The book provides the first comprehensive comparative analysis of the development of EU enlargement conditionality across four different enlargement waves - the first (2004) and the second (2007) phase of the Eastern enlargement, the EU enlargement to Croatia (2013), and the ongoing enlargement round involving Turkey and the Western Balkans.
“A novel, insightful and provocative foray into the abilities, capacities and limits of corporate power on the one hand and public power and capacities on the other hand. Eckert offers new and refine insights on core issues in the theories of public and private interest regulation.”—David Levi Faur, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel “This impressive book breaks important ground in the regulatory governance literature by bringing in a fresh corporate perspective. Based on a set of fascinating case studies of European regulation, Eckert compellingly unpacks key facets of corporate power. A must-read for regulation scholars who often neglect the targets of regulation!”—Burkard Eberlein, York University, Canada “This book offers systematic and empirically fascinating insights into the regulatory power of corporations which unfolds outside the traditional political arenas. Its policy effects have important implications for the target groups of regulation, the general public, and the democratic political process as such. The conceptualization and use of rich empirical sources make for a compelling read.”—Adrienne Héritier, European University Institute, Italy This book takes a fresh look at corporate power in the regulatory process. It examines how corporations seek to prevent, shape, make or revoke regulation. The central argument is that in doing so, corporations utilise distinct power resources as experts, innovators and operators. By re-emphasising the proactive role of business, the book complements our acquired knowledge of policymakers’ capacity to put pressure on, or delegate power to private actors. Empirically, the book covers European consumer and environmental policies, and conducts case studies on the chemical, paper, home appliance, ICT and electricity industries. A separate chapter is dedicated to the assumption that Brexit will lead to an unprecedented result of EU regulation being lifted, and how this could put corporate power in regulation at risk. This book provides a new perspective on the policy implications of corporate power to scholars, students and practitioners alike.
Présentation de l'éditeur : "In an examination that is at once critical, comparative and interdisciplinary, the book discusses the stated objectives of the EU issuer-disclosure regime - principally about retail investor protection - and then goes on to identify objectives that can actually be met in practice, i.e. market efficiency and corporate governance. The author concludes by drawing concrete policy and regulatory implications, along the way covering such aspects and ramifications of the regime. In its defence of the power of market forces as regulatory means, and its clear argument that market finance should be seen at a minimum as a useful complement to bank credit and other financing sources, this important book can claim a privileged space in the debate over the role of disclosure requirements in securities regulation."
This book analyses how the European Union translates its principles of peace and justice into policy and puts them into practice, particularly in societies in or emerging from violent conflict. The European Union treaty states that in its relations with the wider world, the EU is to promote peace, security, the protection of human rights, and the strict observance and the development of international law. The EU is active in peace processes around the world, yet its role in international peace mediation is largely ignored. This book offers the first scholarly analysis of how the EU engages in peace processes and justice for human rights violations, focussing on the point where mediation and transitional justice intersect. Drawing on extensive fieldwork, the book includes case studies of how the EU sought to promote peace and justice in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), how it supports international justice through the International Criminal Court, and a model of the EU as a mediator. These provide an evidence-base for policy makers and practitioners as well as strong empirical contributions to theory. The book addresses whether and how the EU pursues its principles of both peace and justice in conflict zones, where, in practice, these principles may be in conflict, and the implications of these findings for understanding EU foreign policy and the EU as a security actor. This book will be of much interest to students of EU foreign policy, transitional justice, peace and conflict studies and security studies.
This book provides an analysis of the European policy approach to combined heat and power (CHP), a highly efficient technology used by all EU Member States for the needs of generating electricity and heat. European Law on Combined Heat and Power carries out an assessment of the European legal and policy measures on CHP, evaluating how it has changed over the years through progress and decline in specific member states. Over the course of the book, Sokołowski explores all aspects of CHP, examining the types of measures used to steer the growth of cogeneration in the EU and the policies and regulatory tools that have influenced its development. He also assesses the specific role of CHP in the liberalisation of the internal energy market and EU action on climate and sustainability. Finally, by delivering his notions of "cogenatives", "cogenmunities", or "Micro-Collective-Flexible-Smart-High-Efficiency cogeneration", Sokołowski considers how the new EU energy package – "Clean energy for all Europeans" – will shape future developments. This book will be of great interest to students and scholars of energy law and regulation, combined heat and power and energy efficiency, as well as policy makers and energy experts working in the CHP sector.
Widening economic and social gaps among EU member states, as well as among different groups and categories of citizens within society, are not only placing in jeopardy the future of Social Europe but threatening to undermine also the whole project of European integration. The post-2008 recession and debt crisis, helped along by EU leaders’ obstinate clinging to the failing remedies of fiscal austerity, have accelerated the disenchantment of millions of European citizens with the half-century-old project to build and consolidate a European Union. This is one of the most striking conclusions of the ETUI’s Benchmarking Working Europe report for 2013. Benchmarking Working Europe is one of the ETUI’s regularly appearing flagship publications. Issued annually since 2002, the report offers an alternative perspective on EU developments. Using publicly accessible data, it reveals what is actually going on behind the EU social and economic affairs headlines. After last year’s issue focused on growing inequality in Europe, this year’s Benchmarking Working Europe report will demonstrate by means of hard-hitting graphs and cogent arguments that Europe is, rather than converging, actually drifting apart in numerous respects.
Many states – including European Union (EU) Member States – subsidise energy producers in order to guarantee the uninterrupted availability of affordable electricity. This book presents the first in-depth examination of how these so-called capacity mechanisms are addressed in EU law and how they affect the functioning of the EU energy markets. Focusing on the existing legal framework as well as the new provisions of the Clean Energy for All Europeans package for capacity mechanisms, the author addresses and analyses such aspects as the following: the structure and functioning of the EU electricity markets; EU’s competence to address security of supply and Member States’ margin of discretion; sector-specific rules for security of supply; legal conditions for subsidising generation adequacy; capacity remuneration under the EU State aid regime; free movement rules that address generation adequacy measures; balancing different interests of EU energy law in the context of generation adequacy; and the requirement of proportionality in State intervention to ensure generation adequacy. The analysis draws on relevant sources of EU law (treaties, regulations and directives) as well as the case law of the European Court of Justice and the General Court, together with soft law instruments such as Commission guidelines. Scholarly sources include not only legal literature but also work on energy policy, energy engineering and energy economics. As a detailed analysis of how capacity mechanisms address issues arising in the context of the enegy transition – and how the system of EU law applicable to capacity mechanisms should be interpreted to further the objectives of EU energy law – the book will help policymakers and legislators in Member States to understand the changing legal setting for capacity mechanisms. Lawyers, academics and other professionals who deal with EU electricity markets in the EU and beyond are sure to welcome its detailed description and analysis.
This book discusses the role of private law as an instrument to produce financial and social inclusion in a context characterised by the redefinition of the role of the State and by the financialisation of society. By depicting the political and economic developments behind the popular idea of financial inclusion, the book deconstructs that notion, illustrating the existence and interaction of different discourses surrounding it. The book further traces the evolution of inclusion, specifically in the European context, and thus moves on to analyse the legal rules which are most relevant for the purposes of bringing about the financialisation of the citizen. Hence, the author focuses more on four highly topical areas: access to a bank account, access to credit, over indebtedness, and financial education. Adopting a critical and inter-disciplinary approach, The Financialisation of the Citizen takes the reader through a top-down journey starting from the political economy of financialisation, to the law and policy of the European Union, and finally to more specific private law rules.
This book is a sociological account of the historical trajectory of feed-in tariffs (FITs) as an instrument for the promotion of renewable energy in Europe. Chapters analyse the emergence and transformations of feed-in tariffs as part of the policy arsenal developed to encourage the creation of markets for RES-E in Europe. The authors explore evolving conceptions of renewable energy policy at the intersection between environmental objectives, technological change and the ambition to liberalise the internal electricity market. They draw conclusions on the relationships between markets and policy-making as it is instituted in the European Union, and on the interplay between the implementation of a European vision on energy and national politics. Distinctive in both its approach and its methods the books aim is not to discuss the design of feed-in tariffs and their evolution, nor is it to assess their efficiency or fairness. Instead, the authors seek to understand what makes feed-in tariffs what they are, and how this has changed over time.