European Agreements Research Articles

Modelling the recovery of acid-sensitive Finnish headwater lakes under present emission reduction agreements

Abstract. Abstract: Over the past two decades, substantial reductions in the deposition of acidifying substances (primarily sulphur) have occurred in most parts of Europe and, following recent agreements, this trend is likely to continue. The question arises as to how have sensitive ecosystems reacted, and will react in the future, to these reduced inputs of acidity? In this paper, the SMART dynamic acidification model predicts the possible recovery of 36 acid-sensitive Finnish headwater lakes, for which both catchment soil and water quality measurements were available. The model was calibrated to measurements by adjusting poorly known parameters; it was then used to simulate soil and water chemistry until 2030 under the ‘current legislation scenario’ resulting from implementing current European emission reduction agreements. Whereas most of the catchment soils show very little change in base saturation, the positive trends in lake ANC and the negative trends in lake sulphate concentrations, observed over the past decade, continue into the future, albeit at a slower pace. The model predicts that, during 2010–30, all lakes will have reached a positive ANC, a pre-requisite for the recovery of fish populations. Keywords: acidification, lake, catchment, recovery, SMART model, Finland

Regional Agreements and the World Trade Organization Negotiations

during the last decades has been the expansion of regional trading agreements (RTAs), particularly in the Western Hemisphere and Europe. In the Americas, total trade grew at an average of 10.2% per year between 1990 and 2000, more than double the rate of extrahemispheric trade (4.4%), and the intra-trade share jumped from 48% to 61% of the total (Inter-American Development Bank). This has been related to several reasons, such as the spread of democracy in Latin America, which opened new opportunities for dialogue and collaboration, and the important changes in trade, macroeconomic, public sector, and regulatory policies that further promoted the integration of those countries in the world economy. In particular, there were important reductions of trade barriers, which took place multilaterally (as a result of GATT/WTO negotiations), regionally (as a consequence of different trade agreements in the American continent, such as NAFTA and MERCOSUR), and unilaterally. Currently there are ongoing discussions, initiated in 1994, to create a Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) by 2005, as well as a host of other initiatives, including possible links between MERCOSUR and the European Union (EU), and the accession of Chile to NAFTA. On the other side of the Atlantic, the EU, itself the result of a wide-ranging process of economic and political integration, is pursuing the enlargement of the Union while, at the same time, negotiating and participating in several other trade agreements. Ten countries (Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, the Slovak Republic, and Slovenia) are likely to join the EU in 2004, whereas two other countries (Bulgaria and Romania) may join later in the decade. Trade agreements with these countries have been part of the Europe Agreements since 1992. In addition, the EU negotiated an FTA with South Africa in October 1999, signed the Cotonou Agreement (successor to previous Lom6 Conventions) with 77 African, Caribbean, and Pacific (ACP) countries on June, 2000, and approved the Everything but Arms (EBA) Initiative on February 26, 2001. There are also other regi nal and bilateral trade agreements or initiatives with Turkey, Mexico, Mediterranean cou tries, Balkan countries, MERCOSUR, and others.

State Aid Control: Substance and Procedure in the Europe Agreements and the Stabilisation and Association Agreements

Abstract: Community agreements with third countries frequently contain provisions on State aids. These provisions are designed to achieve a range of different objectives, related both to developing trade between the contracting parties and to economic and legal/regulatory development within the partner State. This paper takes a particular model of State aid clause—those found in the Europe Agreements (EAs) and the Stabilisation and Association Agreements (SAAs)—in order to explore the implications of a harmonisation obligation applied within the context of accession to the EU. In these agreements the State aid rules—and in particular those relating to the application of Community‐based criteria—are intended to contribute to the pre‐accession adoption of the acquis communautaire by the associate States (including those who are not yet candidates). These clauses are striking in their emphasis on the full adoption of Community‐based standards for the approval of aids, including large quantities of ‘soft law’, while saying very little as to the appropriate procedures for enforcement. The experience of implementing these clauses illustrates the practical difficulties of applying Community norms and standards outside the procedural structures, integration mechanisms and single market objectives of actual EU membership. The associate States are required to demonstrate their capacity for applying and enforcing the Community‐derived rules while balancing the needs of their own economic development against an undefined ‘common interest’.

Economic and Social Challenges of Member and Accession States: Social Security in the Europe Agreements

Since the December 2002 European Union Council Meeting in Copenhagen, most of the Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) are now virtually guaranteed accession to the European Union on 1 May 2004. As interest now turns to the terms of accession and the single accession treaty, the history of the Europe Agreements with these countries and the continuing interest in them has been eclipsed somewhat. This, however, does not mean that they lack importance or relevance. Indeed, the agreements and their provisions on workers and social rights will continue to regulate the position of nationals of the CEECs until accession. For Bulgarians and Romanians who have been left out of the first round of accession, the agreements will continue to have important consequences for their access to benefits.

Reconsidering the adjustment costs of the Europe agreements

The paper argues that vertical intra-industry trade (IIT) should be separated from horizontal IIT to have a better judgement about adjustment costs of a trade liberalization, contrary to the assumption in the literature that all IIT changes are costless. A simple method to decompose IIT is presented. Using this method, it is seen that, contrary to expectations, after the Europe Agreements, share of vertical IIT has not increased much between Germany and Central and Eastern European countries. However, when adjustment costs are analysed, it is seen that the resulting labour displacement has been substantial, explaining partly the EU's reluctant approach in these agreements.

Stabilisation and Association Agreements: Europe Agreements for the Western Balkans?

Stabilisation and Association Agreements: Europe Agreements for the Western Balkans?

L'établissement des règles des marchés nationaux ou régionaux :

SUMMARY ESTABLISHING RULES FOR NATIONAL OR REGIONAL MARKETS : FROM STATES ACTING AS SOVEREIGN REGULATORS TO ORGANISATIONS OF REGIONAL INTEGRATION SERVING AS PROMOTORS, PROTECTORS, AND INTERMEDIARIES The objective of this contribution is double. It first of all seeks to single out several important factors that may lead States to turn to regional economic integration in order to regulate their market and to protect their interests. It then examines whether and how the role of a State may further change, subsequent to the opening of the markets and the ensuing pressure of regionalisation or globalisation. The European integration process in a wide sense is taken as an example including references not only to the European Union but, also, to the European Economic Area, the Customs Union with Turquie and the Europe Agreements where relevant. In particular the following questions are addressed. What rationale has led the European States to engage in a regionalisation process ? Is European economic integration to be understood in terms of economic reasoning, for instance the necessity to prevent a regulatory race-to-the bottom or the presence of inter-state externalities ? What importance is to be given to the historical context ? Should a distinction be made between the reasons for attributing regulatory powers to the European level and those aiming to determine how and when joint regulatory competence may be exercised and controlled by the States, for instance through the principle of subsidiarity ? Can one discern an interaction between the processes of regionalisation and globalisation ? Another very important question is what dynamics have been created by the initiation of the regulatory regionalisation process itself ? It is apparent, for instance, that the internal market objective as written into the Treaty and interpreted by the European Court of Justice may have far-reaching consequences for the Member States as regulators. Attention is inter alia drawn to the implications for the legislative role of Member States of the introduction of principles, such as mutual recognition or implied powers, by virtue of case law. The complexity of the subject matter under study is illustrated by the fact that there is no unequivocal answer to the question of how the process of European economic integration is to be qualified. Is it still mainly a voluntary project to regulate the market in common or is there nowadays a necessity for European States to join a bigger market ? An answer could be that it is inherently a mixture of both but that the balance will shift according to the specific country and period under consideration. There are essentially two sets of conditions underlying European economic integration. Firstly, it is apparent that in order to benefit fully from the advantages created by the internal market and to exert an influence on its further regulatory development, a State has to manifest the political willingness to be fully associated with the European project and to transfer part of its sovereignty to the European Union. Secondly, besides the political willingness, there are important political and economic conditions that need to be fulfilled before a State may become a Member of the European Union. To the extent that either one of those conditions is lacking European economic integration will necessarily have to proceed on the basis of the so-called geometrie variable model. The classical regulatory role of the State concerned is thereby more, or less, maintained according to the solution retained. Examples of the latter include not only the Europe Agreements and the Customs Union with Turquie, but also the possibility for reinforced co-operation between the Member States and the creation of the European Economic Area. By way of conclusion it is maintained that the absence of similar conditions underlying the globalisation process makes it very difficult to merely transpose the European internal market rules and logic to a worldwide level.

Règles de concurrence et partenariat euro-méditerranéen : échec ou succès ?

« Competition rules and Euro-Mediterranean partnership : Failure or success ? » deals with the Community’s mediterranean policy to the extent that the association and cooperation agreements, which the Community has concluded with most of the non-member coastal States of the Mediterranean, require or imply the introduction and the protection of a system of undistorted competition both within the free trade areas established by these agreements and within the Member States of the agreements. Following a summary description of the purpose and scope of the agreements, a first main section is devoted to explaining the reasons for inserting competition rules into these agreements. It does so by comparison to and distinction from the similar approach used in the European Agreements, which the Community has concluded with those States of Central and Eastern Europe, which are candidates for accession to the Community. The section then gives details of the scope of the competition rules and the mechanisms used to implement and to enforce them, a particular stress being put on the lack of direct applicability of these rules. A fundamental difference between the agreements concluded with the States of the Mediterranean relates to their purpose, since only three States (Cyprus, Malta, Turkey) are actual or likely candidates of adhesion. It is, therefore, with regard to these countries and again by comparison to the candidate States of Central and Eastern Europe, that a specific section deals with the interrelationship between the adhesion process and the introduction of competition rules in the agreements and in the national legal systems of the candidate countries. However, as even almost all non-candidate States have introduced competition rules into their domestic law, the article extensively examines the nature, scope and enforcement mechanisms of such domestic rules on competition. The picture that emerges is one of a relatively homogeneous set of national rules (Israel making a notable exception), which, however, seem to be enforced rather reluctantly and differently in the various countries (the candidate States and, again, Israel being the pro-active exceptions). The article explains the reasons for this not unexpected failure, i.e. the lack of sufficient capacity building and the existence of political resistance, and then opens an entire new section on the issue of convergence between the domestic competition rules of the Mediterranean States, non-members of the Community, and the Community’s competition rules. In particular, the pros and cons of such a conver~gence for both the Community and the partner States are examined in some detail, with particular attention being given to the globalisation context of such conver~gence.

Is there a Potential for Increases in FDI for Central and Eastern European Countries Following EU Accession?

The speed of the collapse of central planning in central and eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union was one of the most startling political events of the second half of the twentieth century. No-one really knew how long the process of stabilisation and adjustment would take. What was clear, however, was that the international community would not just sit back and let it happen. Substantial resource transfers took place as well as extensive policy advice. The European Union was in the vanguard of this post-Communist reconstruction effort with both financial aid through programmes such as PHARE and policy initiatives such as the Europe Agreements. The latter not only elevated the central and east European countries (CEECs) to the apex of the Union’s ‘pyramid of privilege’ but laid the foundations for progress towards eventual accession. By the middle of 1996, ten CEECs had applied for membership of the Union; in 1998 serious negotiations over entry began; and in December 2000 a formal Treaty commitment was made at the Nice Summit. The most recent Commission report on readiness for accession (in October 2002), concluded that eight of the ten CEECs will be ready to join the EU in 2004.

Legal Consequences of EU Accession for Central and Eastern European Health Care Systems

Since the ratification of the Europe agreements, Eastern European accession countries are transposing community law into their national legal framework. The law approximation process in the field of health concerns three themes, viz public health, health–related issues, and the internal market. Although the health acquis has been largely focused on public–health issues, it is increasingly becoming clear that internal market treaty provisions may also affect health–related rights. For candidate member states this means that the common market has important consequences for health and their health–care systems. Therefore, this paper will examine the impact of relevant treaty provisions on acceding countries’ (public) health legal framework.

False confessions after repeated interrogation: the Putten Murder Case

Suggestive or misleading interrogation techniques may have the effect that innocent people start to remember having committed a serious crime. Confessions are therefore not the best possible evidence, especially not when it is obvious that the interrogation contained elements of suggestion and deception. The problem is illustrated by a case that has become famous in The Netherlands, because two innocent men were imprisoned for about eight years, after obviously false confessions. The confessions were obtained during long and repeated interrogations in which various types of psychological deception were used. In the end, the amount of contradiction, and even of sheer impossibilities, made it clear that the confessions were false and the men innocent. Some of the literature on the creation of false memories is reviewed. It is argued that the practice of criminal investigation may elicit even stronger effects, because empirical research is constrained by ethical limits. The objective of criminal investigation seems to put no limit on what is deemed acceptable, even though we know quite well that the elicitation of false confessions is a serious risk. European agreements about criminal interrogation techniques may provide an effective protection against undesirable practices; but it will not be easy to convince the European legislators of this.

I. ‘With or Without me’: The ECJ Adopts a Pose of Studied Neutrality Towards EU Enlargement

In three judgments delivered on 27 September 2001, the European Court of Justice ruled on the legal effects of clauses in the Europe Agreements which accord candidate country nationals limited rights to establish themselves as self-employed persons in the Member States of the European Union (EU).1 The Court refused to interpret these provisions as steps on the road to full-fledged EU membership which should be given a dynamic reading in order to provide continuing impetus for enlargement. The significance of these judgments lies less in their legal pronouncements than in their wider political implications. The judgments indicate that the Court is not prepared to act as a second chaperone of the process of enlargement alongside the Commission.

The Equivalence Framework in Relationship to the Basic Training of Psychologists and Specialization Training: The Nordic Scene

This paper describes and compares university education and training, the procedures for licensing, and the specialist training systems for professional psychologists in the Nordic countries of Finland, Norway, and Sweden. The inter-Scandinavian and European regulations and agreements affecting mobility are presented. The systems presented are compared to each other, and a discussion follows on the following topics: What is the relationship between generic and specialized training? Will it be possible in the future for these countries to mutually recognize their different specialization educational programs? How specialized should further education be?

Freedom of Movement of Self-Employed Persons and the Europe Agreements: Comments on Case C-63/99, Gloszczuk; Case C-235/99, Kondova; Case C-257/99, Barkoci and Malik (judgments of 27 September 2001); and Case C-268/99, Jany (judgment of 20 November 2001)

Freedom of Movement of Self-Employed Persons and the Europe Agreements: Comments on Case C-63/99, Gloszczuk; Case C-235/99, Kondova; Case C-257/99, Barkoci and Malik (judgments of 27 September 2001); and Case C-268/99, Jany (judgment of 20 November 2001)

The Chapter II on Establishment in the Europe Agreements

The Chapter II on Establishment in the Europe Agreements

The implementation of international nature conservation agreements in Europe: the case of the Netherlands

AbstractNature conservation policy in European countries is increasingly determined by the requirements of a wide range of international agreements. The most important are two EU directives (the Birds Directive and the Habitats Directive) and four conventions (the Ramsar Convention, the Bern Convention, the Bonn Convention and the UN Convention on Biological Diversity). The main foci of these instruments are habitats and species that are of international importance or require international cooperation to secure their effective conservation. Despite the importance of these habitats and species, implementation of the instruments has been uneven. The Netherlands provides a interesting example of implementation issues. The legislation necessary to enable the government to legally designate areas that have to be protected under the Birds Directive was only adopted in 1998, 17 years after the deadline fixed by the directive. This legislation has enabled the government to nominate areas for designation under the Birds and Habitats Directive. However, not all the sites that fall under the criteria of the Directives have been included in the list, and the legislation does not include the required provision concerning compensation for areas that are protected under the Habitats Directive and then damaged by activities that are authorized in the public interest. In the case of the Ramsar Convention, the government is planning to increase the number of designated sites, but the total number of sites will still represent inadequately the types of wetland of international importance that are found in the Netherlands. Despite this uneven implementation, the instruments – particularly the EU Directives – are having far‐reaching effects on nature conservation in Europe. The most important consequences are that ecological considerations are the sole and absolute criteria for determining whether a site should be protected under the EU Directives and that many areas that until now only enjoyed limited protection under the spatial planning system now have to be legally protected from virtually all forms of damage. However, in practice many development plans take only limited account of the biodiversity conservation requirements implied by international conventions. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. and ERP Environment

Outsiders in economic integration

We use a spatial model of endogenous growth to investigate the likely impact of discriminatory integration between two advanced insider countries on their own welfare as well as on the welfare of an outsider transition economy. A first point is that, since convergence in per capita income levels depends on relative market access and local market size, piece‐wise integration causes insider‐outsider divergence. Nonetheless, outsiders can gain in absolute terms if integration fosters the global growth rate. We also show that exclusion from a regional agreement and on‐going transition have unpredictable joint effects on the structural adjustment, which might even exhibit a swinging behaviour. Such swings may imply large adjustment costs, which can be reduced by careful integration design. With this respect, the asymmetric phasing‐out of trade barriers built into the Europe Agreements seems to work in the right direction. Finally, we point out that the predictions of the model in terms of direct investment and terms‐of‐trade dynamics are broadly consistent with some actual developments in transition economies.

Trade Structure and Trade liberalization: The emerging pattern between the EU and Transition Economies

The purpose of this study is to find empirical evidence for the assumption that trade liberalization unlocks the potential of the Transition Economies (TEs) to achieve technological upgrading, productivity progress and catching-up (in terms of income). The study examines the trade structure now emerging between the European Union (EU) and the TEs in the light of two sets of differently liberalized trade items identified by the ‘European Agreements’. The aim is to determine whether trade liberalization has helped to supersede the structures – reflected mainly in the low quality of products – inherited by the TEs from the command economy. The empirical results are interpreted in the light of the Flam-Helpman quality-cycle model. We find evidence of an ongoing division of labor between high quality products (EU) and low quality products (TEs) according to a cycle. The first stage comprises the already well established dominance of quality advantage products by EU countries producing and exporting high-quality products, which crowd out the TEs' production of similar products. The second stage is the exploitation of cost-advantages by TEs in less liberalized trade, and there they appear to achieve better results. All these results may be taken as support for an active government in TEs.

From emissions in Europe to critical load exceedances in Finland — uncertainty analysis of acidification integrated assessment

This paper evaluates the uncertainties in integrated assessment modeling of acidification, relates the findings to European emission reduction strategies and draws conclusions about further research priorities. The paper presents a mathematical and literature analysis of the uncertainties in the ecosystem areas at risk of acidification in Finland inherent in the integrated assessment of air pollution used in the development of European emission abatement agreements. Owing to the need for relatively simple models, integrated assessment is uncertainty prone. Uncertainties in national inventories of acidifying emissions in European countries and their spatial locations, in the atmospheric transport of the pollutants and in the critical loads, characterizing the ecosystems’ sensitivity, were taken into account. The relative contributions of the uncertainties in the individual modules of the integrated assessment modeling to the overall uncertainty of ecosystem protection levels were calculated for 1990 and 2010, assuming the implementation of the recent UN/ECE Gothenburg Protocol curbing long-range transboundary air pollution. The robustness of the acidification risk estimates was shown to improve significantly from 1990 to 2010, which is due to the anticipated large overall decrease in deposition levels. For most parts of Finland uncertainties in the critical loads were found to dominate the total uncertainty of integrated assessment modeling of acidification. Thus further research efforts to reduce uncertainties should be mainly focused on a more precise description of ecosystem processes. In Southern Finland and in areas close to Russian emission sources also the uncertainties in emission inventories and in the atmospheric transport and deposition modeling were shown to be significant, which emphasizes the need for high-resolution modeling when developing protection strategies for natural areas in the vicinity of significant emissions. Using a 95% confidence level, a probabilistic impact assessment of emission reduction alternatives indicates a considerably more pessimistic ecosystem protection level than the deterministic approach used in European decision-making.

The Europe Agreements Compared in the Light of Their Pre-Accession Reorientation

The Europe Agreements Compared in the Light of Their Pre-Accession Reorientation