Volume 9, Issue 2


European Regulation of GMOs and the WTO

9 Colum. J. Eur. L. 213 (2003) Joanne Scott. Faculty of Law, University of Cambridge, Visiting Professor, Columbia Law School. Currently pending before the Community legislative institutions are two proposals concerning genetically modified (hereinafter GM) food and feed. As the subject matter of continuing conflict between the Member States and between the different Community institutions, these proposals look set to stoke the GM fire, notably at the level of the WTO. This paper will focus on the proposal for a regulation on GM food and feed. The European Parliament has proposed numerous, significant, amendments to the original proposal, only some […]


The European Transformation of Harassment Law: Discrimination Versus Dignity

9 Colum. J. Eur. L. 241 (2003) Gabrielle S. Friedman. Law Clerk to the Hon. Gerard E. Lynch, U.S. District Judge, Southern District of New York. James Q. Whitman. Ford Foundation Professor of Comparative and Foreign Law, Yale University. Workplace “harassment” is now regarded as an evil in every western country. But exactly what class of persons is threatened by “harassment”? And exactly what evil does the law forbidding “harassment” aim to combat? The best-known, and internationally most influential, use of the term “harassment” comes from American law. In the American conception, “harassment” is a form of discrimination, a way […]


When Less Would Be More: The EU Takeover Directive in Its Latest Apparition

9 Colum. J. Eur. L. 275 (2003) Jesper Lau Hansen. Dr. jur. & LLM, associate professor in financial market law at the University of Copenhagen Law Faculty, Institute of Legal Studies. It is a balanced and reasonable text which steers clear of the pitfalls of extreme positions that could have consigned us to Dante’s’Inferno with no exit. In these words, Internal Market Commissioner Frits Bolkenstein introduced the latest proposal of the European Commission on a takeover directive on October 2nd, 2002. One does not have to be familiar with European lawmaking to appreciate the considerable controversy behind this document. Indeed, […]


A Shaky Pillar of Global Stability: The Evolution of the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy

9 Colum. J. Eur. L. 299 (2003) Sergio Baches Opi. LL.M. E.U. Law, Center for Advanced Legal Studies, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium (1995); LL.M. International Business and Trade Law, Fordham University School of Law, New York (2000). Mr. Baches Opi is an attorney with Uría & Menéndez, Barcelona (Spain). Ryan Floyd. Member of Yale International Security Studies’ Grand Strategy program and a Smith-Richardson Fellow. The terrorist attacks of September II, 2001 shocked the United States (U.S.) and the rest of the world, marking a new era in international law and policy. The events have spawned a new concert of great […]


Leg. Dev.: Council Decision 2002/996/JHA Establishing a Mechanism for Evaluating the Legal Systems and Their Implementation at National Level in the Fight Against Terrorism

9 Colum. J. Eur. L. 333 (2003) Stuart Rosenberg.  On November 28, 2002, the Council passed a decision “establishing a mechanism for evaluating the legal systems and their implementation at national level in the fight against terrorism” (the Decision).’ The Decision accomplishes one of many objectives defined by the Justice and Home Affairs Council at its pivotal meeting on September 20, 2001: the replacement of Joint Action 97/827/JHA of December 5, 1997, which established an evaluation mechanism for the fight against organized crime. On paper, the November 28 decision is an integral part of the EU’s anti-terror strategy. Whether the […]


Book Review: UK Public Law & European Law: The Dynamics of Legal Integration, by Gordon Anthony

9 Colum. J. Eur. L. 341 (2003) reviewed by Jean Chen. UK Public Law & European Law: The Dynamics of Legal Integration focuses on the interaction of UK courts and European law in developing UK public law. The central thesis illuminates a trend toward better legal integration in the UK through a more open approach to the integration of domestic public law and European law. While legal integration is often questioned in academic debate, this book contends that recent and ongoing developments, most notably the Human Rights Act of 1998, require a reassessment of the UK courts’ interaction with European […]