European Commission Communication Research Articles

The Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC: Idealisms and realisms

Following proposals to consider revising the Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC (DPD) in 2011, have the changes addressed the main areas of concern that have been the focus of much discussion? The areas of concern include the application of the Directive in the online age, particularly to social networking sites and cloud computing; the minimum/maximum standard approach by the EU Member States to data protection; the relevance and application of the data protection principles. These are some of the issues that were considered in the recent Art. 29 Working Party's Opinion on the Future of Privacy. The article will use this as a starting point of discussion to identify the extent to which impending proposals to revise the Data Protection Directive are closely aligned with the Opinion and consider the recent European Commission Communication (6/2010) on the comprehensive approach to personal data protection in the European Union. According to the Art. 29 Working Party, the level of data protection in the EU can benefit from a better application of the existing data protection principles in practice. This paper will attempt to address some of the difficult questions and consider the challenges to implementing the changes introduced by forthcoming revisions to the DPD.

Perspectives on Group Corporate Governance and European Company Law

The need to introduce principles concerning the governance of corporate groups at the European Community level is what underlies the Action Plan of the European Commission (Communication from the Commission to the Council and the European Parliament of 21 May 2003). At the same time, the report of the Reflection Group deals extensively with the issue of EU intervention regarding groups of companies. Beginning with some theoretical premises and the experience of a cross-border group (i.e. the Pirelli Group), the proposal presented below is both a continuation of the basic guidelines of the documents mentioned above and a first response to the “Consultation on the future of European Company Law”, launched by the European Commissions, with the objectives of extending the issue’s framework and to define new legislative paradigma and conceptual models. More specifically, what it is proposed is the introduction of a number of uniform general principles for “group corporate governance”, the essential purpose of which is to improve the “flexibility of the management of groups in their international business activities”.

Partnerstwo Wschodnie jako ukoronowanie polskich starań o utworzenie Wschodniego Wymiaru UE

The aim of the article is to analyse Polish aspirations to create Eastern Dimension of the EU, which has finally succeed in May 2009, when the Eastern Partnership was inaugurated. The author presents Polish proposals addressed to Brussels between 1998 and 2008 (The Eastern policy of the European Union in the enlargement perspective – Polish side of view 2001; non-paper Wider Europe 2003; The New Neighbours – a framework for relations. Proposals from Poland 2003; The Neighbourhood Instrument – the Polish standpoint 2003; the European Neighbourhood Policy – Eastern Dimension 2006; Polish-Swedish Proposal. Eastern Partnership 2008). Then, compares its content with actual solutions adopted by the European Union in a form of the European Commission Communications (Wider Europe III 2003; European Neighbourhood Policy V 2004; Commission proposal for a Regulation establishing a European Neighbourhood and Partnership Instrument X 2004; On strengthening the European Neighbourhood Policy XII 2006; A Strong European Neighbourhood Policy XII 2007; Eastern Partnership XII 2008).

Science and alcohol policy: a case study of the EU Strategy on Alcohol

To describe the extent to which the content of the European Commission's Communication on alcohol reflects public health-based scientific evidence. Document retrieval and content analysis. European Union. Background documents leading up to the European Commission's Communication on alcohol, the Communication itself and implementation actions following the Communication. Documents were read and analyzed for evidence-based alcohol policy content. Although the Communication acknowledges and supports existing interventions which have high evidence for effectiveness, such as enforcing blood alcohol concentration (BAC) limits for drivers, it extensively promotes other interventions which have been shown to be ineffective; for example, recommending education and persuasion strategies as a measure across all its five priority areas. Measures to influence price are mentioned only once in relation to sales in drinking venues limiting two-for-one drinks offers. Measures to control physical availability are mentioned infrequently. The Communication reflects the science, in that it acknowledges the significance of alcohol as a social and health determinant in Europe. However, it places more emphasis on policy actions with less evidence for effectiveness than on those with strong evidence. It also focuses its efforts more on mapping member state actions and coordinating knowledge exchange than on providing concrete recommendations for action or developing Europe-wide policy measures. This may be a compromise between the rights of Member States to develop national policy and legislation and the obligation of the European Union as a collaborative body to protect health. Furthermore, it has been suggested that the European Union's roots as a trading block emphasizes collaboration with industry stakeholders and this influences the ability to prioritize health over trade considerations.

The contribution of academia to the further development of European language policy: Some reflections based on an analysis of the European Commission's communications on multilingualism of 2005 and 2008

Over the past years the European Commission launched two communications on multilingualism: 'A New Framework Strategy for Multilingualism' (2005) and 'Multilingualism: An Asset for Europe and a Shared Commitment' (2008). Their synthetic nature makes both communications suitable to serve as a starting point for a generalising overview of the main points of European language policy as they have been given shape over the past years. Since research has fuelled and will continue to fuel the development of European language policy the overview for the purpose of this contribution is combined with a round-up of current trends in research on multilingualism. The combination of both policy directions and research trends is meant to give way to a generalising reflection on challenges related to European language policy as expressed in the Commission's communications on multilingualism and on the role academia could (or should) play in meeting these challenges.

A precautionary public health protection strategy for the possible risk of childhood leukaemia from exposure to power frequency magnetic fields

BackgroundEpidemiological evidence showing a consistent association between the risk of childhood leukaemia and exposure to power frequency magnetic fields has been accumulating. This debate considers the additional precautionary intervention needed to manage this risk, when it exceeds the protection afforded by the exposure guidelines as recommended by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection.MethodsThe Bradford-Hill Criteria are guidelines for evaluating the scientific evidence that low frequency magnetic fields cause childhood leukaemia. The criteria are used for assessing the strength of scientific evidence and here have been applied to considering the strength of evidence that exposures to extremely low frequency magnetic fields may increase the risk of childhood leukaemia. The applicability of precaution is considered using the risk management framework outlined in a European Commission (EC) communication on the Precautionary Principle. That communication advises that measures should be proportionate, non-discriminatory, consistent with similar measures already taken, based on an examination of the benefits and costs of action and inaction, and subject to review in the light of new scientific findings.ResultsThe main evidence for a risk is an epidemiological association observed in several studies and meta-analyses; however, the number of highly exposed children is small and the association could be due to a combination of selection bias, confounding and chance. Corroborating experimental evidence is limited insofar as there is no clear indication of harm at the field levels implicated; however, the aetiology of childhood leukaemia is poorly understood. Taking a precautionary approach suggests that low-cost intervention to reduce exposure is appropriate. This assumes that if the risk is real, its impact is likely to be small. It also recognises the consequential cost of any major intervention. The recommendation is controversial in that other interpretations of the data are possible, and low-cost intervention may not fully alleviate the risk.ConclusionsThe debate shows how the EC risk management framework can be used to apply the Precautionary Principle to small and uncertain public health risks. However, despite the need for evidence-based policy making, many of the decisions remain value driven and therefore subjective.

Adult Education for Democratic Citizenship in Europe

- In 2001 a new emphasis on learning for democratic citizenship has been championed by the European Commission's Communication on Making a European area of lifelong learning a reality. The communication recognizes active citizenship as one of the four "broad and mutually supporting objectives" of the lifelong learning strategy. Accordingly, civic competence, which "equips individuals to fully participate in civic life", has been identified by the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union as a key competence to be given priority in all member states in the years to come. The article introduces the core principles of a European study aiming at investigating, from a comparative perspective, ways in which adults can achieve competencies relevant for democratic citizenship. Furthermore it presents and discusses selected of findings. The findings suggest that, in spite of the shift from education to learning for democratic citizenship within the European discourse, the emphasis on lifelong learning and the consequent equal recognition of in-school and out-of-school learning activities, most empirical research in the field of education for democratic citizenship remains primarily concerned with school-aged pupils. When available, research which focuses on the links between adult education and learning for democratic citizenship is highly theoretical and rarely supported by empirical evidence.Keywords lifelong learning, democratic citizenship, adult education, European Commission, civic competence.

The European Commission's sustainable consumption and production and sustainable industrial policy action plan

The promotion of sustainable consumption and production patterns is enshrined as a key objective in the renewed European Union Sustainable Development Strategy (EU SDS). Sustainable consumption and production is arguably the most challenging aspect of the EU SDS. It requires changes to the way products and services are designed, produced, used and disposed of, taking into account producer and consumer behaviours. This paper reviews the European Commission's Communication on the sustainable consumption and production and sustainable industrial policy action plan, introduced on July 16, 2008. The paper examines the priority areas identified for action, the means adopted to improve energy and environmental performance of products as well as uptake by consumers. The paper concludes that the absence of mandatory quantifiable targets and deadlines and a reliance on both cross-sectoral and multi-level relationships are likely to weaken the ability of the action plan's fundamental objective of decoupling economic growth from resource use.

Olga Ferguson Sidorenko, The Common European Asylum System: Background, Current State of Affairs, Future Direction

This book purports to analyse and evaluate the Common European Asylum System (CEAS). It sets out to undertake the very ambitious task of examining the background, current state of affairs and future direction of the CEAS, a most timely and pertinent enterprise since the first set of legislative instruments was adopted between 2001 and 2005 and (except for certain procedural measures) the deadline for transposition has already expired. The book is divided into four chapters, preceded by an introduction and followed by concluding remarks. Chapter one contains an overview of some of the relevant treaties that inform the development of the CEAS, including the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees 1951 (Refugee Convention), 1 the Treaty on European Union 2 and the Treaty of Amsterdam. 3 It also contains references to the decision-making process in the field of asylum established by the Treaty of Amsterdam and the powers of the different institutions. Chapter two contains an overview of the different legislative instruments adopted between 2001 and 2005 in the field of asylum, as well as reference to other related instruments, such as those on family reunification and long-term residence. Chapter three explores the actual implications of the CEAS at the national level, examining the way in which one of the Member States, Slovakia, has faced its obligations in this field. Finally, Chapter four contains an overview of the policy instruments that inform the CEAS, notably, European Council conclusions and European Commission communications.

A community text pattern in the European commission press release? A generic and genetic view

This contribution is concerned with press releases from the European Commission and national ministries. Political press releases may serve other purposes than those issued by business organisations, and they are also a fairly unexplored field in press release research, which this study sets out to remedy. The linguistic dimension of EU communication is also a neglected field of study, and this paper is aimed at introducing the linguistic dimension of the European Commission communication as a field of study worthy of closer examination. Within a genre-based analytical framework, the present paper aims at examining to what extent we can identify a unique community text pattern in European Commission press releases. I propose a macrostructural text analysis in which I compare a number of press releases issued by the European Commission with national equivalents from French and Swedish ministries. In particular, I will focus on three recurrent and characteristic text features of the European Commission press release, viz. theintroduction, thequotationand theintertextual references. It is shown that the way they are designed in the European Commission press release is quite special and that this can be explained with reference to the communicative situation of the European Commission. In doing so, I will be drawing on ethnographic data that I gathered from fieldwork at the European Commission.<<<It will be suggested that the results from this study can be extrapolated to the study of press releases in general. That is, press release research may benefit from the genre-based methodological approach chosen here, since, indeed, the press release is a situated practice whose understanding depends on a comprehensive study of the communicative situations it functions within.

Investigating the Discourse on Social Cohesion in Relation to Innovation through the Vocabulary of European Commission Communications

After the relaunch of the Lisbon Strategy, innovation has become one of the main areas of interest in the European Union (EU). In general terms, innovation is always seen as a driver of economic growth and a necessary element to achieve the strategic goal set by the EU in 2000 of becoming the most competitive knowledge-based economy. The strategic goal also encompasses the so-called ‘European Social Model’, in which greater social cohesion should be achieved. The article explores European communication documents related to innovation to determine what role they give to social cohesion. The article is framed within the Centre for Research on Lifelong Learning's project, ‘Education for Innovation and Innovation for Education’, which explores the relationship between education and innovation. The article hypothesises that the concept of lifelong learning is instrumental in connecting innovation and social cohesion. The results of the content analysis show that the connection exists in policy documents, but it is limited.

Beyond voluntary / mandatory juxtaposition. Towards a European framework on CSR as Network Governance

Despite numerous calls from civil society for mandatory regulation on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), the European Commission in its Green and White Paper, emphasised the voluntary character of CSR. This paper tries to go beyond the voluntary / mandatory juxtaposition by reframing CSR as Network Governance. In the paper, we argue that a network perspective is an adequate way to look at corporations, that the European Commission's communications are compatible with that perspective, but that the Commission's role in a European framework on CSR goes further than promoting voluntary actions. Rather, to develop a European mandatory framework on CSR as Network Governance would insure that fair interactions between stakeholders are started up and intensified. However, CSR as Network Governance does leave substantial flexibility for tailoring local integration of business.

The Europeanisation of Contaminated Land

New initiatives are underway at the Community level to impose liability for environmental damage. This article considers these developments, particularly their effect on contaminated land. It concludes that as the proposed Directive has significant limitations it will leave much contaminated land in the Community to be cleaned up under domestic provisions. This article also considers new developments on prevention, particularly through the European Commission Communication, Towards a thematic strategy for soil protection, issued in 2002 and the European Charter for the Protection and Sustainable Management of Soil. Again, however, the provisions in these documents are limited and do not as yet provide for consistent, precise levels of soil quality throughout the Community in the way that exists for other environmental media. Consequently, although the ‘europeanisation’ of the contaminated land regime is currently underway, the article concludes that current laws and policies have significant limitations. So far, at least, liability for contaminated land ex post and prevention ex ante are still issues predominantly regulated by Member States.

Taking risks with the precautionary principle: food (and the environment) for thought at the European Commission

Various parties relate to the precautionary principle with various understandings, claims and hopes. One of the ways to comprehend this multiplicity of meanings is to examine the composition of this problematic norm in the societal and institutional settings where it occurs. In this paper, I address its elaboration on the European Union institutional terrain with the European Commission's Communication on the Precautionary Principle. This effectuation of the precautionary principle embraces a number of issues of transnational or multilevel governance, expertise, legitimacy and sovereignty. The crucial matter that this paper engages in initially is that of risk analysis, the procedural framework that the precautionary principle confronts with its innovative articulations of science and policy-making, but to which I argue that it succumbs in part. Also explored, in turn, are further framings of the precautionary principle: science versus policy, a given policy domain—environment—in relation to others, as well as action versus inaction (whereas I argue that the precautionary principle ought to be about acting and doubting). These are further evaluated in the conclusions, together with the predicament of establishing a common understanding or defining the precautionary principle. I show that, complementary to drivers of divergence, one finds support for a common approach, though there is no radial symmetry in these tangled stakes, and any ‘diffusion’ of the precautionary principle has to be actively carried out for a shared understanding to be more widely shared. In this process, Europe, the European Commission, its Communication, and the precautionary principle are being shaped into diverse compositions of unity in diversity. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Communication on European Contract Law: Joint Response of the Commission on European Contract Law and the Study Group on a European Civil Code

This joint response of the Commission on European Contract Law and the Study Group on a European Civil Code to the European Commission's Communication on European Contract Law outlines the difficulties confronting businesses and consumers in ascertaining foreign private law and the economic ramifications of legal diversity for the EU internal market. It demonstrates the limitations of freedom of choice of law and private autonomy and identifies inescapable distortions of competition. Considering the inextricable relevance of non-contractual liability and matters of property law, the response urges that measures in the field of contract law be contemplated only as part of a broad systematic view of European patrimonial law. To overcome manifest problems of legal diversity, the joint response rejects leaving further development to market forces (Option I). Endorsing Option II, it advocates further work in formulating Principles of European patrimonial law of the type which the Commission has published and the Study Group is extending — both for their own sake as 'soft law' and as a pre-requisite for possible future legislation. Improving the quality of existing Community law (Option III) is considered desirable, but inadequate as a self-standing objective. The response concludes with a potential phased plan towards harmonising core areas of private law (Option IV).

Taxation of aviation fuel — an aerospace manufacturing industry view

The European aerospace manufacturing industry, represented by AECMA, considers that the recommendations in the European Commission Communication ‘Taxation of Aircraft Fuel’ would not be the best way to address the environmental impact of aviation. The recommended actions would provide minimal reduction in emissions, while putting the European aviation industry at a competitive and economic disadvantage. An international assessment of other measures would provide greater benefits.

Satellite navigation services. Galileo: introduction

In its conclusions of 17 March 1998 on the European Commission's communication ‘Towards a Trans-European Positioning and Navigation Network — including a European strategy for Global Satellite Navigation Systems (GNSS)’, the European Union (EU) Council of Ministers requested the Commission to present recommendations on the future European approach to global satellite navigation.

Materials. European Commission communication on environmental integration

Journal Article Materials. European Commission communication on environmental integration Get access Anon Anon Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Environmental Law, Volume 11, Issue 1, 1999, Pages 221–227, https://doi.org/10.1093/jel/11.1.221 Published: 01 March 1999

ASPHER's support for Article 129 and the European Commission's communication on the framework for action in the field of public health. Policy summary of the Athens Memorandum on training and research in public health

ASPHER's support for Article 129 and the European Commission's communication on the framework for action in the field of public health. Policy summary of the Athens Memorandum on training and research in public health