Molecular Conformation of Pyridinic Aromatic Esters. II. Electronic Absorption Spectra and Dipole Moments by Semiempirical Methods

The semiempirical MIM method was applied to calculate the UV spectra of nine pyridine-aromatic-ester derivatives (having the general formula R1-COO-R2) assuming a planar geometry. Benzene, pyridine and formic acid were adopted as component systems. The dipole moments of the same compounds were evaluated at the MIM and INDO levels and the equilibrium percentage of the conformers was deduced from experimental and theoretical values. Comparable results were generally obtained. On the whole the results are satisfactory but not sufficient to affirm with certainty if the molecular skeleton is or is not planar

Molecular Conformation of Aza-substituted Benzanilides by Electronic Absorption Spectra and Dipole Moments

The electronic absorption spectra of thirteen pyridine aromatic amides of general formula R1-CO-NH- R2 (Ri, R2 = pyridil or phenyl) were obtained in methanol and dioxane solution. The band assignment is briefly discussed. The dipole moments were measured in dioxane at 25 ± 0.1 °c and compared with values calculated by both the S. H. M. 0. method and vectorial model. The comparison suggests the most probable conformation of derivatives which have the nitrogen either in the ortho or meta position in one or both rings of the molecule

An Opportunity for Reflection : a Special Issue on “The Constitution of Canada : History, Evolution, Influence and Reform”

Canada is and will for the foreseeable future be a peaceful and prosperous liberal democracy whose Constitution Act, 1867, now 150 years old as of 2017, has become a model for the modern world. The Constitution of Canada has exerted considerable influence on other countries, particularly since the coming into force of its Constitution Act, 1982, which included the celebrated Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. Just as Canada drew from foreign and international experiences in drafting its Charter, the world has learned a great deal from Canada, not only as to rights protections but also as to the separation of powers, the judicial function, and the structure of government. In light of these impressive achievements, an international symposium on the Canadian Constitution was held in Pisa at the Scuola Sant'Anna under the auspices of the Sant'Anna Legal Studies project and with the support of the DIRPOLIS (Law, Politics and Development) Institute at the Scuola Sant'Anna, the Canadian Embassy in Italy, and the International Association of Constitutional Law. This special issue collects some of the papers presented on that occasion

Smoke with Fire: Financial Crises and the Demand for Parliamentary Oversight in the European Union.

The handling of the 2008 financial crisis has reinforced the conviction that the European Union (EU) is undemocratic and that member states are forced to delegate overwhelming power to a supranational technocracy. However, European countries have engaged with this alleged power drift differently, with only a few member states demanding more parliamentary scrutiny of EU institutions. This article develops a political economy explanation for why only some states have enforced mechanisms to monitor the EU more closely. Our theory focuses on the role of the crisis and the impact of fiscal autonomy in countries outside and inside currency arrangements such as the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). We argue that, in the aftermath of a severe economic shock, member states outside the EMU possess more monetary and fiscal resources to handle the crisis. These would then demand oversight of EU decision-making if their fiscal sustainability depends on the Union. By contrast, Eurozone states that need policy changes cannot address the crisis independently or initiate reforms to scrutinize the EU. Hence, we argue that during the heated moments of severe economic downturns, parliaments in Eurozone countries discuss supranational supervision rarely. As these legislatures have nevertheless to give in to the popular demand for EU control, they express support for more EU supervision in the infrequent times of debate. We provide evidence for our theory with a cross-national analysis of EU oversight institutions, and a new original dataset of parliamentary debates during the Eurozone crisis. Our findings highlight the political consequences that financial nosedives have across the diverse membership of a supranational organization

Le sentenze della Corte di giustizia sul Regolamento UE sulla condizionalità relativa alla rule of law: gli elementi di novità e le (numerose) questioni aperte

The contribution provides a reconstruction of the contents of the EU Regulation n. 2020/2092 as well as the main elements of continuity and discontinuity present in the judgements delivered on 16 February 2022 in the framework of the annulment actions brought by Hungary and Poland. The paper focuses, in particular, on the scope and limits of the statements made by the European Court of Justice, on the one hand, regarding the relationship between mutual trust and the rule of law, and on the other hand, on the relationship between solidarity and conditionality. Lastly, it briefly deals with the questionable follow-up ensured so far to the judgements and which questions the effectiveness of the Regulation and of the reconstruction offered by the Court itself

Fighting back? The role of the European Parliament in the adoption of Next Generation EU

The article aims to assess how and why the EP played the role of EU democratic institution par excellence in the procedures leading to the adoption of the antipandemic measures from February 2020 till February 2021: Which arguments has the EP sought to advance in the various stages, for what reasons, and how successful it was? Indeed, while it is undeniable that certain contextual elements – the nature of the crisis, the creation of EU debt and the EU competences affected – did play a role in the advancement of the EP’s agenda, it is argued here that in the aftermath of the pandemic the EP has managed to become more aware of its own institutional role compared to the previous financial crisis and to present itself as a truly supranational institution representing the whole European citizenry and committed to improving the transparency and the democratic accountability of the EU budgetary procedures

The Place of National Parliaments within the European Constitutional Order

This conceptual introduction to the volume, the author reflects on what way national parliaments fit into the European constitutional order, understood as a composite order encompassing both the EU and national constitutional orders, as a better model of conceiving of constitutional relations within the EU than the now obsolete "supranational paradigm" and the somewhat misleading misleading metaphor of "multi-level" constitutionalism. It reflects on why parliaments do not always reflect either of those models and calls for taking up the challenge of democracy and democratic legitimacy, by reconsidering the continental European manner of conceiving of parliamentary democracy as a mechanical transmission belt of sovereignty of the people to government in its various forms