This article examines the large interstate variation in levels of unconventional gas development in the U.S. states. The following hypotheses are advanced to predict whether a state will be predisposed toward development: (H1) the availability of unconventional gas reserves; (H2) the availability of infrastructure to support development; (H3) a recent history of conventional oil and gas development; (H4) Republican party control of the Governor's office and state legislature; (H5) relatively low sensitivity to environmental issues; (H6) regulatory systems that treat UGD as a variant of conventional gas development; (H7) a pressing need for economic benefits as indicated by state and local measures of household income, unemployment and poverty; (H8) and public opinion supportive of development. To various degrees, each of the hypotheses is supported but important exceptions and surprises are uncovered in the qualitative and semi-quantitative analyses. Future research should continue the effort to explain the variation of development by expanding the geographical scope of inquiry and enlarging the sample of jurisdictions.

Legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament in June 2012 to impose minimum unit pricing for alcohol sold in Scotland as part of a strategy to tackle alcohol-related harm has yet to be implemented pending the outcome of a challenge to its legality under EU law before the Scottish Courts brought by three associations of producers of wines and spirits, namely the Scotch Whisky Association, the Confédération Européenne des Producteurs de Spiritueux and the Comité de la Communauté économique européenne des Industries et du Commerce des Vins, Vins aromatisés, Vins mousseux,Vins de Liqueur et autres Produits de la Vigne. The first instance court in Scotland rejected the challenge in May 2013, but Scotland's appeal court decided in April 2014 that before ruling on the producers’ appeal, it should refer a number of questions to the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”). The CJEU is not expected to rule until late 2015 at the earliest and so the ultimate outcome before the Scottish courts is not likely to be known until 2016.

“Negative claims” can be defined as claims indicating that certain ingredients, nutrients or substances are not present in a foodstuff. Legitimate uses of regulated negative claims in the EU include some nutrition claims and “gluten-free” claims. Some EU Member States have legislated on “GM-free” claims. The article describes in more detail some cases (i.e., BPA-free, MSG-free, Aspartame-free and palm oil-free), where negative claims are used with an implied message that whatever is used instead of the often “demonised” substance is safer, healthier or greener. The article argues that EU and EU Member States’ legislators and regulators should ensure that consumers are not misled by astute marketing techniques that have no informative agendas, but simply aim at denigrating certain products in order to promote “free-from” products. This issue is particularly timely and important given the imminent application of the EU's Food Information Regulation and the additional costs that it will impose on the industry in the name of providing complete, reliable and evidence-based information to consumers.

This paper aims to demonstrate that the current application of the concepts of risk and unsafety in Regulation 178/2002 (GFL) results in a grey area within EU food safety regulation. By means of the food safety risk assessment of aspartame it is illustrated that “grey area foods”, although not “unsafe” according to legal definition, could compromise human health because of, i.e., their nutritional composition. It will be argued that the grey area emerges from a narrow focus of food safety risk assessment within the ambit of the GFL, which disregards certain types of hazard and causes an information gap with respect to how food consumption, eating behaviour and health are interconnected. At the same time, the scope of food safety in the GFL is restricted to what is considered “normal” consumer behaviour in view of the information provided on food labels or generally available in society. In doing so, the legislator has set rather high standards for what may be expected of the average consumer in terms of the understanding and avoidance of behavioural risks. As a result, the consumer bears the responsibility for the consequences of the information gap.

Notwithstanding impressive gains in occupational safety across the Australian coal mining sector, this research reveals that even within the same company, some mines substantially outperform others in terms of safety outcomes, raising questions as to why, notwithstanding the introduction of sophisticated and systemic risk management mandated by government, such variation still exists. Potential contributory variables are considered (technology, physical environment, management systems), and discarded, before examining the role of safety culture. Drawing on qualitative (interviews) and quantitative research (safety statistics and audit results) it was found that distinctive patterns of site and context specific cultural factors align to safety performance. The article provides insights as to whether, to what extent or in what circumstances site specific cultural variables, served to undermine or reinforce the effectiveness of the company's overall risk management strategy.

Despite Iceland's economic recovery, nearly 48% households continue to struggle to make ends meet. This study argues, first, that the main reason behind over-indebtedness in this country is a loan system without parallel in Europe, based on a triple cost of credit (fix/variable interest, indexation of credit to inflation and negative amortization). Second, the problem is examined in the context of European law as some alleged malpractices of indexation have been referred to the EFTA Court. Third, the focus shifts to the debt-relief programme presented by the Icelandic government in 2013/2014 after the relative failure of previous debt-relief measures. It is argued that this plan will fail in the long run as long as the indexation of credit to inflation is not abolished. The private pension system in Iceland relies indirectly on indexed mortgage credit issued by the public Housing Financing Fund. Since a ban on indexation and a holistic pension reform are not expected soon, all present debt write off benefits will surely be eaten up by higher inflation. As long as indexation of credit is legal, the future scenario resembles less a debt-relief jubilee and more the theater play “Waiting for Godot ”.

Joined Cases C-358/13 and C-181/14, Markus D. and G.

Substances which produce effects that merely modify physiological functions but which are not such as to have any beneficial effects, either immediately or in the long term, on human health, are consumed solely to induce a state of intoxication and are, as such, harmful to human health do not fall within the scope of the definition of a “medicinal product” in the Directive 2001/83 (official headnote).

Consumer safety and medicines control legislation is not suitable to penalise the introduction of new psychoactive substances on European markets (author's headnote).

Art 1(2)(b) Directive 2001/83

Case C350/12 P Council of the European Union v. Sophie in't Veld Judgment of the Court (First Chamber) of 3 July 2014