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Aspiring Lawyers - Interviews & Vacation Schemes
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Commercial Awareness Update - February 2019!
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<blockquote data-quote="Abstruser" data-source="post: 9792" data-attributes="member: 260"><p><strong><u>4. ECJ decision on EU diesel emissions (by [USER=260]@Abstruser[/USER])</u></strong></p><p></p><p><strong>The story:</strong></p><p></p><p>Last December, the EU General Court reversed a decision of the European Commission which relaxed diesel NOx emission limits by up to 110%. The original emissions limit of 80 mg/km was set by the European Parliament in 2007. However, in 2015, following the 2015 Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal, this was relaxed to 168 mg/km by the Commission. Upon complaints from France, Belgium and Spain that this contributed to “excessively high” pollution levels, the General Court found that the Commission had acted beyond its powers in relaxing these standards. Following this decision, car manufacturers will have one year to ensure their vehicles comply with the original emissions limit.</p><p></p><p><strong>Impact on businesses and law firms:</strong></p><p></p><p>The decision represents a victory for environmental campaigners across the bloc, many of which have viewed the Commission’s decision as an example of excessive corporate power, and a ‘betrayal’ of the best interests of the European people. Cleaner forms of transportation, such as electric vehicles, are likely to benefit from this decision. However, diesel engine manufacturers will face significant difficulties in ensuring that all their new vehicles will be compliant with the revised limit of 80mg. The EU Industry Commissioner has admitted that the production of millions of cars could potentially be affected by the decision.</p><p></p><p>On the legal end, the General Court’s decision is still subject to appeal to the European Court of Justice. However, if the decision is not appealed, non-compliance with the emissions standards could result in fines for manufacturers. As such, The European Automobile Manufacturers Association has stated that the General Court’s judgement could “create legal uncertainty for the entire industry”. It could also affect sales, particularly if non-compliant vehicles were not permitted to be sold.</p><p></p><p></p><p><strong><u>5. Flybmi’s Insolvency and problems facing airlines (by [USER=201]@bugsy malone[/USER])</u></strong></p><p></p><p><strong>The story:</strong></p><p></p><p>The airline Flybmi went into administration on the 18th of February. It cancelled all flights over the weekend leaving passengers stranded. It operated 17 aircrafts flying to European cities.</p><p></p><p>This is part of a wider trend, with a lot of regional/ smaller European airlines coming into problems. For example, Monarch airlines last year and other smaller European airlines. It appears that Flybmi has faced the same issues. There are a number of different factors which make running an airline and actually generating a profit on routes particularly difficult. For example, they face a number of high fixed costs as well as the recent depreciation of the pound in dollars.</p><p></p><p>Flybmi also blamed Brexit as one of the contributing factors. Although the uncertainty is clearly unhelpful, the aviation sector was given assurances quite soon after the vote to leave. The concern was that aviation sits outside of WTO framework, so there was concern that there was no backstop essentially for aviation. However, the UK and the EU gave assurances that flights would continue post Brexit even in the event of a no deal. Airlines are having to work to make sure that the various contingencies are in place around any regulatory changes. However, Flybmi’s problems are clearly part of broader factors.</p><p></p><p><strong>Impact on businesses and law firms: </strong></p><p></p><p>Flybmi’s insolvency could have a huge impact on businesses accessibility to customers. For example, businesses who relied on Flybmi flights from regional airports to meet with customers in other European countries. This could affect businesses attractiveness to customers compared to competitors based in the same country or London which have the transport links to meet more easily.</p><p></p><p>Easyjet and Ryanair seem to have shaken up the air travel industry similarly to Aldi and Lidl with the supermarket industry. They have provided cheap travel to a lot of people. This could be a sign that the business model is under increased competitive pressures and it is not working as well as it used to. However, government predictions show an expected increase in demand for air travel, with more and more people still looking to fly. There have also been reports from airports which have shown record numbers of passengers traveling through them. This covers up some of the pressures facing airlines directly. There are a number of factors which are somewhat out of airlines control. For example, the weather in particular summers can affect how they perform.</p><p></p><p>However, there are things within the purview of the UK government. For example, the UK has the highest tax on aviation in the world in passenger duty (£13 on any departing ticket from a UK airport and £26 if you are flying domestically). This really eats into an airlines ability within the UK to make a profit. The financial problems of airlines should act as a wake-up call to government to do something about the factors we can control to try to prevent more airlines under this kind of pressure. The trend with other countries, such as Ireland and the Netherlands, has been to reduce or abolishing these taxes completely. This places UK carriers particularly at a competitive disadvantage compared to non-UK carriers. A study last year also found this tax is preventing UK airlines from making new connections with other domestic airports as well as allowing established ones from being sustainable. Short-haul flights are particularly affected by this ‘double taxation anomaly’ as domestic flights in the UK have to pay this tax twice, when they take off and when they land.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Abstruser, post: 9792, member: 260"] [B][U]4. ECJ decision on EU diesel emissions (by [USER=260]@Abstruser[/USER])[/U][/B] [B]The story:[/B] Last December, the EU General Court reversed a decision of the European Commission which relaxed diesel NOx emission limits by up to 110%. The original emissions limit of 80 mg/km was set by the European Parliament in 2007. However, in 2015, following the 2015 Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal, this was relaxed to 168 mg/km by the Commission. Upon complaints from France, Belgium and Spain that this contributed to “excessively high” pollution levels, the General Court found that the Commission had acted beyond its powers in relaxing these standards. Following this decision, car manufacturers will have one year to ensure their vehicles comply with the original emissions limit. [B]Impact on businesses and law firms:[/B] The decision represents a victory for environmental campaigners across the bloc, many of which have viewed the Commission’s decision as an example of excessive corporate power, and a ‘betrayal’ of the best interests of the European people. Cleaner forms of transportation, such as electric vehicles, are likely to benefit from this decision. However, diesel engine manufacturers will face significant difficulties in ensuring that all their new vehicles will be compliant with the revised limit of 80mg. The EU Industry Commissioner has admitted that the production of millions of cars could potentially be affected by the decision. On the legal end, the General Court’s decision is still subject to appeal to the European Court of Justice. However, if the decision is not appealed, non-compliance with the emissions standards could result in fines for manufacturers. As such, The European Automobile Manufacturers Association has stated that the General Court’s judgement could “create legal uncertainty for the entire industry”. It could also affect sales, particularly if non-compliant vehicles were not permitted to be sold. [B][U]5. Flybmi’s Insolvency and problems facing airlines (by [USER=201]@bugsy malone[/USER])[/U][/B] [B]The story:[/B] The airline Flybmi went into administration on the 18th of February. It cancelled all flights over the weekend leaving passengers stranded. It operated 17 aircrafts flying to European cities. This is part of a wider trend, with a lot of regional/ smaller European airlines coming into problems. For example, Monarch airlines last year and other smaller European airlines. It appears that Flybmi has faced the same issues. There are a number of different factors which make running an airline and actually generating a profit on routes particularly difficult. For example, they face a number of high fixed costs as well as the recent depreciation of the pound in dollars. Flybmi also blamed Brexit as one of the contributing factors. Although the uncertainty is clearly unhelpful, the aviation sector was given assurances quite soon after the vote to leave. The concern was that aviation sits outside of WTO framework, so there was concern that there was no backstop essentially for aviation. However, the UK and the EU gave assurances that flights would continue post Brexit even in the event of a no deal. Airlines are having to work to make sure that the various contingencies are in place around any regulatory changes. However, Flybmi’s problems are clearly part of broader factors. [B]Impact on businesses and law firms: [/B] Flybmi’s insolvency could have a huge impact on businesses accessibility to customers. For example, businesses who relied on Flybmi flights from regional airports to meet with customers in other European countries. This could affect businesses attractiveness to customers compared to competitors based in the same country or London which have the transport links to meet more easily. Easyjet and Ryanair seem to have shaken up the air travel industry similarly to Aldi and Lidl with the supermarket industry. They have provided cheap travel to a lot of people. This could be a sign that the business model is under increased competitive pressures and it is not working as well as it used to. However, government predictions show an expected increase in demand for air travel, with more and more people still looking to fly. There have also been reports from airports which have shown record numbers of passengers traveling through them. This covers up some of the pressures facing airlines directly. There are a number of factors which are somewhat out of airlines control. For example, the weather in particular summers can affect how they perform. However, there are things within the purview of the UK government. For example, the UK has the highest tax on aviation in the world in passenger duty (£13 on any departing ticket from a UK airport and £26 if you are flying domestically). This really eats into an airlines ability within the UK to make a profit. The financial problems of airlines should act as a wake-up call to government to do something about the factors we can control to try to prevent more airlines under this kind of pressure. The trend with other countries, such as Ireland and the Netherlands, has been to reduce or abolishing these taxes completely. This places UK carriers particularly at a competitive disadvantage compared to non-UK carriers. A study last year also found this tax is preventing UK airlines from making new connections with other domestic airports as well as allowing established ones from being sustainable. Short-haul flights are particularly affected by this ‘double taxation anomaly’ as domestic flights in the UK have to pay this tax twice, when they take off and when they land. [/QUOTE]
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