*** KATHRIN LIMBACH: Uniformity of Customs Administration in the European Union. Hart Publishing (16C Worcester Place, Oxford, OX1 2JW, UK. Tel: (44-1865) 517530 - fax: 510710 - Email: mail@hartpub.co.uk - Internet: http://www.hartpub.co.uk ). "Modern Studies in European Law" series. 2015, 340 pp, £55. ISBN 978-1-78225-672-4.
This book stems from a Ph.D. thesis presented and defended at the German University of Administrative Sciences Speyer a year and a half ago. In it, readers discover the very real repercussions that arise from the hybrid nature of European construction. The European Union has been, since the end of the 1960s, a customs union and possesses a customs law that is comprehensively harmonised. Nonetheless, Community Europe does not have a customs administration to call its own and prefers to draw from the customs authorities in each of its member states to apply this common regime. This "decentralised" management of European customs subsequently creates a number of difficulties because it obviously runs the risk of there not being a uniform application of customs law and the respective national administrations are open to different interpretations of the sometimes far from clear legal positions and subsequently, do not apply European customs law in a uniform way. Moreover, managing the customs borders of the Union in an identical way is indispensable in order to underpin the single market and competitiveness of the European economy in world trade.
Community Europe is now submerged in globalisation and is duty bound to respect Article X of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, which imposes a number of standards on the uniform application of customs legislation. Due to the decentralised management of its customs law, the Union has been required to provide a detailed report back to the World Trade Organisation for the years 2004 and 2006. The US complained that EU customs law was not being managed in the same way at the single European market's external borders. The body responsible for resolving disputes is in charge of this affair and will effectively decide whether the Union did indeed breach its violations as a member of the WTO but it will not be required to make a decision on the question of whether this decentralised management in itself contravened the obligation to guarantee uniform management of customs borders. It is this question that is tackled by Kathrin Limbach, who asks whether this decentralised management, which she says is a result of "Executive Federalism" and which is very dear to the heart of the respective member states that are anxious to preserve the appearance of sovereignty, was well and truly compatible with the obligations incumbent on WTO members and whether provisions did indeed exist for guaranteeing the uniformity of application of customs. Her incisive legal examination of these issues is combined with an empirical analysis of the situation prevailing in Germany and the United Kingdom and also draws from the results of interviews held with customs officials.
It is self evident that a summary of this kind of book cannot do it justice. Nonetheless, what we really need to be aware of is that the author begins by providing a presentation of the prevailing legal system in the customs union and its possible shortcomings, in terms of there being a uniform customs administration, particularly with regard to the demands set out by the WTO. Kathrin Limbach then looks at the reforms undertaken and which are continuing until 2020. These reforms come in the wake of the negative ruling made by the WTO. In the fourth part of the book, the author provides a meticulous examination of the instruments and mechanisms used by the European Union in its attempts to achieve uniformity, the categorisation of the rules of origin, in addition to an evaluation. The role of the Commission is also particularly sized up. After this overall account, the author provides a particularly meticulous judgement in which she argues that the Commission may soon be able to strengthen its role in this connection, particularly by way of its Directorate General in charge of… taxation.
Michel Theys
*** CLAUDE BLUMANN (Editor): Introduction au marché intérieur - Libre circulation des marchandises. Editions de l'Université de Bruxelles (26 av. Paul Héger, CP 163, B-1000 Brussels. Tel: (32-2) 6503799 - fax: 6503794 - Email: editions@ulb.ac.be - Internet: http://www.editions-universite-bruxelles.be/ ). "Commentaire J. Mégret" series. 2015, 542 pp. €80. ISBN 978-2-8004-1581-9.
This book, Commentaire Jacques Mégret, was written by a number of top-flight French academics and links together two different but complementary themes: an introduction to the internal market and a study of the free movement of goods. In the perspective of the internal market, "heir to the common market”, an explanation is provided in the first chapter that this is not a static entity but rather, "a work in permanent progress" because they constantly need to protect it, "against attempts to step backwards by states and even public and private operators, who would like to reintroduce new barriers". It is then presented as a normative body that includes the four fundamental freedoms of movement, before the general principles are discussed, such as freedom and non-discrimination, which govern the economic activities. These principles go beyond the purely economic framework because they sought to acquire the status of fundamental freedoms. The part of the book on freedom of movement of merchandise turns out to be weightier insofar as the authors prioritise the main freedoms and, "the head start involving the legal techniques that facilitate implementation". Emphasis is also put on the techniques put into place for tackling old or new barriers that are likely to put a brake on the freedom of movement in trade between member states. It is clearly demonstrated in this book that major barriers such as customs duties and quantitative restrictions, barriers that proved very efficient in relatively closed economies, have gradually disappeared and that taxes and equivalent measures of effect have come to the fore, as well as national commercially driven monopolies. This substantial book clearly illustrates that in addition to tackling barriers they also have to be warned against them, which is why the Union developed a significant arsenal of measures enabling it to act upstream.
(PBo)
*** ANDRZEJ CIESLIK, JAN JAKUB MICHA£EK (Editors): Liberalization of Transportation Services in the EU: the Polish Perspective. Peter Lang (1 Moosstrasse, P.O. 350, CH-2542 Pieterlen. Tel: (41-32) 3761717 - fax: 3761727 - Email: info@peterlang.com - Internet: http://www.peterlang.com ). "Polish Studies in Economics". 2015, 306 pp., 64,95 €. ISBN 978-3-631-65566-5.
This collectively written book seeks to describe the general situation in the transport sector in Poland by comparing it to a number of other European countries. It is depicted in a context of the progressive Europeanisation of Polish transport since the end of communism and the country joining the European Union in 2004. The challenges facing both the Polish and European transport sectors are then examined in great detail, as well as the global value chains in this sector, which help to highlight the economic and strategic importance of the transport sector. Emphasis is also put on the regulation applicable to the different branches of transport (road, railway, aviation and maritime), as well as the challenges created by liberalisation in the transport sector, particularly on the railways. The authors' conclusion highlights the advantages of the Polish transport sector, despite this country's delay in achieving appropriate infrastructure in this connection.
(GLe)
*** ANNA OLBRYS-SOBIESZUK: EU-rechtliche Schranken der Glückspielwerbung in Deutschland, Großbritannien und Polen. Peter Lang (see address attached). "Veröffentlichungen des Instituts für Energie- und Regulierungsrecht Berlin" series. 2015, 424 pp. €81.95. ISBN 978-3-631-65921-2.
In this thesis, Anna Olbryœ-Sobieszuk provides a painstaking analysis of compliance with European Union law and gaming advertising law in Germany, Great Britain and Poland. The problems arise from this kind of regulation partly from the dangers that gaming presents to an at risk section of the population and the risks of dependency combined with the fact that in this sector generates significant revenue for the economy. There is also the problem that countries that benefit from this sector also do so from the tax returns it generates. From a legal point of view, regulation in this area also involves a question of fundamental freedoms: the freedom to trade, provide a service and bans on restrictions and discrimination, combined with the need to maintain public order and guarantee the health and safety of the population. Nonetheless, on the basis of case law that it is not altogether clear from the European court of justice in this area, the author attempts to establish guidelines by highlighting the way the European Judges have justified the restrictions imposed on this sector of activity and by examining how it describes these restrictions on the basis of their appropriate character. Anna Olbryœ-Sobieszuk subsequently puts forward reasons for clarifying and categorising this case law in this connection. She then provides a comparative analysis of the three countries examined by examining their reasons for their respective case law, as well as their shortcomings, which is followed by a number of proposed improvements. On the basis of these countries' respective legislation and jurisprudence, as well as there existing commonalities such as the difficulties Poland, Germany and Great Britain have in regulating gaming advertising, as well as the lack of harmonisation with European level in this area, which creates a situation of legal uncertainty, which needs be rectified, the author's observations act as a starting point for outlining possible future perspectives for these three countries in this field.
(GLe)
*** JONAS SCHWARZ: Der Debt-Equity-Swap als Instrument der Unternehmenssanierung nach deutschem und englischem Recht. Eine vergleichende Untersuchung praxisrelevanter rechtlicher Problemkreise bei der Umsetzung von Debt-Equity-Swaps nach deutschem und englischem Recht. Peter Lang (See address attached). "Europäische Hochschulschriften, Rechtwissenschaft" series. 2015, 363 pp. €71.95. ISBN 978-3-631-66263-2.
In this thesis, Jonas Schwarz compares conditions in which Debt-Equality-Swap can exist in German and English law. This examination has partly been motivated by the debate in Germany regarding the apparently attractive character of Debt-Equity-Swap under English law, which would provoke the transition in German companies that required financial streamlining under English law. Nonetheless, this debate it is very often passed over too rapidly when the conditions are discussed in which English law allows for these Debt Equity Swaps. This thesis effectively seeks to rectify this shortcoming. The German legislator, through the adoption of the law for facilitating the reorganisation of companies, was tempted to reform German insolvency law by creating a legal framework that was more favourable to debt equity swaps, particularly by reducing the obstacles that existed to this operation. The author strives to determine whether the German legislator achieves this objective and uses the English situation as a mirror to support his analysis.
(GLe)
*** MIQUEL MARTIN-CASALS, DIEGO M. PAPAYANNIS (Editors): Uncertain Causation in Tort Law. Cambridge University Press (University Printing House, Shaftesbury Road, Cambridge CB2 8BS, UK. Tel: (44-1223) 358331 - Email: information@cambridge.org - Internet: http://www.cambridge.org ). 2016, 343 pp. £79.99. ISBN 978-1-107-12836-1.
This book stems from an academic meeting organised in March 2012 by the Legal Philosophy Research Group and the Institute of European and Comparative Private Law, which works at the University of Gerona. It also provides an overview of the difficulties relating to the causal uncertainty in tort liability and the way in which member states seek to solve this problem by introducing an array of different responses such as on the question of damages. As explained by the book's editors in their introduction, the main tenets of tort law in the continental and common law traditions have been called into question by the increasing number of cases in which courts have to assign the mass losses created by certain risky but lawful activities. In some cases, claimants are unable to show that the substance to which they were exposed caused their loss, even when there is a strong statistical association between the exposure to the suspected substance and the kind of loss that claimants have suffered; while general causation is scientifically established, there are problems in the proof of specific causation, because what is specifically unknown is whether a particular defendant harmed a particular victim, explain Professor Miquel Martín-Casals (civil law) and Diego Papayannis (philosophy of law) and in the affirmative, to what extent in relation to other possible accusations. There are so many situations to begin with that originally it would not have been possible to go to court in an effort to award claimants compensation. Nonetheless, in several member states of the Union, similarly to in the US, the law has begun to evolve and adapt to new situations. The 10 contributions included in this book provide a very precise insight into the legal debates that have been provoked by this issue and the main results that have so far occurred in this connection.
(PBo)
*** Commission en direct. European Commission (Communications Unit, DG HR D.3, CE-SC11, 01/18. Fax: (32-2) 2999285). November 2015, 62 pp…
This internal Commission publication edition contains a feature article on the European Research Council, launched eight years ago and which Chancellor Merkel compared to the "Champions League". Its President, Jean-Pierre Bourguignon and Commissioner discuss this in this publication.
(MT)