opposed to significant progress. The result has been the gradual adoption of a package of directives that contain agreements of minimums, only regulate sector-based categories of immigrants and have been adopted according to Member States’ needs. In view of this situation and in a context of constant migratory pressure towards an aging European Union with sector-specific labour shortages, the suitable regulation of legal immigration is included in the European Agenda on Migration as a necessary means to tackle these challenges.

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