Legitimacy Conditions for a European Civil Code

legitimacy; multilevel governance; competition policy; subsidiarity; judicial review; European Court of Justice

Development of a framework for the design of minimum processing strategies which guarantee food quality and safety - Principles, concepts and recommendations for the future

Principles of processing of organic and ‘low input’ food have been analysed in the EU funded QLIF project. A literature survey showed that some of the principles are generally accepted (e.g. the use of certified organic ingredients, a certified production chain and minimal use of additives), others are shared broadly (e.g. more careful processing methods, naturalness) and some principles are in discussion mainly in the private sector (e.g. environmental management concepts, social requirements, regional focus). Recent studies showed that consumer associate organic food with the following dimensions/attributes: health, high quality, the use of natural raw materials, welfare orientated animal husbandry as well as environmentally friendly land use and processing techniques. The challenge will be to consider such wider consumer perceptions and expectations, in particular when revising the EU regulation No 2092/91 on organic food and farming. In the current draft for revised regulation, agreed generally by the EU Council on 19-20 December 2006, some of these elements are included, but not all. How detailed such aspects should be regulated in implementation rules is seen quite differentiated by processors and non-processors which were asked in a Delphi Survey, depending on the different areas. At the EU regulatory level, the top priority mentioned was the minimal use of additives, followed by minimal and careful processing. Quality/sensory aspects, however, were not seen as primary objectives at the EU level, because companies should have the chance to develop individual sensorial profiles for their products. However, regarding the minimum use of additives this is clearly perceived to be an EU level issue. There is also a tendency to prefer additives of certified organic origin, both among ‘processors’ as well as ‘non-processors’ points of view. The challenge in the future will be to develop regulations with the right balance between authenticity, health orientation and convenience to maintain the confidence of consumers and credibility of the products in the use minimum and careful processing strategies permitted under organic farming standards

Spectropolarimetry of the borderline Seyfert 1 galaxy ESO 323-G077

We report the detection of high linear polarization in the bright Seyfert 1 galaxy ESO 323-G077. Based on optical spectropolarimetry with FORS1 at the VLT we find a continuum polarization which ranges from 2.2 % at 8300A to 7.5 % at 3600A. Similar amounts of linear polarization are found for the broad emission lines, while the narrow lines are not polarized. The position angle of the polarization is independent of the wavelength and found to be perpendicular to the orientation of the extended [OIII] emission cone of this galaxy. Within the standard model of Seyfert nuclei the observations can be well understood assuming that this AGN is observed at an inclination angle where the nucleus is partially obscured and seen mainly indirectly in the light scattered by dust clouds within or above the torus and the illuminated inner edge of the dust torus itself. Hence we conclude that ESO 323-G077 is a borderline Seyfert 1 galaxy which can provide important information on the geometric properties of active nuclei

Random trees in queueing systems with deadlines

AbstractWe survey our research on scheduling aperiodic tasks in real-time systems in order to illustrate the benefits of modelling queueing systems by means of random trees. Relying on a discrete-time single-server queueing system, we investigated deadline meeting properties of several scheduling algorithms employed for servicing probabilistically arriving tasks, characterized by arbitrary arrival and execution time distributions and a constant service time deadline T. Taking a non-queueing theory approach (i.e., without stable-stable assumptions) we found that the probability distribution of the random time sT where such a system operates without violating any task's deadline is approximately exponential with parameter λT = 1μT, with the expectation E[sT] = μT growing exponentially in T. The value μT depends on the particular scheduling algorithm, and its derivation is based on the combinatorial and asymptotic analysis of certain random trees. This paper demonstrates that random trees provide an efficient common framework to deal with different scheduling disciplines and gives an overview of the various combinatorial and asymptotic methods used in the appropriate analysis

Le projet d’un code civil européen et la Constitution européenne

Le projet d’un code civil européen a été débattu jusqu’ici surtout dans une optique privatiste et comparatiste. L’auteur adopte ici une perspective différente : celle de l’encadrement déjà existant du droit privé dans le système communautaire qui peut être appelé, avec la Cour de justice de Luxembourg, la « Constitution européenne ». Bien que les influences entre Constitution européenne et droit privé soient pour une large part bénéfiques, un phénomène fortement négatif ne saurait être ignoré : celui de l’instrumentalisation du droit privé pour des objectifs collectifs, le Marché commun en premier lieu. Dans cette situation, un avantage important d’un code civil européen s’impose : son potentiel, ignoré jusqu’ici, de limiter les dangers de l’instrumentalisation, en conférant au droit privé une voix propre parmi les disciplines juridiques européennes.The project of a European civil code has until now been discussed mostly from a private and comparative law point of view. In this paper, the author adopts a novel perspective : that of the already existing embed-dedness of private law in the Community system, which may be called, in the words of the European Court of Justice, the « European Constitution ». Whilst the interactions between the European Constitution and private law are mostly beneficial, a strongly negative phenomenon should not be overlooked, namely that of the instrumentalization of private law for Community interests, in particular the Common Market. Against this background, an important advantage of a European Civil Code becomes visible : its potential, until now unnoticed, to limit the dangers of instrumentalization by giving private law a voice of its own among European legal disciplines

Searching atomic spin contrast on nickel oxide (001) by force microscopy

The (001) surface of NiO, an antiferromagnet at room temperature, was investigated under ultra-high vacuum conditions with frequency modulation atomic force microscopy (FM-AFM). The antiferromagnetic coupling between ions leads to a spin superstructure on (001) surfaces. Exchange interaction between the probe of a force microscope and the NiO (001) surface should allow to image spin superstructures in real space. The surface was imaged with three different probing tips: nonmagnetic W tips, ferromagnetic Co tips and antiferromagnetic NiO tips - and atomic resolution was achieved with all three of them in various distance regimes and in several channels. Evidence for spin contrast was obtained in experiments that utilize NiO tips and oscillation amplitudes in the \AA-regime, where optimal signal-to-noise ratio is expected. The spin contrast is weaker than expected and only visible in Fourier space images.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, submitted to Physical Review

Mobile Augeninnendruckmessung: Von der Palpation bis zu ersten klinischen Erfahrungen mit dem handgehaltenen dynamischen Konturtonometer

Zusammenfassung: Die Goldmann-Applanationstonometrie gilt immer noch als der Goldstandard der Augeninnendruckmessung und spielt bei der Früherkennung des Glaukoms eine zentrale Rolle. Die Applanationstonometrie wird normalerweise am sitzenden Patienten an der Spaltlampe durchgeführt. Manchmal ist es jedoch notwendig, den Augeninnendruck (IOD) spaltlampenunabhängig messen zu können. Mit den handgehaltenen Geräten wird die Druckmessung ins Krankenzimmer, in den Operationssaal sowie zu Patienten, die nicht in sitzender Position an der Spaltlampe untersuchen werden können, gebracht. Das dynamische Konturtonometer (DCT) stellt eine neue Methode der direkten intraokularen Druckmessung dar. Es arbeitet nach dem Prinzip der piezoelektronischen Konturanpasstonometrie und soll weniger von den biomechanischen Eigenschaften der Hornhaut abhängig sein. Neben dem IOD kann auch die okulare Pulsamplitude erfasst werden. Bisher fanden die DCT-Messungen spaltlampenadaptiert statt. Wir präsentieren einen portablen Prototyp des Geräts. Im Vergleich mit dem Perkins-Tonometer und dem TONO-PENXL zeigt das handgehaltene DCT eine geringere Intra- und Interuntersuchervariabilität. Außerdem bietet das Gerät die Möglichkeit, die okulare Pulsamplitude (OPA) in liegender Position zu erfasse