European Union

Passing the Baton? Extractive Business and Human Rights Regulation in the US and the EU

By: Dr. Aleydis Nissen, Leiden Law School and the Free Universities of Brussels In 2010, the United States created two highly innovative legal obligations to ensure corporate respect for human rights. This post explains that not much is left of these obligations nowadays, and directs the reader to my new book to learn more about how the United States has inspired the European Union to adopt similar regulations, but with more impact. Even before the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights were adopted in 2011, the United States had already innovated in the field of business and […]

Developing a European Model of International Protection for Environmentally-Displaced Persons: Lessons from Finland and Sweden

By Emily Hush, J.D. Candidate 2018, Columbia Law School I want to extend my sincere thanks to Professor Michael B. Gerrard of Columbia Law School and Professor Matthew Scott of Lund University Faculty of Law for their invaluable assistance on this project. All errors are my own. I. Introduction The displacement of persons due to environmental disasters exacerbated by climate change has already begun. The flow will continue to increase throughout the course of this century. Despite this growing population of migrants, the world has no legal framework in place for their reception and protection. Sweden and Finland used to […]

European Perspectives on an Emergent Law of Robotics

Joanna Diane Caytas, JD Candidate, Columbia Law School 2017 As robots, machine learning, and intelligent automation shape ever more areas of our lives and jobs, many assume that, because machines have been around since centuries, laws applicable to robots will just require some well-adjusted analogies. But they would be wrong, and the need for a Law of Robotics is becoming increasingly more evident. Yet, the ideas proposed to get this started are mired in controversy. Human labor has been substituted most effectively by machines for well over two centuries now, and quasi-Luddite warfare against technology has been around just as long. […]

Strained Solidarity: The Challenge of EU Cohesion in the Implementation and Execution of the Union’s Resettlement Plan

Juli Brauer J.D. Candidate, Columbia Law School, 2017 “If ever European solidarity needed to manifest itself, it is on the question of the refugee crisis. It is time to show collective courage and deliver this European response now.”[1] —Jean Paul Juncker, President of the European Commission Europe is currently in the process of implementing a new deal for EU-wide relocation of the refugees who have arrived in Italy and Greece in droves seeking asylum, primarily from a civil war in Syria. First proposed by the European Commission in Strasbourg on September 9, 2015, the plan aims to ease the burden weighing […]

Crowdfunding Venture Capital in Europe

Joanna Diane Caytas J.D. Candidate, Columbia Law School, 2017 Modern venture capital, at first invested by way of private equity, is a Swedish-American creation that started around WWI by ultra-high net worth families such as the Wallenbergs, Whitneys, Rockefellers, and Warburgs. Europe has always lagged significantly behind countries such as the United States[1] and Israel[2] with regards to transparent public markets. It has also never mustered commercial funding sources and government as well as legislative support for large-scale innovation finance, not to mention developed a comparable size and quality of market for risk capital. A recent EU initiative aims to […]

Large Investors, Small Obligations: How to Engage EU Shareholders

Aleksandra Pajic, Ph.D., LL.M. Lecturer in Securities Regulation, University of Saskatchewan Targeted development of the EU corporate governance framework is a timely and necessary move. The past few years have shown some serious shortcomings in corporate governance of EU companies. The lack of effective control mechanisms has contributed to excessive risk taking, and subsequently to failures of many financial and non-financial institutions. Those failures are associated with a set of factors: The lengthening of the investment chain; The increasing “short-termism” of the capital markets;[1] The remuneration of institutional investors based on the volume of assets they manage; The costs associated […]

Driving While Non-European: Reaching a European Consensus on the Exchange of Driver’s Licenses

Megan Elise Griffith J.D., Columbia Law School, 2016 For newcomers to any country, mundane issues, such as obtaining a new driver’s license, can become a time drain. Immigrants may find that they only need to bring documents to a local agency to exchange their “old” license for a new one. Unlucky immigrants, however, may need to take written and practical tests, or even fulfill a classroom requirement, to obtain the new host country license. The fundamental freedom of movement and mutual recognition have mitigated this issue for individuals moving between EU member states. However, member states’ regulations still vary considerably […]

Unexpected Visitors: European Security Politics and the Passenger Name Record Directive

Mark Goldberg J.D. Candidate, Columbia Law School, 2015 Introduction Over the last two years, a vicious terror organization called Daesh (sometimes known as “Islamic State,” “ISIS,” or “ISIL”) arose amidst societal collapses in Iraq and Syria. Originally an al-Qaeda splinter group, Daesh has proven its resiliency and tenacity in many strategic campaigns. Daesh infamously uses social media to an unprecedented extent for a terror group. Daesh relies on the Internet to propagandize and recruit new jihadis. Its tactics continue to succeed: Gilles de Kerchove, the EU Counter-Terrorism Coordinator, estimates that at least 3,000 European nationals, swayed by recruiters, left the […]

European Union Merger Control: The End of Member State Industrial Policy?

Géraldine Babin LL.M., Columbia Law School, 2015  The 2014 Alstom controversy again brought to light the tension between EU merger control rules[1] and the desires of Member States to pursue their own industrial policy objectives. The French government, wanting to protect its national security interests, maneuvered to obtain significant changes to the deal between ailing French company Alstom and GE, after having clearly voiced its preference for a deal with the German company Siemens.[2] Former Competition Commissioner Kroes herself pointed out the “great ideological divide” that exists between industrial[3] and competition policies. The former stems from an interventionist approach justifying […]