STALS Book Review

This a review that Marta Simoncini (University of Antwerp) kindly wrote on my last book in Italian "Lo spirito polemico del diritto europeo. Studio sulle ambizioni costituzionali dell'Unione" (Aracne, Roma, 2011) http://www.aracneeditrice.it/aracneweb/index.php/catalogo/area/areascientifica/scienze-giuridiche/9788854844759-detail.html

You can read the full text of the review at the following URL:

http://www.stals.sssup.it/files/STALS%20Review%20Marta.pdf

Alemanno on Global Food Governance

Testing the Limits of Global Food Governance: The Case of Ractopamine

Alberto Alemanno 

HEC Paris - Law Department

Giuseppe Capodieci 

affiliation not provided to SSRN
August 22, 2012

European Journal of Risk Regulation, Vol. 3, 2012 
Abstract:      
Although few citizens outside of the livestock industry have heard about this veterinary drug, ractopamine is set to become not only the source of public concern but also the trigger of another endless transatlantic trade dispute. After years of scientific and political deadlock, the Codex Alimentarius Commission (CAC) narrowly voted, on July 5, 2012 to adopt the first-ever maximum residue levels for ractopamine hydrochloride, a controversial veterinary drug used in animal feed that boosts growth and promotes leanness in pigs and cattle. The high polarization on the political acceptability of the substance as well as the politicization of its underlying science that have accompanied the discussions within Codex are likely to weaken the legitimacy and overall effectiveness of the adopted standard on the multilateral global food safety governance. In particular, this decision, by making it easier for the U.S. and others to challenge countries like China, the European Union and Taiwan for having zero tolerance policies for ractopamine residues in meat products, is likely to lead the World Trade Organization to judge against those countries that ban the use of ractopamine. Yet this likely outcome begs the question of whether the weight of an international standard adopted with a one vote difference could realistically be considered tantamount to one adopted under consensus. Under these circumstances, ractopamine is set to become the source of another endless transatlantic trade dispute and a test case for the embryonic and fragmented global food governance system.

Keywords: codex alimentarius, risk regulation, food law, precautionary principle, EU law, WTO Law

Full text available at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2133908

SPECIAL ISSUE: Vol 3, No 1 (2012): SPRING - SPECIAL ISSUE. THE THIRD GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND LEGAL THOUGHT

Vol 3, No 1 (2012): SPRING - SPECIAL ISSUE. THE THIRD GLOBALIZATION OF LAW AND LEGAL THOUGHT


Full issue available at: http://www.comparativelawreview.com/ojs/index.php/CoLR

NEW ISSUE: ISAIDAT Law Review, special issue

Special Issue 3: Complexity of transnational sources

Full issue available at: http://isaidat.di.unito.it/index.php/isaidat/article/viewFile/86/102

NEW ISSUE: Italian Journal of Public Law

The issue can be downloaded at the following URL:

http://www.ijpl.eu/assets/files/pdf/2012_volume_1/IJPL_volume%201_2012.pdf

Bologna on the National Federation of Independent Business v. Sebelius, Secretary of Health and Human Services decision (in Italian)

Chiara Bologna Sovranità degli stati federati e costituzionalità della riforma sanitaria: gli equilibrismi del chief justice Roberts

full text available at: http://www.federalismi.it/ApplMostraDoc.cfm?hpsez=Primo_Piano&content=Sovranit%C3%A0+degli+stati+federati+e+costituzionalit%C3%A0+della+riforma+sanitaria:+gli+equilibrismi+del+chief+justice+Roberts&content_auth=Chiara+Bologna&Artid=20687

Guastaferro on Art. 4.2 TEU

Abstract

Article 4(2) of the Treaty on the European Union, in its novel formulation provided by the Treaty of Lisbon, requires the Union to “respect Member States’ national identities, inherent in their fundamental structures, political and constitutional, including regional and local self-government”. This work seeks to elucidate the meaning and the legal implications of the identity clause in its current wording. To this end, this work analyzes the working documents of the European Convention to determine the drafter’s intended role of the so-called “Christophersen clause”, the predecessor of Art. 4 (2) TEU. It then focuses on the use of the identity clause by the ECJ in the review of both EU and national measures. This work challenges the conventional assumption that the evident purpose of the clause is that of applying in exceptional cases of conflicts between EU law and domestic constitutional law—in an attempt to narrow the scope of application of the supremacy doctrine—and explores the potential use of the clause in the ordinary functioning of EU law. Some normative recommendations will be put forward as to the identity clause potential use in safeguarding Member States’ cultural diversity, regulatory autonomy, and margin of appreciation.

Full paper available here:

http://centers.law.nyu.edu/jeanmonnet/papers/12/1201.html