Daily Archives: June 1, 2000


Introduction: The European Union as an International Actor

6 Colum. J. Eur. L. 271 (2000) Petros C. Mavroidis. Professor of Law, University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland, Visiting Professor of Law at Columbia Law School and CEPR (Centre For Economic Policy Research). The notorious ERTA decision by the European Court of Justice (ECJ), if viewed from a federalist perspective independently of its legal merits, represents an equilibrium: the quantity of the sovereignty transferred from European Community (EC) Member States to the Community at the internal (intra-EC) level equals the quantity of sovereignty that the Community can exercise on behalf of the EC Member States on the international scene. The ECJ’s […]


The Common European Policy on Security and Defense: Some Considerations Relating to Its Constitutional Identity

6 Colum. J. Eur. L. 275 (2000) Asteris Pliakos. Associate Professor of European Law, Athens University of Economics and Business. Jean Monnet Professor of European Law. No issue is of greater importance to the European Union in the opening decades of the twenty-first century than whether and how European political unity will be attained. After years of deepening the integration process, the EU continues to face a series of fundamental challenges that require novel political solutions. In the wake of politically highly sensitive events, above all the Balkan War, the EU has demonstrated obvious ineffectiveness as a unified political actor […]


Competition Policy, Liberalism and Globalization: A European Perspective

6 Colum. J. Eur. L. 289 (2000) Barry J. Rodger. Senior Lecturer, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. There are a number of reasons why a contemporary analysis of competition policy in a global economy is necessary and instructive. First, the Thatcher/Reagan era attack on the welfare regulatory state has been questioned in the late 1990s and this has profound implications for the role of competition policy. The newer approach to markets and state regulation can perhaps be best indicated by the much-vaunted “third way” promoted by UK Prime Minister Tony Blair’s Labour Government. More particularly there has been a sustained critique […]


Solutions to the Unconstitutionality of the EC-Hungary Antitrust Cooperation Regime: Anti-Trust or Antitrust Cooperation?

6 Colum. J. Eur. L. 321 (2000) János Volkai. Ph.D. Candidate, European University Institute, Florence (Thesis Title: The Present and Future Application of Community Antitrust Law in Hungary). Administrator, Competition Law and Policy Division, OECD, Paris (janos.volkai@oecd.org). Veri Juris – Nous n’en avons plus: si nous en avions, nous ne prendrions pas pour règle de justice de suivre les moeurs de son pays. C’est là que ne pouvant trouver le juste, on a trouvé le fort, etc. (B. PASCAL, PENSEES 121 (1936), point 235) INTRODUCTION On the basis of a submission by a Hungarian citizen, in Judgment No. 30 of […]


The “Internal” External Relations of Emu: On the Legal Framework of the Relationship Of “In” And “Out” States

6 Colum. J. Eur. L. 361 (2000) Erich Vranes. Assistant at the Research Institute for European Affairs, Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration. The project of building an economic and monetary union in Europe can be regarded as another logical step forward in the process of European integration, yet arguably one of unprecedented import and ambition. This economic and monetary union (EMU) has been characterized as a “normatively-led” community by the German Constitutional Court, as its establishment relies on the conventional “European Community (EC) approach” of norm-oriented economic and policy integration. The same is true for EMU’s relations to […]


Book Review: European Unity and World Order: Federal Trust 1945-1995. By John Pinder. London: The Federal Trust, 1995. 60 Pages.

6 Colum. J. Eur. L. 389 (2000) reviewed by Leyla Marrouk. This work traces fifty years of the Federal Trust’s existence presenting a concise chronological account of its progress. Although this text is a fountain of facts and names, a warning is in order. The book does not go far beyond the actions of the Trust to the issues of the era. If one is looking for an in-depth analysis of the impact of the Federal Trust, this source only provides a rough framework. Nonetheless, John Pinder, a Trustee of the Federal Trust, Deputy Chairman of the European Movement in […]


Book Review: The European Union and Its Court of Justice. By Anthony Amull. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. 593 Pages.

6 Colum. J. Eur. L. 392 (2000) reviewed by Sophie Hausler. A superficial glance at this book’s title might give the impression that one is dealing with yet another book on the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and its procedure. However, on closer inspection the realization hits home that the focus is in fact on the relationship between the European Union (EU) and its Court. The book’s aim is to examine, in relation to both constitutional and substantive Community law, how the Court contributed to the forming of the EU’s legal framework as it stands today.’ Amull’s book must be […]


Book Review: Principles of European Contract Law: Parts I and II. Edited by Ole Lando and Hugh Beale. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Kluwer Law International, 2000. 561 Pages.

6 Colum. J. Eur. L. 395 (2000) reviewed by Virginia Tent. FILLING THE VOID Recognizing the need for a general European contract law analogous to the United States’ Uniform Commercial Code and Restatement of the Law of Contract, the Commission on European Contract Law (1981-1990) and the Second Commission on European Contract Law (1992-1996) have begun the distillation and creation of such a set of rules and principles. Not only are these principles particularly relevant and useful for intra-European Union contracts for trade, investment and employment, but they may also provide a progressive and occasionally normative foundation for contract law […]