One of the main talking points in the energy sector in recent months has been concerned with 'getting smart metering right'. But what is it about smart metering that businesses in particular have to 'get right'? To start, smart metering is not new – a number of countries have already been using it for different purposes. For example, in Italy, one of the motivating factors was to improve customer payment for energy ...
During negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement, it was suggested that sometimes "we all have to jump together". Having read through the Local Government and Communities Committee Report published on 28th January 2010 following an inquiry into Local Government Finances, this quote has particular resonance. While there is perhaps nothing new in the report, it is certainly timely as local government works its way through the budget setting exercise for 2010/11 ...
Recent developments in health and safety law will affect all those involved in offshore renewables projects, which are very much in focus following the Crown Estate’s announcement of Round 3 awards in early January. However, the new rules do bring clarity and consistency for those working in the sector and bring offshore health and safety regulation in line with onshore projects ...
On January 27, 2010, the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) voted to provide interpretive guidance on SEC disclosure requirements as they apply to business or legal developments relating to the issue of climate change ...
January 1, 2010 ¨C GHG Reporting Requirements in Effect As of January 1, 2010, "single facility operations" and "linear facilities operations", located in British Columbia and emitting 10,000 tonnes or more of greenhouse gases (GHGs) per year will be required to register with the Ministry of Environment (MOE), collect emissions data, and report their GHG emissions ...
On Jan. 6, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson announced that the EPA is proposing to revise downward the primary National Ambient Air Quality Standard (NAAQS) for ozone. The primary standard was established to protect human health. The agency also proposes to develop a new secondary standard, established to protect public welfare ...
To support the mining business the Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources issued Regulation No.28 of 2009 regarding Mineral and Coal Mining Services Business (“GR No.28/2009”) on 30 September 2009. This regulation facilitates the implementation of Article 127 of Law No.4 of 2009 regarding Mineral and Coal Mining (“Mineral and Coal Mining Law”). The regulation repeals and replaces, certain previous ministerial decrees.Under Article 3 of GR No ...
Seeking a state purchasing contract? You may now be required to register as a lobbyist. Some independent contractors who help vendors secure procurement contracts in Texas are now required to register with the Texas Ethics Commission.1 House Bill 3445, which the Texas Legislature passed last spring during the 81st Texas Legislative Session, established new guidelines for lobbying activities related to state procurement contracts ...
Last November 6, the government of Québec held an important working session that brought together various northern partners for the purpose of ensuring the sustainable and socially responsible development of the vast territory covered by the Plan Nord.Back in the fall of 2008, the Québec government announced the introduction of this Plan Nord for the economic development of the territory of northern Québec ...
In its Sea Judgement of 10 September 2009 (C-573/07), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) further clarifies its “in-house” jurisprudence. More specifically, it goes more deeply into the notion of control ...
In Belgium, contracting agreements are subject to the Belgian Civil Code (‘BCC’) plus several other regulations. In this article, we briefly discuss five rules which foreign investors or principals may be surprised apply to Belgian contracting agreements. Make sure you avoid these pitfalls!1 ...
The Acoset judgment of the ECJ dated 15 October 2009 (C-196/08) was related to a dispute about an institutionalised public-private partnership (IPPP). A local authority wanted to grant a concession to a newly-created semi-public company, whose minority shareholder would be a private company selected by an open tender procedure. The minority shareholder would be responsible for the operations of the semi-public company ...
In the Horizon Pleiades case, the Council of State was confronted with an interesting question: if a public authority organises a procedure to select its partner for a PPP company, which will perform works or services which would normally be covered by the Procurement Directives, does the selection procedure have to comply with the rules laid down in the Procurement Directives or can a “light” selection procedure be used? In its ruling, dated 19 June 2009, the Council of Stat
CLIMATE PROOFING INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS A need for planning and policy INTRODUCTION &nb
How can the government’s attitude and approach to internet issues best be described? The Canadian government recognises that Canada is a small country in a global economy and it pursues a general policy to ensure that Canada is ‘connected’ ...
I. Introductory Note Exploitation of forest resources plays an important role in Mozambique’s economy. In fact, Mozambique has some 57 million hectares of native forests, 36% of which show great potential for the wood industry, while the remainder has great social and ecological value, supplying food, medicinal products and building and energy materials ...
The quality of public services in Indonesia is expected to improve after the issuance of Law No. 25 of 2009 dated 18 July 2009 regarding Public Services (“PS Law”) ...
Renewable energy sources, including wind power, represent 40 percent of the total energy production in Sweden. In order to curb climate change the European Union stated, as a part of the so called 2020-decision of the 23 of January 2009, that Sweden should increase its production of renewable energy to 49 percent by the year 2020 ...
The British Property Federation (BPF) has published a guide for landlords and tenants explaining the Government's proposed Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC), and illustrating how expected additional costs might be shared. Around 5,000 large public and private organisations are likely to be full participants in CRC, and it has been estimated that energy costs will increase between 7% and 15%. The introductory phase is due to start in April 2010 ...
In two recent cases (Coditel and Stadtreinigung Hamburg), the ECJ dealt with the so-called “in-house exemption” in procurement matters ...
What are the limits on national public procurement law to prevent collusion between tenderers in award procedures? This was the question the ECJ dealt with in its recent Assitur judgment (C-538/07).The facts of the Assitur case were as follows. Three tenderers passed the qualitative selection phase and were admitted to the final procedure ...
The intention of this brief note is to present an analysis of internal crises within law firms and the way of avoiding them. We define a crisis as an unexpected and grave difficulty or danger (“a time of intense difficulty or danger”). As a matter of fact the greek origin of crisis (“krisis”) meant “decision” (from “krinein” – decide) ...
The long-awaited and controversial Equality Bill (the Bill) has been published and laid before Parliament. Public consultations are scheduled on several of the measures outlined in this very significant piece of legislation, though it is not expected to come into force until the end of next year. With a General Election likely in June 2010, it remains to be seen how quickly the Bill will progress and how much of it will survive ...
The establishment and operation of many Cooperative Research Centres (CRCs) involves cooperation amongst industry participants, including those who may be competitors in other aspects of their businesses. It is very important that participants in CRCs remember that the prohibitions against anti-competitive conduct in the Trade Practices Act 1974 (Cth) (TPA) will apply to the CRC collaboration ...
Environmental laws sweep broadly, regulating a wide range of business activities. Environmental laws create obligations and liabilities that affect not only ongoing businesses, but business transactions as well. They also may form the basis for, or otherwise be relevant to, litigation ...
