Bridging the Prosperity Gap in the EU addresses the great social challenge currently facing the European Union. Taking an interdisciplinary approach, the authors invaluably pinpoint both overarching problems and possibilities associated with the social dimension of European integration. Prominent researchers of economics, law and political science tackle this complex issue, providing new solutions within their respective fields of expertise. The chapters cover crucial policy challenges and analyse fundamental mechanisms that limit, or otherwise affect, the evolution of a European social dimension. These insights clarify the far-reaching measures that will be needed to gradually restore the balance between market integration and social protection across the European Union. Illustrating the importance of cohesion, this book is vital for those interested in comparative European studies, from backgrounds in public and social policy, law and economics. Contributors include: U. Bernitz, N. Charron, A.-C. Jungar, A.-S. Lind, M. Ljunge, L. Magnusson, M. Martensson, S. Murhem, P. Nyman, L. Oxelheim, J. Paju, T. Persson, B. Rothstein, J. Ruist, J.J. Votinius

The entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009 caused the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights to be granted binding effect. This raised a host of intriguing questions. Would this transform the EU's commitment to fundamental rights? Should it transform that commitment? How, if at all, can we balance competing rights and principles? (The interaction of the social and the economic spheres offers a particular challenge). How deeply does the EU conception of fundamental rights reach into and bind national law and practice? How deeply does it affect private parties? How much flexibility has been left to the Court in making these interpretative choices? What is the likely effect of another of the reforms achieved by the Lisbon Treaty, the commitment of the EU to accede to the ECHR? This book addresses all of these questions in the light of five years of practice under the Charter as a binding instrument.

The entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon in 2009 caused the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights to be granted binding effect. This raised a host of intriguing questions. Would this transform the EU's commitment to fundamental rights? Should it transform that commitment? How, if at all, can we balance competing rights and principles? (The interaction of the social and the economic spheres offers a particular challenge). How deeply does the EU conception of fundamental rights reach into and bind national law and practice? How deeply does it affect private parties? How much flexibility has been left to the Court in making these interpretative choices? What is the likely effect of another of the reforms achieved by the Lisbon Treaty, the commitment of the EU to accede to the ECHR? This book addresses all of these questions in the light of five years of practice under the Charter as a binding instrument.

The changes made by the Lisbon Treaty suggest that its entry into force in December 2009 marks a new stage in the shaping of the EU's commitment to the protection of fundamental rights. This book's concern is to provide an examination of the several (and interlocking) challenges which the Lisbon reforms present. The book will not only address the fresh and intriguing challenges for the EU as an entity committed to the protection and promotion of fundamental rights presented by developments 'post-Lisbon', but also a number of conundrums about the scope and method of protection of fundamental rights in the EU which existed 'pre-Lisbon' and which endure. The book consists of three parts. The first part is concerned with the safeguarding of fundamental rights in Europe's internal market. The second part of the book is entitled 'The Scope of Fundamental Rights in EU Law' and the chapters discuss the reach of fundamental rights and their horizontal dimension. The last part of this book deals with 'The Constitutional Dimension of Fundamental Rights' analysing the special relationship between the ECJ and the ECtHR and the issue of rights competition between the EU Charter on Fundamental Rights, the European Convention on Human Rights and national rights catalogues.

The law on marketing and advertising has undergone profound changes based on the EU directives on unfair commercial practices and misleading and comparative advertising. The legislation partially requires full harmonisation and contains a comprehensive blacklist of prohibited practices. However, in other areas, only minimum harmonisation is required. A comprehensive case law from the CJEU has emerged, but still many issues remain open, unclear and debated. The EU Commission has an active interest in the field and has published numerous reports on the question. In addition it has developed revised, comprehensive guidelines on marketing business to consumer (B2C), which are fully discussed here. Further Commission initiatives in the area on business to business (B2B) marketing are also in the making, underlining the importance of this new collection.

The law on marketing and advertising has undergone profound changes based on the EU directives on unfair commercial practices and misleading and comparative advertising. The legislation partially requires full harmonisation and contains a comprehensive blacklist of prohibited practices. However, in other areas, only minimum harmonisation is required. A comprehensive case law from the CJEU has emerged, but still many issues remain open, unclear and debated. The EU Commission has an active interest in the field and has published numerous reports on the question. In addition it has developed revised, comprehensive guidelines on marketing business to consumer (B2C), which are fully discussed here. Further Commission initiatives in the area on business to business (B2B) marketing are also in the making, underlining the importance of this new collection.

This book addresses and highlights the core issues concerning general principles of EU law and their relationship with and impact on private law. With the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights became a legally binding source of primary law and highlights, together with the General Principles of EU law, the importance of fundamental rights in the legal system of the Union. This increased visibility means that private parties have begun to rely on fundamental rights arguments in proceedings in front of national courts and Union courts more and more often. Amongst many other issues this development brings important questions relating to the effects of EU fundamental rights on private law to the forefront. After an introductory chapter by the editors the following four overarching themes provide the structure of this book and broadly reflect the approaches discussed in its eighteen essays:; the methodology and theory in the elaboration of new General Principles of EU law; the Constitutionalization of private autonomy in EU law; issues of horizontal direct effect viewed from conceptual, sectoral and remedial perspectives; and the relationship between General Principles and competition law. This book reflects the continuous relevance and the need to re-examine the effects and the status of General Principles of EU law, which have been dealt with already twice before (in 1999 and 2007) by the group that has compiled the present volume,the Swedish Network for European Legal Studies. The discussion that emerges is, here as before, of immense significance both for theoretical legal studies and for legal practice. The eighteen essays here printed are all final author-edited versions of papers first presented at the Network's conference in Stockholm in November 2012. The authors include both eminent, well-known experts, and representatives of a new generation of younger scholars in the field.

What are the basic principles underlying European Community Law? Although no one seeks a purely descriptive answer to this question, the discussion it gives rise to is of immense significance both for theoretical legal studies and for legal practice. Over the years, scholars have convened from time to time to re-examine the question in the light of new developments. This important volume offers insights and findings of the latest such conference, held at Stockholm in March 2007, and sponsored by the Swedish Network for European Legal Studies. The nineteen essays here printed are all final author-edited versions of papers first presented at that conference.
Far from merely an updating of the First Edition, which marked a 1999 conference held under the same auspices at Malmo, this book is entirely new. It underscores the importance of discovering the emergence of new general principles - linked, indeed, to such fundamental continuing concerns as democracy, accountability, transparency, direct effect, good administration, and European citizenship - as they develop in such increasingly important areas as the following:
- core aspects of competition and financial integration law;
- the ongoing process of European constitutionalization;
- the application of general principles in the new Member States;
- the growth of European private law;
- the successive creation of a jus commune europaeum; and
- the instrumental function of the EC Court.
There is also special consideration attached to such overriding issues as the gap-filling function of the principles within the Community legal system, and the implications of the use of a comparative methodology. The authorsinclude both eminent, well-known experts, many of whom took part in the 1999 Conference, and representatives of a new generation of younger scholars in the field.
For the myriad parties involved in the evolution of the European project from a legal perspective, this book serves as a watershed, a thorough inspection of the foundations as they are perceived and understood at the present moment. It is sure to be consulted and cited often in the years to come.

This text is based on a selection of papers presented at the Conference in Malm, Sweden, which was organized by the Swedish Network for European Legal Studies in co-operation with the Faculty of Law of the University of Lund. The purpose of the conference was to analyze general principles and their scope in the EU legal order with special emphasis on their role in the creation of a jus commune europaeum. The impact of the general principles of Community Law at the national level was analyzed and also how these principles have been transformed into the national legal systems. Also discussed was the creative process behind the shaping and further development of the general principles and their application. Due to their complex nature, the general principles offer a more or less unlimited field for theoretical legal studies. At the same time, the general principles play a very important role in legal practice, not least when used as instruments for the protection of individuals and firms against too far-reaching measures taken by the European institutions or Member States.

This book represents the fruit of a conference held in Oxford on March 3, 2006 under the auspices of the Institute of European and Comparative Law in the Oxford University Law Faculty. Directive 2005/29 is an important new measure in the construction of a legal framework apt to promote an integrated economic space in the European Union. It establishes a harmonised regime governing the control of unfair commercial practices. As such it represents an important exercise in the use of new rules and new techniques, and therefore poses new challenges to EU lawyers. The purpose of this book is to inform and to explore the issues raised by the Directive, issues which are of academic and practical interest, in helping to understand the evolution of European consumer law within the broader programme of European market regulation. The intense practical significance of this Directive, which heralds a new regime, is likely to provoke commercial operators to seek to exploit opportunities to pursue practices previously suppressed.

The essays gathered in this collection examine the involvement of self-governing sub-national and regional actors in the law and policy-making of the European Union. State power is today exercised in the context of the complex institutional environment of the EU. But what of regions and sub-national actors? Are their interests adequately represented; can they advance them or can they,at least, protect them from unwitting or calculated damage? This book surveys the broad questions of law and political science and investigates the contribution of the EU's Committee of the Regions and also 'bottom-up' initiatives launched by the regions themselves. Given that much regional autonomy has been hard won, one would suppose that the centralising influence flowing from the EU's intrusion into the domestic settlement would be treated with extreme caution by the regions. Moreover, among the Member States there is great diversity in the patterns of political organisation adopted to cope with the tension between the centralisation of power and respect for local autonomy. Case studies including Spain, Germany and Finland reveal that there is no single consistent historical narrative. States change, as the UK's recent experience illustrates. The book offers findings that are interesting at a general level in investigating patterns of multi-level governance, but is also rich in case-specific information.

The financial crisis has brought about a revival of state protectionism across the globe. Most Western leaders have made a virtue of big government and state intervention; bail-outs and Sovereign Wealth Funds have been among the first responses to the economic contraction. Company law rules are one of the instruments frequently used to restrict or to discourage integration or to deter foreign investment. Examples for the new protectionism can be seen in a wide range of legislative and regulatory measures, for instance state measures preventing foreign takeovers, 'golden shares' or laws on foreign direct investment targeting Sovereign Wealth Funds, mainly from Asia.
This book presents timely research by a number of company law and EU law experts into this field of law. The chapters cover a broad range of topics, spanning from takeovers/mergers over the one share-one vote debate through to the foreclosure of markets against Sovereign Wealth Funds.