European Harmonization Research Articles

Impact of the European Harmonisation Process on the Educational Development of University Teachers in Spanish Universities

In this paper, the impact of the creation of the European Area of Higher Education (EAHE) on Spanish tertiary education is analysed from the standpoint of educational improvement and academic development. First, the recent history of the HE system in Spain is summarised in order to understand the context in which this reform is taking place. Then, an overview is offered of some measures taken at national and regional levels to conform to the reform, followed by a description of the specific measures taken in two different universities to bring about educational change. Finally, we elaborate on and draw some conclusions regarding the change process emerging from the creation of the EAHE. The main point of the paper is to describe an emerging reform process focusing on how notions of change and organisational leadership influence teaching and learning, and to offer some reflections on this. En este artículo se analiza el impacto que ha tenido la creación del Espacio Europeo de Educación Superior (EEES) en el sistema español de Educación Superior, desde el punto de vista de la mejora y el desarrollo académico. En primer lugar se resume la historia reciente del Sistema de Educación Superior en España con el fin de comprender el contexto en el cual tiene lugar esta reforma. A continuación se indican algunas de las medidas tomadas a nivel estatal y autonómico seguidas de la presentación de algunas medidas específicas planteadas en dos universidades (UAM y UD) para llevar a cabo el cambio educativo. Finalmente, se ofrecen algunas conclusiones con respecto al proceso de cambio resultante de la creación del EEES. El objetivo principal de este artículo es describir el proceso de reforma emergente tomando como referencia algunas nociones de cambio y liderazgo en las organizaciones, ofreciendo algunas reflexiones sobre su influencia en la enseñanza y el aprendizaje. Dans cet article, l’impacte de la création d’un Espace Européen de l’Enseignement Supérieure (EEES) sur l’enseignement tertiaire espagnol est analysé du point de vue de l’amélioration pédagogique et du développement académique. Premièrement, nous résumons l’histoire récente de l’enseignement supérieure espagnol pour mieux comprendre le contexte dans lequel cette réforme a lieu. En suite, nous offrons un aperçu des mesures prises au niveau national et régional afin de se conformer à la reforme, suivie d’une description de mesures spécifiques prises dans deux universités pour renforcer le changement pédagogique. Finalement, nous élaborons et tirons quelques conclusions au sujet du processus de réforme émergeant de la création de l’EEES. Le point principal de cet article est la description d’un processus de reformes émergeant en accentuant comment les notions de changement et de direction organisationnelle influencent l’enseignement et l’étude et de donner quelques réflexions sur ce processus.

Deluded by Artifices? The Common European Framework and Harmonization

This commentary provides a critical and historical review of the Common European Framework of Reference: Learning, Teaching, Assessment (CEF). It is presented within the context of political and policy issues in Europe, and considers the role that the CEF is likely to play in that context, which is beyond the control of language testers. The dangers of institutionalization through political mandate are explored for test providers, test takers, and score users. It is argued that the CEF should be treated as just one of a range of tools for reporting test scores.

National systems or European harmonisation of corporate governance? Approach to the consequences of the application of corporate governance principles during a takeover bid in the European Union

This paper tries to identify the different approaches to corporate governance in Europe and possible changes linked to the 13th directive proposal on takeover bids. After an explanation of what is corporate governance, the paper will expand on what it implies in different states. The debate between authors like Berle and Freeman is not simply a rhetorical one. The means by which one considers what a company is and what its aims are, have consequences for the management structure and the way it defines strategies to reach corporate goals. In the European Union, this debate is currently hotly contested, particularly the takeover bid topic. The EEC proposal on takeover bids is directly inspired by the assumption that the primary duty that directors must seek to fulfil is the creation of shareholder value. The text makes a choice to eradicate companies' defences and requires neutralisation of directors. There is no possibility to act in the name of the ‘interest of the company’ but the European Parliament added some important elements on this key issue. The European Commission must adopt an ‘enlightened’ view of corporate governance in its future proposals; to integrate alternative views of company governance is the best way to implement an integrated financial market coherent with the European social project.

Corporate Tax Harmonization in Europe: It's All About Compliance

Although the hope may be to reduce economic distortions in captial markets, the primary focus of corporate tax consolidation among member states of a federation is to reduce compliance and administrative burdens. For example, the Canadian provinces have sufficient flexibility to determine their corporate tax policies, and effective tax rates on captial vary considerably by province, but they still have achieved a considerable degree of harmonization of tax bases. The European Union should also try to implement a consolidated tax base for companies. A compulsory base would be best, but it is likely that the optional consolidated tax base is most practical at this time.

Regulace evropského účetnictví z pohledu mezinárodní harmonizace

Článek se zabývá procesem harmonizace účetnictví z hlediska evropského vývoje. Proces harmonizace je rozčleněn do několika historických etap včetně přehledu evropských právních norem regulující účetnictví a vysvětlení podstaty mechanismu implementace mezinárodních účetních standardů do právního systému EU. Článek zároveň upozorňuje na kvalitativní změnu v regulaci evropského účetnictví.

Emerging Legal Orders. Formalism and the Theory of Legal Integration

Using analogies from research in simulation and artificial societies and borrowing from Weinrib's Philosophy of Private Law, we show how a “private law” model of law and legal integration does not need to presuppose the state as a regulatory framework. Rather, the state emerges as a “second order property” from the private law interaction of individuals. We apply this to the debate about harmonisation in Europe. We show how a form of unity in diversity can be built up starting with such individual interactions, extended later to interactions between member states. But this does not need to end up in an individualistic and neo‐liberal model, as in Weinrib, if we understand the underlying exchange relation in terms of Wilhelmsson's social contract law.

Disclosure: Chaotic implementation thwarts intention of directive

Jan Willem Langeraar of Ecofys and Rolf de Vos of Greenprices argue that, as well as the Guarantee of Origin (see Refocus, Jul/Aug 2003, p. 62), European harmonisation is also needed for the mandatory disclosure of the fuel mix (legislation to be implemented before July 1st 2004). This they claim is needed foremost in the monitoring of the environmental quality of power generation. A harmonised way of collecting information will guarantee transparency and - in the end - establish the consumer's trust. There are several initiatives currently on the table. The implementation of the disclosure in Austria shows what the harmonisation could look like.

Unification of the European Law of Obligations and Codification of Catalan Civil Law

Abstract: The Spanish Constitution grants Catalonia, one of the Spanish so-called Autonomous Communities, power to legislate on private law. The power is not unlimited, being the “bases of contractual obligations” one of the main restrictions. Nowadays, the Catalan Department of Justice fosters the enactment of a Civil Code for Catalonia. Until now, the Family Code and the Succession Code, a range of statutes and the First Act of the Catalan Civil Code have been passed. This paper analyses the Catalan codification process within the framework of the European harmonisation of private law. The author stresses the necessity of taking into account the developments of the new ius commune europaneum and points out the possible Catalan contribution to the process of harmonisation.

The true and fair view construct in the context of the Polish transition economy: some local insights

This paper addresses issues of financial reporting within the context of European harmonization and accession. The construct of the True and Fair View (hereafter TFV) constitutes a locus of reflection for the establishment of a mutually intelligible foundation for financial reporting in the New Europe including applicant states for European Union (hereafter EU) membership. This paper provides insights as to the meaning and the local embeddedness of TFV in the context of the Polish transitional economy. The Audit Act 1994 and the Accounting Act 1994, as amended by the 2000 Acts, incorporate the provisions of European law with the aim of harmonizing Polish accounting and financial reporting regulations with the corresponding regulations in the EU. The Accounting Act 1994 for the first time introduced in Poland the current wording of the TFV construct in accordance with the requirements of the Fourth Directive. The question addressed in this paper is how the construct of TFV is understood and operationalized. This paper demonstrates the particular local understanding of the TFV construct in contemporary Poland through (1) textual analysis of the legal pronouncements (both national and international) and (2) narrative analysis of local debates and commentaries in the national press and academic journals. Given the difficulty of expressing judgements based upon accumulated experience, where much of the experience is constituted by continental influence, in particular the German tradition, and regulatory arrangements of a centrally planned economy, Polish practice perceives the TFV requirement primarily as a formal and legal compliance, and not yet as something with a substantial rationale in the observance of the rule of accounting law. The paper concludes that TFV is a contingent construct which resides in a particular socio-economic, historic and cultural context and is understood differently outside this context. The local Polish reception and understanding is articulated.

Emergent patterns in the regulation of pharmaceuticals: institutions and interests in the United States, Canada, Britain, and France.

Although industrialized nations regulate pharmaceuticals to ensure their safety and efficacy, they balance these concerns with those related to the timeliness of the approval process and the burdens involved in meeting regulatory criteria. The United States, Canada, Britain, and France have adopted different approaches to the regulation of pharmaceuticals that place varying emphases on these competing goals and involve the participation of private interests to different extents. The regulatory approval processes and the government-industry relationships inherent within them are compared in the United States, Canada, Britain, and France by analyzing five features that distinguish the U.S. pluralist from the European corporatist approaches to policy development: representation (internal versus external), process (closed versus open), stance (informal, accommodative versus formal, adversarial), institutional power (fragmented versus centralized), and resources. An institutional framework further characterizes these approaches as based on models of managerial discretion and adjudication (United States), consultation (Canada), and bargaining (Britain, France) to clarify the patterns that emerge. While the approach that most effectively supports product safety involves managerial discretion as occurs in the United States, formal mechanisms for negotiation might be incorporated rather than a reliance on the judicial process. In an era of globalization and regulatory harmonization such divergence has significant implications. First, where harmonization in Europe involves the mutual recognition of one country's product licensing decision by the others, differences in evaluative processes remain important. Second, as harmonization leads to a common set of regulatory criteria, the criteria adopted tend to be those of nations with the least stringent regulatory standards, making evident the need for more responsive systems of post-market surveillance to protect the public interest.

European harmonization of MIC breakpoints for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacteria.

European harmonization of MIC breakpoints for antimicrobial susceptibility testing of bacteria.

Parallel Trade in the Pharmaceutical Market – Current Trends and Future Solutions

This article explores the relationship between EU law and the pharmaceutical market. It analyses the political debate on the competitiveness of the European pharmaceutical industry, in the view of the enlargement, the different models of regulation of pharmaceuticals in the Member States and the economic theories of parallel trade and intellectual property rights. Against this background, it is demonstrated that both the Commission and the Court of Justice have adopted a strong pro-single market approach, whereby price regulations, ethical obligations to sell medicines and the need for adequate reward of investment in research and development have been considered incapable of limiting the scope of application of the European law of competition and free movement of goods. The article suggests solutions available under the existing legal framework; it also proposes, in view of further European harmonisation, the principle of effective and fair negotiation as a core element in price regulation in the Member States.

Contemporary European migrations, civic stratification and citizenship

Since the late 1980s there has been a diversification of European migratory flows. States, which remain the key actors in migration policies despite growing European harmonisation, have responded to these complex patterns and contradictory pressures by diversifying migrant categories and statuses. The heterogeneity of migrant statuses, especially the growth in the number of those on temporary statuses and the undocumented, challenges the thesis of a post national citizenship as having been achieved in relation to non European Union or third country migrants in the European Union. The recent proposals to extend mobility and socio-economic rights to third country nationals in the EU will only apply to long-term residents with evidence of adequate resources. The inability to confront the contradictions and tensions between economic needs and political closure will lead to more repressive conditions for undocumented migrants and reinforced border controls, especially in the light of the electoral success of Far Right parties and widespread anti-immigrant attitudes in a number of European Union states.

Auditor Independence: A Comparative Descriptive Study of the UK, France and Italy

The independence of the external auditor has long been a subject of great debate, particularly by UK and US interested parties. With the growth and globalisation of the large multi‐disciplinary firms, it has again been pushed to the fore: new ethical guidance issued by international bodies such as La Fédération des Experts‐ Comptables Européens (FEE) and The International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and the activities of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and Independence Standards Board in the US have encouraged a wider consideration of the issue. In Europe, the European Commission has issued a Consultative Paper containing fundamental principles for adoption into Member States’ own regulation on statutory auditor independence. Increasing pressure for the removal of obstacles to a single European audit market have resulted in safeguards of auditor independence in some countries being described as undesirable barriers. This paper considers the issue of statutory auditor independence across three EU Member States: the UK, France and Italy, by comparing the ethical guides and the legal and professional regulations in place, highlighting and discussing areas of divergence, and contrasting them with the EC's Consultative Paper. It takes into account factors such as culture and the historical development of auditing in order to explore the differences found. The paper demonstrates that positions taken in France and Italy on the issue of auditor independence differ markedly from that taken by the UK profession. Of the three countries reviewed, the UK viewpoint has most obviously influenced the drafting of the EC Paper. The implications of these variances for EU harmonisation are discussed, and the paper concludes that there is a clear need for empirical study of this important issue in Europe to better understand the reasons for differing perceptions and attitudes, and the repercussions of these differences on the process of European audit harmonisation.

Open Facilities for Training in European Neurology (OFTEN): a European Board of Neurology initiative.

The European Board of Neurology has established Open Facilities for Training in European Neurology (OFTEN) by creating a databank of excellent or good neurological departments from 14 European countries willing to receive trainees from abroad (http://www.uems.be/neuro.htm). Further expansion of this databank with an increased number of participating departments and countries is planned. The databank should make it easier both to find a relevant department for training abroad and to obtain funding from various sources. No financial support is available in the program itself. The ultimate aim of this cross-European training is to improve neurological skill, knowledge and attitude. It will also promote European co-operation and harmonization in quality of care.

Toward a European harmonization of psychiatric training: the prospects of residency training in Greece.

The establishment of the European Union increased the need for uniformity of provision of medical care and medical education in European countries. Consequently, common requirements for the specialization in psychiatry have been introduced under the responsibility of a centralized European authority. This article explores the practical impact for countries such as Greece, based on the results of a survey conducted in Greek training institutions. It also outlines the importance of quality assurance and evaluation of programs in the educational reform process in Europe, together with opportunities for the development of communication and collaboration with the U.S. psychiatric educational system.

Psychiatry training in Europe: a brief history of the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees

At a time of increasing European harmonisation this paper gives a brief history of the main European organisation for trainees in psychiatry (the European Federation of Psychiatric Trainees) and details the proceedings of the most recent European Forum held in Berlin.

The Hungarian Specialities and the European Tax Harmonization

After the political changes of 1990 Hungary's main aim became accessing the European Union as soon as possible. The first significant step taken to achieve this goal was the signing of the Association Treaty in 1991. In the treaty we assumed an obligation to harmonize our law and order to that of the European Union, which includes tax harmonization as well. I give an overview of the state of Hungarian tax harmonization in my paper, concentrating on the economical events of the recent past, the differences that still exist, and on the expected changes. I examine in detail the derogations Hungary applied for, the reasons for applying and the derogations we finally received.

The challenge of intra-Union and in-migration to 'social Europe'

This paper examines with particular reference to international migrants the contradictions between rhetoric and reality in eligibility to and the availability of health and welfare entitlements across the European Union. On the one hand, the Brussels Commissions laud the existence of a 'social Europe', which should exist as a logical extension of the promotion of the free movement of labour - a policy goal that is agreed by all member states. 'European citizenship' is a small step towards the derivative social policy goal. On the other hand, the member states will not cede control of social spending and specifically social security administration. Since the Maastricht summit, where the contradictions were made manifest, proposals to develop the social dimensions of European harmonisation have fissioned, with ever clearer divergence of the 'civic rights' and 'social rights' agenda, and the Commissions exploring new ways of promoting multilateral collaboration. Meanwhile, migrants within and into the EU continue to face 'structured disadvantage' in income protection and accessibility to health and social care, especially when retired or if sick, frail or disabled. The paper concludes with recommendations for the advocacy organisations that seek to end this structured disadvantage about the most likely ways in which policies can be changed.

Regulatory Competition and the Evolution of Closely Held Business Forms in Europe

Close corporations have become the preferred vehicle for small and medium-sized enterprises in Europe. While scholars have debated the advantages of close corporation statutes for more than a decade, some who favor reform suggest that lawmakers devise new business organization statutes that are more varied, less complex, and can potentially enhance efficient outcomes. Indeed, since in most jurisdictions close corporations are a mirror image of their publicly held counterpart, small and medium-sized enterprises are burdened by a number of regulatory requirements, which cause them to incur substantial costs in carrying out their normal business activities. In particular, the imposition of many of the European Community's harmonized corporate law provisions on smaller firms is viewed as disproportionate and over-regulatory, and tends to impede the development of an efficient supply of legal rules. Reform-minded scholars, supported by product and capital market pressures to supply the most competitive business statute for small and medium-sized enterprises, point to the success of the US Limited Liability Company (LLC), a flexible business form that combines the best features of partnership and corporate law. The aim of this article is to consider the possibility of making new business forms available in the European Union based on the US LLC, which arguably leads to an increase in the number of start-up firms while also satisfying the needs of range of closely held firms. It is submitted that the combination of organized interest group pressure and the significant switching costs are an important barrier to the creation of new business statutes. Hence an important question is whether the introduction of competition pressures could limit the difficulties encountered in creating a flexible business form with few mandatory rules. Indeed, the combination of the European Court of Justice's recent judgment in Centros and the legislative inertia in the European Community's corporation law harmonization program has stimulated considerable interest in the role of competition among jurisdictions. This article suggests that, despite a significant pent-up demand across Europe for businesses to incorporate in low-regulation jurisdictions, it is difficult to predict with certitude the circumstances that would lead to the development of regulatory competition in the LLC context. However, we argue that a model statute could be a contributing factor in the introduction of an LLC-type business form within the European Union.