Case C-82/10, European Commission v Ireland [2011] ECR I-00000

Article 4 of the First Council Directive 73/239/EEC of 24 July 1973 on the coordination of laws, regulations and administrative provisions relating to the taking-up and pursuit of the business of direct insurance other than life assurance, as amended and repealed by the Solvency II Directive, OJ L – 228, of 16.08.1973. pp. 3–19. [First non-life Directive].

Ireland was found to have failed to fulfil its obligations under the non-life insurance directives by not covering the Voluntary Health Insurance Board, the main health insurer in Ireland, with the supervisory scheme envisaged by those directives. The Court of Justice of the European Union judgment raises vital questions important for the existing exempted insurance institutions.

Case C-255/09 Commission v Portugal

The Portuguese Republic has failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 49 EC (Article 56 TFEU) by making no provision for reimbursement of non-hospital medical care provided in another Member State which does not involve the use of major and costly equipment exhaustively listed in the national legislation, other than in the circumstances specified in Regulation (EEC) No 1408/71 […] or, to the extent that Decree-Law No 177/92 allows reimbursement in respect of such care, by making such reimbursement subject to prior authorization (official headnote).

At the beginning of a pleasant summer week towards the end of July, Food Law professionals from all over the world travelled to the village of Cadenabbia on Lake Como in Italy in order to participate in the fourth edition of the Summer Academy on Global Food Law and Policy. The Academy, which has established its reputation as a high-level training and networking opportunity within the world of food law and policy, was presided by Associate Professor of Law at HEC Paris, Alberto Alemanno, and organised in cooperation with Lexxion, publisher of the European Journal of Risk Regulation (EJRR) and the European Food and Feed Law Review (EFFL).

More often than not, controversy produces reform. Nowhere is this more true than in the regulations of the safe production of food. The publication of the White Paper on Food Safety in early 2000 marked the beginning of the modern era of food safety law. That paper promised enactment of a new fundamental law which ultimately became the General Food Law (178/2002). It also promised the establishment of The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). EFSA was required to be an independent point of scientific reference for the European Union. EFSA has provided that function to a very high standard for the consumers of the European Union and for all stakeholders in the food chain.