16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 321 (2010) Agnieszka Janczuk, LLM, PhD Candidate, European University Institute. Recent legislative developments in the field of payment services in the European Union aim at building a uniform European payments market. The creation of an internal market for payments has been the result of both industry self-regulation and public regulation. The Payment Services Directive (PSD) and Regulation 924/2009 support and complement the private regulatory regime developed by the banking sector’s European Payments Council, the Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA). The PSD provides a legal framework for SEPA by harmonizing certain core payments provisions, while Regulation 924/2009 substantially enabled the launch of SEPA Direct Debit by laying down the […]

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 303 (2010) Marco Amorese, Ph.D., UniversitA degli Studi di Brescia, LL.M. Harvard Law School, J.D. University of Milan, Studio legale Amorese. In the cases in comment, the European Court of Justice tries to clarify two crucial concepts in the area of services of general interest: (a) the definition of concession and (b) the scope of the “in-house” exception. The strict definition so far formulated has prompted local bodies to create very complex and inefficient corporate governances in companies awarded services of general interest. The European Court of Justice seems to have taken a more permissive tack that should give local bodies more ample maneuvering power in operating […]

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 261 (2010) Ira Lindsay When the Soviet Union collapsed, many observers hoped that decollectivization would improve the infamously inefficient Soviet agricultural sector and raise collective farm workers out of poverty. The initial results of market reform in Russian agriculture were a severe disappointment in both respects. Under Putin, Russia finally allowed agricultural land to be bought and sold. The effects of this latest reform neither met the expectations of its supporters nor realized the fears of its opponents. Russia’s experience with land reform suggests that while private ownership of farmland may offer significant advantages, successful land reform requires much more than the creation of legal rights. This Article […]

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 233 (2010) Brian Sawers, J.D., Harvard; A.B., Duke. Heller explains the underperformance and informality of retail in transition Russia as the consequence of botched privatization. He calls this outcome anticommons: too many people hold a veto, leading to underuse. Heller argues that the existence of too many overlapping property rights prevents entrepreneurs from opening brick-and-mortar shops in Russia. The ubiquity of kiosks, however, is better explained by other factors. Kiosks are smaller investments than storefronts, hence their ubiquity in a credit-constrained environment. In addition, taxes, corruption, organized crime, and favor-exchange networks all discourage scale. Retail is informal in Russia for the same reasons it is informal in other […]

16 Colum. J. Eur. L. 191 (2010) Mattias Derlin & Johan Lindholm, Doctors of Law and Senior Lecturers in Law at Umea University, Sweden In June 2009 the European Court of Justice (E.C.J) decided the Mickelsson case (C-142/05). Mickelsson concerns the application of the (in)famous Article 28 E.C. prohibiting practical obstacles to the free movement of goods within the European Union. The meaning of Article 28 is notoriously vague and has given rise to extensive case law. Mickelsson brings attention to a little discussed dimension of Article 28 E. C.: the fact that rules on use (i.e. national measures regulating how, when, and by whom goods can be used) can constitute practical […]

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 […]