2 Colum. J. Eur. L. 1 (1995) Xavier Lewis. Barrister, of the Middle Temple. Member of the Legal Service, European Commission, former Legal Secretary, Court of Justice of the European Communities. In an article about civilian codification in North America, Professor Shael Herman amusingly likened the Québec and Louisiana jurisdictions to a “civilian fortress” which had bravely withstood Anglo-Saxon onslaughts. The question now is whether the besiegers are being besieged: whether the English and Irish common law is becoming “Europeanized” as a result of British and Irish membership of the European Community. It could not be doubted that with the […]

2 Colum. J. Eur. L. 25 (1995) Barry J. Rodger. Lecturer in Law, University of Strathclyde, Glasgow. “The final problem of antitrust policy is its inability to make satisfactory contact with oligopoly.” This article aims to examine the complex issue of the control of oligopolistic markets. In particular it will assess European Community competition law provisions and the associated competitive problems or “market failures,” notably parallel and excessive prices and exclusionary practices. The article shall first identify leading American antitrust theories, the Harvard and Chicago schools, and then examine the application of antitrust law within the U.S. Given the importance […]

2 Colum. J. Eur. L. 49 (1995) Sarah E. Strasser. Attorney, Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, J.D. 1995, Harvard Law School, B.A. (Juris.) Hons, Oxford. Litigation patterns in the Community suggest that the need to reform the European Court of Justice is becoming increasingly urgent, as the volume of cases brought to the Court steadily expands, and delays in their adjudication increase. Indeed, the Court cannot continue to hear all cases brought to its attention. If delays are allowed to rise, the legitimacy of the Court itself will be endangered. It has been said of the European Commission that “the […]

2 Colum. J. Eur. L. 107 (1995) Dr. Fernand de Varennes. Lecturer, School of Law, Murdoch University, Perth, Australia. Does not the sun shine equally for the whole world? Do we not all equally breathe the air? Do you not feel shame at authorising only three languages and condemning other people to blindness and deafness? Tell me, do you think that God is helpless and cannot bestow equality, or that he is envious and will not give it? – Saint Constantine This paper explores some of the causes of ethnic conflicts in European and international contexts, especially as they relate […]

2 Colum. J. Eur. L. 107 (1995) Piet Van Nuffel. Fellow of the Belgian National Foundation for Scientific Research, Institute for European Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Case C-412/93, Société d’Importation Edouard Leclerc-Siplec v. TF1 Publicité SA and M6 Publicité SA, February 9, 1995, 1995 E.C.R. 1-179 Televised advertising; Free movement of goods and services Facts and Procedure This case was the result of a suit brought by Leclerc-Siplec (a French distributor of fuel at service stations belonging to the Leclerc supermarket group) against the French television advertising companies TF1 Publicité and M6 Publicité. TF1 and M6 had refused to broadcast […]

2 Colum. J. Eur. L. 154 (1995) G. Straetmans. Assistant at the Institute for European Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Case C-384/93, Alpine Investments v. Minister van Financiën (Minister for Finance), May 10, 1995, 1995 E.C.R., 1-1141. Freedom to provide services; Prohibition against offering financial services by telephone (cold calling). Facts and Procedure Alpine Investments offers services in the market of commodities futures contracts. The company is established in the Netherlands, and receives orders from clients not only in the Netherlands but also in Belgium, France and the United Kingdom. At the time of the events, financial services were governed by […]

2 Colum. J. Eur. L. 164 (1995) Machteld Verbruggen. Assistant at the Institute for European Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Case C-85/94, Groupement des Producteurs, Importateurs et Agents Généraux d’Eaux Minérales Etranèbres, VZW (Piageme) and Others v. Peeters NV, October 12, 1995, 1995 E.C.R. 1-2955. Free movement of goods; Consumer protection; Labelling of mineral waters; Language Facts and Procedure The background for the present case (Peeters II) lies in an earlier decision by the Court of Justice, the Piageme case. The PIAGEME group and the SGGSEMF, Evian, Appolinaris and Vittel companies, imported and distributed various French mineral waters in Belgium. The […]

2 Colum. J. Eur. L. 172 (1995) Eva Brems. Fellow of the Belgian National Foundation for Scientific Research, Institute for Human Rights, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Case C-450/93, Eckhard Kalanke v. Freie Hansestadt Bremen, October 17, 1995, 1995 E.C.R. 1-3051. Equal treatment of men and women; Directive 76/207/EEC; Article 2(4); Affirmative action Facts and Procedure At the final stage of recruitment to a post of Section Manager in the Bremen Parks Department, the two shortlisted candidates were Mr. Kalanke and Ms. Glimann, both horticultural employees of the Department. The management intended to promote Mr. Kalanke, but it was decided, after objections […]

2 Colum. J. Eur. L. 179 (1995) Marta Pertegás Sender. Assistant, Center for International and Foreign Law, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven. Peterbroeck, Van Campenhout & CeSCS v. Belgium, Case C-312/93, December 14, 1995, 1995 E.C.R. 1-4599. Interpretation of Community Law; Article 177; Power of a national court to consider of its own motion whether national law is compatible with Community law. Facts and Procedure The principle of cooperation by the Member States under Article 5 of the EC Treaty has many facets. In Peterbroeck, the Court of Justice just discovered another aspect, related to the procedural law of the Member States. […]

2 Colum. J. Eur. L. 187 (1995) Christopher Wyeth Kirkham. On October 18, 1995, the Commission adopted Commission Directive 95/ 51/EC, amending Directive 90/388/EEC, with regard to the abolition of the restrictions on the use of cable television networks for the provision of already liberalized telecommunications services (1995 O.J. (L 256)). The measure, enacted through the Commission’s independent powers under Articles 90 and 86 of the EC Treaty, is aimed at further liberalization of the European communications markets. By removing restrictions on the services cable networks may provide, the Commission expects to encourage investment leading to increases in transmission capacity […]

2 Colum. J. Eur. L. 193 (1995) reviewed by Kimberley A. Danzi, Christopher Wyeth Kirkham, Florence Melchior, Warsha Prabhu, and Rajesh Swaminathan. The 1996 intergovernmental conference is upon us. The Member States of the European Union have entered once more into the breach, ushering in what could be still a further dramatic change in the nature and content of their Union. Columbia University’s European Law Fellows’ thought this an opportune moment, and The Columbia Journal of European Law an opportune vehicle, for taking stock of the scholarly writing occasioned by the 1991 intergovernmental conferences and their progeny, the Maastricht Treaty […]