Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Diplomatic protection – European Union countries'

This paper analyzes the effects of globalization on social protection expenditures in European countries. The analysis adds to the literature due to its special focus on (a) the Eastern European countries and (b) on differences in globalization effects between welfare regimes. We find evidence in favor of the compensation hypothesis in Western Europe which is driven by the conservative welfare regime, outweighing the efficiency effect of globalization in the social-democratic welfare regime. In Eastern European countries the efficiency effect is predominant. No globalization effect is found for the liberal and the southern welfare regimes. Our results indicate some convergence within Western Europe and a divergence between the East and the West of Europe. We stress the importance of disaggregating by welfare regimes when exploring the effects of globalization on public social protection expenditures. (author's abstract)
Series: Discussion Papers SFB International Tax Coordination

Defence date: 06 July 2021
Examining Board: Professor Giorgio Monti (Tilburg University); Professor Michal Gal (University of Haifa); Professor Orla Lynskey (London School of Economics); Professor Peter Drahos (European University Institute)
This thesis addresses the problem of individuals’ lack of control over personal data in the digital world. It sheds light on market and regulatory failures that lie behind the status quo and proposes a framework to improve regulatory responses. The two regulatory regimes that are at the core of this thesis are EU data protection regulation, which protects individuals’ fundamental rights over data, and EU competition law, which safeguards the sound functioning of the market and consumers’ economic interests. Despite the existence of these two regulatory regimes, individuals do not have sufficient control over personal data collected by digital firms, whose control over large datasets is a factor contributing to market monopolisation. The thesis argues that one reason for the shortcomings of today’s regulatory framework is that the market failure is composed of a combination of factors, which are currently addressed by the different regimes relatively independently. This dichotomy hinders the development of an effective strategy to tackle the market failure in its entirety. The approach taken in this thesis is that by integrating the two regimes, it might be possible to close the gaps deriving from a narrow perception of their regulatory spaces. Hence, the thesis formulates a holistic approach, encompassing data protection regulation and competition law, designed to increase the effectiveness of the regulatory framework as a whole. Different dimensions of the regimes’ interrelation are analysed, to uncover new ways to harness their complementarity and minimise their inconsistencies and overlaps. The thesis looks at how the regimes can incorporate elements from each other to inform their policies and application of their rules, as well as developing a complementary enforcement strategy. The holistic framework ultimately allows both regimes to better tailor their regulatory responses to the functioning of the digital market and take account of the diverse elements that constitute the market failure they seek to correct.

Patterns of domestic political contestation in international affairs often see the centre aligned against both the left and the right of the ideological spectrum. This is observable in a range of issues, from democracy promotion, intervention, international law, European integration, free trade, globalization and the creation of international regimes. Why centre-periphery ideological competition occurs is an interesting puzzle, given the challenge it offers to the idea that partisanship is an inherently left-right phenomenon. Yet the role of the political centre in foreign policy has not been subjected to systematic analysis. This thesis studies the nature and effects of the foreign policy position of the political centre. It argues that the centre is distinguished from left and right by its embrace of distinct elements of liberal ideology. The liberal view of international politics differs in thee important respects from its socialist and conservative competitors: It is particular, rather than pluralist, when it comes to questions of sovereignty and international legitimacy; it views interdependence, rather than independence, as a natural and desirable condition of the international; and it views deterrence, rather than diplomacy, as the best means of achieving security. To test the validity of this thesis I discuss the role of ideology in explaining variation in relations between four Euratlantic states (Britain, France, West Germany and Canada) and the United States during the Cold War. This is a hard case given the intensity of global threat at the time. The thesis tests the claim that the strength of Euratlantic-American relations is a function of the relative influence of the political centre at the time. To do this it outlines a mixed-methods research design that combines in-depth case studies with a quantitative analysis of Euratlantic-US relations. The results from both elements confirm the validity of the theoretical proposition.

Defence date: 21 December 2021
Examining Board: Professor Hans – W. Micklitz, European University Institute (Supervisor), Professor Martijn W. Hesselink, European University Institute, Professor Anna Beckers, Maastricht University, Professor Fernanda Nicola, Washington College of Law.
This doctoral dissertation examines the EU consumer perspective on externalities of production in global value chains (GVCs). Whether as part of the discourse on development or global economic governance, externalities of production are a long-standing issue that has been problematised not only by lawyers but also by economists, anthropologists, sociologists and social scientists at large. In the legal field, the analysis has struggled to contextualise consumer law and policy together with the peculiarities of GVCs as a distinct model of business organisation characterised by contractualisation of processes of production. The thesis argues that contractualisation of production establishes a relationship between consumers and processes of production, also in relation to externalities. Such a relation is not mirrored either by the voluntary self-regulation through which enterprises regulate externalities nor by EU consumer law. The present dissertation addresses this matter and argues that EU consumer law limits the involvement of consumers in the process of self-regulation that leading enterprises of GVCs undertake to prevent and/or remedy externalities of production and that results into a unilateral exercise of epistemic authority. The exercise of epistemic authority is favoured by a ‘communication paradigm’ framing EU consumer law, according to which consumer claims’ on sustainability and externalities of production depend on the content of the communication consumers receive prior or via the contract. This paradigm prevents consumers involvement, in all phases of the contractual relationship, in the definition of a legal episteme of sustainability in line with the core constitutional principles and values as enshrined in the EU Treaties and constitutional charters of member states. The final part of the thesis suggests that the limits deriving by the communication paradigm can be overcome by the CJEU that, by relying on the principle of effectiveness can integrate the communication paradigm with a consumer perspective on externalities of production in the post-contractual phase.

This thesis is as an attempt to overview the forms of trade secret protection presently in place in the United States, Canada, the European Union and Romania. These jurisdictions were selected because they present a diversity of legal background and a variety of forms of trade secret protection.
The introductory chapter deals with the historical and economic backgrounds of the trade secret protection. An overview of trade secret protection at international scale is also provided. The thesis compares the forms of trade secret protection available in each jurisdiction. Based on the survey, the thesis comes to an answer of the question of "What is the most appropriate form of trade secrets protection?".
The final chapter provides a number of conclusions and recommendations.

Defence date: 30 March 2007
Examining Board: Prof. Philip Alston (European University Institute) ; Prof. Francesco Francioni (European University Institute) ; Prof. Olivier de Schutter (University of Louvain) ; Prof. Kevin Boyle (University of Essex Colchester)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses

The present thesis suggests that judicial interaction can benefit constructive solutions of concrete human rights problems as a specific way of integrating European human rights protection. This affirmation is substantiated by case studies examining the interaction of the European Court of Human Rights with the UK House of Lords and Supreme Court on the one hand and with the German Federal Constitutional Court on the other. Yet, the manner in which the courts proceed in their interaction, notably in view of their potentially conflictual stances, can deflect from the concentration on constructively solving the substantive human rights problem with which the courts are confronted. Accordingly, the courts might be inclined to preserve the status quo of their initial positions and to resort to a mere compromise between the different interests involved.

This thesis identifies two major factors in the courts’ reasoning that inhibit the fruitful discussion of the substantive human rights questions brought up by the cases: the reference to “culture” and the focus on their institutional relationship with the balancing of possibly conflicting interests. By way of analysing practical cases against a legal- and political-theoretical backdrop, this work develops how these two factors contribute to the obstruction of a constructive interaction between the courts and to the shielding of controversial views from being discussed and challenged. In response, also by reference to the concrete practice of the courts, this thesis puts forward an approach to the interaction which avoids this inhibiting effect and therefore allows for a comprehensive, deep and critical discussion on how to solve the specific human rights problems raised by the cases./La présente thèse soutient que l’interaction judiciaire peut bénéficier à des solutions constructives des problèmes concrets de droits de l’homme comme une forme spécifique d’intégration de la protection européenne des droits de l’homme. Cette affirmation est corroborée par des études de cas qui examinent l’interaction de la Cour européenne des droits de l’homme avec la House of Lords et la Cour suprême du Royaume-Uni d’un côté et avec la Cour constitutionnelle fédérale de l’Allemagne de l’autre. Pourtant, la manière dont les cours procèdent dans leur interaction, notamment au vu de leurs points de vue potentiellement conflictuels, peut détourner l’attention de la solution constructive des problèmes substantiels des droits de l’homme auxquels les cours font face. En conséquence, il se peut que les cours soient susceptibles de préserver le statu quo de leurs positions initiales et d’avoir recours à un simple compromis entre les différents intérêts en cause.

Cette thèse identifie deux facteurs majeurs dans le raisonnement des cours qui entravent la discussion fructueuse des questions substantielles soulevées par les cas :la référence à la « culture » et la concentration sur leur relation institutionnelle avec le balancement des intérêts possiblement conflictuels. Au moyen de l’analyse des cas pratiques sur le fond de la théorie juridique et politique, ce travail fait ressortir comment ces deux facteurs contribuent à l’obstruction d’une interaction constructive entre les cours et à la protection des opinions controversées contre leur discussion et défi. En réponse, également en se fondant sur la pratique concrète des cours, cette thèse avance une approche quant à l’interaction qui évite cet effet inhibant et, par conséquent, permet une discussion complète, profonde et critique de comment résoudre les problèmes spécifiques de droits de l’homme posés par les cas.

Doctorat en Sciences juridiques
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Cette recherche doctorale part de l’hypothèse générale selon laquelle la méthode communautaire classique serait concurrencée dans les faits par de nouveaux instruments juridiques qui, loin de constituer des initiatives isolées, participent d’un modèle alternatif de gouvernance communautaire qui la transforme en profondeur.

Afin d’identifier les caractéristiques, les contours et les nouvelles formes de normativités de ce modèle alternatif, cette recherche a adopté une approche pragmatique de l’étude droit et étudie empiriquement et systématiquement six politiques publiques européennes :la stratégie européenne pour l’emploi (SEE) et la Méthode Ouverte de Coordination (MOC), le programme européen REACH; la politique européenne de l’eau; la politique comptable européenne; la politique de régulation des services financiers; et la lutte contre le réchauffement climatique et le marché européen du carbone. Ces politiques publiques sont étudiées au moyen d’une approche par les instruments d’action publique qui s’inspire de la démarche et des recherches effectuées par Michel Foucault sur la « gouvernementalité ».

Cette analyse nous aura permis de démontrer que la transformation de la méthode communautaire classique se constate à au moins trois niveaux. Au niveau des acteurs, on assiste à un renforcement de la place des acteurs privés et de la société civile dans les politiques publiques étudiées. La transformation de l’action publique européenne réside également dans l’utilisation abondante de nouveaux instruments d’action publique - plus techniques que politiques et plus incitatifs que contraignants (du type benchmarking) - qui impliquent systématiquement une collaboration entre acteurs publics et privés à différents niveaux du processus décisionnel (coproduction normative). Enfin le mode de sanction est devenu une « contrainte par l’image » reposant sur la figure du « mauvais élève de la classe » véhiculée principalement par des publications de classements basées sur une classification des bonnes pratiques. Corrélativement, cette transformation se constate également dans les phases d’élaboration, d’exécution et de contrôle du droit de l’Union européenne.

Une fois les caractéristiques et les contours de ce modèle alternatif dessinés sur base des politiques publiques étudiées, cette recherche s’est ensuite tournée vers une présentation des discours (politiques et juridiques) et écoles de pensées (Law and Economics / New Public Management / Démocratie délibérative / Expérimentalisme démocratique) permettant de justifier son existence et, par là, de fonder sa légitimité. Enfin, si ce nouveau modèle peut prétendre à une certaine légitimité ou nécessité et s’il n’apparaît pas envisageable de revenir en arrière, sa non-concordance avec le traité est problématique. En effet, ce modèle pose une série de questions relatives au manque de contrôle sur l’activité des institutions de l’Union et à la sauvegarde de l’ordre juridique constitutionnel européen. Plus précisément, l’étude de la question de la protection juridictionnelle effective et du respect du principe de l’équilibre des pouvoirs permet d’identifier un certains nombre d’écueils et de proposer des suggestions d’amélioration pragmatique du modèle décisionnel européen au regard des nouveaux instruments juridiques de la gouvernance européenne.

The starting point of my doctoral research is that the Classic Community Method, as described in the Lisbon Treaty, does not enable one to understand the manner in which law is currently produced in the European Union. I claim that the Community Method is in fact challenged and transformed by new legal instruments that, far from being isolated initiatives, are part of an alternative model of governance.

My research adopts a programmatic approach as to identify the features, contours and new forms of normativity of this alternative model. It studies empirically and systematically six European public policies through “an approach by instruments” inspired in the writings of Michel Foucault on "governmentality”.

This analysis shows that the transformation of the Classic Community method occurs at least at three levels. First, there is a strengthening of the role of private actors and civil society in policy making. Second, the transformation of European public action also lies in the abundant use of new policy instruments - rather technical and political incentives than binding rules (benchmarking) - that involve a systematic collaboration between public and private actors at different levels of decision-making (co-regulation). Third, control and sanctions rely greatly on a “constrained by image” system based primarily on publications of rankings and classifications of good practices.

After I present the features and contours of this alternative model, my research analyzes the political and legal discourses, as well as the schools of thought (Law and Economics / New Public Management / Deliberative Democracy / Democratic Experimentalism), that justify its existence and, therefore, its legitimacy.

Finally, my doctoral work rises the question about the lack of control over these regulatory activities and brings to light the safeguards that should be taken by the European Court of Justice to respect European Union’s Constitutional law

Doctorat en Sciences juridiques
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Si le droit connaît les médicaments et les denrées alimentaires, il ne reconnaît pas les alicaments. Or, ces dernières années ont vu l’apparition et le développement, sur le marché de l’Union européenne, de « produits-frontière » c'est-à-dire de produits se trouvant à la frontière entre les médicaments et les aliments. Confrontées à un vaste conflit de qualification causé par l’ambivalence conceptuelle des « produits-frontière », les institutions de l’Union ont, au nom de la libre circulation des marchandises ainsi que de la nécessité d’une protection accrue des consommateurs et de la santé publique, entamé, dès le début des années 2000, une large harmonisation des dispositions nationales relatives à ces produits. Considérés comme aliments, leur nature particulière nécessite cependant une approche adaptative de la part du législateur européen. Cette nouvelle approche de l’aliment par le droit, favorable à la reconnaissance d’une santé alimentaire, tant convoitée par la société contemporaine, ne résout toutefois pas l’ambiguïté quant à la place à accorder aux « produits-frontière » dans le corpus juridique de l’Union européenne.
Doctorat en Sciences juridiques
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La réalisation du marché intérieur européen par une meilleure intégration des marchés financiers est aujourd’hui devenue une réalité. L'objectif est toutefois loin d'être atteint en matière de crédit hypothécaire, nonobstant de nombreuses initiatives européennes. Compte tenu de ces difficultés et du postulat selon lequel il serait impossible d'harmoniser le droit des suretés immobilières en raison de leur ancrage culturel et national, une proposition alternative consistant dans la création d'une sûreté immobilière commune (euro-hypothèque), venant se superposer aux systèmes nationaux, a été formulée depuis un certain nombre d'années. La recherche analyse dans un premier temps la réalité du postulat précité à la lumière du droit comparé et conclut qu'en réalité, les différents systèmes trouvent non seulement leur origine dans un modèle identique, fondé sur le caractère accessoire de la sûreté, mais ont en outre connu une évolution similaire au cours de ces dernières années. Il apparaît que ce modèle constitue la meilleure base pour toute harmonisation européenne. Après avoir examiné l'interaction avec le droit international privé, sous l'angle de la protection du consommateur, et le droit européen, sous l'angle de la question de la compétence communautaire et du principe de subsidiarité, des pistes sont proposés pour opérer un rapprochement des législations nationales relatives au crédit hypothécaire. La proposition consiste à intégrer dans un seul instrument juridique contraignant (une directive européenne) les différentes propositions permettant d'opérer un rapprochement des législations nationales à trois niveaux :celui de la sûreté immobilière et de la publicité foncier, celui du contrat de prêt et enfin, celui relatif à la procédure de réalisation de l'immeuble.
Doctorat en droit
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The object of study of this research is the right to Personal Data Protection within the framework of the EU-US E-Market legal regime. Its characteristics, as well as the features of the main actors participating into that E-Market, make possible to consider it as a proper basis for the development of an International/Universal legal system treaty-based. The Actors and Relations included by the research are the duty bearers of Personal Data Protection law, both State and Private Entity Activities. Nonetheless, the Informal Power Relation between State and Private organization is also taken into account since there are some informal agreements or coordination between State Agencies and IT Corporations on data sharing and processing. The time frame of the research is 2001-2016 (after the terrorist’s attack in USA on 9/11 until the most recent reform of the EU-US E-Market regime in 2016). The research’s point of departure is International Human Rights Law, as far as it recognizes a general framework to support and regulate personal data protection on cyberspace realm. Nonetheless, the distinctive characters of cyberspace demand a well designed, at universal level, specific regulation and mechanisms to guarantee such fundamental rights relating personal data protection internationally. Accordingly, Research Hypothesis is represented in double issues: first, effective personal data protection on cyberspace needs the establishment of an International/Universal legal system treaty-based; second, EU Regime on personal data protection in cyberspace and current EU-US agreements on this issue can be used as a model for initiating such International/Universal Treaty. The structure of the thesis is divided into six chapters, being Chapter 1 the research design and Chapter 6 the conclusions and recommendations coming from the research. So, Chapter 2 analyzes Universal Legal Instruments, EU Laws and EU-US Agreements in force before 5th June 2013 (critical turning point date because of the revelations of Mass Electronic Surveillance presented then on World Wide Web). Within this legal framework, Chapter 3 studies hard cases about personal data protection in US domestic courts and in the Court of Justice of European Union, in order to search for precise interpretation of the right to personal data protection in cyberspace that, later, had to be taken into account by US and EU in their further legal reforms. Chapter 4 analyses and reviews the legal instruments enacted through the reform of the EU personal data protection regime and the new EU-US Bilateral Agreements currently in force. Finally, Chapter 5 evaluates the possibility to initiate an International Treaty for regulating data using across borders. Considering the initiatives of either international governmental organizations or non-governmental movements in the field, the chapter shows how a set of principles can be extracted from the reforms in the EU and EU-US regime and how they can be used to create an International Regime for protection of personal data in cyberspace.
L'objecte d'estudi d'aquesta recerca és el dret a la protecció de les dades personals en el marc del règim jurídic aplicable al mercat electrònic UE-Estats Units. Les seves característiques, així com les dels principals actors que intervenen en aquest mercat, permeten considerar aquest règim jurídic com una base adequada per al possible desenvolupament d'un tractat internacional de vocació universal sobre protecció de dades personals en el ciberespai. Els actors i les relacions incloses en la recerca són els responsables de les obligacions jurídiques en matèria de protecció de dades personals, tant entitats públiques com a privades. Malgrat això, també es tenen en compte les ‘relacions informals de poder’ entre Estat i organitzacions privades, donada l'existència d'acords informals o coordinació entre tots dos per a l'intercanvi i processament de dades. El marc temporal de la recerca és 2001-2016 (després dels atemptats del 9/11 a Estats Units i fins a la més recent reforma del règim UE-EUA culminada en 2016). El punt de partida d’aquesta recerca és el Dret Internacional dels Drets Humans, que conté el marc general per al suport i regulació de la protecció de dades personals en el ciberespai. Ara bé, els caràcters distintius del ciberespai exigeixen una regulació i mecanismes específics ben dissenyats, a nivell universal, per garantir internacionalment els esmentats drets fonamentals relatius a la protecció de dades personals. Conseqüentment, la hipòtesi de recerca es formula de la següent manera: en primer lloc, la protecció eficaç de les dades personals en el ciberespai necessita l'establiment d'un sistema jurídic internacional d'abast universal basat en tractats; en segon lloc, el règim de la UE sobre protecció de dades personals en el ciberespai i els actuals acords UE- Estats Units sobre aquesta qüestió poden utilitzar-se com a model per a l'elaboració d'aquest Tractat Internacional. L'estructura de la tesi es divideix en sis capítols, essent el Capítol 1 el disseny de la recerca i el Capítol 6 les conclusions i recomanacions que es desprenen de la recerca. Així, el Capítol 2 analitza els Instruments Jurídics Universals, les normes de la UE i els acords UE-EUA vigents abans 5 de juny de 2013 (data crítica a causa de les revelacions sobre Vigilància Electrònica en massa, presentades mundialment aquest dia). Dins d'aquest marc jurídic, el Capítol 3 realitza una anàlisi jurisprudencial i analitza una selecció de casos sobre protecció de dades personals suscitades davant els tribunals interns d'Estats Units i davant el Tribunal de Justícia de la Unió Europea, amb l'objectiu d'identificar la interpretació precisa del dret a la protecció de dades personals en el ciberespai que, posteriorment, ha hagut de tenir en compte la reforma normativa a Estats Units i en la UE sobre aquesta matèria. El Capítol 4 analitza i revisa els instruments jurídics promulgats en virtut de la reforma del règim de protecció de dades personals de la UE i els nous acords bilaterals entre la UE i els Estats Units actualment en vigor. Finalment, el Capítol 5 avalua la possibilitat d'elaborar un Tractat Internacional d'abast universal que garanteixi el dret a la protecció de dades personals que ‘circulen’ pel ciberespai. Tenint en compte les iniciatives formulades per organitzacions governamentals internacionals i pels moviments no governamentals especialitzats, el capítol mostra com es poden extreure un conjunt de principis de les reformes de la UE i del règim aplicable a l'espai UE-EUA i com aquests principis poden utilitzar-se per a la creació d'un règim internacional de protecció de dades personals en el ciberespai.
El objeto de estudio de esta investigación es el derecho a la protección de los datos personales en el marco del régimen jurídico aplicable al mercado electrónico UE- Estados Unidos. Sus características, así como las de los principales actores que intervienen en este mercado, permiten considerar este régimen jurídico como una base adecuada para el posible desarrollo de un tratado internacional de vocación universal sobre protección de datos personales en el ciberespacio. Los actores y las relaciones incluidas en la investigación son los responsables de las obligaciones jurídicas en materia de protección de datos personales, tanto entidades públicas como privadas. No obstante, también se tienen en cuenta las ‘relaciones informales de poder’ entre Estado y organizaciones privadas, dada la existencia de acuerdos informales o coordinación entre ambos para el intercambio y procesamiento de datos. El marco temporal de la investigación es 2001-2016 (después de los atentados del 9/11 en Estados Unidos y hasta la más reciente reforma del régimen UE-EEUU culminada en 2016). El punto de partida de la investigación es el Derecho Internacional de los Derechos Humanos, que contiene el marco general para el apoyo y regulación de la protección de datos personales en el ciberespacio. Sin embargo, los caracteres distintivos del ciberespacio exigen una regulación y mecanismos específicos bien diseñados, a nivel universal, para garantizar internacionalmente tales derechos fundamentales relativos a la protección de datos personales. Consecuentemente, la hipótesis de investigación se formula del siguiente modo: en primer lugar, la protección eficaz de los datos personales en el ciberespacio necesita el establecimiento de un sistema jurídico internacional de alcance universal basado en tratados; en segundo lugar, el régimen de la UE sobre protección de datos personales en el ciberespacio y los actuales acuerdos UE-Estados Unidos sobre esta cuestión pueden utilizarse como modelo para la elaboración de dicho Tratado Internacional. La estructura de la tesis se divide en seis capítulos, siendo el Capítulo 1 el \diseño de la investigación y el Capítulo 6 las conclusiones y recomendaciones que se desprenden de la investigación. Así, el Capítulo 2 analiza los Instrumentos Jurídicos Universales, las normas de la UE y los acuerdos UE-EEUU vigentes antes del 5 de junio de 2013 (fecha crítica debido a las revelaciones sobre Vigilancia Electrónica en Masa presentadas mundialmente ese día). Dentro de ese marco jurídico, el Capítulo 3 realiza un análisis jurisprudencial y analiza una selección de casos sobre protección de datos personales suscitados ante los tribunales internos de Estados Unidos y ante el Tribunal de Justicia de la Unión Europea, con el objetivo de identificar la interpretación precisa del derecho a la protección de datos personales en el ciberespacio que, posteriormente, ha debido tener en cuenta la reforma normativa en Estados Unidos y en la UE sobre esta materia. El Capítulo 4 analiza y revisa los instrumentos jurídicos promulgados en virtud de la reforma del régimen de protección de datos personales de la UE y los nuevos acuerdos bilaterales entre la UE y los Estados Unidos actualmente en vigor. Por último, el Capítulo 5 evalúa la posibilidad de elaborar un Tratado Internacional de alcance universal que garantice el derecho a la protección de datos personales que ‘circulan’ en el ciberespacio. Teniendo en cuenta las iniciativas formuladas por organizaciones gubernamentales internacionales y por los movimientos no gubernamentales especializados, el capítulo muestra cómo se pueden extraer un conjunto de principios de las reformas de la UE y del régimen aplicable en el espacio UE-EEUU y cómo esos principios pueden utilizarse para la creación de un régimen internacional de protección de datos personales en el ciberespacio.

De par le monde, les intérêts des personnes travaillant à l’étranger sont tout à la fois méconnus et contestés. Le but de cette étude est de dégager les lignes de force qui sous-tendent, non sans contradictions ni crise la protection de ces personnes. En s’appuyant à la fois sur le droit (interne et international) camerounais et français, la thèse s’attache à démontrer que, nonobstant leur appartenance à des espaces géographiques différents et quel que soit leur niveau dedéveloppement économique, les Etats assurent un traitement juridique semblable aux migrants qui exercent une activité rémunérée sur leur territoire. La démarche d’ensemble de la prise en compte de la situation juridique des travailleursmigrants est caractérisée par le décalage qui existe entre un renforcement normatif de la protection d’une part et une effectivité limité de celle-ci d’autre part. Dans un premier temps, le renforcement du droit se déduit tout d’abord de ladiversité des règles juridiques applicables aux travailleurs migrants et de la dynamique des interactions entre celles-ci.Ensuite, l’affermissement de la protection résulte dune capacité de jouissance et d’exercice de droits par les travailleurs migrants de plus en plus étendue et d’une mise en balance (verticale ou horizontale) relativement harmonieuse desdroits reconnus. Dans un second temps, cette consolidation normative de la protection des travailleurs migrants peine à s’affirmer dans les faits. Cela tient avant tout au fait que les mécanismes de mise en oeuvre des droits des travailleursmigrants sont relativement insatisfaisants et que les acteurs concernés par cette protection sont inégalement impliqués. Le constat d’une effectivité limitée de la protection des travailleurs migrants découle aussi de la diversité des freins à laréalisation des droits des travailleurs migrants et des réformes à envisager dans l’optique d’une meilleure prise en compte des droits de cette catégorie de personnes. Au total, l’étude constitue un bilan particulièrement actuel des forces et des faiblesses (limites) du droit dans ces deux pays, pour autant que soit concerné la sauvegarde des intérêts de cette catégorie fragile de personnes que sont les travailleurs migrants. Elle permet de réaffirmer l’égalité juridique des individus, face à l’inégalité économique criarde des Etats. Ce qui conduit à conclure que, dans le domaine de la protection de l’humain, tous les Etats sont, àdivers degrés, sur un terrain d’apprentissage. C’est dire si le droit est lui-même un enjeu permanent de la protection de l’Homme en général et du travailleur migrant en particulier
All over the world, the interests of people working abroad are at once unknown and disputed. The purpose of this study is to identify the lines of force behind, not without contradictions crisis or protect these people. Based on French and Cameroon law ( domestic and international ), the thesis seeks to demonstrate that, despite their belonging to different geographical areas and whatever their level of economic development, states provide legal treatment similar to migrants who are gainfully employed in their territory. The overall approach of taking into account the legal status of migrant workers is characterized by the gap between normative strengthening protection on the one hand and limited effectiveness thereof other. At first, strengthening of the law is deduced firstly from the diversity of legal rules applicable to migrant workers and the dynamics of interactions between them. Second, the strengthening of protection results with a capacity of enjoyment and exercise of rights by migrant workers more scope and a balancing (vertical or horizontal) rather harmonious recognized rights. In a second step, this normative consolidation of protection of migrant workers sentence to assert the facts. This is primarily due to the fact that the mechanisms of implementation of the rights of migrant workers are relatively unsatisfactory and that the actors involved in this protection are unequallyinvolved. The finding of limited effectiveness of the protection of migrant workers also stems from the diversity of obstacles to realizing the rights of migrant workers and to consider reforms in the context of a greater consideration of the rights of this category of people. In short, the study is a particularly current assessment of strengths and weaknesses of the law in both countries, so far as is concerned to safeguard the interests of this vulnerable category of people that are migrant workers. It helps to reaffirm the legal equality of individuals facing the screaming economic inequality states. This leads to the conclusion that in the field of protection of human, all states are, to varying degrees, on a training ground. That is,if the law itself is an ongoing issue for the protection of human rights in general and migrant workers in particular

Defence date: 22 June 2015
Examining Board: Professor Marise Cremona, European University Institute (Supervisor); Professor Patrizia Vigni, University of Siena; Professor Craig Barker, London South Bank University; Professor Rainer Bauböck, European University Institute.
This thesis explores the development of European Union’s model of protecting its citizens in the world, demonstrating it to be a unique and complex mixture of EU internal and external policies and instruments that is unlike any other international, regional, or domestic model of protecting individuals abroad. The thesis will critically assess the three main stages of development of the EU model until the present day. The first stage started in 1993, when the Maastricht Treaty introduced an EU citizenship right to equal protection abroad and this continued for the following decade. It will be shown that during this period the EU model of protecting the Union citizens abroad consisted of a purely horizontal form of cooperation among the Member States that materialised in a sui generis type of international agreement that has restricted the efficiency of the EU citizenship right, due to the Member States’ reluctance to lose their State prerogatives in favour of the EU. The second stage of development started in 2004 when a number of international disasters affecting EU citizens in third countries led the Member States to accept cooperation with EU institutions and external policy instruments for the purpose of complementing their capacity to secure the effective protection of unrepresented Union citizens abroad. The third stage started with the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, which conferred an unprecedented power to an international organisation (the EU) to exercise State-like consular protection functions directly with respect to the Union citizens in the world. The thesis will offer a critical assessment of two decades of application of the least-researched EU citizenship right (to consular and diplomatic protection), its nexus with other EU external relations policies and its implementation by the Member States. It will show the added value of the EU model of protecting citizens abroad for the EU citizens, the Member States and the Union, while also making policy recommendations addressing the shortcomings in its current implementation. The thesis will demonstrate that, in spite of the scholarly critiques of the incompatibility of the Union model with public international law, the international community has widely accepted.

Defence Date: 17 December 2010
Examining Board: Prof. Bruno De Witte, Université de Maastricht (Directeur de thèse IUE); Prof. Ruth Rubio Marin, Institut universitaire européen; Prof. Renate Weber, Parlement européen; Prof. Dia Anagnostou, Université de Macedoine-Thessaloniki/ ELIAMEP
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Source d’inspiration romantique pour des Hugo ou des Bizet, objet de mesures répressives prenant des formes aussi diverses que la « chasse aux tsiganes » ou des politiques « éclairées » poursuivant leur sédentarisation et transformation en « bons fermiers », prétexte de débat académique passionnel s’interrogeant sur les origines d’une langue et l’identité des personnes, les Roms font finalement irruption dans le domaine juridique notamment après l’effondrement du régime communiste. Il s’agit d’une telle multiplication de l’activité juridique que l’on ne trouve plus d’organisme européen, international ou national qui n’ait été conduit à s’intéresser, de quelque manière que ce soit, à la situation des Roms. Cette thèse a comme point de départ cette effervescence juridique et vise à identifier et à décrire la construction d’un régime juridique pour la protection des Roms. Il s’agit d’un véritable processus qui a entraîné une cohorte d’acteurs. Parmi eux, deux se distinguent et c’est précisément sur leurs efforts que cette thèse se concentre : le Conseil de l’Europe et l’Union européenne. Leur contribution pour la protection des Roms est significative : l’interprétation par la CEDH de la Convention européenne pour les droits de l’homme en tant que protégeant la vie en caravane des Roms comme mode de vie traditionnel entrant sous la protection de l’article 8, la dénonciation par la même cour d’une discrimination généralisée subie par les Roms dans le domaine de l’éducation ; il y a aussi la Charte sociale européenne apportant des clarifications importantes notamment quant au droit des Roms à un logement effectif, à la santé et à l’assistance sociale ainsi qu’à la protection contre la pauvreté et l’ exclusion sociale. Mentionnons également le rôle de la Convention-cadre pour la protection des minorités nationales à confirmer le statut de minorité pour les Roms ainsi que l’apport de la Charte des langues régionales ou minoritaires à la préservation de leur identité culturelle. Quant à l’Union européenne, il s’agit d’analyser l’intérêt à la fois exogène et endogène manifesté par les institutions européennes à l’égard des Roms, ainsi que la contribution du droit de l’Union européenne à leur protection, surtout par des instruments comme la Directive à l’égalité raciale. Cette thèse vise aussi à faire passer l’analyse de la contribution de ces divers instruments du plan théorique au plan pratique. Pour faire cela, nous prenons en compte un seul Etat - la Roumanie - afin d’étudier la protection des Roms en relation avec les instruments européens rappelés. La recherche poursuite dans le cadre de cette thèse a conduit à conclure sur l’émergence d’un régime de protection pour les Roms, à caractère hybride, associant des éléments du régime de la protection des minorités (droits linguistiques, protection de l’identité culturelle) à des éléments liés aux droits de l’homme et notamment aux droits économiques et sociaux. Mais plus important encore, cette thèse a mis en évidence plusieurs points d’inquiétude : une véritable polémique engageant des experts et représentants des Roms quant à la question de savoir si les Roms doivent demander des droits uniquement en tant que membres de l’humanité, c’est-à-dire des droits de l’homme, ou s’ils doivent demander des droits également en tant que membres d’un groupe spécifique, c’est-à-dire, des droits des minorités ; l’opportunité et l’utilité d’un tel régime de protection pour les Roms, surtout dans le contexte ou davantage de voix posent ces questions : la réalité des besoins telle qu’elle est répercutée au niveau des organismes qui élaborent des instruments juridiques reflète-t-elle la réalité du terrain ? Ces divers développements juridiques réussissent-ils à améliorer la situation des Roms et à faire respecter leurs droits ?

Defence date: 18 December 2009
Examining Board: Professor Christian Joerges, University of Bremen (supervisor), Professor Hans-W. Micklitz, European University Institute, Professor Roland Bieber, University of Lausanne, Professor Stephen Weatherill, University of Oxford
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This thesis examines the relationship between fundamental rights and consumer protection in the European Union. Traditionally, consumer regulation has been applied as a onedimensional tool to achieve economic integration. In 2000, the Charter of Fundamental Rights broadened the scope of consumer law to include a social dimension; however, this initiative remains limited in practice, because of the abstract wording in the Charter, and because of the partly contrasting full-harmonisation strategy of the EU. Moreover, the Charter is not binding and it risks succumbing to traditional market-oriented policy tendencies. This thesis tries to build a bridge between the two approaches to consumer law - the market-oriented approach, and the fundamental-rights based approach. To do so, it suggests a new consumer concept, based upon the capability approach of the economist Amartya Sen. Such an approach enables the consumer to deal with the risks of increasingly integrated and complex markets, by focusing upon basic procedural rights. Three areas of consumer law have been gaining importance in recent times: credit agreements, telecommunications, and collective redress. Cases from these areas are considered here, as they exemplify the inter-action between fundamental rights, and participation in cross-border markets. First, cases in consumer credit illustrate the impact of fundamental rights on the provision of fair contractual conditions, and on access to responsible lending schemes. Second, the new telecommunication proposal highlights the importance of regulatory participation mechanisms for consumers, to ensure access to services of general interests and to ensure data protection in an increasingly privatised environment. Finally, collective redress mechanisms show how procedural innovations can improve judicial participation through the basic right of access to justice. The thesis concludes by proposing a new legal approach for consumer law in the EU, in order reach a compromise between social and economic demands.

Defence date: 21 September 2001
Examining board: Prof. Adrienne Héritier (Max-Planck Projektgruppe RdG, Bonn - Supervisor ; Prof. Martin Jänicke (Freie Universität Berlin) ; Prof. Michael Keating (EUI) ; Prof. Brigid Laffan (University College Dublin)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 2017

Defence date: 8 June 2015
Examining Board: Professor Marise Cremona, European University Institute (Supervisor); Professor Gregorio Garzón Clariana, Autonomous University of Barcelona; Dr. Maria O’Neill, University of Abertay Dundee; Professor Martin Scheinin, European University Institute.
This thesis seeks to examine the existing EU frameworks for data-sharing for law enforcement purposes, both within the EU and between the EU and third countries, the data protection challenges to which these give rise, and the possible responses to those challenges at both EU and global levels. The analysis follows a bottom-up approach, starting with an examination of the EU internal data-sharing instruments. After that, it studies the data transfers conducted under the scope of an international agreement; and finally, it concludes by discussing the current international initiatives for creating universal data protection standards. As for the EU data-sharing instruments, this thesis demonstrates that these systems present shortcomings with regard to their implementation and usage. Moreover, each instrument has its own provisions on data protection and, despite the adoption of a Framework Decision in 2008, this has not brought about a convergence of data protection rules in the JHA field. A similar multiplicity of instruments is also found when the EU transfers data to third countries for the purpose of preventing and combating crimes. This is evident from examining the existing data-sharing agreements between the EU and the US. Each agreement has a section on data protection and data security rules, which again differ from the general clauses of the 2008 Framework Decision. This study demonstrates the influence of US interests on such agreements, as well as on the ongoing negotiations for an umbrella EU-US Data Protection Agreement. One possible way to ensure a high level of EU data protection standards in the field of law enforcement in the face of US pressure is by enhancing the role of Europol. This EU Agency shares information with EU member states and third countries. This thesis demonstrates that Europol has a full-fledged data protection framework, which is stronger than most of the member states’ privacy laws. However, taking Europol rules as a reference for global standards would only partially achieve the desired result. The exchange of data for security purposes does not only involve law enforcement authorities, but also intelligence services. The recent NSA revelations have shown that the programmes used by these bodies to collect and process data can be far more intrusive and secretive than any current law enforcement system. In view of the above, this thesis explores the potential of CoE Convention 108 for the Protection of Individuals with regard to the Automatic Processing of Personal Data and ii the Cybercrime Convention as the basis for a global regime for data protection in law enforcement. This thesis concludes that an optimum global data protection framework would entail a combination of the 108 CoE Data Protection Convention and the Cybercrime Convention. The cumulative effect of these two legal instruments would bind both law enforcement and intelligence services in the processing of data. In sum, by promoting the Europol approach to data protection and existing Council of Europe rules, the EU could play a crucial role in the creation of global data protection standards.

Defence date: 21 October 2013
Examining Board: Professor Loïc Azoulai, European University Institute (EUI Supervisor) ; Professor Bruno de Witte, European University Institute; Professor Giorgio Gaja, University of Florence; Professor Steve Peers, University of Essex.
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
The recognition of the legally binding value of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights has profoundly transformed the Union system of fundamental rights protection. The novelties not only concern the sources of this protection, but also the conditions for the application and interpretation of EU fundamental rights. In particular, before the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty the Court of Justice was the exclusive architect of its approach to fundamental rights, whereas in the era of the legally binding Charter is confronted with written rules on the subject. Moreover, if there is no doubt that the Lisbon Treaty has put an unprecedented emphasis on the protection and promotion of EU fundamental rights, the Member States have contextually expressed, and with equal emphasis, concerns towards an ever-increasing expansion of the scope of EU fundamental rights, at the expense of domestic standards and material competences. Against this background, the aim of this thesis is to reconstruct the scope of the protection offered (better, that should be offered) by the EU Charter. The analysis covers problems relating both to the scope of application of the Charter and to its effects. Some of the questions addressed are new, as they stem from novelties introduced by the Charter others are veritable topoi of the EU discourse on fundamental rights, which nevertheless need to be revisited in light of the new scenario just described. The leading idea is that, in order to overcome the ambiguity of the Charter on many crucial issues concerning its scope of application and effects, reliance must be made on the role assigned to EU fundamental rights by the revised Treaties. These, and the progressive evolution of the EU system of fundamental rights protection, suggest that fundamental rights are constitutive values of the EU legal order.

Defence Date: 06 December 2010
Examining Board: Fabrizio CAFAGGI (Supervisor, EUI); Christian JOERGES (former EUI/University of Bremen); Colin SCOTT (University College, Dublin); Jyrki TALA (University of Turku and National Research Institute of Legal Policy, Helsinki)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
European Union’s (EU) legislature allows for EU level private interest governments (PIGs): stakeholders, industry, professional and co-operative bodies; and control entrepreneurs (PriCEs) to complement regulatory strategies. However, governance studies have infrequently conducted cross-sector analysis on how they assist in implementing EU policies. This study conducts cross-sector analysis of private compliance instruments (PCIs) utilised as partial implementing strategy to EU’s business regulation across consumer, worker health, safety and environmental policies. It introduces several opportunities to learn from differences. PriCEs appear operational PCIs throughout several legislative and private regulatory frameworks; regulatory sectors; targeting sector- or business-specific compliance; and employing either command-and-control or reflexive/responsive regulatory modes. However, workable 'in-house' PCIs implemented by PIGs necessitate specific market architecture and legislative pressure. Within sectors of health and safety of consumers and workers specific conditions may support in-house PCIs, which control business-specific compliance within command-and-control mode. However, within environmental sector, such in-house PCIs appear unfeasible. The EU legislature has also architected PCIs, which somewhat equate to reflexive/responsive mode, to consumer and environmental policies, whilst it has abstained from introduction of such instruments to worker health and safety due to autonomous social dialogue. Generally, at EU level, the potential for using outfitted reflexive mode PCIs appears greater than employing command-and-control mode in CPIs.

Defence date: 10 July 2014
Examining Board: Hans-Wolfang Micklitz, European University Institute (Supervisor); Giorgio Monti, European University Institute; Geraint Howells, University of Manchester; Viktor Kreuschitz, General Court of the European Union.
This thesis examines the relationship between the law on unfair commercial practices and consumer contract law. The thesis develops the claim that Directive 2005/29/EC, on unfair commercial practices (UCPD) has had a strong impact on the content of consumer contract law, despite the declaration concerning the independence between both branches of law contained in Article 3(2) UCPD. In order to substantiate this claim, the thesis examines the implications for consumer contract law of the main components of the regulatory regime laid down by the UCPD, namely, (1) the notion of average consumer, (2) the duty to trade fairly, (3) the duty of information and (4) the remedies. By looking both at the theoretical underpinnings and at the actual operation of this regulatory regime, the thesis casts light on the way in which the UCPD has shaped consumer contract law. The thesis further shows that this is an ongoing phenomenon whose ramifications may be far-reaching, for it implies that the UCPD is powerfully fuelling the Europeanization of contract law.

Defence date: 25 July 2014
Examining Board: Professor Hans-Wolfgang Micklitz, European University Institute; Professor Giorgio Monti, European University Institute; Professor Christopher Hodges, University of Oxford; Professor Norbert Reich, University of Bremen.
In 1998 the European Union adopted a new self-standing instrument of collective enforcement - the Action for Injunction. Until then, the main focus was on the improvement of the position of the individual consumer through the adoption of substantive consumer law directives. The Injunction Directive provides for a general framework on consumer law enforcement in national and cross-border litigation. Qualified entities, public agencies and/or consumer organisations, are granted legal standing. National courts are bound to mutually respect the standing of EU wide registered qualified entities. Outside these clear-cut rules on the mutual recognition of standing, the Injunction Directive remains largely silent. The implementation into 28 Member States swiftly revealed the rather limited harmonising effect. The thesis investigates and explains how despite the legally approved diversity, the Injunction Directive contains the potential to turn diversity into convergence. The key to understanding the potential is the thesis of dualism of enforcement measures. Read together with the Annex the Injunction Directive establishes the deep interconnection between collective and individual enforcement, of substantive and procedural enforcement, of judicial and administrative enforcement. The different levels and means of enforcement should not be regarded separately but should always be looked at in their interplay, in their mutual institutional design and their mutual impact. Evidence for convergence can be found in the Invitel judgment of the ECJ and in the practice of consumer organisations via co-ordination actions across borders by which they overcome the boundaries of collective vs. individual or judicial vs. administrative enforcement. Regulation 2006/2004 re-adjusts the dualistic structure of enforcement in favour of public bodies and promotes convergence through para-legal means, through new modes of enforcement, through co-operation and co-ordination outside courts and in open interaction between administrative bodies, to which consumer organisations are admitted on approval only.

Defence date: 13 June 2012
Examining Board: Professor Martin Scheinin, European University Institute (EUI Supervisor); Professor Valsamis Mitsilegas, Queen Mary University of London; Professor Tuomas Ojanen, University of Helsinki; Professor Giovanni Sartor, European University Institute.
First made available online: 25 August 2021
This thesis examines the added value of the fundamental right to data protection within the EU legal order when law enforcement measures are at stake. It provides a comprehensive analysis of the concept of data protection, its underlying values and aims, and the approaches to this right. It discusses the current theories and the existing case-law on data protection by identifying their shortcomings. It introduces a new theory on data protection that reconstructs the right and reshapes in a clear and comprehensive manner its understanding. The thesis tests the added value of the ‘reconstructed’ right to data protection in the most difficult context: law enforcement and counter-terrorism. Three specific case-studies of data processing in the field of law enforcement are used: 1) the information collection 2) the information storage and, 3) the information transfer case. The information collection case discusses the EU Data Retention Directive and addresses the conceptual confusions between the rights to privacy and data protection that surround it, before turning to a substantive fundamental rights assessment of the Directive. The information storage case examines the added value of the fundamental right to data protection in the context of the access of law enforcement authorities to information stored on EU-scale databases such as the second generation Schengen Information System (SIS II), the Visa Information System (VIS) and Eurodac. Finally, the information transfer case discusses the role of the rights to privacy and data protection with regard to the transfer of data from the EU to the US for counterterrorism purposes. In this context, it addresses the EU-US PNR and TFTP cases.

Defence date: 27 May 1992
Examining board: Prof. Marie-Chantal Boutard-Labarde (Université de Paris X-Nanterre) ; Prof. Fausto Capelli (Université de Parme) ; Prof. Peter Müller-Graff (Université de Trier) ; Prof. Jürgen Schwarze (Supervisor - EUI) ; Prof. Jean Vergès (Université de Paris I)
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 2017

Award date: 25 January 2018
Supervisor: Prof. Hans-W. Micklitz
The thesis investigates the evolution of the status-related approach to consumer protection in the private law of the European Union and asks whether this traditional approach is still viable in the times of growing digitalisation. It explores, firstly, what consumer protection actually means and, secondly, whether instruments adopted for this purpose are also directed at the achievement of other policy goals. It shows that, in the most general understanding, consumer protection is linked to the position of “passive market participants”, namely persons entering into legal relationships to satisfy their needs without producing the product or service themselves. It is usually, but not invariably, limited to the standard consumer notion, displays several overarching themes such as access, information, fairness and alternative dispute resolution and remains strongly intertwined with the internal market project. The thesis further asks whether, throughout the years, tensions associated with the status-related approach to consumer protection were identified and, if so, whether and how they were addressed. It touches upon the changing normative content of the term itself and points to several areas – most notably related to the provision of services – in which the notion of a “consumer” has partially been replaced (or supplemented) with other categories. It finally asks whether digitalisation is setting an end to the status-related consumer protection and attempts to draw the possible ways forward.

Defence date: 11 July 2008
Examining Board: Gráinne de Búrca (EUI Supervisor) ; Bruno de Witte (EUI) ; Jane Holder, University College London ; Sybille Grohs, European commission, DG ENV
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
This thesis argues that the present provisions on public enforcement are inadequate for the effective promotion of compliance with Community law and seeks to provide solutions in order to improve them. Article 226 and 228 EC are both cumbersome and lengthy, particularly with regard to environmental protection. In order to reach this conclusion, the thesis reviews the subject of the enforcement procedure, the infringement itself. It gives a definition of compliance and offers reasons why and how Member States comply or fail to comply with Community rules. It analyses the Commission's role in applying the public enforcement mechanism, before it reviews the problems occurring in the application of Article 228, as the “ultima ratio ultimae rationis” in infringement procedures. Although the Commission attempted several times to clarify the application of that Article, there are still open questions. Environment is the field of law which produces the most enforcement problems and if we find solutions to them, we may be able to use the experiences in other sectors, too. After introducing the main approaches promoting compliance, it is argued that more attention needs to be paid to enforcement than to the managerial approach. Reviewing the managerial instruments reveals that they are more powerful when complemented by enforcement means. Consequently, the thesis focuses upon the latter methods, by referring to the case law on Article 228, which demonstrates the success of the public enforcement procedure. The enforcement mechanism, however, is not perfect, thus a variety of solutions is proposed to make it more effective. Along the lines of the amendments introduced in the Treaty of Lisbon, some improvements to these articles are proposed together with a so-called urgency measure, which empowers the Commission to stop – at an early stage – an infringement that might otherwise mean irreparable damage to the environment.

Defence date: 21 June 2017
Examining Board: Prof. Hans-W. Micklitz, EUI (Supervisor) Prof. Marise Cremona, EUI Prof. Laurence Gormley, University of Groningen Prof. Fernanda Nicola, Washington College of Law, American University
The aim of this thesis is to illustrate, on the basis of a socio-legal study presented in three qualitative case studies, the role of hybrid collective remedies in enforcing European socially oriented regulation, in particular environmental law, anti-discrimination law and consumer law, for the creation of a European social legal order, which is able to gradually counter its perceived internal market bias. The hybrid collective remedies at stake in the three case studies – each case study constituted by a preliminary reference to the CJEU – are symptomatic of the three legal-political fields at stake. With the EU taking a leading role in the three fields for the purpose of complementing the creation of an internal market, the EU has decoupled the fields from their national social welfare origin and re-established a policy which is not so much based on ensuring social justice, but more based on procedural mechanisms to ensure access justice. Likewise, the EU left the creation of collective remedies fostering a genuine protective purpose to the Member States. The national and European models of justice underlying the three legal-political fields and their remedies are of a complementary, i.e., of a hybrid nature, and are moving towards the creation of an integrated European social order. The creation of the European social order via national actors using the preliminary reference procedure to implement the three policies at stake goes hand in hand with the creation of a European society.

Award date: 31 December 1996
Supervisors: Prof. Amato ; Prof. Ehlermann ; Prof. Sciarra
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 2017

Defence date: 30 March 2017
Examining Board: Professor Marise Cremona, EUI (Supervisor); Professor Deirdre Curtin, EUI; Professor Anne Flanagan, Queen Mary University of London; Professor Ronald Leenes, Tilburg University
This thesis concerns a specific instance of the trade-off between security and ‘privacy rights’, namely cybersecurity, as it applies to EU Law. The research question is whether, and how, the pursuit of cybersecurity can be reconciled with the protection of personal data and respect for private and family life, which I treat as two independent rights. Classic legal argumentation is used to support a normative critique against the trade-off; an in-depth scrutiny of ‘(cyber)security’ and ‘privacy’ further shows that the trade-off is methodologically flawed: it is an inappropriate intellectual device that offers a biased understanding of the subject matter. Once the terms of discussion are reappraised, the relationship between cybersecurity and privacy appears more nuanced, and is mediated by elements otherwise overlooked, chiefly technology. If this fatally wounds the over-simplistic trade-off model, and even opens up avenues for integration between privacy and cybersecurity in EU law, on the other hand it also raises new questions. Looked at from the perspective of applicable law, technology can both protect and infringe privacy rights, which leads to the paradox of the same technology being both permissible and impermissible, resulting in a seeming impasse. I identify the problem as lying in the combination of technology neutrality, the courts’ avoidance in pronouncing on matters of technology, and the open-ended understanding of privacy rights. To appraise whether cybersecurity and privacy rights can be reconciled, I develop a method that bridges the technological and legal understandings of information security and privacy, based on the notions/methods of protection goals, attributes and core/periphery or essence, and which has the advantage of highlighting the independence of the two privacy rights. A trial run of the method discloses aspects of the ‘how’ question that were buried under the trade-off debate, viz. the re-appropriation of the political and judicial process vis-àvis technology.
Chapter 4 draws upon an article in Neue Kriminalpolitik 4/2013

Supervisor: Prof. Giovanni Sartor, EUI
Award date: 13 February 2012
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
Cybercrime and cyber-security are attracting increasing attention, both for the relevance of Critical Information Infrastructure to the national economy, and the interplay of the policies tackling them with ‘ICT sensitive’ liberties, such as privacy and data protection. As such, the subject falls in the ‘security vs. privacy’ debate. The objective of this study is twofold. On the one hand, it is descriptive: it aims to cast light on the (legal substantive) nature of, and relationship between, cybercrime and cyber security, which are currently ‘terms of hype’. On the other, it explores the possibility of reconciling data protection and privacy with the prevention of cybercrime and the pursuit of a cyber-security policy, and therefore wishes to explore causation. The latter is a subset of the wider question of whether it is possible to build ‘human rights by design’, i.e. a security policy that reconciles both security and human rights. I argue that narrow or online crimes and broad or off-line crimes are profoundly different in terms of underlying logics while facing the same procedural challenges, and that only narrow cybercrime pertains to cyber-security, understood as a policy. Yet, the current policy debate is focussing too much on broad cybercrimes, thus biasing the debate over the best means to tackle ICT-based crimes and challenging the liberties involved. I then claim that the implementation of data protection principles in a cyber-security policy can act as a proxy to reduce cyber threats, and in particular (narrow) cybercrime, provided that the following caveats are respected: i) we privilege a technical computer security notion; ii) we update the data protection legislation (in particular the understanding of personal data); and iii) we adopt a core-periphery approach to human rights. The study focuses on the EU. Due to time constraints, the interaction between privacy and data protection and other liberties involved, as well as purely procedural issues are outside of the scope of this research.

Defense Date: 16 April 2010
Examining Board: Prof. Christian Joerges (supervisor), University of Bremen Prof. Miguel Poiares Maduro, EUI Prof. Peter Sparkes, University of Southampton Prof. Jules Stuyck, Catholic University, Leuven
The aim of this thesis is, first, to reconsider property as a legal concept and as a social institution, by taking into consideration several insights provided by social sciences. Secondly, several regulatory measures are proposed in order to enhance an adequate protection of property. The author stars by analysing the protection of property as a fundamental right under EU law. She claims that the ECJ’s challenge is to strike the right balance between property rights and market build-up. Such a balance is to be found in the communicative network of discourses of the case-law of the ECtHR, and common traditions of Member States. Accordingly, the author suggests that the ECJ should be open to inputs from the ECtHR, namely through the ‘excessive burden’ criterion. The second regulatory analysis takes into consideration that property is intrinsically linked to consumption, and that owner is often necessarily a consumer. The function of EC consumer [protection] law, the function of European consumer policy, and the definition of the European consumer are the three interrelated questions that have guided the inquiry in Chapter III. Consumer policies, it is claimed, should be asymmetrical: they shall create benefits for those who are boundedly rational while imposing little or no harm on those who are to be considered fully rational. This distinction will provide the basis for a new standard in the assessment of the costs and benefits of regulatory options. Finally, the author inquires about situations where a conflict of properties might exist between a corporeal thing and an intellectual property right. It is claimed that lawmaking bodies must autonomously consider the interest(s) of the owner of the corporeal thing in the overall assessment of granting an intellectual property right. Before formulation of property rights, an appropriate weighing and balancing of all relevant interests is thus in need, in order to avoid normative inconsistencies.

Defence date: 18 July 2003
Examining board: Prof. Gráinne de Búrca, Supervisor ; Prof. Elspeth Guild ; Prof. Steve Peers ; Prof. Bruno de Witte
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digitised archive of EUI PhD theses completed between 2013 and 2017

Defence date: 3 July 2013
Examining Board: Professor Hans-Wolfgang Micklitz, European University Institute (EUI Supervisor); Professor Giorgio Monti, European University Institute; Professor Mads Andenæs, Universiteteti Oslo; Professor Jan Wouters, Katholieke Universiteit Leuven.
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
This thesis studies and analyzes the current paradigm governing the legal protection of retail investors in the United States and the European Union, by framing both of the legal systems within the transnational financial regulatory arena. In order to do so, the thesis carries out an evolutionary analysis of the European and American statutes dealing with financial markets regulation and gives an account, also grounded on the previous professional experience of the author, concerning the relationship between a retail investor and an investment services provider. It, then, examines whether and how far the US and EU legal systems either are affected by or affect transnational financial regulation, namely those (soft-law) rules adopted by the International Organization of Securities Commissions IOSCO, in particular as regards the protection of retail investors. Subsequently, the thesis describes the Organization’s governance structure, the decision-making process, the content of its financial rules and how far these are implemented into national domestic legislation. The third and last part of the thesis gives an analysis of the different legal tools provided by the European and American systems for public and collective private enforcement mechanisms, with the purpose to check whether a set of tools is preferred over the other (private VS public), and how far retail investors have the chance to concretely protect their rights. At the end, an assessment will be provided regarding the workability of the current paradigm from the point of view of retail investors.

Award date: 30 November 2015
Supervisor: Professor Loïc Azoulai, European University Institute
This thesis considers the Europeanisation of English administrative law, in the specific context of the principle of protection of legitimate expectations. It assesses whether, how and to what extent the way in which the way in which legitimate expectations are protected in EU law has influenced the protection of legitimate expectations in English law. To make this assessment, a thorough analysis is conducted of case law in both jurisdictions. The thesis is structured into five main Chapters. Chapter A provides an introduction and looks at some general issues surrounding the concept of legitimate expectation, including which expectations are protectable and what is meant by legitimacy. Chapter B traces the development of the protection of legitimate expectations in English and EU law, and considers certain particular features in more detail for each jurisdiction, with the aim of establishing some parameters against which more recent case law can be tested and compared. In Chapter C an in-depth analysis of recent case law of the English courts, both falling within and outside the scope of EU law, is undertaken, and comparisons are drawn between these cases and with the traditional position of EU law on the protection of legitimate expectations. Chapter D contains a similar analysis in respect of recent cases of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Finally, Chapter E draws these analyses together and concludes that while there is limited convergence in the way English and EU courts approach the protection of legitimate expectations, both jurisdictions remain wary of external influence.

Digitisation had a profound impact on the creation, reproduction, and dissemination of works protected by copyright. Works in digital format are vulnerable to infringement, and technological protection measures are accordingly applied as protection. Technological protection measures can, however, easily be circumvented, and additional legal protection against circumvention was needed. Article 11 of the WIPO Copyright Treaty (the WCT) obliges Member States to provide adequate legal protection against the circumvention of technological measures applied to works protected by copyright. Contracting parties must refine the provisions of Article 11 and provide for exceptions on the prohibition. Article 11 does not specify whether it pertains to only certain types of technological measures, nor does it prohibit the trafficking in circumvention devices. The United States implemented the provisions of Article 11 of the WCT through the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the DMCA). Section 1201 of the DMCA prohibits the circumvention of technological measures. It is detailed and relates to two categories of technological measures - access control and copy control. It prohibits not only the act of circumvention, but also the trafficking in circumvention devices. Article 6 of the EC Directive on the Harmonisation of Certain Aspects of Copyright and Related Rights in the Information Society of 2001 implements Article 11 of the WCT. Article 6 seeks to protect Aeffective technological measures@. It prohibits both the act of circumvention and circumvention devices. Although Article 11 of the WCT is silent on the issue of access control, it seems as if the international trend is to provide legal protection to access controls, thus indirectly creating a right to control access. South Africa has not yet implemented Article 11 of the WCT. The South African Copyright Act of 1979 does not protect technological protection measures. The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act of 2002 (the ECT Act) provides protection against the circumvention of technological protection measures applied to digital data. The definition of Adata@ is such that it could include protected works. If applied to protected works, the anti-circumvention provisions of the ECT Act would be detrimental to user privileges. As developing country, it seems to be in South Africa's best interest to the implement the provisions of Article 11 in such a manner that it still allows users access to and legitimate use of works protected by copyright.
Jurisprudence
LL.D.

Defence date: 6 July 2011
Examining Board: Professor Giovanni Sartor, European University Institute (EUI Supervisor); Prof. Andrew Murray, London School of Economics and Political Science; Prof. Hans-W. Mickltz, European University Institute; Dr. Alfonso Scirocco European Economic and Social Committee
PDF of thesis uploaded from the Library digital archive of EUI PhD theses
In the context of the continuous advance of information technologies and biomedicine, and of the creation of economic blocs, this thesis is devoted to the analysis of the role data protection plays in the integration of markets, with a special emphasis on financial and insurance services. Moreover, it is also concerned with the identification of differences in the data protection systems of EU member states and with the development of common standards and principles of data protection that could help to build a data protection model for Mercosur, keeping in mind the need to establish a high level of data protection without creating unnecessary constraints for the flow of information. The thesis is divided into four parts. The first one deals with the evolution of the right to privacy, focusing on the last few decades, taking into account the development of new technologies. In this part an analysis of the European framework of data protection and of its standards developed is carried out. Then, in the second part, the interaction between data protection and the industries selected as case studies, namely insurance, bank and credit reporting, is discussed. This discussion concentrates on specific issues, such as generalisation and discrimination, adverse selection and the processing of sensitive and genetic data. The focus of the third part is the analysis of the legislation of three EU member states (France, Italy and UK). In order to perform this comparative exercise, some important issues are taken into account: the concepts of personal and anonymous data, data protection principles, the role of the data protection authorities, the role of the data protection officer, data subjects’ rights, the processing of sensitive data, the processing of genetic data and the experience of the case studies in processing data. Moreover, issues related to the specific member states are also considered. Subsequently to the comparative analysis, some recommendations are proposed for updating EU legislation on data protection, so as to reduce the barriers to the establishment of an internal market, mainly for financial and insurance services. Finally, the proposal of a model for data protection that could be adopted by Mercosur, taking into account the different levels of data protection that exist in its member states, is conducted in the last part. The thesis concludes by emphasising the important role data protection can play in the process of markets’ integration.