The Europa Institute of Leiden University is sixty years old. It was established in 1957, the year in which the Treaty establishing the European Economic Community was signed in Rome. To mark this 60th anniversary, a two-day lustrum conference was held in the Academic Building of the University of Leiden on 30 November and 1 December…
Transportation surpassed electricity production in the United States in 2016 to become the country’s largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions at 28.5 percent of the total. Approximately 60 percent of U.S. transportation-related GHG emissions are caused by light-duty vehicles (LDVs), which chiefly consist of gasoline-powered passenger cars and light-duty trucks, including sport utility vehicles,…
The evolution in understanding privacy and personal data Visitors to major cities will become familiar with colour coding of the various means of transportation: for example, yellow cabs in New York; black cabs in London. Supplanting these colourful vehicles are alternatives to the regulated taxi industry, such as Uber or Lyft. The present contribution focuses…
Amidst the chaos created by “disTrumption”[1] globalization rolls on and international business pursues TESCM, or tax efficient supply chain management. What does this mean for trade and customs? TESCM arises from the OECD BEPS (base erosion and profit shifting)[2] initiative and will continue to drive multinational tax planning. The OECD effort is creating a restructuring…
The United Kingdom Supreme court confirmed on 13 June 2018 in the case of Pimlico v Smith what another three lower courts had already decided in the same case: that attempts by employers to label workers as self-employed under elaborate contractual arrangements can be unravelled by the judiciary to benefit the individuals. This decision follows…
With its judgment of 5 June 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union has provided much overdue legal certainty for same-sex couples regarding their right of free movement under the EU Treaties. In the Coman-case, the Romanian Constitutional Court asked the CJEU whether EU law prevented the Romanian authorities from refusing a right…
Licensed premises authorised to hold goods ‘under customs control’ face a number of noteworthy challenges: the licensing regime is rigorous, setting high standards on applicants to operate premises and those employed in the premises and business; the ongoing compliance obligations are time-consuming and difficult, including, reporting of the movements of people and goods at the…
Please find below the abstract of “Legal Issues of Economic Disintegration: Government Procurement and BREXIT” by Kamala Dawar, published in Legal Issues of Economic Integration, issue 2, 2018 edited by Geraldo Vidigal This article examines some of the European Union (EU) and World Trade Organization (WTO) legal issues that emerge for the United Kingdom’s…
Please find below the abstract of “On a Journey with Uncertain Destination: Metaphors and Images of the EU in Russian and Ukrainian Media after Brexit Vote” by Natalia Chaban & Ole Elgström, published in European Foreign Affairs Review, issue SI, 2018 edited by Jörg Monar and Nanette Neuwahl The outcome of the British Brexit…
In April 2018, the Labour Tribunal of Turin, Italy, rejected a claim from six platform workers of the food-delivery company, Foodora, seeking to be reclassified as employees. In reaching his decision, the judge relied extensively on the fact that these workers were allegedly free to decide when to work and to disregard previously agreed shifts,…
How to prepare to comply From 1 July 2018 food businesses must comply with labelling requirements set out by the Australian Government which aim to provide consumers with greater transparency on the origin of their food. First introduced on 1 July 2016 as the Country of Origin Food Labelling Information Standard 2016 (Standard) the implementation of the Standard…
We wanted to draw your attention to some interesting articles about the topics of the Regulating for Globalization blog that appeared in the Global Trade and Customs Journal in 2018 so far: Martijn Schippers, ‘A Series of Sales: Determining the Customs Value Under the Union Customs Code’ (2018) 13, Issue 2 New customs legislation – the Union…
We wanted to draw your attention to some interesting articles on Women in Trade that appeared in the Global Trade and Customs Journal in 2017: Arancha Gonzalez, ‘Making the Case for Trade in the XXI Century’ (2017) 12, Issue 11/12 Eva Valle Lagares, ‘Trade from the Trenches: Negotiating in Practice’ (2017) 12, Issue 11/12 The Transatlantic Trade and Investment…
While barriers to close down national boundaries are being raised again worldwide, EU institutions keep fighting unjustified geo-blocking and online cross-border stops to trade. Regulation No. 2018/302 (“Geo-blocking Regulation”) bans unjustified geo-blocking and other forms of territorial discrimination that prevent consumers from freely buying on online platforms. The Regulation was adopted on February 28, 2018 and entered…
We wanted to draw your attention to some interesting articles about the topics of the Regulating for Globalization blog that appeared in the Global Trade and Customs Journal in 2017: Lorand Bartels, ‘The UK’s WTO Schedules’ (2017) 12, Issue 3 This article argues that the EU’s GATT and GATS schedules are binding on the UK in its…
Although the U.S. unemployment rate is currently 4.1%, which probably approximates full employment, there are still many discouraged workers. Especially in the manufacturing sector there continues to be job insecurity and layoffs largely due to technology, the shift to a services economy, curtailed unions, and international trade competitiveness. The plight of displaced workers International trade has…
Deepening Precarity Although it outlines rules for the workplace, employment regulation has also been imbued with perceived potential for economic stimulus. There has been an inherent tension in this dualism that sees the latter given greater importance. The certainty underlying these plans, however, does not match the unpredictability of economic changes. How can employment regulation…
There was legal mention recently about how the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act (TCJA) had increased the difficulty for business to deduct environmental litigation expenses (e.g., property remediation expenses or compliance costs) incurred incident to a U.S. Department of Justice Environmental and Natural Resources Department (DOJ-ENRD)-initiated enforcement action. The inability of a business to deduct expenses incurred…
People within the European Union travel more than ever before for professional or personal reasons. When they do so, the four freedoms enshrined in the TFEU guarantee that they can take with them their siblings, professional qualifications, goods and money. One of the things they could not take with them, however, was their subscription to…
On 28th February 2018 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA)[1] confirmed that neonicotinoids – a class of pesticides — represent a risk to wild bees, bumble bees, and honeybees because their residues are found in bee pollen and nectar, dust drift during the sowing and application of the treated seeds, and are absorbed into water….
