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Silly names for EU mechanisms
The mechanism for Rapid Border Intervention Teams (RABIT), assisting MS's under circumstances of a sudden influx of asylum seekers, have been ridiculed given its rather silly name. There is, however, another mechanism with a far more unfortunate name...
Repost from Kosmopolito: Short guide to lazy EU journalism
Just found this on Kosmopolito. Great Laugh!Short guide to lazy EU journalismThe unofficial rulebook for lazy EU journalism. 20 invaluable tips for your career in EU journalism.1. Not sure how the EU works or what institutions are involved? –> J...
The RIO Trip - Part 3: Brussels, the (unofficial) capital of Europe
Finally on wednesday evening we arrived in the city of Brussels, a city well suited for housing the core of the EU executive and legislature considering its diversity. Four visits were on the agenda in brussels: the European Commission, the European...
Pfleiderer II? - New GWB may prohibit private access to leniency applications
The overhaul of the German GWB (Law against Restriction of Competition) may also react to the CJEU's recent judgement in Pfleiderer. The draft proposes a new section that would prohibit the access to leniency applications of the German Competition Au...
Interesting note on the current patent system [Follow-up on the Smartphone Wars]
In this article by James Temple, a lawyer representing Google gives his view on the problems with contemporary software patent protection. Very interesting reading about how undertakings use their patent portfolios to maintain market dominance.
The RIO Trip - Part 2: The Imperial Palace of the EU Judiciary
On tuesday evening we moved on from Strasbourg, leaving the Council of Europe behind, and travelled to the center of the EU judiciary: the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU, formerly and still popularly referred to as the ECJ) in the city of Lux...
"Solvay" - Violation of Rights of Defense in Competition Case
The Court of Justice (CJEU) has decided on Tuesday that the Commission's decision to fine Solvay for violations of Art. 101 TFEU is invalid, because Solvay's rights of defense were violated. This story dates back to 1990 when the first decision was a...
The RIO Trip - Part 1: A journey to the heartland of European integration
Last Friday we returned from the RIO-trip, an annual study trip arranged by Leiden University, where master students from the European Law Programme are invited to travel to the three centres of European institutions: Strasbourg; Luxembourg and Bruss...
The International Cocoa Agreement
Today the International Cocoa Agreement (ICCO) was published in the Official Journal of the European Union. Despite its rather comic name, the treaty is an important international instrument which seeks to promote sustainable growth and fair re...
Russia's take on the territorial application of the ECHR
It is very rare for Contracting States of the European Convention (ECHR) to be brought before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) by other Contracting States. The case of Georgia v Russia (no. 2) is one of those rare occasions.The case concern...
What's the problem with the "Like" button?
Just found this (slightly funny) bit: German minister against Facebook 'like' buttonBy EUOBSERVERGerman consumer protection minister Ilse Aigner has said that social networking site Facebook's 'like' button is in breach of EU and German data privac...
To cut up a subject matter in two...
...might be the best way to tell you about starting my Masters in European Law at Leiden University.1. The studiesSo far, I have had a great time during the lectures and seminars here...all the teachers are enthusiastic and really know what they are...
Austerity Measures vs. Sovereignty
The eternal discussion of national sovereignty contra unification (or federalism) is highlighted as the pressure of austerity measures on member states of the Eurozone lead to increasing popular unrest. To add a little extra spice to the discussion,...
Update on recent Mergers in the Digital World: Concers over Microsoft's Aquisition of Skype
Just a quick update on the recent merger-mania among the computer/cell-phone/web 2.0 giants: After Google's bid for Motorola's mobile section we forgot all about the fact that Microsoft is trying to buy Skype. This merger seems to be stuck with the E...
The Free Movement on Suspension?
The Free Movement of Persons, being one of the core principles in EU-law, has come under strain from economic and political difficulties within the EU. This became apparent first when France in March unilaterally decided to suspend Schengen-rules and...
Update on E-Books - Copy-Paste suits
Apparently the e-book class action came with a tail: Four more complaints have been lodged since Hagens Bergman filed their complaint on the 9th of August. Some of them are apparently outright copy-paste complaints, while others at least had the dece...
Don't post too much information on your facebook wall - or the police might come knocking at your door
Regarding possible restrictions of using social media in order to quell riots; the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, David Cameron, stated the following today:“Mr Speaker, everyone watching these horrific actions will be stuck by how they were...
Antitrust Cases involving Google, Apple and other Giants: I'm getting confused here....
So, following the news these days (and I don't mean the stock markets crashing all over the place), one can get a bit confused about which internet/media/electronics giant is suing which and who is being investigated. So lets recap: 10 complaints (in...
Price-fixing for E-Books!?
As anyone surfing around in the digital world probably is aware of, there has been quite some discussion over e-books, which you can could read on a mobile device such as the iPad or Amazon's kindle. I honestly don't know anyone who does, but I must...
