Commission Proposal Research Articles

Tax In History: Twenty Years After the Adoption of the Energy Taxation Directive, Is Its Reform in a Greener Sense Just an Illusion?

The energy taxation directive 2003/96/EC (ETD) is currently under discussion, twenty years after its adoption and after several failed reform attempts. This directive does not reflect the current European climate and energy policy framework and is not adequate to address the challenges of climate change and the green transition. Moreover, it not only fails to protect the environment but also endangers the proper functioning of the internal market. Through a legal analysis, this contribution aims to examine the origin and evolution of the ETD until the latest Commission proposal, which is currently under negotiation, in order to investigate the weaknesses of this directive, the novelties of the recent proposal, and what risks European environmental and fiscal objectives would run if the negotiations are not successful. European climate objectives, fit for 55 package, energy taxation, environmental taxation, climate neutrality, green transition, proper functioning of the internal market

Lobbying Across Policy Stages: Different Tales of Interest Group Success

AbstractThis article examines interest groups' lobbying success across the agenda‐setting and policy formulation stages of the European Union's policy process. On the basis of its exclusive right of initiative, the European Commission plays a pivotal role in both stages. I argue that interest groups relying mostly on pressure politics are more likely to achieve agenda‐setting success because the Commission primarily seeks to assess the level of political support when setting its policy priorities. Conversely, organisations focusing predominantly on expertise‐based lobbying are anticipated to be more likely to secure policy success as the Commission mainly requires expert knowledge when designing its policy proposals. An illustrative case study of the Commission's proposal on deforestation‐free products demonstrates the plausibility of the theoretical argument. Overall, this research shows that distinct policy stages provide interest groups with unique opportunities for attaining lobbying success.

Pre‐insolvency frameworks: Developments in the European Union

AbstractThis article deals with the European Union's efforts to harmonise the insolvency laws of its Member States. In particular, it explains the Directive on restructuring and insolvency, its key features and disparities and its transformation in national laws. Further, the European Commission's proposal for a Directive on harmonising certain aspects of insolvency law is introduced.

‘Look at the camera and say cheese’: the existing European legal framework for facial recognition technology in criminal investigations

ABSTRACT Facial recognition technology represents the state of the art in modern criminal investigations. However, the legal position regarding its use in Europe remains unclear. This ambiguity is not because of a total lack of applicable norms. Rather, it occurs because the existing standards create a kind of legal patchwork distributed among European Union primary and secondary laws and norms from the Council of Europe. Although the recent European Commission proposal on a legal framework for artificial intelligence has clarified some issues, it has also added more complexity to an already unclear domain. Before launching an effort to build a specific set of norms for the use of FRT in criminal investigations, it is crucial to survey the norms already in place to avoid contradictions and overlaps.

Economic and financial model to the mass-rearing of Macrolophus pygmaeus (Rambur) (Heteroptera: Miridae), a biological control agent against the tomato moth Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) (Lepidoptera: Gelechiidae) in protected culture.

Tuta absoluta (Meyrick) is a major pest of tomato produced in greenhouses and open field, causing severe damages to crops, reducing the quality of tomato fruits. The current maintenance of the pest populations below the economic threshold is not achieved by natural and classical control, thus requiring the continuous application of biological control agents (BCA), under an augmentative or inoculative approach. The present study aims to develop an economic and financial model to evaluate the commercial viability of a continuous mass production of Macrolophus pygmaeus (Rambur), a BCA commonly used against the tomato moth, T. absoluta, in protected culture. The estimations for our model were based on two approaches: the farm-level impact analysis and the benefit-cost analysis. The results of the farm-level analysis show that the adoption of a more sustainable biological control (BC) approach is profitable for farmers and the benefit-cost analysis provides evidence that the investment on a new factory dedicated to the mass rearing of M. pygmaeus to control tomato moth populations generates a positive Net Present Value (NPV) of 7.2 million euros, corresponding to an Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 28.4% per year. Our results are in line with i) the more recent European Commission proposals for a new Regulation on sustainable use of plant protection products, which includes the reduction of 50% the use and risk of chemical pesticides by 2030 and ii) most of the existing literature when concluding that new projects on BCA production are worth for investments. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Cross-border recognition of parenthood in the EU: comments on the Commission proposal of 7 December

Cross-border recognition of parenthood in the EU: comments on the Commission proposal of 7 December

Long‐term care in EU policy 1999‐2022: women's responsibility, migrants' work?

AbstractAs the population of the European Union (EU) is ageing and its working‐age population shrinking, concerns are rising about how the growing demand for long‐term care (LTC) will be met. Since unpaid care, provided mainly by women, is increasingly scarce, some EU states are becoming dependent on migrant labour for the functioning of their elder care systems. To address the growing deficit of care in the EU, the European Commission put forward a European Care Strategy, for the first time proposing a stand‐alone policy on LTC. This followed on from a Commission proposal for a new strategy on migration, calling for labour migrants to be proactively attracted to work in the EU's care sector. As the (lack of) availability of LTC is increasingly shaping EU policy, it is timely to investigate what its impact is on key policy areas, such as gender equality, social and migration policies.

Article: The European Commission Proposes a Regulation to Ban Products Made With Forced Labour

On 14 September 2022, the European Commission presented a proposal for a Regulation (Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council banning products made with forced labour on the Union market, COM (2022) 453 final of 14 September 2022, https://eurlex. europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX%3A52022PC0453) aimed at banning from the EU market products made with forced labour. The proposal – which concerns both imported products and those manufactured in the Union territory to be destined for internal consumption or export and does not focus on specific types of enterprises, thus also affecting very small ones – will now have to be discussed and approved by the European Union Parliament and Council to become an effective legislative act and will apply after twenty-four months from its entry into force. The Regulation Proposal of the European Commission appears to be wide-ranging, and doesn’t identify – at least in this first phase – specific product categories or certain producer countries, unlike what was decided by other countries (For example, the United States of America, in the framework of the bans on the import of goods made with forced labour, on 21 June 2022 adopted the Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act (UFLPA), which tightens the ban on imports into the USA for products made with forced labour in China, particularly in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region). The most immediate effect of the desirable approval of the Proposal in question will be represented, for Union economic operators, by the need to carry out even more careful due diligence on supply chains and, more generally, on the reliability of their suppliers, in order to mitigate the risks of placing on the market products obtained by resorting to modern slavery. Forced labour, Regulation, Importer, Exporter, Slavery, Products, Manufactured, Ban, Market, Work conditions

EVI and NDVI as proxies for multifaceted avian diversity in urban areas.

Most ecological studies use remote sensing to analyze broad-scale biodiversity patterns, focusing mainly on taxonomic diversity in natural landscapes. One of the most important effects of high levels of urbanization is species loss (i.e., biotic homogenization). Therefore, cost-effective and more efficient methods to monitor biological communities' distribution are essential. This study explores whether the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) can predict multifaceted avian diversity, urban tolerance, and specialization in urban landscapes. We sampled bird communities among 15 European cities and extracted Landsat 30-meter resolution EVI and NDVI values of the pixels within a 50-m buffer of bird sample points using Google Earth Engine (32-day Landsat 8 Collection Tier 1). Mixed models were used to find the best associations of EVI and NDVI, predicting multiple avian diversity facets: Taxonomic diversity, functional diversity, phylogenetic diversity, specialization levels, and urban tolerance. A total of 113 bird species across 15 cities from 10 different European countries were detected. EVI mean was the best predictor for foraging substrate specialization. NDVI mean was the best predictor for most avian diversity facets: taxonomic diversity, functional richness and evenness, phylogenetic diversity, phylogenetic species variability, community evolutionary distinctiveness, urban tolerance, diet foraging behavior, and habitat richness specialists. Finally, EVI and NDVI standard deviation were not the best predictors for any avian diversity facets studied. Our findings expand previous knowledge about EVI and NDVI as surrogates of avian diversity at a continental scale. Considering the European Commission's proposal for a Nature Restoration Law calling for expanding green urban space areas by 2050, we propose NDVI as a proxy of multiple facets of avian diversity to efficiently monitor bird community responses to land use changes in the cities.

Defining the Future: The AI Act's Potential in equitably Safeguarding Fundamental Rights and Promoting AI Innovation

The recent advancements in the realm of Artificial Intelligence (AI) feature a landscape filled with exciting prospects and lurking dangers in equal measure, necessitating a nuanced, human-centred regulatory approach. The EU is the first organisation to have undertaken this challenge with binding law through its AI Act. This paper delves into the complex task of this founding stone of EU AI law to balance promoting innovation and safeguarding fundamental rights. It addresses both the Act’s pre-history – encompassing the relevant policy documents before the European Commission's proposal – and its history, which includes the negotiations and amendments leading up to the final trilogue session on the 6th of December 2023 and the consequential provisional agreement, followed by its approval by COREPER and the IMCO and LIBE committees and its final upvoting in the European Parliament on the 13th of March 2024. Keeping track of the Act’s legislative journey, including the context in which said journey evolved, shall be crucial in order to comprehensively understand, interpret, and apply what is expected to be one of Europe’s most impactful pieces of legislation to date. The paper aims to bridge a gap in scholarly discussion around the AI Act, which has so far focused solely on evaluating fundamental rights protection or assessing cost-efficiency, providing a practical approach that consolidates the legislative process and appraises the AI Act’s overall potential in protecting fundamental rights, while equitably maintaining AI innovation. The research question it seeks to answer is: How can the AI Act promise sufficient fundamental rights protection without compromising AI innovation and overburdening enterprises? The paper is structured to provide a comprehensive analysis of the Act in view of answering the research question. The Overview section (II.) will give the historical background of AI and track the main policy documents that led to the AI Act’s proposal offering a source also for retrospective research in future. It will also identify specific key points of the Commission’s original proposal that call for examination and establish its connection to fundamental rights protection, in view of being presented as a product safety regulation. The section on the Legislative State of the Art and Remaining Pitfalls (III.) will present the fruits the legislative process has yielded up until the confirmation of the agreed final draft by the IMCO and LIBE committees on the 13th of February 2024 and its subsequent approval in the Parliament a month later. It will enumerate the main points introduced with the negotiated amendments to then identify still existing potential pitfalls with regards to the Act’s scope, enforcement mechanism and future proofness, and how this creates weaknesses for innovation and fundamental rights. The Balancing section (IV.) offers suggestions to counter the weaknesses that were identified in the previous part, uncovering the balancing point between fundamental rights protection and innovation. Finally, the paper will conclude (V.) by summarising the findings and the answer to the research question while leaving room for future discussion.

European Union Commission's proposal on environmental hygiene and public health risks with existing legislation on wastewater and water reuse in Greece

European Union Commission's proposal on environmental hygiene and public health risks with existing legislation on wastewater and water reuse in Greece

Transferable Exclusivity Vouchers and Incentives for Antimicrobial Development in the European Union.

The European Commission's proposal to address antimicrobial resistance using transferable exclusivity vouchers (TEVs) is fundamentally flawed. European policymakers and regulators should consider alternatives, such as better funding for basic and clinical research, use of advance market commitments funded by a pay-or-play tax, or enacting an EU Fund for Antibiotic Development.

Can Gordon Brown and Keir Starmer Save the UK ?

Can Gordon Brown and Keir Starmer Save the <scp>UK</scp> ?

The Commission Proposal for a Directive on Combating Corruption

The Commission Proposal for a Directive on Combating Corruption

Imaginaries of the EU Commission Proposal for New the Pharmaceutical Regulation

Imaginaries of the EU Commission Proposal for New the Pharmaceutical Regulation

European Union ∙ The Commission Proposal for a New GDPR Procedural Regulation: Effective and Protected Enforcement Ensured?

European Union ∙ The Commission Proposal for a New GDPR Procedural Regulation: Effective and Protected Enforcement Ensured?

Article: EU Species Protection Law and Wind Energy: Current Challenges and Danish Experiences

This article highlights certain challenges as regards the reconciliation between concerns of climate change, energy security and biodiversity protection, drawing on case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) and the Danish experiences regarding onshore wind energy installations. The EU species protection rules are by many perceived as an obstacle to wind energy development as also reflected in the 2022 Commission proposal to amend the Renewable Energy Directive. However, it is not evident that the proposal will solve the challenges of accommodating the strict direct species protection of, in particular, Annex IV species and birds against deliberate killing or disturbance as determined by the CJEU. The article suggests that rather than setting aside the general environmental impact assessment (EIA) and appropriate assessment requirements for Natura 2000 sites, there is a need to revisit the Birds and Habitats Directives, in particular as regards ‘deliberate killing or disturbance’ caused by non-intentional activities with a view to the population level as opposed to the individual specimen level. European Union, Species protection, Biodiversity, Renewables, Wind energy

Venture Debt

The preferred means of financing in Austria are bank loans. However, start-ups and some SMEs suffer from a lack of financing alternatives. A look across the border gives hope: venture debt is en vogue. The European Commission recognises the need for action. A Commission proposal dated 25.11.2021 to amend the AIFM Directive aims to create an efficient single market for loan-originating funds. Against this background, this paper deals with the existing legal framework for loan originating funds and provides first insights into upcoming regulatory developments.

Trust in Artificial Intelligence Analysis of the European Commission proposal for a Regulation of Artificial Intelligence

Trust in Artificial Intelligence Analysis of the European Commission proposal for a Regulation of Artificial Intelligence

Reforming the Common European Asylum System: Opportunities, Pitfalls, and Downsides of the Commission Proposals for a New Pact on Migration and Asylum

The European Union’s (EU) Common European Asylum System (CEAS), established in 1999 and codified in secondary legislation since 2003, has undergone major reform once, in the 2010s. From the beginning, academics have scrutinized the EU legislator’s efforts to achieve harmonized standards on asylum law among EU Member States, pointing out improvements, but more often gaps, contradictions, and fundamental rights issues identifiable in the CEAS instruments and their implementation. In 2020, the European Commission proposed a new set of reforms, the so-called New Pact on Migration and Asylum – a political communication, accompanied by five proposals for new legislation and amendments to existing CEAS instruments, as well as non-binding recommendations. Reforming the Common European Asylum System: Opportunities, Pitfalls, and Downsides of the Commission Proposals for a New Pact on Migration and Asylum continues the tradition of academic scrutiny of the CEAS. The volume, not to be confused with a 2016 publication bearing the same main title,1 is, however, unusual in that it deals with reform proposals, rather than a completed CEAS reform. Publishing a book on reform proposals while they are still in flux may seem counterintuitive, considering that changes to the proposals may render the book irrelevant. However, the volume’s focus on the bigger picture of what a common European asylum system ought to address offers valuable insights beyond the detailed content of the proposed reforms. Thanks to its timely publication while reform negotiations are still ongoing, the book constitutes a unique resource for policymakers to consult. Granted, this may not happen – a couple of years ago, while a Commission trainee, I heard a policymaker complain about academics’ tendencies to ‘pull apart’ new proposals. Nevertheless, the book has much to offer in terms of suggestions for improving the New Pact. Indeed, it carefully ‘pulls apart’ the Commission proposals. As promised in the title, this includes views on the opportunities the proposals offer, although the book’s focus is decidedly on the New Pact’s pitfalls and downsides.