"Onder faveur van ’t canon" VOC – Artillerie 1602-1796 studies the development and the VOC’s use of a policy that creates additional advantages for its own military means and opportunities on the... Show more"Onder faveur van ’t canon" VOC – Artillerie 1602-1796 studies the development and the VOC’s use of a policy that creates additional advantages for its own military means and opportunities on the one hand, and simultaneously weakens potential opponents on the other hand. This resulted in important advantages in terms of effectiveness and firepower for the VOC compared to local opponents. Because of this artificial balance, the VOC could economise the military budget without negatively impacting its own power. The policy is analysed by studying the most effective weapon: the artillery. The artillery was utmost complex in terms of management, organisation, administration, and required knowledge and skills. The policy was succesful, but had limitations: it could not be applied against contractor states and in areas where potent local states had access to the weapon’s market. Furthermore, the defense against European opponents during the 18th century became increasingly important. Although the VOC developed in its final days good concepts, the realisation of these concepts was could not be achieved by the VOC nor the Dutch Republic, as this would exceed the existent financial means. Show less
The prohibition of anti-competitive unilateral conduct by firms with market power is not absolute, but allows for derogation. For the purposes of EU law, the ECJ has accepted that a so-called ... Show moreThe prohibition of anti-competitive unilateral conduct by firms with market power is not absolute, but allows for derogation. For the purposes of EU law, the ECJ has accepted that a so-called ‘objective justification’ plea may be invoked in the case of a prima facie abuse of dominance. Even though this is long-standing case law, many uncertainties remain as to its interpretation. This thesis contains a detailed examination of this concept of ‘(objective) justification’, focusing in particular on its scope and the applicable legal conditions. The thesis submits that this concept is highly important, as it can steer Article 102 TFEU away from a formalistic approach and give ample weight to the prevalent context. Although the thesis focuses on EU law, it also seeks inspiration from the approach in other jurisdictions. A comparative study includes relevant cases from various EU Member States (France, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Spain and the UK) and non-EU jurisdictions (Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Singapore, South Africa and the US). The study reveals that these jurisdictions have accepted the availability of a justification plea, and have dealt with the concept in strikingly similar ways. Show less
This thesis investigates doubling and agreement in Romance and Germanic nominal constituents. In Swedish, Norwegian, and Faroese, the definite article is doubled in case an adjective modifies the... Show moreThis thesis investigates doubling and agreement in Romance and Germanic nominal constituents. In Swedish, Norwegian, and Faroese, the definite article is doubled in case an adjective modifies the noun. This doubling is known as double definiteness. This thesis proposes that double definiteness is the result of an intriguing interaction between syntax and morphology. The absence of double definiteness in other Germanic languages is attributed to morphological variation. The thesis mainly, however, deals with the distinction between strong and weak adjectival inflection in Germanic and its absence in the Romance. This thesis proposes that agreement on attributive adjectives is always licensed indirectly, through the help of a mediating element. In the case of Germanic weak adjectival inflection, this mediating element is partially deactivated for independent reasons. In the case of Germanic strong adjectival inflection as well as Romance adjectival inflection, this mediating element is however always fully active. On the theoretical level, this thesis proposes that the syntactic configuration in which agreement can occur is best defined in terms of dominance. It is argued that a definition in terms of dominance is both theoretically simpler as well as empirically more adequate than a definition in terms of c-command. Show less
