Zoekresultaten
![Sneak attack_Law Blogs Maastricht](/sites/default/files/2023-03/sneak-attack_mlr.jpg)
… of British politics (fascinating in itself), the election call reveals a number of other considerations to be borne in mind: 3. First Past the Post will distort the result – once more: There is a legitimate and strong case to be made for a majoritarian electoral system placing its emphasis on the formation of a strong, stable and viable government – instead of perfectly reflecting every single vote cast in the seats distributed to each party group. However, following Donald Trump’s election as President of the United States with a decisive minority of the popular vote, the UK general election may very well provide the sequel in this saga. With the centre-left opposition parties – Labour, …
![Football blog about corruption on Law Blogs Maastricht](/sites/default/files/2023-03/football-corruption_mlr.jpg)
… governing body for football, FIFA, is no stranger to allegations of corruption and muddy dealings either. FIFA has been on the receiving end of bribery accusations and claims of labor exploitations, most recently with their selection of Russia and Qatar as the host countries for the next two World Cups. In light of these “scandalous” selections, international NGOs like Amnesty International and Transparency International have gone to extreme lengths to prove the complicity of FIFA in perpetrating human rights violations in places like Qatar and accusing its executive committee of being susceptible to bribery. In addition to the various NGOs, there is an increasing awareness amongst a certain portion of the concerned public that something must be done to clean up the business end of football. To address this concern, the European Commission’s working group on good governance is nudging FIFA to reform its operations. Moreover, the European Commission is aiming to ensure that proper structure is in place to maintain transparency and fairness for all athletic organizations, dividing its priorities …
![European Commission Proposes European Accessibility Act](/sites/default/files/2023-03/dsc08419-b-430x154.jpg)
… with various barriers result in their reduced access to products and services, leading to a situation that requires adaptation to their particular needs of those products and services”. The proposal thus addresses accessibility needs beyond the group of people with disabilities. Whilst the proposal does not set out technical accessibility requirements, the EU standardization bodies have produced harmonised technical standards relating to accessibility for some products and services (this was …
![Dean's blog Jan Smits_Faculty of Law Maastricht](/sites/default/files/2023-03/dean-s-blog-jan-smits_deel-1_mlr.jpg)
… this blog will try to give some insight into work and life of a dean (that, by the way, I am also curious about myself). I am highly motivated and enthousiastic about making our Faculty an even better institution than it already is Two weeks ago I started as dean of our Faculty of Law. After 25 years of teaching and research, I chose to devote the coming years to a position in which I will spend (almost) all of my time to leading the Faculty. This is not because I am fed up with teaching and … to be in this position. I can only say that I look tremendously forward to this. This blog serves to keep our faculty community – students, staff and alumni – informed about some of the things I do. This is not to replace the Faculty Journal or website, but it does serve to add context to Faculty matters from a more personal perspective. Some colleagues asked me what it is that a dean does all day and why he cannot simply do his fair share of teaching. This question is fully justified and … the Faculty in a wonderful and passionate manner Her official farewell two days later was impressive, with a reception in De Groote Sociëteit at the Vrijthof and a dinner party thereafter in Turkish restaurant Mandalin at the Kommel. The Tuna Universitaria de Maastricht accompanied her during the walk to the restaurant. It gave me great pleasure to address Hildegard in the afternoon on behalf of the Faculty community and to present her with a necklace from Oman. In the evening it was President …
![law_blog_comip_oles_andriychuk](/sites/default/files/2023-03/law_blog_comip_oles_andriychuk.jpg)
… Every silo perceives it through its own angle, so that often the disagreements between the supporters of the DMA are getting even more fundamental than the disagreement between the ‘ontological’ opponents. Tentatively, one can identify four groups of the proponents of the DMA: (i) those expecting the DMA to improve the long list of problems associated with the digital rights of end users; (ii) those focusing primarily onto the improvement of vertical competition between gatekeepers and … to open-up the entrenched digital markets, and analysing its provisions from the perspective of new entrants, which would be capable to begin competing with the current incumbents. Clearly, such taxonomy is only indicative. There are various subgroups with the focus on different aspects of end users’ rights, vertical, horizontal or diagonal competition, with various disciplinary and methodological background, ideological beliefs and normative expectations. Some expect the DMA to be …
![blog about fees and quality of patents](/sites/default/files/2023-03/blog-about-fees-and-quality-of-patents_mlr.jpg)
… of time with making its decision like the first time, the UPC will not become operational until 2023. Meanwhile, there are discussions concerning relaunching the system and giving France a leading role due to the situation in Germany. There is also a group of academics that calls for changes to the UPC Agreement and suggest alternative solutions for the EU patent system. Apart from these issues that still need to be overcome to keep its promise and solve the fragmentation issue in order to function …
![](/sites/default/files/2023-03/blog10_martin_paul.jpg)
… Predictions using big data The early prediction of infection hot spots could help us overcome these obstacles, and researchers have increasingly been using big data approaches from online resources to do just that. A paper published this week by a group of researchers from Harvard University applies an algorithm that includes a variety of data points that are readily available online to predict areas where the infection rates are most likely to rise. First, they looked at a multitude of data … visible in the disease statistics, and effective prediction models that use big data analysis could have led to significant improvements in mitigating infection rates. In the future, these models could help officials to direct resources and implement targeted measures in areas where they are needed most—without locking down entire countries and affecting the population at large. And, who knows, maybe we will plan our vacations in the future not only based on predictions of the highest number of …
![pixabay-2617224-music-notes-sheets-theatre-show.jpg](/sites/default/files/2023-03/pixabay-2617224-music-notes-sheets-theatre-show.jpg)
… unemployment benefits (because they might not have worked enough as an employee in the past), these workers will end up empty-handed. Not favourable indeed. This has led to diverse initiatives from individual set-up crowdfunding projects to interest groups of the sector, such as the solidarity-based-project Plan Corona . A generous gesture towards the cultural sector that hasn’t been followed yet is the approach applied in Germany. The German government stated clearly that the ‘cultural and …
![Blog over Fictional interest payment](/sites/default/files/2023-03/blog-over-fictional-interest-payment_mlr.jpg)
… In a little more than one week we saw a series of judgements and a European Commission decision that may again test the limits of the European Union's state aid system in its application to matters of direct taxation. On March 7, 2019 the Commission started a formal state aid investigation into the tax deduction of fictitious interest payments in the Luxembourg Huhtamäki case. It essentially argues that non-existing interest payments cannot be deducted in order to reduce tax payable. At first … rules are internally consistent and the interest rates used reflect what third parties would have agreed to, who is to blame for a difference between national tax systems? This leads to another little conundrum: what prompted the Commission not to start parallel investigations in two Member States as Ireland failed to include (fictitious) interest in the taxable income? In other recent cases, the Commission argued vigorously for the recognition of a general principle of EU Law requiring Member States to ensure that group companies be taxed as unrelated parties (quod non). I could understand if the Commission already adopted a German-modeled doctrine in its line of thinking, but isn’t that premature? Of course, we cannot end up with a finding of state aid in two …
![Entrepreneur blog IGIR trade and compliance](/sites/default/files/2023-03/entrepreneur-blog-igir-trade-and-compliance_mlr.jpg)
… dispute settlement mechanism available in the EU FTAs and are enforced instead by dedicated mechanisms that include monitoring, dialogue and cooperation between the parties in the TSD Committees, stakeholder involvement through Domestic Advisory Groups and bilateral Civil Society Forums, and, as a last resort, binding dispute settlement by a Panel of Experts with which compliance is jointly achieved. A ‘managerial’ approach to securing compliance with sustainable development obligations The …