Evolution of Complexity

The evolution of complexity has been a central theme for Biology [2] and Artificial Life research [1]. It is generally agreed that complexity has increased in our universe, giving way to life, multi-cellularity, societies, and systems of higher complexities. However, the mechanisms behind the complexification and its relation to evolution are not well understood. Moreover complexification can be used to mean different things in different contexts. For example, complexification has been interpreted as a process of diversification between evolving units [2] or as a scaling process related to the idea of transitions between different levels of complexity [7]. Understanding the difference or overlap between the mechanisms involved in both situations is mandatory to create acceptable synthetic models of the process, as is required in Artificial Life research. (...)Comment: Introduction to Special Issu

Procedural Rights and Issues in the Enforcement of Articles 81 and 82 of the EC Treaty

A discussion of evidentiary and procedural standards regarding Articles 81(1) and 82 of the EC Treaty, which deal with infringements of anti-competitive collusion

Dynamical Hierarchies

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Industrial Relations and Social Dialogue in the Age of Collaborative Economy IRSDACE: Ntional Report Belgium. CEPS Special Report

Digitalisation has given rise to new forms of work and work organisation, of which work in the platform economy is a much discussed case as it presents opportunities and challenges to governments, social partners, workers and other actors. This report examines the platform economy in Belgium, focusing on recent developments in policy-making and industrial relations and social dialogue. The Belgian case is particularly interesting because of the strong involvement of policy-makers and social partners in the debate, the prevalence of attempts towards organisation and representation of platform workers by workers as well as social partners, the role played by new types of intermediaries and the fact that Belgium is one of the few EU member states with dedicated legislation for the platform economy. Although Belgium is a frontrunner in these areas, the platform economy has not developed as much as in other member states. The present report delves further into these issues, exploring the proliferation of the platform economy, the responses formulated by government and social partners, and the future ahead. This research has been carried out in the framework of a project on Industrial Relations and Social Dialogue in the Age of Collaborative Economy (IRSDACE), which is funded by the European Commission (VP/2016/004)

EU citizenship and the European Court of Justice׳s ‘stone-by-stone’ approach

AbstractExamining the seminal judgment of the European Court of Justice (the ‘ECJ’) in the Ruiz Zambrano case (C‑34/09, EU:C:2011:124) and its progeny, this paper is to illustrate the fact that in hard cases of constitutional importance the ECJ follows an incremental approach. This means, in essence, that the ECJ does not take ‘long jumps’ when expounding the rationale underpinning the solution given to novel questions of constitutional importance. On the contrary, the persuasiveness of its argumentative discourse is built up progressively, i.e., ‘stone-by-stone’

Employment and Working Conditions of Selected Types of Platform Work

Platform work is a form of employment that uses an online platform to match the supply of and demand for paid labour. In Europe, platform work is still small in scale but is rapidly developing. The types of work offered through platforms are ever-increasing, as are the challenges for existing regulatory frameworks. This report explores the working and employment conditions of three of the most common types of platform work in Europe. For each of these types, Eurofound assesses the physical and social environment, autonomy, employment status and access to social protection, and earnings and taxation based on interviews with platform workers. A comparative analysis of the regulatory frameworks applying to platform work in 18 EU Member States accompanies this review. This looks into workers’ employment status, the formal relationships between clients, workers and platforms, and the organisation and representation of workers and platforms