Temporary nature: Is European nature conservation law ready for it?

elni Review ◽  
2011 ◽  
pp. 104-111
Author(s):  
Hendrik Schoukens
Keyword(s):  
Nature Conservation ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Conservation Law ◽  
Breeding Site ◽  
Case Law ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Pioneer Species ◽  
Protected Species ◽  
Human Dynamics ◽  
European Directives

In Western European countries like Belgium and the Netherlands several 10.000 hectares of land lie unused every year, awaiting their residential, infrastructural or industrial purpose. Usually it takes a number of years before the spatial designation of such areas is finally implemented. In the meantime these areas exert a strong attraction on certain rare pioneer species, such as Natterjack Toads and Common Terns, which are benefited by human dynamics. However, to avoid the judicial restrictions which could be attached to the presence of such protected species, landowners and developers try to keep nature off their sites, by for instance intensive mowing or regular ploughing. The concept of temporary nature marks a shift in thinking about nature conservation. Instead of preventing the development of a valuable habitat or breeding site from the very beginning, the decision could also be taken to temporarily allow nature to develop on these parcels of ‘valuable’ land. In this article the author first highlights the results of the application of current nature conservation law on a situation of temporary nature conservation, building on earlier research. In addition, he analyses some recent national case law with respect to temporary nature. Also, some general remarks on the adaptability of nature conservation law for temporary nature are made. The focus mainly lies on the Belgian (Flemish) situation, but, as temporary nature is already being applied in the Netherlands, reference is also made to this practice, too. Given the fact that the applicable nature conservation law in both countries consists mainly in an implementation of the European Directives, the conclusions of this contribution can also serve as an example for other European countries.

scholarly journals Insolvency judges meet strategic behaviour: A comparative empirical study

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 158-177
Author(s):  
Gijs van Dijck ◽  
Ruben Hollemans ◽  
Monika Maśnicka ◽  
Catarina Frade ◽  
Lorenzo Benedetti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Empirical Study ◽  
Case Law ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Legal Study ◽  
Strategic Behaviour ◽  
Case Allocation ◽  
Efficiency And Effectiveness

This article reports the results of a comparative empirical legal study that analyzed (1) strategic behaviour by actors in insolvencies that is salient to insolvency judges and (2) how insolvency judges respond to such behaviour. After examining four different European countries, namely Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, and Portugal, the study reveals how differences regarding case allocation, judge – insolvency practitioner (IP) interaction, and remuneration and case financing can result in strategic behaviour on both the side of the judges and the IPs. From this, it follows that improving the efficiency and effectiveness is not merely a matter of implementing legislation and case law, but that it also requires a look into the dynamics between insolvency judges, IPs, and other actors in the insolvency process.

MAIN SPECIFICATIONS OF ASSESSING ACTIVITIES OF MINOR IMPORTANCE OF IN MODERN CRIMINAL LAW

Law and World ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-95
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Criminal Liability ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Criminal Code ◽  
The Other ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Minor Importance ◽  
Detailed Review

The research includes the full and the detailed overview of assessing activities of minor importance in Georgian Criminal Law. The Article 7 of the Criminal Code of Georgia states the following: a crime shall not be an action that, although formally containing the signs of a crime, has not produced, for minor importance, the prejudice that would require criminal liability of its perpetrator, or has not created the risk of such harm. The research includes the main criteria of defining activities as activities of minor importance. The detailed review of Georgian case law is also introduced, as well as, legislation, judicial literature and experience of the other European countries.

scholarly journals Housing spaces in Europe: a comparative analysis of standards in nine European Countries

2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (Supplement_5) ◽  
Author(s):  
M Raffo ◽  
L Appolloni ◽  
D D'Alessandro
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Indoor Air Pollution ◽  
Well Being ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Living Room ◽  
Wide Variability ◽  
Economic Trends ◽  
Minimum Height ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
Housing Standards

Abstract Introduction In recent years, Public Health devoted a growing interest to housing conditions. In particular, housing dimensions and functional characteristics are relevant, mainly considering population ageing and disability. Aim of the study is to compare housing standards of some European countries to analyse their ability to satisfy new population needs. Methodology The dwellings dimensional standards of 9 European countries (Sweden, UK, Denmark, The Netherlands, France, Germany, Portugal, Spain and Italy) are compared. From the websites of the official channels of the various countries the regulations have been downloaded. The standards have been compared. Results A wide variability in the dimensions of room among the standards is observed (e.g. single room: from 9 sqm in Italy, to 7 sqm in France, to the absence of any limit in UK, Germany - Hesse and Denmark). Italian and French regulations define housing dimension considering the room use (eg. bed or living room) and the number of people. The Swedish regulation provides performance requirements and functional indications but does not specify the minimum dimensions of habitable rooms. The rooms' minimum height varies between the standards. In Italy and Portugal, the minimum height of the ceiling is intended to be 2.70 m, while in the other nations the minimum heights vary from 2.60 m in the Netherlands to no limit in UK. Conclusions A diverse approach among European Countries is observed: from a market-oriented logic (e.g., UK), in which minimum dimensions are not defined, to a prescriptive one (Italy), to a functionality-oriented (the Netherlands). The regulations of some Countries are health-oriented especially for most fragile social classes, since, defining larger dimensional standard, they reduce the risk of overcrowding, indoor air pollution and mental distress. However, considering the health, social, environmental and economic trends, many of these standards should be revised. Key messages Optimal housing standards promote the health and well-being of occupants. Healthy housing, healthy people.

scholarly journals Environmental Citizenship and Energy Efficiency in Four European Countries (Italy, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Hungary)

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1154
Author(s):  
Ibolya Czibere ◽  
Imre Kovách ◽  
Gergely Boldizsár Megyesi
Keyword(s):  
Energy Efficiency ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Energy Use ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Linear Regression Models ◽  
Financial Barriers ◽  
Self Identity ◽  
Horizon 2020 ◽  
Number Of Factors ◽  
The Social

In our paper we aim at analysing the social factors influencing energy use and energy efficiency in four different European countries, using the data from the PENNY research (Psychological social and financial barriers to energy efficiency—Horizon 2020). As a part of the project, a survey was conducted in four European countries (Italy, The Netherlands, Switzerland and Hungary) to compare environmental self-identity, values and attitudes toward the energy use of European citizens. Previous research has examined the effect of a number of factors that influence individuals’ energy efficiency, and attitudes to energy use. The novelty of our paper that presents four attitudes regarding energy use and environmental consciousness and compares them across four different regions of Europe. It analyses the differences between the four attitudes among the examined countries and tries to understand the factors explaining the differences using linear regression models of the most important socio-demographic variables. Finally, we present a typology of energy use attitudes: four groups, the members of which are basically characterised by essentially different attitudes regarding energy use. A better understanding of the diversity of energy use may assist in making more accurate policy decisions.

New Sources for Social and Demographic History: The Belgian Population Registers

1978 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-143 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myron P. Gutmann ◽  
Etienne van de Walle
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
United Nations ◽  
Demographic History ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Population Register ◽  
Exact Match ◽  
German States ◽  
Belgian Population

In 1853, the First International Statistical Congress unanimously voted a resolution recommending the establishment of population registers in every country: It is indispensable to establish in each commune a population register. Each household will occupy one page. The first inscriptions will be entered according to the information provided by the general census, and all mutations that will occur in the composition of households will be noted successively and in order. Administrative measures will provide for the assessment of changes in legal residence, in order that there may be an exact match between the persons crossed out and the new inscriptions.Such a register has existed in Belgium since 1846. No other country except Sweden, Finland, and Hungary had much experience with such documents in 1853. The resolution was nevertheless ratified in successive International Congresses, but there was no rush to implement it. Several European countries followed suit, including small German states, the Netherlands in 1856, and Italy in 1864. According to a recent United Nations survey, eleven European countries have population registers that trace their origins to the nineteenth century or before: Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Finland, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.

The functions and positions of political parties in consociational democracies: theoretical and empirical contexts

2020 ◽  
pp. 28-33
Author(s):  
O. Morhuniuk
Keyword(s):  
Political Parties ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Party System ◽  
Party Competition ◽  
European Countries ◽  
The Past ◽  
Democratic Regimes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
Further Development

An article is devoted to the analysis of the functions and formats of political parties in consociational democracies. In particular, it is defined that parties that represent the interests of certain subcultures in society and that reach a consensus among themselves at the level of political agreements are called segmental. At the same time, parties that encapsulate different subgroups of the society that cooperate inside the party within main features of the consociational theory (grand coalition, mutual veto, proportionality in representations, and independence of segments or society subcultures) are called consociational. The theory of consociationalism has received a wide range of theoretical additions and criticism from political scientists over the past fifty years. And while political parties should have been, by definition, one of the key aspects of research within such democratic regimes (parties are part of large coalitions and agents of representation of certain subcultures), there is very scarce number of literature that focuses on this aspect. Therefore, the presented article provides a description of the functions of political parties that could be observed as inside their subcultures as well as in interaction with other segmental parties. Based on the experience of two European countries in the period of “classical” consociationalism (Belgium and the Netherlands), we explain the functions of the parties we have defined in such societies with examples of relevant consociational practices in them. Simultaneously with the analysis of segmental parties, the article also offers the characteristics of consociational parties. The emergence of such parties has its own institutional and historical features. The way of further development of the party system and the level of preservation of consociational practices makes it possible to understand the nature of changes in the societies. Similarly, the analysis of the forms of party competition and interaction between segmental parties makes it possible to outline the forms of those consociational changes that are taking place in the research countries.

Legal Deposit of Electronic Publications and Other Non-Print Material: An International Overview

1997 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 59-79 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Hoare
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Current Situation ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Print Material ◽  
International Coordination ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Electronic Publications ◽  
The Uk ◽  
West European

In many countries, including the UK, proposals are currently being made for the extension of legal deposit to electronic and other non-print material. Some countries such as Switzerland and the Netherlands have no national legal deposit legislation, though voluntary deposit works well in the latter. Norway has the most advanced legislation, requiring the deposit of all lands of media. In few countries is any range of material actively handled, and a very few deal with online publications. There is scope for international coordination of proposals through such bodies as CDNL, CENL, IFLA and UNESCO. The aim of totally comprehensive collecting of all published material may be accepted as unrealistic, and some selectively is likely to be necessary. The current situation with regard to deposit of non-print material in 11 west European countries, Australia, Canada and the USA is recounted.

scholarly journals Between-Country Comparability of Clinical Chemistry Results: An International Quality Assessment Survey of 17 Analytes in Six European Countries through Existing National Schemes

1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 304-314 ◽  
Author(s):  
R T P Jansen ◽  
D G Bullock ◽  
A Vassault ◽  
H Baadenhuijsen ◽  
A De Leenheer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Quality Assessment ◽  
Mutual Recognition ◽  
Clinical Chemistry ◽  
Reference Method ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Mean Values ◽  
Related Data ◽  
Standard Deviations ◽  
The Uk

Two lyophilized control sera were distributed through seven national external quality assessment schemes in six European countries—Belgium, Switzerland, France, The Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom—participated in the study. The results for 17 routine analytes were obtained from almost 5000 laboratories for the two sera. The organizers of the schemes were asked to process the results according to a common outlier removal procedure, and submit method-related data if available. The two sera were also distributed through the external/internal scheme of The Netherlands, and the within-laboratory standard deviations calculated in this scheme have been used in a scaling procedure for the external mean values and between-laboratory standard deviations of the participating countries. The results show remarkable agreement in the national mean values for practically all analytes, but considerable differences in the between-laboratory variation. Data from comparable method groups was obtained for 12 analytes from Belgium, France, The Netherlands and the UK. Though revealing some specific differences between methods and countries, the method-related data are generally in agreement with the all-method data. In this study reference method values were only available for cholesterol. The high degree of agreement found suggests, however, that mutual recognition of all-method mean values in national schemes could be acceptable, especially for analytes for which reliable reference methods are not available. The major element of variation is between-laboratory rather than between-country.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document