Till Markus

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 19 (2021), Issue 4, Page 426 - 441

This article investigates the governance potential of different policies and laws addressing the issues arising out of large-scale farmland investments in low income countries (“land grabbing”). It interprets their development on the whole as a tentative effort by a set of different actors to forge an effective governance system. It is argued that the development of these laws and policies has largely been defined by three key features: 1) forming a better understanding of the complex issues arising out of large-scale farmland investments, 2) reframing these issues, the responsibilities of involved actors, and the purpose of regulation, and finally, 3) flexibly shifting modes of governance in view of ineffective national and international laws and institutions. All three strategies have contributed to establishing a set of transnational guiding principles and standards of care that will substantially increase legal accountability and have the potential to effectively change investment practices.

Till Markus, Eva-Maria Schatz

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 18 (2020), Issue 4, Page 439 - 449

Large amounts of chemical weapons were dumped into the North and the Baltic Sea during and after World War II. More than seven decades later, these weapons have begun to disintegrate and dissolve. This process increasingly threatens humans, the environment, and off-shore infrastructures. Removing or disarming the weapons, however, also poses risks, particularly where on-site detonations are involved. Explosions can, for example, destroy fragile marine habitats and hurt or even kill fish and marine mammals. This article analyzes important international, European Union, and German environmental law requirements that govern removal or disarming operations, focusing on the protection of small cetaceans in the Baltic Sea.

Till Markus

Zeitschrift für Europäisches Umwelt- und Planungsrecht, Volume 17 (2019), Issue 4, Page 490 - 497

The European Union (EU) is the world’s largest import market for fisheries products. Currently, 26 % of all internationally traded fisheries products are being imported to the EU and about 70 % of the fish consumed in EU countries is caught or produced outside the EU. While demand and imports continue to grow, the world’s fish stocks face heavy exploitation. Accordingly, the EU’s external fisheries trade policy is suspected of having a negative impact on global fisheries resources as well as on the social and economic situations in third countries, particularly in developing countries. This article provides an inquiry into current understandings of the effects of liberal import policies and trade deficits in fisheries products. It also offers suggestions as to which trade measures the EU could take to contribute to a more resource responsible and fair exploitation of fish stocks on a global scale.