EMU inter-se agreements : a laboratory for thinking about associative institutionalism

Award date: 30 November 2015Supervisor: Professor Marise Cremona, European University InstituteMember States inter se agreements are a complex legal phenomenon epitomizing the tension between intergovernmental channels of cooperation and supranational structures of integration characterizing the evolution of EU law. EMU inter se agreements, in particular, constitute a unique laboratory to investigate this tension and they help to better understand the legal nature of Member States’ international agreements which display substantive, institutional and teleological proximity to EU law. EU law imposes some restraints on Member States for the conclusion of inter se treaties. This work critically scrutinises both competence-based and procedural-based restraints which are aimed at safeguarding the specific characteristics of EU law and the peculiarities of EU institutionalism. More specifically, the evaluation of inter se treaty-making restraints moves from the consideration that the use of EU Institutions outside of the Treaties’ framework is liable to undermine the very nature of EU institutionalism. The use of institutions outside the EU framework, as devised by the EMU inter se treaties, induces to a reinforcement of contractual visions of Europe premised on the conception of EU institutions as common organs in the hands of Member States. The EU external relations law practice provides interesting solutions to the risk of departure from Institutionalism entailed in the contractual conception of Europe. In particular, the Court’s understanding of mixed agreements suggests an associative institutionalist vision of Europe which is less concerned on the precise apportioning of competences between the EU and its Member States and is more attentive to the procedural framework in which the intergovernmental and the supranational components of the EU jointly operate. This approach could be extended also to inter se patterns of integration by devising the conclusion of inter se mixed agreements, i.e. agreements envisaging the participation of the EU and of some of its Member States in legal venues aimed at fostering the European Integration project

Impact of model fidelity in factory layout assessment using immersive discrete event simulation

Discrete Event Simulation (DES) can help speed up the layout design process. It offers further benefits when combined with Virtual Reality (VR). The latest technology, Immersive Virtual Reality (IVR), immerses users in virtual prototypes of their manufacturing plants to-be, potentially helping decision-making. This work seeks to evaluate the impact of visual fidelity, which refers to the degree to which objects in VR conforms to the real world, using an IVR visualisation of the DES model of an actual shop floor. User studies are performed using scenarios populated with low- and high-fidelity models. Study participant carried out four tasks representative of layout decision-making. Limitations of existing IVR technology was found to cause motion sickness. The results indicate with the particular group of naïve modellers used that there is no significant difference in benefits between low and high fidelity, suggesting that low fidelity VR models may be more cost-effective for this group

Magnetic domain wall tweezers: a new tool for mechanobiology studies on individual target cells

In vitro tests are of fundamental importance for investigating cell mechanisms in response to mechanical stimuli or the impact of the genotype on cell mechanical properties. In particular, the application of controlled forces to activate specific bio-pathways and investigate their effects, mimicking the role of the cellular environment, is becoming a prominent approach in the emerging field of mechanobiology. Here, we present an on-chip device based on magnetic domain wall manipulators, which allows the application of finely controlled and localized forces on target living cells. In particular, we demonstrate the application of a magnetic force in the order of hundreds of pN on the membrane of HeLa cells cultured on-chip, via manipulation of 1 μm superparamagnetic beads. Such a mechanical stimulus produces a sizable local indentation of the cellular membrane of about 2 μm. Upon evaluation of the beads’ position within the magnetic field originated by the domain wall, the force applied during the experiments is accurately quantified via micromagnetic simulations. The obtained value is in good agreement with that calculated by the application of an elastic model to the cellular membrane

Report of the Topical Group on Electroweak Precision Physics and Constraining New Physics for Snowmass 2021

The precise measurement of physics observables and the test of their consistency within the standard model (SM) are an invaluable approach, complemented by direct searches for new particles, to determine the existence of physics beyond the standard model (BSM). Studies of massive electroweak gauge bosons (W and Z bosons) are a promising target for indirect BSM searches, since the interactions of photons and gluons are strongly constrained by the unbroken gauge symmetries. They can be divided into two categories: (a) Fermion scattering processes mediated by s- or t-channel W/Z bosons, also known as electroweak precision measurements; and (b) multi-boson processes, which include production of two or more vector bosons in fermion-antifermion annihilation, as well as vector boson scattering (VBS) processes. The latter categories can test modifications of gauge-boson self-interactions, and the sensitivity is typically improved with increased collision energy. This report evaluates the achievable precision of a range of future experiments, which depend on the statistics of the collected data sample, the experimental and theoretical systematic uncertainties, and their correlations. In addition it presents a combined interpretation of these results, together with similar studies in the Higgs and top sector, in the Standard Model effective field theory (SMEFT) framework. This framework provides a model-independent prescription to put generic constraints on new physics and to study and combine large sets of experimental observables, assuming that the new physics scales are significantly higher than the EW scale.Comment: 55 pages; Report of the EF04 topical group for Snowmass 202

ERTA and us : shifting constitutional equilibria on the visions of Europe

First published online: 09 July 2021The ERTA case marks the constitutional inception of EU external relations. It laid the foundations for the legal framework governing the exercise of the EU’s external competences and is often associated with the development of the doctrine of implied powers. The main tenets of the Court’s pronouncement continue to define the fabric of the EU’s external action. As the first Commission v Council litigation, ERTA encapsulates a still perceivable tension between two visions of Europe. One emphasises the autonomy of the EU institutional framework, the other regards the EU institutions as common organs in the hands of the Member States. ERTA’s dossier de procédure constitutes a unique laboratory to assess the development of the EU as a legal order and an international actor. Its precious documents offer new sources to appreciate the abovementioned tension and unravel the shifting constitutional equilibria emerging from the interplay between EU and Member States treaty-making powers. Building on the archival research, this Article reflects on the inner working of the Court’s judicial strategy. It seeks to shed novel light on the genealogy of the fascinating debate on the constitutional underpinnings of EU external relations

L'extension de l'Europe : l'espace juridique élargi de l'UE

Cette thèse vise à appréhender la formule politique de l’extension Europe comme un concept analytique pour saisir les réalités juridiques de la proximité de l'UE. La formule a été utilisée pour définir les nouvelles politiques de proximité de l'UE à la suite des élargissements de l'Union au début des années 2000. Des dynamiques d'inclusion et d'exclusion ont caractérisées l’attitude de l’UE en tant qu’acteur international. Dans le sillage du Brexit, il est nécessaire de réfléchir davantage aux politiques de proximité : l'ensemble des nouvelles relations juridiques entre l'UE et le Royaume-Uni remet en cause les paradigmes de gravitation autour de l'ordre juridique de l'UE caractérisant traditionnellement les relations de voisinage de l'UE.La recherche se développe en suivant trois axes d'enquête interdépendants qui visent à exposer l'interaction entre le droit et la diplomatie dans le voisinage de l'UE. Le premier consiste à mettre en lumière les similitudes et les différences entre les expériences d'intégration interne et externe de l'UE. À cet égard, une distinction est établie entre le droit d’appartenance à l'UE et le droit de proximité de l'UE. Le second concerne les techniques d’élargissement de l'espace juridique de l'UE. Ici, à la fois les interrelations entre les ordres juridiques et les processus de socialisation des pays tiers dans l'espace juridique européen élargi sont examinés. Les deux premières pistes d'enquête sont strictement liées à la troisième qui concerne l'appréciation des différents engagements politiques qui sous-tendent la diversité des arrangements institutionnels du droit de voisinage de l'UE.This thesis turns the political formula of ‘Wider Europe’ into an analytical concept to capture the legal realities in the EU’s proximity. The formula was employed to outline the new EU’s proximity policies following the Union’s enlargements in the early 2000s. The ensuing posture of the EU as an international legal actor would be based on patterns of inclusion and exclusion. In the wake of Brexit, there is the need to further reflect on this design: the set of new legal relations between the EU and the UK challenges the paradigms of gravitation around the EU legal order traditionally characterising the EU neighbourhood relations. The research develops pursuing three interrelated lines of inquiry which are aimed at expounding the interplay between law and diplomacy in the EU’s proximity. The first consists in shedding light on the similarities and differences between the EU internal and external integration experiences. In this respect, a distinction is drawn between EU membership law and EU neighbourhood law. The second pertains to the techniques of extension of the EU’s legal space. Here, both the interrelations among legal orders and the processes third countries’ socialisation in the wider European legal space are examined. The first two lines of inquiry are strictly related to the third which revolves around the appreciation of the different political covenants underlying the variety of institutional arrangements of EU neighbourhood law

Refugee Heritage. Part III Justification for Inscription

In order to inscribe a site in the World Heritage list, the property should have outstanding universal values, defined as “cultural and/or natural significance which is so exceptional as to transcend national boundaries and to be of common importance for present and future generations of all humanity.[...

EU COVID-19 purchase and export mechanism : a framework for EU operational autonomy

The burgeoning debate on EU strategic autonomy calls for an appraisal of the role of law in the pursuit of the EU’s strategic objectives. This article examines EU executive measures regarding procurement and free movement regulation of critical resources and vaccines in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak. It introduces the notion of EU operational autonomy to account for the mixed operative framework governing the joint actions of the Union and its Member States.The article argues that this framework heralds new patterns of executive centralization whereby political motives increasingly inform legal structures. It identifies the internal and external facets of EU operational autonomy, and highlights the composite dynamics emerging from neighbouring country association to EU operational autonomy. The study of these dynamics also offers insights into the complex balance between the EU’s regional and multilateral commitments