Olivier Fréget is a partner at Allen & Overy Paris heading the Paris EU & Competition team. He hold a post graduate degree in Private International Law and in International Business Transactions (University of Paris I) and a degree in Economics and International Relations (ILERI).
Olivier has specialised in EU and competition law since the very beginning of his career in 1990
Thematic Report (Energy): The Swiss Federal Administrative Tribunal ruled on July 8th, 2010, that ElCom, the Swiss energy regulator, had overridden its powers in its decision of March 6th 2009. In a decision of July 8th 2010, the Bundesverwaltungsgericht (the Swiss Federal Administrative Tribunal) partially amended a decision of the Eidgenössiche Elektrizitätskommission (ElCom, the Swiss Federal Electricity Commission), stating that it is unconstitutional and illegal for power-plant operators to bear the price of “system-services”.
FRENCH
Fiche thématique (énergie) : Le tribunal fédéral administratif suisse a rendu un arrêt le 8 juillet 2010 contre une décision du 6 mars 2009 de l'ElCom, le régulateur suisse de l'énergie, pour excès de pouvoir
Dans un arrêt du 8 juillet 2010, le Bundesverwaltungsgericht (le Tribunal Fédéral Administratif suisse) a partiellement annulé une décision de l'Eidgenössiche Elektrizitätskommission (ElCom, la Commission fédérale suisse de l'électricité), déclarant qu'il est anticonstitutionnel et illégal que les opérateurs des centrales électriques supportent le coût des "services systémiques"
GERMAN
Thematischer Bericht (Energie): das schweizerische Bundesverwaltungsgericht hat am 8. Juli 2010 die Verfügung der ElCom, die Eidgenössische Elektrizitätskommission, die Schweizer Regulierungsbehörde für Elektrizität, vom 6. März 2009 für ungültig erklärt.
In einer Entscheidung vom 8. Juli 2010 hat das Schweizer Bundesverwaltungsgericht eine ElCom-Verfügung vom 6. März 2010 zum Teil für ungültig erklärt, da die in der Verordnung vorgesehene Anlastung der Systemdienstleistungskosten an die Kraftwerke gesetzeswidrig ist.
SPANISH
Informe Temático (Energía): El Swiss Federal Administrative Tribunal (El Tribunal administrativo federal de Suiza) dictó el 8 de julio 2010 que ElCom, el Regulador suizo de energía, había sobrepasado sus poderes en su decisión del 6 de marzo 2009.
En una decisión del 8 de julio 2010, el Bundesverwaltungsgericht (El Tribunal administrativo federal de Suiza) anuló parcialmente la decisión de Eidgenössiche Elektrizitätskommission (ElCom, la Comisión suiza de electricidad federal) constatando que es inconstitucional e ilegal que las operadoras de centrales eléctricas soporten el precio de “servicios sistemáticos.”
Research on the EU regime of risk regulation for pharmaceuticals and foodstuffs based on an institutionalist approach to supranational risk regulation.
The "Confederadion Empresarios del Juego COFAR" (the Spanish Confederation of the Game) have organized a symposium on 20 June in Barcelona, in which European regulators expressed including the France, the Spain, the Italy and the Portugal. The chairmen of the national regulatory authorities first emphasized their concern for common standards to a European market of a market of online games, including in what could become a domain identified name to refer to European players. In addition, the conference showed their desire for a stronger opening of a European market of online games. This fact also achieved through domain names.
The Law of Compliance is a branch of law so recent that some still doubt its very existence.
This paper does not take up this question again, nor that so often evoked of the "definition" of the Compliance and the Law that goes, nor the issue of the translation which is appropriate for it.
The purpose of the reflection is rather to observe the movement that started from the requirements of specific sectoral Law, such as Financial Law and Banking Law, which undeniably correspond to "sectors", the Law of Compliance being the extension of the Law of Regulation, an extension that metamorphoses it, extending beyond the regulated sectors.
The Hungarian Parliament voted a law on December 21st, 2010, which came into force on January 1st, 2011, according to which indirect government control over the media is made very tight. This intervenes at the exact same time that Hungary overtakes the rotating Presidency of the European Council. Hungary has now two weeks to put the law in conformity with European standards, otherwise, the European Commission will start legal proceedings against the country.
FRENCH
Fiche thématique (Media): la Hongrie vote une nouvelle loi sur les media qui pourrait violer la Charte des droits fondamentaux de l'Union Européenne.
Le Parlement hongrois a voté une loi le 21 décembre 2010, entrée en vigueur le 1er janvier 2011, qui rend le contrôle indirect des media par le gouvernement très strict. Cela intervient exactement au moment où la Hongrie prend la Présidence tournante de l’Union Européenne. La Hongrie dispose dorénavant de deux semaines pour mettre la loi en conformité avec les standards européens, sans quoi la Commission Européenne commencera une procédure contre le pays.
GERMAN
Thematischer Bericht (Medien) : Ungarn wählt ein neuen Mediengesetz, das gegen die Charta der Grundrechte der Europäischen Union verstoßen könnte.
Das ungarische Parlament hat am 21. Dezember 2010 ein Gesetz abgestimmt, das am 1. Januar 2011 in Kraft getreten ist, und das die indirekte Medienstaatsaufsicht strenger macht. Dies geschieht gerade als Ungarn die wechselnde EU-Präsidenschaft übernimmt. Ungarn verfügt uber zwei Wochen, um das Gesetz vertragsgemäß zu machen. Ansonsten wird die Europäische Kommission ein Verfahren gegen Ungarn einleiten.
SPANISH
Informe temático (medios de comunicación): Hungría vota una nueva ley sobre los medios de comunicación, lo cual podría infringir sobre la carta de derechos fundamentales de la Unión Europea.
El Parlamento húngaro votó una nueva ley el 21 de diciembre del 2010, lo cual entró en vigencia el 1ero de enero del 2011, en donde se estipula que los medios indirectos de comunicación del gobierno serán sujetos a un control más estricto. Este suceso ocurre en el mismo instante que Hungría toma la Presidencia del Consejo Europeo. Hungría ahora tiene dos semanas para armonizar esta ley con los estándares europeos, y si falla en este intento, la Comisión Europea comenzará un procedimiento legal contra este país.
ITALIAN
Relazione tematica (Mass-media): l’Ungheria adotta una nuova legge in amteria di mass-media che potrebbe essere contraria alla Convenzione europea dei diritti umani
Il 1° dicembre 2010, il parlamento ungherese ha adottato una nuova legge, entrata in vigore il 1° gennaio 2011, la quale prevede un controllo stringente ed indiretto del governo sui mass-media, al contempo l’Ungheria lascia la Presidenza del Consiglio europeo. Restano due settimane all’Ungheria per conformarsi agli obblighi dettati dagli standard europei, altrimenti la Commissione Europea comincerà una procedura a livello europeo contro lo Stato.
PORTUGUESE
Informe temático (meios de comunicação): A Hungria adota nova lei sobre meios de comunicação, a qual poderia violar a Carta de Direitos Fundamentais da União Europeia.
O Parlamento húngaro adotou uma lei no dia 21 de dezembro de 2010, que entrou em vigor em 1° de Janeiro de 2011, na qual se prevê que o controle indireto dos meios de comunicação pelo governo passará a ser mais rigoroso. Este fenômeno ocorre no mesmo instante em que a Hungria assume a Presidência do Conselho europeu. Este país agora tem duas semanas para adequar esta lei aos parâmetros europeus e, se falhar nesta tarefa, a Comissão Europeia poderá iniciar uma ação judicial contra este país.
Speaking to the press is a way for the Regulator to reach everyone, including policymakers, European institutions, and fellow Regulators who also seek to compete for space in the digital area.
As he reported: "Nous arrivons aujourd’hui, avec l'irruption du numérique, à un acte 2 de la régulation. Il y a 20 ans, on est passé du modèle PTT où l’Etat produisait le service public, au modèle d’État-régulateur qui a permis l’ouverture à la concurrence. Ce modèle vise à une bonne organisation du marché avec des outils de pilotage efficaces, mais parfois très intrusifs : les licences mobiles, qui sont des contrats assortis de sanctions administratives en cas de non-respect des obligations, ou le dégroupage, qui est une intervention sur la propriété privée… Aujourd’hui il nous faut franchir une étape nouvelle et nous projeter dans la suite, repenser nos outils pour permettre, en complément, une régulation plus focalisée, plus humble et plus agile". We can translate this passage as it follows : “As of today, considering the onset of digital, we are getting to a second phase for Regulation. Over the past 20 years, we went from the ‘PTT model’, where the State provided for public service, to a new Regulatory State model that enabled competition to thrive. This model aims for good market organization with effective management tools, which may be sometimes very intrusive: e.g., mobile licenses, which are agreements that include administrative penalties in the event of failure to comply with its provisions, or unbundled access, which relates to a State intervention on private ownership… Today, we need to take it another step further and plan for the future, reconsider our tools to allow for a Regulation that would be better focused, humbler and nimbler”.
Whatever “Phase 1” was would thus be already outpaced. Farewell stringent public service, so long market openings to competition. Such an understanding of Regulation was certainly consistent with the idea that Regulation was only meant to be temporary, namely considering the everlasting protection of personal data by the dedicated supervisory authority (Commission Nationale Informatique et Libertés, CNIL)…
We would then need to implement “Phase 2” and, as Sébastien Soriano advises, to “Regulate by the multitude”, which is "a concept that includes consumers, but also users, observers, and the civil society as a whole. The key question is how to use the power of information to get the greatest possible leverage on the market while relying on the multitude. The answer is clear: Regulation by data"("La multitude, ce sont les utilisateurs, les observateurs, la société civile. Cela inclut les consommateurs, mais pas uniquement. Et la question centrale, c’est comment utiliser le pouvoir de l’information pour avoir un maximum d'effet de levier sur le marché et grâce à la multitude. La réponse, c’est la régulation par la data.").
Like all the others, the Telecom Regulator introduces himself as a sort of ‘natural’ Regulator for digital activities, as he relies on the key notion that is information. In doing so, he is seeking allies that are just as natural as he is— that is to say, consumers. Consumers fall indeed into the scope of the Regulator insofar as they provide him with the information he needs to Regulate the digital sector and space.
The Regulator thus does not define himself anymore as the one that protects consumers against the market, but as the one that binds the two together, transforming the complaint into a civic act: “There’s a problem. As a consumer, I am alerting you as a Regulator who has the means to regulate market failures and whom I shall let operate”.
In such a statement, the ARCEP not only becomes the ‘natural’ digital Regulator, but it also become the one that operates on the grounds of information brought by the web-user, who is protected by and who somehow benefits in return from the action of the Regulator.
Two concluding thoughts:
What a nimble reasoning indeed from the Regulator, who had initially been created to be the ‘container Regulator’, and who is now becoming, since Phase 2 is on its way, a kind of ‘overall’ Regulator that regulates both the container and the content.
This is a salient example that rationales and frameworks that were developed by the Banking and Financial Regulation are modelling Regulation in general: see whistleblowers, information, obsolescence of the ‘public service’.
In The Journal of Regulation the summaries’ translation are done by the Editors and not by the authors
ENGLISH :
In order to establish a competitive energy market, the distribution infrastructure, as a monopolistic segment of energy networks, should be demonopolized. Instruments of economic regulation, which are often attributed ex ante character, are put in place to open the market and enable competitive forces. Unbundling is specific for it may also represent an ex post measure of a structural nature, exerted by competition protection authorities.
FRENCH
Afin d’établirun marché énergétiquecompétitif,l’infrastructure de distribution,en tant qu’il est un segmentmonopolistiquedes réseaux d’énergie,devrait êtrelibéralisé.Les instruments derégulation économique, quisont souvent attribués d’une façonex ante,sont mises en placepour ouvrir le marchéet rendent possibles les forces concurrentielles.Le dégroupage estspécifique,car il peutaussi représenterune mesure ex postde nature structurelle,exercée parles autorités de protectionde la concurrence.
ITALIAN
Per costruire un mercato concorrenziale dell’energia, le infrastrutture di distribuzione, in quanto segmento monopolistico delle reti di energia, dovrebbero essere liberalizzate. A tal fine, sono applicati dei meccanismi di regolazione economica, spesso previsti ex ante, per aprire il mercato e permettere le forze concorrenziali. L’unbundling è particolare, in quanto potrebbe anche costituire un provvedimento ex post di natura strutturale, utilizzato dalle autorità di tutela della libera concorrenza.
In The Journal of Regulation the summaries’ translation are done by the Editors and not by the authors
ENGLISH
Thematic Report (Gambling): The European Commission, despite specific taxation measures, has approves the Danish law of liberalisation of online gambling.
On September 20th 2011, the European Commission declared the new law liberalising gambling in Denmark in line with EU rules. This law creates lower taxes for online casinos than for land-based one, and the Commission declared it compatible with European state aid rules, since the positive effects of the liberalisation of the sector outweigh potential distortions of competition.
ITALIAN
Relazione tematica (Scommesse): La Commissione europea, nonostante i provvedimenti di imposizione specifici, ha approvato la legge danese di liberalizzazione di scommesse online.
Il 20 settembre 2011, la Commissione europea ha dichiarato che la nuova legge che prevede la liberalizzazione delle scommesse in Danimarca è conforme alla legislazione europea. Questa legge crea delle tasse meno importanti per i casino online rispetto a quelle che colpiscono i casino fisicamente esistenti. La Commissione ha dichiarato che tale legislazione è conforme alla legislazione europea in materia di aiuti di stato, in quanto gli effetti positivi della liberalizzazione di questo settore hanno un’importanza maggiore delle potenziali distorsioni della concorrenza.
The translated summaries are done by the Editors and not by the Authors
ENGLISH
The purpose of this collective work is to understand the causes of the financial crisis. It has a strong international dimension and draws in both legal and economic science. Although composed of independent contributions from each other, it relies on a general demonstration, summary of which will largely be the focus of this first bibliographic report, the importance of justifying the work that results in three successive bibliographic reports. Furthermore, the book focuses on the specific issue of governance in international finance, which runs through regulatory issues, but one cannot be reduced to the other and vice versa.
Therefore in all three bibliographic records, abstracts will be more or less developed on the contributions, depending on whether they directly concerned by regulation, in which case they will be preferred or more remote areas, in which case they will shortly exposed.
The firstbibliographic recordaimsto present,on the one hand,the general problemof the book,and alsoto highlighttwocontributionsof historical(1920-1930/2001-2007).
FRENCH
Fiche Bibliographique (Livre) : La globalisation de l’intégration financière. Perspective de trente ans, de la réforme à la crise)
Cet ouvrage collectif a pour objet de comprendre les causes de la crise financière. Il présente une dimension fortement internationale et puise à la fois dans la science juridique et économique. Bien que constitué de contributions autonomes les unes des autres, il s’appuie sur une démonstration générale, dont le résumé sera en grande partie l’objet de cette première fiche bibliographique, l’importance de l’ouvrage justifiant qu’il donne lieu à a trois fiches bibliographiques successives. En outre, l’ouvrage porte sur la question précise de la gouvernance dans la finance internationale, ce qui traverse les questions de régulation mais l’un ne se réduit à l’autre et vice et versa.
C’est pourquoi dans chacune des trois fiches bibliographiques, des résumés seront plus au moins développés concernant des contributions, suivant que celles-ci abordent directement des thèmes de régulation, auquel cas elles seront privilégiées, ou des thèmes plus éloignés, auquel cas elles ne seront qu’évoquées.
Cette première fiche bibliographique a pour objet de présenter d’une part la problématique générale de l’ouvrage et d’autre part de mettre en valeur deux contributions, de nature historique (1920-1930/2001-2007).
SPANISH
Informe Bibliográfico (Libro): La Integración Global Financiera, perspectivas desde 30 años. De la reforma hasta la crisis.
El objetivo de este trabajo colectivo es de entender las causas de la crisis financiera. Contiene una gran dimensión internacional y se apoya tanto en las ciencias legales como en las económicas. Aunque es una colección de contribuciones independientes el uno del otro, todos tienen en común una dimensión general, lo cual será detallado en el primer informe bibliográfico, la importancia de justificar el trabajo que resulta en tres informes bibliográficos sucesivos. El libro se centra en el tema específico de la gobernabilidad en la finanza internacional, la cual se relaciona a la regulación, pero uno no se reduce al otro y viceversa.
Por lo tanto, en cada uno de los tres informes bibliográficos, abstractos serán desarrollados para cada contribución, dependiendo de su relatividad a la regulación, en dado caso se les dará preferencia sobre casos mas lejanos, los cuales serán brevemente mencionados.
El primer informe bibliográfico se propone a presentar, de un lado, el problema general del libro, y del otro, de subrayar dos contribuciones históricas (1920-1930/2001-2007).
ITALIAN
Lo scopo di questo lavoro collettivo è capire le cause della crisi finanziaria. Tale lavoro ha una forte dimensione internazionale e si posiziona in un contesto legale ed economico. Sebbene composto da contributori indipendenti l’un dall’altro, si fonda su una problematica generale, il cui riassunto sarà l’oggetto principale di questa prima relazione bibliografica. L’importanza di tale studio è tale da giustificare i tre articoli che seguiranno su tale lavoro. Inoltre, questo lavoro di ricerca si focalizza sul tema specifico della governance in materia di finanza internazionale, e tocca diversi temi relativi alla regolazione che non possono essere ridotti o confusi l’un con l’altro. Pertanto, per tutti e tre questi articoli bibliografici, gli abstract saranno più o meno approfonditi su tali contribuzioni, a seconda del fatto che tale contribuzione sia rilevante ai fini dell’analisi della regolazione, nel qual caso l’abstract sarà più consistente, o se la contribuzione tocchi solo incidentalmente la regolazione, nel qual caso gli abstract saranno più corti. La prima relazione bibliografica punta, da un lato, a presentare la problematica generale di tale lavoro e, dall’altro, ad attirare l’attenzione su due contribuzioni, di natura storica.