El futuro de la regulación del sector del abastecimiento en España

La gestión del servicio de abastecimiento de agua es un tema de muy relevante y de plena actualidad, no solo en España sino a nivel mundial. En España, desde la forma de prestación del servicio a través de la gestión directa o la gestión indirecta, o el tipo en sí de gestión indirecta que se desarrolle –empresa privada, pública o mixta- dan como resultado prácticamente tantas situaciones como ayuntamientos existen ya que la competencia es municipal, según reconoce la Ley de Bases de Régimen Local. La heterogeneidad de circunstancias de gestión de los recursos hídricos, la fragmentación de un sector clave y la falta de indicadores comparables entre diferentes opciones para la prestación de este servicio, parece indicar la necesidad de apostar por la creación de un ente regulador independiente dada la naturaleza monopolística del sector del abastecimiento y el saneamiento, junto con el carácter esencial del bien que se gestiona. Mientras que las instituciones gubernamentales dictan las políticas generales a través de leyes y reglamentos, los operadores -públicos, privados o mixtos- son los responsables de prestar los servicios a la población, y sería el órgano regulador quien velaría por el cumplimiento de las normas. El MAGRAMA está estudiando la posibilidad de elaborar una Ley sobre el Ciclo Integral del Agua de Uso Urbano con las dificultades que esto tiene en consideración a las competencias de las Comunidades Autónomas, lo que sin duda ayudaría a homologar la gestión del agua urbana en España, regulando un monopolio natural, ahora en manos de más de 8.100 municipios y un reducido número de empresas concesionarias, auténticas detentadoras de estos servicios. En este trabajo tratamos de analizar las ventajas que supondría para España contar con una agencia de regulación similar a las existentes en numerosos países, tanto europeos como de América Latina.

Insights into the Active Species of Nanoparticle-Functionalized Hierarchical Zeolites in Alkylation Reactions

Supported iron oxide nanoparticles have been incorporated onto hierarchical zeolites by microwave-assisted impregnation and mechanochemical grinding. Nanoparticle-functionalised porous zeolites were characterised by a number of analytical techniques such as XRD, N2 physisorption, TEM, and surface acidity measurements. The catalytic activities of the synthesised nanomaterials were investigated in an alkylation reaction. The results pointed to different species with varying acidity and accessibility in the materials, which provided essentially different catalytic activities in the alkylation of toluene with benzyl chloride under microwave irradiation, selected as the test reaction.

The role of mesoporosity and Si/Al ratio in the catalytic etherification of glycerol with benzyl alcohol using ZSM-5 zeolites

A comparative study of the influence of three different acid solids as catalysts (conventional zeolites Z15c with Si/Al = 19.5 and Z40c with Si/Al = 48.2, and a hierarchical zeolite Z40c-H with Si/Al = 50.0) for the etherification of glycerol with benzyl alcohol was performed. The catalytic activity and selectivity of these zeolites was elucidated at different catalyst contents. Three different ethers (3-benzyloxy-1,2-propanediol, which is a mono-benzyl-glycerol ether (MBG) and 1,3-dibenzyloxy-2-propanol, which is a di-benzyl-glycerol ether (DBG) and dibenzyl ether (DBz) were identified as the main products. MBG was the major product of the reaction catalyzed by the microporous Z15c zeolite with low Si/Al molar ratio, whereas DBG was formed in higher yield with the use of microporous Z40c and hierarchical Z40c-H zeolites, both of them having a similar high Si/Al molar ratio (≈50). MBG is a value-added product and it is obtained with good yield and selectivity when using the conventional zeolite Z15c as a catalyst. Under the best conditions tested, i.e., 25 mg of catalyst for 8 h at 120 °C, a 62% of conversion was obtained without the need of solvent, with an excellent 84% selectivity toward the MBG and no formation of DBz.

The Case Law of the ECJ concerning the Free Provision of Services : 2000 - 2005. Research Papers in Law, 2/2006

Introduction. The present overview covers the period starting from 2000 until the end of 2005.1 This is the follow-up to our overview covering the 1995-1999 period.2 The first striking feature of the present contribution is that it has to deal with almost 3,5 times as many cases as the previous one. Hence, the ECJ has gone from deciding 40 cases in the five year period between 1995- 1999 to deciding over 140 cases based on Art 49 between 2000-2005. This confirms, beyond any doubt, the tendency already observed in our previous overview, that a “third generation” case law on services is being developed at a very rapid pace by the ECJ. This third generation case law is based on the idea that Article 49 EC is not limited to striking down discriminatory measures but extends to the elimination of all hindrances to the free provision of services. This idea was first expressed in the Tourist Guide cases, the Greek and Dutch TV cases and most importantly in the Säger case.3 It has been confirmed ever since. As was to be expected, this broad brush approach of the Court’s has led to an ever-increasing amount of litigation reaching Luxemburg. It is clear that, if indicators were used to weight the importance of the Court’s case law during the relevant period, services would score much higher than goods, both from a quantitative and from a qualitative perspective.4 Hence, contrary to the previous overview, this one cannot deal in detail with any of the judgments delivered during the reference period. The aim of the present contribution is restricted to presenting the basic trends of the Court’s case law in the field of services Therefore, the analysis follows a fundamentally horizontal approach, fleetingly considering the facts of individual cases, with a view to identifying the conceptual premises of the Court’s approach to the free movement of services. Nonetheless, the substantial solutions adopted by the Court in some key topics, such as concession contracts, healthcare services, posted workers and gambling, are also presented as case studies. In this regard, the analysis is organized in four sections. First we explore the (ever expanding) scope of the freedom to provide services (Section 2), then we go on to identify the nature of the violations and of justifications thereto (Section 3), before carrying out some case studies to concretely illustrate the above (Section 4). Then, for the sake of completeness, we try to deduce the general principles running through the totality of the relevant case law (Section 5). Inevitably, some concluding remarks follow (Section 6).5

Bénéfices de la diversité culturelle en entreprises : Études de cas dans les entreprises québécoises

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal

Mixed Public-Private Enterprises in Europe: Economic Theory and an Empirical Analysis of Italian Water Utilities. Bruges European Economic Research (BEER) Papers 4/July 2006

Mixed enterprises, which are entities jointly owned by the public and private sector, are spreading all over Europe in local utilities. Well aware that in the vast majority of cases the preference of local authorities towards such governance structure is determined by practical reasons rather than by the ambition to implement new regulatory designs (an alternative to the typical “external” regulation), our purpose is to confer some scientific value to this phenomenon which has not been sufficiently investigated in the economic literature. This paper aims at proposing an economic analysis of mixed enterprises, especially of the specific configuration in which the public partner acts as controller and the private one (or “industrial” partner) as service provider. We suggest that the public service concession to mixed enterprises could embody, under certain conditions, a noteworthy substitute to the traditional public provision and the concession to totally private enterprises, as it can push regulated operators to outperform and limit the risk of private opportunism. The starting point of the entire analysis is that ownership allows the (public) owner to gather more information about the actual management of the firm, according to property rights theory. Following this stream of research, we conclude that under certain conditions mixed enterprises could significantly reduce asymmetric information between regulators and regulated firms by implementing a sort of “internal” regulation. With more information, in effect, the public authority (as owner/controller of the regulated firm, but also as member of the regulatory agency) can stimulate the private operator to be more efficient and can monitor it more effectively with respect to the fulfilment of contractual obligations (i.e., public service obligations, quality standards, etc.). Moreover, concerning the latter function, the board of directors of the mixed enterprise can be the suitable place where public and private representatives (respectively, welfare and profit maximisers) can meet to solve all disputes arising from incomplete contracts, without recourse to third parties. Finally, taking into account that a disproportionate public intervention in the “private” administration (or an ineffective protection of the general interest) would imply too many drawbacks, we draw some policy implications that make an equitable debate on the board of the firm feasible. Some empirical evidence is taken from the Italian water sector.

Bénéfices de la diversité culturelle en entreprises : Études de cas dans les entreprises québécoises

Mémoire numérisé par la Direction des bibliothèques de l'Université de Montréal

Oeuvres illustrées de Balzac.

Vol.1,4,7,8, pub. 1874; v.2, 1873; v.5-6, 1867, v.3, t.-p. wanting.

Code de Commerce Allemand /

Mode of access: Internet.

Lettres de madame Roland.

t. 2. Avertissement.--Note complémentaires sur Sévelinges.--Lettre de mme. de Gomiecourt à mme. Roland.--Contrat de mariage de Pierre-Gatien Phlipon (1750).--Contrat de mariage de Roland.--Lettres: année 1777-1780.--Supplément.--Index des noms.--Table générale des lettres (1767-1793)

Théâtre de Picard /

Introd.--La petite ville.--Duhautcours ou le contrat d'union.--Un jeu de la fortune ou les marionnettes.--Les deux Philibert.

Catéchisme du citoyen, ou, Élémens du droit public françois, par demandes & réponses : suivi de fragmens politiques par le même auteur.

"Observations sur des réformes projettées": p. 44-62 (second paging)

Oeuvres complètes.

V. 1. Béatrix.--v. 2-3. Les célibataires.--v. 4. César Birotteau.--v. 5. Les Chouans. Une passion dans le desert.--v. 6. Le colonel Chabert. Gobseck. La bourse. La grenadière. L'interdiction.--v.7-8. Les contes drolatiques.--v. 9. Le contrat de mariage. Albert Savarus. Étude de femme.--v. 10. Le cousin Pons.--v. 11. La cousine Bette.--v. 12. Le curé de village.--v. 13. Un début dans la vie. Une double famille. Pierre Grassou.--v. 14. Le député d'Arcis.--v. 15. Les employés. Sarrasine. Gaudissart II. Facino Cane.--v. 16. L'enfant Maudit. Massimilla Doni. Un drame au bord de la mer. Le réquisitionnaire. Gambara.--v. 17. Eugénie Grandet.--v. 18. La femme de trente ans. La femme abandonnée. La messe de l'Athée. Le message.--v. 19. Histoire des treize.--v. 20. Honorine. La paix du ménage. Madame Firmiani. La vendetta. La grande Bretèche.--v. 21-23. Illusions perdues.--v. 24. Louis Lambert. Séraphita.--v. 25. Le lys dans la vallée.--v. 26. Madame de la Chanterie. L'initié. Z. Marcás.--v. 27. La maison du chat qui pelote. Le bal de sceaux. Une fille d'Eve.--v. 28. La maison Nucingen. Les secrets de la princesse de Cadignan. Un homme d'affaires. Les comédiens sans le savoir. Un prince de la Bohème.--v. 29. Les Marana. Adieu. El verdugo. L'auberge rouge. Maitre Cornélius. L'élixir de longue vie. les proscrits.--v. 30. Le médicin de campagne.--v. 31. Memoires de deux jeunes mariées. La fausse maitresse.--v. 32. Modeste Mignon.--v. 33. Monographie du rentier Physiologie de l'employé. Traité de la vie élégante. Monographie de la presse parisienne.--v. 34. Théorie de la démarche. Traité des excitants modernes. Portraits et critique littéraire. Physiologie de la toilette. Physiologie gastronomique. De la mode en littérature. Gavarni. La chine et les chinois. Contes et nouvelles.--v. 35. Les paysans.--v. 36. Le peau de chagrin.--v. 37. Le père Goriot.--v. 38. Petites misères de la vie conjugale. Une rue de Paris et son habitant.--v. 39-40. Les petits bourgeois.--v. 42. La recherche de l'absolu. Le chef d'oeuvre inconnu. Jésus-Christ en Flandre. Melmoth réconcilie.--v. 43-44. Splendeurs et misères des courtisanes.--v. 45. Sur Catherine de Médicis. Le martyr Calviniste. Les confidences de Ruggieri. Les deux rêves.--v. 46. Une ténébreuse affaire. Un épisode sous la terreur.--v. 47. Vautrin. Les ressources de Quinola. Paméla Giraud.--v. 48. La maratre. Le faiseur.--v. 49. Ursele Mirouet.--v. 50. La vieille fille. Le cabinet des antiques.

Traités sur différentes matieres de droit civil, apliquées a l'usage du barreau, et de jurisprudence Françoise.

Contiene: Le Traité du contrat de constitution de rente ; Le Traité du contrat de change ; Le Traité du contrat de louage ; Le Traité du contrat de bail à rente ; Le Traité des contrats de louage maritime ; Le Traité du contrat de société ; Le Traité des cheptels ; Le Traité des contrats de bienfaisance ; Le Traité du prêt à usage ; Le Traité du précaire ; Le Traité du prêt de consomption ; Le Traité du depôt ; Le Traité du mandat ; Le Traité du quasi-contrat negotiorum gestorum ; Et le Traité du nantissement.