EC Legislation Research Articles

State Power and Institutional Influence in European Integration: Lessons from the Packaging Waste Directive*

AbstractThis study traces the development of the recently adopted packaging waste directive in order to illuminate the role of various actors in the integration process. While some of the findings about agenda‐setting and qualified majority voting presented in this study apply directly to the sector of environmental policy, or specifically to the chosen case, the broader conclusions suggest the need for additional case studies of EC legislation and offer a theoretical framework in which these studies may be used to test competing notions of European integration. To this end, the study uses lessons from the case of packaging waste to refine the ongoing debate between scholars who propose state‐centric models and those who advocate a view of Europe in which power is diffused to supranational institutions at the expense of state sovereignty.

Five Forms of Uncertainty in European Community Law

The purpose of this article is to consider uncertainty in European Community law. It will be argued that, for reasons inherent in the nature of the Community, EC legislation is generally less clear and more difficult to interpret than British legislation. Five reasons are put forward as to why this might be so. While always undesirable, uncertainty is perhaps to some extent tolerable where Community legislation gives rights to the individual against public authorities: an uncertain right may, after all, be better than no right at all. It is, however, intolerable where obligations are imposed on the individual. One situation in which this arises is where directives are adopted in the field of private law, a rapidly increasing area of Community legislation. These measures will form the main focus of this study, though our attention will not be confined to them. Before considering these matters, we must, however, set the stage by making some preliminary distinctions.

Equal Pay and Sex Discrimination Law in the UK and Europe: The need for coherence

Abstract The major aim of this article is to review some of the fundamental provisions of equal pay and sex discrimination law, both in the EC and the UK, to consider the extent to which they are in accord or conflict, and to evaluate the coherence of equality legislation. The article will deal solely with discrimination at work, since that is what the EC legislation deals with and that is what most of the UK case-law is concerned with. Nevertheless the principles dealt with also apply in relation to discrimination in non-employment matters covered by the Sex Discrimination Act and also to race discrimination since the legislation there mirrors the sex discrimination legislation (Race Relations Act 1976 (RRA))

A sewage disposal strategy for the Isle of Man

The Isle of Man sits in the middle of the Irish Sea, surrounded by the United Kingdom (UK) coasts of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. It is, however, independently governed by its own Parliament, Tynwald, and is not part of the European Union (formerly the European Community, EC). A radical scheme for the integrated sewerage provision of the whole of the Island, of population approximately 65,000, involving centralised treatment and re-use of sewage sludges, has been accepted in principle. The policy adopted, as realised in the so-called ‘IRIS’ scheme, goes beyond the level of provision called for by the recent EC Directive on Urban Wastewater Treatment, yet the threat posed by the Isle of Man to the waters of the Irish Sea is negligible in comparison to the major inputs from its more populous neighbours. The geographic separation of the Island from the major pollution inputs from the British and Irish mainlands should ensure unobstructed assimilation of its releases by the marine environment. In many instances the coastal communities of the island, through their small size, would be without the statutory responsibility for land based treatment provision, even if bound by the EC legislation. This article, based on evidence presented to Public Inquiry on a first phase of the scheme's implementation, expresses the view that the strategy for future sewerage provision should be re- evaluated in the light of the flexibilities in implementation which would be afforded to the Isle of Man under the EC legislation. More fundamentally, however, it is suggested that the ‘marine treatment’ option using long- sea outfalls should be incorporated in the range of scheme options to be evaluated against achievement of a ‘best environmental solution’. The argument developed herein draws extensively on the background leading to the UK Water Industry's reluctant adoption of the EC legislation. These circumstances are considered worthy of report in their own right and the Isle of Man provides an ideal case study.

THE DEVELOPMENT OF EU EQUALITY POLICIES: BUREAUCRATIC EXPANSION ON BEHALF OF WOMEN?

This article critically evaluates the impact of European Community equal opportunities policies on behalf of women. It is argued that the European Commission, supported by the European Parliament, women's organizations and European Court rulings, has consciously sought to extend the scope of Community legislation and policies in this sector. The article highlights the various strategies used by the Commission in pursuit of this objective, including the cultivation by the Commission of a number of policy networks which are actively involved in the formulation and monitoring of EU equal opportunities policies. A central theme of the article is the growing opposition to further EC legislation in this sector among employers and some national governments. In this situation, the Commission has been forced to adopt alternative 'soft’policy instruments.

Global Offering of Securities edited by Meredith M. Brown and Alan Paley

The above work contains a preface by the editors and seven chapters, to which a number of different authors who have practised extensively in the field of cross-border security offerings have contributed. For a number of reasons, a very significant development in the world's capital markets in recent years has consisted of cross-border offerings of securities. This phenomenon has already had an impact on EC legislation, and there have been important recent developments in the latter field. As the editors say, there are four different approaches which may be adopted in trying to accomplish multinational offerings of securities. These consist of full compliance with requirements of different legal system; the avoidance of the most burdensome requirements; the reconciliation of differing requirements; or the deferral to one country's rules. All these approaches are considered in the present work, which also examines the laws and practices of the USA, UK, Continental Europe,...

EC Legislation and Information

EC Legislation and Information

EC Legislation and Information

EC Legislation and Information

Sewage Sludge Production, Treatment and Disposal in the European Union

ABSTRACTSludge production and disposal are entering a period of dramatic change, driven mainly by EC legislation. The urban waste water treatment Directive will result in at least 50% more sludge being produced by the end of 2005 and, during the next decade, sludge disposal to all the established outlets could become increasingly difficult or, in the case of sea disposal, will become illegal. The challenge facing the members of the European Union is how to (a) maintain cost‐effective and secure methods of sludge disposal and (b) engender public confidence in all disposal and recycling options. What is required is not so much innovative technology, although this may be essential, but more innovative attitudes and approaches to promotion and defending existing outlets.This paper describes the likely pattern of sludge production, treatment and disposal which will emerge during the implementation of recent EC directives and other national policies in Europe, and focuses on the areas and issues which require innovative approaches.

The failure of national parliaments?

National parliaments are commonly held to have ‘failed’ in their dealings with European institutions and in their impact upon the Community's legislative process. This article provides a ‘revisionist’ analysis to challenge this ‘orthodoxy’. First, national parliaments have provided the legitimating frame within which the development of the European Community has been able to take place. Second, there has been no absolute, inexorable decline in the influence exerted by national parliaments in the EC policy process. If anything, events since the signing of the Treaty on European Union in December 1991 suggest that national parliaments have bargained increased powers of scrutiny over EC legislation. Third, it needs to be noted that there is a ‘dual democratic deficit’ within the European Union. The problem of the ‘democratic deficit’ is evident not solely in the accretion of decision‐making power at the European level, but also in the fact that national parliaments within their own states exert limited contr...

Current legislation governing clinical waste disposal

The paper considers UK and EC Legislation regulating clinical waste disposal. The legal definition of clinical waste is distinguished from both ‘health care waste’ and ‘infectious waste’. Waste can be pre-treated so as to enable it to be disposed of through the normal waste stream. The legislation is looked at by reference to (i) production and storage; (ii) handling and transportation; and (iii) disposal. It is vitally important to draw up a waste management strategy. Effective segregation at source is a key factor in the waste management strategy and it will enable hospital authorities to make economic savings in waste disposal costs. The Paper considers the Duty of Care under the Environmental Protection Act 1990 and stresses the obligation on each person in the waste disposal chain to discharge the Duty. Landfilling as a method of disposal is discouraged except for waste where no possibility of infection arises. There are problems with hospital incinerators meeting modern emission standards. Requirements for licensing new incinerators are examined. The new Waste Management Licensing Regulations 1994 require applications for Waste Management Licenses to demonstrate technical and financial competence as ‘fit and proper persons’. The Paper concludes by examining penalties for breach of regulatory provisions.

The powers of regional and local authorities and their role in the European Union

Summary The deepening of the Community has led to a crucial change in the position of the regional and local authorities in the overall structure. The most striking features of this new role of the subnational level are: • their increasing direct involvement and integration under general and specific Community policies; • their growing participation in the EC decision‐making process as a contribution to the elimination of the democratic deficit and to the achievement of greater closeness to the citizen within the framework of a subsidiary structure of the European Union; • the need, given the challenges posed by the internal market, for more regional and local initiative to help improve the quality of these levels as locations. How far the territorial authorities will be able to play this new, enlarged role will very much depend on the quality of their institutional infrastructure and their ability to take action. The comparative analysis reveals, however, that the tasks of the territorial authorities in ...

Trade unions in the European Union: a handbook

With the establishment of the Social Chapter, 1993 will mark the beginning of a much more comprehensive process of integration than was first envisaged under the rubric of the Single Market. This new economic environment has enormous implications for trade unions across Europe. Trade Unions in the European provides a guide to the different forms of employee representation in each of the twelve Community countries, to the different legal, political and economic conditions in which trade unions operate, and to the full details of EC legislation on workers' rights. The authors provide statistical and factual information as well as comparative studies, making this text a reference work both for British trade unionists and for academics in industrial relations, labour law and human resources management.

Development of an ELISA for salinomycin and depletion kinetics of salinomycin residues in poultry.

Salinomycin is widely used as a feed additive to control coccidiosis in the broiler industry world-wide. EC legislation on veterinary drug residues will soon be extended to cover poultry. This will require the development of rapid assays to screen for the presence of residual concentrations of this and other drugs in poultry meat. This study describes the development of an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay for salinomycin that has a limit of detection of approximately 0.2 ng/g. The antibody cross-reacts with narasin, but is not subject to interference from lasalocid, maduramicin or monensin. Residual concentrations of salinomycin were measured in the tissues of broilers following feeding of medicated feed containing 60 mg/kg salinomycin. Salinomycin residues were present only at very low concentrations in liver and muscle, and fell below the limit of decision of the assay within 2 days of withdrawal of the medicated feed.

Risk Communication and Transport of Dangerous Goods: Extending Experiences from Industrial Installations in The European Community

A European Economic Community directive, commonly known as the "Seveso Directive," regulates industrial production and storage where dan gerous substances are present in quantities above a given threshold. Among other requirements, it prescribes that information be provided to persons liable to be affected by a major accident. To the contrary, there is no regulato ry framework similar to the Seveso Directive concerning the transport of dangerous goods, and consequently no risk communication provisions are in force. Such divergence in regulating the risk connected with dangerous sub stances constitutes the basis for the paper. First the paper outlines the EC legislation for industrial installations, then it examines the different trans port modes for dangerous goods. Subsequently, taking into consideration the different organizational settings and target populations, it discusses the pos sibility of establishing risk communication requirements and procedures for the transportation of dangerous goods, similar to those required for chemical installations.

Statutory European Works Councils: the final countdown?

EC legislation on employee participation in multinational companies, previously blocked by the UK, may now be adopted by the other eleven member states under the Maastricht agreement on social policy. This would represent a major political breakthrough, but its industrial relations implications remain uncertain, particularly for UK companies and employees.

Present day requirements for effective pathogen control in spray dried milk powder production

The Food Safety Act 1990 has increased the awareness of milk powder manufacturers of the necessity to be able to demonstrate effectively that due diligence is exercised at all stages of manufacture in order to assure production of safe food at all times. This paper examines the present day requirements for the manufacture of pathogen free milk powders and seeks to highlight points of interest within the industry in the light of this new Act, subsequent EC legislation and the now mandatory requirement to use Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point principles of managenent and a recommendation to use industry guidelines and quality systems.

The effect of metabolism protein supply on milk nitrogen Capture in dairy cows.

There is increasing government and consumer pressure on agriculture to reduce nitrogen pollution of the environment and EC legislation is now in place to reduce nitrate levels in drinking water. Dairy cows excrete large amounts of nitrogen and use of the Metabolisable Protein (MP) system (AFRC, 1992) which defines the dietary nitrogen characteristics and animal requirements, may reduce environmental pollution by increasing the efficiency of nitrogen capture.

An industry view of compliance with European Community legislation.

This paper describes how from a situation within the European Community where each Member State had its own individual regulations for materials and articles in contact with food, the Community has developed a harmonized approach. The view is expressed that whilst this harmonization is desirable, the EC legislation as currently written is impractical. Flaws in the principles underlying EC controls are identified and whilst some parts of the harmonized regulations can form the basis for a workable scheme, substantial revision is needed. Proposals for improvement to the current Directives are suggested.

Testing polymeric coatings on metal and paper substrates.

The predicted migration test requirements for food and beverage cans with internal lacquer coatings and plastics paperboard composites against future EC legislation, are described. In a project currently in hand at Pira International on behalf of the UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, some of the problems which arise when migration testing food and beverage cans with the food simulant 3% (w/v) acetic acid solution are being investigated. The 3% (w/v) acetic acid simulant has a tendency to penetrate the lacquer coating resulting in corrosion of the metal substrate. Experiments in hand and planned on this problem, with some of the initial results, are presented. There are also problems with overall migration testing of food packaging consisting of plastics paperboard composites with the fatty food simulant (olive oil). With one particular problem there is at present no obvious answer.