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European Community Law has a multilingual character, which reflects the fact that the European Union is becoming an increasingly multicultural and multilingual entity. Following the accession of the new Member States in May 2004 and of Romania and Bulgaria in January 2007 and, finally, of Croatia in 2013, there are now 24 official languages that create immense difficulties in translating from one language to the others. The multilingual character of EU legislation has urged the creation of a “neutral or descriptive” language in order to forge a supranational terminology that maintains equal distance from each national language. At the same time, legal languages and legal terminologies are and remain profoundly culture-bound and the implementation process of directives are often great challenges in coping with translation issues. The aim of this paper is to investigate how multilingualism impacts on the harmonisation process of European private law.

Background The risk of disease transmission from nonstandard risk donors (NSRDs) is low, and outcomes are similar or better relative to transplants performed with standard criteria donors. However, NSRDs have posed new ethical challenges to the informed consent (IC) process. Based on the shared decision-making model, coinciding with the 3 main timings of the IC process ([1] pretransplant assessments and waiting list registration, [2] time on the waiting list, and [3] time of the organ offer), we put forward a model (3-T Model) to summarize the knowledge on IC for NSRDs and to deliver conceptual and practical support to transplant providers on this emergent issue. Methods We searched PubMed and analyzed data from our area to provide evidence and ethical arguments to promote standardization of the timing of patient information, degree of patient participation, and disclosure of donor risk factors throughout the 3 stages of the time continuum leading to the potential acceptance of NSRDs. Results Each of the 3 timings carries special ethical significance and entails well-defined duties for transplant providers relative to patient involvement and information of the benefits and risks associated with NSRDs. Based on our framework, experience, and interpretation of the literature, we put forward a list of recommendations to combine standardization (ie, timing, content, and degree of patient participation) and individualization of IC. Conclusions The 3-T Model may enable the prevention of physicians' arbitrariness and the promotion of patient-centered care. Future studies will assess the effectiveness of the 3-T Model in transplant clinical practice.

This Chapter aims at investigating the Italian path to climate change. Climate change in Italy is unfortunately not (yet) a big concern in civil society. The Italian State policy was until now characterized by low sensitivity to climate change. The position of social society is very fragmentary. Italy, as a Member State of the EU, has implemented all the obligations that derive from the Paris Agreement. Italy’s Greenhouse Gas Emissions in 2014 (419 million tons) have fallen by 20% since 1990 and by 28% since 2005 levels. Although emissions rose by about 3% in 2015, Italy seems on track for reaching its 2020 target (−18% since 2005), as set by the National Energy Strategy (2013) following the 20-20-20 EU package targets. Nonetheless, it would be very difficult for an Italian citizen to bring a case against the Italian government for allegedly not complying with its international climate change obligations. Italy’s Constitution does not include a provision giving its citizens a right to a healthy environment. Therefore,—unfortunately—the possibility for individuals to act on such a provision is not possible. As a matter of fact, there are no cases in Italy of climate change litigation, although in Carvalho and Others v Parliament and Council (Case T-330/18) (2018/C 285/51), one of the parties was Italian, a sign that times are changing.

The complex evolution of the international regulation has led to the development of alternative policy architectures for addressing the threat of global climate change, and to very heterogeneous results in the various regions. This chapter examines in detail how legal transplants work in the environmental field, why they are continuously increasing, and analyses their specific characteristics. In particular legal transplants of environmental protection models have been strongly influenced by the globalized perception of the environmental phenomenon, and by that of its protection. In the last decades, we are witnessing the development of a body of rules, which tends towards a progressive approaching in the development of common operational choices in addressing environmental problems. This certainly derives from the fact that the environmental problem, in addition to having affected all legal systems in an almost contemporary way, is suitable to involve by its very nature multiple countries at the same time. Nonetheless, although climate change protection is a global issue, the implementation of climate change regulations remains a local issue, giving rise to different protection regimes that render comparative law analysis a suitable tool to investigate on the differences existing in the various legal systems.