Lessons from the Multilateral Trading System for Reforming the Architecture of the International Environmental Regime

Recent studies on environmental regimes suggest that important lessons and policy recommendations may be drawn from the functioning of the multilateral trading regime. This brief compares the needs and goals of the trade and environment regimes, and discusses how insights from over sixty years of experience of the multilateral trading system might provide ideas for redesigning the architecture of the international environmental regime. It further calls for a better dialogue and improved complementarities between the two fields in order to enhance coherence within international law.

The Integration of Electricity from Renewable Energy Sources in the European Union Electricity Market – The case for “Smart Grids”

The power sector is to play a central role in a low carbon economy. In all the decarbonisation scenarios of the European Union renewable energy sources (RES) will be a crucial part of the solution. Current grids constitute however major bottlenecks for the future expansion of RES. Recognising the need for a modernisation of its grids, the European Union has called for the creation of a "smart supergrid" interconnecting European grids at the continental level and making them "intelligent" through the addition of information and communication technology (ICT). To implement its agenda the EU has taken a leading role in coordinating research efforts and creating a common legislative framework for the necessary modernisation of Europe’s grids. This paper intends to give both an overview and a critical appraisal of the measures taken so far by the European Union to "transform" the grids into the backbone of a decarbonised electricity system. It suggests that if competition is to play a significant role in the deployment of smart grids, the current regulatory paradigm will have to be fundamentally reassessed

Stress parameters and behaviour of horses in walkers with and without the use of electricity

In order to investigate stress responses of horses in walkers with and without electricity, 12 horses were trained during 3 weeks in a horse walker with and without the use of electricity (3.7 kV). To evaluate the stress response, cortisol levels in the blood were measured, the heart rate was monitored using the Polar® system and the behaviour was evaluated. Neither the cortisol levels nor the heart rates showed any relevant statistically significant difference between horses moved in the horse walker with or without the use of electricity. The highest cortisol levels and heart rates were recorded during the first week (habituation period). A significant difference could be observed regarding spontaneous compartment changes: while this happened mainly during the first week and before the first use of electricity, no horses changed compartments in the periods when electricity was used and thereafter. The results of this study indicate that the use of electricity in the horse walker does not seem to cause significant detectable stress in the horses.

Germania: l’indomabile trading state

Basato su interviste con i principali attori tedeschi e su un’analisi della letteratura, l’articolo analizza lo sviluppo recente dell’economia tedesca e la strategia tedesca nell’affrontare la crisi dell’eurozona. La Germania è uno stato commerciale (trading state), la cui crescita è fortemente trainata dalle esportazioni. Fino agli anni novanta, rigidità istituzionali forti, nel sistema di relazioni industriali e nel sistema di protezione sociale, contribuivano a conciliare lo sviluppo delle esportazioni con una crescita armonica dei consumi interni, contribuendo cosi a ingabbiare la «tigre» tedesca. A partire dagli anni novanta, sia le relazioni industriali sia la protezione sociale sono state fortemente liberalizzate, stimolando ulteriormente la competitività estera e indebolendo i consumi interni. Il modello economico tedesco, cosi come è venuto profilandosi negli ultimi dieci anni, è alla base delle politiche di austerità che la Germania impone all’Europa. Tali politiche sono fortemente condivise dai partiti politici, dagli attori sociali e dall’opinione pubblica, e le probabilità che la strategia tedesca cambi sono minime.

Trading Values in Early Modern Antwerp

In his Descrittione di tutti i Paesi Bassi of 1567, the Italian merchant and humanist Ludovico Guicciardini described Antwerp as the warehouse of the world where all kinds of commodities were traded and displayed. Early modern Antwerp’s pre-eminent position depended upon links between material trade and exchange and the circulation of information, knowledge and beliefs. In this multidisciplinary volume of the NKJ, articles by leading scholars in the fields of art and material culture, literature and history explore ways in which value was propagated in the city from its so-called golden age, before the Revolt of the Netherlands, far into the seventeenth century.

The Crisis and Germany: The Trading State Unleashed

Based on interviews with the main German actors and on secondary sources, the article examines the recent development of the German political economy, and the German strategy vis-à-vis the Euro zone. Germany is a trading state whose economic growth is strongly export-led. Until the years 1990s, strong institutional rigidities, both in industrial relations and in the welfare state, contributed to reconcile export growth with household consumption, thus keeping the German “tiger” on a leash. From the early 1990s on, however, both industrial relations and social protections have been strongly liberalized, thus further stimulating external competitiveness and reducing the role of consumption in the German growth model. The unleashed trading state shapes the German response to the Euro crisis and the austerity policies that Germany imposes to Europe. These policies are strongly supported by political parties, social actors, and public opinion in Germany, and the likelihood that they change in the near future is minimal.

Greening electricity through taxing: An analysis of GATT constraints

This paper examines the legal feasibility of different design options for implementing a differentiated electricity tax based on renewable energy (RE) certificates aimed at promoting green electricity generation. It discusses the issue of likeness in light of the recent WTO jurisprudence and looks at the possibility of justification of differentiated tax rates under the general exceptions of the GATT. It also scrutinizes the potential legal hurdles for the implementation of different tax design options including the use of certificates for RE tax exemption. It argues that the placing of a quota on the number of foreign RE certificates eligible for tax exemptions would likely affect the volumes of imported green electricity and therefore trigger a violation of GATT rules. At the same time, restrictions on the eligibility of RE certificates might be defended under WTO law if they are based on qualitative criteria, such as the attachment of RE certificates to green electricity flows or to a green electricity label that is equally available to domestic and foreign suppliers of RE electricity.

WTO law issues of emissions trading

Based on existing research in the interface of emissions trading schemes (ETSs) and WTO law, the paper looks more closely at the design elements of an ETS that are most vulnerable to a WTO challenge, including border adjustment on importation and exportation, recycling of revenues and cross-border linking. The analysis of WTO consistency of various ETS regulatory components reveals significant legal uncertainty. One explanation is that an ETS is not yet fully established as a regulatory tool. It does not have a fixed design and its design elements vary significantly with a scheme. Moreover, ETS-related issues have never been raised in WTO disputes. This makes it hard to predict with confidence the outcome of scrutiny of an ETS by a WTO adjudicative body. In this respect, the availability of environmental and/or health exceptions for justification of ETS-related measures is of great importance.