This book analyses the founding years of consumer law and consumer policy in Europe. It combines two dimensions: the making of national consumer law and the making of European consumer law, and how both are intertwined. The chapters on Germany, Italy, the Nordic countries and the United Kingdom serve to explain the economic and the political background which led to different legal and policy approaches in the then old Member States from the 1960s onwards. The chapter on Poland adds a different layer, the one of a former socialist country with its own consumer law and how joining the EU affected consumer law at the national level. The making of European consumer law started in the 1970s rather cautiously, but gradually the European Commission took an ever stronger position in promoting not only European consumer law but also in supporting the building of the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), the umbrella organisation of the national consumer bodies. The book unites the early protagonists who were involved in the making of consumer law in Europe: Guido Alpa, Ludwig Krämer, Ewa Letowska, Hans-W Micklitz, Klaus Tonner, Iain Ramsay, and Thomas Wilhelmsson, supported by the younger generation Aneta Wiewiórowska Domagalska, Mateusz Grochowski, and Koen Docter, who reconstructs the history of BEUC. Niklas Olsen and Thomas Roethe analyse the construction of this policy field from a historical and sociological perspective. This book offers a unique opportunity to understand a legal and political field, that of consumer law and policy, which plays a fundamental role in our contemporary societies.

The asymmetry of responsibilities between management and corporate governance both for day-to-day operations and the board’s monthly or quarterly review and evaluation remains an unresolved challenge. Expertise in the area of risk management is a fundamental requirement for effective corporate governance, if not by all, certainly by some board members. This means that along with board committees such as "compensation", "audit", "strategy" and several others, "risk management" committees must be established to monitor the likelihood of certain events that may cause the collapse of the firm. Risk Management and Corporate Governance allows academics and practitioners to assess the state of international research in risk management and corporate governance. The chapters overlay the areas of risk management and corporate governance on both financial and operating decisions of a firm while treating legal and political environments as externalities to decisions undertaken.

The harmonization of company law has always been on the agenda of the European Union. Besidesthe protection of third parties affected by business transactions, the founders had two other objectives: first, promoting freedom of establishment, and second, preventing the abuse of such freedom. The European Commission issued its Company Law Action Plan in 2003. In this volume researchers of the Jan Ronse Institute for Company Law of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven present five chapters on the main priorities of the Action Plan: capital and creditor protection,corporate governance, one share one vote, financial reporting, and corporate mobility. The book also includes responses and ensuing discussions by reputed European company law experts.

This authoritative Commentary provides an in-depth evaluation of the legislation regulating cross-border insolvency within the European Union. Bringing together a diverse team of legal scholars and practitioners from across the EU Member States, it delivers incisive dissections of the European Insolvency Regulation (EIR) provisions, which define the jurisdiction of the courts of EU Member States in insolvency proceedings as well as the national law that should be applied, and provide for the automatic recognition of other Member State’s judgements along with a regime of coordination between proceedings opened in different Member States.

Drafting International Contracts is an essential resource for anyone working in international business. It features the latest trends, fostering an understanding of how international contracts are drafted in practice.

In commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, this volume addresses the lessons of EU history, its current challenges and its future perspectives. Leading scholars from the disciplines of history, political science, political economy and law consider important aspects of European integration. Areas examined include the evolution of the law of integration, Europe's influence on political transitions, economic governance, social governance, the system of Treaty reform and its limits, the future role of the Court of Justice, enlargement and the vexed question of Turkish accession. This book, which takes an interdisciplinary approach, seeks to draw on the lessons of history, while shedding new light on the current and future challenges facing the European Union.