Search

The Act of 5 July 2018 on the National Cybersecurity System and its accompanying executive regulations have introduced into Polish law the provisions of the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council of 6 July 2016 concerning measures for a high common level of security of network and information systems across the Union (UE) 2016/1148. The fundamental reason for these regulations was to establish a coherent system to ensure the cyber security of the Republic of Poland with accordance to standards adopted for European Union Member States. This paper presents the legal situation of operators of essential services and digital service providers that was created by the provisions of the ANCS. The ANCS not only identifies operators of essential services, digital service providers, and their assigned obligations, but also addresses the competent authorities' tasks of supervising, inspecting and imposing penalties within the cyber security system. The findings, assessments and conclusions presented here are based on the interpretation of the provisions of the ANCS and are supported by prominent claims of academic representatives. The analyses contained within this paper aim to show that despite the comprehensible and contemporary ratio legis -- which falls within the framework of pursuing the state of digital safety -- the provisions of the ANCS require adjustments that acknowledge the legal situation of operators of essential services and digital service providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article emphasizes the crucial significance of personal data and the potential dangers arising from its unauthorized processing, which can violate an individual's basic rights and freedoms. To address these worries, the European Union has implemented a comprehensive regulatory structure, widely recognized as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In the domain of data privacy and security, personal data is defined as encompassing any information with the capacity to identify an individual, whether it be anonymized, encrypted, or pseudonymized data. The regulatory purview of GDPR spans all modes of data processing, automated or manual, and remains indifferent to the storage medium or technology employed. Illustrative examples of personal data comprise an individual's name, identification number (like a CNP), location data (such as GPS coordinates), online identifiers (for instance, specific types of cookies), and a diverse array of attributes pertaining to an individual's physical, physiological, genetic, psychological, economic, cultural, or social identity. This classification also encompasses information such as IP addresses, email addresses, or residential addresses. It is of utmost importance to acknowledge that personal data, whether examined in isolation or in conjunction with other data elements, retains the potential to unveil the identity of an individual. This paper expands the scope of analysis to critically assess the multifaceted implications of GDPR within the contemporary landscape of data privacy and security, with a specific focus on its relevance within the realm of management practices. The examination encompasses an indepth exploration of the foundational principles of GDPR, its legal framework, and its global impact across businesses, individuals, and regulatory bodies. Additionally, the study delves into the complexities associated with GDPR compliance, illuminating the evolving dynamics of data protection within an increasingly digitized world. It emphasizes the essential role played by effective management strategies in addressing these challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines how objectives of the European Union in the field of climate change affect the legal regulation of products and what impacts they also have on some connected issues. The current ecodesign legal regulation is based on the Ecodesign Directive and the particular requirements on products are then set in regulations following the Ecodesign Directive. The paper primarily focuses on the changes in ecodesign product regulation brought by the new Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation proposal. The issue of the proposed legal regulation connected with environmental claims is also addressed in the text as it is an important complement to the sustainable products legal regulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzes possible ways of protecting artificial intelligence systems and their elements with the help of intellectual property law from the perspective of European Union law. This paper deals with copyright law, patent law and sui generis database protection in relation to artificial intelligence systems. The paper begins with an analysis of whether and how an artificial intelligence can be protected by means of copyright. The author analyzes the European Union's copyright acquis and concludes that the elements of the Al system, as well as the entire artificial intelligence system, that are implemented in software, can be protected by copyright as a computer program if the originality requirements are met. However, the originality requirement is unlikely to be met in all cases in this context. The same issue with the originality requirement applies to potentially possible copyright protection of artificial intelligence systems as databases. Therefore, it is concluded that the fulfillment of copyright requirements for protection of an artificial intelligence system must be established in each particular case. The author also considers whether patent law is applicable to protect artificial intelligence systems. For this purpose, the provisions of the patent law of the European Union, in particular, of the European Patent Convention, are analyzed. The author concludes that the artificial intelligence system may be patentable as a "computer-implemented invention" in case all the requirements for patent protection are met. Sui generis database protection is also considered as an additional possibility for legal protection of artificial intelligence systems, taking into account that its applicability is limited to the European Union. Whether sui generis database protection is applicable to the artificial intelligence system should be decided on a case-by-case basis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A six-year study investigates the challenges of balancing stakeholders' interests when implementing climate adaptation regulations and makes a case for analytical tools that can improve the acceptance and adoption of local planning initiatives. In this study, the challenges of adopting European Union and Norwegian national climate adaptation regulations at a local level are examined through the analysis of the 'Fredlybekken Water Management Proposal' case study. This study includes an overview of the proposed climate adaptation project 'Fredlybekken', a site analysis, quantitative surveys, and qualitative interviews with the project's stakeholders. Reflexive thematic analysis is employed to establish themes of the project and categorically describe the feedback and objections of residents. The findings of the study set forth recommendations to improve the implementation processes of stormwater management infrastructure and other urban climatic adaptation initiatives. These findings are aimed at public policy makers and municipal administrations. The general conclusions within this paper are also relevant for egalitarian countries with similar societal challenges attempting to implement climate policy at the local level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite the increased attention that was given to data protection laws in national jurisdictions – especially after the adoption of the General Data Protection Regulation by the European Union – international law still does not offer a higher standard of protection to the personal data of civilians in times of armed conflict, where the deletion or manipulation of personal data of the civilian population can have significant harmful effects. This article explains that at the time of the adoption of the relevant international treaties and the development of customary international law, international humanitarian law (IHL) did not protect personal data stored electronically, and even though commentators in contemporary times tend to accept the object status of electronic data, State practice still remains inconclusive, largely excluding computerized personal data from the protective regime of IHL. The article argues further that a stricter protection of personal data regulation could potentially lead to harmful effects for protected persons, such as civilians, therefore it is undesirable. The protective nature of IHL must prevail over the data protection interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the energy issue in the European Union and the EU's progress on energy efficiency since the Energy Efficiency related Directive of 2012 (EED): (i) The energy consumption dynamics (primary and final energy consumption), (ii) Directives and other regulations adopted by the EU's institutions between 2012-2022, for energy consumption and efficiency targets established for the entire Union and for its member states, (iii) The National Energy and Climate Plans (NECPs) corresponding to the 2020 accomplishments and the 2030 projections, (iv) The same 2030 forecasts in the long-term context of climate neutrality to be ensured up to 2050. All these will be approached below in our argumentation. Effective energy consumption data are retrieved from Eurostat and the International Energy Agency (IEA). Optimism comes up for the 2030 perspective, since the 2020 specific performances were delivered, partly despite the recent COVID-19 pandemic related circumstances of 2020. A list of possible responses to some questions will conclude this paper: 'How receptive will the member states be in the future for transposing the EU's energy efficiency ambitions into their own strategies?' and 'Will the European policies be rigorous enough, and flexible to achieve the long-term objectives?'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2014, the European Union adopted the Seasonal Workers Directive to achieve a twofold aim: meeting employers' demand for flexible and cheap labour and enhancing protection for third-country national (TCN) workers. Especially Article 23, the equal treatment provision, triggered a cautious optimism among scholars and trade unions, which looked at the Directive as a source of increased protection for seasonal workers. However, trade unions also pointed out the limited reach of the Directive, criticising its lack of commitment and ambition. Over the years, and especially during the Covid pandemic, it became clear that the Seasonal Workers Directive did not represent a game-changer for TCN seasonal workers, whose increased protections remained true only on paper. This contribution draws on the case of Italy during the pandemic to understand the reasons for the Directive's limited impact. The article critically examines the different political tensions underpinning the adoption of the Directive, to better understand why the Directive is not applied in practice and how it impacts the labour market and migrants' social conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Purpose] The purpose of this study is to investigate aspects of digital law in Ukraine and other countries of the world in the context of the right to be forgotten. [Methodology/Approach/Design] To achieve the objective, induction, deduction, and comparative analysis were used, both the proximate topics and aspects of the legal framework of different countries together with the legal information provided by online services were considered. [Findings] The study identified the main features of the right to be forgotten in different countries, the impact of the European Union Court of Justice and European Court of Human Rights on it and the little-studied intricacies of the legal aspect of this mechanism. [Practical Implications] This paper can be of interest both as introductory material and as a basis for further study because there is a growing human need to be able to control personal data in the face of the expanding phenomenon of globalization and digitalization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of digital technologies in administrative courts uses the legal systems of the European Union and the world to strengthen the ways of protecting human rights. This paper examines certain problems of legal regulation of the use of artificial intelligence technologies in administrative judicial procеdure. The methodology of this work is based on an interdisciplinary approach using comparative legal, dialectical and systemic methods. The main objective of this article is to determine the forms and directions, risks and benefits, prospects for the use of artificial intelligence in administrative judicial procеdure, taking into account foreign experience in legal regulation in this area. The concept of "artificial intelligence" is investigated. It is emphasized that the use of artificial intelligence technologies in administrative judicial procеdure is an acceptable use only of specialized intelligent systems that can work under human control. It is stated that when considering administrative cases in an administrative court of minor complexity, it is possible to use artificial intelligence technologies, which will be able to independently generalize and analyze legislation, judicial practice and be a recommendation for a judge when making a fair and lawful decision on the principles of the rule of law. It has been established that the use of artificial intelligence technologies in administrative proceedings provides opportunities for the effective implementation of the right to judicial protection, but can be used to take actions that are contrary to the rule of law, in particular regarding the violation of the right to a fair trial in administrative cases in administrative courts. The latter requires the improvement of legal regulation of the use of artificial intelligence technologies in administrative judicial procеdure using international principles and standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Objective: When examining women's economic activity, it should be emphasised that related issues are a relatively new research direction, and an understanding of the specifics of the subject seems particularly important given that the number of women starting businesses in recent decades has been characterised by a permanent upward trend. The aim of this article is to present - against the background of the literature on the subject and empirical data collected by governmental institutions operating in the European Union - the entrepreneurial activity rate of women in Poland over a ten-year period (2012-2021). Materials and Methods: The article is based on reports and working papers published by Eurostat and the Central Statistical Office (CSO). To calculate the data presented in the publication, mathematical analysis tools were used in the field of comparative research, the occurrence of trends and the indication of existing trends and noticeable increases. Results: Poland's twenty-first position compared to other EU Member States points to unlimited development opportunities and the need to support this economic space at every level of economic activity. This conclusion is reinforced by the statistics achieved by the opposite sex - men - which showed an upward trend over the period studied (2012-2021). This is also confirmed by the value of the calculated median female gross salary, which is lower by EUR 126.2 than the median male gross salary in Poland. Practical implications: A defined indicator of female entrepreneurship will allow recommendations to be tailored for state bodies and local government institutions supporting women's economic activity in Poland as well as in other EU countries with a similar economic structure. Conclusion and summary: Visible discrimination against women appears in the analysis of the average gross salary at different organisational levels in Poland, which can be used as an argument to support and create additional aid programmes to support women's economic activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The years following the financial crisis of 2008 have witnessed a revival of interest in both the Polanyian concept of 'fictitious commodities' and the Marxian concept of 'fictitious capital'. The former, with its focus on the consequences of markets for the 'fictitious commodities' of land, labour, and money, appears as a plausible explanation for our present instability along environmental, social, and economic axes. The latter, with its focus on what sets financial capitalists apart from their industrial counterparts, sheds light on what really separates Wall Street from Main Street, and what it all means for the prospects of class struggle in the 21st century. Building on a decade and a half of discourse on the role of these phenomena in financialisation, this paper explores the kinds of limits the law can place on high finance's most flagrant flights of fancy. Taking as case studies the post-crisis efforts by the European Union (EU) to intervene in two key financial markets -- private equity and securitisation -- it asks how far current regulatory frameworks go, and what more can be done to protect Europe from capitalism's excesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Varstvoslovje: Journal of Criminal Justice & Security is the property of University of Maribor, Faculty of Criminal Justice & Security and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

[Purpose] This paper intends to present an academic analysis about the legal, ethic and other issues raised by the General Data Protection Regulation, especially in Covid-19 time. In this context, we present the main legal aspects of networked privacy, online privacy literacy, transparency, data integrity and others. Besides, we present the employee's rights in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, such as the right to erase data, temperature monitoring, the employee's consent, the legitimation of the processing of personal data and body temperature control. We also give a word about data protection and teleworking. Our purpose is to contribute for the evolution of law, regarding the challenges and all the changes in our daily-life, provoked by the Covid-19 pandemic. [Methodology] Our objectives are fundamentally achieved with a legal and doctrinal analysis, which is our methodology. The topics presented in this paper are linked between each other and this kind of joint treatment is our goal. [Findings] Privacy is a broad concept that includes a set of personal characteristics that go beyond a user's name and location. Personal data includes the fundamental rights that privacy helps to guarantee. The GDPR is a legal basis for the processing of personal data, which is directly applicable in the European Union and does not require national transpositions. Employers are facing increasingly complex challenges in the day-to-day of their companies, given the need to stop the spread of coronavirus. To respond to the growing threat of coronavirus, many employers are considering monitoring the he alth of their employees to minimize the risk of infection and contagion in the workplace. Consent as a free, informed and unequivocal manifestation, required by the GDPR, collides with the existing asymmetries in the employment relationship. Despite all the difficulties in framing consent, it is unequivocal that the employment relationship requires the collection and processing of numerous employee data. It is an inevitability. Teleworking, provided from the employee's home, was one of the first measures adopted in the context of the pandemic caused by the Covid-19 disease. This type of work provision raises a number of questions regarding the protection of employees' personal data, namely in terms of control by the employer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explains the legal framework for cross-border transfers of personal data outside the EU and assesses its impact on a selection of Asia-Pacific data protection laws. It studies the position defended by the EU in the debates for a new general framework on e-commerce in the World Trade Organization (WTO) and the sections regarding data flows of some free trade agreements recently concluded by Asia-Pacific countries such as the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership and the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership. This paper shows how the regulation of data flows has surpassed national data protection laws to be increasingly present in free trade agreements with the tensions this may entail, paying special attention to the EU and Asia- Pacific. A holistic view is necessary because the consequences for human rights in trade negotiations should not be overlooked. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digital transformation of the global economy and society has accelerated after the Covid-19 pandemic. The European Union (EU), compared to China and the United States, is losing its capacity for innovation and control over data and fundamental raw materials and could even lose ground in the regulatory power it has in the digital realm. This paper pays special attention to the situation and progress toward a new European policy to achieve digital strategic autonomy. It also briefly outlines the Recovery Plan for Europe as a possible incentive for its promotion. Both descriptive and analytical methods were employed to gather the data from secondary sources and provide reliable research results. The major findings of this article are that strategic autonomy is an imperative requirement for sustaining and encouraging European integration, forcing the EU to advance faster toward developing critical digital technologies. There is also an urgent need to secure critical parts of supply chains and data protection, intellectual property, and defense against disinformation. Finally, the European Union must improve its resilience to face new crises and lead the digitalization of its economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of information technology, along with the high growth and diversification of consumer needs, has revolutionized the way in which business-to-consumer transactions occur. All this progress was boosted by the COVID-19 pandemic period in a different manner in each EU country, depending on different local aspects. The main goal of this paper is to determine the key characteristics of e-commerce in European Union countries in a pandemic context, based on Eurostat Digital Economy data for 2019–2020. Therefore, for an easier visualization, based on PCA, using 27 analyzed variables, new unique dimensions were revealed: 1. heavy online purchasers, 2. triggers for embracing digital purchasing, 3. perceived barriers against buying online (privacy concerns, security, or not having a card), 4. dynamics of online interaction with public authorities, and 5. enterprise online sharing. Moreover, clustering techniques set four groups of countries with different online commerce patterns that might require attention, according to their specificities, both from a government level and from a business perspective. Special attention is paid to Romania, which has one of the biggest e-commerce industries in Southeastern Europe, but with the share of e-commerce in total retail still quite low, despite this great increase. The models of other countries could be important in helping Romania to catch up with the most successful economies in terms of e-commerce. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The focus of the present contribution is the role of European Union (EU) law in shaping the working conditions of four groups of vulnerable workers. It assesses to what extent the impact of EU law favours, on these particular groups, an increased risk of In-Work Poverty (IWP) and explores whether the recent attention to IWP at EU level and the latest initiatives adopted may change the picture in the near future. The purpose is, therefore, to contribute to the debate on the role of EU law and policy in structuring vulnerability from the perspective of IWP. What is commonly known as EU labour law is a fragmentary legal corpus that has grown in a rather patchwork fashion as part of a social dimension of the European project that was, broadly speaking, functional to the logic of market integration. This originates in the early division of competences between the EU and the Member States in the Treaty of Rome, which left labour law and social protection outside the EU sphere of action. It partly explains why the protection of workers, particularly those that do not engage in cross-border situations, does not seem to be the EU's primary goal, or at least it is not formulated as contrary to other potentially clashing rationales such as market integration, flexibility, enhanced competitiveness and so on. The prevention of IWP was not, in any case, one of the concerns of the original European project. Yet, EU law has produced several pieces of legislation that directly or indirectly contribute to shaping the working conditions of European workers, including those more exposed to IWP. The paper assesses the relevant EU legal framework and discusses its impact on the working conditions of those more at risk of IWP. It concludes by estimating the potential of a series of recent initiatives to enhance the protection of the most vulnerable workers, thus making a positive change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Contexto Internacional is the property of Pontificia Universidade Catolica do Rio de Janeiro, Instituto de Relacoes Internacionais and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Latin American Law Review is the property of Universidad de los Andes and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) has a direct impact on research activities, as it raises the awareness of personal rights not only among the scientists but also among the data-subjects scientists process information from. This paper presents the dilemma related to the privacy of audio and video data, compliance with the EU GDPR, and techniques to anonymize and pseudonymize such data. We further discuss issues of "in the wild" personal data collection by focusing on multi-modal collections, mainly of audio, video via these channels. Throughout this paper we define relevant core issues and highlight two challenges of "in the wild" data collection: Internet crawling and public data collecting. In the last section, some exemplary use cases are demonstrating the raised issues, illuminating how GDPR affects the collection of publicly available data; how privacy concerns influence participant behavior, and which deanonymization levels can be reached with what kind of data. The key point we present is that the identity of the participants is revealed in the voice or video signal, while the latter is at the same time the object of the research. One implication is that the research community has to actively disconnect the data from the personal information on the participants. Hence the importance of a process of anonymity or omission of data for research activity. This entail the development of an infrastructure for data access control to enable data sharing among researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides initial observations on the inclusion of scientific research data in the scope of the EU Public Sector Information Directive of 2019, Directive (EU) 2019/1024, also known as the Open Data Directive, related rules for the re-use of such data enshrined in Art 10, and the implementation in Italy with the decreto legislativo 8 November 2021 no 200. The work seeks to examine how the EU Public Sector Information rules on research data - and, to a lesser extent, data from cultural establishments - may contribute to the objectives of Open Knowledge, elected as an umbrella term with primary reference to Open Access, Open Science, and Open Data, given the difficulties of identifying exhaustive conceptual contours for them. In order to do so, the paper critically examines the exemptions and safeguards related to Intellectual Property and Personal Data protection and identifies the circumstances under which these may obstruct the re-use of research data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses solutions of the recently adopted Digital Content Directive (abbreviated: DCD) with the focus on its major novelty being the possibility of a consumer to provide his personal data in lieu of a price in return for a digital content or a digital service. Though this social phenomenon has been known in practice for quite some time, the DCD is the first instrument of the European Union (abbreviated: EU) that accepted such reality by laying down a legal framework tailor-made to such contractual performance. Prior to its adoption, the main concern was how to reconcile two aspects of personal data: the fact that the right to the protection of personal data presents a fundamental human right, on one hand, and a rising use of such data as an object of contractual performance in the digital environment, on the other hand. The need to conciliate these two dimensions of personal data led to some revisions of the European Commission’s Proposal of the DCD. These changes led, inter alia, to a clear reference in the DCD to the already existing regime for the protection of personal data at the EU level epitomised in the General Data Protection Regulation (abbreviated: GDPR). Apart from relevant solutions of the DCD, the paper also examines arguments favouring the DCD implementation in Serbian legal system, proposing at the same time the most appropriate piece of legislation for that. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The digitization process and the wide use of Internet technologies have brought easy access to information and a significant improvement in the quality of life. At the same time it has also brought problems when dealing with privacy and personal data. European Union has issued the 679/2016 Regulation in order to set a legal framework for data protection and privacy. The law created a framework but the issue of translating this law into technical solutions remained the task of IT industry. The aim of this paper is to analyze the principles of data protection and translate them into a GDPR compliant model for research project management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)—the European Union's data protection regulation—has two key principles. It recognizes that individuals own and control their personal (but not contractual) data in perpetuity, leading to three critical privacy rights, namely, the rights to (i) explicit consent (data opt-in), (ii) to be forgotten (data erasure), and (iii) portability (data transfer). It also includes data security mandates against privacy breaches through unauthorized access. We study GDPR's equilibrium impact by including these features in a dynamic two-period model of forward-looking firms and consumers. Firms collect consumer data for personalization and price discrimination. Consumers trade off gains from personalization relative to potential losses from privacy breaches and price discrimination in their purchase, data opt-in, erasure, and transfer decisions. Though data security mandates impose fines on firms for privacy breaches, firms can benefit from higher opt-in given lower breach risk. Surprisingly, data security mandates can hurt consumers. The effect of privacy rights is nuanced. Since the right to opt in separates goods exchange from the provision of personal data, it prevents market failure under high breach risk. But it also reduces consumer opt-in and personal data availability. Erasure and portability rights reduce consumers' hold-up concerns by disciplining firms to provide ongoing value by limiting price discrimination and not slacking off on data security; but they also reduce the incentive to offer lower initial prices that encourages opt-in. Overall, privacy rights always benefit consumers in competitive markets, but they can surprisingly hurt consumers under monopoly, as monopolists have less incentives to subsidize consumer opt-in. They raise (reduce) firm profit and social welfare when breach risk is high (low). Finally, privacy rights increase firm profit most at moderate levels of data transferability. This paper was accepted by Dmitri Kuksov, marketing. Funding: T. T. Ke acknowledges financial support from the General Research Fund of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council [Grant 14500421]. Supplemental Material: The e-companion is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.2022.4614. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the issue of using genetic tests for insurance purposes. After introductory remarks, the paper provides an overview of various international and European legal sources both on data protection in general, and on the protection of data from genetic tests. The paper then researches into different solutions proposed by comparative law concerning the use of data from genetic tests for insurance purposes. Some solutions explicitly ban the use of genetic tests for insurance purposes (France, Austria, Portugal, Croatia), while others adopt a more liberal approach, allowing for its use (the USA, the UK, Germany). It is concluded that personal data protection does not exclude the possibility using data from genetic tests for insurance purposes, which proves the need for a common EU approach to the issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering that the base erosion and the profit shifting practiced by multinationals could deprive governments of their fair share in taxes and, as a consequence of the financial resources needed to achieve the sustainable development goals ('SDGs'), governments have started to be interested in the implementation of transfer pricing regulations. The objective of the paper is to analyze the transfer pricing regulations and practices adopted by the EU countries that record a good progress in terms of SDGs vs. EU countries that record a moderate progress in this respect. The results of the study show that the strictness of the transfer pricing system influences the progress regarding the achievement of the SDGs. More exactly, the countries which record a good progress in achieving SDGs have, in general, a stricter transfer pricing system. In order to increase the strictness of the transfer pricing system and the progress in terms of SDGs, countries could implement regulation which envisage: the preparation of an annual transfer pricing documentation; the preparation of a documentation on three levels according to BEPS 13; the adoption of certain measures in order to increase the number of APAs, MAPs and transfer pricing audits; imposing of penalties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to analyze the process of digital transformation of public administration in Romania and the European Union, in the current legislative and institutional context. The reform of public administration, in the context of the digitization of the public sector, is focused on simplifying procedures and bureaucratic burdens for individuals and legal entities, increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the administrative act, and ensuring accessibility and transparency of data use by public authorities and institutions. At the same time, this study also deals with issues related to eGovernment, cybersecurity, and the security of personal data of users of platforms and information systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper concerns the future - a scenario that is not so distant in time, as the future starts today. With the increasing datafication of our society and the approval of the European Union Data Governance Act that establishes conditions and safeguards to encourage the free flow and reuse of data for scientific, economic and societal progress, we are left wondering whether the existing challenges surrounding personal data management will be solved by then - or whether they will only be exacerbated. This sci-fi short story depicts a future where individuals, since a young age, question whether they still retain agency over their lives and their destinies, given that data-hungry personalized services surveil them extensively and steer their personal development. Returning to science fiction narratives to explore a societal issue at the edge of technology and law has a threefold purpose, in: (1) developing critical skills and exploring future consequences safely through the imagination; (2) fostering foresight and proactivity in policy-making; and (3) democratizing the debate about technological developments that concern us all. If this story depicts a desirable or undesirable future is left to the readers to assess. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Possession of accurate, complete and reliable relevant data on electronic communications traffic and timely access of authorised competent state bodies to such data is without a doubt a useful tool in the fight against modern forms of crime. For that reason, It is justified to establish an obligation for providers of electronic communications services to keep certain data on communications for a certain period of time in the realization of which they mediate and to hand over that data at the request of authorized state bodies, in order to use them for legitimate purposes. For this reason, the Data Retention Directive was adopted in 2006, which Member States were required to transpose into national law However, data retention poses a risk to basic human rights and freedoms, if the regulation establishing this obligation does so without respecting the essence of these rights and freedoms, especially the right to privacy and rights related the processing of personal data for which reason the Court of Justice of the Euro pean Union declared the Directive invalid is 2014. Despite this decision, Member States continue to regulate the obligation to retain data in their national regulations. In this regard the question of compliance of these regulations with the fundamental rights and freedoms and principles of the Union is raised. The subject of the paper is the analysis of the case law of the Court of Justice of the EU on this issue after the annulment of the Data Retention Directive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Personal data is increasingly positioned as a valuable asset. While individuals generate and expose ever-expanding volumes of personal information online, certain tech companies have built their business models on the personal data they gather. In this context, lawmakers are revising data protection regulations in order to provide individuals with enhanced rights and set new rules regarding the way corporations collect, manage, and share personal information. We argue that recent data protection regulatory frameworks such as the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (gdpr) or the California Consumer Privacy Act (ccpa) are fundamentally about data management. Yet, there have been no attempts to analyze the regulations in terms of their implications on the data life cycle. In this paper, we systematically analyze the gdpr and the ccpa, and identify their implications on the data life cycle. To synthesize our findings, we propose a semi-formal notation of the resulting changes on the personal data life cycle, in the form of a process and data model governed by business rules, consolidated in a reference personal data life cycle model for data protection. To the best of our knowledge, this study represents one of the first attempts to provide a data-centric view on data protection regulatory requirements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The environmental policy is a relatively new field in the European Union, even at the level of the current year, 2019. Although initially it was based on the creation of general measures programs, within which certain specific measures were adopted, currently, the permanent existing global climate changes can no longer be ignored by national, European or global organizations and institutions. As such, in time, especially in the last decade, the European Union has been forced, by virtue of the principles governing the relationship between the EU law and that of the Member States, to find solutions to the serious problems caused especially by pollution, but also by a series of other climatic causes. Thus, the environmental policy of the European Union is based on a number of principles, including that of precaution, prevention, diminish of pollution from its source, as well as that of the polluter's liability. In this regard, the present paper aims to summarize the measures taken so far at the level of the European Union, as well as to identify additional protective measures that will also lead to the fulfillment of the European Union Sustainable Development Strategy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU institutions - led by the Commission, Parliament and European Council, along with the Council of the EU - are determined to make this the union's "digital decade". It is time for Europe to consolidate its digital development and set rules in line with its moral and cultural principles, instead of following those of external actors like China and the United States, as well as focussing on data, technology and infrastructure. This paper examines the EU's digital development from the perspectives and positions of the abovementioned institutions, which show divergences, albeit within a common framework. Based on three theoretical currents (neofunctionalism, federalism and intergovernmentalism), it applies a critical perspective to analyse the impact (positive and/or negative) on European citizens of the institutions' actions in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) was implemented in the European Union and European Economic Area in May 2018. The GDPR aims to strengthen consumers' rights to data privacy in the wake of technological developments like big data and artificial intelligence. This was a hot topic for stakeholders, such as lawyers, companies and consumers, prior to the GDPR's implementation. This paper investigates to what extent consumers are concerned about information privacy issues following the implementation of the GDPR. We present findings from an online survey conducted during spring 2019 among 327 Norwegian consumers, as well as findings from a survey conducted immediately prior to the implementation of the GDPR in spring 2018. We draw the following conclusions: (1) consumers gained significant knowledge about their information privacy from the GDPR, but felt relatively little need to execute their enhanced rights; (2) about 50% of respondents believed themselves to have control over their data, while almost 40% stated that they had no control about their personal data; and (3) consumers largely trusted companies to manage their personal data. These insights are of interest to both academia and to industries that deal with personal data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Zbornik Radova Pravnog Fakulteta u Nisu is the property of Law Faculty in Nis and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Cuadernos Europeos de Deusto is the property of Universidad de Deusto and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

As of the 25th of May 2018 a new regulation on data protection will directly apply in all European Union's Member States, that is the Regulation (EU) 2016/679. The current national legislation (Law 677/2001) will be replaced by these rules, so a new legal regime on the processing of personal data shall be established. Although in general, the same rules apply for both public and private data controllers (or data processors), there are a number of specific features for the processing carried out in the public sector in terms of legal duties and applicable exceptions. For instance, all the public institutions will have to appoint a data protection officer. However, the processing made by the courts when they are acting in their judicial capacity shall not be covered by some of the new legal norms. In the present paper, an overview of the new legal regime of data protection in the public sector will be outlined, in order to assess the most relevant novelties on the matter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Palm oil is produced on plantations primarily in Indonesia and Malaysia, which, historically, have been responsible for significant tropical deforestation and ecosystem loss. Driven by a shift away from hydrogenated vegetable oils and its high productivity, palm oil is now part of more than half of all packaged consumer products. Given its centrality across many supply chains, certification schemes have sought to improve environmental sustainability in the palm oil industry. Increasingly, there is an intersection between certification schemes and regulatory drivers. The recent 2023 European Union regulation on deforestation-free products has implications for palm oil and many other forest products. Environmental certification schemes, such as the one developed by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, have the potential to play a critical role in the implementation of this recent policy for palm oil and can serve as model for many other commodities subject to the new Directive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term 'digitalization' of public administration, used as a synonym for 'e-government,' fi rst implies the implementation of fast, secure procedures by an administrative body. E-governance, or as it is more recently termed, digital governance, involves the introduction of innovations and technologies in public governance/administration. It can be argued that the digitalization of public administration against the background of contemporary social challenges may be the key of opportunities for both the state and members of the society. Despite its certain conditionality, the electronic governance index (since 2003, the United Nations has issued a comparative index of countries' e-governance every two years, based on three main indicators) profi ciently reflects the dynamics of countries' efforts in introducing innovations in public administration and involving citizens in the process of e-services, which ultimately contributes to bringing citizens closer to modern digital administration. The article refers to the legal aspects of using digital means in e-government on the example of Georgia. The reform of public administration in Georgia started in 2015, after the Association Agreement was signed between Georgia and the European Union. Georgia has already fulfi lled several commitments in the framework of this program in terms of striving for more transparent governance, but despite this, the mentioned reform faces challenges on this path. The article examines aspects of e-government such as e-services, e-participation, personal data protection, and the impact of e-government implementation on the efficiency of public administration. Since the mentioned issue is complex in nature and extends in several directions, the article discusses the regulation of electronic administrative proceedings and the effectiveness of its use in the process of implementing public administration, stages of modernization of state governance, types of electronic proceedings, possibilities of legitimate governance from the administrative body, and prospects for its implementation on the example of Georgia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Derechos y Libertades is the property of Dykinson SL and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The law of personal data protection has for years been lagging behind technology, which is evolving propulsively and with high speed. A number of new challenges arising from the post-modern digital age have been identified for rights and freedoms of individuals with respect to processing of their personal data and thus a need for adapting the relevant legal-regulatory regime and ensuring a workable and systematic data protection system for the third millennium. After examination of the current legal framework and supporting systems at the level of European Union law, this paper focuses on recently proposed reforms. Proposed new EU legal-regulatory regime towards a potent data protection ecosystem is strongly supported by stricter accountability of those who are responsible for personal data. As one of the core legal principles supporting the new regime, accountability denotes, in a nutshell, a number of legally enforceable duties to implement and verify measures and procedures that can ensure operative and demonstrable data protection compliance. Selected highlights of the proposed accountability measures are therefore examined in this paper and arguments provided for a shift towards organizational data protection management and governance already today. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In the European Union, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) plays a central role in the complex health research legal framework. It aims to protect the fundamental right to the protection of individuals' personal data, while allowing the free movement of such data. However, it has been criticized for challenging the conduct of research. Existing scholarship has paid little attention to the experiences and views of the patient community. The aim of the study was to investigate 1) the awareness and knowledge of patients, carers, and members of patient organizations about the General Data Protection Regulation, 2) their experience with exercising data subject rights, and 3) their understanding of the notion of "data control" and preferences towards various data control tools. Methods: An online survey was disseminated between December 2022 and March 2023. Quantitative data was analyzed descriptively and inferentially. Answers to open-ended questions were analyzed using the thematic analysis method. Results: In total, 220 individuals from 28 European countries participated. The majority were patients (77%). Most participants had previously heard about the GDPR (90%) but had not exercised any of their data subject rights. Individual data control tools appeared to be marginally more important than collective tools. The willingness of participants to share personal data with data altruism organizations increased if patient representatives would be involved in the decision-making processes of such organizations. Conclusion: The results highlighted the importance of providing in-depth education about data protection. Although participants showed a slight preference towards individual control tools, the reflection based on existing scholarship identified that individual control holds risks that could be mitigated through carefully operationalized collective tools. The discussion of results was used to provide a critical view into the proposed European Health Data Space, which has yet to find a productive balance between individual control and allowing the reuse of personal data for research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European Institutions and scholars are reflecting upon the nature of the requirements that are or can be used to implement sustainability through Public Procurement. As far as public organisations are concerned, the Portuguese government's actions are in the same wavelength as the European guidelines on the matter. Public procurement involves economic operators. Thus, it is important to try to understand if the European Union proposal for a directive on "Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence" is an interesting tool in the discussion. Recently, the Portuguese Council of Ministers issued Resolution no. 132/2023, of 25 October, defining the ecological criteria applicable to certain kinds of contracts and products, goods and services concerning some administrative bodies, a Resolution which, nevertheless, is prone to criticism. May the shift of the European Union Public Procurement paradigm help implement Sustainable Public Procurement through mandatory requirements? Can the future Directive help economic operators align with contracting authorities to implement Sustainable Public Procurement? Might the obligation to include environmental factors help fulfil the Directive's due diligence obligations? And, lastly, has Portugal taken the right step with the issuance of Resolution no. 132/2023? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the rise of China's economy and the fast globalization of China's IT industry, an increasing number of EU citizens' personal data are collected and processed on Chinese territory. This article aims to discuss to what extent EU citizens' personal data can be protected under the Chinese and EU data protection frameworks, what are the major problems with the present circumstances, and in which ways EU citizens' personal data cam be better protected as future police choice? To provide a general background, Section II briefly discusses foreigners' legal status and the data protection framework in China. Section III analyses in much detail four practical circumstances under which EU citizens' personal data are processed in China and the possible legal remedies available in case of potential data breaches. Section IV further explains the current situations of judicial mutual assistance between China and EU countries on civil, commercial and criminal matters, in particular regarding the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitration awards. The paper is concluded with some concrete suggestions for both Chinese and EU law and policy makers to consider for improvement in their future work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study seeks to identify the specifics of personal data protection in the context of EU legislation. The focus is on the personal data transferred outside the Union. It is described how the EU data protection law provides specific measures in order to ensure the protection of individuals and legal persons from malicious acts. The article also highlights the reform of the EU data protection legislation in the context of the reliability of the data transfer mechanisms to third countries. The legal regulation in this matter goes through various stages of development, and the latter one includes the implementation of rules with a focus on ensuring greater data sharing between institutions and companies. The analysis of the international data flows as a priority topic in relations between the EU and countries outside its borders, including international organizations, also find its place in the study. In this sense, transfers to specific sectors based on specific international agreements will be considered in connection with the improvement and strengthening of the existing procedures for international data transfer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Malaysian palm oil industry is a significant contributor towards national development and economic growth. However, the industry has been facing rising tension to ensure sustainable development, as global demand for palm oil continue to grow in the coming years. The necessity for producing and trading sustainably produced palm oil is amplified with the European Union's stringent requirement for importing responsibly sourced commodities into its market, with the aim to achieve climateneutral by 2050. The palm oil industry is also inundated with anti-palm oil campaigns and agendas, which emphasize allegations of unsustainable agricultural practices as large-scale plantations damage the natural ecosystem in producing countries. Collectively, these challenges could pose a formidable impact on the trade of palm oil between Malaysia and the European Union. Therefore, the article seeks to examine the strategic responses undertaken by Malaysian stakeholder agencies to address the regulations pertaining to sustainable production of palm oil. Using a qualitative approach, a total of ten sessions of in-depth interviews were held with expert informants in stakeholder agencies, both in Malaysia and the European Union. Among the key findings were the formulation and implementation of the National Agricommodity Policy, deployment of various missions to the European Union, implementation of Malaysian Sustainable Palm Oil (MSPO) certification as the national sustainability scheme, dissemination of accurate information on sustainable and certified palm oil, and continuous engagement through bilateral and multilateral platforms. Based on the findings, this study suggests that inclusive and transparent engagement must be conducted continuously. Constantly held dialogue sessions will help to promote better understanding and fruitful collaboration among stakeholder agencies in Malaysia and the European Union to balance environmental concerns with trade interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article delves into the evolving Africa policy of the European Union (EU) against the backdrop of global changes. Topics discussed include shifts from crisis management to long-term strategic goals, influenced by geopolitical dynamics, pandemic, and crises like the Ukraine conflict. It also examines the EU's aim for a geopolitical turn, emphasizing partnerships and competition, yet risks treating Africa as an arena for rivalry rather than an equal partner.

The legal regulation of products within the European Union has witnessed significant developments over time. Originally driven by the imperative to remove barriers to the free movement of goods, it gradually incorporated environmental considerations, albeit to a limited extent. However, the importance of environmental requirements for products is gradually increasing and the effort to ensure that products placed on the market are sustainable and climatefriendly is gaining momentum. This article delves into the fundamental aspects of regulating products in the EU through the establishment of standards. It offers an analysis of the main trends of European standard-based product policy from a historical perspective and discusses various general contemporary issues of product standard-setting in the view of ensuring a high level of environmental protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the European Union, Data Controllers and Data Processors, who work with personal data, have to comply with the General Data Protection Regulation and other applicable laws. This affects the storing and processing of personal data. But some data processing in data mining or statistical analyses does not require any personal reference to the data. Thus, personal context can be removed. For these use cases, to comply with applicable laws, any existing personal information has to be removed by applying the so-called anonymization. However, anonymization should maintain data utility. Therefore, the concept of anonymization is a double-edged sword with an intrinsic trade-off: privacy enforcement vs. utility preservation. The former might not be entirely guaranteed when anonymized data are published as Open Data. In theory and practice, there exist diverse approaches to conduct and score anonymization. This explanatory synthesis discusses the technical perspectives on the anonymization of tabular data with a special emphasis on the European Union's legal base. The studied methods for conducting anonymization, and scoring the anonymization procedure and the resulting anonymity are explained in unifying terminology. The examined methods and scores cover both categorical and numerical data. The examined scores involve data utility, information preservation, and privacy models. In practice-relevant examples, methods and scores are experimentally tested on records from the UCI Machine Learning Repository's "Census Income (Adult)" dataset. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]