16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 171 (2010) David Marrani, Lecturer in public and comparative law, School of Law, University of Essex. It was with great hope and spirit that the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union began in 2008. The French President was extremely proud to add to his many titles that of President of the European Council. In the welcome message posted on the French Presidency’s official website, it was made clear that France wanted “to be back in Europe. ” That said, communication between the French Republic and the European Institutions has not always been forthright, and these tumultuous relationships have been especially difficult in the […]

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 161 (2009) Tim Connor, University of Bradford, School of Law

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 131 (2009) Casey W. Halladay, B.A. (Hons.), M.A., LL.B., LL.M., ofthe Bars of England and Wales, New York, and Ontario. Partner, Studio Legale Amorese, Bergamo, Italy and London, U.K. In an important clarification of the rights of merger parties and the responsibilities of the European Commission (“the Commission “) in merger review under the E.C. Merger Regulation (E.C.M.R.), the European Court of First Instance (C. F. I.) recently released its decision in MyTravel Group v. Commission. At issue in MyTravel was the Commission’s potential liability to merger parties under Article 288 E.C. Treaty for errors committed in reviewing a merger notified under the E.C.M.R. MyTravel represents an […]

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 121 (2009) Krishan Thakker, Columbia Law School/King’s College London, J.D./LL.B. Candidate, Class of 2010. This Note examines the monopolistic nature of the conduct of collecting societies within the E. U. and how developments in E.C. competition law are rendering previously lawful conduct unlawful. It also analyzes the changes in the role of collecting societies in light of the developments in online music distribution and digital rights management. The conflict between collecting societies within the European Union, European Community competition law, and copyright law as it relates to musical works has recently become a controversial area of increasing dominance in legal processes. E. C. competition law has dealt […]

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 81 (2009) Ronan McCrea, Référendaire (judicial clerk), European Court of Justice This Article examines the use, and limitations on the use, of religion as a source of law in the legal order of the European Union. It reveals how religion is recognized by the Union as an element of its constitutional values but how, at the same time, this role is balanced by the recognition of potentially competing humanist and cultural influences. Similarly, although E.U. law recognizes the particular contribution of religious bodies in the areas of law and policy-making, it also preserves a balance between the religious and secular humanist elements of the Union’s ethical inheritance […]

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 67 (2009) Inge Govaere, Professor of Eur. Law, Ghent Univ. and Dir. of the Eur. Legal Studies Dep’t, College of Eur. in Brussels The pending Lisbon Reform Treaty and the 2007 Internal Market Modernization Package both raise new questions with respect to the future direction to be taken by E.U. internal market law. This Article scrutinizes the most likely changes in approach and recalls the core principles of the internal market concept as it has evolved over time. Attention is paid in particular to the potential impact of the current internal market modernization process on other related and potentially conflicting policies, such as social, environmental, […]

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 37 (2009) Mathias Möschel, PhD Candidate, European University Institute (Florence) In Maruko v. Versorgungsanstalt der deutschen Bohnen, the European Court of Justice (E. C.J)  handed down its first holding on sexual orientation discrimination which has been hailed as a victory for gay rights. However, only a month later, by stating that life partnerships and marriage are not comparable situations, the German Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) exposed the limitations inherent in the Maruko  case. This Article will show how reluctant the German judiciary has been until very recently to extend the rights inherent in marriage under German law to same-sex life partners, thereby disregarding the fact that nowadays the […]

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 1 (2009) Michael C. Schouten, Visiting Research Fellow, Columbia Law School; Teaching Fellow, Duisenberg School of Finance; Ph.D candidate, University of Amsterdam. The important role of shareholder voting in the corporate governance of European public firms, coupled with the dramatic increase in cross-border share ownership, underscores the need for a system that facilitates cross-border voting. European policynakers recognize this, yet they seem reluctant to push through the reforms necessary to put such a system in place. As a result, the status quo has prevailed so far. To explain this paradox, this Article analyzes the legislative process surrounding recent European legislation aimed at facilitating cross-border voting. The analysis suggests […]

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 337 (2010) Jancic Davor. PhD candidate, Institute of Constitutional and Administrative Law, Utrecht University, theNetherlands. This Article was finalized while I was a visiting researcher at the Department of Law of theLondon School of Economics and Political Science in 2009. This Article analyzes the evolution of the reasoning about E.U. democracy that the German Federal Constitutional Court (BVerfG) has been shaping starting with the Solange I and II, Maastricht, and European Arrest Warrant cases and culminating with the Lisbon Treaty case. The BVerfG’s reasoning has often taken the form of caveats, whereby the BVerfG “warned” the European Union of its assessments […]

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 385 (2010) Wojciech Sadurski. Challis Professor of Jurisprudence at the University of Sydney, Faculty of Law. My great thanks to Dr. Karine Caunes for her excellent research. The Article 7 mechanism of the Treaty on European Union fills a gap in the Union’s approach to human rights protection by setting up a system of early warning about the risk of breaches of rights in a Member State, and of sanctions in the event of a determination that such breaches have occurred. This Article traces the history of the discussions and decisions that have incorporated this mechanism into the TEU system and […]

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 427 (2010) Niamh Dunne. Ph.D. candidate in Law, Corpus Christi College, University of Cambridge. Professor Alison Jones provided helpful comments on an earlier draft of this Article. The concept of “undertaking” acts as a gatekeeper to the application of the substantive competition laws of the European Union, namely Articles 101 and 102 T.F.E.U. A functional approach to the concept, rooted in the notion of economic activity, has been adopted. Insofar as State activities fall within the concept of economic activity, a notion has developed in European case law that the substantive provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union […]

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 465 (2010) Jan-Krzysztof Dunin-Wasowicz. J.D., Columbia Law School, expected 2012; Maîtrise en droit & degree in International Commercial Law, University of Paris I (Sorbonne), expected 2012; Master’s degree, Public Administration, Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), 2007; European Studies undergraduate program, Institut d’Études Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), 2005. This Article joins a policy debate over the reform of Council Regulation 1049/2001 (the “Transparency Regulation”) which governs access to documents held by European institutions. The Transparency Regulation was enacted under the premise that its disclosure-friendly rules would effectively mitigate the democratic deficit of the […]

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 497 (2010) Timothy Roes. Ph.D. Candidate and research assistant, Institute for European Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 521 (2010) Matej Avbelj. Ph.D. EUI, Florence, LL.M. NYU School of Law, Associate Professor of European Law, European Faculty of Law and Faculty of State and European Studies, Slovenia. This contribution analyzes the impact of the Treaty of Lisbon on the so-called “structural equilibrium” of European integration. Structural equilibrium is the European Union’s functional, but for obvious reasons not nominal, equivalent of a federal equilibrium in federal regimes. It stands for rules and principles that govern the relationship between the constituent entities of the integration—Member States and the European Union as a supranational level—so that the integration can achieve its selected […]

15 Colum. J. Eur. L. 349 (2009) Ingolf Pernice. Professor Dr. Dr. h.c., Chair for Public, International, and European Law of the Humboldt-University of Berlin, managing director of the Walter Hallstein Institute for European Constitutional Law (WHI) of the Humboldt-University of Berlin, senior visiting fellow at the Program on Law and Public Affairs (LAPA) and visiting professor at Princeton University. This is a more elaborate version of a lecture given at Columbia Law School, New York, on October 1, 2008. For years, the European Union has struggled with its structural and constitutional self-determination, searching for a sustainable balance between confederal […]

15 Colum. J. Eur. L. 409 (2009) Rachael Mulheron. Professor, Department of Law, Queen Mary University of London. Reform of collective redress has garnered significant momentum and engendered widespread debate in England and elsewhere in Europe, particularly since 2007. Several important statutory and reform initiatives, and case law developments, have occurred across European Member States, and at the EU level, during this period. While many legal and policy conundrums have arisen for discussion, perhaps the most important question hovering above the debates and consultations on the subject can be reduced to this: opt-in or opt-out? In this Article, the author […]

15 Colum. J. Eur. L. 455 (2009) Paulina Dejmek (Dr. iur). Member of the Legal Service of the European Commission. All opinions expressed are strictly personal and the usual disclaimers apply. The article and all websites referred to reflect the situation at the end of January 2009. Major developments until mid-March 2009 have also been accounted for. Have the Community legislators provided an appropriate regulatory response to the turmoil in the financial markets and what will the future entail in this regard? This article provides an overview of the main legislative initiatives relating to the internal market in financial services presented by the European Commission during 2008, […]

15 Colum. J. Eur. L. 477 (2009) Daphne Barak-Erez. Visiting Professor, Columbia Law School (Fall 2008); Professor of Law, Stewart and Judy Colton Chair of Law and Security, Faculty of Law, Tel-Aviv University. This Article discusses the practice of comparative law from an institutional perspective—rather than asking whether importing doctrines and concepts from foreign law is a desirable practice, it asks how they are imported, why, and by whom. In this context, it also calls for a more nuanced analysis of the controversy over the use of comparative law, since the forms and the implications of using comparative law change according to the institution involved in the practice. […]

15 Colum. J. Eur. L. 495 (2009) Tim Volkheimer. Columbia Law School/University College London, J.D./LL.B. expected 2010. Co-Head Articles Editor, Columbia Journal of European Law, Volume 16. I wish to thank Mathilde Cohen, Zachary L. Craft, and Abraham Shaw for their assistance in preparing this Note. This Note discusses the tension between nationally granted patents and the establishment of a European common market. Due to patents’ territorial application and their grant of monopoly-like rights to their holders, patents partition the market along nation state lines, thus conflicting with Article 28 EC (formerly Article 30 EC) on the free movement of goods within the European common market. This conflict […]

15 Colum. J. Eur. L. 511 (2009) Giacinto della Cananea. Ph.D., The European University Institute (Florence); Professor of Public Law and E.U. Law, University of Naples “Federico II.” In the first decisions concerning the anti-terrorism measures provided by the resolutions adopted by the Security Council of United Nations (UN), the Court of First Instance (CFI) of the European Union (EU) has clearly shown deference towards political choices adopted at the global level. Such decisions were based on two assumptions: that EU institutions had to comply with UN law and that the latter took precedence over all other treaties, including those protecting human rights, such as the European Convention on […]