bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
The Fiat Chrysler Finance Europe Case: One Step Forward Towards an Appropriate Application of the Ban on State Aid
Authors: Farri Francesco 
Published: February 2024

The judgment of the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Justice of 8 November 2022 (joined Cases C-885/19 P and C-898/19 P) marks an important point in the Court’s jurisprudence on State Aid because the principle of legality in tax matters, the attribution of competencies to the European Union, and the application of State Aid are addressed in a coordinated way. The decision clarifies that the reference system, which is relied upon to measure the actual selectivity of a national measure, must be based exclusively on the statutory law applicable at the national level, according to the principle of legality. This is a first step towards an appropriate application of Article 107 TFEU, whose application had been stretched too much in the last years. The next steps should be the overruling of Gibraltar jurisprudence and the need to limit the ban on State Aid to national measures for which evidence of actual damage to free trade between the Member States is manifest.
Ban of State Aid, Selectivity, Reference system, Legality principle, Attribution of competences, Tax rulings, Arm’s length principle, Transfer pricing, Tax sovereignty, Competition, Trade between Member States
Addressing The Vulnerability Of Energy Consumers
Authors: Hrynkiv Olga , Lavrijssen Saskia 
Published: February 2024

In the shift to a climate-neutral society and economy, an essential solution for renewable energy is at decentralized energy system relying on more distributed generation, energy storage, and more active involvement of consumers. In the European Union (EU), the Clean Energy Package puts consumers at the center of EU energy policy and introduces a wide range of initiatives to engage consumers in the transition to clean energy. In addition to implementing EU policies, EU Member States are also developing and implementing ambitious laws and policies related to the energy transition and climate change. For example, theNetherlands, which serves as a case study in this article, committed in the Rutte IV coalition agreement to emit less than 55% CO2 compared to 1990 by 2030 and to be completely climate neutral by 2050. The country aims to switch to renewable energy sources such as wind and solar power and develop a robust and flexible energy infrastructure system that can be operated on a smaller scale and decentralized. Such transformations have profound implications for understanding the role of the consumer in the Dutch energy market and highlight the need for greater consumer involvement in the connection, transmission, delivery, and use of energy.
This article aims to answer the overarching question of how the principles of good governance (transparency, effectiveness, accountability, and participation) can contribute to better protecting (vulnerable) consumers from governance vulnerabilities to ensure a just and smart energy transition. It focuses on the consumer protection approach introduced in the proposal for the new Energy Act (2023) in the Netherlands. The article examines to what extent the principles of good governance are effectively incorporated and elaborated in the Dutch legal framework for the protection of energy consumers. Ultimately, it seeks to provide recommendations on how to improve support for vulnerable consumers in the Netherlands and empower them to actively participate in energy markets and make informed choices. Although the article focuses primarily on the Dutch experience, it can offer valuable lessons and guidance to other countries that must deal with the challenges and opportunities associated with the transition to renewable energy sources and a more digitized energy market.
Pandemics and Climate Change as Systemic Risks: Law, Policy, Insurance, Physical Activity and Exercise as Mitigating Environmental Degradation Mechanisms
Authors: Noussia Kyriaki , Nousias Georgios 
Published: February 2024

Climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic have been classified as systemic risks and have elaborated that such systemic risks will become the new normal. Ways to tackle the long-term effects of climate change include law and environmental policy. In addition, insurance can help mitigate the burden placed on governments when such systemic risks occur, including pandemics. In relation to the Covid-19 pandemic and the effects of long-Covid, sports and exercise are examined as a mitigating factor able to release pressure from public health and help mitigate its long-term effects. This article discusses the correlation of Covid-19 with environmental changes and climate changes and goes on to address the role of insurance, on the one hand and sports and exercise on the other hand as mitigating mechanisms to handle systemic risks such as climate change and pandemics. The article’s findings suggest and conclude that 1) outside state action (law and policy), private action such as change in lifestyle towards a more sustainable way of life, and sports and exercise can help with the long-term effects of pandemics and 2) insurance can act as a mitigating private sector mechanism. Governments should integrate law, policy, and mitigating techniques such as private insurance to tackle and respond to systemic risks.
climate change, Covid-19, systemic risks, insurance, physical exercise, mitigation for climate change, mitigation, public health
Strengthening European Energy Security and Resilience through Minerals
Authors: Srivastava Nidhi 
Published: February 2024

While energy security has always been a concern for the European Union (EU), the Covid-19 Pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war have led to a greater emphasis on fostering energy resilience. Traditionally, resilience has been seen in the context of import dependence on oil and gas. However, the EU’s commitment to decarbonization requires attention to other energy sources, and the entire supply chain of such clean energy technologies.
EU’s Energy Transition has a prominent role for solar photovoltaics, wind energy, grid-based storage, and electric mobility. All of these energy technologies depend on a secure and reliable access to affordable critical raw materials (CRM). Non-fuel minerals like lithium, nickel, cobalt, copper, and graphite are at the core of decarbonization of the EU’s energy sector. The European Commission has been focusing on CRM for a few years now and has recently released a Proposal for Establishing a Framework for CRM security. This article studies the EU’s approach to CRM, especially in light of the recent Proposal for a Regulation establishing a framework for ensuring a secure and sustainable supply of CRMs by adopting a more contemporary and broader definition of resilience which balances recovery or bouncing back with adaptability or bouncing forward.
Critical Minerals, Energy Transition, Critical Raw Materials, EU, Energy Resilience
The Use of Sanctions to Achieve EU Strategic Autonomy: Restrictive Measures, the Blocking Statute and the Anti-Coercion Instrument
Authors: Lonardo Luigi , Szép Viktor 
Published: February 2024

Sanctions are increasingly used by the European Union to pursue foreign and security policy objectives. Nowadays, these objectives include the protection of the Union’s strategic autonomy too. As our empirical analysis suggests, restrictive measures – the official EU notion for sanctions – define strategic autonomy as much as they are defined by it. We understand the notion of ‘sanctions’ widely, not only encompassing measures adopted within the framework of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), but also other EU acts closely connected to sanctions – including the Blocking Statute and the Anti-Coercion Instrument (ACI) – that also aim to strengthen the Union’s strategic autonomy. The picture sanctions paint is one of strategic autonomy as a principle not only of processes, but also of substance. In terms of processes, it is an objective that allows for selective uses of partnership; and in terms of substance, it is also in the name of this principle that EU institutions have proceeded to a balancing between rights, interests, and values.
Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP), sanctions, strategic autonomy, Blocking Statute, extra-territorial sanctions, Anti-Coercion Instrument
Report on the First CELIS NOW Conference ‘The Age of Open Strategic Autonomy’
Authors: Fechter Jonas , Wiesenthal Janosch 
Published: February 2024

On 11–13 May 2023, the CELIS Institute’s Early-Career Scholars’ and Practitioners’ Network on the Law and Practice of Economic Warfare (CELIS NOW) organized its first conference on ‘The Age of Open Strategic Autonomy’ in Berlin, Germany. This new network is designed to provide its members with a unique opportunity to exchange ideas and engage with the growing community of scholars and practitioners interested in investment and trade law in this changing geo-economic world. The CELIS Institute is an independent non-profit, non-partisan research enterprise dedicated to promoting better regulation of foreign investments in the context of security, public order, and competitiveness. CELIS NOW was established by Jonas Fechter (University of Münster) and Janosch Wiesenthal (University of Passau) in 2022, in order to create a forum for early-career lawyers in the field of trade and investment law. Since then, CELIS NOW has grown in size. At this first conference, about 40 lawyers who are professionally engaged with geo-economic trends gathered in Berlin to exchange ideas related to the emerging doctrine of Open Strategic Autonomy. The conference was generously supported by BLOMSTEIN and Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. This report summarizes the conference proceedings.
Open Strategic Autonomy, Economic Warfare, Economic Security, Geo-Economics, Investment Law, Trade Law, Investment Screening, Foreign Subsidies, Anti-Coercion Instrument
Tilted Balance to Security or Economy? A Comparative Study of National Security Review Mechanisms in the Netherlands and the United States
Authors: Koster Harold , Yuan Yao 
Published: February 2024

The Netherlands and the United States (US) stand as strong allies, united by a robust commitment to democratic norms and market principles that anchor a more open, fair, and market-led global economy. Their prosperity has been founded on free trade and investments. However, with the evolving dynamics in global geoeconomics and geopolitics in recent years, both nations have introduced or enhanced their national security review mechanisms. Given their shared attributes, this article compares the review mechanisms of the two countries and explores whether the new Dutch national security review system will mirror the regime of the US or introduce distinct innovations. It also explores the reasons behind each nation’s different preferences regarding the balance between economy and security.
Foreign Direct Investment, National Security, Economic Security, Investment Screening, the Netherlands, the United States, Comparative Research
Facilitating Access to Investor-State Dispute Settlement for Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: Tracing the Path Forward
Authors: Gómez Katia Fach , Titi Catharine 
Published: February 2024

The costs of accessing investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) are notoriously high. International investment treaties and investment dispute settlement in particular have been primarily designed with large investors in mind – those with the means to access an international tribunal –, while small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and individual or vulnerable investors can face significant barriers to accessing ISDS. This article is the first in legal scholarship to identify and evaluate the diverse opportunities that exist for the establishment and operation of mechanisms allowing SMEs better and easier access to ISDS. Drawing on the wealth of comparative experience from the functioning of existing dispute settlement assistance mechanisms in international courts and tribunals, the article argues that legal assistance is a more efficient and cost-effective tool than financial assistance and presents concrete proposals for the funding and operation of such a mechanism for SMEs. Finally, the article examines the political cost involved in facilitating SMEs’ access to ISDS, in light of the fact that some states have been increasingly wary of ISDS, but it weighs this challengeagainst the imperative of ensuring effective access to justice.
Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), access to justice, international investment agreements (IIAs), advisory centre on international investment law, procedural costs, legal assistance funds, expedited proceedings, UNCItRAL Working Group III
Current Issues on the Transition to a Sustainable Economy in the European, Italian and Middle East Framework: Green Bonds Standards and Greenwashing
Authors: Corapi Elisabetta 
Published: February 2024

The Italian Constitutional amendments (artt.9 and 41) represent an implementation of the UN Sustainable Development Agenda in the European framework. The package of measures adopted by the EU in this context, outlines the importance of sustainable finance strategy, aimed at financing the transition towards a sustainable economy. A tool to enable the pursuit of this transition is Green Bond. The EU Commission launched a taxonomy proposal aimed at creating Green Bonds quality standards and certifications, because the existing industry standards are still based on definitions of green projects that are not sufficiently uniform, rigorous or comprehensive. The adoption of uniform universal standards for the definition of green projects could also contribute to stop “greenwashing”(the practice of falsely attributing green qualities to an investment which in reality does not possess them). For example a recent Italian decision (Alcantara vs Miko) stated that the rules for communication on sustainability are different from those on traditional advertising because sustainability should be real and not a façade. This study examines the possibility of a uniform adoption of standards at EU level and compares the European Green Bond standards with other similar initiatives, such as the Shari’ah-compliant Green Sukuk.
Italian Constitution, UN Sustainable Development, ESG Principles, Sustainable Finance, Green Bond, EU Taxonomy Regulation, Green Bond Standards, Greenwashing, Shari’ah, Green Sukuk
Contractual Relations between Providers and Digital Platforms: The Spanish ‘Riders Law’
Authors: Cobo Juan Manuel Dieste 
Published: February 2024

This article examines the regulation of contractual relationship between workers and digital platforms from a comparative law perspective. For that purpose, the recently adopted Spanish ‘Riders Law’ will be the guiding thread of the analysis. The aim of this study is therefore to compare this statutory solution with other regulatory frameworks like European Union Law, UK, Italy, or French law and with case law approaches, to concluded that a third or intermediate category of workers should be set up to strike a balance between their labour rights and the innovative business model of digital platforms. Additionally, requirements of labour relationship should be reviewed and updated with the focus on economic dependency rather than traditional legal dependency.
Digital platforms, legal presumption, comparative law, economic dependency, workers, employees, independent contractor, labour relationship, legal dependency, riders
Algorithmic Transparency and Explainability under EU Law
Authors: Tzimas Themistoklis 
Published: February 2024

This article focuses on algorithmic transparency under EU law, specifically exploring the ‘right to explanation’. It addresses the legal framework concerning Artificial Intelligence (AI) algorithms from the above – mentioned perspective, focusing on remedies which ensure transparency and accountability, given the black box effect of algorithms. Proprietary information, and transparency- performance trade-offs are analysed, as well as the ‘right to explanation’ within the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and in light of the EU ‘AI Act’, which is expected to be adopted. The legal remedies under EU law are examined and assessed in terms of their efficiency.
Algorithms, transparency, Explainability, GDPR, AI Act, Meaningful Information, EU Law
Should German Courts Review Competition Law Awards on the Merits? Significance of the German Federal Supreme Court’s Decision of 27 September 2022
Authors: L. Stamer Hanna 
Published: February 2024

The extent to which courts are allowed to review arbitral awards for public policy violations in annulment or enforcement proceedings is a controversial topic. Recently, the German Federal Supreme Court (BGH) conducted an exhaustive judicial review of an award (referred to as a ‘Révision au fond’), assessing its potential breach of competition law within the framework of Germany’s public policy. This marks the first time in more than five decades that Germany’s highest civil court has taken an unambiguous stance in the ongoing discourse. Even though BGH decisions have no binding effect for lower courts in Germany, it can be expected that other German courts will follow the decision for the purpose of a uniform application of the law. This article analyses whether German courts should take the BGH’s decision as guidance and similarly conduct a Révision au fond of arbitral awards relating to competition law. It is concluded that the BGH’s decision is not in line with the internationally prevalent view that a Révision au fond is to be prohibited. Moreover, the justifications provided by the court for conducting a Révision au fond are found to be only partly convincing. In fact, there are several points in which the BGH’s approach can be countered by arguments in support of a merely limited review.
Révision au fond, full review, competition law, antitrust, BGH, public policy, ordre public, cartel senate, finality of awards, Germany
The 1963 OECD Model Tax Convention: Now and Then
Authors: Fishbien Nir , Lempert Eran 
Published: February 2024

This article reviews the importance of the 1963 Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Model Tax Convention in the development of the current international bilateral treaties network and compares its principles to those found in the US model tax convention. It then shows how the 1963 OECD model has laid the foundations for the OECD’s Multilateral Convention to Implement Tax Treaty Related Measures to Prevent Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (MLI) agreed on by more than over 100 jurisdictions.
US model, OECD model, MLI, tax treaties, international tax, tax history
Aligning the BRI With Sustainable Development: A Regulatory Framework and Its Implementation
Authors: Li Fenghua , Shi Jingxia 
Published: February 2024

China’s overseas investment through the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has not only encountered challenges relating to environment, human rights, digital governance and security, but is also mired in political and economic critiques. Mobilizing BRI investment can promote equitable economic and social growth, but only if it contributes to sustainable development of countries along the BRI (BRI countries). In recent years a regulatory framework for China’s sustainable overseas investment is emerging to align the BRI with sustainable development, which can be attributed with characteristics that essentially combine three tiers and four elements in nature. The three tiers inherently consist of the network of investment treaties, domestic regulation and soft law, while the four elements include rules with restrictive effects that imposes restrictions regarding environment, climate change and human rights on overseas investment, and rules with stimulative effects that encourage investors to adopt instruments like green finance and digitalization. In terms of the implementation of the framework, China has made significant strides in building its domestic capacity for the implementation through legal cooperation and judicial support, and further works with BRI countries to potentially direct the implementation towards a shared normative commitment based on the United Nations (UN) 2030 Agenda.
BRI, sustainable development, regulatory framework, environmental protection, human rights, green finance, DSR, implementation, legal cooperation, judicial support
Towards a Coherent Trade-Environment Nexus? The EU’s Critical Raw Materials Policy
Authors: Gstöhl Sieglinde , Schnock Jonathan 
Published: February 2024

This article contributes to the debate on the policy coherence of the trade-environment nexus by analysing the recent critical raw materials (CRM) policy of the European Union (EU). Critical raw materials are crucial for the green and digital transitions but face significant risks in their supply. This raises the question to what extent the EU can ensure a coherent approach in an era of geopolitics. The analysis proceeds in three steps: what does coherence mean (problem definition), how coherent are the EU’s policy objectives, and how coherent are its policy instruments designed for CRMs? The article finds that the EU’s problem definition of the trade-environment nexus has over the past two decades become more coherent. However, the rise of geopolitics has added foreign policy considerations to the understanding of this nexus. As the case of CRMs shows, open strategic autonomy, which aims to reduce strategic dependencies, generates incoherence among the policy objectives. The many existing or proposed EU policy instruments can, so far, be assessed as being relatively more coherent yet also with a mixed record. Future research will have to confirm this preliminary finding and also address the coherence of the policy implementation and outcomes of the EU’s CRMs policy.
critical raw materials, European Union, geopolitics, Green Deal, open strategic autonomy, policy coherence, sustainability, trade-environment nexus, trade policy, twin transition
PENGARUH PERILAKU KEWIRAUSAHAAN DAN MODAL USAHA TERHADAP KEBERHASILAN USAHA DI KECAMATAN TELANAIPURA KOTA JAMBI
Authors: Nisa Gistia Ningsih  , Anzu Elvia Zahara  , Puteri Anggi Lubis  
Published: February 2024

Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengetahui pengaruh perilaku kewirausahaan dan modal usaha terhadap keberhasilan usaha di Kecamatan Telanaipura Kota Jambi. Metode yang digunakan dalam penelitian ini adalah metode kuantitatif dengan analisis data dengan metode uji koefisien determinasi. Sampel pada penelitian ini sebanyak 30 responden pemilik usaha warung kopi/kafe di Kecamatan Telanaipura Kota Jambi. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa secara parsial perilaku kewirausahaan berpengaruh positif dan signifikaan terhadap keberhasilan usaha dan modal usaha tidak berpengaruh positif dan signifikan terhadap keberhasilan usaha. Secara simultan menunjukkan bahwa perilaku kewirausahaan dan modal usaha secara bersama-sama berpengaruh signifikan terhadap keberhasilan usaha di Kecamatan Telanaipura Kota Jambi. Hasil perhitungan koefisien determinasi menunjukkan bahwa variabel perilaku kewirausahaan sebesar 37.5% dan sisanya 62.5% dipengaruhi oleh variabel lain diluar penelitian ini.