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You can order any of the articles listed below for €35,00; reports and case notes are available for €20,00; conference reports and book reviews for €8,00. EU Member States: VAT will be added if applicable.
Issue 1/2013 Table of Contents
Alberto Alemanno
Editorial European Journal of Risk Regulation 1/2013: pp. 1-2
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[Click here to show Abstract]
The EJRR starts the year by publishing a set of timely research articles engaging with
some of the most cutting-edge developments in the area of risk regulation: the normative
debate surrounding the acceptability of behaviourally-informed regulation, the role
of expertise in the regulation of electromagnetic fields, the governance of e-Health
initiatives, and the controversial use of discount rate in Cost-Benefit regulatory analysis.
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Pelle Guldborg Hansen and Andreas Maaløe Jespersen
Nudge and the Manipulation of Choice European Journal of Risk Regulation 1/2013: pp. 3-28
[Article] |
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[Click here to show Abstract]
A Framework for the Responsible Use of the Nudge Approach
to Behaviour Change in Public Policy
In Nudge (2008) Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein suggested that public policy-makers
arrange decision-making contexts in ways to promote behaviour change in the interest of
individual citizens as well as that of society. However, in the public sphere and Academia
alike widespread discussions have appeared concerning the public acceptability of nudgebased
behavioural policy. Thaler and Sunstein’s own position is that the anti-nudge position
is a literal non-starter, because citizens are always influenced by the decision making
context anyway, and nudging is liberty preserving and acceptable if guided by Libertarian
Paternalism and Rawls’ publicity principle. A persistent and central tenet in the criticism
disputing the acceptability of the approach is that nudging works by manipulating citizens’
choices. In this paper, we argue that both lines of argumentation are seriously flawed. We
show how the anti-nudge position is not a literal non-starter due to the responsibilities that
accrue on policy-makers by the intentional intervention in citizens’ life, how nudging is
not essentially liberty preserving and why the approach is not necessarily acceptable even
if satisfying Rawls’ publicity principle. We then use the psychological dual process theory
underlying the approach as well as an epistemic transparency criterion identified by Thaler
and Sunstein themselves to show that nudging is not necessarily about “manipulation”, nor
necessarily about influencing “choice”. The result is a framework identifying four types of
nudges that may be used to provide a central component for more nuanced normative considerations
as well as a basis for policy recommendations.
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Gabriel Doménech Pascual
Not Entirely Reliable: Private Scientific Organizations and Risk Regulation – The Case of Electromagnetic Fields European Journal of Risk Regulation 1/2013: pp. 29-42
[Article] |
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[Click here to show Abstract]
Private scientific organizations exert a great deal of influence in the regulation of some
technological risks. The high level of expertise of their members is arguably a good reason
for them to participate in making and monitoring risk regulations, in order to adjust these
to scientific progress. Nevertheless, there are also sound reasons why governments shouldn’t
uncritically follow the views expressed by such organizations. Taking the role played by
the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection in the regulation of
electromagnetic fields as an illustrative example, this paper shows that private scientific
organizations such as these are structurally less well suited than democratic authorities
when it comes to managing those risks.
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Graeme Laurie and Nayha Sethi
Towards Principles-Based Approaches to Governance of Health-Related Research Using Personal Data European Journal of Risk Regulation 1/2013: pp. 43-57
[Article] |
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[Click here to show Abstract]
Technological advances in the quality, availability and linkage potential of health data for
research make the need to develop robust and effective information governance mechanisms
more pressing than ever before; they also lead us to question the utility of governance
devices used hitherto such as consent and anonymisation. This article assesses and advocates
a principles-based approach, contrasting this with traditional rule-based approaches,
and proposes a model of principled proportionate governance. It is suggested that the approach
not only serves as the basis for good governance in contemporary data linkage but
also that it provides a platform to assess legal reforms such as the draft Data Protection
Regulation.
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Felice Simonelli
The Role of the Discount Rate in Cost-Benefit Analysis Between Theory and Practice: A Comparative Survey European Journal of Risk Regulation 1/2013: pp. 59-71
[Article] |
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[Click here to show Abstract]
This study focuses on the role of the discount rate in cost-benefit analysis (CBA) of regulation,
providing a systematic investigation into regulatory practice vis-à-vis the existing economic
theories. In the first part, a quick survey of the main economic literature on the social
discount rate (SDR) is presented. In the second part, the current institutional practice is
investigated, firstly comparing the recommendations on discounting issued by institutional
actors in the US (Office of Management Budget, Environmental Protection Agency) and
the EU (Commission), and secondly examining the SDRs adopted in two samples of CBAs
selected among Regulatory Impact Analyses of US EPA and Impact Assessments of EU
Directorate-General for the Environment. A gap exists between economic theory and institutional
practice in the selection of the SDR. Regulatory decisions which are based on CBA
reflect the most workable economic literature on discounting rather than the most theoretically
consistent one, thus yielding less reliable and less robust results. Scholars who aim at
improving the quality of rule-making and at fostering the application of CBA in regulatory
decisions should improve the “operational validity” of their research, thus providing practitioners
with methods that are both consistent and workable.
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Sweta Chakraborty and Arthur Caplan
Biotechnology: Microbial Governance – The Ethical Challenge of Synthetic Biology European Journal of Risk Regulation 1/2013: pp. 73-76
[Report] |
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[Click here to show Abstract]
Advances in the field of synthetic biology are creating
many new practical applications. These new
applications raise novel regulatory challenges. Biotechnological
innovation was first addressed by
the United States (US) National Institutes of Health
(NIH) at the advent of recombinant DNA research.1
Today, synthetic biology requires consideration of the
ethics and risks involved in the governance of an
applied technology that spans national borders and
has applications in a wide variety of sectors. Because
approaches to governance vary by nation and sector,
and can range from precautionary to prudent, it is
necessary to consider the context from which different
approaches arise if there is to be any successful
move towards universal governance.
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Gianluca Tognon
Food: Emerging Food Chemical Contaminants from Industry Pollution European Journal of Risk Regulation 1/2013: pp. 76-80
[Report] |
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[Click here to show Abstract]
In May 2011, the illegal use of the plasticizer di(2-ethylhexyl)
phthalate in clouding agents for use in foods and
beverages was reported in Taiwan. This food scandal
has caused shock and panic among the majority of Taiwanese
people and has attracted international attention
raising once again concern regarding the contamination
of food by chemical toxic compounds.1 However, although
these accidents cause a lot of concern, it is worth
remembering that governments throughout the world are intensifying their efforts to improve food safety. In
Europe in particular, food policy is based on high safety
standards, aimed to protect and promote consumers’
health. EU legislation specifies that food containing a
level of contaminants that is unacceptable from a public
health viewpoint, cannot be put on the market.
Currently, one of the great challenges in food safety
is the control of risks associated with mixtures of contaminants,
which are constantly changing. Food may
be contaminated by chemical substances through production
practices, packaging, transport, or storage. The
contamination might also result from environmental
pollution through contaminated air, water, soil, and accumulation
in the food chain. Among the most prominent
groups of emerging food contaminants, those
from industrial sources (perfluorinated compounds
(PFCs), polybrominated biphenyls (PBBs) and, partially,
nanomaterials) cause particular concern. Many of
these can be associated with severe damage to human
health, for example some are suspected to be cancer
promoters. Other compounds have been associated
with endocrine disruptor effects, or can be accumulated
and biomagnified through the food chain.
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Eugenia Costanza Laurenza
Trade, Investment and Risk: Issues Arising from the European Commission’s Proposal on Biofuels European Journal of Risk Regulation 1/2013: pp. 87-90
[Report] |
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[Click here to show Abstract]
On 17th October 2012, the European Commission
(hereinafter, the Commission) adopted its proposal
for a directive amending the Fuel Quality Directive1
and the Renewable Energy Directive2 (i.e., Proposal
for a Directive of the European Parliament and of the
Council amending Directive 98/70/EC relating to the
quality of petrol and diesel fuels and amending Directive
2009/28/EC on the promotion of the use of energy
from renewable sources3). The Fuel Quality Directive
lays down technical specifications on the quality of
fuel used in transportation, and requires EU Member
States to reduce by 6 % the greenhouse gas intensity
of transportation fuels by 2020. The Renewable
Energy Directive establishes a common framework
for the promotion of energy from renewable sources
in the EU by, inter alia, setting mandatory national
overall targets and measures for the use of energy
from renewable sources in order to reduce emissions
and to achieve the EU’s climate change and energy
policy objectives.
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Alberto Alemanno
The HOB-vín Judgment: A Failed Attempt to Standardise the Visual Imagery, Packaging and Appeal of Alcohol Products European Journal of Risk Regulation 1/2013: pp. 101-112
[Case Note] |
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[Click here to show Abstract]
EFTA Court, Case E-2/12, HOB-vín ehf. v. The State Alcohol and Tobacco Company of Iceland
(ÁTVR)
National rules of a EEA State, such as those at stake in the present judgment, under
which a State monopoly on the retail sale of alcohol, may refuse to accept for sale alcoholic
beverages that are lawfully produced and marketed in another EEA State on the
grounds that the labelling of the products contains loaded or unrelated information, are
in breach of Article 18 of Directive 2000/13/EC (‘the labelling Directive’ or ‘Directive’),
and cannot be justified by a public health objective. Another rule requiring alcoholic
beverages to carry stickers stating that their contents are alcoholic, in addition to the
mandatory indication of the actual alcoholic strength by volume, ‘cannot be considered
effective’ if it has been adopted without regard to the notification procedure laid down
in Article 19 of the labelling Directive. However, individuals and economic operators
who have been harmed by the incorrect application of the Directive may rely on the free
movement of goods in order to render the State liable for the breach of EEA law, regardless
of whether such a directive is being made or has been made part of the legal order
of Iceland, since it has been incorporated in the EEA Agreement. Failure to notify the
second rule in accordance with the Directive qualifies as a sufficiently serious breach of
EEA law. Such a breach entails State liability if the national court finds a direct causal
link between the breach of the obligation resting on the State and the damage sustained
by the injured party (author’s headnote).
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Therese Murphy, Marta Simoncini
Book Reviews European Journal of Risk Regulation 1/2013: pp. 113-117
[Book Review] |
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[Click here to show Abstract]
R. Brownswood and M. Goodwin, Law and the Technologies of the 21st Century,
Cambridge University Press, 2012
Therese Murphy
A. De Guttry, M. Gestri and G. Venturini (Eds.), International Disaster Response Law,
T.M.C. Asser Press, 2012
Marta Simoncini
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Further information
Reading of Intimate
Brussels - Living amongst Eurocrats
30 March 2011, 18.30 pm @ European Parliament
For one year, Martin Leidenfrost explored Europe’s capital and wrote fifty
personal – tender, alienated, mischievous – portraits.
“Entertaining, amusing, insightful.” The Gap





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