Reports

Authors: Kerstin Ahlberg and Niklas Bruun*

Is it permissible, according to EU law, to take social considerations into account in the field of public procurement? Could one, for instance, promote gender equality, integration of disabled persons and good working conditions? The authors of the report Public Procurement and Labour in the EU believes that this is the case, but argues that Sweden could use this scope better than today.

Editors: Elvire Fabry and Gaëtane Ricard-Nihoul, Notre Europe

With the Lisbon Treaty in place – and the establishment of the permanent European Council presidency and the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy – the role of the rotating presidencies and the Trio Presidency has changed. In a new report from Think Global – Act European (TGAE), this issue is scrutinized on the basis of the 18-month agenda of the Spanish, Belgian and Hungarian Trio Presidency. The report contains contributions and recommendations from experts representing 14 European research institutes and think thanks.

Author: Ulf Bernitz*

The Swedish courts, just as national courts in other member states, are these days integrated into a European legal and judicial system comprising the whole of the EU. Of core importance for the application and impact of EU law within the Swedish legal system, is the practice of requesting preliminary rulings from the EU Court of Justice. Today, it is more common for Swedish courts to request preliminary rulings, but the statistics suggests that there still exists a significant restrictiveness.

In the SIEPS report Preliminary Rulings by the Court of Justice – The Attitude and Practice of the Swedish Courts, Ulf Bernitz, Professor of European Law, argues that this restrictiveness might function to the detriment of the legal security of the parties in cases involving EU law.

The report is in Swedish, with a summary in English.

 Förhandsavgöranden av EU-domstolen Svenska domstolars hållning och praxis (2010:2) (718 kB)

 Sammanfattning 2010:2 (69.89 kB)

  Summary 2010:2 (70.67 kB)

* Ulf Bernitz is Professor of European Law at Stockholm University, Visiting Professor of Örebro University, as well as Senior Research Fellow at St Hilda´s College, University of Oxford He is also Director for the Wallenberg Foundation Oxford/Stockholm Association in European Law, based at the Institute of European Law, University of Oxford.