...JCMS 2010 Volume 48 Annual Review pp. 95–118 Institutions and Governance: A New Treaty, a Newly Elected Parliament and a New Commission jcms_2096 95..118 DESMOND DINAN George Mason University Introduction Elections for the European Parliament (EP) and the nomination of a new European Commission made 2009 a particularly important year with regard to European Union institutions and governance. More significant than these five-yearly events, however, was the long-delayed ratification and implementation of the Lisbon Treaty. In June 2009, EU leaders approved a Decision ‘on the concerns of the Irish people on the Treaty of Lisbon’, which they annexed to the European Council conclusions. They also agreed that ‘at the time of the conclusion of the next accession Treaty [. . .] the provisions of the annexed Decision’ would be included ‘in a Protocol to be attached [. . .] to the Treaty on the European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union’ (Council, 2009a). The purpose of the promised Protocol was to facilitate a second referendum in Ireland on the Lisbon Treaty and to help ensure a successful outcome. The Irish government soon announced that the referendum would take place on 2 October. The prospect of a favourable result looked bright, thanks to the global economic crisis, which hit Ireland particularly hard. Although ratifying the Treaty would not make a material difference, it would send a positive signal to international investors...
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...In this case, depend on the UK Law resources, COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2092/91 Article 5, EC General Product Safety Regulations 2004 and the Treaty Establishing the European Economic Community 129A has been breached. More specifically, EEC No 2092/91 article 5 part 3 has provided that: “(1) (b) may bear indications referring to organic production methods in the sales description of the product only where: at least 95 % of the ingredients of agricultural origin of the product are, or are derived from, products obtained in accordance with the rules laid down in Article 6 or imported from third countries under the arrangements laid down in Article 11.”(COUNCIL REGULATION (EEC) No 2092/91) It is obviously that supply these fake beef has breached this clause (at least 95% is real). Thus supply chain companies constitute a fraud to the customers and also breached the clause sale products by description. In additional, sale the fake beef food also breached EC General Product Safety Regulations 2004 defects and risk product is prohibited selling (EC General Product Safety Regulations 2004). Actually in these horse meats, some of them may include 4-Butyl-1. This kind of medicine usually uses on the horse but it will affect human’s health and lives. By the way, EU food safety standards traceability and other regulations also have been breached by any of the companies involved in the supply-chain in this case. Because each country in the EU has done a DNA test on these import...
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...laundry soap brand, “Persil” in European countries to introduce it to in the U.S. In fact, it has stacked up this brand on store shelves right next to the Tide detergent, which is the most popular brand in the U.S. “Driven by Tide, P&G accounts for 60% of all sales in the U.S. laundry-detergent market and 85% of the profits.” P&G has dominated; especially, in the laundry detergent brand for long period of time in the U.S. This has helped them to dominate in negotiating with the large retailers including Wal-Mart in the prices. For example, Last year, P&G raised the prices on some Tide varieties also reducing the amount of detergent and number of loads per container very effortlessly. This can be changed if Persil can capture at least close to half percentage of the Tide market shares. Persil is a very popular brand in Europe; however, it is unheard in the U.S. market. A strong European company named Henkel owns it, which is based in Germany. P&G has restructured its organizations as global brand categories, while Henkel has marketed several local brands to accommodate cultural differences in European region. So, Henkel must create a plan to standardize globally and adapt globally to get success in U.S. market. I. PESTEL Analysis: A. Political and Legal factor: Each country in Europe has its own independent and separate economic data, however the whole European countries are viewed as a “unique economic and political partnership between 27 European countries that together cover...
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...Assignment: Competition in the European Union: The legal framework Assignment: Competition in the European Union The legal framework Case Study Florian Madl BUS 573_Law for Business Executives, CLU 1 Assignment: Competition in the European Union: The legal framework Table of content 1. The Case ........................................................................................ 3 1.1. General .......................................................................................... 3 1.2. Case Description ........................................................................... 3 1.2.1. General Description ...................................................................... 3 1.2.2. Duration of the infringement ....................................................... 4 1.2.3. Geographical scope ....................................................................... 4 1.3. Decision ......................................................................................... 4 2. Analysis of the Case ....................................................................... 5 3. Additional Informations ............................................................. 10 4. Bibliography ................................................................................ 11 2 Assignment: Competition in the European Union: The legal framework 3 1. The Case 1.1. General Case:...
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...import gas from Russia at all. • That Russia will threaten to shut off energy supplies or increase prices to extract political concessions; • That Russia will exploit existing debts for energy supplies or other economic weakness in energy consuming countries to buy or take over assets in those countries’ energy sectors or other sectors, with a view to use those assets for political leverage; • That Russia will unfairly seize the assets of U.S. or European energy companies operating in Russia, or force western firms to sell their assets, possibly at low prices; • That Russia’s energy wealth and power will encourage broader assertiveness in Moscow’s foreign policy to the detriment of U.S. and European interests. 1973 Oil Crisis that any sort of European Community strategy was created for energy policy. In 1974 the European Council adopted a programme that prioritised getting energy from as many different sources as possible, so that no one group could hold the world to ransom over oil. 1995 and again in 2001 and 2003, the European Commission attempted to define 'An Energy Policy for the EU'. These efforts focused on...
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...EC motor vehicle block exemption reform: are you ready for the new regime? By Susanne Zuehlke and Gianni De Stefano Reprinted from European Competition Law Review Issue 3, 2010 Sweet & Maxwell 100 Avenue Road Swiss Cottage London NW3 3PF (Law Publishers) ZUEHLKE AND DE STEFANO: EC MOTOR VEHICLE BLOCK EXEMPTION REFORM: [2010] E.C.L.R. 93 EC motor vehicle block exemption reform: are you ready for the new regime? Susanne Zuehlke and Gianni De Stefano* Block exemptions; Concerted practices; EC law; Motor industry; Vertical agreements The motor vehicle sector, in particular the distribution of passenger cars, commercial vehicles, spare parts and repair services, is subject to a specific block exemption, Regulation 1400/2002 (the motor vehicle block exemption), which is due to expire on May 31, 2010.1 Following a review launched in mid-2007, the European Commission (the Commission) adopted a Communication on July 22, 2009 to set out the basic policy orientations for the future legal framework that should apply to motor vehicle distribution and aftersales services agreements after the expiry of the motor vehicle block exemption. Currently, the motor vehicle sector is subject to a specific competition law regime which deviates from the general rules applicable to supply and distribution agreements. In particular, the motor vehicle block exemption provides for rules that are stricter than those provided in the general vertical block exemption, Regulation 2790/1999...
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...Gender Quota in European Companies Women are having a hard time reaching top positions in companies. The European Union recognizes this problem and decided to implement new laws that require quotas for women in businesses. According to the European Commission, women need to work an extra of 59 days to match the salary earned by men, which makes an average gender pay gap of 16.2% across the European Union in 2010. ("Equal pay day:," 2013). The reason why the quota system in Europe is not working is, because it has the status of a directive. Equality is one of five values on which the Union is founded. The Union is bound to strive for equality between women and men in all its activities. (3 Articles 2 and 3 TEU, Article 8 TFEU). Therefore, the EU has laws that forbid discrimination based on sex. Article two of the Maastricht Treaty (TEU) clearly states men and women are equal. (Van Ooik, & Vandamme, 2010, p. 5). In addition, article 121 of the TFEU states that men and women have the right for equal pay. Finally, article 21 of the Lisbon Treaty specifically prohibits discrimination based on sex (Van Ooik, & Vandamme, 2010, p. 161). This means that women in the EU are protected by law against discrimination based on their gender. However, in practice gender inequality still exists in European businesses. The European Union and its fight for gender equality has been a long battle. Despite EU law and directives the European Union has not been able to solve the problem....
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...‘In theory, the European Commission represents the EU interest, the European Parliament acts as the voice of the people of the EU, and the Council represents the interests of national governments. The reality is quite different.’ Discuss. The elementary organizing principles of the European Union have been the representation of different interests and the balance of power between the EU institutions and those particular interests. Emphasized in Monnet’s vision, one of the key tasks of the European project was ‘…to ensure that in their limited field these new institutions were both thoroughly democratic and accountable’. Yet, it is often questionable as to whether this task has been accomplished. It is more and more felt that the practical democratization and accountability of the institutions has been gradually dissenting from its theoretical objective. Where the supranational competencies of the EU have been growing, an effective system of political representation of the institutions is said to be missing. This paper aims put together a picture reflecting the essence of this division between empirical legitimacy, based on political reality, and the conceptual, normative legitimacy of each of these institutions arguing the perhaps further transparency and accountability may take the EU institutions a step closer towards achieving their theoretical role. The original Monnet plan envisaged the Commission as a body enjoying output legitimacy by being a promoter of EU...
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...Is there a democratic deficit at the heart of the EU? Many Conservative and UKIP politicians as well as supporters of these two parties would argue there is a democratic deficit at the heart of the EU. One of the big arguments as to why the EU has a democratic deficit is that the EU is an elitist organisation. This argument claims that the EU is controlled by a small group with a lot of power. The elite can be separated into two distinct groups: the economic elite and political elite. The economic elite are defined as big businesses that want a big, single market of which to trade in of which the political elite push forward. The political elite constitute: heads of governments, foreign ministers, civil servants and the Commission who have come under a lot of scrutiny by euro-sceptics for being undemocratic. Elite domination can be evidenced by the Maastricht Treaty of 1992 and Denmark as a member state. The Maastricht Treaty was the most important treaty in terms of change of rules of the EU and Demark wanted to consult with its population before accepting the terms by holding a referendum. The first referendum led to a rejection by the Danish people however a second referendum was held on the issue in which the Danish population agreed to accept the treaty. This is a clear example of the EU not taking no for an answer and shows how the EU is led by an elite that will not take rejection from the population of an EU member-state. This can be evidenced further by idea of an EU...
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...new priorities and new governance approaches, the EU 2020 Strategy moves beyond its predecessor, the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs, adopted by the European Council in spring 2000. The Lisbon Strategy aimed at turning the EU into “the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economic area in the world capable of sustainable economic growth and more and better jobs and social cohesion” (Council 2000). The Lisbon Strategy has been criticized in particular for its “lack of focus and of embedding in national policy-making procedures” (Begg 2008: 427). The complicated governance and implementation structure of the Strategy was seen as major reason why several targets could not be fulfilled. Some shortcomings of the Lisbon Strategy were recognized early, which led to the reorientation of the Strategy on the growth and job aspects in 2005 (ibid.: 427). Nevertheless, the EU did not achieve several of the Lisbon targets in 2010, so that the Strategy has often been labeled as “failed” (Tausch 2010). The EU 2020 Strategy has been designed with the attempt to solve the shortcomings of the Lisbon Strategy so that much attention was given to the governance of the Strategy. After a short evaluation of the Lisbon Strategy, on 3rd March 2010 the Commission presented its Communication on Europe 2020. The President of the European Council, van Rompuy, took leadership in guiding the debate on the new governance of the Strategy. The Rationale and Implementation Method of EU2020 The EU...
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...experience and technical skills. | W1. Lack of teamwork.W2. Lack of opportunities for the advancement of the company.W3. Limited actions due to the European commission giving opportunities to non European entrants and inability of making combined machinery and packaging.W4. Inharmonious global strategy due to the independence of each entity.W5. Pressure from supermarkets and hypermarkets on the unit cost of manufacture.W6. Overcapacity.W7. Competitors with a low price strategy. | Opportunities | Threats | O1. Target the emerging countries where the market is not saturated.O2. Strengthen the global company’s strategy.O3. Encourage the teamwork.O4. Open factories abroad to be closer to the consumers and reduce the environmental impact.O5. Improve bio packaging.O6. Strengthen the marketing strategy (focused on the environmental aspect).O7. Mandatory label indicating the CO2 impact of the packaging only.O8. Improve innovation. | T1. Shortage of human resources.T2. Loss of the employees’ solidarity due to the shortage of human resources. T3. Growth of the plastic and glass markets, (substitutes of paperboard food cartons).T4. Entrance of new suppliers to the market.T5. A single mandatory environmental label: inability to make the distinction between the CO2 impact of the packaging and the CO2 impact of the content.T6. Saturated European market.T7. New...
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...Price Fixing Describe the situation and the product. What was the impact on prices, quantities, consumers, etc. On 18 April 2007 The European commission had made a decision that Heineken, Grolsch, and Bavaria constituted a cartel between 1996 and 1999 to arrange price fixing. The product involved in the case was for the most part premium beer, but there were some instances where the suspicion carried onto the cheaper own-labels too (Kamp). The impact on consumers was tremendous because these three breweries hold almost 90% of the beer industry in Holland. Describe how price fixing arrangement was made – i.e. how did the firms plan to enforce the arrangement? The arrangement was made in the series of meetings between the top management of the three companies. They were operating more like a cartel than a three separate companies. They planned to control the supply and demand of the beer in order to maintain the desired level of prices. They tried to focus their profit control in the bars and supermarkets. How did the government determine that the firms were involved in price fixing? Based on the market conditions the EU commission noticed something unusual is going on. For that reason they have watched closely to the price changes and changes in supply in the demand. Soon after they have encountered evidences that the top management of the three biggest breweries were meeting on a regular basis and were operating a price fixing cartel (Kamp)...
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.... Introduction Since the existence of the European Union, the internal borders in Europe have faded or vanished. This enabled the development of a trade center in Europe. Consequently, the members of the EU are intensifying their business and compared with the pre-EU era, competitive behavior has reached its highest level. Unfortunately, some corporations turn to illegal activities in order to gain an advantage over other competitors. The results of these activities differ widely but their effects are always inhibiting for the competitive market. To counteract against these illegal activities, the European Commission (hereinafter the EC) investigates the European market thoroughly in order to maintain a competitive market across the EU. In recent years, the EC has intensified its anti-collusion behavior by charging fines of substantial amounts to companies who deliberately violated the rules and policies given by the EC. For example, in 1998, the European Commission fined ten companies with a total amount of ECU 92.21 million1 in the district heating industry and sentenced them for running a secret market-sharing, price-fixing and bid-rigging cartel for the pipes that were used in their constructions (European Commission, 1998). The action of the EC raises some interesting questions, as to whether the EC is justified to sentence companies for trading in the colluding way they did and whether the EC should be able to influence the trade in Europe by charging fines. This paper...
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...to pass EU law. The EU parliament has a great deal of power in its ability to pass EU Law. In some areas such as protecting the environment, the EU parliament works with the council to decide on the content of the laws, then it is the parliament’s duty to pass them. As they can influence both what the laws contain and which ones are passed, this makes them highly influential in law making. Furthermore, since the passing of the Lisbon treaty, this power has been increased giving parliament more influence in a greater number of areas including agriculture and immigration. Alternatively, the EU parliament can be seen to be influential in the EU appointing. For example, when a new commission is appointed, none of the 28 ministers can take any power until approved by parliament. This makes them highly influential as they can work with the council, control the commission and have final say on what is actually passed by Law. Furthermore, the Parliament can also pass a “Motion of censure” which forces all the EU commission to resign. This makes them highly influential over the appointments in the EU commission. Finally, the EU parliament has control over what is discussed in the European council summits, giving it a great deal of influence over what policy will eventually be made. The MEP’s of the EU council look over petitions created by citizens and set up comities of enquiry in order to deal with these. The content discovered and discussed by these comities is highly influential...
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...2011 European Year of Volunteering Volunteering in the European Union with main focus on Polish practices Radosław Eryk Bachorz 001128610 Management 3710A - Fall 2011 Professor Patty Vadnais University of Lethbridge November 19th 2011 Introduction 3 Volunteering in the European Union 4 Volunteering in Poland 5 Recent trends in volunteering in European Union and around the world 6 Challenges of volunteering in Poland 8 2011 European Year of Volunteering 11 Strategic partners 12 How to get involved in volunteering initiatives? 14 Poland as a participant of 2011 European Year for Volunteering 15 Polish priorities for the European Year of Volunteering 16 Promoting and Communicating the message of EYV 2011 17 Main events 18 Beyond 2011 – Volunteering Development Plans for EU and Poland 19 Final thoughts 24 Introduction Volunteering fosters social cohesion and social inclusion. Volunteering implies sharing and helping others, and in this way develops solidarity. Voluntary activities increase peoples’ tolerance towards disadvantaged groups in society and help reduce racism and prejudice. Volunteering has also been recognised as a way of offering new learning opportunities...
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