Sector-specific Regulation Research Articles

Mapping the Weaknesses of Nigeria’s Environmental Impact Assessment Act as a Framework for Environmental Protection in the Mining Industry

Abstract The recognition of the capacity of solid minerals to cause damage to the ecosystem informed the development of strategies to implement policy directives in mining development. The strategies include preventive impact assessment and prescription of sector-specific regulations. Using the analytical model as methodology and survey of literature as source of data, this study interrogates Nigeria’s Environmental Impact Assessment Act (EIAA) as a framework for environmental protection in the mining industry. It found that despite the existence of appropriate legislation and policy direction, there remains a wide gap between precept and praxis. It also found that the weaknesses of Nigeria’s EIAA erodes its capacity to tackle the negative externalities of mining. This article contends that poor enforcement of the extant EIA instrument adversely affects access to justice by the citizens and recommends the justiciability of environmental rights, strengthening of the machinery of public participation and access to justice in regulatory enforcement.

Decentralised autonomous organisations: targeting the potential beyond the hype

ABSTRACT Decentralised Autonomous Organisations (DAOs) aim at innovating the organisation forms for business activities. They are complex blockchain-based smart contracts, which allow token holders to participate directly in decision-making processes and decentralised entrepreneurial activities as much as possible. The advocates of this new kind of digital organisation argue that DAOs enjoy significant operational efficiencies and can effectively work outside of any legal recognition. This paper analyses DAOs through the lenses of the economic and legal theories on the firm and on business organisation. The analysis makes three contributions: first, it contributes to the literature on the theory of the firm, looking at the role of digital technology in innovating the organisation of business activities. Second, it enriches the literature on the legally recognised forms of business organisation, analysing the tension between the essential role of the law and the limitations of tamper-resistant technologies, such as the blockchain. Third, it overcomes the largely ideological and dichotomic debate on the promises of DAOs, providing analytical guidelines as to why current forms of sector-specific regulation fail to leverage the potential of DAOs.

EU Engagement in the Arctic: Challenges to Achieving Ambitions in an Area outside Its Jurisdiction

The European Union (EU) has underscored its will to heighten its engagement in the Arctic region. Beyond traditional areas of interest – such as tackling climate change, supporting research and developing cooperations – critical resources and security emerged as new topics in the EU’s most recent policy documents. These have become even more critical since February 2022 following Russia’s all-out war against Ukraine. The Circumpolar North is the subject of many challenges caused by climate change and its fragile biodiversity, which, combined with the region’s importance for scientific research, access to natural resources, tourist activities, and military security, places it in a geopolitically strategic position. By focusing on EU ambitions in the Arctic, this article analyses the EU’s potential to implement policies and set consequential trends in an area of political interest outside its jurisdiction. It concludes that core political priorities and sector-specific regulations that directly guide the behaviour of EU members may have more influence than Arctic policy statements.

PARTICIPATION OF FOREIGN CONTRACTORS IN PUBLIC TENDERS BY PKP POLSKIE LINIE KOLEJOWE S.A. BETWEEN 2021 AND 2022

The participation of foreign contractors in public procurement is indicative of the openness of a given economic system to external competition. Operating networks that provide rail transportation services to public entities is subject to sector-specific regulations for public procurements. Construction works in the railway engineering segment represent lucrative contracts, and their outcomes hold strategic significance for society and the economy. PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe S.A., the national operator of railway lines, is a key player in the sectoral public procurement market in Poland. Upon analysing the participation of foreign contractors in the above company’s tender proceedings, it becomes possible to identify the strategies utilised by economic entities from outside the public funds holder’s territory to apply for public procurement.

The multifaceted impact of ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation: a sector-specific analysis in civil engineering testing and calibration laboratories

PurposeThis study aims to dissect the multifaceted impact of ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, specifically within civil engineering testing and calibration laboratories. To achieve this, it intends to explore several key objectives: identifying the prominent benefits of accreditation to laboratory performance, understanding the advantages conferred through participation in proficiency testing schemes, assessing the role of accreditation in enhancing laboratory competitiveness, examining the primary challenges encountered during the accreditation process, investigating any discernible adverse effects of accreditation on laboratory performance and evaluating whether the financial cost of accreditation justifies the resultant profitability.Design/methodology/approachThis study employs a qualitative approach through semi-structured interviews with 23 industry professionals—including technical managers, quality managers, external auditors and clients. Thematic analysis, guided by Braun and Clarke’s six-stage paradigm, was utilized to interpret the data, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of the accreditation’s impact.FindingsFindings reveal that accreditation significantly enhances operational processes, fosters quality awareness and facilitates continuous improvement, contributing to greater client satisfaction. In addition, standardized operations and rigorous quality controls further result in enhanced performance metrics, such as staff capability and measurement accuracy. However, the study also uncovers the challenges of accreditation, including high resource costs and bureaucratic hurdles that can inhibit innovation and slow routine operations. Importantly, the research underscores that the impact of accreditation on profitability is not universal, but contingent upon various factors like sector-specific regulations and market demand. The study also highlights sector-specific variations in the role of accreditation as a marketing tool and differing perceptions of its value among clients. It further emphasizes the psychological stress of high-stakes evaluations during audits.Originality/valueThis study represents the first in-depth investigation into the impact of ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation on civil engineering testing and calibration laboratories, directly contributing to the enhancement of their quality and operational standards. Providing actionable insights for laboratories, it underscores the importance of weighing accreditation costs and benefits and the necessity for a tailored approach to the unique market and regulatory landscapes they operate in.

The Waste Hierarchy at the Business Level: An International Outlook

Sustainable waste management is becoming a common goal in most countries. The national legal framework largely determines the waste management practices, the socio-demographic characteristics, and the economic level of the country and, in the case of businesses, the type of business, the industry in which it operates, and the sector-specific regulations to which it is subject. This paper aims to examine the importance that firms worldwide place on waste management by analyzing the evolution over time of waste management practices used by firms and how this evolution has varied across countries and sectors. The X-STATIS technique is applied to conduct a multivariate analysis using data from seven-hundred and eighty firms from twenty-eight countries and eight sectors from 2016 to 2020 (3900 observations). The results show that waste management has become more important worldwide over time. In terms of waste management practices, the management of the impacts of generated waste occupies the first place in the ranking, performed by 97.5% of the sampled firms in 2020; this is followed by the methods of the disposal of non-hazardous waste (66%) while waste prevention policies occupy the last place in the ranking (30.6%). At the country level, the most committed countries are Taiwan (74.3%) and Finland (70.6%), followed by France, Spain, Russia, Italy, and the United States (60.0–66.9%); meanwhile, the least committed countries are the United Kingdom, Australia, and Ireland (35–36%). At the sector level, consumer goods (63.7%) and oil and gas (63.0%) lead the ranking while the least committed sectors are technology and telecommunications (50.0%) and real estate services (49.3%). The evolution of companies’ commitment to waste management is gradual in all sectors, with oil and gas at the top, with a percentage variation of 21.4%, and consumer goods at the bottom, with 5.2%. In addition, our results suggest that the sector influences waste management practices more than the country of origin of the firms.

The Road to a Low Emission Society: Costs of Interacting Climate Regulations

AbstractTransportation is one of the main contributors to greenhouse gas emissions. Climate regulations on transportation are often a mix of sector-specific regulations and economy-wide measures (such as emission pricing). In this paper we consider how different and partly overlapping climate regulations interact and what are the effects on economic welfare, abatement costs and emissions? Our focus is on Norway, a nation where high taxation of conventional fossil-fuelled cars has paved the floor for another pillar of climate policies: promotion of electric vehicles (EVs) in private transport. Our contribution to the literature is two-fold. First, we analyse the costs and impacts of the partly overlapping climate regulations in transportation—the cap on domestic non-ETS emissions and the goal of all new cars for private households being EVs—focussing on the outcome in 2030. Second, we respond to a gap in the literature through a methodological development in economy-wide computable general equilibrium (CGE) approaches for climate policy by introducing EV technologies as an explicit transport equipment choice for private households. We find that, for the case of Norway, combining a specific EV target with policy to cap emissions through a uniform carbon price more than doubles the welfare costs.

Gatekeeper’s potential privilege—the need to limit DMA centralization

Abstract The Digital Markets Act (DMA) aims at promoting contestable and fair markets for core platform services by setting out obligations for designated gatekeepers. As the DMA does not clearly define these objectives, it comes into conflict with national legislation with overlapping objectives. This may include unfair competition laws and sector-specific regulation. Article 1(5) DMA addresses this conflict by stipulating that Member States may not impose further obligations on gatekeepers for the purpose of ensuring contestable and fair markets. The effect this has is that national provisions vis-à-vis gatekeepers may not be applicable anymore, and competences are centralized on the European level more broadly than potentially envisaged by the European legislature. This centralization of competences runs the risk of inadvertently privileging gatekeepers by blocking national laws that are, however, still applicable to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and other firms competing with gatekeepers. This article suggests solutions to mitigate such a risk.

Peer-to-peer energy communities: regulatory barriers in the EU context

The effects of climate change are already impacting people’s quality of life worldwide. Evidence highlights the urgency in action to counteract this on-going process. Europe aims at fostering the green transition becoming climate neutral by 2050. The envisioned pathway encompasses an overhaul of the energy system including an increase in renewable energy production and end-user energy efficiency. The EU further recognizes the fundamental role of citizens and communities in addressing an effective transition. Within this framework, energy communities (EC) and peer-to-peer (P2P) energy trading are emerging as new opportunities for boosting green technologies in renewable energy and the smart grid sector, and for rising citizens’ awareness of the theme. However, the implementation of P2P ECs in Europe entails complex legal challenges that cannot be solved only through sector-specific regulation. This open letter critically presents the experience gained in the H2020 NRG2peers project about the knowledge advancement in the regulatory context of the project pilot sites. These are located in four EU ecosystems (from innovators to laggards) that are: the Netherlands, Spain, Slovenia, and Italy. Each EC involved in the NRG2peers project is thus facing different challenges related to its specific socio-economic condition and energy market framework. These barriers need to be overcome and new tools will be delivered during the NRG2peers project. Moving from the lessons learnt at the pilot sites, both roadmaps at the regulatory level and an advisory app are under development to support the uptake of the next generation of European peer-to-peer Energy Communities.

Compromises and Asymmetries in the European Health Data Space.

In the post-pandemic world, the ability of researchers to reuse, for the purposes of scientific research, data that had been collected by others and for different purposes has rightfully become a policy priority. At the same time, new technologies with tremendous capacity in data aggregation and computation open new horizons and possibilities for scientific research. It is in this context that the European Commission published in May 2022 its proposal for a sector-specific regulation aiming at establishing the legal landscape and governance mechanisms for the secondary use of health data within the European Union. The ambitious project is centred on administrative efficiency and aspires to unleash the potential of new technologies. However, the quest for efficiency usually comes with privacy compromises and power asymmetries and the case of the European Health Data Space Regulation is no different. This paper draws attention to some of these compromises and suggests specific amendments.

The DMA in the broader regulatory landscape of the EU: an institutional perspective

ABSTRACT The recently adopted Digital Markets Act (henceforth: DMA) addresses the behaviour of so-called gatekeepers by imposing a list of prohibitions and obligations on these platforms. Despite the potential of the initiative, it remains questionable how the DMA fits in the regulatory landscape. The DMA is – at least formally – not a competition law instrument but also differs from sector-specific regulation. This begs the question of how the DMA fits in the broader regulatory context. This paper aims to address this issue by assessing to what extent the DMA is different from “traditional” competition law and sector-specific regulation respectively. The unclarities regarding the position of the DMA in the broader regulatory context result in various difficulties, amongst others relating to the institutional set-up. The second part of this paper addresses these institutional difficulties resulting from the concurrent application of the DMA and “traditional” EU competition law.

In a hyperconnected world, is the EU cybersecurity framework connected?

This article sheds light on the fast-evolving and ever more complex EU cybersecurity policy. It shows that horizontal and sector-specific regulation are being developed simultaneously. It identifies the gaps and investigates to what extent the new Cyber Resilience Act and other policy instruments might address them. It first reviews the stock of existing EU legislation before examining the relevant industry standards for cybersecurity and the Internet of Things. It also reviews stakeholders’ expectations for the Cyber Resilience Act and identifies the need for horizontal legislation, setting flexible but binding rules. We argue for horizontal standards (process-based) that are complemented by sector-specific (vertical) standards. Finally, we propose a governance and enforcement model to make the cybersecurity framework better coordinated and more adequate for tackling the ever-evolving cybersecurity threat landscape.

U-Space and UTM Deployment as an Opportunity for More Complex UAV Operations Including UAV Medical Transport.

Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) or Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UASs) commonly called drones are relatively new entrants to the airspace. The regulatory agencies, numerous States and entities are involved in creation of the safe integration with manned aviation. The so-called U-space concept announced by the European Commission is one of the approaches to achieve that goal. There is also known concept of Unmanned Traffic Management (UTM) – a tool which would enable the services needed for safe conduct of UAV flights in generally accessible airspace. There are quite a few European projects which focuses on testing UTM capabilities in order to find a solution which could enable the market and ensure safe UAV operations. One of those systems is PansaUTM – which was developed in order to coordinate drone flights in different types of airspace in Poland. The first part of the paper will present an example of the implementation of this system as a foundation for new possible applications of drones and increasing number of operations. The conclusion of the first part of the article is that, in line rapid growth of UAS flights and different applications of drone services, the European drone ecosystem should evolve even further to deploy very complex drone operations in scalable manner. In order to accommodate unmanned air taxi operations, cargo flights, medical cargo flights, automatic surveillance flights, etc. Europe is preparing towards deployment of Advanced Air Mobility (AAM).The second part of the text indicate the possibility of extensive use of drones in medical logistics as well as minimizing the epidemiological risk as a result of the use of this mean of transport. At the same time, it should be stressed out that the medical transport using drones can be used in urgent situations, where the main variable that has an impact on the success of life and health saving is the breaking of barriers to reaching difficult-to-reach places. In addition, the development of transport using drones can have a lasting impact on improving the quality of life of chronically ill patients who experience severe disease recurrence and thus on the need to implement emergency prevention or treatment measures.The second part of the article focuses as well on the U-space concept as an opportunity for UAVs to be widely used in the field of day-to-day supplies as well as health-related supplies. In the context of the spread of SARS-CoV-2 virus, drones may be used to provide diagnostic screening tests, medicinal products and septic materials, transport of samples of biological material, as well as an information campaign on how to deal with an epidemic, quarantine or isolation at home. The use of UAV for medical supplies is economically and legally justified. The U-space environment from the operational and regulatory side is a multidisciplinary approach that requires the interaction of aviation, law, medicine, robotics, mechatronics and engineering experts. The legal framework for the development of U-space should be taken into account, as well as sector-specific regulations taking into account the principles of the use of drones in strictly defined areas, including in the process of medical supply, and liability for damage caused by UAV medical supply or AI-controlled intelligent machines.

Effectiveness of Administrative Appeal in Slovenia and Croatia – Between National Traditions and EU Standards

Abstract The administrative appeal is a multifunctional legal remedy whose purpose is to protect the rights of the parties vis-à-vis the authorities and provide – through a generalisation of cases – a regulatory feedback loop leading to better sector-specific regulations. The administrative appeal is thus a constitutional guarantee of democratic governance, as well as mechanism of good administration and effective public policies, as long as it is implemented in line with the purpose of regulation. To examine the theoretical and regulatory objectives of the administrative appeal in Slovenia and Croatia and test its compliance with EU trends, a comparative analysis of the key provisions of the systemic laws on the general administrative procedure (APAs) was carried out. In such context, specific effectiveness criteria were developed, focusing on the admissibility, devolution and suspensiveness of the administrative appeal, as well as on the duration of the administrative appeal procedure. The achievement of the regulatory objectives of the APAs in both countries was further examined through interviews with experts in administrative procedural law and, for Slovenia, through an analysis of administrative case law. The finding suggest that the most challenging issues are the (non-)suspensiveness of the appeal and the duration of procedure. Hence, the administrative appeal may well be a fairly suitable safeguard of the constitutional rights of the parties in individual cases, but on a systemic level, its potential for good administration is not fully exploited. This instrument should therefore be further developed, e.g., through a mutatis mutandis application of the APA in all administrative acts and an even more consistent application in the most disputable administrative procedures, particularly in terms of the suspension of enforcement pending administrative finality and the still reasonably long procedures. The key points for practitioners are: • The administrative appeal has various functions, such as protecting international and constitutional safeguards of the parties to the procedure and ensuring a coherent administrative-legal system; • In the EU, procedural issues in individual Member States can largely be regulated autonomously; however, there are certain characteristics necessary to define the appeal as an effective tool; • Slovenia and Croatia regulate the administrative procedure in a rather similar way, yet there are some crucial differences in effectiveness of the administrative appeal both in law and, particularly, in practice; • Experts, especially from the CEE region, can learn about the gap between theory and practice in the selected countries, which enables them to compare other similar national systems in line with the EU standards.

On the Administrative Organization for Sector Specific Regulation

On the Administrative Organization for Sector Specific Regulation

On the Lack of a General Part for EU Private International Law

The question of a general part for EU Private International Law has attracted research and debate among PIL scholars long before the EU started to codify this legal field after the Amsterdam Treaty. However, the EU has made no attempt to make use of the existing research to adopt a comprehensive regulation of the general part of EU PIL and has adopted sector-specific regulation with inconsistent regulation of several general institutes. For the occasion of the anniversary of the Zeitschrift für Europarechtliche Studien this paper revisits the topic to answer the question which institutes of PIL should be codified in a general part of EU PIL. The conclusions are made based on four criteria: which general institutes of PIL are already regulated in the EU; are they generally applicable to all special parts of EU PIL; what is their practical relevance; and is there a need for their uniform regulation. The paper analyzes the discrepancies between existing general institutes of EU PIL and offers brief discussions on the possible formulation of some of the institutes for the general part.

‘Extraterritoriality’ in European Law: Airfreight and Beyond

Air carriers operate, almost by definition, in an international environment. Under air services agreements (ASAs) concluded by European Union (EU) Member States with third countries, with or without the involvement of European institutions, many non-EU airlines offer flights to or from the Union. However, the correlative increase in competition has not only positive effects, e.g., a wider offer and more advantageous flight rates. The fact that the obligations imposed on – and, in general, the conditions applicable to – non-European carriers in their respective countries of origin are different from those that weigh on European airlines leads to situations in which EU and non-EU carriers do not compete on equivalent terms. Furthermore, anticompetitive behaviour on the part of the airlines cannot be ruled out. The question then is whether and to which extent European legislation is applicable to non-EU carriers, both in terms of competition law and sector-specific regulations. The present article aims at reviewing the current state of ‘extraterritorial’ application of European law, mainly from an antitrust perspective, and it does so on the basis of a thorough analysis of a case currently pending before the General Court (GC), where the jurisdiction of the Commission has been challenged precisely for sanctioning non-EU carriers for acts performed outside the Common Market. Carriage by Air, Competition law, Jurisdiction, Extraterritorial Application of European Law, Air Services Agreements

Capacity Competition in Differentiated Oligopolies: Entry Deterrence with Alternative Objective Functions

Abstract This paper aims to identify the possible implications of quantity competition in markets with differentiated products on entry deterrence. If capacity commitments characterise this industry, quantities can be expected as the choice variable of rational players, even in the presence of product differentiation. Different equilibria of a static game occur depending on the degree of asymmetry of players, incumbent and entrant, which will crucially affect the shape of their best response functions. Asymmetry can stem from players’ advantage in demand and costs, their different objective functions, or the first-mover advantage. We will analyse entry where incumbent maximises the weighted average of profit and revenue while entrant is maximising profit. The reduction of asymmetry may intensify competition in the industry and, consequently, reduce entry barriers. Our findings provide an insight that could be used for practical recommendations for conducting competition policy and other sector-specific regulations, where the introduction and higher intensity of competition are desirable.

Legal Mechanisms for Energy Efficiency Adoption in Telecommunications Operations in Nigeria

This study reviews the poor adoption of energy efficiency in Nigeria against the backdrop of its enormous socio-economic benefits globally. The study adopted the exploratory research design. It appraised existing literature to determine the potency of law as a tool for addressing the energy efficiency adoption gap in Nigeria. Law is presented as a veritable tool for the promotion of energy efficiency in Nigeria while the telecommunications sector was chosen as the test environment due to the energy intensity of telecommunications operations. The Social Engineering Theory of Law propounded by Roscoe Pound provided the framework for this study. The study revealed that energy efficiency adoption in Nigeria has been very low, especially in energy intensive sector such as telecommunications. Although there exist policies and plans on energy efficiency adoption in Nigeria, these policies are merely of persuasive authority without any force of law. They are at best statements showing the intention of governments on the subject of energy efficiency. The study therefore recommends the codification of energy efficiency standards and requirements and specifically makes a case for the use of sector specific regulations as an effective means of energy efficiency adoption within the telecommunications sector in Nigeria. Keywords: Energy Efficiency, Legislation, Social Engineering, Telecommunications DOI: 10.7176/JLPG/81-05 Publication date: June 30 th 2021

Towards an Access Paradigm in Innovation Law?

Abstract The article generally discusses today’s meaning of an access paradigm in innovation law. Starting from concrete examples of access problems, it examines future research perspectives and the respective role of an access paradigm in innovation law. This concerns inter alia the possibility of common principles for public interest exceptions, in particular exceptions in the interest of free competition, throughout the different IP rights, as well as a closer look at the possibility of IP-external, sector-specific access regulation and the principles which should guide such approaches in research and policy.