The Compatibility of EU Biofuel Policies with Global Sustainability and the WTO

The EU’s Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28) requires that by 2020, biofuels should account for at least 10 per cent of transport fuel consumption. EU legislation sets out sustainability criteria for biofuels to qualify for this target and procedures for verifying that they are met. Using the AGLINK‐COSIMO model, we investigate the impacts of the biofuel target on global trade flows and land use, both under the current biofuel tariff regime and assuming zero EU tariffs for biofuels. The EU’s 2020 transport fuel target increases the global area of agricultural crops by 0.9 per cent. With zero tariffs, the extra global land requirement is 21 per cent smaller, but a larger share of it falls outside the EU. This outcome sharpens the issue of how the EU’s unilateral sustainability criteria can be implemented given current international trade rules.     

Merger Control in the New Economy

This paper addresses the potential for conflict between antitrust authorities in the arena of merger control in the new economy. By new economy we mean two related developments. First, the internationalization of the economy, i.e. the ability to sell and produce products world-wide, and secondly, markets with certain characteristics such as network effects and other aspects of natural monopoly. We focus on three types of substantive issues in merger control – market definition, assessment of competitive effects, and the role of remedies. We argue that the scope for conflict varies significantly across these three arenas. In particular, conflict over market definition is less likely. By contrast, the assessment of competitive effects and the role of remedies are areas where conflict between antitrust authorities may be more likely in new economy-type markets.     

欢盟外资并购国家安全审查制度对中国的启示

21世纪以来,欧盟主要国家纷纷修改外资并购立法,加大对外资并购国冢安全的审查,审查标准趋亍严格．审查范围愈发扩大。这种外资审查立法权扩张的冲动受到来自《欧共体条约》所确立的资本自由化原则的制约。在国际投资政策趋紧的背景下,中国公司近年来在欧美国家的外资并购不断受阻。深入理解欧盟外资并购立法的规定是当前中国企业制定国际化战略的基本要求。     

The WTO Compatibility of the Economic Partnership Agreements between the EU and the ACP Countries

The economic partnership agreements (EPAs) to be negotiated between the European Union and six different ACP regions under the Cotonou Agreement are intended to be in conformity with WTO rules, i.e. satisfy GATT Article XXIV and GATS Article V. To what extent is this realistic? What would be the effects on the ACP countries?

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This article summarises the following study: A. Borrmann, H. Gro?mann, and G. Koopmann: The WTO Compatibility of the Economic Partnership Agreement between the EU and the ACP States, Study on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, Eschborn 2005, http://www.gtz.de/de/dokumente/enwto-epa-acp-2005.pdf.     

European Community Merger Control in the Service Industries

This article examines the application of the EC Merger Regulation to service industries in the light of the 50 final decisions relating to services taken in its first two years of operation. These cases generally raised few competition concerns and only one (Accor/Wagons-Lits) has led to full proceedings. However they have raised important questions about the calculation of turnover, definition of control and treatment of joint ventures as well as uncertainties about jurisdiction. An understanding of the Commission's evolving policy will be of increasing importance as service industries internationalise, especially if thresholds for investigation are eventually lowered as the Commission has proposed.     

A Decade of EC Merger Control

The introduction of the EC Merger Control Regulation in September 1990 plugged a serious gap in European competition policy. This paper examines aspects of its record over the first ten years. These include the changing scope of the policy and the much higher level of activity than originally anticipated. Developments in the appraisal of mergers are assessed with particular reference to oligopoly, the treatment of non-competition effects and dynamic competition, especially in high tech industries. The risks of an increasing tendency towards remedial settlements are also discussed and some future challenges highlighted .     

我国并购浪潮假说的实证检验

并购活动呈浪潮式发展在西方发达国家几乎已成典型化事实,回顾我国并购活动发展历程发现,这一典型化事实在我国似乎也是存在的.为了加强对总体并购活动发展态势的了解和掌握,促进我国并购理论的完善和发展,本文对我国并购浪潮假说进行检验.检验结果表明,三状态马尔科夫区制转移模型和我们对并购浪潮的定义能够正确地刻画我国总体并购活动,我国总体并购活动呈浪潮式发展,并购活动具有周期性,而拒绝认为并购活动遵循随机游走过程.     

On the Scope of Conflict in International Merger Control

In this paper, we analyze the scope for conflict between national merger control agencies which simultaneously assert jurisdictions. We consider a positive model of merger control in which market definition and the analysis of dominance are both explicitly specified. Our main finding is that conflict in international merger control is less likely to occur when economic integration is high. Hence, economic integration should alleviate rather than exacerbate conflict. In addition, we observe that conflict is more likely to arise between countries of similar market size and for moderate competition policy rules.     

企业并购中陷阱和风险控制

企业并购作为一种系统的、复杂的资本运作手段,既能实现资本逐利、管理控制权扩张的利益,也会极大损害甚至是拖垮并购方的实力。对于导致企业并购失败的主要原因,并购方应当高度重视并购陷阱和风险并加以防范与控制,从而有效地控制并降低并购成本、解决后续整合障碍。本文结合作者的实务操作经验,归纳并分析了常见的陷阱和风险,重点从战略、法律、财务、金融机构、人力资源、投资者关系和政策几个方面进行阐述,并提出了如尽职调查、保障协议等有效的风险控制思路和措施。     

欧共体合并控制改革探析

2001年至2004年间,欧盟对合并控制制度进行了影响深远的改革.改革的导火线是欧盟委员会发表的<绿皮书>和欧洲初审法院连续撤销欧盟委员会的三项禁止企业合并的决定;改革的根本原因在于合并控制制度本身存在的问题.作为改革的成果,2004年欧盟委员会颁布了新的<合并条例>、<横向合并审查指南>和<合并调查最佳实践指南>三部法律条文,重组了执法部门竞争总司.欧盟合并控制制度改革的经验,可为我国合并控制立法借鉴.     

欧盟并购控制政策的演变与启示

本文认为,欧盟建立后十余年的时间里,沿用了欧共体的并购控制政策.这一政策是特定历史时期的产物,包含了较多的对非经济因素的考虑,又具有结构主义的特点.2004年4月,以新并购控制规则正式生效为标志,欧盟并购控制政策发生重大变革.在实质性内容上,新政策以新古典的微观经济理论为依据,对并购控制标准和市场结构分析方法进行调整;对与并购相关的反竞争效应的产生机制及效率问题进行阐释,加强了并购审查过程中的经济学分析.欧盟并购控制政策的演变过程带给我们的启示是:"经济学化"是并购控制政策发展的一般趋势;"竞争文化"的培育和先进技术手段的运用是并购控制政策得到有效执行的保证.     

European Merger Control: Do We Need an Efficiency Defence?

The European Commission recently published a Green Paper on the review of the Merger Regulation, which, amongst other things, invites comments on whether the Merger Regulation should be amended to make explicit allowance for an efficiency defence. This paper is a contribution to this debate. After discussing the economic and political reasons that justify the introduction of an efficiency defence, it reviews the legislation and practice in the European Union, the United States and Canada. Finally, it examines the methodological and implementation problems raised by the efficiency defence and suggests a sequential approach as a way of minimizing these difficulties.     

EU Challenges,Investment in the EU and the Role of the European Investment Group

While monetary policy is close to the limits of what it can achieve, consensus on a more active fiscal policy is still lacking. Indeed, on the political front, Europe stands at something of a political crossroads, facing growing social, economic and political challenges. Efforts are now focused on pragmatically advancing on key common priorities. The urgency and ambition with which this co-operation proceeds will be critical to success.     

企业兼并与边界重构:一个基于现代企业理论的分析框架

兼并是企业进行外部扩张的重要手段 ,但企业兼并本身是一把双刃剑。兼并是否能够获得理想的绩效 ,在一定程度上取决于兼并后企业的边界是否最优。本文基于现代企业理论 ,从企业的交易频率、资产专用性和契约环境三个维度分析了影响企业边界的因素 ,并进一步指出企业兼并的最终极限是企业的有效边界。由于兼并不同于企业通过自身积累而进行的扩张 ,完成兼并后的企业边界往往并不是相对有效的 ,企业必须进行边界重构。企业在综合考虑边界重构成本和政策环境的基础上 ,可以采取消除边界冗余等相应措施实施边界重构。     

The Brexit Dynamics: British and EU27 Challenges After the EU Referendum

Prior to the Brexit referendum, the UK government sent an information brochure to households across the country. Surprisingly, key findings of a study by the UK Treasury — including an expected per capita income loss of £1800 — were not included in the brochure. Calculations indicate that if this information had been included, the outcome of the referendum would have been 52.1% for Remain. Instead, the pro-Brexit campaign utilised anti-immigrant rhetoric to create a scapegoat for the under-provision of local public services, when actually this was due to massive cuts in budget transfers to local communities after the financial crisis. Looking ahead, major reforms are now necessary if the EU is not to disintegrate. Given the fresh support in the UK and US for banking deregulation, the EU must stand firm in support of prudential supervision and banking regulation to prevent a new international banking crisis.     

Modelling EU FDI Deflection Between the New EU Member States and Chinese Provinces

The issue of regionalism and how it affects FDI allocation within and between regions has not yet been dealt with satisfactorily by the voluminous literature on FDI. The issue of FDI dispersion, or of how traditional recipients of FDI flows can be affected by rising competitive advantages in countries of the same region as well as in countries of other regions, has received little attention. This article introduces the concept of EU FDI deflection across regions and measures it for 14 chosen locations in the new EU member states and Chinese provinces against the background of the fifth EU enlargement.