Commission Proposal Research Articles

Proposal complexity and report allocation in the European Parliament

Experience and loyalty have been identified as major explanations for why Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are selected as committee rapporteurs in the European Parliament. Yet, existing research implicitly assumes that these explanations operate in isolation of what the report is about. In this article, we hypothesize that the effects of experience and loyalty on MEPs’ chances to become rapporteurs should be conditioned by the complexity of the Commission's legislative proposal. We show that party group coordinators indeed distribute the most complex legislative tasks to highly experienced MEPs but cannot confirm such a conditional relationship for the effect of loyalty. Our study contributes to the literature on the legislative organization in the European Parliament by highlighting the role of proposal complexity for the report allocation process.

Stakeholders welcome proposal on the European Health Data Space.

On Oct 20, 2022, the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), along with 28 other European organisations including European Cancer Organisation, Biomedical Alliance in Europe, and Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, issued a consensus statement welcoming the European Commission's proposal for a regulation on the European Health Data Space (EHDS).

Proactive contract theory in the context of corporate sustainability due diligence

The article discusses how proactive contract theory could be used to translate the ambitious objectives of the European Commission's current draft proposal on corporate sustainability due diligence into actual business practices in complex value chains and networks. Proactive contract theory regards contracts as legal, economic, managerial and social artefacts that should be designed to prevent undesirable results and promote favourable outcomes. Moreover, the theory highlights the need for multiprofessional collaboration and user-centricity in contract design. Based on these principles, we introduce four ways to promote corporate sustainability due diligence in supply contracts via proactive contracting: turning from one-sided safeguarding towards shared responsibility and collaboration, incentivizing responsible and sustainable business practices via promotive contract clauses, engaging end users in the contract design process and preventing disputes.

New Commission Proposes Policy Priorities for 2022–2023 Amendment Year (press release)

Research Article| December 01 2022 New Commission Proposes Policy Priorities for 2022–2023 Amendment Year (press release): First Step Act Implementation Among Top Tentative Priorities U.S. Sentencing Commission U.S. Sentencing Commission Search for other works by this author on: This Site PubMed Google Scholar Federal Sentencing Reporter (2022) 35 (2): 90. https://doi.org/10.1525/fsr.2022.35.2.90 Views Icon Views Article contents Figures & tables Video Audio Supplementary Data Peer Review Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Cite Icon Cite Search Site Citation U.S. Sentencing Commission; New Commission Proposes Policy Priorities for 2022–2023 Amendment Year (press release): First Step Act Implementation Among Top Tentative Priorities. Federal Sentencing Reporter 1 December 2022; 35 (2): 90. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/fsr.2022.35.2.90 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentFederal Sentencing Reporter Search This content is only available via PDF. This material is in the public domain and may be reprinted2023 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal You do not currently have access to this content.

1.A. Workshop: EU nutrition policies: from rhetoric to practice

Abstract Unhealthy diets result in over a million deaths each year in Europe, and over half the EU adult population is overweight or obese. Since it took office, the von der Leyen Commission published major policy documents which, amongst others, seek to tackle poor nutrition. The 2020 Farm to Fork Strategy claims that “European food is already a global standard for food that is safe, plentiful, nutritious and of high quality”. However, it also acknowledges that the European diet is typically high in fat, sugar, salt and calories and red and processed meat, but low in fruit, vegetables, wholegrains, legumes and nuts. The Strategy notes that the transition to a healthy, sustainable food system - and the concomitant health, economic, societal and environmental benefits this will bring - requires that the food environment should make healthy food easier to choose. Similarly, the 2022 Europe's Beating Cancer Plan accepts that about 40% of cancers in the EU are preventable and, prevention being more effective than any cure, places great emphasis on the promotion of healthier consumption. This workshop will consider two policy interventions that the WHO has recognised as key to the promotion of healthier food environments and that have been at the heart of the EU's strategic documents on nutrition and obesity prevention for now well over 15 years: food labelling and food marketing. This workshop will seek to contextualise the Commission's current proposals on food labelling, and its lack of robust proposals on food marketing, with a view to discussing the extent to which its actions are aligned with its rhetoric. It will also discuss how the Commission can move in the right direction to bring real improvements in these fields in practice. EUPHA-LAW has been supporting the development of effective EU policies on food labelling and food marketing through a number of initiatives. In relation to food labelling, EUPHA-LAW responded to three Commission consultations, members of the Steering Committee held a meeting with the Commissioner's team on the new proposals, co-hosted a major conference on regulating FoPNL with almost 300 attendees from over 39 countries, and participated in workshops specifically intended to inform the impact assessment accompanying the forthcoming proposals. In relation to food marketing, EUPHA-LAW is closely involved in the Food Marketing Initiative supported by over 20 pan-EU federations of public health, consumer and children's rights organisations. This Initiative has called on the EU to adopt a directive imposing EU-wide legally binding restrictions on the cross-border marketing of unhealthy food to children. This would allow the EU to go further than it has to date and therefore align the EU regulatory framework with international recommendations and adopt a children's rights-based approach to such marketing. Key messages • The Commission has recognised that front-of-pack nutrition labelling and food marketing are two necessary policy interventions to promote healthier food environments. • However, the EU’s actions in this field highlight a significant gap between rhetoric and practice which needs to be addressed through the adoption of rights-based approaches.

Models of Environmental Criminal Law, Between Dependence on Administrative Law and Autonomy

The article intends to analyse the pluses and minuses of traditional environmental criminal law’s dependence on administrative law. The two possible forms of integration between criminal and administrative law, i.e., the so-called ‘purely accessory’ and ‘partially accessory’ models, are evaluated from a comparative perspective, while also considering the European Directive 2008/99/European Community (EC) on the protection of the environment through criminal law, and the new proposal for a Directive, replacing the previous one, put forward by the European Commission in December 2021. Followed by a reflection on the different model of environmental criminal law, autonomous from administrative law (also called the ‘purely criminal’ model: a model that should be associated with the purely accessory one and the partially accessory one). models of the environmental criminal law, eco-crimes, environmental criminal law’s dependence on administrative law, purely accessory model, autonomy of environmental criminal law from administrative law, European Directive 2008/99/EC on environmental crimes, European Commission proposal (2021) for a new ‘Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council on the protection of the environment through criminal law and replacing Directive 2008/99/EC’

Surrogates’ and intended parents’ experiences of surrogacy arrangements: a systematic review

This commentary situates the recently published systematic review of empirical studies of surrogates’ and intended parents’ experiences of surrogacy by Kneebone, Beilby and Hammarberg within the context of increased international interest in legislative and regulatory reforms to surrogacy. The commentary evaluates the strengths of this systematic review, before turning to a discussion of how jurisdictions could introduce reforms aiming to facilitate domestic surrogacy arrangements, focusing on the UK and the Law Commission's recent proposals.

GESKIEDENIS VAN DIE MANLIKE EERSGEBOORTE- REGSREëL IN DIE INHEEMSE REG DEEL III: VOORSTELLE VAN DIE SUID-AFRIKAANSE REGSKOMMISSIE

In Part III of this article various statutory implications for and recommendations of the South African Law Reform Commission regarding the male primogeniture rule in the customary law of succession are examined. From the discussion it seems clear that a partial unification of the customary law of succession and the common law is envisaged, in so far as it relates to the inheritance of property. In its most recent proposal the South African Law Reform Commission recommended the reformation of the customary law of succession in legislation aimed at the harmonization of the customary and common law, with the retention of some customary aspects. On the one hand, the South African Law Reform Commission proposals exclude succession in positions of traditional leadership from the proposed reform, but on the other hand the Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act 41 of 2003 promotes the principle of gender equality also with regard to positions in traditional leadership.

Disconnecting agricultural workers’ exploitation from migration policies: a trend towards a business and human rights approach in the European Union

AbstractSeasonal migrants’ exploitation in Europe, especially in agriculture, is often seen as having its origins in failure of migration or labour policies. Indeed, the virtual impossibility to enter a country as a regular non-European Union (EU) worker coupled with the needs of agricultural work, requiring low-skilled workforce and short time notice for recruitment, generates a perfect environment for exploitation and the related phenomenon of gangmastering. However, work exploitation in agriculture is nowadays a structural problem, requiring structural changes in the way food is produced and intended by the agri-food supply chain as a whole. Indeed, a truly preventative approach needs not only to protect seasonal migrants from human rights violations, but also to involve agribusiness in tackling the root causes of migrants’ exploitation. Building on international standards on business and human rights, the aim of this contribution is to propose a more holistic view of the phenomenon workers exploitation in agriculture. Recent European policies seem to have understood this need, calling enterprises and farmers to bear their responsibility by introducing an accountability discourse for the agribusiness and the food supply chain, either indirectly or directly. The new social conditionality clause in the Common Agricultural Policy, the Directive on Unfair Practices in Agriculture and the recent Commission proposal for a Directive on mandatory human rights due diligence should therefore be read in conjunction with major developments in international law that call for the responsibility of powerful private actors operating in agri-food sector.

Towards a European harmonization of health technology assessment recommendations executive paper of European regulatory conference focused on the EU commission proposal to harmonize HTA

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) is a multidisciplinary process which supports policy “decision-making”, including those related to drug reimbursement and price negotiation based on comprehensive clinical and non-clinical evaluations. The discrepancies in HTA recommendations among European countries are related to the differences in health care systems and willingness to invest in health care, differences in assessment methodologies and appraisal practices, and variations in economic constraints, and may produce disparities in terms of patient access to medicines. The political discussion about the adoption of the European Regulation on HTA lasted for years due to concerns about its feasibility and its implications for national health care systems In this paper we highlighted the importance to harmonize HTA process in Europe and some critical issues emerged during the discussion among experts in the field carried out at the European Regulatory Conference.

Potential impacts of the proposed EU regulation on deforestation-free supply chains on smallholders, indigenous peoples, and local communities in producer countries outside the EU

According to the new European Commission proposal for a regulation on deforestation-free products, six commodities - cattle, wood, palm oil, soy, cocoa, and coffee and their derivate products – grown or raised on land that was subject to deforestation or forest degradation will be banned from entering the EU market. In this commentary paper, we discuss the possible unintended effects of the regulation and elaborate on potential ways to reduce the negative impacts, on vulnerable groups in producer countries, such as smallholders, Indigenous peoples, and local communities (IPLCs). Such impacts could comprise exclusion of smallholders and IPLCs from high-value supply chains of commodities covered by the regulation, inadequate price premiums to cover the costs of complying with this regulation, increase the risk of land conflicts between large-scale and small-scale agriculture, push smallholders and IPLCs to marginal lands, and even exacerbate human rights risks already associated with large-scale commodity production. In order to avoid or minimize such impacts, we propose: 1) to make provisions for companies, smallholders, and producing regions to receive sufficient support in their transition to deforestation-free supply chains and to provide incentives so that this transition can be inclusive; 2) to further promote and strengthen holistic approaches, such as jurisdictional or other integrated landscape management approaches to address the many issues that can arise from conflicting interests and unequal power distribution in affected landscapes; 3) to make clear provisions for protection of human rights and to promote land rights for smallholders and IPLCs related to tenure security; and 4) to ensure that regular and robust impact assessments inform policy about both direct and indirect impacts of the regulation on smallholders and IPLCs so that timely and adequate action can be taken to minimize the unintended effects of this regulation. Addressing potential negative impacts on smallholders and IPLCs would also ensure that the progress achieved so far in terms of other UN SDGs related to poverty, inequality, hunger, and land restoration is not compromised.

One step ahead: mapping the Italian and German cybersecurity laws against the proposal for a NIS2 directive

With the COVID-19 pandemic accelerating digital transformation of the Single Market, the European Commission also speeded up the review of the first piece of European Union (EU)-wide cybersecurity legislation, the NIS Directive. Originally foreseen for May 2021, the Commission presented the review as early as December 2020 together with a Proposal for a NIS2 Directive. Almost in parallel, some Member States strengthened (or adopted) national laws beyond the scope of the NIS Directive to respond adequately to the fast-paced digital threat landscape. Against this backdrop, the article investigates the national interventions in the field of cybersecurity recently adopted by Italy and Germany. In order to identify similarities and divergences of the Italian and German national frameworks with the European Commission’s Proposal for a NIS2 Directive, the analysis will focus on selected aspects extrapolated from the Commission Proposal, namely: i) the enlarged scope; ii) detailed cybersecurity risk-management measures; iii) more stringent supervisory measures; and, iv) stricter enforcement requirements, including harmonised sanctions across the EU. The article concludes that the national cybersecurity legal frameworks under scrutiny already match the core of the proposed changes envisaged by the NIS2 Proposal.

The questionable scope of the Commission's proposal for a framework for recovery and resolution of (re)insurance undertakings

The questionable scope of the Commission's proposal for a framework for recovery and resolution of (re)insurance undertakings

Maximizing team synergy in AI-related interdisciplinary groups: an interdisciplinary-by-design iterative methodology

In this paper, we propose a methodology to maximize the benefits of interdisciplinary cooperation in AI research groups. Firstly, we build the case for the importance of interdisciplinarity in research groups as the best means to tackle the social implications brought about by AI systems, against the backdrop of the EU Commission proposal for an Artificial Intelligence Act. As we are an interdisciplinary group, we address the multi-faceted implications of the mass-scale diffusion of AI-driven technologies. The result of our exercise lead us to postulate the necessity of a behavioural theory that standardizes the interaction process of interdisciplinary groups. In light of this, we conduct a review of the existing approaches to interdisciplinary research on AI appliances, leading to the development of methodologies like ethics-by-design and value-sensitive design, evaluating their strengths and weaknesses. We then put forth an iterative process theory hinging on a narrative approach consisting of four phases: (i) definition of the hypothesis space, (ii) building-up of a common lexicon, (iii) scenario-building, (iv) interdisciplinary self-assessment. Finally, we identify the most relevant fields of application for such a methodology and discuss possible case studies.

Sharing the effort of the European Green Deal among countries

In implementing the European Green Deal to align with the Paris Agreement, the EU has raised its climate ambition and in 2022 is negotiating the distribution of increased mitigation effort among Member States. Such partitioning of targets among subsidiary entities is becoming a major challenge for implementation of climate policies around the globe. We contrast the 2021 European Commission proposal - an allocation based on a singular country attribute - with transparent and reproducible methods based on three ethical principles. We go beyond traditional effort-sharing literature and explore allocations representing an aggregated least regret compromise between different EU country perspectives on a fair allocation. While the 2021 proposal represents a nuanced compromise for many countries, for others a further redistribution could be considered equitable. Whereas we apply our approach within the setting of the EU negotiations, the framework can easily be adapted to inform debates worldwide on sharing mitigation effort among subsidiary entities.

Changes towards more sustainable food packaging legislation and practices. A survey of policy makers and stakeholders in Europe

The European Commission advocates for the implementation of more sustainable food systems. To accelerate the transition towards zero waste for the benefit of citizens, industry, public organizations, and to preserve biodiversity, it is necessary to re-design our relationship with the planet’s resources. The European Commission proposal on the circular economy (2015) has set high targets in relation to reusing, upcycling, and recycling of plastic materials. In this context, it is imperative to re-evaluate how we protect foods with packaging. In this work, we report the results of one-on-one interviews with policy makers, citizens, and industry actors held over the spring/summer period of 2021 across European countries. The interviews (2 per group, 6 per country, for a total of 54 interviews) highlighted the need to advance and improve policies, thereby leading to better industrial and societal practices in the EU. Furthermore, harmonization of policies and practices is needed to achieve the set sustainability targets. Key regional differences across Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Norway, Estonia, Sweden, the Netherlands, Ireland, and Germany became apparent during the interviews, especially in relation to the infrastructure for collecting, sorting and using of packaging waste. The interviews also showed that policymakers and industrial stakeholders have common goals towards a more circular economy. However, such collaborations require a whole systems approach to achieve behavioral changes towards this goal. Using ideation tools, namely the Iceberg model and the Berkana two-loop model, the different food packaging challenges were identified, explored and evaluated in terms of their feasibility and impact on sustainability. Furthermore, the main solutions were categorized in an Impact-effort matrix. These tools, through an extensive analysis, demonstrated that the integration of sustainable food packaging solutions within Europe depends more on policies and stakeholders’ mindsets than on technical aspects.

Distribution of Forward-Looking Responsibility in the EU Process on AI Regulation

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is beneficial in many respects, but also has harmful effects that constitute risks for individuals and society. Dealing with AI risks is a future-oriented endeavor that needs to be approached in a forward-looking way. Forward-looking responsibility is about who should do what to remedy or prevent harm. With the ongoing EU policy process on AI development as a point of departure, the purpose of this article is to discuss distribution of forward-looking responsibility for AI development with respect to what the obligations entail in terms of burdens or assets for the responsible agents and for the development of AI. The analysis builds on the documents produced in the course of the EU process, with a particular focus on the early role of the European Parliament, the work of the High-Level Expert Group on AI, and the Commission's proposal for a regulation of AI, and problematises effects of forward-looking responsibility for the agents who are attributed forward-looking responsibility and for the development of AI. Three issues were studied: ethics by design, Artificial General Intelligence (AGI), and competition. Overall, the analysis of the EU policy process on AI shows that competition is the primary value, and that the perspective is technical and focused on short-term concerns. As for ethics by design, the question of which values should be built into the technology and how this should be settled remained an issue after the distribution of responsibility to designers and other technical experts. AGI never really was an issue in this policy process, and it was gradually phased out. Competition within the EU process on AI is a norm that frames how responsibility is approached, and gives rise to potential value conflicts.

Is Resettlement Still a Durable Solution? An Analysis in Light of the Proposal for a Regulation Establishing a Union Resettlement Framework

Abstract Resettlement is generally regarded as a permanent or durable solution for refugees. Resettled refugees classically are granted permanent settlement with the opportunity for eventual citizenship. However, this classic understanding might be changing. In 2016, the European Commission proposed a Regulation establishing a Union Resettlement Framework with a view to creating a more structured, harmonized, and permanent framework for resettlement across the Union. According to the Proposal, resettled persons are to be granted either the refugee status or the subsidiary protection status in the Member States. Similar to the Proposal, more and more states including Denmark and the United States grant resettled refugees and other displaced persons statuses that fall short of the refugee status. In light of these recent developments, this article questions whether resettlement is still a permanent and durable solution for refugees. In doing so, the article also examines duties owed by states towards resettled refugees and other forcibly displaced persons in international law and reviews shortcomings of the Commission Proposal for a Regulation establishing a Union Resettlement Framework.

On the Process of Including Shipping in EU Emissions Trading: Multi-Level Reinforcement Revisited

As part of the EU Green Deal initiative in 2019, the EU Commission decided to develop a proposal to include emissions from shipping in the EU emissions trading system. This occurred only one year after the Commission had heralded the emissions reduction agreement negotiated in the International Maritime Organization (IMO) as a significant step forward—thereby signalling support for the IMO process. We apply a multi-level reinforcement perspective to explain this apparent policy volte-face, resulting in a Commission proposal in July 2021 which is now moving through institutions in the EU. Such a perspective notes the “friendly” competition for leadership among central actors at various levels in the EU—particularly the Commission, the European Parliament, and leading member states. We find, first, that the inclusion of shipping is in line with the broadening ambitions of the Commission since the start of the emissions trading system. Second, until 2019, the Parliament carried the regulatory torch. A turning point in the policymaking process was the inclusion of the shipping issue in Ursula von der Leyen’s programme for getting accepted by the Parliament and elected as Commission leader in 2019. From then on, the Commission again took the lead. Third, despite the 2018 IMO agreement, progress there was deemed slow, which further motivated EU policymakers to act unilaterally.

Cyberflashing: Consent, Reform and the Criminal Law

In the context of growing calls for a new law criminalising cyberflashing – the digital distribution of penis images to another without consent – this article makes the case for a comprehensive, ‘consent-based’ criminal offence specifically targeting cyberflashing. It justifies this approach by examining the core wrongs of cyberflashing and suggests draft legislative text for such an offence. In making this case, the article analyses and rejects the Law Commission’s recent proposal for a ‘motive-based’ cyberflashing law. Ultimately, it is argued that while the Law Commission's proposal is a welcome recognition of the harms of cyberflashing and need for reform, it does not go far enough to offer the redress victim-survivors are seeking, nor does it provide an appropriate normative foundation for education and preventative initiatives.