European Union State Aid Law and Policy, and Local Public Services

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-287 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aleš Ferčič ◽  
Nataša Samec
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Public Services ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
State Aid ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Local Public Services ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
The Right

Financing of local public services is, in principle, subject to the European Union State aid law and policy. Thus, local authorities of Member States and certain other stakeholders shall carefully observe complex and restrictive State aid rules, since their breach can substantially impair the desired performance of local public services. However, a daily practice at local level, in particular within the new Member States, still reveals significant shortcomings which can be, at least to certain extent, imputed to complexity and considerable rigidity of the State aid rules. The European Commission has recently offered new set of rules, the so called Almunia package, aimed at bridging the said problems. The Almunia package is of great importance for the local public services and their stakeholders as it has offered considerable simplifications for the small, mostly locally oriented projects. Indeed, the new package is an important step in the right direction, at least from the local public services perspective.

scholarly journals Competition Law and State Aid for Failing Banks in the EU and its Specific Implications for CEE Member States

2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (14) ◽  
pp. 145-157
Author(s):  
Virág Blazsek
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
State Aid ◽  
Common Market ◽  
Competition Authority ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Positive Effects ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Bank Bailouts ◽  
The Eu

The bank bailouts following the global financial crisis of 2008 have been subject to prior approval of the European Commission (EC), the competition authority of the European Union. The EC was reluctant to reject rescue efforts directed at failing banks and so it consistently approved all such requests submitted by Member States. Out of the top twenty European banks, the EC authorized State aid to at least twelve entities. In this context, the paper outlines the gradually changing interpretation of EU State aid rules, the “temporary and extraordinary rules” introduced starting from late 2008, and the extension of the “no-State aid” category. The above shifts show that the EC itself deflected from relevant EU laws in order to systemically rescue important banks in Europe and restore their financial stability. The paper argues that bank bailouts and bank rescue packages by the State have led to different effects on market structures and consumer welfare in the Eurozone and non-Eurozone areas, mostly the Eastern segments of the European Union. As such, it is argued that they are inconsistent with the European common market. Although the EC tried to minimize the distortion of competition created as a result of the aforementioned case law primarily through the application of the principle of exceptionality and different compensation measures, these efforts have been at least partially unsuccessful. Massive State aid packages, the preferential treatment of the largest, or systemically important, banks through EU State aid mechanisms – almost none of which are Central and Eastern European (CEE) – may have led to the distortion of competition on the common market. That is so mainly because of the prioritization of the stability of the financial sector and the Euro. The paper argues that State aid for failing banks may have had important positive effects in the short run, such as the promotion of the stability of the banking system and the Euro. In the longrun however, it has contributed to the unprecedented sovereign indebtedness in Europe, and contributed to an increased economic and political instability of the EU, particularly in its most vulnerable CEE segment.

scholarly journals COLLECTIVE LABOUR RIGHTS AS THE PRINCIPLES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION LABOUR LAW

2019 ◽  
pp. 43-46
Author(s):  
O. M. Rym
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
Member States ◽  
Labour Rights ◽  
Social Partners ◽  
The Right

The article deals with certain aspects of collective labour rights in the European Union. Prerequisites and procedure of this rights guaranting as general principles of EU law are analyzed and their content is characterized. It is emphasized that such legal establishing took place somewhat haphazardly, both at the level of the acts of primary and secondary law of the European Union and in the case law. As a result, there is no single position on the spectrum of collective labour rights as principles of EU labor law. The author focuses on significant changes in the understanding of the necessity of cooperation of social partners and the extension of their interaction at the supranational level. It is under the responsibility of the European Commission to promote cooperation between Member States and to facilitate coordination of their activities in the field of the right of association and collective bargaining between employers and employees. The article clarifies the content of collective labour rights as general principles of EU law on the basis of EU legal acts, the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, as well as the scientific works of domestic and foreign scholars. It is noted that the system of collective labour rights, as general principles of EU labour law, consists of the right of collective bargaining and collective action, the right of employees to information and consultation within the enterprise, as well as the freedom of assembly and association. It is concluded that the necessity of cooperation between the social partners is recognized as one of the foundations of EU labour law. Herewith appropriate interaction is ensured through the normative-legal consolidation of collective labour rights and procedures for their implementation. After all, European Union legal acts allow employees and employers’ representatives to play an active role in regulating labour legal relations. For example, Member States may instruct employers and employees, upon their joint request, to implement Council directives or decisions. In addition, many directives contain warnings about the possibility of derogating from their provisions through the adoption of a collective agreement.

Part V Judicial Review before the Court of Justice of the European Union, 3 Decentralized Judicial Review and Enforcement of EU State Aid Rules

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kreuschitz Viktor ◽  
Nehl Hanns Peter
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Judicial Review ◽  
State Aid ◽  
Common Market ◽  
Final Decision ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
National Courts ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
The Common

This chapter assesses the enforcement of EU State aid rules. The Commission is not the only authority involved in the monitoring of State aid. As regards the supervision of Member States' compliance with their obligations under Articles 107 and 108 TFEU, the national courts also have an important role to play. The implementation of that system of control is a matter for both the Commission and the national courts, their respective roles being complementary but separate. Whilst assessment of the compatibility of aid measures with the common market falls within the exclusive competence of the Commission, subject to review by the Courts of the European Union, it is for national courts to ensure the safeguarding, until the final decision of the Commission, of the rights of individuals faced with a possible breach by State authorities of the prohibition laid down by Article 108(3) TFEU.

20. Economic rights: workers, establishment and services

2020 ◽  
pp. 470-506
Author(s):  
Marios Costa ◽  
Steve Peers
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Regulatory Competition ◽  
Free Movement ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Economic Rights ◽  
The Right

This chapter examines the provisions of European Union (EU) law concerning economic rights provided by Articles 45, 49 and 56 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), concerning workers, establishment and services respectively. It discusses the Court of Justice’s (CJ) interpretation and its impact on Member States’ ability to regulate the right to trade within their own territory, as well as regulatory competition between Member States. The chapter discusses the harmonization of qualifications (including the Qualifications Directive), the free movement of lawyers and the Services Directive.

Calls of Duty: Romanian Politicians’ Deontological Discursive Strategies for Securing Free Movement in the European Union

2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-66
Author(s):  
Saila Heinikoski
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Free Movement ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Prime Ministers ◽  
Discursive Strategies ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Different Types ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Eu

This article discusses how the right to free movement within the European Union is presented as a matter of obligation, a duty of the other EU member states, in the discourse of Romanian Presidents and Prime Ministers (2005–2015). An examination of speeches and other statements from these politicians illuminates Romanian political reactions during the period when Romania became an EU member state, and reflects perceptions of Europeanness and European agreements. These issues take on an additional contemporary significance in the context of the Brexit negotiations, and they also add to the broader debate on whether EU norms and obligations are seen as being both just and equally applied. By analysing different types of argumentative topoi, I examine the deontological (obligation-based) argumentation employed in the free movement context. Furthermore, I examine to what extent these arguments are invoked in support of the right to free movement and who this right applies to. I argue that for Romanian politicians, deontological free movement arguments are connected to other states’ compliance with European treaties and to demands for equal application of European rules without discrimination, or the delegation of responsibility to others. This manifested itself most frequently in the calls for the EU and its member states to do their duty by treating Romanians equally to other EU citizens.

Harmonisation of Asylum Law and Policy within the European Union: A Human Rights Perspective

2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-184
Author(s):  
Hannah R. Garry
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Asylum Seekers ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Asylum Policy ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
Amsterdam Treaty ◽  
Asylum Law ◽  
The Eu

From 1986 to the present, there has been a dramatic increase in the numbers of asylum applications within the borders of the European Union largely from Eastern European countries and former colonies in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Reacting to the influxes of the 1980s, European States began to implement and coordinate policies to control entry of asylum seekers. Within this climate, the EU has moved towards harmonisation of asylum policy and procedure as necessary for its pursuit of an ‘area of freedom, security and justice’ without internal borders for the purpose of greater economic and political integration. In light of the current restrictive attitudes and practice towards asylum seekers in the individual Member States of the EU, the harmonisation of asylum policy through the institutions and law of the EU may prove to be problematic from a human rights perspective. This paper first traces the development of a common asylum policy within the EU through the Maastricht Treaty and the Amsterdam Treaty. Second, this paper analyses the implications of harmonisation after the Amsterdam Treaty with reference to the international obligations of the Member States under international human rights and refugee law. Third, this paper critiques the development of various current asylum policies and practice through intergovernmental development of ‘soft law’. Through this overview and analysis, it is argued that further steps towards harmonisation will continue to reflect European concerns with security, economic prosperity, and cultural homogeneity unless the moves towards supranationalism within the EU framework lead to a deliberate effort to make respect for human rights the core of asylum law and policy.

The EU as guarantor of environmental protection in Germany

elni Review ◽  
2017 ◽  
pp. 17-24
Author(s):  
Thomas Ormond
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Environmental Protection ◽  
Environmental Law ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Law And Policy ◽  
Main Instrument ◽  
Energy Community ◽  
The Eu

In recent years it has become fashionable again among politicians and publicists across Europe to practice ‘Brussels bashing’ and make the EU responsible for many ills of globalisation and modern society. This applies in particular to the field of environmental law. The European Union has been active in the field of environmental protection since the 1970s, i.e. since a time when there was no Union yet but a European Economic Community (EEC), a European Coal and Steel Community and a European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom). The EEC Treaty of 1957 did not know the term ‘environmental protection’ and for the next decades did not contain any explicit legislative competence for this subject matter. The main instrument of EU environmental policy is the directive. In the European context it means a framework law, as proposed by the EU Commission and adopted by the Council and the European Parliament, which the Member States have to transpose within certain deadlines into their national law, and specify and implement by their authorities into practice. The directive is binding as regards the objective (the result to be achieved) but leaves the choice of form and methods to the national authorities. It is estimated that 80% of current environmental law in Germany (as well as probably in other Member States) is determined by the European Union. The author of this article presents his thoughts on how the EU shapes Member State environmental law and policy, highlighting inter alia “innovation from Brussels” such as EIA, access to environmental information and climate protection, as well as the systematic and risk-based approach as hallmark of EU legislation.

scholarly journals Zagadnienie pomocy publicznej udzielanej na ochronę środowiska – teoria zawodności rynku a polityka konkurencji Unii Europejskiej

2015 ◽  
Vol 4 (3) ◽  
pp. 157-172
Author(s):  
Piotr Podsiadło
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
State Aid ◽  
Market Failures ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Eu

The aim of this article is to present the conditions of admissibility of state aidin the European Union, with particular emphasis on horizontal aid for environmentalprotection. State aid measures can correct market failures and therebycontribute towards achieving common objectives. It should be targeted towardssituations where aid can bring a material improvement that the market cannotdeliver alone. The EU Member States intending to grant environmental or energyaid have to define precisely the objective pursued and explain what is the expectedcontribution of the measure towards this objective.

scholarly journals COVID- 19 PANDEMIC AND THE PROTECTION OF THE RIGHT TO ABORTION

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivana Tucak ◽  
Anita Blagojević
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Central And Eastern Europe ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Health States ◽  
Member States ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Legal Difficulties ◽  
The Right ◽  
International Conventions ◽  
Right Of Access

The COVID - 19 pandemic that swept the world in 2020 and the reactions of state authorities to it are unparalleled events in modern history. In order to protect public health, states have limited a number of fundamental human rights that individuals have in accordance with national constitutions and international conventions. The focus of this paper is the right of access to abortion in the Member States of the European Union. In Europe, the situation with regard to the recognition of women's right to abortion is quite clear. All member states of the European Union, with the exception of Poland and Malta, recognize the rather liberal right of a woman to have an abortion in a certain period of time after conception. However, Malta and Poland, as members of the European Union, since abortion is seen as a service, must not hinder the travel of women abroad to have an abortion, nor restrict information on the provision of abortion services in other countries. In 2020, a pandemic highlighted all the weaknesses of this regime by preventing women from traveling to more liberal countries to perform abortions, thus calling into question their right to choose and protect their sexual and reproductive rights. This is not only the case in Poland and Malta, but also in countries that recognize the right to abortion but make it conditional on certain non-medical conditions, such as compulsory counselling; and the mandatory time period between applying for and performing an abortion; in situations present in certain countries where the problem of a woman exercising the right to abortion is a large number of doctors who do not provide this service based on their right to conscience. The paper is divided into three parts. The aim of the first part of the paper is to consider all the legal difficulties that women face in accessing abortion during the COVID -19 pandemic, restrictions that affect the protection of their dignity, right to life, privacy and right to equality. In the second part of the paper particular attention will be paid to the illiberal tendencies present in this period in some countries of Central and Eastern Europe, especially Poland. In the third part of the paper, emphasis will be put on the situation in Malta where there is a complete ban on abortion even in the case when the life of a pregnant woman is in danger.

The Status of Vascular Surgery as an Independent Specialty in Europe: Are the Relationships with General and Cardiothoracic Surgery a Problem?

Vascular ◽  
2004 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
William P. Paaske
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Medical Education ◽  
Vascular Surgery ◽  
Continuing Medical Education ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Local Level ◽  
Coherent System ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
The Eu

Vascular surgery has established a clear clinical and scientific profile in Europe over the last decade, but it presents a highly complex, disorganized, and unplanned pattern. It is a specialty in the majority of the present member states of the European Union (EU), but in the United Kingdom, Germany, the Netherlands, and Sweden this is not the case. With the current expansion of the EU with 13 countries, mainly from the former Eastern Bloc, it will be even more necessary to ensure at least some level of convergence in the standards of training, certification, quality assured practice, continuing medical education, recertification, access to and quality of care, etc, because free migration of doctors, and patients, is a derivative of the cornerstones of the EU treaties, namely free movement of the citizens (and capital). The profession has been successful in creating a simple and coherent system for organization within the European Union of Medical Specialists with a board of vascular surgery, for a (voluntary) European proficiency test for specialists (the EBSQ-Vasc), and for European continuing medical education, all in close collaboration with the premier scientific society, the European Society for Vascular Surgery. The fantastic reductions in working hours for young doctors in the EU represent a serious threat to standards of training and, ultimately, to the patients. This, in connection with increased litigation and compensation demands for incompetence and negligence, makes it even more necessary to establish European minimum standards for training, professional competence, and an obligatory European specialist examination. A key element in this difficult process is the establishment of vascular surgery as a specialty in all member states. Day-to-day collaboration with radiologic interventionalists has developed pragmatically at the local level in most places, but only when the administrative structures mature and vascular surgery becomes a specialty in all countries will the necessary tools be available for the avoidance of professional conflicts with colleagues from other specialties.

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