European Ban Research Articles

European Transition to Electric Vehicles: Italy as a Case of Study

The European ban on internal combustion engines has raised several questions from both the automotive players and society. The proliferation of electric vehicles is struggling as it is facing issues related to energy supply and distribution and to infrastructure availability. These problems are considerably different across the various countries. It is consequently a tough challenge to provide a worldwide comprehensive evaluation. In this paper we first outline the common problems to later move to provide a clear picture of the Italian scenario, starting from the available data related to mobility for the period 2018–2022. We outline the main problems to be tackled and the related costs. Italy is an interesting and representative case as it is bound to the timeline set by the European green transition.

“Would you take a pay cut? We're looking for Caucasians”. How whiteness can affect White, Black and Muslim female ‘native-speaker’ English language teachers

This article sets out investigate the interrelationships between native speakerism, Whiteness, ethnicity and appearance in the TESOL context. It explores whether Whiteness plays a part in TESOL teachers' recruitment and job opportunities when employers are seeking to employ ‘native speakers’. It draws its data from focus group interview data with seven female TESOL teachers. Two were White, three were Black and two were White Muslims who wear the hijab. The findings show that when English language teaching job advertisements call for ‘native speaker’ teachers, recruiters are—consciously or unconsciously—looking for White teachers from ex-colonising countries such as the USA, the UK, Canada, Australia and New Zealand whom they perceive as representing Whiteness. In this sense, Whiteness is inextricably linked to the concepts of the ‘native speaker’ and ‘native speakerism’ in English language teaching. The study concludes that native speakerism acts a veiled façade for Whiteness and consequently that White TESOL native speaker teachers are privileged over their Black and Muslim counterparts in a number of areas. These include: pay, objectification, acknowledgement of their professional achievements and visibility in advertising materials aimed at prospective students and their parents. The paper concludes with a call to confront such often-unacknowledged bias in favour of Whiteness by establishing open conversations with recruiters, parents, students and others involved in the TESOL field. It also recommends that countries should follow the European Union's lead and ban any language teaching job criteria that state a ‘native speaker’ requirement.

HUKUM INVESTASI DITINJAU DARI THE PRINCIPLE OF SOVEREIGN EQUALITY

The results of the WTO panel's decision were recorded in the DS 592 lawsuit. The final panel report was issued on October 17, 2022, stating that the export policy and the obligation to process and refine nickel minerals in Indonesia proved to violate WTO Article XI provisions. GATT 1994 and cannot be justified by Article XI.2 (a) and XX (d) GATT 1994. The purpose of the provisions of WTO Article XI.1 GATT 1994 states that each WTO member country is prohibited from making restrictions other than tariffs, taxes and other duties , and not other restrictions including quotas and licensing of imports or sales in the framework of export. There are two consequences that will be faced by Indonesia, including having to pay losses to the European Union (EU) as the plaintiff arising from the nickel export ban. Second, facing retaliation from the European Union's ban on other Indonesian commodities or in fiscal prohibition instruments. Problems in the field of capital loading are related to demands and threats to the principle of equality of sovereignty against investors who are treated differently, amid demands to make as much profit as possible. The principle can be a way out for investors to withdraw from investing in arbitration or court courts, so that Indonesia will suffer losses. Thus, it is necessary to explain the concept to understand the principle of sovereign equality and its influence in Indonesian laws and regulations in the field of capital protection, so as to provide a clear picture of the treatment of investors.

Relevance and potential of the Arctic Sea Routes on the LNG trade

The retreat of the ice around the freezing waters of the Arctic Ocean is opening new waterways where shipping activity could transport commodities between continents. One of the essential products is natural gas - LNG, which is transported in large tankers from exporters to importers. This study aims to explore the dynamics of the LNG trade by using these new tentative routes with conventional sea lanes and estimating the changes in the LNG trade. We utilize Agent-Based Modeling to develop a global LNG model with interactive GIS features, where the agents are the players in the LNG market. The results demonstrate the preponderance of the North-East Passage (NEP, Eurasian Arctic waters) over the North-Western Passage (NWP, the Canadian Arctic) in providing a shortcut connecting Europe with Asia. This passage favors a growing exporter like Russia with exporting facilities in Siberia and future strategic projects to increase liquefaction capacity. The NEP becomes crucial when considering scenarios of a European ban on Russian imports, as European countries are planning due to the crisis with Russia. On the importing side, the Asian Pacific and South Asian importers are the winners with a diverse and shorter LNG supply source. Future Canadian projects may also benefit from these new highways. However, there are also substantial challenges to providing the NEP with the proper infrastructure and systems to make the Polar LNG journeys safe and sound shortly. Beyond that, the Arctic sea corridors may alleviate the high LNG transit through the conventional routes and their chokepoints, but they are not a replacement for the conventional ones, not even with the most favorable conditions.

Trends in the global trade of live CITES-listed raptors: Trade volumes, spatiotemporal dynamics and conservation implications

The global legal wildlife trade is worth US$4–20 billion to the world's economy every year. Raptors frequently enter the wildlife trade for use as display animals, by falconers or hobbyists for sport and recreation. Using data from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora's (CITES) Trade Database, we examined trends in the global, legal commercial trade of CITES-listed raptors between 1975 and 2020. Overall 272 species were traded, totalling 188,149 traded individuals, which increased over time. Hybrid Falcons (N = 50,366) were most commonly traded, comprising more than a third of the global diurnal CITES-listed raptor trade, followed by Gyrfalcons (Falco rusticolus; N = 30,510), Saker Falcons (F. cherrug; N = 21,679), Peregrine Falcons (F. peregrinus; N = 13,390) and Northern White-faced Owls (Ptilopsis leucotis; N = 6725). More than half of wild-caught diurnal raptors were classified as globally threatened. The United Kingdom was the largest exporter of live raptors and the United Arab Emirates was the largest importer. Countries with higher GDPs (US$) imported more raptors than those with smaller GDPs. Larger-bodied diurnal species were traded more relative to smaller-bodied conspecifics. Following the introduction of the European Union's Wild Bird Trade Ban in 2005, the number of traded wild-caught raptors declined. Despite its limitations, the CITES Trade Database provides an important baseline of the global legal trade of live raptors. However, better understanding of illegal wildlife trade networks and smuggling routes, both on-the-ground and online, are essential for future conservation efforts.

Evaluating the dependence of opportunistic Yellow‐legged Gulls (Larus michahellis) on marine habitat and fishing discards

Several bird species benefit from anthropogenic food subsidies, such as landfills and fishing discards, that are being reduced owing to introduced legislation. For instance, since 2019, Europe has passed legislation to reduce dramatically the amount of fisheries discards through the Landing Obligation (LO), which states that all fish species under Total Allowable Catch (TAC) should not be discarded at sea. This European discard ban is expected to impact some gulls, as several gull populations have been observed to be heavily reliant on this resource. In this work, GPS tracking data from adult Yellow‐legged Gulls Larus michahellis and Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) data (i.e. detailed data of the spatial distribution of fishing vessels) are used to determine the utilization of the marine habitat and the level of interaction of gulls with fishing activity offshore and discards in the south‐eastern part of the Bay of Biscay. We found that these gulls had a low use of the marine habitat (ca. 15%) compared with terrestrial habitats, in contrast to the ca. 40% of the diet of this population which comprises marine prey. Furthermore, we detected that most of the gull tracking positions at sea did not interact with the fishing vessels (an overlap of 21.5% between gulls and VMS data). Conversely, other gull populations of the Iberian Peninsula were found to depend much more strongly on fishing activity. Therefore, the Yellow‐legged Gull population of the SE Bay of Biscay did not obtain most of its fish prey from interactions with offshore fishing activity but most possibly by taking fish remains in harbours and by feeding themselves. Consequently, we expect a minimal effect of the European policies oriented to ban fishing discards offshore on this population, which would be more affected by policies directed towards the reduction of food availability in landfills or fish landing management in harbours.

Illicit purchasing and use of flavour accessories after the European Union menthol cigarette ban: findings from the 2020-21 ITC Netherlands Surveys.

The 2020 European Union (EU) menthol cigarette ban increased quitting among pre-ban menthol smokers in the Netherlands, but some reported continuing to smoke menthol cigarettes. This study examined three possible explanations for post-ban menthol use-(i) illicit purchasing, (ii) use of flavour accessories and (iii) use of non-menthol replacement brands marketed for menthol smokers. Data were from the ITC Netherlands Cohort Surveys among adult smokers before the menthol ban (Wave 1: February-March 2020, N = 2067) and after the ban (Wave 2: September-November 2020, N = 1752; Wave 3: June-July 2021, N = 1721). Bivariate, logistic regression and generalized estimating equation model analyses were conducted on weighted data. Illicit purchasing remained low from pre-ban (2.4%, 95% CI: 1.8-3.2, Wave 1) to post-ban (1.7%, 1.2-2.5%, Wave 3), with no difference between menthol and non-menthol smokers from Wave 1 to Wave 3. About 4.4% of post-ban menthol smokers last purchased their usual brand outside of the EU and 3.6% from the internet; 42.5% of post-ban menthol smokers and 4.4% of smokers overall reported using flavour accessories, with greater odds among those aged 25-39 years vs. 55+ (aOR = 3.16, P = 0.002). Approximately 70% of post-ban smokers who reported using a menthol brand were actually using a non-menthol replacement brand. There was no increase in illicit purchasing or of smuggling outside the EU among menthol and non-menthol smokers in the Netherlands 1 year after the EU menthol cigarette ban. Use of flavour accessories and non-menthol replacement brands best explain post-ban menthol use, suggesting the need to ban accessories and ensure industry compliance.

Economic impacts of biodiesel policy in Indonesia: a computable general equilibrium approach

The Government of Indonesia has been promoting the advancement of the biodiesel sector to fulfill its commitment to support clean energy, energy security, and rural development. This paper examines the economic impact of the biodiesel sector using a computable general equilibrium model. Besides analyzing the impacts on the national macroeconomic conditions, other sectors, and household incomes, our model has also included a regional block to capture the impact of the biodiesel mandate on regional growth. Two simulations were performed: (1) fulfillment of the 30% biodiesel blending target (B30 mandate), and (2) Simulation 1 combined with the European Union's biodiesel trade ban resulting in an export reduction of 5.18%. The results show that the two simulations provide positive impacts on macroeconomic variables, including real gross domestic product and real wages. However, the B30 mandate and the combined effect of the EU trade ban still yield an inflationary effect in the short term. They also potentially reduce the production of several agricultural products—such as sugarcane, fruits, vegetables, and soybeans—leading to an increase in food prices. The policy implications highlight that the current B30 mandate and EU ban cannot automatically improve the fuel trade balance.

Animal Oil, Animal Blood: Energy, Metabolism, and Protecting the Seal Hunt in the North American Arctic as an Act of Colonial Resistance

Interrogating dominant conceptions of energy is an important practice in diversifying the field of the energy humanities. By including various understandings and definitions of energy in the field’s discussions, we can strive to reach a more culturally inclusive understanding of energy. This article proposes that emphasizing a singular conception of energy (petroleum) is socially harmful and leads to inconsistent policies surrounding the trade of energy sources. Specifically, the essay examines the 2009 European Union trade ban on seal products, which continues to adversely affect Inuit communities in the Canadian Arctic by limiting the financial viability of the subsistence seal hunt. The ban occurs while the potential of oil development in the waters surrounding Nunavut is consistently reviewed and examined by the Canadian government, demonstrating bias in which voices are amplified in discussions of energy-related policy during the early twenty-first century. To fully demonstrate the connection between subsistence sealing and oil development, the essay interrogates dominant conceptions of energy and reframes energy narratives. This reframing is compared to historical formations of energetic sources that proved more fluid and less centered on a single source. The discussion identifies Alethea Arnaquq-Baril’s 2016 film Angry Inuk as a central activist text that supports a reinsertion of Inuit perspectives into policy decisions regarding the seal hunt. Furthermore, the film aids in understanding the impact of unilateral energy formations by contesting the 2009 seal trade ban and discussing the subsequent cultural harm. Throughout the essay, the reader is asked to consider in what forms energy appears, as well as the importance of acknowledging the many forms through which energy arises. This leads us to understand that energy formations are reflective of the culture in which they are built, and that restricting the trade of energy is harmful to cultures and communities.

Long-term demographic dynamics of a keystone scavenger disrupted by human-induced shifts in food availability.

Scavenging is a key ecological process controlling energy flow in ecosystems and providing valuable ecosystem services worldwide. As long-lived species, the demographic dynamics of vultures can be disrupted by spatiotemporal fluctuations in food availability, with dramatic impacts on their population viability and the ecosystem services provided. In Europe, the outbreak of bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE) in 2001 prompted a restrictive sanitary regulation banning the presence of livestock carcasses in the wild on a continental scale. In long-lived vertebrate species, the buffering hypothesis predicts that the demographic traits with the largest contribution to population growth rate should be less temporally variable. The BSE outbreak provides a unique opportunity to test for the impact of demographic buffering in a keystone scavenger suffering abrupt but transient food shortages. We studied the 42-year dynamics (1979-2020) of one of the world's largest breeding colonies of Eurasian griffon vultures (Gyps fulvus). We fitted an inverse Bayesian state-space model with density-dependent demographic rates to the time series of stage-structured abundances to investigate shifts in vital rates and population dynamics before, during, and after the implementation of a restrictive sanitary regulation. Prior to the BSE outbreak the dynamics was mainly driven by adult survival: 83% of temporal variance in abundance was explained by variability in this rate. Moreover, during this period the regulation of population size operated through density-dependent fecundity and subadult survival. However, after the onset of the European ban, a 1-month delay in average laying date, a drop in fecundity, and a reduction in the number of fledglings induced a transient increase in the impact of fledgling and subadult recruitment on dynamics. Although adult survival rate remained constantly high, as predicted by the buffering hypothesis, its relative impact on the temporal variance in abundance dropped to 71% during the sanitary regulation and to 54% after the ban was lifted. A significant increase in the relative impact of environmental stochasticity on dynamics was modeled after the BSE outbreak. These results provide empirical evidence on how abrupt environmental deterioration may induce dramatic demographic and dynamic changes in the populations of keystone scavengers, with far-reaching impacts on ecosystem functioning worldwide.

Bacillus subtilis spores in probiotic feed quantified via bacterial metabolite using planar chromatography

Interest in probiotics in animal production has increased due to the European ban on antibiotic growth promoters in 2006. Bacillus subtilis DSM 29784 (B. s. 29784) is one such probiotic feed additive used in poultry. Cell counting has been the most common tool for feed analysis, besides flow cytometry and quantitative polymerase chain reaction. However, quantification of the active probiotic in feed is challenging, since results are influenced by cultivation conditions, viable but non-culturable bacteria and the high contents of feed ingredients. This study presents the first quantitative analysis of a metabolite generated by B. s. 29784 spores in feed to draw conclusions on the amount of active dried spores in the feed. Thus, it is the first quantification of active probiotic bacteria at the trace level in feed based on metabolite production but not cell counting. To generate the calibration standards, solutions with different amounts of dried B. s. 29784 spores were cultured under the same conditions as the feed sample, ensuring independence from growth performance. Upstream cultivation, metabolite extraction and high-performance thin-layer chromatography analysis were proven to be highly reliable and reproducible. The repeatability of the method (RSD 1.9%) and the recovery (111% ± 21% in feed additive matrix, 96% ± 13% in ionized feed matrix) were excellent. The variations during cultivation occurred due to the complex spore germination process and presence of other microbes in the feed. This new procedure, detecting only those cells that produced the metabolite of interest, has several advantages as it takes into account bacterial viability, cultivation conditions, spore germination process, growth behavior and the influence of the nutrient-rich feed matrix. It truly reflects the activity of the probiotic in the feed product, allows side-by-side comparison of characteristic metabolite patterns and nutrient consumptions to understand the metabolism of dried spores in matrix.

Religious behavior and European veil bans

ABSTRACT Do societal religious practices affect European policies towards Muslim veils? We argue that public religious behavior has a substantial effect on European countries’ and regions’ decisions regarding whether or not to ban the wearing of the veil in public spaces. Using data from the European Social Survey, we find that countries with higher levels of religious attendance are substantially less likely to enact veil bans than those where religious attendance is less common. We augment these findings with data from Switzerland, where variation across subnational units parallels the patterns witnessed in Europe more broadly: aggregate religious attendance decreases the likelihood of both voting on veil bans and actually enacting them. In environments characterized by a salient secular-religious divide, high levels of religious attendance lead to greater support for the public expression of religion – even for religious outgroups – and this support is often channeled into more accommodating policies towards religious expression.

The European Regulatory Approach on Supply Chain Responsibility

The article presents four categories of EU approaches on regulating supply chain responsibility. Sometimes, like in the case of the Kimberley process for conflict diamonds or with respect to illegally fished fishery products, the EU enacts restrictions or prohibitions that are specifically targeted at the import of foreign products. These import regimes are distinguished from marketing prohibitions for unethically produced goods. The prime examples are the European bans on cat and dog fur and seals products, as well as a possible future ban on goods made from forced labour. While these categories impose negative duties for EU importers and producers, the author also looks at EU regulations imposing positive obligations of EU companies. They may either be required to report about supply chain responsibility or need to entertain due diligence with respect to their import activities. For the latter category, the author discusses the EU regulations on tropical timber, conflict minerals, deforestation and general due diligence. Hoffmeister shows how these regimes fit into the normative framework of the European Union’s foreign policy objectives and argues that they are WTO compatible. He also provides a short comparative assessment about their effectiveness.

Stemming the Narrative Flow: The Legal and Psychological Grounding for the European Union's Ban on Russian State-Sponsored Media

Stemming the Narrative Flow: The Legal and Psychological Grounding for the European Union's Ban on Russian State-Sponsored Media

Liquidity Effects of the 2020 European Short Sale Ban

Liquidity Effects of the 2020 European Short Sale Ban

Effects of demand-side restrictions on high-deforestation palm oil in Europe on deforestation and emissions in Indonesia

Demand-side restrictions on high-deforestation commodities are expanding as a climate policy, but their impact on reducing tropical deforestation and emissions has yet to be quantified. Here we model the effects of demand-side restrictions on high-deforestation palm oil in Europe on deforestation and emissions in Indonesia. We do so by integrating a model of global trade with a spatially explicit model of land-use change in Indonesia. We estimate a European ban on high-deforestation palm oil from 2000 to 2015 would have led to a 8.9% global price premium on low-deforestation palm oil, resulting in 21 374 ha yr−1 (1.60%) less deforestation and 21.1 million tCO2 yr−1 (1.91%) less emissions from deforestation in Indonesia relative to what occurred. A hypothetical Indonesia-wide carbon price would have achieved equivalent emission reductions at $0.81/tCO2. Impacts of a ban are small because: 52% of Europe’s imports of high-deforestation palm oil would have shifted to non-participating countries; the price elasticity of supply of high-deforestation oil palm cropland is small (0.13); and conversion to oil palm was responsible for only 32% of deforestation in Indonesia. If demand-side restrictions succeed in substantially reducing deforestation, it is likely to be through non-price pathways.

The financial burden of African Horse Sickness: a case of the European Union trade ban on South Africa’s horse industry

ABSTRACT Globalisation and the increased movement of goods such as live animals and animal products across national borders can exacerbate the introduction and spread of diseases. This risk can be mitigated through adherence to trade control measures such as the Sanitary and Phytosanitary Measures (SPS) of the World Trade Organization (WTO). However, compliance with SPS measures usually results in additional production and trade costs. This paper applied cost–benefit analysis, using stochastic scenario analysis, to estimate the financial burden of SPS measures on exporting horses from South Africa to the European Union (EU). These measures were instituted following a ban on the direct export of horses from South Africa to the EU, triggered by outbreaks of African Horse Sickness (AHS) in the AHS Controlled Area in the Western Cape Province. Analysis revealed that compliance to existing SPS measures by exporting a horse via a third country is 1.67 times more costly than exporting directly to the EU. A strengthened public-private sector partnership is recommended to jointly identify the most efficient and effective ways to develop capacity for collaborative judicious investment in order to build a resilient horse industry thereby enabling employment creation and economic growth.

The micro-economic impacts of a ban on glyphosate and its replacement with mechanical weeding in French vineyards

In France, viticulture is the production sector that uses the highest amount of glyphosate per hectare. The prospect of banning this pesticide in France, and in Europe as a whole, has led us to study the existence of alternatives to this herbicide, following article 50.2 of the European regulation 1107/2009, and to estimate the additional costs involved. Based on a national public database, we synthesized the different weed control practices in viticulture and calculated their costs. Our results showed that alternative methods to the use of glyphosate are more or less widespread depending on the wine-producing area in France.Inter-row non-chemical weed control is widespread and involves mechanical operations, with or without the use of cover crops. The most difficult aspect concerns weed control between vine stocks within the rows (intra-row), without applying herbicide. The size of the farms, the structure of the vineyards and especially the distance between rows largely account for the differences in the adoption rates of glyphosate-free practices in wine-producing areas. In total, the additional cost of mechanical weeding compared to glyphosate chemical weeding is €250/ha on average, and varies from €12 to €553/ha depending on the wine-producing area. The generalization of alternatives to glyphosate-use under the European ban on glyphosate could have economic consequences on the income of farmers, the magnitude of which depends on several factors, including the type of vineyard, availability of labour and equipment on each farm, as well as marketing channels.

Decrease of contact allergy to hydroxyisohexyl 3‐cyclohexene carboxaldehyde in Europe prior to its ban and diagnostic value

Hydroxyisohexyl 3-cyclohexene carboxaldehyde (HICC) has been the most reported fragrance chemical for two decades and will be prohibited in cosmetic products from August 2021. To describe the time trend of HICC contact allergy in European patients with dermatitis in 2009 to 2019, and the added value of testing HICC separately in the baseline series. Data were reviewed for 124 472 patients with dermatitis who were patch tested with HICC 5% pet. in the baseline series in the European Surveillance System on Contact Allergy (ESSCA) network (2009 to 2018) and at the Herlev-Gentofte Hospital Department of Dermatology and Allergy (2009 to 2019). Contact allergy to HICC was found in 1.98% of 9865 patients in Gentofte and 1.62% of 114 607 patients in the ESSCA network. Overall, the prevalence decreased annually, with 0.156 percentage points (P = .001) in Gentofte and 0.051 percentage points (P = .0002) in ESSCA. The frequency of missed contact allergy to HICC when testing only with fragrance mix II (FMII) was 0.17% (17/9865) and 0.35% (405/114607) of the whole test population in the Gentofte and ESSCA populations, respectively. This is the first study to demonstrate a significant decline in HICC allergy in European patients with dermatitis, most likely attributed to the upcoming European ban.

The 2020 European short-selling ban and the effects on market quality

Responding to the dramatic price declines during the Covid-19 pandemic, six European countries introduced short-selling bans in March 2020. We analyze how these restrictions affected the market quality by comparing countries with and without bans. We observe for ban countries relatively lower market liquidity, lower trading volume, and wider bid-ask spreads. Moreover, regulators’ aim to prevent price declines and reduce volatility failed, as ban and no-ban countries reveal no differences and prices increased. Our results clearly detail the negative market-quality effects resulting from restrictions, especially for smaller markets and firms. Consequently, this regulatory interference did not protect but harmed investors.