The formal hierarchy of public law legal rules is being eroded and, as a result, is proving less and less useful as a framework for analysis. It is submitted that pluralist concepts such as legal dialogue and legal competition are far more useful for studying the reality of public law today. No longer is the formal hierarchy central, but the debate between the various actors at the various levels. The idea that EU law has primacy over national law, based as it is on the formal hierarchy of legal rules, now seems far too simple.
This book on Pluralism in European Administrative Law, which is also published as the 2012/2 issue of the Review of European Administrative Law (REALaw), contains a selection of papers from the Second REALaw Research Forum that was held in Groningen, the Netherlands, on February 3rd 2012. Together, they provide a fascinating picture of the process of pluralism in the formation of law through legal dialogue and legal competition in European administrative law.
Pluralism in European Administrative Law
1 The Ghost of the ‘Criminal Charge’: the EU Rights of the Defense in Dutch Administrative Law -
Adrienne de Moor-van Vugt
1 A General Principle of EU Law
2 Instrumentalist and Essentialist Approaches
3 The Origins of the Rights of the Defense in UK Law
4 The Origins of the Rights of the Defense in French Law
5 The Origins of the Rights of the Defense in Dutch Law
6 The Dutch Fear of the ‘Criminal Charge’ Ghost
7 Rights of the Defense: a Sliding Scale
2 Administrative Pluralism, Horizontal Cooperation and Transnational Administrative Acts -
Luca De Lucia
1 Fundamental Freedoms and Administrative Cooperation
1.1 Transnational Authorisations and Fundamental Freedoms (a Brief Overview)
1.2 The Transnational Administrative Act and Administrative Cooperation
2 Decisional Models
2.1 Authorisations with Automatic Transnational Effects
2.2 Joint Decisions
2.3 Authorisations Subject to Recognition
3 Inter-administrative Ties and the Nullity of the Transnational Act
4 Issues Concerning Judicial Protection
5 Sanctions Enacted by a National Competition Authority under Regulation
6 Final Remarks
3 The ECrtHR Case Law as a Tool for Harmonization of Domestic Administrative Laws in Europe -
Silvia Mirate
1 Introductory Remarks
2 Principles for Administrative Law in the ECrtHR Case Law
3 The Vertical Relationship between the ECrtHR and Domestic Administrative Courts
4 The Horizontal Relationship between Administrative Courts and their Reference to ECrtHR Case Law
4.1 The Horizontal Relationship between Administrative Courts and the Reference to ‘Other’ National Case Law Referring to the ECHR
5 Final Remarks
4 The Influence of ‘Regulatory Agencies’ on Pluralism in European Administrative Law - Merijn Chamon
1 Introduction
2 The Notion of Pluralism
3 The Regulatory Agency
4 Basic Functions of EU Agencies
4.1 Information Agencies and Pluralism
4.1.1 Conclusion
4.2 Assistance Agencies and Pluralism
4.2.1 Conclusion
4.3 Decision-making Agencies and Pluralism
4.3.1 Conclusion
5 Conclusion
5 The Europeanisation of the Law on National Independent Regulatory Authorities from a Vertical and Horizontal Perspective - Stéphanie De Somer
1 Introduction: Autonomous Public Bodies in Europe anno 2012 – National Restraint Meeting International Impulse
2 Studying the Europeanisation of the Law on IRAs in the Utilities Sectors from a Broader Perspective: Background and Context
3 Europeanisation of the Law on IRAs from a Vertical Perspective: Bottom-up and Top-down Approach
3.1 TOP-DOWN: EU Legislation Regarding the Independence of NRAs
3.2 BOTTOM-UP: How National Law and Practice Inspired EU Legislation on IRAs
4 Europeanisation of the Law on IRAs from a Horizontal Perspective: How Cross-fertilisation between European States in Various Fora has been and is still ‘Shaping’ a Notion of an IRA
4.1 Horizontal Influence through the Institutions of the Council of Europe
4.2 The OECD as an Actor in the Process of Horizontal Development of the Law on IRAs
4.3 Cross-fertilisation trough Networks and other Fora for NRAs
5 Legal Requirements on Regulator’s Accountability: a Different Dynamic?
6 Conclusion
6 Who’s Afraid of a True European Judicial Culture? - Herman van Harten
1 Introduction
2 Some Background: the Birth of European Judicial Training
3 The Commission Communication
4 Who’s Afraid of a True European Judicial Culture?
5 Concluding Remarks and Elements for Discussion
7 Horizontal Cross-Fertilization and Cryptotypes in EU Administrative Law - Mario E. Comba and Sara Richetto
1 Introduction
2 The Definition of Contracts Excluded from the Coverage of EU Directives
3 National Legal Regime for Contracts below the Thresholds
3.1.1 Extension of Directives to below-Thresholds Contracts and the Problem of ‘Gold Plating’
3.1.2 The ‘Non Extension’ Model
3.1.3 The ‘Selective Extension’ Model
3.2 ‘Minor Contracts’
4 Conclusion