Commission Communication Research Articles

A expansão do Direito Penal europeu frente à subsidiariedade da tutela penal: alternatividade a partir da Mediação Penal de Adultos portuguesa

Este trabalho baseia-se na relevância das teorias de subsidiariedade da tutela penal e Direito Penal mínimo em confronto com o Direito Penal europeu. Para tanto, inicialmente será traçado um quadro da expansão do Direito Penal europeu, a partir de sua criação e efetivação até a atual competência penal da União Europeia. Em seguida serão analisados os princípios gerais a serem aplicados na análise do Direito Penal europeu, conforme instrumentos e órgãos da própria União e doutrina. Respectivamente, serão tratados: a Carta de Direitos Fundamentais da União Europeia, a Comunicação da Comissão de 2011 e o Manifesto sobre uma Política Criminal Europeia. Por fim, e sem minimizar a importância prática da aplicação em concreto dos princípios estudados, será tratado o instituto da Mediação Penal de Adultos como forma de diversão penal. Instituto este que, por ser instrumento de desjudiciarização, pode ser entendido como alternativa ao Direito Penal tradicional sancionador e, portanto, meio relevante para assegurar a subsidiariedade da tutela penal na União Europeia. Destarte, a partir deste trabalho poderão ser traçadas conclusões sobre o movimento de expansão penal na União Europeia e soluções para que o mesmo não aconteça ilimitadamente, em dissonância com o caráter de ultima ratioda tutela penal.

Technical Implementation of the Battery Resource Control in a Multitask Operating Environment

Abstract The paper addresses technical implementation and system design of battery energy storage systems (BESSs) aimed to operate in a multitask environment. The chosen control approach is centralized control, but it relies strongly on the distributed control systems implemented locally on the sites. The proposed and described control architecture has been validated in an actual operating environment with commercial and noncommercial battery energy storage systems. The approach applies standard International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) communication protocols and other widely used, industry-proven practices. As the main result, it is shown that such a system is technically feasible. The focus is on the technical implementation of the control system, not on the control logic. For the sake of clarity, only an overview of the control logic is provided. The chosen communication protocols ensure reliable operation of the system, but certain issues remain unsolved related to the ease of scalability with the chosen architecture.

Re-affirming Europe's ambitions in space: Past, present and future perspectives

The paper provides an overview of the past, present and future perspectives of space policy developments in Europe. In the past decade, the EU enlargement has been subjected to various crises that threaten the European integration project. At the same time, the space sector is changing rapidly. In response to these challenges, on 26 October 2016, the European Union (EU) and the European Space Agency (ESA) signed a Joint Statement on “Shared Vision and Goals for the Future of Europe in Space”, demonstrating their commitment to further strengthening their cooperation on space. The common European vision is that Europe remains a world-class actor in space and a partner of choice on the global level. The shared vision and goals of the Joint Statement are reflected in the European Commission Communication on its “Space Strategy for Europe”. ESA subsequently adopted on 2 December 2016 the Resolution “Towards Space 4.0 for a United Space in Europe”. In light of these space policy developments, the future creation of an all-encompassing European Space Strategy can underpin the future of Europe in space and beyond. Such strategy shall seek to address Europe's particularities, needs and responsibilities and ultimately reinforce European integration.

Social security coordination in Association Agreements

In March 2012, the European Commission adopted a Communication on the external dimension of EU social security coordination. On the one hand, the Commission explained that social security coordination between the EU and rest of the world is dealt with at a national level. On the other hand, the Commission argued that a common EU approach to social security coordination with third countries was under development. This common EU approach to social security coordination consists of a number of elements. One element relates to Association Agreements and Stabilisation and Association Agreements. These Agreements and specific Decisions taken by Association Councils (established by such Agreements) stipulate rules, which govern social security coordination for workers and their families, who move between the EU and the associated country. According to the Commission, once the Association Council Decisions are adopted, the common EU approach to social security coordination will be implemented. Six years after the publication of the 2012 European Commission Communication, questions arise as to whether or not the Association Agreements have been implemented, and the reasons for this.This article seeks to examine and contrast selected Association Agreements and Stabilisation and Association Agreements (SAAs), which provide social security rules for the nationals of the contracting parties. These will include the Ankara Agreement concluded with Turkey, the Euro-Mediterranean Agreements with Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia, and the SAAs with the Balkan countries. The aim of this article is to provide an overarching overview of the different legal positions that third-country nationals may rely on, based on their nationality, and to explore whether or not Association Agreements have been implemented in terms of social security coordination rules.

Strengthening the Single Market through informal dispute-resolution mechanisms in the EU: The case of SOLVIT

SOLVIT is an informal out-of-court dispute-resolution tool between the EU Member States and Norway, Lichtenstein and Iceland to practically help citizens and businesses when encountering problems in cross-border situations with their rights enshrined in EU legislation. In light of the recently adopted Commission Communication on the reinforcement of SOLVIT, 1 the authors analyse its key characteristics and challenges. The authors concludes that an enhanced role of SOLVIT can efficiently promote a culture of compliance and smart enforcement of EU law in the Single Market together with the Member States.

Ideological shifts between bilingual EU texts

Abstract This article examines the translation of an official English European Council text, namely a Commission Communication, into Greek. A critical discourse analysis-based methodology is used to probe the manipulation of ideological shifts between the English source text and its Greek translation. The analysis of both texts aims to shed light on the way culturally-approved patterns reflect and also influence society’s priorities and preoccupations. The comparative analysis provides an example of how the European Union and its official working language influenced the translator’s attitudes and motivations in decoding various ideological patterns. Adopting a social view of political ideologies and their associated readerships, the article discusses how discourse and ideology mediate in the translation of the English-Greek language pair. It shows how discourse reinforces ideological assumptions and how it challenges them by emphasizing that the source culture violates the very norms and values the target culture holds dear.

Trade from the Trenches: Negotiating in Practice

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) generated significant public curiosity about trade, triggering a passionate debate reflecting many concerns. The European Commission Communication ‘Trade for All: Towards a More Responsible Trade and Investment Policy’ (2015) was intended to support a well-informed debate based on facts, and this was followed by ‘A Balanced and Progressive Trade Policy to Harness Globalisation (2017)’. EU Member States, in the Council, have always been closely involved in trade negotiations, giving the mandate to the Commission to negotiate, following progress closely and approving the results of the negotiations. A positive side-effect of the public debate on TTIP and subsequently the Canada-EU Comprehensive Economic Trade Agreement (CETA) is that it has awoken curiosity on trade and investment negotiations. This article provides an overview of the lifecycle of a negotiation focusing on the procedural steps, efforts to increase transparency and engagement with stakeholders.

Assessing and analysing the impact of land take pressures on arable land

Abstract. Land, and in particular soil, is a finite and essentially non-renewable resource. Across the European Union, land take, i.e. the increase of settlement area over time, annually consumes more than 1000 km2 of which half is actually sealed and hence lost under impermeable surfaces. Land take, and in particular soil sealing, has already been identified as one of the major soil threats in the 2006 European Commission Communication Towards a Thematic Strategy on Soil Protection and the Soil Thematic Strategy and has been confirmed as such in the report on the implementation of this strategy. The aim of this study is to relate the potential of land for a particular use in a given region with the actual land use. This allows evaluating whether land (especially the soil dimension) is used according to its (theoretical) potential. To this aim, the impact of several land cover flows related to urban development on soils with good, average, and poor production potentials were assessed and mapped. Thus, the amount and quality (potential for agricultural production) of arable land lost between the years 2000 and 2006 was identified. In addition, areas with high productivity potential around urban areas, indicating areas of potential future land use conflicts for Europe, were identified.

The European Union Policy in the Field of Rare Diseases.

Rare diseases, are defined by the European Union as life-threatening or chronically debilitating diseases with low prevalence (less than 5 per 10,000). The specificities of rare diseases- limited number of patients and scarcity of relevant knowledge and expertise- single them out as a unique domain of very high European added-value.The legal instruments at the disposal of the European Union, in terms of the Article 168 of the Treaties, are very limited. However a combination of instruments using the research and the pharmaceutical legal basis and an intensive and creative use of funding from the Health Programmes has permitted to create a solid basis that Member States have considered enough to put rare diseases in a privileged position in the health agenda.The adoption of the Commission Communication, in November 2008, and of the Council Recommendation, in June 2009, and in 2011 the adoption of the Directive on Cross-border healthcare., have created an operational framework to act in the field of rare disease with European coordination in several areas (classification and codification, European Reference Networks, orphan medicinal products, the Commission expert group on rare diseases, etc.).Rare diseases is an area with high and practical potential for the European cooperation.

Designing Competitive Markets for Industrial Data - Between Propertisation and Access

As part of the project to establish a Digital Single Market the European Commission has launched a ‘Free Flow of Data’ initiative. This initiative is meant to enhance the growth potential of the emerging data economy, which is characterised by the digitisation of production (smart factories) and the advent of digitised products such as smart — driverless — cars or smart wearables that will be able to communicate with each other and the environment through the Internet of Things. Furthermore, the enormous amount of data generated and controlled by the industry could serve as a most valuable input for other new data-driven services and for applications in the public interest such as the operation of smart cities, smart and resource-efficient farming or measures to prevent the spread of infectious diseases. Obviously, this new data economy has to rely on the commercialisation of data. But what kind of regulation is needed in order to make the data economy work? Do we need new ownership rights in data? Or should regulation focus on access in order to make data as widely available as possible? The European Commission is currently working on a Communication to provide answers to these questions by January 2017. This article tries to assist the Commission by working on a pro-competitive framework for issues of both ownership and access. In so doing, this article undertakes two things: first, it analyses to what extent intellectual property laws already provide control over data and then discusses the need and justification for introducing new rules on data ownership. Second, it analyses whether EU competition law already provides remedies to promote access to data and furthermore explores whether and under which conditions introduction of new access regimes would be advisable.This article is to be considered as on-going research. It is only made available online. A later publication will take into account the Commission Communication expected for January 2017.

Another breach in the wall: copyright territoriality in Europe and its progressive erosion on the grounds of competition law

Purpose This paper aims to show how the European Commission is seeking to solve the problems of market fragmentation and inaccessibility of copyright content in the Digital Single Market. The analysis draws on a still unresolved conflict between the enforcement of national copyright titles and the European Union (EU) policy objective to ensure pan-European access to copyright works. Design/methodology/approach First, the paper focuses on the causal relationship between national copyright systems and the existing territorial partitions in the online content markets. Second, the paper reviews the piecemeal approach followed by the Commission in its recent legislative initiative aimed at ensuring the cross-border “portability” of online content services. Third, the paper points out how a much more radical approach the Commission has undertaken in an ongoing antitrust case against the territorial partitions created by major film producers and the biggest EU broadcasters might revisit the principle of copyright’s territoriality. Findings In particular, the paper explains why the application of Article 101 TFEU with regard to the licensing agreements creating areas of absolute territorial exclusivity might have potentially disruptive effects on the existing models of online distribution. While pointing out that this outcome will largely depend on how the ongoing antitrust case will be settled, the paper concludes that the liberalization of so-called “passive sales” might force content owners and broadcasters (or content suppliers) to re-structure markets for online content and to replace territoriality with other criteria that might help them differentiate their offerings and packages. Originality/value The modernization of copyright rules that the Juncker Commission has advocated since the start of its mandate aims to ensure that consumers can access services, music, movies and sporting events on their electronic devices wherever they are in Europe and regardless of borders. In May 2015, this pledge was transposed in the first pillar of the Commission Communication “A Digital Single Market Strategy for Europe”. In particular, the Commission announced its intention to propose, before the end of 2015, legislation to reduce differences and friction between national copyright regimes and prevent “unjustified” geo-blocking. In parallel, DG Competition of the European Commission in its capacity as antitrust authority is conducting a formal antitrust investigation aimed to examine whether territorial licensing agreements concluded by several US film studios with the largest European pay-tv broadcasters could be regarded as incompatible with Article 101 TFEU. For the first time, a paper aims to compare the expected outcome of the ongoing reform of the EU copyright framework vis-a-vis the potential outcome of the antitrust investigation led by DG Competition and identify the pros and cons of the two approaches followed by the Commission.

European Neighbourhood Policy: History, Structure, and Implemented Policy Measures

AbstractThe objective is to provide an overview of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). Focus will be on the history of the ENP and its goals, the institutional structure of the ENP, and the policy measures that have been carried out through the ENP. The evolution of the ENP is traced from its origins in a 2003 European Commission communication to the broad and multifaceted policy that it is nowadays. Then the institutional dimension of the ENP, with both its thematic and spatial elements on a sub‐national, national, regional and interregional level will be explored. Finally, we present the specific policy measures that have been implemented on an interregional, regional, and national level.

The circular economy concept needs to be geared to a resource-saving economic model to avoid running in circles (Statement)

In ‘The 30-year update’ of their Report to the Club of Rome concerning ‘The Limits to Growth’ (first published in 1972), the authors recalled in the preface the fundamental finding of the original report, namely that global ecological constraints related to resource use and emissions will have a significant influence on global developments in the twenty-first century. Resource constraints and the finite capacity of the Earth to absorb pollutants will – as a result of the necessary additional expenses to cope with these constraints – eventually lead to a (not necessarily abrupt) decline of the world economy. The authors initially “hoped that such deliberation would lead society to take corrective actions to reduce the possibilities of collapse”. However, despite all positive developments, the required course correction has not taken place and the global environmental status has become even worse. Some have dismissed the conclusions of a study conducted by a team of researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) headed by Dennis Meadows, as an overly pessimistic doomsday scenario disregarding the ability of the current economic system to adapt. The important issue is that the resources are finite and, sooner or later, the limits to further growth of material and energy flows will be reached. What matters much more in this context is the missed opportunity to initiate a fundamental change with a view to preventing the overshoot by driving the system in a sustainable direction. These are thoughts that also come to mind when examining the Commission communication, ‘Closing the loop - An EU action plan for the Circular Economy’, published in December 2015. It is rather difficult to see how this action plan could contribute to the desperately needed fundamental change of direction associated with significantly reduced resource use, as opposed to the concept of infinite growth enriched with circular flows. In this contribution the authors articulate ANEC’s perspective on the circular economy concept presented by the European Commission in December 2015.

Addressing 2030 EU policy framework for energy and climate: Cost, risk and energy security issues

The different energy sources, their costs and impacts on the environment determine the electricity production process. Energy planning must solve the existence of uncertainty through the diversification of power generation technologies portfolio. The European Union energy and environmental policy has been mainly based on promoting the security of supply, efficiency, energy savings and the promotion of Renewable Energy Sources. The recent European Commission communication “Towards an European Energy Union: A secure, sustainable, competitive and affordable energy for every European” establishes the path for the European future. This study deals with the analysis of the latest EU “Energy Union” goals through the application of Markowitz portfolio theory considering technological real assets. The EU targets are assessed under a double perspective: economic and environmental. The model concludes that implementing a high share of Renewable Energy target in the design of European Policies is not relevant: the maximization of Renewable Energy share could be achieved considering a sole Low Emissions of carbon dioxide policy. Additionally it is confirmed the need of Nuclear energy in 2030: a zero nuclear energy share in 2030 European Mix is not possible, unless the technological limits participation for Renewable Energy Sources were increased.

The EU as a Promoter of Preventive Criminal Justice and the Internal Security Context

ABSTRACTThis paper discusses the current tendency in the EU to promote a criminal justice model focusing on prevention. In doing so, I examine the EU's internal security agenda with regard to criminal law and assess the extent to which this strategy fits the picture of an European Area of Freedom, Security and Justice placing equal value on freedom, security and justice. I also consider the external dimension to the EU's security program by examining the extent to which the EU benefits from the dual layer of security action provided for in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Treaty of the European Union, or whether such double action creates unnecessary complexity. I contrast the current aspirations for more security and prevention in EU criminal law with the Commission's recent communication on the effective implementation of EU policies through criminal law. This communication stresses the importance of ensuring coherence in EU criminal law, while also respecting national diversity and serving the citizens. In addition, I discuss the extent to which the EU's promotion of preventive criminal justice risks turning the EU into a disintegrator instead of an agent of European values (depending on what these values are intended to mean in practice).

European Commission's Banking Communication: Question of Validity in the Slovenian Banking Bail-in Puzzle ∙ Tadej Kotnik and Others v Državni zbor Republike Slovenije ∙ C-526/14 ∙ Annotation by Ana Vlahek and Matija Damjan

In July 2016, the CJEU issued a preliminary ruling on the interpretation of the effects of the European Commission's Banking Communication, and on the interpretation and the validity of its framework of burden-sharing being a prerequisite for granting State aid to banks. The questions were referred to Luxembourg in December 2014 by the Slovenian Constitutional Court reviewing the constitutionality of various provisions of the Slovenian Banking Act of 2006 as was amended in November 2013 following the issuance of the Banking Communication in August 2013 and the Bank of Slovenia's finding in September 2013 that five Slovenian banks were showing capital shortfalls. The result of the enactment of the Communication and the Banking Act amendment, but also of negotiations between the Republic of Slovenia and the European Commission assessing the planned State aid to the banks, was that the Bank of Slovenia ordered in December 2013 a total write-off of equity capital, as well as hybrid capital and subordinated debt, and that the Commission consequently gave green light to State aid aimed at preventing the collapse of the Slovenian banking system. The preliminary ruling will assist the Constitutional Court in understanding the effects of the Communication and the substance of some of its relevant provisions on burden-sharing, as well as in being certain that the burden-sharing framework of the Communication is in line with the rules and principles of EU that were assessed in the ruling. It is now up to the Constitutional Court to assess the constitutionality of the Banking Act. Keywords: Bail-In; Banking Communication; Financial Crisis; Burden-Sharing; Hybrid Capital; Subordinated Debt; Legitimate Expectations; Right to Property.

The public will vs. the public trust: Early american radio as a public information resource

ABSTRACTOver the century that has transpired since the first public broadcasts aired in the US, radio programming has become a staunchly commercial enterprise. The earliest radio broadcasts, by contrast, were seen as public goods to be protected in the interest of neutrality of the information being conveyed. In the late 1920s and early 1930s a range of colorful individuals contracted with stations in order to broadcast news and information that involved the sale of personal and medical consultations to individual listeners. Astrology, in particular, became a significant factor in Federal Radio Commission (FRC) and Federal Communications Commission (FCC) license renewal hearings due to two main perceptions: (1) because such broadcasts constituted point‐to‐point transmission of information, and (2) because such programs were usually related to the marketing of some product or involved the solicitation of funds, therefore, they were deemed to be contrary the interests of the public at large. While the mandate of the FRC and FCC did not involve oversight of content or outright censorship, these hearings nonetheless effectually resulted in the development of guidelines that banned certain types of broadcasts and sometimes shuttered local stations entirely. For a brief time during these decades, educational and cultural institutions benefitted from the utopian ethos of these federal regulatory efforts. During this time science journalism emerged and scientists themselves experimented with the new medium as a means of public edification. Discussion of the early history of radio broadcasting in the US is relevant to the core concerns of information science and technology research given that its development gave shape to the social practices and legal principles surrounding public use of and access to the ICTs (information and communications technologies) that emerged in its wake—from television programming to the provision of Internet service.

Prowzrostowa orientacja polityki wobec Romów w Europie

The EU is focused on the pursuit of the objectives of economic, social and territorial cohesion. They are closely linked with sustainable growth, which is impossible without the development in these areas. The EU Roma strategy is strongly linked to the Europe 2020 strategy, aimed at cohesion objectives. The practical realization of pro-Roma strategy assumptions is entrusted to the Member States. In this regard, it comes to concretization of EU framework principles in accordance with their developmental orientation. However, taking into account the final stage of implementation of the EU, being the practical implementation of measures addressed to Roma, there is a problem with different systems of values. Objectives of the European Union are based primarily on the development and pursuit of growth. Roma culture-shaped by the need for survival – is associated with a value system which is based on the duration, permanence and strong intracommunity ties. Assessing with this point of view progrowth orientation of Roma policy, we should adopt other criteria than those resulting from the Europe 2020 strategy. However, even the Human Development Index is not possible to assess fully appropriate to the system of Roma culture. Therefore the most appropriate are the EU's progrowth policy orientation evaluation criteria. The basis for this assessment are the assumptions set out in the EU Framework and the annual European Commission communication summarizing the progress made by Member States. On this basis, it can be stated that the EU Roma policy is focused on economic growth and social development.

Guarding the guardian: ‘Article 258 TFEU complaints’ before the European Ombudsman

The infringement procedure of Article 258 TFEU has been consistently viewed by the EU administration and judges as a bipolar bargaining game between the European Commission and the defaulting member state, in which individuals have no role to play. The European Ombudsman's efforts to triangularize the infraction process have resulted in the introduction of a number of soft-law, non-justiciable commitments for the Commission, which are currently set out in the 2012 Communication on its relations with complainants. This article considers the Ombudsman's contribution in the field of infringement complaints by empirically examining the application of the principal provisions of the Commission's Communication in his decision-making. The resulting finding is that Article 258 TFEU complainants have substantially benefited from the Ombudsman's creativity beyond the tight constraints of legality. Points for practitioners The analysis brings to the fore a number of key soft-law, non-justiciable commitments that the European Union administration is expected to honour in its everyday dealings with the European citizenry. The discussion also explores the transformative impact that extra-judicial means for the delivery of administrative justice can have on the ethos and praxis of supranational management. The European Commission's reaction to the European Ombudsman's investigative pressure and the resultant restraints on the former's discretionary powers are useful lessons, which transcend the European Union context and could set the tone for relevant developments in the domestic spheres of the EU member states.

Consumer Collective Redress under the Brussels I Regulation Recast in the Light of the Commission's Common Principles

This paper examines the state of play on cross-border consumer collective redress in Europe in the light of three important instruments: (1) the Brussels I Regulation (Recast) (2) the Commission Communication entitled “Towards a European Horizontal Framework for Collective Redress”; and (3) the Commission’s Recommendation of 11 June 2013 on common principles for injunctive and compensatory collective redress mechanisms in the Member States concerning violations of rights granted under Union Law. The study highlights general disappointment with the new European Union instruments. The disappointment stems from the mediocre consumer collective redress likely to be achieved by the aforementioned three instruments.