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The figure of the influencer has generated an increase in their presence on social networks. Their ability to create content, their credibility and their identification with the consumer represent an added value in commercial communication. However, their disclosures are controversial due to the lack of transparency and differentiation between their commercial and opinion content. The absence of a clear definition of an influencer, the need to regulate their actions and the difficulty of identifying the commercial content of their publications are evidence of the concern to regulate their activity. The aim of this paper is to analyze, in the European context, the specific regulations on commercial disclosures by influencers, as well as to ascertain the point of view of the agents involved. To this end, a content analysis of the guidelines, regulations and/or laws of 24 European Union countries is carried out, complemented by an ad hoc questionnaire that brings together different aspects that can be defined and delimited. The results show a lack of unanimity in the rules and regulations governing influencers, as well as a manifest concern on the part of professionals in the sector to determine their communications. Only two countries, France and Spain, have specific legislation on the subject, limiting commercial disclosure to the existence of consideration and/or number of followers. It is clear that the existing guidelines are, in most cases, more comprehensive in terms of transparency guidelines for identifying advertising than the regulatory texts. The findings question whether the path of legislation is the right one, or whether efforts should instead focus on media and advertising literacy for both influencers and consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bosnian War witnessed horrifying humanitarian crimes, particularly systematic rapes perpetrated by Serbs against Bosnian women. More than 35,000 women and children were subjected to such atrocities in Serb-run "rape/death camps". Additionally, the fall of Srebrenica resulted in the loss of thousands of civilian lives. International intervention to halt the Bosnian War faced challenges and complexities. Various countries involved in the matter held differing interpretations of the conflict, leading to diverse views on potential solutions. The lack of consensus and political will hindered the effectiveness of the European Union's intervention efforts. This paper critically examines the international intervention in the Bosnian War, focusing on the approaches of key EU countries: France, Germany, and the UK. These countries' divergent policies and objectives impacted the EU's ability to adopt a coherent stance towards the conflict. The study employs Nuttall and Duke's theoretical approach to consistency in decision-making within the EU to explain why a consistent approach was not achieved during the intervention. By analysing the complexities of the EU's intervention in the Bosnian War, this study seeks to answer the question of what went wrong and provides insights into the challenges of decision-making and consensus-building within the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the past ten years, the language of crisis has become increasingly common in discourse about migration governance at the European Union (EU) level, and policy responses have been oriented by an emergency rationale that prioritizes short-term solutions over long-term planning. EU migration and asylum law incorporates several crisis response mechanisms, and the addition of a new set of instruments has recently been proposed. This paper offers a critical legal mapping of what counts as a "crisis" in EU migration and asylum law, and the mechanisms for responding to such crises. It exemplifies a complex system in which the tension between the imperative to address threats purportedly arising from unwanted migration is intricately intertwined with the necessity of granting Member States flexibility to respond to contingencies without compromising the integrity of the common EU asylum and migration system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Until 2005, service sector innovation had been a far less popular area of scholarly interest than studies on the industrial sector, the publication in 2005 of the methodological guidelines known as the Oslo Manual, in which it was noted that in addition to technological advancements in the economy, non-technological innovations might also be pursued in economic practice. Since then, although the popularity and dynamics of dedicated research have successively increased, this field of inquiry has not yet been sufficiently explored. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify and assess the degree of homogeneity among EU countries in terms of innovation activity in the service sector. The hypothesis adopted for this study stated that there are countries within the EU that can be divided into clusters with respect to service sector innovation activity. Bearing in mind the objective and seeking to verify the hypothesis, this research used a critical review of literature, indicatororiented analysis as well as quantitative statistical methods, among others, while relying on the most up-to-date data from the Eurostat database on innovation activity (as of 5.07.2022). The objective was accomplished using fifteen indicators which describe the effects of innovation activity, which were classified into four groups: innovation activity, types of implemented innovations, types of product innovation, and types of business process innovation. The research proceeded in three stages: identification of groups (clusters) in the area of the surveyed European countries which demonstrated the homogeneity of analysed indicators using Ward's agglomerative clustering method; identification of significant differences between the defined groups for each indicator carried out, using Student's ttest; an assessment of the degree of homogeneity in the scope of the surveyed EU countries with respect to innovation activity in the service sector by means of the methods outlined above. On the basis of the conducted investigations and the adopted methodology, it may be concluded, first, that the service sectors of the surveyed EU countries can be divided into three homogeneous groups in terms of innovation activity. Second, the similarity within each group was confirmed by Levene's test, the results of which demonstrated homogeneity of variance for thirteen out of the fifteen analysed indicators. Thirdly, statistical analysis of the findings made it possible to identify significant differences between the defined groups of countries, with the exception of country clusters I and II with respect to three product innovation indicators, as well as country groups II and III relative to three business process innovation indicators, where no significant differences occurred. The conclusions from the study warrant confirmation of the baseline hypothesis, which assumed that the surveyed EU countries could be divided into clusters in terms of service sector innovation activity. The research and the analyses indicated that a homogeneous division of the surveyed EU countries into individual groups in terms of innovative activities in the service sector might offer a point of departure for further, in-depth analysis of the issues addressed in the study. Some of the compelling directions for future investigations include the determination of homogeneity and differences across the industries of the sector in question, as well as the creation of a ranking of countries in line with the analysed indicators. Approaching the issue in this manner will enable a detailed assessment of the innovation activity in the service sector and its internal structures, as well as provide grounds for validating the cluster division presented in this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By providing financial resources, conditional to the implementation of the (social) recommendations in the Semester and the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) has opened new political and institutional opportunity windows for the multi‐level co‐production of social policies. The article first dives into how the RRF has been translated into national social policies choices, by assessing the alignment of reforms and investments with the Semester social recommendations and their capacity to address the social vulnerabilities identified in the Pillar's Social Scoreboard. Second, it sheds light on the interaction between the European Commission, in charge of assessing and monitoring the RRF, and the national governments, the key actors in setting‐up and implementing the plans. Comparing six case studies (Italy, Germany, Spain, Croatia, Belgium and Austria), the article shows that the RRF has only partially contributed to reinforcing member states' compliance with social Country Specific Recommendations and the role of the Social Pillar in the drafting of National Recovery and Resilience Plans has been very limited. This notwithstanding, the RRF has contributed to fasten‐forward the implementation of welfare reforms and initiatives which would have been remained on the paper, especially for whose countries with limited fiscal capacity. Furthermore, it provides empirical evidence of the collaborative approach between the Commission and the national government, substantiating the claim of the emergence of a new mode of coordinative Europeanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines institutional change in father‐specific leave ‐ a centre‐piece of the EU's work‐life balance directive (WLBD) ‐ from the perspective of gradual institutional change. The WLBD, a highly contentious directive, represents a litmus test for the possible impact of the European pillar of social rights (EPSR), on welfare state institutions, which are responsible for the organisation, financing and delivery of social rights in member states. The analysis comprises in‐depth case studies in Denmark, Germany, France and Poland, with different combinations of family and parental leave policies prior to the WLBD. The findings reveal that the EU's directive is leading to convergence in paternity leave, but to divergence in parental leave. Our study is important because it shows that even if EU directives in social policy in principle can lead to upwards social convergence across the EU, when they are relatively weak in terms of precise constraint, for instance, for the level of remuneration for leave, this leads to differentiated integration. This could undermine the very purpose of the EPSR, which seeks to improve social rights for all citizens across the EU. Similar dynamics are likely to be present in other areas at the welfare state‐labor market nexus, such as minimum wages or platform work, where the EU is also developing regulation under the auspices of the EPSR. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The study aims to highlight opportunities for educational and non-governmental institutions in European Union member states to undertake initiatives that enhance and certify the digital skills of citizens and workers. Methods: The article is based on an exploratory research approach and presents mixed research methods and techniques. The first part presents a descriptive analysis of digital competencies in EU policy based on a review of literature and EU legislation. This was followed by a qualitative analysis based on data from Eurostat’s online database to diagnose the current level of digital competencies in the EU and trends in this area in recent years. Finally, a case study of an international educational project aimed at contributing to the achievement of the Union’s goals for improving the digital competencies of citizens and workers is presented. Results: The results obtained and their analysis indicate an urgent need to intensify educational efforts to improve digital competence in Europe. The case study can be used to raise and certify the level of digital competence for different target groups. Conclusions: From the point of view of the priorities set by the European Union, the digital competence of its citizens is unsatisfactory, and large discrepancies between countries in this area have been identified, which requires the implementation of more educational initiatives to develop digital resilience. Project-based learning initiatives generating open and free online tools for certifying existing and acquired digital skills in the EU are recommended. Developing a unified system of EU standards to prove the digital competence of citizens and workers can help on the way to achieving better competitiveness and sustainability of the European market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Adopted guidelines reflect a harmonised European approach to a specific scientific issue and should reflect the most recent scientific knowledge. However, whilst EU regulations are mandatory for all member states and EU directives must be followed by national laws in line with the directive, EMA guidelines do not have legal force and alternative approaches may be taken, but these obviously require more justification. This new series of the BJCP, developed in collaboration with the EMA, aims to address this issue by providing an annotated version of some relevant EMA guidelines and regulatory documents by experts. Hopefully, this will help in promoting their diffusion and in opening a forum for discussion with our readers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EU citizens migrating between EU member states are expected to be self-sufficient movers, with little access to social or integration support for the economically inactive. This generates challenges for both migrant EU citizens and local governments in places of destination. The latter are confronted with new social challenges resulting from migration that balances between mobility and settlement. How local governments respond to this crucially shapes EU citizenship and the evolving EU migration system. This paper looks at local responses to migrant EU citizens' integration needs and how we might understand these. The paper is exploratory and builds on in-depth research in Berlin, Hamburg, Gothenburg and Stockholm conducted in 2015–2016. It demonstrates that responses varied between short-term approaches addressing basic needs and long-term strategies focusing on integration. It argues that the integration strategy identified in Berlin is the result of a national context of bottom-up immigrant policy-making, certain historical experiences of immigration, and, crucially, the work of local policy entrepreneurs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The question of recycled papers in contact with foods is discussed in detail with respect to regulatory and technical aspects. The legal context is given, and major existing regulations are reviewed. The safety of recycled fibre use is examined with respect to chemical, microbiological and organoleptic contamination. Toxicological testing possibilities on finished paper products are discussed. The harmonization work in progress at the Council of Europe level is presented in detail, and the authors give their personal view on future evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries are struggling with internal and external macroeconomic and social factors in their catching-up strategies to be closer, as economic wealth, to the Western developed European countries. In these ex-communist countries, institutional factors could be seen as critical for success in narrowing the income gap. The paper proposes an analysis of the impact of economic and financial development and globalization on the income gap in 11 Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries (Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovak Republic and Slovenia) for the period of 1996 to 2019, taking into consideration institutional factors. The study analyses the variables: transition coefficient as a proxy for income gap, GDP per capita, KOF Financial Globalisation Index, Financial Development Index and World Bank Institutional Indicators in a panel approach methodology and estimation of FMOLS and DOLS equations. The paper's findings show that all considered factors have a significant contribution to the income gap in the examined period of time. Economic and financial development, as well as institutional quality, is positively associated with the closing income gap, while globalization has a negative influence. It is also revealed the direction of the causality relationship between the considered variables: from economic and financial development, globalization and institutional quality to the income gap. These findings suggest some policy recommendations in support of the continuation of the European integration process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Oeconomica is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego 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.)

Through the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD), the European Union (EU) acts as a 'material supporter' of national welfare states. Remarkably, the European Social Fund Plus, integrating ESF and FEAD, is presented as the main financial instrument to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR). This raises the question of what these levers can do in terms of financial support, especially for Member States with greater social needs. By using the Social Scoreboard indicators that monitor the implementation of the EPSR, we analyse the size and distribution of ESF and FEAD according to Member States' economic capacity, social needs and efforts required to meet the European social goals. We find that the funds benefit relatively more the poorer Member States who also tend to have greater social needs. However, especially for ESF, there are significant deviations from this general pattern. Some countries consistently receive less funding than others with similar levels of social needs, and vice versa. Moreover, if, from the perspective of upward convergence, the budgets are expressed as a percentage of the efforts required to lift all income‐poor citizens to the EU‐wide at‐risk‐of‐poverty threshold, countries who need to make the greatest efforts receive less funding. These outcomes are partly driven by the funds' allocation rules, which give only little importance to the great social discrepancies between countries. This raises the question whether social needs should be taken more into account in the distribution of the funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air transport is an essential component of the tourism industry, and the number, frequency, and capacity of flight connections may influence the level of tourism demand, especially for island destinations. This paper evaluates the influence of air transport on tourism arrivals to selected islands in seven southern European Union countries to determine the nature of the relationship between tourist arrivals and air transport, specifically, whether air transport services generate tourism demand or merely enable touristic flows. The paper uses panel data and applies an econometric model with justifications for endogeneity and dynamic issues. Results show a moderate impact of transport infrastructures on generating additional tourist arrivals; however, the model shows that air transport is a prerequisite to developing tourism demand and is not the only determinant in increasing tourist arrivals. Tourist arrivals appear more a determinant than a consequence of changes in‐flight connections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) marks a striking shift towards a more restrictive interpretation of EU citizens’ rights. The Court's turnaround is not only highly relevant for practical debates about ‘Social Europe’ or ‘welfare migration’, but also enlightening from a more general, theoretical viewpoint. Several recent studies on the ECJ have argued that the Court is largely constrained by member state governments’ threats of legislative override and non-compliance. We show that an additional mechanism is necessary to explain the Court's turnaround on citizenship. While the ECJ extended EU citizens’ rights even against strong opposition by member state governments, its recent shift reflects changes in the broader political context, i.e., the politicization of free movement in the European Union (EU). The article theorises Court responsiveness to politicization and demonstrates empirically, how the Court's jurisprudence corresponds with changing public debates about EU citizenship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of the article is to examine the influence of environmental policy stringency on the eco-innovation level, measured by a number of patents, in European Union countries. Research Design & Methods: The research method was quantitative. The study used ordinary least squares (OLS) panel regression analysis based on data covering 18 EU countries (Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden) and a period from 2013 to 2020 (144 observations). In estimated models, gross domestic product per capita, material import dependency, and human resources in science and technology served as control variables. The Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, the European Innovation Scoreboard, Eurostat, and the World Bank were the data sources. Findings: Higher stringency of technology support and market-based instruments positively influences ecoinnovation-related patents in EU countries whereas more strict non-market-based instruments do not impact the eco-innovation level. Technology support instruments are more effective in stimulating eco-innovation than market-based instruments. Individual technology support instruments differ in their impact on eco-innovation with R&D subsidies being the most important. The stringency of feed-in tariffs and auctions is a significant factor triggering eco-innovation in the case of wind energy technologies, but not in the case of solar ones. Implications & Recommendations: This study suggests that stringent technology support and market-based instruments are effective in stimulating eco-innovation in EU countries considered in the research sample. The environmental policy aimed at fostering eco-innovation should concentrate on increasing R&D subsidies for clean technologies. Further tightening emission standards aiming to enhance eco-innovation level is not recommended. Contribution & Value Added: This study contributes to the literature on the importance of environmental policy stringency in fostering eco-innovation and provides new empirical evidence by examining not only instruments that may have an indirect impact on eco-innovation (i.e. market and non-market ones) but also technology support instruments, which have received less attention in previous studies. The analysis used data on the recently updated and improved OECD environmental policy stringency index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Luridica is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego 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 Annals of the Polish Association of Agricultural & Agribusiness Economists is the property of Polish Association of Agricultural & Agribusiness Economists 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 paper we contribute to the literature on determining the real exchange rate by using models that incorporate structural breaks and nonlinearities. We estimate cointegrated dynamic ordinary least squares regressions and quantile regressions. We find that the estimated coefficients for the EU members from central and eastern Europe are different to those for the other member states. We also find that the models are different before and after the crisis that started in 2008, and this affects the outcome of the long-run equations for the EU15 + Cyprus and Malta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 2009 the European Commission published the art. 102 guidance regarding abusive exclusionary conduct by dominant undertakings. The guidance is based on the more economic approach to competition policy. This paper investigates the welfare implications of the more economic approach to loyalty rebates. First, the paper presents an economic framework linking weights attached to probabilities of false positives and negatives and the legal norm. After that, the paper discusses cases before the guidance paper (i.a. Hoffmann-La Roche), the guidance paper itself, and cases after the guidance paper (i.a. Intel). In the period after the guidance paper, we observe a non-linear increase in the weight attached to preventing false positives. The paper concludes that to further limit welfare losses due to false positives, the category of rebates that is assumed to be abusive should be defined in a restrictive way. Furthermore, in law enforcement priority should be given to cases that, considering all the circumstances, can be expected to be most harmful to consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there have been numerous academic and policy debates on the delivery mechanisms of European Union (EU) funds in member states. Studies focused on issues arising, for instance, during the management and implementation of EU aid at the local level but devoted less attention to the economic and institutional impact of EU funds. To what extent do EU funds act as drivers of socio-economic development and institutional change? Theoretically, this paper contributes to debates about economic convergence and the institutional spillover effects generated by EU aid across national and local settings. Empirically, the paper evaluates the impact of EU aid in Bulgaria and Romania after a decade of EU membership. Firstly, the paper examines a mix of quantitative indicators and secondary sources on the socio-economic impact of EU funds in the two countries. Secondly, using original qualitative evidence, the paper assesses the spillover effects of EU aid on domestic institutions and stakeholders, policies and practices. Finally, the paper provides an analysis of the unintended domestic consequences triggered by EU funds. It contributes to growing debates on the impact of European aid and suggests potential avenues for policy development and for further academic research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the New Skills for New Jobs initiative, the European Commission wants to (1) promote better anticipation of future skills needs, (2) develop better matching between skills and labour market needs and (3) bridge the gap between the worlds of education and work. With relatively little effort, the use of lingua receptiva can contribute significantly towards achieving these goals. Including it in the Skills Agenda as a "transversal skill" could: - enhance the key competence "Communicating in and learning a foreign language"; - refine the European Qualification Framework (EQF); and, - strengthen the Europass. This position paper1 elaborates on the arguments for including Lingua Receptiva in these policy papers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We explore the causes of the credit crunch during the European sovereign debt crisis and its impact on the corporate policies of European firms. Our results show that value impairment in banks’ exposures to sovereign debt and the risk-shifting behavior of weakly capitalized banks reduced the probability of firms being granted new syndicated loans by up to 53%. This lending contraction depressed investment, employment, and sales growth of firms affiliated with affected banks. Our estimates based on firm-level data suggest that the credit crunch explains between 44% and 66% of the overall negative real effects suffered by European firms. Received April 5, 2016; editorial decision February 3, 2018 by Editor Andrew Karolyi. Authors have furnished an Internet Appendix , which is available on the Oxford University Press Web site next to the link to the final published paper online. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on migrants and migration in the context of the Czech Republic, an ethnically and nationally homogeneous country without significant migration experience. Despite this fact, the issue of migration became very prominent in 2015 and has been an integral part of Czech political and public discourse since then. Although the topic has attracted scholarly interest, but the reflection on migrant images held by citizens has been omitted. To fill this gap, first, we conducted a quantitative computer-assisted content analysis of the main Czech media (2015–2018) to investigate how important the issue of migration was and in what context migrants and migration were discussed in the media. We then conducted a series of focus groups with Czech citizens to answer not only how they perceived migrants and migration in general, but also how they perceived the (quality of) media coverage of this issue. The findings offer insight into patterns of media consumption: Our respondents were well aware that media representation of the topic is exaggerated and does not include all possible points of view. The prevailing perception was that the mostly negative media representation was fixated on the image of a migrant coming from the Middle East, most likely to be a terrorist who is not going to adapt to a "normal" life in the Czech Republic. Indeed, the very term migrant is mainly associated with someone who, according to the mental projections of the respondents, is "different" at first sight, fails to fit in and integrate into the majority society, does not look for work thus becoming dependent on the social system of the host country. In other words, for Czechs, people who come to settle and work are excluded from the socially constructed category of migrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to identify the significance of securitization of the energy relationship between Russia and EU countries by both sides and its influence on the Energy Security on the regional security complex between EU countries and Russia. Design/methodology/approach: The subject of energy security in the international arena came to the platform with the increasing economic and globalization development in the framework that is called the 'untraditional security'. In today's international relations, Energy security and security issues appear to be extremely intertwined. The current study argues that, regardless of the magnitude of the energy relationship, which manifests itself in a high degree of interdependence between the two sides, their relationship saw dispute, because of a high level of securitization process initiated by both EU member states and Russia. Findings: The main hypothesis of the study corresponded with the outcomes, which acknowledges that both EU countries and Russia securitized the energy relations between them, the study concluded that, regardless of the magnitude of the energy relationship, which marked itself in a high grade of interdependence between the EU countries and Russia. The study argues that whenever increased the desire to achieve more energy materials, it makes new or improves the relationship between countries. Practical implications: The Ukraine crisis has ensued structural changes in the relationship, between Russia, Ukraine and EU which deteriorated and brought more tensions and the securitization of energy questions. Hence, in the Ukraine crisis, both EU countries and Russia securitized the energy aspect of the crisis to take extraordinary measures to use the crisis against each other. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses two main questions: (1) how far do the activities of fiscal councils in the EU countries help promote transparency and accountability in the management of public finances and (2) how could fiscal councils enhance the impact of those activities? The analysis is based on a questionnaire collected in 2016 from fiscal councils in 18 EU countries. The questionnaire looked at how the councils themselves assessed their impact on the management of public finances, and how they communicated their findings to the wider public. The councils see some benefits of their work; and their monitoring of adherence to fiscal rules and legislative regulation, as well as their warnings about excessive government spending, seem to get noticed in the media. This activity informs the public, and may in turn influence politicians' ratings, thereby helping to contribute to greater accountability in the management of public finances. The paper consequently argues that fiscal councils may promote fiscal transparency and accountability and proposes several ways to enhance the effectiveness of their influence on media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traditionally, unfair pricing cases were considered a "taboo" in EU competition policy. During the recent years, however, the European Commission and a number of National Competition Authorities have investigated unfair pricing cases. Therefore, national and EU courts had the opportunity to rule on unfair pricing cases, by thus clarifying the legal test. The paper shows that United Brands is not the "only" legal test to assess unfair pricing cases; the CJEU has endorsed alternative "benchmarking" methods. Recent jurisprudence has also introduced some "safeguard tools" to minimize the risk of false negative errors, such as the requirement for the competition agency to verify its findings under "multiple" tests and the possibility for the dominant firm to put forward "objective justifications". The paper argues that the legal test of unfair pricing cases is becoming "clearer", by thus contributing to a further shift from the traditional non-enforcement paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This policy paper summarizes four corridor studies on bilateral social security agreements (BSSAs) between four European Union (EU) member and two nonmember states, draws conclusions on their results, and offers recommendations. BSSAs between migrant-sending and migrant-receiving countries are seen as the most important instrument to establish portability of social security benefits for internationally mobile workers. Yet, only about 23 % of international migrants profit from BSSAs and their functioning has been little analyzed and even less assessed. The four corridors studied (Austria-Turkey, Germany-Turkey, Belgium-Morocco, and France-Morocco) were selected to allow for comparison of both similarities and differences in experiences. The evaluation of these corridors' BSSAs was undertaken against a methodological framework and three selected criteria: fairness for individuals, fiscal fairness for countries, and bureaucratic effectiveness for countries and migrant workers. The results suggest that the investigated BSSAs work and overall deliver reasonably well on individual fairness. The results on fiscal fairness are clouded by conceptual and empirical gaps. Bureaucratic effectiveness would profit from information and communication technology-based exchanges on both corridors once available. JEL Classification: D69, H55, I19, J62 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at three main issues raised by the PNR scheme: (i) the base‐rate fallacy and its effect on false positives; (ii) built‐in biases; and (iii) opacity and unchallengeability of the decisions generated, and at whether the Court has properly addressed them. It concludes that the AG and the Court failed to address the evidentiary issues including the base‐rate fallacy—a lethal defect. It also finds that neither the Member States nor the Commission have even tried to assess whether the operation of the PNR Directive has resulted in discriminatory outputs or outcomes; and that the Court should have demanded that they produce serious, verifiable data on this, including on whether the PNR system has led in practice to discrimination. But it also finds that the AG and the Court provided important guidance on the third issue, in that they made clear that the use of unexplainable and hence unreviewable and unchallengeable "black box" machine‐learning artificial intelligence (ML/AI) systems violates the very essence of the right to an effective remedy. This means that any EU Member State that still uses such opaque ML/AI systems in its PNR screening will be in violation of the law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union took its first strategic step on the topic of climate adaptation in 2009 with publication of a White Paper on Adaptation. Since its publication, many researchers and analysts have criticized the White Paper for its lack of concrete and enforceable actions. In this paper, we analyse the White Paper as an instrument of soft law. First, we provide background on the theory of soft law, its terms of applicability, and the standards by which to judge its success. Second, we analyse the content and context of the White Paper according to soft law principles. We find that the conditions under which the White Paper was adopted were exactly those suited to a soft law approach and highly determined by the European multi-level governance context. As such, the White Paper has managed to achieve several of the common objectives of soft law in particular in setting up processes allowing information-sharing and subsidiarity. However it has failed to achieve several others especially in fostering the commitment of the states, and in moving the European Union in the direction of binding regulation. Further strategy development will be required to fix these deficiencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The research aimed to identify practices applied by European companies regarding corporate social responsibility reporting and their relationship with the membership of companies in the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) international organization. Research Design & Methods: In total, the research sample consisted of 935 companies from 34 European countries. To evaluate the statistical significance of the relationship between the selected variables, we used quantitative methods, including the Pearson chi-square test. Findings: On a large research sample, our research confirmed the impact of membership in the UNGC on non-financial reporting practices, such as: preparing integrated reports, reporting on sustainable development goals (SDGs), using the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines for multinational enterprises, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 26000 corporate social responsibility guidelines, and decisions on external assurance of sustainability reporting. Implications & Recommendations: Conducted research has practical implications. Because the UNGC is an important factor in regard to social change towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting practices, it requires further promotion in European Union (EU) member states. New company membership in UNGC can contribute to the development of CSR reporting. Contribution & Value Added: The article contributes to the literature on sustainability reporting because it provides new insights into the CSR reporting practices by public interest entities located in the EU countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The suspension of the enforcement of a return order under the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction and EU law, as well as the admissibility of modifying such an order, remains one of the most sensitive matters in cross-border family disputes. The article analyses EU Council Regulations 2201/2003 (Brussels IIa) and 2019/1111 (Brussels IIb) in terms of the objectives set by the EU legislator: strengthening the protection of the interests of the child and mutual trust of Member States in their justice systems. The text also refers to Polish law as an example of the evolution of the approach to the analysed issues. It presents its development, highlights the solutions concerning the competences of the Ombudsman for Children, and provides an assessment of the current legal situation in the context of Brussels IIb. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The proliferation of data-driven markets continues to raise questions about their implications for the right to data protection. A recent suggestion is that EU competition law can and should be used to address data protection concerns in the age of big data. However, the European Commission is reluctant to consider data protection issues in EU competition law, maintaining instead that competition law is not the right tool to promote the right to data protection. Yet, following the Treaty of Lisbon, data protection is a fundamental right under Article 16 of the TFEU as well as Article 8 of the Charter. Therefore, considering that the EU is under a duty to promote fundamental rights by virtue of Article 51 of the Charter, this paper argues that data protection should be among the objectives of EU competition law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses the peculiarities of public expenditure on education and health care in eight EU countries grouped by population. Trends in the outcomes are revealed. Applying correlation and regression analysis to Eurostat data, the significance of influence of these expenditure on GDP during 2011-2019 is determined. It is established that health care expenditure have a positive effect in all countries, while education expenditure have not had a significant impact on economic development in some countries. These expenditure are proven to have a varying influence on GDP depending on budget capacity of any given country, government priorities, effectiveness of use and support for dynamic financing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper argues that the EU legislative process should be used for taking all decisions at European level that matter, banning the various backroads of European decision‐making (competence creep) that are currently legal but not legitimate. This is a silver bullet, resolving at once a range of seemingly disparate but intimately connected legitimacy problems across all areas of EU activity, that ultimately result from an incorrectly calibrated state of transnational constitutional democracy at EU level, where certain aspects are over‐constitutionalised while others remain fundamentally under‐constitutionalised. This is therefore the key transversal issue that the Conference on the Future of Europe and its ensuing changes should address. The paper makes various concrete proposals to this effect, including for a general legislative competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we introduce the special issue on Financial and Institutional Reforms for an Entrepreneurial Society in Europe. There are many reasons for Europe to want to make the transition to a more Entrepreneurial Society. And for decades now, policy makers are trying to bring that transition about with variations on the Beducate, deregulate and finance^ approach to entrepreneurship. We argue that more fundamental reforms are required to improve the entrepreneurial ecosystem and bring about this transition. We then discuss the 12 contributions that pertain to five different facets of the entrepreneurial ecosystem. The first two papers address the most fundamental institutional foundations of the ecosystem. The next three papers discuss the (lack of) access to knowledge and incentives to start innovative entrepreneurial ventures. That is followed by three papers that focus on the institutions that (fail to) channel financial resources to such ventures and two papers that analyze the relevance of labor market institutions. The special issue concludes with two papers investigating how the interplay of institutions and productive entrepreneurship results in economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The common energy policy of the European Union is a current topic on the agenda of European institutions, reflected in package "Clean Energy for All Europeans", proposed by the European Commission. Despite several harmonization attempts, the consensus needed for a common policy and for an Energy Union has not been reached yet. One possible element why we still do not have a common energy market is the lack of competition in the energy sector. In this context, the present research paper analyzes to what extent competition can be a key-factor in ensuring the modernization of the energy sector. Aspects of competition law which are relevant for building a common energy market are highlighted in the present research paper. Furthermore, the present article raises the question how important cooperation is, searching the proper balance between competition and cooperation. The present article uses an interdisciplinary research method, combining the analysis of primary and secondary European law, of legal instruments and provisions, considering the teleological method, with the assessment from a business and economics point of view. Case law and case studies from Member States of the European Union provide best practice models for the energy sector and present an international comparative perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This paper critically examines the proposal to overcome the judicial definition of fundamental rights by using constitutional amendment procedures. Authors known as "political constitutionalists" have advocated weak‐form judicial review as an alternative to the constitutional practice currently prevailing in liberal democracies. The proposal under consideration here seeks to achieve this alternative by making constitutional amendment as easy as possible, i.e., through minimal constitutional rigidity. The discussion begins by questioning the idea of adopting institutional design as a suitable criterion for rating a judicial review system as "strong" or "weak." Then the alleged relevance of constitutional amendment in the specification of constitutional rights is called into question. Lastly, the paper reaches a double conclusion. On the one hand, minimal constitutional rigidity is not an alternative to prevailing constitutional practice, but a more collaborative version of the same practice; on the other hand, minimal constitutional rigidity only represents a genuine alternative design when it is part of a model ("strong popular sovereignty") aimed at overcoming the current constitutionalist paradigm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article addressing some of the legal and practical issues raised by the movement of people across the Mediterranean in search of protection. Topics discussed include European Union's (EU) laudable goal of a Common European Asylum Policy; EU member States' international obligations; and the European Convention on Human Rights.

The aim of this article is to show the increased relevance of soft skills in a continuously changing environment. A research was carried out to examine and compare students' and employers' perceptions regarding the importance of soft skills in different European countries. Results show that 86% of respondents indicate an increased emphasis on soft skills over the last 5–10 years and that companies consider soft skills more important than students/graduates. Furthermore, major differences have also been identified in the ranking of the 20 soft skills listed in this paper, indicating different levels of priorities. This paper suggests that companies and Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) need to work together not only to increase students' awareness of the importance of soft skills but also to guide them in taking individual responsibility to acquire and develop these essential skills in order to continuously adapt to the changing labour market and improve their employability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The realization of national climate change commitments, as agreed through international negotiations, requires local action. However, data is still insufficient to make accurate statements about the scale of urban emissions (UNHABITAT, 2011). The need of comparable emission inventories at city level, including smaller cities, is widely recognized to develop evidence-based policies accounting for the relation between emissions and institutional, socio-economic and demographic characteristics at city level. This paper presents a collection of harmonized greenhouse gases (GHG) emission inventories (the "CoM sample 2013") at municipal level directly computed by the cities and towns that participate in the EU Covenant of Mayors initiative. This is the mainstream European movement of local and regional authorities who voluntarily commit to reduce GHG emissions by 20% or more by 2020. The "CoM sample 2013" (http://edgar.jrc.ec.europa.eu/com/data/index.php? SECURE=123, doi:10.2904/EDGARcom2013) has been carefully checked to ensure its internal consistency and its congruity with respect to internationally accepted guide values for emission factors. Overall, it provides valuable data for the analysis of the heterogeneity of final energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While the harmonisation of insolvency law in the European Union (EU) has been a top priority on the European institutions' agenda in the last decade, it is well known that this endeavour has been slow and has often met resistance from the Member States. The COVID‐19 pandemic revealed that top‐down harmonisation of insolvency (i.e., introduced at EU level) has been temporarily halted. The urgency to control or mitigate the economically and financially destructive effects of the pandemic has, nevertheless, forced European governments to adopt domestic strategies and laws in the area of insolvency. Interestingly, however, such measures show that insolvency and restructuring law responses to the COVID‐19 pandemic, albeit largely uncoordinated, reflect a phenomenon of bottom‐up harmonisation (i.e., introduced by Member States) indicating a convergence towards common approaches. This paper interrogates the insolvency law responses to the COVID‐19 pandemic in six European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom). It uncovers the inadequacy of the EU's harmonisation language, and the limits of harmonisation strategies in insolvency and restructuring law. Finally, it promotes the formulation of a wider‐encompassing definition of "legal harmonisation". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to assess whether the European Commission or the European Council shaped the European Union's response to the sovereign debt crisis through their respective agenda-setting powers. The paper uses process tracing complemented with interviews to demonstrate the influence of the European Commission and the European Council in this regard. Theoretically, the paper is anchored by a framework of agenda-setting dynamics which is used to assess the European Commission and European Council's influence in reforming the European Union's economic governance framework. A systematic analysis of the negotiations of these reforms between 2010 and 2013 indicate that the European Council wielded policy influence through its agenda-setting powers. Conversely, the European Commission exercised less influence in those negotiations, despite its position as the European Union's de facto agenda-setter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is focused on assessment of the transport services in small towns. Current legislation in the Slovak Republic, however, does not clearly determine which cities must provide the urban public transport (UPT). Analysis of the current state of the UPT evaluated 71 district towns of the SR and it was found out that 21 towns did not provide operation of the UPT. Another criterion for evaluation was the number of inhabitants of the city over 10,000 in Slovakia and selected regions of the Czech Republic and Poland. The paper presents results of a research conducted in the area of a transport operation, along with a proposal for the content of the methodology, based on a multi-criterial analysis to assess the need to introduce the UPT. The EU research results, regarding dependency of a GDP size and transport performances in UPT in selected EU states, Switzerland and Norway, are presented, as well. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper addresses the issue of excessive price abuse under Article 102(a) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), by drawing inspiration from a recent stream of cases (developed first at the national and then at the EU level) involving pharmaceutical companies marketing off-patent drugs. In particular, the two 'most advanced' cases are analysed: Aspen in Italy and Pfizer/Flynn in the United Kingdom. This new-found attention towards exploitative practices in the form of excessive and unfair pricing by dominant undertakings that have traditionally been subject to a cautious antitrust scrutiny seems worth exploring for a number of reasons, as illustrated in the paper. Ultimately, it is argued that this further 'interference' of competition law into the realms of regulation may be actually justified, albeit subject to precise conditions for enforcement, and may pursue policy objectives in the wider context of EU health law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]