bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Digital Finance and Beyond in the Third Decade of the 21st Century - Observations with a Focus on the EU Policy and Legal Perspective
Authors: Deipenbrock Gudula 
Published: May 2022

The paper explores critically Digital Finance in the third decade of the 21st century. Focus lies on the more general policy and legal approach to Digital Finance at EU level. The paper argues that any legal, regulatory and supervisory approach to Digital Finance has to contemplate also the broader digital transition scenario. It concludes that managing the difficult balancing act between promoting digital innovation for the good of the economy, the society of the European Union and its Member States and tackling its (high) risks appears to be one of the biggest challenges for the coming years.
Fintech, financial technology, Digital Finance, financial regulation, financial supervision, digital transformation, EU Digital Finance Strategy, 2030 Digital Compass, artificial intelligence, twin green and digital transitions
Reconciling Lopsided Mandates, Secondary Objectives and the Importance of Sustainability: The Role of the European Central Bank in the Single Supervisory Mechanism
Authors: Alexander Kern 
Published: May 2022

The article analyses the institutional and legal framework governing the ECB’s monetary policy competence to promote price stability alongside its banking supervisory objectives as set forth under the Single Supervisory Mechanism Regulation. The article argues that the ECB’s primary mandate to promote price stability in the EU Treaty creates an imbalance in its institutional competence to pursue other secondary objectives referred to in the Treaty and in EU legislation. It is further argued that this so-called lop-sided mandate in favour of the price stability objective may undermine its effectiveness in pursuing other objectives, such as banking sector stability, climate change mitigation and in addressing other emerging financial risks. The article proposes some modifications to the current separation of competences within the ECB in order to achieve more institutional balance so that its objectives can be more effectively carried out.
Banking Union, Single Supervisory Mechanism, European Central Bank, banking supervision, price stability, secondary objectives, monetary policy, economic policy, sustainability, regulation
The Challenge of Regulatory Complexity
Authors: Horsch Andreas , Kleinow Jacob 
Published: May 2022

Financial markets and firms are regulated based on extensive and detailed rulebooks, which numerous organizations enforce. Not only financial regulation but equally its complexity requires justification increasingly. This article addresses the phenomenon of regulatory complexity from an economic perspective. To this end, it revisits the concept of regulatory institutions and explains their increasing complexity. The focus is on European banking regulation. The paper stresses the role of economic and legal research in tackling the complexity of relevant regulation.
Theory of regulation, (regulatory) complexity, institutional change, EU banking regulation
Equivalence Decisions in the EU and UK Financial Services Sectors Post-Brexit
Authors: Nästega°rd Emil 
Published: May 2022

Financial services are largely left out of the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement that was reached at the end of December 2020. The issue of cross-border market access for financial services firms based in the EU and in the UK could be resolved by the adoption of mutual equivalence decisions. The UK made a number of equivalence decisions pre-Brexit to allow EU-based financial services firms access to the UK market. The EU has not reciprocated. Consequently, UK-based financial services firms have moved business into the EU to maintain client access. The article discusses advantages and disadvantages of the EU and the UK’s different strategies as regards market access and whether equivalence decisions in the area of financial services can be used to build up a trustful relationship between the EU and the UK post-Brexit.
Equivalence decisions, Brexit, pre-Brexit regulation, post-Brexit regulation, financial services regulation, Joint UK-EU Financial Regulatory Forum, market efficiency, market relocation, Singapore-on-Thames, systemic risks
Judgment of the German Federal Constitutional Court (2 BvR 859/15) on the Public Sector Purchase Programme of the ECB: An Interdisciplinary Analysis
Authors: Herzog Bodo 
Published: May 2022

On 5 May 2020, the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany announced in a momentous ruling that the Public Sector Purchase Programme (PSPP) of the European Central Bank (ECB) exceeds European Union (EU) competences. This decision initiated a lively debate in law and economics all over Europe. This article provides a unique interdisciplinary reading of the ruling in order to clarify the line of argument. Considering a cross-disciplinary view enlightens the understanding of the historic judgment.
Ultra-Vires, European Court of Justice, German Federal Constitutional Court, Public Sector Purchase Programme, European Central Bank, Monetary vs. Economic Policy, Economic and Monetary Union
The Quiet Architect Finds its Voice: The Primacy of the Law of the European Union after Press Release No 58/20 of the Court of Justice of the European Union
Authors: Puig Gonzalo Villalta , Vergara María Ezquerro 
Published: May 2022

The principle of the primacy of the law of the European Union (EU) establishes that, where the law of the EU conflicts with the laws of its Member States (MSs), the law of the EU takes precedence over the laws of the MSs. This article evaluates the doctrinal status of the principle of primacy in response to the press release of the Court of Justice of the European Union (European Court of Justice (ECJ)) on the judgment of Germany’s Federal Constitutional Court of 5 May 2020, which breached the principle. It argues that respect of the absolute and exclusive, final jurisdiction of the ECJ under Article 267 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) is – to quote from the press release – ‘the only way of ensuring’ the supremacy of EU law and also the direct effect and equality of EU law.
European Union, Court of Justice of the European Union/European Court of Justice, European Union Law, Primacy/Supremacy, Direct Effect, Equality
Revisiting the Ruiz Zambrano Doctrine and Exploring the Potential for Its Extensive Application
Authors: Ferri Delia , Martinico Giuseppe 
Published: May 2022

With the tenth anniversary of the seminal Ruiz Zambrano judgment looming, there is scantly a better time to reassess its legacy and reflect on how its doctrine can be brought forward to foster the protection of fundamental rights in the European Union (EU). This article looks back at the reasons that make this decision a landmark in EU law, and discusses the potential for an expansive reading of the Ruiz Zambrano doctrine. It analyses to what extent the doctrine’s scope can be extended to subjects other than minors within the specific context of derived residence rights for third country nationals. On the whole, this article argues in favour of the expansive application of this doctrine by looking at a case study: that of persons with disabilities. In testing the potential application of the Ruiz Zambrano doctrine to protect the genuine enjoyment of rights that the status of EU citizens confers upon persons with disabilities, the article problematizes the idea of ‘dependency’. While this concept might be perceived as problematic from a disability perspective, the article reconciles this apparent tension by applying the concept of ‘empowering dependency’. The article concludes by highlighting the constitutional spill-over that a broader application of the Ruiz Zambrano doctrine may bring.
Ruiz Zambrano, EU citizenship, fundamental rights, persons with disabilities, constitutional spill-over
Prevalence of an Economic Right/Freedom Over a Social Right in a Horizontal Litigation Once Again
Authors: Karayigit Mustafa T. 
Published: May 2022

The article primarily examines the Achbita judgment within the context of the struck balance of competing rights/freedoms, i.e., the right to manifest religion and the freedom to conduct a business. It argues that with its lenient and one-sided application of proportionality and by affording the freedom to conduct a business of an employer almost an unfettered prerogative against the right to religious manifestation of an employee, the Achbita judgment could be included into the line of case law, such as Viking, Laval, Alemo-Herron and AGET-Iraklis, which provides for preference and prevalence of economic rights/freedoms over conflicting social rights. The judgment even extends that preference and prevalence to the fields having no crossborder element. If not having confirmed horizontal direct effect of Article 16 of the Charter and so recognized it in nature as a right rather than a principle in the sense of Article 52(5) of the Charter, the CJEU paves the way for consolidating this judicial trend. As a consequence in respect of the principle of non-discrimination on certain grounds, the judgment establishes different levels of protection for different grounds of discrimination and consolidates it by downplaying the right to manifest religion towards the bottom.
Headscarf, the Principle of Non-Discrimination on the Grounds of Religion, Freedom to Conduct a Business, Corporate Neutrality Policy, the Margin of Appreciation of the Member States, the Hierarchy between the Grounds of Discrimination, Intersectional Discrimination
Strengthening the Charter’s Role in the Fight for the Rule of Law in the EU: The Cases of Judicial Independence and Party Financing
Authors: Morijn John , Kochenov Dimitry 
Published: May 2022

This article discusses how the application the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights contributes to the fight for the rule of law in the EU. After outlining the connections between the two it focuses on two examples of how the Charter could and should play a more significant role in upholding the rule of law. As to Member State-level rule of law breakdowns, we demonstrate that the Charter has either been missing in the shadow of Article 19(1) of the Treaty on European Union or threatened to undermine the fight for the rule of law when the principle of judicial independence was reduced to Article 47 Charter standing alone. As to supranational level rule of law issues, where the Charter’s applicability under Article 51 CFR is uncontroversial, we show that it has nonetheless so far been applied to a problematically limited extent. This is particularly clear with regard to party-financing at EU-level. This file offers a case in point to show how taking the Charter seriously could make a significant difference in protecting the rule of law in the EU.
Article 7 TEU, Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, judicial independence, party financing, rule of law
Transformations of Directives into Regulations: Towards a More Uniform Administrative Law?
Authors: Křepelka Filip 
Published: May 2022

In the last two decades, the European Union (EU) legislative institutions transformed dozens of directives into regulations. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the most familiar, even to the general public. For various reasons, however, EU legal scholars discuss these transformations sporadically. Framework nature justified the existence of directives. However, EU directives gradually become detailed, narrowing the margin of appreciation exercised by the Member States. We suggest a favourable view of such expansion of uniform frameworks, ranked to the administrative/public law addressing various economic activities in most cases. Transformations reduce the complexity of directives and national law implementing them. Decreasing expenditures and lesser effort in implementation, increased transparency, streamlining of interpretation could result from these transformations. Preference for regulations can enhance both efficiency and legitimacy of supranational policies of the EU shattered with multiple crises. However, prevailing decentralized enforcement of EU law requiring supplementing national legislation together with the EU multilingualism resulting in discourses separated by language barriers limit the advantages of regulations as supranational statutes. At the moment, there is no consensus on the desirability of these transformations. Further discussion is needed.
the European Union, Directives, Regulations, Legislation, Supranationality, Statutory law
The European Court of Human Rights’ Advisory Opinions Legally Affect Non-ratifying States: A Good Reason (From a Perspective of Constitutional Law) to Ratify Protocol No. 16 to the ECHR
Authors: Albanesi Enrico 
Published: May 2022

The hypothesis of the article is that advisory opinions of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) under Protocol No. 16 to the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), although non-legally binding on the requesting court or tribunal, legally affect States, including those which have not ratified the Protocol. This will be demonstrated here conceptualizing the notion of ‘vertical’ non-binding effect of advisory opinions (i.e., that effect, regarding the requesting court or tribunal, under Article 5 of Protocol No. 16 which states that ‘Advisory opinions shall not be binding’) and the notion of their ‘horizontal’ legal effect (i.e., that ‘undeniable legal effect’ which comes from the fact that advisory opinions are ‘valid case-law’ which the ECtHR ‘would follow when ruling on potential subsequent individual application’). From a wider perspective of constitutional law, it will be then argued here that the producing of the aforementioned ‘horizontal’ effect constitutes a good reason for States to ratify Protocol No. 16 in light of judicial dialogue: non-ratifying States would be affected by them but at the same time there would be no opportunity for their highest courts or tribunals to contribute in creating that case-law via judicial dialogue (i.e., by requesting advisory opinions).
Protocol No. 16, European Convention on Human Rights, ratification, advisory opinions, European Court of Human Rights, legally non-binding effect, requiring courts, caselaw, constitutional law, Constitutional Courts, judicial dialogue
EUIPO Boards of Appeal in the Light of the Principle of Fair Trial
Authors: Greco Ginevra 
Published: May 2022

The EUIPO’s Boards of Appeal are called upon to decide on appeals against decisions by the bodies of ‘first instance’.
However, their judicial function has always been denied. Conversely, the essay tends to place the Boards of Appeal of the EUIPO in any case within the concept of ‘court’, as defined by the ECtHR, within the framework of Article 6 ECtHR, because it assesses their independence, impartiality, and in general the guarantees required by the ‘fair trial’, until concluding that it is a paradigmatic model in the overall administration and judicial system.
EUIPO Boards of Appeal, European Court of Human Rights, Court of Justice of the Eurpean Union, EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, Fair trial
Kosher and Halal Slaughtering Before the Court of Justice: A Case of Religious Intolerance?
Authors: Reich Arie , Harpaz Guy 
Published: May 2022

In December 2020 the Court of Justice of the EU approved the legality of a decree, adopted by the Flemish Region in Belgium, which introduced an outright ban on slaughtering of animals by means of traditional Jewish and Muslim rites. The Court, which did not adopt the opinion of Advocate General Hogan, effectively nullified an express derogation for ritual slaughtering found in the EU’s regulation on slaughtering. This article will critically examine the Judgment, arguing that it has not only misinterpreted EU regulations, but also compromised the rights of European minorities to religious freedom under the Charter on the basis of questionable and inconsistent arguments of animal welfare.
Animal Welfare, Kosher Slaughtering, Halal Slaughtering, Religious Freedom, Religious Minorities in Europe, European Court of Justice
Current Issues on Regulation: A View from France
Authors: Perroud Thomas , Deffains Bruno 
Published: May 2022

The objective of the article is first to show there are worrying signs that the consensus about independent regulation is cracking in several countries that matter. We then go on to demonstrate that there are blind spots in the European framework of public service regulation. Regulation in the EU focuses too much on competition and not enough on other objectives. Finally we attempt to rethink the regulatory framework of public services in Europe in a way that would take all the competing interests of society into account. Although the main focus of the article falls on French and European experiences, it also adopts a broader view.
regulation, public services, competition law, monetary policy, cost-benefit analysis, indirect administration, accountability
European Sharing and Collaborative Cities: The Italian Way
Authors: Pavani Giorgia 
Published: May 2022

The article analyses the issue of Sharing and Collaborative Cities from a primarily methodological perspective. Starting from statistical data that confirm the constant growth of the urban population, and taking into account the major issues that affect urban policies (environment, inequalities, poverty), the author focuses on the different methodological approaches in the study of collaborative cities. Subsequently, an Italian case study is presented, which involves shared administration and the main implementation tools involved (Regulation of the management and regeneration of urban commons, including collaboration agreements).
sharing city, collaborative city, smart city, cooperative economy, sharing economy, urban regeneration, urban commons, local government, city legal studies, urban public policies
The New Era of Climate Law in Denmark and in the EU
Authors: Tvarnø Christina 
Published: May 2022

In June 2020, the Danish Parliament adopted a new Climate Act that included legally binding measures. Two months earlier, in March 2020, the European Commission presented a proposal for a European Climate Law Regulation based upon the content of the Paris Agreement. Subsequently, the EU adopted the EU Climate Law Regulation in April 2021. This article presents a comparative legal analysis of the Danish 2020 Climate Act and the 2021 European Climate Law Regulation and investigates these new types of climate acts that have risen as results of the Paris Agreement and international climate law in general. Moreover, the article presents and discusses some examples of the implementation results in Denmark and the latest EU climate strategies. It is concluded that both the Danish and the EU Climate Acts can be considered umbrella legislation presenting the binding climate objectives and legal bases for future climate law however without presenting substantive legal provisions that implement the climate objectives.
climate law, public law, Danish law, EU law, comparative law, international climate law
Privacy International and Quadrature du Net: One Step Forward Two Steps Back in the Data Retention Saga?
Authors: Tzanou Maria , Karyda Spyridoula 
Published: May 2022

The present contribution aims to critically reflect on the future direction of data retention at the EU and the national levels by discussing the lessons arising from two seminal Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) decisions: Privacy International and Quadrature du Net. The article addresses four main themes: (1) the broad reach of EU data privacy law, (2) the detailed typology of permissible data retention models and the conditions applicable to these, (3) the evolving interaction between the CJEU and the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in cases of bulk surveillance, and (4) the relevant legislative developments regarding data retention enshrined in the proposed ePrivacy Regulation. It advances four main lines of criticism. The first concerns the Court’s reasoning regarding the expansive scope of application of EU data protection law that – while anticipated – appears unconvincing. The second regards the shortcomings and weaknesses in the CJEU’s analysis laying down a taxonomy of permissible data retention systems. The third line of criticism is broader and concerns the progressive re-legitimisation of bulk as well as other surveillance models that seems to be the path undertaken by both the CJEU and ECtHR. Finally, we criticize the ways the EU legislature is trying to ‘circumvent’ the CJEU’s data retention rulings.
data retention, EU fundamental rights, Privacy International, Quadrature du Net, bulk data retention, EU data protection law, European Court of Human Rights Big Brother Watch, GDPR, ePrivacy, UK adequacy decisions after Brexit
Regulating the Smart City in European Municipalities: A Case Study of Amsterdam
Authors: Voorwinden Astrid 
Published: May 2022

This article studies how local governments interface with the adoption of smart city initiatives, and the challenges this poses from a public law perspective. Although every smart city develops within an administrative territory regulated by a local government, this dimension often remains overlooked in legal and smart city literature. Municipal governments can act as regulators through their existing competences in spatial planning, environmental protection, local by-laws, financial subsidies, and partnerships. However, through an analysis of the Amsterdam Smart City program, this article shows that the smart city challenges this traditional role as regulator. Specifically, it observes four elements: (1) fragmentation, (2) networked governance, (3) multilevel governance, and (4) experimentation. These elements illustrate four challenges for the role and position of municipalities in the smart city: (1) collaborating across municipal departments, (2) steering smart city programs through public-private networks, (3) navigating the limits of local government’s powers on smart city issues, and (4) experimenting with new forms of public procurement. These challenges push municipal governments to find new ways to fulfil their role as public authorities, such as the creation of new municipal departments, the development of soft law instruments, and the use of innovative procurement. Legal research needs to examine these shifts in a context where citizens’ rights are put under pressure.
smart city, municipal government, local government, public-private partnerships, networks, governance, privatization, digitization