bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Third Country PNR Mechanisms After the CJEU’s Schrems II Judgment
Authors: Morschbach Francesca 
Published: February 2023

The article illustrates how the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU)’s Schrems II judgment solidified the European court’s approach to European Union (EU) data protection and the issues of data collection and transfer outside EU borders. The judgment rebalances how to arrange the issues containing the collection of private information and the risk to the public without surveillance. Thus, invalidating previously used EU-Third Country data sharing frameworks. Included in this are the Passenger Name Records (PNR), which are used in day-to-day mechanisms of the air industry when sharing bulk data sets with other countries to provide crucial information for anti-terrorism with border protection agencies. Not only does it protect national security, but makes flying safer. Though the EU argues it cannot sacrifice the integrity of individual data autonomy. Due to the Schrems II judgment, most other countries will be unable to pass new EU standards, and data transfer has to be judged on a case-by-case basis, which when looking at the international air industry is unfeasible. By exploring the Schrems II judgment, this article will analyze the third-country data transfer mechanisms and the impact the judgment had on third countries.
Air law, PNR, CJEU, Schrems II, Privacy Shield, national security, European Data Protection, data transfer mechanisms, GDPR, Standard Contractual Clauses (SCC)
The Legal Regime of the Global Commons: An Examination of the High Seas and Outer Space in Africa
Authors: Boamah Frederick , Poakwa Kwabena Kyei , Adu-Amankwah Kusi 
Published: February 2023

In recent years, more attention has been drawn to the use and regulation of the outer space as a ‘global common’.This article looks at the high seas as a global common and compares it to the outer space. It argues that the value of the common heritage ofmankind (CHM)principle is driven by financial and technological capacities, rather than the concept of the commons. It further argues that over-reliance on the application of the benefit-sharing principle will result in African States playing a dormant role in its development. The article finds that to enjoy the ‘spoils’ of the commons, African States must invest financially and technologically. The authors recommend that African States must position themselves to expeditiously invest in the space industry and adopt space-oriented policies to harness the full benefit of outer space.
global commons, common heritage regime, high seas, outer space, Africa
The Role of an Insurance Intermediary in Fiji: A Critical Perspective of the Consumer
Authors: Tiwari Pradeep 
Published: February 2023

The purpose of this article is to critically examine the role played by insurance brokers in the non-life or general insurance sector in Fiji with reference to consumer protection. The article evaluates the regulatory framework enshrined under the Insurance Act 1998 (Fiji) (1998 Act) related to intermediaries in the insurance sector. The article aims to analyse and compare the position of the Act in Fiji with that in the United Kingdom and Australia. The comparative analysis reveals shortfalls in the Fijian legislation and paves the way for legislative reforms in the 1998 Act.
Insurance, insurance broker, consumer protection, Fiji, UK, Australia
Article: Is the Symmetrical Classification Method EU Proof?
Authors: Stevens Ton , van Hulten Mart 
Published: February 2023

One way to solve classification conflicts involving hybrid entities is for states to apply a so-called symmetrical classification method, whereby a state adopts for its domestic tax purposes the tax classification applied to an entity by another state. The outcome of applying such a method can be that a state classifies foreign entities differently from domestic entities, raising potential issues from an EU law perspective when EU Member States are involved. For instance, in case a cross-border situation leads to more burdensome taxation compared to the domestic situation, a violation of the EU fundamental freedoms can be present, whereas if the classification leads to a lower tax burden for certain enterprises, a violation of EU State aid rules can be the result.
In this article, we assess the conformity with primary EU law of tax classification methods, and especially of the symmetrical classification method. It is concluded that the risk of incompatibility with the EU fundamental freedoms and EU State aid rules should typically be limited when EU Member States align their tax classification rules with those of other states to alleviate risks of double (non-)taxation. Risks can increase, however, for instance if nationality is used as a distinguishing criterion, or where under- or overkill occurs.
Taxation, Hybrid Entities, Mismatches, Classification, Symmetrical Method, EU Law, Fundamental Freedoms, State Aid
Article: Analysis of the (In)compatibility of Digital Services Taxes With State Aid Rules
Authors: Carro Pitarch María 
Published: February 2023

After the recent agreements at a global level, some Member States of the European Union have paused their plans for Digital Services Taxes. However, others have decided to move forward with them as the global political agreement reached, while encouraging, has not been implemented yet. Therefore, it is still relevant to understand the nature of such taxes and, more importantly in the context of the EU, their possible (in)compatibility with state aid rules.
The purpose of this article is to shed light into these measures in a manner that encompasses all possible taxes. To establish the possible incompatibility of the taxes, an analysis is made passing through all the conditions for a measure to be considered as state aid and giving particular importance to the notion of selective advantage, which will be the determining factor if the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ever must pronounce itself on this matter.
Digital Services Taxes, State aid, Fiscal State aid, Selective Advantage, European Union, European Commission, Court of Justice of the European Union, Unilateral measures, OECD
Article: The EU VAT Rate Reform 2022 from an Environmental Policy Perspective
Authors: Geringer Stefanie 
Published: February 2023

In addition to introducing fundamental changes to the structures of the European Union (EU) value added tax (VAT) rate regime, the EU VAT rate reform 2022 was aimed at aligning the EU VAT rate system with other EU policies, such as the European Green Deal. The environment-related measures are accordingly meant to incentivize eco-friendly supplies and, conversely, discourage environmentally harmful consumption patterns. Therefore, the EU lawmakers introduced options to apply zero, super reduced and/or reduced VAT rates, and a mandatory phasing-out of preferential VAT treatment respectively. Based on the empirical evidence from earlier VAT rate reforms, the author argues in favour of a differentiated assessment: While the effective VAT increases on the supply of certain environmentally harmful goods should send the intended price signal, the effectiveness and efficiency of VAT reductions as a means of promoting green consumption is highly questionable. In order to achieve the latter objective, public investments, direct financial aid, regulatory and targeted tax-related measures are identified as more appropriate measures.
VAT, VAT rates, VAT decreases, VAT reductions, VAT increases, incidence, European Green Deal, environmental policy, VAT policy
Article: The EU UK TCA’s Institutional Framework and Parliamentary Democracy
Authors: Weiß Wolfgang 
Published: February 2023

The TCA (EU-UK Trade and Copperation Agreement) establishes a very comprehensive institutional framework with Partnership Council and diverse Committees having partly substantial decision-making powers for the development of the TCA. These considerable public functions prompt legitimacy concerns as to their democratic control, which this article explores in detail. It will be shown that the exercise of public powers by TCA treaty bodies meets with a sobering legal situation regarding democratic control mechanisms over treaty body decision-making at different levels. Thus, from a constitutional perspective, the legal and legitimate transfer of powers requires additional safeguards as to their democratic legitimacy. Solutions for better control of treaty body decisions by parliaments must be developed at several levels simultaneously.
EU association agreements, EU trade agreements, treaty bodies, decision-making, democracy, accountability, Trade and Cooperation Agreement
Article: EU-Israel Relations: Netanyahu’s Legacy
Authors: Harpaz Guy 
Published: February 2023

It is common to criticize the State of Israel for its lack of strategy. This is true with respect to its foreign relations, and with specific reference to her relations with the EU. This criticism was reinforced during the five terms of Benjamin Netanyahu’s premiership (1996–1999 and 2009–2021). Commentators expressed strong criticism of his leadership, blaming him for shaping and implementing Israel’s foreign relations in a non-strategic, incoherent, and inconsistent manner. This article provides an alternative perspective, arguing that during his five terms Netanyahu and his governments adopted and pursued a calculated and coherent policy towards the EU, which was aimed at mitigating EU intervention in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and at dismissing any manifestation of EU political criticism towards Israel. The article analyses his policy towards the EU and the main instruments adopted in order to promote it, through the prism of scholarship pertaining to speech-acts and Euroscepticism.
Foreign relations, Speech-acts, Euroscepticism, EU-Israel relations, Benjamin Netanyahu
Risk Retention in Securitisation and Empty Creditors: When Financial Regulation (Positively) Spills Over Corporate Governance
Authors: D. Martino Edoardo , Chouliara Evgenia 
Published: February 2023

The risk retention rule was introduced in the US and the EU as a mechanism to curb the originate-to-distribute model, associated with securitisations and the financial crisis of 2008. This article argues that besides its original financial stability rationale, the rule has positive spillovers on debt governance and specifically on the incentives to monitor, the design of covenants and the lender’s stance during renegotiation and bankruptcy (the ‘empty creditor’ problem). Risk retention in true sale securitisations makes the strongest case for debt governance, although the existence of various options of retention appears to be associated with varying incentives. For cases where monitoring is performed by a party different than the originator, the introduction of retention by the servicer is a promising although partial solution. The mechanism and effects of risk retention on synthetic securitisations remain ambivalent, given the perverse incentives associated with over-insurance (negative economic ownership). However, the upcoming restriction of double hedging for synthetic STS transactions is a positive development.
Law & Finance, Financial Regulation, Debt Governance, Securitisation, Risk Retention
The WTO’s Dispute Settlement System: Pathways for Reform
Authors: Singh Bhatia Ujal 
Published: February 2023

From being widely regarded as a template for other international dispute adjudication mechanisms, the Dispute Settlement System (DSS) of the WTO is now going through an existential crisis, specifically, though not exclusively, due to the deadlock on the Appellate Body of the WTO. The United States continues to block a decision to fill the vacancies in the Appellate Body and there is little traction on the issue of DSS reform. Against this background, the author seeks to highlight the problems with the legislative branch of the WTO. The article argues that a reform of the DSS would only be sustainable if substantive issues in WTO law are addressed. In this connection, the article discusses specific aspects concerning trade remedy disputes which constitute the bulk of the disputes brought before the DSS.
DSS, trilateral statement, subsidies, trade remedies, Walker Principles, MPIA, RTA, anti-dumping, substantive changes, zeroing, non-discrimination.
Sanctions or No Sanctions: Enforcing Labour Provisions in Free Trade Agreements
Authors: Pradeep Shiny , A Achyuth 
Published: February 2023

The inclusion of labour provisions in trade agreements which commenced with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in the 1990s and other developed countries such as Canada and the EU saw the reaffirmation and implementation of commitments undertaken as part of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions that these countries have ratified – with specific emphasis on respecting, promoting and realizing the core labour standards.
While the general commitments and the nature of labour standards included in different agreements are largely similar, the approaches to enforce these standards under various agreements have differed widely. While the major developed economies (US, Canada and the EU) all include substantive labour provisions in their trade agreements as a standard practice now, their approaches to enforcement of these provisions are strikingly different (with US-Canada approach largely similar). These two contrasting approaches are – (1) that entails a possibility of monetary assessment, countermeasures or suspension of preferential benefits (sanctions based) and (2) that is based exclusively on recommendations and directions by a Panel of Experts as part of the dispute resolution process without any possibility of economic assessment (non-sanctions-based). This article provides an overview of these two main approaches towards enforcement of labour provisions in trade agreements.
In light of the recent emphasis placed on including stronger enforcement mechanisms within the Free Trade Agreements (FTAs’) on sustainability, specifically in the EU this article examines the two approaches and highlights the approach which would be better suited for enforcing labour standards.
Labour Standards, occupational safety and health, TSD, Dispute Settlement, Enforcement, NAFTA, NAALC, USMCA, Labour Provisions in FTAs’, Rapid Response Labour Mechanism, ILO Conventions, EU-Korea Labour Dispute, countermeasures, monetary assessment, suspension of benefits.
The EU Common Regional Market Proposals for the Western Balkans
Authors: Hoxhaj Andi 
Published: February 2023

The EU and the Western Balkans in 2020 launched a regional economic integration initiative entitled ‘The Western Balkans Common Regional Market’, aimed at economically integrating the Western Balkans based on the EU Single Market rules by 2025. The economic integration initiative has been met with challenges, and this contribution provides an assessment of EU-led initiatives to promote economic integration within the Western Balkans between 2014 and 2021, analysing some of the challenges to ensuring that the Western Balkans Common Regional Market is operational by 2025. The contribution conceptualises the mode of governance approach used by the EU in engaging with the Western Balkans since 2014 and suggests that it is largely based on soft law. The contribution finds that the action plan for establishing a regional common market is flawed, as it has not taken on board the high level of corruption and the lack of rule of law in the Western Balkans. The contribution provides new insights into the nature of corruption taking place in the Western Balkans and argues that corruption and the lack of the rule of law could be a major barrier for the proper function of the regional common market.
Western Balkans, Berlin Process, Common Market, Open Balkan, Corruption, Rule of Law, Economic Integration, European Neighbourhood and Enlargement Policy
Procedural Customization & the Limits of Internal Market Law: The ECJ Conducting the Judicial Dialogue
Authors: Michaux Lennard 
Published: February 2023

Analyses on the limits of EU internal market law mainly focus on substantive evolutions regarding the underlying concepts. However, once the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has clarified the scope of the free movement principles, the ball is then passed to the national judiciary. In the future application of these boundaries, the judicial dialogue remains crucial to ensure an effective and correct implementation of EU law. This interaction is based on a set of procedural guidelines. Whereas such rules might appear as fixed circumstances, this article will demonstrate how the ECJ – through different dynamics – ensures the correct interaction between substantive and procedural evolutions. This ‘procedural customization’ will be uncovered regarding two central limits of EU internal market law: de minimis thresholds, and the purely internal situation doctrine.
internal market law, field of application, limits, de minimis, purely internal situation, preliminary references, European Court of Justice, procedural customization
Revisiting the Principle of Territoriality in Preferential Rules of Origin: Are Territoriality Requirements Obsolete?
Authors: Dinh Khuong-Duy 
Published: February 2023

The article revisits a cornerstone in preferential rules of origin (ROO) – the principle of territoriality. In essence, the principle requires manufacturing processes for the purpose of acquiring originating status to be carried out without interruption in the territory of one or several contracting parties to a preferential trade agreement (PTA). Territoriality requirements are found to be at odds with recent developments in global trade and production practice, particularly the emergence of global value chains (GVCs) since they hinder the fragmentation of production. Moreover, the requirement of uninterrupted production in one single country also contravenes the objective of liberalizing preferential ROO through the introduction of full cumulation because the notion of counting all working and processing carried out in various eligible countries would prove impossible. In addition, the principle of territoriality may affect the precise determination of origin because it fails to accord equal treatment to conventional and unconventional inputs for production. For trade-facilitating origin regimes to be effective, territoriality requirements need to be revisited and relaxed.
rules of origin, territoriality, global value chains, cumulation, PTA, servicization
Policy Note: Tax Transparency Is Here to Stay: An Analysis of the Public CbCR Directive
Authors: Netjes Willemien , Freyer Dominik 
Published: February 2023

On 21 December 2021, the ‘Public CbCR Directive’ entered into force. According to this new directive, companies within its scope will have to publish a public country-by-country report including income tax information for each European Union Member State where the company has a presence. Whereas most companies in scope already prepared such a report, until now this was shared only with tax authorities for the purpose of enabling a high-level tax risk assessment. On the contrary, the new directive requires companies to publish the tax information on their website in order to be shared with investors, civil society and the general public.
Ahead of this directive however, it can be witnessed that an increasing number of companies is already publishing tax information on a voluntary basis, despite the fact that publishing such information can lead to greater scrutiny and can potentially harm a company´s reputation. This contribution is a formal discourse of how the Public CbCR Directive initiative is a logical consequence of years of corporate tax transparency discussions and how it fits into broader global environmental, social, and governance (ESG) trends.
Corporate tax, tax transparency, ESG, Directive (EU) 2021/2101, Public CbCR, country-by-country, transfer pricing, CbCR, tax avoidance, transparency.
Article: Designing Domestic Minimum Taxes in Response to the Global Minimum Tax
Authors: Noked Noam 
Published: February 2023

Countries may soon adopt domestic minimum taxes in response to the global minimum tax under the Global Anti-Base Erosion (GloBE) regime. These taxes, which will have priority over the global minimum tax under GloBE, could become the primary measure of ensuring that multinational enterprises (MNEs) pay a minimum level of tax. Despite their expected importance, the GloBE Model Rules and Commentary provide little guidance on several important design and policy issues concerning domestic minimum taxes. This article analyses the relevant rules in the Model Rules and the guidance in the Commentary. It also explores several questions that the OECD and the GloBE Implementation Framework should consider regarding the design of domestic minimum taxes and related issues such as collateral benefits.
Domestic Minimum Tax, Global Minimum Tax, GloBE, Pillar Two, QDMTT
Article: Some EU and Tax Treaty Law Considerations on the Draft EU Directive on Global Minimum Taxation for Multinationals in the Union
Authors: De Broe Luc 
Published: February 2023

In this article the author examines whether the draft EU Directive on Global Minimum Taxation for Multinationals complies with primary Union and whether the GloBE Model rules comply with the commitments undertaken by jurisdictions under their bilateral tax treaties that follow the OECD Model. Suggestions are also made on how the prevention and resolution of disputes under the Globe Model rules can be improved.
Global Minimum Taxation for Multinationals, GloBE Model Rules, draft EU Directive on Global Minimum Taxation for Multinationals, Compliance with primary Union law, Compliance with the OECD Model Tax Convention, Dispute Prevention and Resolution.
Article: Uncertainties Hold Back Achievement of OECD Pillar II Goals
Authors: Tomassini Antonio , De Rosa Marica 
Published: February 2023

The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Pillar 2 that was designed to levy a minimum tax on multinationals in all of the countries in which they operate still has many areas of uncertainty. These include issues from the more general uncertainties concerning the politics, including the apparent desire not to adopt a multilateral convention for its implementation to the technical ones that revolve around the complexity of the rules for calculating the effective tax rate (ETR) (which also increases compliance costs), with the risk of jeopardizing the Pillar 2 project’s objectives of simplicity and uniformity. Moreover, the Biden Administration’s unequivocal support for Pillar 2 has not translated into action in the US Congress, and any administrative steps the United States intending to undertake the implementation of Pillar 2 (in lieu of action in Congress) are also not evidenced.
Pillar, Base erosion, Treaty, Multilateral convention, Effective tax Rate, Covered taxes, CFC, GILTI, BEAT, Minimum tax, anti-avoidance, Inclusive Framework, aggressive tax planning, GloBE, Substance carve-out, Incentives, Top-Up-Tax, UTPR, STTR