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Category Archives: EU
Life Cycle Thinking and Assessment
The European Commission has created a Web site devoted to the environmental impact of designing, manufacturing, and disposing of products, services, and energy. The site includes publications and a glossary. Life cycle information impacts agriculture, manufacturing, energy, waste management, constriction, and retail sales.
Life Cycle Thinking and Assessment
http://lct.jrc.ec.europa.eu/index_jrc
From the description
Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) seeks to identify possible improvements to goods and services in the form of lower environmental impacts and reduced use of resources across all life cycle stages. This begins with raw material extraction and conversion, then manufacture and distribution, through to use and/or consumption. It ends with re-use, recycling of materials, energy recovery and ultimate disposal.
The key aim of Life Cycle Thinking is to avoid burden shifting. This means minimising impacts at one stage of the life cycle, or in a geographic region, or in a particular impact category, while helping to avoid increases elsewhere. For example, saving energy during the use phase of a product, while not increasing the amount of material needed to provide it.
Taking a life cycle perspective requires a policy developer, environmental manager or product designer to look beyond their own knowledge and in-house data. It requires cooperation up and down the supply chain. At the same time, it also provides an opportunity to use the knowledge that has been gathered to gain signi cant economic advantages.
Increasing Public Access to Government Data and Laws
Our friend and hero Carl Malamud is quoted in a “special report on managing information” from the February 25, 2010 issue of The Economist.
We’ll be making the article, “The open society: Governments are letting in the light,” required reading for our advanced legal research class.
The article discusses efforts and impediments, at both the local and national level, to making government information freely available.
Locally the article quotes San Francisco CIO Chris Vein on how “providing more information can make government more efficient.” An example is a site called San Francisco Crimespotting ”that layers historical crime figures on top of map information.” The article notes that “[o]ther cities, including New York, Chicago and Washington, DC, are racing ahead as well.”
The article goes on to say that “[o]ther parts of the world are also beginning to move to greater openness. A European Commission directive in 2005 called for making public-sector information more accessible.”
The article also discusses some of the impediments, such as Crown copyright where “in Britain and the Commonwealth countries most government data is state property” and there are use constraints, and PACER’s paywall.
The direction is for more openness and for “new forms of collaboration between the public and private sectors.” And as the article concludes:
John Stuart Mill in 1861 called for “the widest participation in the details of judicial and administrative business . . . above all by the utmost possible publicity.” These days, that includes the greatest possible disclosure of data by electronic means.
Europeans’ Attitudes Towards Climate Change
Eurobaramoter has released a special report on European attitudes towards climate change.
Europeans’ Attitudes Towards Climate Change. Special Eurobameter 322
http://ec.europa.eu/public_opinion/archives/ebs/ebs_322_en.pdf
From the introduction of the opinion survey:
This report presents the results of a survey on the attitudes of Europeans towards climate change which was carruied out on late August and September 2009.
2009 is a watershed year for fighting climate change, with world leaders meeting at the United Nations Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen in December to try and reach a follow-up agreement to the Kyoto Protocol. As this time grows closer there has been an increasing focus in the international media on the conference, on climate change, and on the various measures needed to curb its impact. Since the EU adopted ambitious climate and energy targets for 2020 in December 2008 many countries have also seen a more active dialogue about climate change taking place. The EU has launched its own climate change campaign website to provide general information to the public as well as to suggest ways for individual actions1. But what do Europeans actually think about climate change?
This survey mapped the opinion of Europeans on a range of climate change related topics, and in particular covers:
♦ Respondents’ perceptions of climate change in relation to other world
problems.
♦ Respondents’ perceptions of the seriousness of climate change.
♦ Respondents’ perceptions about the actions of local, national governments as
well as the EU in combating climate change
♦ Respondents’ attitudes towards alternative fuels and CO² emissions.
♦ Whether respondents feel that climate change is stoppable or has been
exaggerated, and what impact it has on the European economy.
♦ Whether respondents have taken personal action to fight climate change, and
what those actions are.
♦ Perceived relative importance of the economy and the environment
♦ Europeans’ willingness to pay more for greener energy
Erich Pommer Institute – German Media Law
The Erich Pommer Institute in Potsdam, Germany maintains an online catalog of its library holdings related to German and EU media law, entertainment law or IP issues. The library catalog records are searchable by year, theme, and keyword. Very few full-text items are listed; however, it is a useful site for literature searches and collection development. Search interface is in German, but catalog entries include various languages.
Erich Pommer Institut Bibliothek
JURISTAS – European Court of Human Rights
JURISTAS provides country specific case studies of litigation at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg. Case studies include Austria, Bulgaria, France , Germany, Greece, Romania, and Turkey. The reports detail litigation by subject and domestic enforcement of ECHR judgments.
The Strasbourg Court, Democracy and the Human Rights of Individuals and Communities: Patterns of Litigation, State Implementation and Domestic Reform (JURISTRAS)
Google Books in the News
European Union to scrutinize Google Books settlement; Congress may hold hearing
“The European Union said today that it would scrutinize Google’s settlement with authors and publishers and hold a hearing Sept. 7 to determine whether there would be any adverse impact on the European book market. “What’s currently planned is a fact-finding exercise by the [European] Commission — not an investigation — and we’re looking forward to taking part,” said Jennie Johnson, a Google spokeswoman. Under scrutiny will be Google’s agreement, reached last year with the Authors Guild and the American Association of Publishers, to make out-of-print books searchable online.”
University of Wisconsin-Madison and University of Texas expand Google Books agreements
“In May, the University of Michigan announced an expanded agreement with Google that will take advantage of our settlement agreement to make millions of works from its library collection accessible to readers, researchers, and book lovers across the United States. Today, two more longstanding library partners–the University of Wisconsin-Madison and the University of Texas–have also expanded their partnerships with Google. That means that if the agreement is approved by the court, anyone in the US will be able to find, preview and buy online access to books from these two libraries as well.”
http://booksearch.blogspot.com/2009/07/university-of-wisconsin-madison-and.html
Google Library Project Settlement: What It Means for Publishers
SPONSORED BY: Google, The Association of American Publishers, and Publishers Weekly
EVENT DATE: Wednesday, July 29, 2 pm ET Time – 60 minutes
“In a webinar first, the leaders involved with the crafting of the Google Library Project Settlement will share with the publishing industry the benefits of the agreement for publishers and authors. If approved by the Court in October, the agreement will create one of the most far-reaching intellectual, cultural, and commercial platforms for access to digital books for the reading public, while granting publishers unprecedented opportunities and protections. Presented in collaboration with Google, The Association of American Publishers, and Publishers Weekly, the web session is a must-attend event for publishers everywhere.”
Copyfraud: Poisoning the public domain
“The public domain is the greatest resource in human history: eventually all knowledge will become part of it. Its riches serve all mankind, but it faces a new threat. Vast libraries of public domain works are being plundered by claims of “copyright”. It’s called copyfraud – and we’ll discover how large corporations like Google, Yahoo, and Amazon have structured their businesses to assist it and profit from it.”
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/06/26/copyfraud/
Give Your Input On the Google Book Search Settlement
“Publishers Weekly would like your input on the Google Book Search Settlement (from PW) and they are conducting a survey designed to gather a broad view of how the Settlement is being viewed.. . . . If you’re interested, take a few minutes to answer this brief, targeted questionnaire to help gauge industry opinion on whether the settlement should be approved, modified or rejected. Note that you do not have to have standing in the suit to participate in the survey. Please click on this link when you are ready to take the survey.”
http://lisnews.org/give_your_input_google_book_search_settlement
Source: The always excellent Intersect Alert.
The Intersect Alert is a newsletter of the Government Relations Committee, San Francisco Bay Region Chapter, Special Libraries Association
Global Carbon Trading: a Framework for Reducing Emissions
The UK’s Department of Energy and Climate Chnage has released a report on global cap and trade: “Global Carbon Trading: a Framework for Reducing Emissions.”
http://www.decc.gov.uk/Media/viewfile.ashx?FilePath=What we do\Global climate change and energy\Tackling Climate Change\Emissions Trading\Lazarowicz report\1_20090720094330_e_@@_GlobalCarbonTradingaframeworkforreducingemissions.pdf&filetype=4
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION
THE CURRENT FRAMEWORK
LONG-TERM FRAMEWORK FOR CARBON TRADING
NATIONAL TARGETS IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
EMISSIONS TRADING
DEVELOPING COUNTRIES – A PHASED APPROACH
GOVERNANCE AND INSTITUTIONS
CAPACITY BUILDING
CONCLUSIONS
ANNEX A: SECTOR SUMMARIES:
Power Industry Forestry Agriculture Surface transport International shipping International aviation Buildings Waste
ANNEX B: EMISSION TRAJECTORIES IN THE TRANSITION PERIOD
ANNEX C: CAP AND TRADE IN PRACTICE – THE ACID RAIN PROGRAMME
ANNEX D: GLOBAL CARBON FINANCE MODEL
ANNEX E: CURRENT AND PROPOSED EMISSIONS TRADING SYSTEMS
Slovak Legal Database EPI
Economic and Legal Information(EPI) is a fee-based database of Slovak legal resources; however, some information is available free of charge. It provides legislation, commentaries on statutes and codes, current awareness for Slovak and EU case law, model contracts, and financial news. All information appears is Slovak -no translations.
Ekonomické a Právne Informácie (Economic & Legal Information)
New journal: European Labour Law Journal
Intersentia Publishing will release the inaugural voluem of European Labour Law Journal later in 2009. No word on subscription price yet. The first issue will publish papers presented at the Future of Labour Law in Europe Conference in June, 2009.
European Labour Law Journal http://www.intersentia.com/upload/aankondiging%20ELLJ.pdf
About the European Labour Law Journal
The European Labour Law Journal is set to increase and foster the debate on the future of labour law in Europe and to increase the knowledge of labour law.
It aims to better define the role of labour law in Europe and in light of a European Social Model which can provide solutions for the challenges facing the EU and its Member States, requiring a good combination of economic market performance and quality of life, good work and social justice.
In order to contribute to this, the Journal is set to study European labour law in its national, EU and international contexts. Current and future developments in Europe and the world necessitate a fundamental investigation of labour law in the EU and its Member States, and of the basic principles of labour law in Europe.
The Journal fills an existing gap in the academic community. Although there are many national and some internationally oriented labour law journals, none of them specifically addresses the EU as a central focus of attention, including developments of labour law in the EU at the level of the Member States.
Concept
The European Labour Law Journal aims to be a leading academic journal in the area of European labour law and social policy. European labour law is viewed in a wide sense. It includes labour law at the European Union level as well as labour law in the Member States. It also pays attention to developments of labour law at a more global level and its relevance for the EU and its Member States. These various levels are seen as intrinsically connected and mutually interdependent.
The scope of the Journal is confined with:
EU labour law and social policy taken in its internal and external dimension;
The interaction between EU labour law and Member States’ labour law, including relevant national developments of labour law;
Developments of labour law in doctrine and policy at a global level and their relevance for labour law in Europe;
Cross-disciplinary developments relating to social policy and industrial relations and their relevance for labour law in Europe.
Attention is paid to developments at the level of policy, legislation, case law as well as academic doctrine.
