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On 18 of March 2014, the Court of Justice delivered its judgment in the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) fees case,1 the first case dealing with the problematic distinction, in practice, between delegated acts under Article 290 Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) and implementing acts under Article 291 TFEU. The significance of this case should be searched for in the fundamental changes brought to the hierarchy of norms and the EU's revamped arsenal of acts after the Lisbon Treaty. These changes will first be recalled before presenting the case itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reform of the EU comitology system, enacted with Regulation 182/11, had the effect of extending the general principles regulating the Commission's exercise of implementing powers to the trade defence instruments' (TDIs) procedures, which, before the reform, were regulated by an autonomous discipline. This article offers an overview of the modifications brought about to TDI's comitology by Reg. 182/11 and identifies the possible consequences of the new discipline. The analysis benefited from the results of an empirical simulation, consisting in the application of the new voting methodology to past procedures of TDIs. The authors conclude, among the others, that the new system will likely reduce the usual political interferences in the Commission activities regarding TDIs, and it will settle a number of shortcomings of the old system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article discusses a recently adopted European Union (EU) Directive that, from 1 January 2013, will gradually introduce important changes to the EU regulatory framework on cross-border mutual assistance in the assessment of taxes. The new Directive broadens the scope of mutual assistance and improves its efficiency, notably as regards information exchange on request and automatic exchange of information. It also introduces comitology for the first time in the area of direct taxation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]