On July 4 2023, the Court of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) issued its advisory opinion in RS v Steuerverwaltung des Fürstentums Liechtenstein. Liechtenstein’s Constitutional Court had ...already found in 2020 that a difference in tax rate on income for resident and non-resident employees was incompatible with the free movement of workers. Nonetheless, the Administrative Court of Liechtenstein found it necessary to refer the exact same issue to the EFTA Court, upon which the EFTA Court came to a similar conclusion as the Constitutional Court. The reason thereto? The Constitutional Court had suspended the annulment of the national law for reasons of legal certainty. The question consequently arose of how the national court should further proceed. Should it immediately give full effect to the law of the European Economic Area (EEA) by following the EFTA Court and disapplying the national legislation, or should it give priority to the findings of its own Constitutional Court and nonetheless apply the national legislation, even if that legislation breaches EEA law? How should the national court deal with this conflict of allegiance?
On 15 December 2023, the Swiss Federal Council (Government) announced that it intended to start formal negotiations with the EU on the conclusion of a Framework Agreement (FA) 2.0. Five existing and ...two new treaties between the EU and Switzerland are to be subject to dynamic alignment and institutionalised, i.e. provided with a monitoring and judicial mechanism. The project, which is practically fixed in the decisive questions by a “Common Understanding” (“CU”) between the two parties, is based on a triple B approach: in substance, it consists of unsuccessful bricolage, the foundations were laid by bullshit, and because elections and a change of the Commission are imminent in the EU, bustle is supposedly of the essence. The CU summarizes what the Parties have informally agreed on.
In the scholarly debate about the relationship between the European Court of Human Rights and the CJEU, the potential impact of the Agreement on the European Economic Area (EEA) is often overlooked. ...Unless the European Court of Human Rights' equivalent protection doctrine is extended to the EEA, the door is open for indirect ECHR review of all the parts of EU law that have been made part of the EEA Agreement and as such implemented into the national laws of the participating European Free Trade Association (EFTA) States. The impact of CJEU case-law in the EFTA pillar of the EEA is such that this will come very close to full (albeit indirect) scrutiny of the CJEU's protection of fundamental rights within the EU's internal market. An extension of the equivalent protection doctrine to EEA law admittedly presupposes a novel approach to the question of whether an international treaty establishes a system that offers a level of human rights protection equivalent to that of the ECHR, and to the limitation to strict legal obligations established in Bosphorus. Nevertheless, we submit that the European Court of Human Rights ought to rethink its apparent opposition to the idea. This will also offer an opportunity to clarify the relationship between the judgments in Matthews and Bosphorus with regard to obligations flowing from international treaties to which Member States have freely entered into.
Abstract The COVID‐19 crisis provides important examples whereby Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway (the EEA EFTA States) deemed it necessary to influence the content of EU rules. Despite ...participating in the internal market through the EEA Agreement, they were not initially excluded from the EU's restrictions on the export of personal protective equipment and later the export of vaccines against COVID‐19, and they sought to reverse these decisions. This article explores how the EEA EFTA States influenced EU policy in this regard and which methods proved to be most effective. Did the nature of the COVID‐19 crisis have an impact on EU decision‐making processes as well as the methods and channels used by the EEA EFTA States? The EEA EFTA States’ relationship with the EU is also examined as it relates to their ability to influence EU legislation and the legitimacy of such influence.
Zero emission battery electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles have the ability to reduce CO2 emissions and hence mitigate climate change. Consequently, understanding the macroeconomic ...drivers of sales has been of increasing interest in the past years. One factor that has frequently been investigated in relation to an individual's electric vehicle purchase intentions is his or her level of environmental awareness (EA). Previous research analysing this question on a macroeconomic level is, however, very limited. Applying a novel method in this field in form of a Twitter keyword analysis, this study aims to analyse the effect of EA on the electric vehicle market in 27 member states of the European Union (EU) as well as two European Free Trade Association (EFTA) states. The results of the investigation show that EA does not significantly influence the electric vehicle market in the investigated time period, and instead indicate why other factors might currently play a more significant role. We contribute to the existing literature by introducing a new measurement method of EA to this research field and by contributing to the understanding of the impact of EA on electric vehicle registrations.
•Insignificant influence of environmental awareness on the electric vehicle market•Twitter key word analysis as a new measurement of environmental awareness•We provide new support for the attitude-action gap in this sector.
Background: Language barriers have been identified as a key access barrier to healthcare services for immigrants. The aim of this study was twofold: to investigate immigrants’ and healthcare ...professionals’ experiences with barriers and facilitators of interpreter services, and to examine the influence of barriers to interpreter services on the quality of care from immigrant and healthcare professional perspectives. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, The Cochrane Library, Scopus, SocINDEX and PsycINFO, resulting in 1425 studies. A total of 21 original quantitative, qualitative and mixed methods studies published between 1996 and 2021 were assessed as eligible for inclusion. Results: Identified barriers included: lack of immediately available interpreter services, cost, lack of knowledge about availability, and attitude towards interpreter services. Facilitators included: a high number of interpreters in the requested language, awareness among healthcare professionals and patients of the patient’s rights to interpreters, and a positive attitude towards use of interpreter services. Regarding quality of care, language barriers created safety risks for the patients, made patients feel unsafe, or delayed patient contact with the healthcare system. Conclusion: Immigrant patients and healthcare professionals experience barriers in using interpreter services due to restrictive policies regarding user fees and limitations to entitlement to interpreters, a limited number of qualified interpreters and lack of knowledge. Medical encounters with unaddressed language barriers can put patients at risk and reduce quality of care for immigrants, which calls for strengthening formal and informal access to interpreters.
The European Free Trade Association (EFTA), established over 60 years ago as an alternative platform for fostering cooperation, has evolved into a crucial component of the pan-European project. The ...organizational framework underpinning its operations, its developmental trajectory with specific focus on divergences, and the models of differentiated integration (DI) have significantly contributed to its evolution.EFTA's distinct organizational structure, coupled with its pragmatic legal framework, serves as the foundation of its operations. A detailed examination allows for a clear distinction between Switzerland and the three member states of the European Economic Area (EEA), namely Iceland, Liechtenstein, and Norway.Regarding the EEA, its legal framework is established through collaborative development of legal instruments with the EU. The thematic allocation is carefully structured based on existing competencies; officials of EFTA's pillar bodies within the two-pillar EEA structure maintain productive relations with the EU, while others focus on internal matters. The geographical location of these bodies plays a decisive role: Brussels and Luxembourg are aligned with a broad Eurocentric decision-making paradigm, while those within EFTA prioritize endogenous agendas.Switzerland's integration trajectory relies on a diverse array of regulatory mechanisms aimed at bridging disparate areas and fostering cooperation among participating states. A sectoral approach and bilateral agreement packages with the EU are pivotal, with several EFTA bodies operating within Swiss jurisdiction facilitating convergence with the European market. Amidst the current regional turbulence, the convergence of various factors has enabled EFTA to align with the EU's approach to differentiated integration. While earlier scholarly perspectives on the phenomenon were limited in criteria and tools, subsequent empirical developments have provided a more nuanced understanding. The DI models adopted by EFTA member states closely resemble those of the EU, highlighting their alignment. Ultimately, the Association has become an integral part of European integration, with the quartet of participating countries maintaining greater flexibility in decision-making processes.
This paper offers a brief account of the support given by the promoters of the 1959 Stabilization Plan to the pro-European policy led by Fernando María Castiella. Specifically, it focuses on the role ...of the Minister of Finance Mariano Navarro Rubio (1957-1965), and it is based on the consultation of his personal archive and other complementary documentary collections.
En este trabajo se ofrece un breve relato del apoyo prestado por los impulsores del Plan de Estabilización de 1959 a la política europeísta liderada por Fernando María Castiella. En concreto, centra su mirada en el rol del Ministro de Hacienda Mariano Navarro Rubio (1957-1965), a partir de las posibilidades que plantea para su estudio la consulta de su archivo personal y de otros fondos documentales complementarios.
This study analyses the activities of the local and regional authorities (LRAs) from EFTA countries in Brussels. It generates new and up-to-date knowledge on the mobilization in the EU by LRAs from ...EFTA countries; it enriches the literature on multi-level governance in the EU, so far mostly confined to the mobilization of LRAs from EU countries; and it contributes to the debate on lobbying in the EU by third-country actors. This research identifies three scenarios of engagement with the EU institutions: the first in which the Brussels offices predominantly engage in information-gathering and networking/liaison activities; the second in which the LRAs also engage in lobbying the EU; and the Swiss Cantons, that are fully integrated in the Swiss Mission to the EU.
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