The problems and the controls of the new administrative state of the EU

Over the last two decades the shape of the European public administration has changed considerably; the EU has become much more strongly involved in the regulation of very dynamic and fluid market activities. One of the consequences of that has been an increasing reliance on EU regulatory agencies to perform the novel administrative tasks. While agencies can be beneficial for the EU, they also generate new problems. In particular, these bodies have limited resources and have to rely on (national and sector) external capacities to a significant extent. There is a risk here that if the important issues are mainly capacity-related and „liquid‟, it will be very difficult to ensure „checks and balances‟ in these institutional systems. The thesis examines this through case-studies (EU regulatory agencies) in medicines, chemicals, financial services and aviation. It finds that the problems in each EU agency are different and unpredictable. In such a context, having more external and static controls on the agencies will hardly improve things. An alternative „framework‟ (that of fluid administrative law) should be considered to deal with the challenges of the new administrative state. It promotes constant administrative law principles (internal process, external justification, commitment to pluralism and policy effectiveness) to coordinate the operation of the agencies, and offers institutional tools for the dynamic application of such principles. As the „solutions‟ for each agency should have to vary, the review of these bodies (which usually occurs every three years) could be used to address the required heterogeneity of the controls. In order to make the best use of that exercise, the creation of a new European agency to review the regulatory agencies and make proposals for each of them (according to the fluid law principles) might be envisioned

The Americanization of Constitutional Law And Its Paradoxes: Constitutional Theory And Constitutional Jurisdiction In The Contemporary World

Contemporary democracies-both long-standing and recently- established-follow a standard that was established in the United States over the past two hundred years

An Analysis of Next Generation Access Networks Deployment in rural areas

Next generation access networks (NGAN) will support a renewed electronic communication market where main opportunities lie in the provision of ubiquitous broadband connectivity, applications and content. From their deployment it is expected a wealth of innovations. Within this framework, the project reviews the variety of NGAN deployment options available for rural environments, derives a simple method for approximate cost calculations, and then discusses and compares the results obtained. Data for Spain are used for practical calculations, but the model is applicable with minor modifications to most of the rural areas of European countries. The final part of the paper is devoted to review the techno-economic implications of a network deployment in a rural environment as well as the adequacy and possible developments of the regulatory framework involve

Predicting calcium in grape must and base wine by FT-NIR spectroscopy

Calcium content in sparkling wines may not exceed 80 mg/L due to the risk of aggregation with alginate capsules. The high calcium content usually found in wine and must emphasizes the need to develop alternative and appropriate techniques faster and cleaner than atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS). To obtain a robust model to predict calcium content, FT-NIR spectroscopy was used in 98 base white wine samples and 60 must samples from an Alentejo winery. The reference method for calcium determination was AAS technique, with a dry ashing sample procedure, as a prior treatment. Results confirmed the ability of FT-NIR as an alternative technique to AAS, to predict calcium content in grape must and base wine. Advance knowledge of the calcium content in the grape must will help avoid obtaining a mixture of musts with a high calcium content in the same container

The mobile communications role in next generation networks: The case of Spain

Next generation access networks (NGAN) will support a renewed electronic communication market where main opportunities lie in the provision of ubiquitous broadband connectivity, applications and content. From their deployment it is - much - expected a wealth of innovations. Within this framework this paper reviews the technical architecture of a mobile network as a candidate for a NGAN deployment, derives a simple method for approcimate cost calculations, and then discusses the results obtained. Data for Spain are used for practical calculations, but the model is applicable with minor modivications to most ot the EU countries. The final part of the paper is devoted to reflect on the technical and economic feasibility of mobile communications as part of NGAN, as well as the adequacy and possible development of the current regulatory framework. --LTE,4G,Mobile communications,Next Generation Networks,Spain

Judicial Review of the Legislative Process in Brazil

Judicial review of the legislative process has been a controversial topic in the case law of the Federal Supreme Court in Brazil. Issues regarding enacted statutes are not as controversial as those involving pending processes. On one hand, the Court has been scrutinising cases based on procedural legislative rules that are enshrined in the Constitution. On the other, the Court has been refusing to examine procedures based on provisions not enshrined in the Constitution, such as the internal ordinances of the parliament. In the former situation, the Court sees itself compelled to perform a kind of prior control of constitutionality. In the latter, it states that evaluating whether the process abides by the parliament’s own rules is an internal political (interna corporis) task, not a legal one. In this article, I argue that adherence to rules that govern the legislative process, regardless of their status, is not a matter of political discretionary choices, but a matter of compliance with the rule of law. Therefore, the Brazilian Federal Supreme Court should abandon the prior control of constitutionality rationale, and it should review pending legislative processes including those based on the internal ordinances of the parliament

Sustainable Construction: Water Use in Residential Buildings in Portugal

Water is the most important resource to all life on our planet. The impact that buildings have on the consumption of this resource throughout their life cycle (planning, construction, operation and deconstruction) but mainly during the operation phase, has resulted in very high and unsustainable consumption patterns. Sustainable development, while a long-term goal, requires that the preservation of natural resources becomes a central point of any project strategy. Water is of vital importance to human life, it should be preserved to ensure its availability for a long period of time. However, little concern has been given to the importance of introducing a selection of more efficient solutions to save water in buildings and consequently increase sustainability in the construction sector. In this context it is on the design phase that the main resource saving water measures should be considered. Research on saving water involves an analysis of quantitative and qualitative measures and their adaptation to different contexts. Nowadays there are systems of voluntary certification of sustainable construction, which can help the design phase to achieve sustainability. This paper discusses a set of measures to reduce water consumption and enable a more efficient use of this resource in residential buildings. The measures presented are focused on user awareness campaigns, systems of rainwater and grey water recycling, the use of more efficient devices and reduction of leaks. The measures are analyzed and compared taking into account the consumption patterns for each device both inside and outside a domestic building and its effective reduction in water consumptio

Factores clave en los mercados de acceso móvil a contenidos

El propósito de este artículo es la identificación y análisis de los factores (técnicos, económicos, sociales y normativos) que, en la actualidad, y también lo harán en el medio plazo, están contribuyendo o impidiendo el desarrollo de los mercados de acceso a contenidos por medio de redes móviles. Este repaso sirve para establecer un marco general en que encuadrar posteriores investigaciones y, a la vez, hace posible sugerir qué medidas serían convenientes para orientar la futura evolución del sector. The main goal of the analysis summarized in this paper is to identify essential economic, technological, social and legal forces that are currently shaping (and will shape, in the short and middle-term) the mobile content sector. To illustrate the nature of their impact should inform subsequent research and provide policy-makers with a coherent and comprehensive picture of the sector¿s current state and future evolution.JRC.J.3-Information Societ

Volition versus feasibility: state aid when aid is looked upon favourably: the broadband example

The European Commission published on September 30, 2009, Guidelines for the application of State aid rules in relation to rapid deployment of broadband networks. These Guidelines are applicable to two markets that are connected, although somewhat different. In “traditional” or “first generation” broadband networks, public intervention mainly relates to rural communities or areas which are economically underdeveloped. Therefore, a corrective nature of the aid is maintained. However, the Guidelines are also applied to accelerate the deployment of next-generation access (NGA) networks, which implies a driving conception of State aid, as this is an emerging market and there are relatively few Europeans who have access to these networks. The analysis of these Guidelines thus seems relevant due to its novelty and, particularly, to the results that it can bring