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Religion was outside the European Union's original remit and the classic secular paradigm predicted it should remain there. However, the opposite happened: religion gradually seeped into the EU legal order. The 2009 Lisbon Treaty created a legal basis and political mandate for EU engagement with religion. This article shows the new treaty provisions represent a shift towards the post-secular paradigm, but implementation of this legal obligation lack coherence and has had mixed success. The case is made for a more systematic and orderly post-secular approach to EU policy and law making, which could help the EU reach certain key objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Review of Public Law is the property of European Public Law Organization 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.)

With the Lisbon Treaty, a new page was opened in the development of EU civil procedure. This is so because The Lisbon Treaty has introduced Article 81 (ex-Article 65 EC) as a separate Chapter 3 of Title V on an Area of Freedom, Security, and Justice. With this, civil justice cooperation has gained an autonomous character and become distinct sub-area of the EU policy on Freedom, Security, and Justice.1 More importantly, the approximation of Member States' civil procedural rules, provided for in Article 81 of the Lisbon Treaty, has gained a central role in the establishment and proper functioning of this Area and the EU in general. Precisely because of this, the subject of analysis of this paper is the new trend in the development of the civil procedure of the EU after the Lisbon Treaty, the advantages that this trend offers versus the old regime in EU and the future directions of development of the civil procedural law of the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty in December 2009 was supposed to have far-reaching implications for the development of a European policy on justice and access to justice as it “constitutionalized” for the first time this important topic. However, at the time of writing, European Union (EU) law has been unable to construct and provide a proper system of access to justice for European citizens across all European Member States. In particular, the study of the case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg shows that the European model of access to justice based on litigation, access to courts and on the defense of individual rights is inherently limited. The author advocates a change of approach, aiming for a better definition of a substantive notion of access to justice in the light of a broad system of European social justice and equality. This new approach could be based on the classic theory and methodology of “access-to-justice” developed in the early 80s by Professor Mauro Cappelletti. His encyclopaedia on the topic offered a horizontal comprehensive strategy to construct a justice system and procedural laws based on the needs of the ordinary citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Treaty of Lisbon states that animals are sentient beings. Fish species show physiological differences from terrestrial animals and are slaughtered and killed in a very different context. Many existing commercial killing methods expose fish to extensive suffering over a prolonged period of time, and some of the slaughtering practices they experience can cause pain and distress. This study highlights the limited feasibility of European Council Regulation 1099/09 requirements on welfare when killing cephalopods and crustaceans. Sentience is the animal's capacity to have positive (comfort, excitement) and negative (pain, anxiety, distress, or harm) feelings. Considerable evidence is now showing that the major commercial fish species, including cephalopods and crustaceans, possess complex neurological substrates supporting pain sensitivity and conscious experiences. In the legislation applied to scientific procedures, the concept of sentience in these species is important. Therefore, it would be appropriate to acknowledge current scientific evidence and establish reference criteria for fish welfare. For the welfare of fish species during slaughter, European Council Regulation 1099/09 applicability is limited. Fish welfare during slaughter is more than just an ethical problem. According to the One-Health approach, food safety should also include the concept of sentience for fish welfare. Pending studies that dispel all doubt, the precautionary principle of European Council Regulation 178/04 remains valid and should be applied to fish welfare. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aggressive Russian policies and the Trump administration's transactional approach to alliances have put nuclear issues back on the agenda for European governments. Arguments for German acquisition of nuclear weapons have gained no traction among German decision makers, as this would require multiple costly and radical shifts of Berlin's foreign and security policies. German-French convergence on the role of nuclear weapons in European security is a necessary – though not necessarily sufficient – precondition for a strengthened nuclear dimension to the EU's security and defense policies. However, the different nuclear cultures in France and Germany, French aversion to nuclear consultations, and inter-European divisions on the role of nuclear weapons make it unlikely that Germany will support a Eurodeterrent anytime soon. In the short term, the German debate on NATO's response to the end of the INF treaty and Berlin's decision on new dual-capable aircraft to support NATO's nuclear sharing arrangements will be indicators of changing nuclear attitudes and policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of External Economic Bulletin / Külgazdaság is the property of KOPINT Konjunktura Kutatasi Alapitvany 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 German Federal Constitutional Court's recent case law in context – A systematic account of the Federal Constitutional Court's changing constitutional imagination – The constitutional footprint of the grand coalitions during Angela Merkel's 16-year term as German Chancellor – The changing architecture of parliamentary government in the Federal Republic and the role of the Court – The supermajoritarian structure of the German political system – Majority rule and veto players – Legislation and parliamentary oversight – Executive autonomy and parliamentary control – Political representation and counter-representation by the Court – The constitutional nature of cabinet and ministerial responsibility – constitutional limits of political speech in government office – The normative model of administrative constitutionalism – The pouvoir neutre in the German constitution – The constitutionalisation of distributive justice [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of international relations has as its main source diplomatic documents, among them treaties and international agreements. As Mario Toscano stated, (Mario Toscano, 1963) diplomatic documents are written statements of facts (actions or simple expressions of thought) coming from institutional bodies acting in inter-state relations. Inside the framework of diplomacy, recently emerged a new branch: energy diplomacy. This latter is a complex topic in the broad framework of the Afro- European diplomatic relations and, over the years, has continuously evolved due to endogenous and exogenous factors. Since up to now, there's no historical rebuilding of how AfroEuropean diplomatic representors have acted to build their energy diplomacy and to start analyzing it, the time-space considered in this research is the following: from the 1973 oil crisis to the 2007 Lisbon Treaty (Joint Africa-EU Strategy). The relevance of this research consists of filling the historical gaps that we have about this topic between the area studies and those in the European Integration, trying to have a more super partes and complete vision as possible. This research even if now in its first stage, will contribute to providing a logical combination of sources to rebuild and understand the evolution of Afro- European energy diplomatic relations. For this purpose, the literary review indicated may help to define the broad framework in which Africa and Europe started to cooperate in scientific terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The amendments to the EU establishing treaties included in the 2007 Lisbon Treaty have resulted in conflicting norms and jurisdictions, arising from overlaps between international investment treaties and EU law. According to the 2018 Judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in the Achmea case, an arbitration clause in an intra-EU bilateral investment treaty is not compatible with EU law because of the autonomy of EU law and its need for uniform interpretation and application. In its 2021 Judgment in the Komstroy case, the Court expanded this approach in relation to investor-host State arbitration based on the 1994 Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), that is, on a multilateral agreement among the European Union, its Member States and a few non-EU Member States. The Court based this decision not only on the autonomy of EU law and its need for uniform interpretation and application, but also on the venue of arbitration in a Member State. Several arbitral tribunals and scholars have criticized this approach. Criticism increased in 2022 when the arbitral tribunal in the Green Power v. Spain case – established under the Rules of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce according to the Energy Charter Treaty – followed the Komstroy decision of the EU Court of Justice. This article addresses the main aspects of this ongoing debate and looks at what other options might be available. The relevant case law has focused on a conflict-based perspective. It is suggested that other perspectives might be considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on Lisbon Treaty obliges the Member States to supplement legal remedies under Union law at Member State level and in particular because of the limited legal standing before European to fill gaps in the courts. It mentions objectification of Art. 19 TEU as a rule of law criterion and clarified that the central and decentralized legal protection instruments. It also mentions principle of sincere cooperation followed accordingly the obligation.

George Schöpflin's latest monograph provides a unique understanding of the politics of contemporary Europe in two 'interconnected essays'. The first part focuses on a comprehensive interpretation of the EU's political community, the European polis. The author argues that political innovation has slowed considerably in the last decade, particularly after the Lisbon Treaty entered into force and the EU was gradually transformed into a punitive polis. The second part of the book focuses on the relationship between Central Europe and the European Union. Central Europe is European, but differently European. The shortcomings of the Eastern enlargement, Central Europe's misadventure in the European Union and the unseen and unintended consequences of the 2004-2007-2011 enlargement waves all contributed to the development of a troubled relationship between the EU and its new members. The volume combines both theoretical and practical aspects, making it a relevant contribution to European Studies literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Janez Lenarčič is currently serving as Commissioner for Crisis Management in the European Commission, a mandate he took up in December 2019. In this capacity, he is responsible for EU civil protection as well as humanitarian aid. Mr Lenarčič served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Slovenia to the European Union (EU) in Brussels from 2016 to 2019. From 2014 to 2016, he held the Secretary of State position in the cabinet of the Slovenian Prime Minister. His previous experience also includes the position of Director of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe's (OSCE) Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, in Warsaw, from 2008 to 2014. He has also served as Secretary of State for European Affairs, including representing Slovenia during the Lisbon Treaty negotiations in 2007 and later representing the Slovenian EU Council Presidency to the European Parliament in 2008. In 2002 and 2003 he held the position of State Secretary in the cabinet of the Slovenian Prime Minister, after which he served as Slovenian Ambassador to the OSCE. In 2005, he was also Chairman of the Permanent Council of the OSCE in Vienna. In 2000 he served as Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and the following year he became the Diplomatic Adviser to the then Slovenian Prime Minister. Between 1994 and 1999 he was posted to Slovenia's Permanent Representation to the United Nations (UN) in New York, where he also served as the alternate representative of Slovenia on the UN Security Council. Mr Lenarčič holds a degree in international law from Ljubljana University. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Treaty of Lisbon comes with considerable gains by recognizing the European Union as a legal personality which must be assumed by all its signatories. The Treaty brings unexpected opportunities for the active involvement of citizens and civil society, through representation, in the European Union's decision-making process. The compulsory new legal obligation to observe the provisions and values of the Treaty comes with the ex-ante political control tool of national parliaments supplemented with ex-post judicial control. The newly brought opportunities for the civil society to be actively involved in establishing the European Union's agenda have developed, being backed up by the principle of subsidiarity. It brings provisions on the democratic functioning of the Union by delimiting competences, introducing control procedures and legal obligation for respect of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the Union. This article is devoted to the identification and subsequent analysis of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union towards the permissiveness of lobbying, as a public institution, acting through the principles of participatory democracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Beykoz Akademi Dergisi is the property of Beykoz University 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.)

In this article, we propose to present the stages of application of the Infringement Procedure against the member states of the Union that fail to fulfil the obligations arising from the legislation of the European Union. Under the provisions of the Treaty of Lisbon, the European Commission has the power to initiate this procedure ex officio or following a referral and decide to refer the case to the Court of Justice of the European Union, if the Member State concerned does not take the necessary measures to comply with Union law. Failure to comply with a judgment of the Court of Justice by the Member State concerned, shall enable the Commission to refer the case back to the Court of Justice and to propose that the Court impose financial penalties. Also, if the Member State does not communicate in time the measures taken to transpose the provisions of a European Directive, the Commission may request the Court to apply financial penalties to that State. The case of Romania regarding the application of this procedure, known as "Infringement", is presented in detail in the monitoring documents published by the European Commission, such as the 2019 Annual Report on monitoring the implementation of EU law, which provides official data and information on the evaluation and ranking of the Member States of the Union in this matter, from which we will capture some comparative aspects that we consider to be significant and relevant. Last but not least, we will present some recent exemplary situations of application of the Infringement Procedure, in the case of Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

National parliaments have long been neglected in the European integration process, although the Lisbon Treaty significantly improved their status. Nonetheless, this article argues that there is still some margin for improvement. This article explains why this situation must be urgently remedied and proposes some pragmatic solutions to this end. It is argued that national parliaments should receive more information directly, that mechanisms to guarantee the collective accountability of the Council and the European Council should be introduced, and that certain safeguards are needed to ensure a level playing field among national parliaments in their relationship to EU institutions and bodies. This would help to address the existing imbalance between the way in which today's EU operates, and national parliaments' limited possibility to participate at the EU level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Building on an earlier article published in this Review in 2011, this article considers the relationship between art.47 of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (CFR) and the principle of national procedural autonomy. The first section sketches the main contours of that principle. The second section considers some of the antecedents of art. 47 CFR in the case law of the Court of Justice. The third and main section examines the impact of art.47 on the case law since the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty. The fourth section reflects on the principles that have now emerged. The final section offers some concluding thoughts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Green responses" to COVID-19: Europe and the United States diverge yet again The world is watching again as the once-close relationship between Europe and the United States continues to unravel before our eyes. 2 European Commission, "Europe's Moment: Repair and Prepare for the Next Generation" (27 May 2020) https://ec.europa.eu/commission/presscorner/detail/en/ip%5f20%5f940 accessed 16 June 2020. [Extracted from the article]

The paper covers regulating renewable energy communities (RECs) and citizen energy communities (CECs) within the European Union. It offers ideas regarding RECs: establish a register to tackle regulatory and administrative barriers, adopt RECs national/European goals, and introduce the exemplary role of national authorities in their promotion. It also discusses creating a separate support scheme for RECs (eg a tariff supporting small RECs and a separate tender for other RECs), brings elements of legal recognition of CECs (membership condition, operational condition and energy services condition), and answers whether renewable citizen energy communities are eligible under EU law (yes, they are). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The green deal, a strategy programme by the European Commission, intends to "green" the EU activities and re-orient policies and laws for the years to come, in areas such as climate and energy, agriculture and fisheries, products and services, and trade and foreign policy, the most important announcement being the adoption of an EU climate law which will ensure EU climate neutrality by 2050. This contribution tries to place the different elements of the green deal strategy into their environmental context and also to assess the probability that the proposed measures will be agreed by the European Parliament and by the Council (the Member States' governments). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the EU competition framework has been under strain because of the increasing market interconnectivity. Criticisms have increased regarding the EU competition enforcement model. In response, institutional debate and measures have focused on the enhancement of fairness in this area of EU law. Following the entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty, another source of "fairness" in the enforcement of EU competition law is the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. Article 47 of the EU Charter is the most invoked provision in the context of EU competition litigation. Considered to reaffirm the EU general principle of effective judicial protection, this article constitutionalises the right to an effective remedy and to a fair trial. Although the existing literature has highlighted the overall influence of fundamental rights in the enforcement of competition law, the contribution of Article 47 of the Charter to the enhancement of fairness in EU competition policies, as interpreted by the Court of Justice of the European Union, remains underexplored. The current article aims to fill this gap in the literature by offering a threefold input. First, the article situates the discussion on fairness in EU competition law in the broader philosophical debate regarding various conception(s) of fairness. Second, the article analyses the case law of the EU Court of Justice on Article 47 of the EU Charter in EU competition litigation. Finally, the article discusses what kind of "fairness" Article 47 strengthens in the area of EU competition law enforcement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europe has a history rich in examples of successful and problematic introductions of trees with a native origin outside of Europe (non-native trees, NNT). Many international legal frameworks such as treaties and conventions and also the European Union have responded to the global concern about potential negative impacts of NNT that may become invasive in natural ecosystems. It is, however, national and regional legislation in particular that affects current and future management decisions in the forest sector and shapes the landscapes of Europe. We identified all relevant legal instruments regulating NNT, the different legal approaches and the regulatory intensity in 40 European countries (no microstates). Information on hard and effective soft law instruments were collected by means of a targeted questionnaire and consultation of international and national legislation information systems and databases. In total, 335 relevant legal instruments were in place in June/July 2019 to regulate the use of NNT in the investigated 116 geopolitical legal units (countries as well as sub-national regions with their own legislation). Countries and regions were empirically categorized according to ad hoc -defined legislation indicators. These indicators pay respect to the general bans on the introduction of non-native species, the generally allowed and prohibited NNT, approval mechanisms and specific areas or cases where NNT are restricted or prohibited. Our study revealed a very diverse landscape of legal frameworks across Europe, with a large variety of approaches to regulating NNT being pursued and the intensity of restriction ranging from very few restrictions on species choice and plantation surface area to the complete banning of NNT from forests. The main conclusion is that there is a clear need for more co-ordinated, science-based policies both at the local and international levels to enhance the advantages of NNT and mitigate potential negative effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is concern across the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea (ICES) region that a consideration of vulnerable components and the wider support mechanisms underpinning benthic marine ecosystems may be lacking from the process of marine protected area (MPA) designation, management and monitoring.In this study, MPAs across six European ecoregions were assessed from a benthic ecology perspective. The study included 102 MPAs, designated by 10 countries, and focused on three aspects regarding the role of the benthos in: (i) the designation of MPAs; (ii) the management measures used in MPAs; and (iii) the monitoring and assessment of MPAs.Qualitative entries to a questionnaire based on an existing framework (EU project 'Monitoring Evaluation of Spatially Managed Areas', (MESMA) were collected by 19 benthic experts of the ICES Benthic Ecology Working Group. A pedigree matrix was used to apply a numerical scale (score) to these entries.The results showed clear differences in scores between ecoregions and between criteria. The designation‐phase criteria generally achieved higher scores than the implementation‐phase criteria. Poor designation‐phase scores were generally reiterated in the implementation‐phase scores, such as scores for assessment and monitoring.Over 70% of the MPA case studies were found to consider the benthos to some extent during selection and designation; however, this was not followed up with appropriate management measures and good practice during the implementation phase.Poor spatial and temporal coverage of monitoring and ineffective indicators is unlikely to pick up changes caused by management measures in the MPA. There is concern that without adequate monitoring and adaptive management frameworks, the MPAs will be compromised. Also, there could be an increased likelihood that, with regard to the benthos, they will fail to meet their conservation objectives.This assessment was successful in highlighting issues related to the representation and protection of the benthos in MPAs and where changes need to be made, such as expanding the characterization and monitoring of benthic species or habitats of interest. These issues could be attributable to an ongoing process and/or an indication that some MPAs only have 'paper protection'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Convention on Biological Diversity's (CBD) strategic plan will expire in 2020, but biodiversity loss is ongoing. Scientists call for more ambitious targets in the next agreement. The nature‐needs‐half movement, for example, has advocated conserving half of Earth to solve the biodiversity crisis, which has been translated to protecting 50% of each ecoregion. We evaluated current protection levels of ecoregions in the territory of one of the CBD's signatories, the European Union (EU). We also explored the possible enlargement of the Natura 2000 network to implement 30% or 50% ecoregion coverage in the EU member states' protected area (PA) network. Based on the most recent land‐use data, we examined whether ecoregions have enough natural area left to reach such high coverage targets. We used a spatially explicit mixed integer programing model to estimate the least‐cost expansion of the PA network based on 3 scenarios that put different emphasis on total conservation cost, ecological representation of ecosystems, or emphasize an equal share of the burden among member states. To realize 30% and 50% ecoregion coverage, the EU would need to add 6.6% and 24.2%, respectively, of its terrestrial area to its PA network. For all 3 scenarios, the EU would need to designate most recommended new PAs in seminatural forests and other semi‐ or natural ecosystems. Because 15 ecoregions did not have enough natural area left to implement the ecoregion‐coverage targets, some member states would also need to establish new PAs on productive land, allocating the largest share to arable land. Thirty percent ecoregion coverage was met by protecting remaining natural areas in all ecoregions except 3, where productive land would also need to be included. Our results support discussions of higher ecoregions protection targets for post‐2020 biodiversity frameworks. Article impact statement: Greater ecoregion‐protection targets for post‐2020 biodiversity frameworks warrant discussion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is a continuation of the ongoing research of authors whose, within the framework of interdisciplinary scientific research, deal with various aspects of ensuring the security and defence of the Slovak Republic and states that are members of the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union. In their research, the authors point out a deterioration of the global and regional security environment, the growth of symmetrical and asymmetric security threats, the continued deterioration of the security situation in some regions, and negative consequences for the level of security and defence of states and their citizens. In order to contribute to the development of security and military science, the issue of the Air Forces and their extraordinary importance in guaranteeing comprehensive security and defence of the state and simultaneously ensuring collective defence in cooperation with the allies from NATO and EU is addressed and widely elaborated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the 1990s, the EU Urban policy has provided several opportunities to explore innovation at local level. This policy is based on the so-called Integrated Sustainable Urban Development (ISUD) approach. This paper explores to what extent the URBANA programme, launched by the Spanish government in the frame of the EU Cohesion Policy 2007–2013, has promoted a 'new way of doing things' in local administrations. The research addresses three main objectives. Firstly, to identify which abilities are linked to the ISUD approach. Secondly, to understand how urban managers' capacity has been developed within local administrations in the frame of the URBANA programme. Finally, to assess the effect of URBANA Institutional Capacity (IC) on the local administration. The information has been obtained from the analysis of EU and Spanish official documents, in-depth interviews and a questionnaire targeted to the local technicians. The general conclusion is that there is evidence of an urban Europeanisation in Spain. The mainstream of the ISUD approach is clear at formal level, but also in the level of acceptance of these requirements by the Spanish municipalities. The ISUD approach remains as a 'way of doing', even if proposals are not co-funded by EU funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Many of Europe's unique habitats are highly threatened. In order to tackle these threats, the European Union (EU) is annually financing, mainly through its LIFE programme, conservation actions aimed at improving the conservation status of its habitats. We analysed the allocation of the programme's budget since its inception in 1992 and we found that the number of projects implemented within the EU member states is only weakly related to the number of habitats within them (R2 = 0.39). In some states, fewer than 25% of the habitats have been funded, while in others, more than 75% of the habitats have been funded. There are also disparities in terms of which habitats are being funded; a quarter of them have never received any funding, while others have been targeted by multiple projects. Transnational cooperation between the states is low, further perpetuating the aforementioned disparities. Projects are implemented almost exclusively within the recipient state, often irrespectively of the conservation status of the targeted habitats in other states. We recommend that the EU addresses these disparities by encouraging projects in underfunded states, especially in habitats with unfavourable conservation statuses. Moreover, the EU should encourage transnational cooperation in order to promote effective conservation across the EU and to help underfunded states build their capacity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article outlines several ways in which different types of mobile phone data can help to better target and design measures to contain and slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic. Topics discussed include value and contribution of mobile phone data in analytical efforts to control the COVID-19 pandemic; focus on interventions for containment, which involve social contact and mobility restrictions; and use of mobile phone data to help fill gaps in information needed to respond to COVID-19.

This article explores the concept of open justice in the context of European Union (EU) cross-border litigation and focusing on the e-justice dimension. It does it looking both at the open justice principle coming from the legal tradition and at the new ideas coming from the open government discourse. More in detail, the article investigates the attempt to create an open area of justice in Europe through the development and implementation of an European Justice Digital Service Infrastructure and the opening of such infrastructure to users and service providers. It is a development and implementation effort, which builds on the EU's multilevel legal frameworks, which uses available technological innovations, which responds to the economic needs and challenges of an EU without internal borders, and which result should be capable of being embedded in the existing cultural communities. EU Member States (MSs) have developed such infrastructure and tested it successfully. Currently, EU institutions are faced with the serious and unavoidable challenge to open up such infrastructure and to ensure its use. In a dynamic environment in which EU and MSs laws, technologies, economies, and cultures coevolve, this is not an easy task. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This text contains the presentation given in the framework of the plenary table of the congress "Recycled society, waste and circular economy", where was analyzed the incorporation of the circular economy in the state waste legislation following the Directive (EU) 2018/ 851 in relation to municipal waste. The work is based on the definition of circular economy and the long-term objectives and questions the fit in the current system. Next, it analyzes the content of Directive (EU) 2018/851 amending the Waste Framework Directive (WFD), with regard to municipal waste, as well as the different reports from the EU in relation to the evaluation of compliance by the SSMM of the immediate objectives for 2020 in relation to the "recycling society". The work is based on those suggestions and recommendations that the EU proposes, especially to Spain, to achieve the objectives set and which the regulations should incorporate. Subsequently, it studies the basic state current legislation in relation to the analyzed aspects from a critical point of view, seeing what the current situation is and giving a few touches to the situation of the Autonomous communities. Finally, we present brief recommendations and conclusions regarding the future Spanish waste law that have to incorporate the new WFD. This takes into account the risk situation of the Spanish state of not meeting the objectives set, both for 2020 and for the coming long term. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Commission v Council (Kazakhstan) (C-244/I7), the Court reaffirmed the well-established case law that the subject-matter question-that is, the identification of the correct substantial legal basis of an act-is to be answered with reference to the aim and content of that act (the so called "centre of gravity test"). However, it may be questioned whether the classic centre of gravity test may' be the appropriate way to determine the subject-matter question when the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) is involved, i.e. in disputes on art.40 TEU. In the light of the distinctiveness of CFSP within EU law, crystallised in art. 40 TEU, this analysis proposes two alternative approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With reference to the broader concept of Social Sustainability and the advancement of human rights as one of its significant aspects, the right of the citizens to petition authorities for redress of grievances without fear of punishment or reprisals lies at the cornerstone of modern democratic states, tracing back its origins as far as the "Magna Carta Libertatum" from the XIII century. The right to petition is recognized in the basic treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, and exercised through the work of the Committee on Petitions in the European Parliament. The right of the citizens of Republic of North Macedonia to petition and elicit action from public authorities is guaranteed by the Constitution and the Law on Acting Upon Complaints and Proposals. An inquiry on the implementation of this Law has revealed many shortcomings, ranging from the inexistence of several crucial bylaws, inexistence of specialized departments for admission and acting upon submitted petitions, and the absence of systems for recordkeeping and reporting on submitted petitions. Taking the legal framework and the praxis of exercising the right to petition the institutions of the European Union as a reference point. The authors are discussing the status of the implementation of the right to petition in the Republic of North Macedonia, concluding that the related regulations are incomplete and not properly applied. Hence, the implementation of the right to petition in the Republic of North Macedonia is categorized as dysfunctional. In the final section the authors are offering a set of recommendations as a way forward toward revitalization and consistent implementation of the legislation pertinent to citizens' right to petition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of Pre-accession to the European Union is filled with measures for assistance for the candidate countries, as to create a favourable accession and harmonization period for the candidate countries' systems. As such, the European Union uses different measures for support of businesses and the economic environment of a candidate country, as a part of a large programme, dubbed "the Instrument for Pre-Accession (IPA)". Funds used from this Instrument target capacities build-up on different areas within the candidate country throughout the accession period, with the goal of creating progressive and positive developments in the candidate country. The Republic of North Macedonia has been identified as a potential EU candidate since 2003, when the Thessaloniki European Council has granted this status. Since 2005, the country has been granted candidate status, with recommendation to open accession negations in 2015. Therefore, the pre-accession assistance that is to be granted to the country is expected to be similar to countries that have already been through this process and are now members of the EU. For comparison purposes, the support measures from the pre-accession period of two similar, already EU-member countries are compared throughout this paper. Slovenia, as a member state that has similar population, size and political background to the Republic of North Macedonia, is taken into the research of this paper, as well as Bulgaria, which is a country that is most similar to the political and economic situation of the Republic of North Macedonia during its pre-accession period, and it is one of the last countries to enter the EU. Their respective use and allowances under the IPA, with focus on measures within the instrument used to enhance the business environment of each country, are thoroughly analysed throughout this paper, as to offer an insight into what can be expected as business support measures for this period of pre-accession for Macedonia. Additionally, the results from these support measures in Slovenia and Bulgaria give a clearer image as to what should be expected and what can be the impact on development and progress of the business and economic environment of Macedonia, during this pre-accession period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why are some unions unable to rebuild membership and bargaining coverage despite significant changes in strategy? We examine the trajectory of a key union in a vital sector, the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, calling into question aspects of the union renewal literature. Much scholarship sees members' associational power as a power resource that can cover the loss of other power resources, but we show that this assumption does not necessarily hold. To explain why members are not necessarily a resource in renewal, we argue that studies of renewal must more fully consider the interplay between different forms of power resources — institutional, structural and societal — and locate union strategies within that dynamic. Critically, this interplay also shapes members' perceptions of their power, which may further limit a union's options as it responds to external threats. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The high number of bioeconomy (BE) policies and strategies indicates the interest in the BE in many nations. The development of the BE holds opportunities but also risks for sustainability. Thus, the future development of a sustainable BE should be based on coherent policy frameworks. There are already links between private governance approaches and public policy frameworks that might support each other for this purpose. The aim of this study was to evaluate how the current EU BE policy frameworks consider sustainability aspects and if non-governmental governance approaches could support their enhancement. Methods: An inventory of BE policy documents on EU and EU member state levels relevant to sustainability was conducted applying desktop research. Major sustainability risk perceptions in the BE sectors were identified. We provide a list of sustainability risks within different BE sectors, based on an expert survey. In a qualitative evaluation, most commonly identified sustainability requirements in policy documents were benchmarked against most important sustainability risk perceptions. Results: Sustainability requirements have been identified in 56% of the policy documents. The influence of the policy frameworks on the industry was found to be rather low. Specific targets and goals are included in 72% of the analysed BE policy documents, but only 50% are quantifiable. Identification of major sustainability risks revealed that in the biomass production stage, mostly environmental risks are most relevant. A "hot spot sector" with accumulated sustainability risk perceptions or a tendency to higher risk levels was not identified. Most important sustainability risk perceptions matched with requirements in policy documents, but requirements were mostly stated in a noncommittal way. Discussion and conclusions: Coherence amongst the sustainability criteria included in the various BE frameworks should be increased. Groundwork developed by non-governmental governance approaches should be picked up by policy makers for more harmonised terminologies of sustainability requirements, BE definitions, etc. BE monitoring approaches should take policy targets, sustainability requirements and sustainability risks into account and should adjust them in a dynamic way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electronic identification services (eIDs) have become strategic services in the global governance of online societies. In this article, we argue that eIDs are sociotechnical constructs that also have political-economic dimensions. In the European context, governmental and corporate efforts to develop eIDs are shaped by legal EU frameworks, which are almost exclusively focussed on technical and legal interoperability, such as the European Interoperability Framework (EIF) and the European Interoperability Reference Architecture (EIRA). Public concerns such as privacy, security, user empowerment and control over one's personal information prompts developers to propose a d ecentralized, a ttribute-based system governed on a n onprofit, n onstate basis (DAN-eID). To illustrate our argument, we explore a single emerging eID system (IRMA; acronym for I Reveal My Attributes) that is developing in a national context (The Netherlands). We argue that developing eIDs requires more than engineering ingenuity and legal compliance; as sociotechnical and political-economic constructs, they involve negotiation of conflicting social and political values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social enterprises demonstrate how sustainability can be embedded into business. This often implies selecting a legal form and a business model dedicated to serving social and environmental (societal) objectives. Tailor‐made legal frameworks for social enterprises in European Union (EU) Member States require that the social enterprise include a "societal purpose" in its constitutional documents. These legal frameworks refer to "societal purpose" in a general way; the wording is similar but not identical. The EU Regulation on Social Impact Funds and the EU Procurement Directive contain provisions that relate to social enterprises and they also refer to "societal purpose," although neither of them defines the term. Some EU countries have not (yet) adopted tailor‐made legislation. Their legislators have indicated that they struggle with demarcating the notion of "societal purpose". This article aims to support them as well as EU legislators by testing the concept of "societal purpose" in two ways. A doctrinal research was conducted in order to find a legal basis for explaining what "societal purpose" entails in the United Kingdom (UK) and the Netherlands. In the UK, the legal framework concerning the "Community Interest Company" was examined. In the Netherlands, which jurisdiction has not introduced a tailor‐made legal framework for social enterprises, the existing tax legal framework for organisations with a "public benefit purpose" was analysed in the evaluation. Second, an empirical study was conducted into the societal purpose of 400 randomly selected UK and Dutch social enterprises. The results were categorised, compared with each other, and evaluated on the basis of existing legal frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the climate lawsuit brought against the French State in ' I l'affaire du siècle' i [1], the environmental NGO "Notre affaire à tous" (NAAT)[2] filed a second high-profile climate court case against one of the "carbon majors", Total, a French corporate group based in 130 countries and at the origin of almost 1% of global GHG each year[3]. The constitutional principle of the liberty of enterprises will surely not allow the courts to interfere that far in Total's operations. 3 According to the Carbon Majors Reports, Total is one of the 20 companies contributing the most to global warming worldwide (see Carbon Disclosure Project, Richard Heede "Carbon Majors Report" [2017]) since Total's direct and indirect GHG account each year for approximately 1% of global emissions (458 Millions of tonnes of CO2equivalent). 'The GHG Protocol Corporate Standard classifies a company's GHG emissions into three "scopes". [Extracted from the article]

The article focuses on contracting under the EBA Guidelines on Outsourcing Arrangements. Topics inlcude the markets face such a vigorous disruption by digital transformation as the financial sector does, the fintechs offer lean, low cost and completely has digitized solutions that threaten traditional profitable core markets, and the tech giants like Google, Apple and Amazon have expanded their business into the financial market or are planning.

The article focuses on the legal parameters for the categories of lawfulness in a future European ePrivacy Regulation. Topics inlcude the European Regulation on Privacy and Electronic Communications has rejected by the European Council under the Finnish Presidency, the European Commission has announced the presentation of a new proposal in 2020, and the three year long struggle over a compromise demonstrates the difficulty of reaching an agreement across the institutions.

Since the United States under the Donald Trump administration took a new stand towards the main global issues, China has become a "global player" and the Russian Federation has developed into a significant power again under President Putin's leadership, while NATO, the European Union (EU) and all European countries have individually started to analyze their position and strategies in relation with those three powers. Also, since then, there have been some other significant events which contributed to the development of this analysis, such as: a very special and challenging foreign policy promoted by the White House; the Russian Federation's intervention in Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea; the conflict in Syria with two components-entities and countries involved, and the flow of immigrants towards Europe; Great Britain's Brexit policy, and, last but not least, the "special" policy promoted by Ankara in relation with the United States, the European Union and the Russian Federation. All those events, and many others, obliged the two organizations, NATO and the EU, and all European countries to react and to establish their specific policies. At this time, I would say that those reactions were often contradictory and somehow diverted, especially at the level of individual countries, rather than at organization level. However, these organizations are composed of many of the European states, most of them being part of both. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines the role of urban regeneration policies in planning and governance within urban functional areas (UFAs) in Poland, in the context of the EU Cohesion Policy (CP). The empirical part of this study is based on comparing the approaches adopted in two Polish regions: Pomerania and Silesia. We describe the first successes but also the bottlenecks of the process, from negotiations and programming up to the implementation of the first tranche of integrated projects. We consider the factors that strengthen planning and governance within UFAs, while simultaneously influencing the local development, and territorial impacts of the EU Cohesion Policy in the given regions. This study is based on interviews with national, regional, and local actors. It defines the role of urban regeneration policies in shaping local socio‐economic and spatial development in these regions and identifies the conditions required for the implementation of urban regeneration in functional areas. We also draw lessons for the future CP programming period from the experience of Polish regions, among the main beneficiaries of the EU Cohesion Policy. By evaluating the influence of Cohesion Policy at different government levels, our study may influence the discourse on its future, particularly in the context of strengthening the cooperation and multilevel governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an empirical investigation of the role of banks in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS). This topic is of particular interest considering that banks are responsible for a large and increasing share of overall transactions under the EU ETS and that they provide regulated companies with services related to emissions trading. Using both semi-structured interviews as well as descriptive and regression analysis, we investigated the different roles banks play in EU emissions trading and whether their importance as trading partners differs in relation to different types of regulated companies. Our regressions based on data from the first trading period of the EU ETS show that large companies with trading experience are more likely to choose a trading strategy involving interaction with a range of financial intermediaries, in particular banks or exchanges, than smaller, less professionalized companies, which tend to follow a trading strategy involving brokers (in particular for selling allowances). These findings can help policymakers decide on the level of involvement of non-regulated companies in their systems, which is currently allowed to varying degrees under different ETS. We recommend that this decision should be closely linked to provisions of market oversight and the level of control over the different types of financial players active in emissions trading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues the changing nature of spatial planning in the recent decades, under the light of the relevant progressions that have been taking place at the EU level. It is suggested that the EU territorial cohesion discourse and its relevant -although less developed- policy tools are in line with and promote a new orientation of spatial planning that is characterized of an integrated approach which is spatially aware and aims to guide development in order to avoid or minimize spatial imbalances and to increase the effectiveness of policies according to the territorial characteristics. This is an attempt to bring into light the new dimensions of spatial planning through the analysis of the relevant European concepts. In the first part, the developments at the EU level and their contribution to this new approach of planning are analysed. Following that, what is examined is how these developments and the EU territorial cohesion perspective influenced the Greek planning system and, more specifically, how the new traits of planning have been integrated and the degree to which the new approach is reflected. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]