Inge Govaere

Multi-faceted single legal personality and a hidden horizontal pillar: EU external relations post-Lisbon

The Lisbon Treaty has fundamentally revised the external relations of the EU in pursuit of more visibility, coherence and consistency. The EU is, for instance, given a single legal personality, the pillar structure is (formally) abolished, new functions are created to reinforce its external representation and external policies appear to be streamlined. But is there more to it than meets the eye? A critical legal assessment is given of the major Treaty modifications relating to the EU external relations whilst addressing two underlying issues. First it is questioned whether the Member States have really given up their traditional reluctance to share fully the international scene with the EU. It is argued that the Lisbon Treaty in fact means to redress the balance in favour of intergovernmentalism under CFSP. A second crucial and related issue links to the silent dialogue with the CJEU to be discerned in the Lisbon Treaty. It wavers between the codification of important case law, such as Kadi, and attempts at containing or even reversing case law which was more prejudicial to the Member States’ interests, such as the Ecowas judgment. In so doing the Lisbon Treaty again raises interesting yet complex legal questions which will most likely necessitate further clarification through case law.

Trade and competition law in the EU and beyond

Trade and Competition Law in the EU and Beyond, edited by Inge Govaere, Reinhard Quick and Marco Bronckers, is a Festschrift for the 75th birthday of the eminent lawyer Jacques Bourgeois. It is composed of a triple foreword and 29 contributions divided into three parts: ‘Trade and Competition’ (two texts), ‘Trade’ (16 texts), and ‘Competition’ (11 texts). The authorsthe European and American academics, judges, practising lawyers, officials and, at the same time, colleagues, friends, and former students of the celebrated Geburtstagskindwere not shy to cast some light on their relationship with, and the personality of, Jacques Bourgeois, making it a particularly personal academic volume, a true liber amicorum.

Intellectual property, market power and the public interest

The main objective of the contributions to this book is to bring together two seemingly different strands of thought: the competition-law analysis of the exercise of intellectual property, and the discussion about the proper limits of protection, which at present takes place inside the intellectual property community. Both are burdened with their own problems, particularly so in Europe, where market integration and the divide between exclusionary and exploitative abuses ask for a more dimensional approach, and where the shaping of intellectual property protection is under not only the influence of many interests and policies, but a multi-level exercise of the Community and its member states. The question is whether, nevertheless, there is a common concern, or whether the frequently asserted convergence of the operation and of the goals of competition law and intellectual property law does not mask a fundamental difference - namely that of, on the one hand, protecting freedom of competition against welfare-reducing restrictions of competition only, and, on the other, limiting the protection of exclusive rights in the (public) interest of maintaining free access to general knowledge. The purpose of the workshop held in 2007 at the College of Europe, Bruges, and whose results are published here, was to ask which role market power plays in either context, which role it may legitimately play, and which role it ought not to play. A tentative answer might be found in the general principle that, just as intellectual property does not enjoy a particular status under competition law, so competition law may not come as a white knight to rescue intellectual property protection from itself. However, the meaning of that principle differs according to both the context of the acquisition and the exploitation of intellectual property, and it differs from one area of intellectual property to the other. Therefore, an attempt has also been made to cover more facets of the prism-like complex of problems than is generally done.

Novel Issues Pertaining to EU Member States Membership of Other International Organisations: The OIV Case

In the currently pending International Organisation for Vine and Wine (OIV) case the discussion focuses on the scope and interpretation of the sole Article 218(9) TFEU because, as Germany points out, no other substantive legal basis was indicated in the contested decision. This case raises crucial issues not only for the European Union (EU) and its Member States, but also for the proper functioning of the international organisations in which they operate. The outcome is easily predictable when considered only from the perspective of the EU interest. Considering the target of the issues raised by Germany, it appears that at the very least the OIV case should shed some light on the willingness, or not, of the CJEU to redress the balance somewhat in favour of those EU Member States who are full members of other international organisations and in that capacity contract rights and obligations in their own name. Keywords: CJEU; European Union (EU); Germany; Organisation for Vine and Wine (OIV)

Introduction to EU governance of (global) emergencies, threats and crises

This is the introductory chapter of the book, which examines the new legal instruments that the European Union (EU) has at its disposal to tackle situations of humanitarian emergency and to fight terrorism outside the EU, following the Treaty of Lisbon. In addition, the book examines the obligations of solidarity stemming from Article 222 TFEU for the EU and its Member States in the event that the territory of a component of the EU family is the subject of a terrorist attack or a natural/man-made disaster. It explores what the effects are of the economic and fiscal crises of the Euro zone countries as well as the volcanic ash crisis on the European integration process and considers judicial review of EU measures addressing emergencies, crises or threats. The opening contribution sets out the scrutiny of the EU policy approach from the perspective of the EU policy makers. Keywords: economic crises; European Union (EU); fiscal crises; humanitarian emergency; terrorist attack; Treaty of Lisbon