Summary : Based mainly on the reasoning and legislative proposal set out in the final report of the Swedish Inquiry on the Administrative Procedure Act, chaired by the author, this briefing note presents some approaches also relevant for the construction of an Act under Article 298 TFEU.

Authors : Hans Ragnemalm (Supreme Administrative Court of Sweden and Swedish Parliamentary Ombudsman)

Committees : Legal affairs

Summary : The measures adopted by the Commission in the last 5 years defining the EU implementation and enforcement policy aim at improving the implementation rather than enforcement of EU law by enhancing Member States' role and capacity, including by delegating actions to the national level. The present note argues the need to strengthen the enforcement role of the Commission as the Guardian of the Treaties and proposes specific actions to be taken at EU level for the development of a strong policy for implementation and enforcement of EU environmental law.

Authors : Marta Ballesteros (ClientEarth)

Committees : Legal affairs

Summary : This briefing note addresses three topics concerning the relationship between the Commission acting as Guardian of the EU Treaties and complainants. First, it investigates the link between non-contractual liability and the Commission's discretion under Article 258 TFEU. Secondly, it examines Article 258 TFEU and the introduction of EU Pilot (a confidential on-line database for communication between Commission services and Member State authorities concerning potential infringements). Finally, it discusses limitations of the procedure under Article 258 TFEU and the capability of mutual evaluation as a supplementary enforcement tool.

Authors : Stine Andersen (Kromann Reumert)

Committees : Legal affairs

Summary : This paper will address some of the main issues relating to the drafting of a law bearing on direct EU administration, pointing out the main options for each one of them. The first chapter deals with preliminary issues, in order to define the object of the paper. In the second chapter some fundamental features of the envisaged law are discussed. The third chapter is devoted to the scope of the law. The fourth chapter focuses on some of its possible contents.

Authors : Bernardo Giorgio Mattarella

Committees : Legal affairs

Summary : This briefing note presents the experience of a judge of an ordinary court of the Republic of Lithuania of applying provisional protection measures in civil proceedings. The presentation is provided in the light of the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on mutual recognition of protection measures in civil matters (2011/0130 (COD) by analysing the rules set forth by this draft in the context of national law. It reveals the common features and the principles and procedure of application of provisional protection measures taken in civil proceedings in national courts; and provides examples and peculiarities of the application of provisional protection measures established in national law falling within the scope of the Proposal for a Regulation.

Authors : Vigintas Višinskis (The Court of Appeal of Lithuania)

Committees : Legal affairs

Summary : In this document, we describe the activity of Fundación ANAR (Ayuda a Niños y Adolescentes en Riesgo, or Help for Children and Adolescents at Risk) and, in particular, the ANAR Help lines, which were launched in 1994. We then reflect how Spanish law regulates the protection order for victims of crime and, finally, we provide a number of contributions that, in our experience in child protection, we believe important to consider in the study and drafting of recent legislative proposals from the European Commission for strengthening the rights of victims of crime in the European Union.

Authors : Leticia Mata Mayrand (Legal Department, Fundación ANAR, Madrid, Spain)

Committees : Legal affairs

Summary : In civil and commercial matters, the provisional and protective measures are set to preserve the factual or legal situation, in a way to protect the rights whose recognition was claimed elsewhere by the court, having jurisdiction over the substance of the matter. Thus, protection measures shall surprise the defendant by depriving him/her of the possibility to make the protection sought useless. Talking about domestic violence, the protective measures are set to give immediate protection in cases where there exists a direct and immediate threat of continuation of domestic violence, whilst guaranteeing the rights of the offender to a fair trial.

Authors : Nikolay ANGELOV (Regional Court, Plovdiv, Bulgaria)

Committees : Legal affairs

Summary : This report has been drafted upon the invitation of the European Parliament to perform a study on the provisions, instruments or areas of activity of EU institutions, bodies, offices and agencies, where judicial review is not possible. As the judicial reviewability of EU soft administrative and regulatory rule-making is particularly problematic, this type of rule-making has been put central. The report aims at highlighting the institutional, procedural and judicial framework within which soft rule-making is used and what actions may be required for a better design thereof.

Authors : L.A.J. Senden and A. van den Brink (Europa Institute, Utrecht University, the Netherlands)

Committees : Legal affairs

Summary : This opinion deals with the consolidated text of the draft Regulation on succession law in the version dated 10/16 January 2012. The decisions underlying the draft appear to be sound: synchronisation of jurisdiction and applicable law, the decisive significance of the deceased’s last place of residence, the principle that the same law is to govern the succession as a whole, and the establishment of a European Certificate of Succession. The draft makes significant improvements on previous versions, in particular as regards conflicts of laws, the enforcement of decisions, the provisions on the European Certificate of Succession, and the extended temporary arrangements. Other aspects, however, need improvement. These are listed individually in the Executive Summary.

Executive summary :

Authors : Burkhard Hess, Erik Jayme and Thomas Pfeiffer assisted by Stefan Huber, Björn Laukemann, D. Robert Magnus and Stefanie Spancken (Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg Institut für ausländisches und internationals Privat- und Wirtschaftsrecht)

Committees : Legal affairs