TY  - JOUR
A1  - Tosun, Jale
A1  - Schulze, Kai
T1  - Compliance with EU biofuel targets in South-Eastern and Eastern Europe: Do interest groups matter?
JF  - Environment & planning : international journal of urban and regional research ; C, Government & policy
N2  - The European Union requires its member states to establish national targets for the biofuel content of all diesel and petrol supplies for transport placed on the market. This study explores the adoption of this European Union policy across South-Eastern and Eastern Europe between 2003 and 2012. In theoretical terms, we are specifically interested in examining the role of interest groups for policy adoption. We argue that the oil industry in general and the producers of biofuels in particular will support the establishment of national biofuel targets because they expect economic gains. By contrast, we expect environmental groups with international and regional ties to oppose such targets because biofuels have come under attack for their potential environmental impact including deforestation, a loss in biodiversity, and food insecurity. Empirically, we concentrate on policy adoptions in 21 South-Eastern and Eastern European states with varied relations to the European Union and the Energy Community. Our analysis supports our main arguments in suggesting that a stronger presence of environmental groups decreases the chances of adopting national biofuel targets across our country sample while producer interests tend to increase adoptions. This finding holds true also when controlling for a country's European Union membership and accession perspective, membership in the Energy Community, and additional domestic-level factors. These results add more generally to our understanding about compliance with European Union policies and environmental governance.
KW  - Biofuels
KW  - Eastern Europe
KW  - Energy Community
KW  - European Union
KW  - lobbying
KW  - South-Eastern Europe
Y1  - 2015
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1177/0263774X15605923
SN  - 0263-774X
SN  - 1472-3425
VL  - 33
IS  - 5
SP  - 950
EP  - 968
PB  - Sage Publ.
CY  - London
ER  - 
TY  - JOUR
A1  - Ebers, Martin
A1  - Hoch, Veronica R. S.
A1  - Rosenkranz, Frank
A1  - Ruschemeier, Hannah
A1  - Steinrötter, Björn
T1  - The European Commission’s proposal for an Artificial Intelligence Act
BT  - a critical assessment by members of the Robotics and AI Law Society (RAILS)
JF  - J : multidisciplinary scientific journal
N2  - On 21 April 2021, the European Commission presented its long-awaited proposal for a Regulation “laying down harmonized rules on Artificial Intelligence”, the so-called “Artificial Intelligence Act” (AIA). This article takes a critical look at the proposed regulation. After an introduction (1), the paper analyzes the unclear preemptive effect of the AIA and EU competences (2), the scope of application (3), the prohibited uses of Artificial Intelligence (AI) (4), the provisions on high-risk AI systems (5), the obligations of providers and users (6), the requirements for AI systems with limited risks (7), the enforcement system (8), the relationship of the AIA with the existing legal framework (9), and the regulatory gaps (10). The last section draws some final conclusions (11).
KW  - artificial intelligence
KW  - machine learning
KW  - European Union
KW  - regulation
KW  - harmonization
KW  - Artificial Intelligence Act
Y1  - 2021
U6  - https://doi.org/10.3390/j4040043
SN  - 2571-8800
VL  - 4
IS  - 4
SP  - 589
EP  - 603
PB  - MDPI
CY  - Basel
ER  -