Legal Perspectives for a Sustainable Circular Economy

The open access book invites readers to critically address the new model of a Sustainable Circular Economy also from the legal point of view, tracing new perspectives in order to fairly orient the law in this systemic paradigm transition.
The paradigm shift towards a Sustainable Circular Economy is at the core of the EU policy agenda, aiming at revolutionizing the whole economic productive model that characterizes our contemporary society. However, the legal dimension is often underestimated in this framework. Actually, the legal system cannot resort to old schemes if it wants to respond properly to new challenges. In order to achieve effectively the indicated objectives of social progress, it is decisive that also the legal dimension of a Sustainable Circular Economy, and so the regulation of the market and the society on which it impacts, is designed consistently with an innovative approach. That is why this research intends to promote a general reconceptualization of existing legal configurations, exploring new perspectives to strengthen the role of individuals in the socio-economic system, as aware ‘human’ beings that, as such, take care of the world they live in.

Bernardo Calabrese, PhD, is Associate Professor of Commercial Law at the Department of Law, University of Verona (Italy). He is also Visiting Research Fellow at Max Planck Institute for Innovation and Competition, Munich (DE), and member of International Association for the Advancement of Teaching and Research in Intellectual Property (ATRIP) and of European Policy for Intellectual Property (EPIP). His fields of research encompass Intellectual Property Law (with specific focus on Trademarks and Geographical Indications), as well as Competition Law (including, but not limited to, the relevant intersection between the two areas).