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This paper compares the European and the American approach to privacy. The essay argues that the European approach to privacy is rights-based, whereas the American tactic is expectation-based. The article discusses the European Union General Data Protection Regulation, as well as the newly-adopted California Consumer Privacy Act. The paper contends that the latter is an American response to the former. The paper concludes that if individuals prefer strict protection of their privacy rights, then the General Data Protection Regulation is the appropriate model. Otherwise, a reasonable expectation of privacy is sufficient. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to suggest a reflection on the European model of industrial relations, which is understood as the (possible-and it is still in its consolidation phase-) configuration of a supranational dimension of industrial relations. Starting by introducing the fundamental elements of the legal, political, economic and social integration that characterize the European project, this paper continues reflecting on the dimensional complexity that exists at the moment that the European Union's social law is analysed as a space for the recognition and development of fundamental social rights, especially of those of a collective nature. The rights to freedom of association, collective autonomy, strike and collective bargaining find a particular development in the peculiar community dimension that is worth being analysed. In the absence of a constitutional framework similar to those existing in the national legal systems of member States, the recognition and development of these fundamental rights acquire particularly interesting specific characteristics which make it possible to imagine a European model of industrial relations, even though its most critical and problematic aspects. This model, which is in constant evolution and dialectic (and sometimes confrontation) with the different national models of industrial relations, achieves a very encouraging expressive level in the development of different kinds of autonomous and free collective bargaining, which constitute -particularly in a transnational dimension- the ultimate boundary of the collective autonomy that is regulated in regional terms. Therefore, this paper seeks to open a window to the European Union and thus contribute to a global discussion on the internationalization of industrial relations and the structure of fundamental social rights in supranational terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's politicians, especially those who hold public offices, by the exercise of their duties, aim to govern on a local or regional level. Also, most of them, even if not all, claim that, the measures and policies they promote provide the citizens with good governance, on a state level, but also in regard to national/international structures. In this context, this paper aims to analyze the concept of "governance" and especially "good governance" by analyzing the opinions of doctrine; we will also analyze the similarities between "good governance" and "good administration" in the modern times, as well as the modern meaning of the term "good governance". We also wish to research if the concept of "good governance" is specific to politics and the public sector or if it is involved in other areas of activity, specific to every domain. On the other hand, we aim to analyze if the concept of "good governance" and that of "state of law" are intertwined in any way or if they are two independent concepts which identify different aspects of the modern state and the activity within a state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how social justice influences EU financial consumer law. It provides a new way of looking at social justice in consumer law by showing that equality of status based social justice has increasingly come to the fore in modern EU financial consumer law. This emergent and complex set of private and regulatory rules on credit, insurance, investment and payment products has responded to the consequences of inequality between financial firms and consumers by engaging in product and rights regulation that balances the parties' rights and duties and protects consumers from the consequences of status-based inequality. Looking forward the paper recommends that this social justice approach must be made transparent and become an express part of EU law and policy, both in order to raise consumer trust in the internal market and to more clearly set the future law and policy agenda. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper considers how competitiveness impacts macroeconomic performance in 11 euro area countries. VAR models are estimated for the individual countries using quarterly data from 1995Q4 to 2013Q4. Besides unit labour costs as a competitiveness measure, the models include GDP, the current account balance and domestic credit. The empirical analyses show that changes in unit labour costs help explain GDP dynamics in the short and medium term in most countries, whereas they have little explanatory power for the current account balance or domestic credit for most countries. Overall, the effects of the unit labour costs vary substantially across the countries in the euro area. The heterogeneity suggests that policy measures aiming to improve economic growth, correct current account imbalances and ensure financial stability need to take country‐specific features into account. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of a 'no deal' or 'hard' Brexit on the recognition of insolvency proceedings commenced in the UK by the remaining Member States of the European Union (EU) post‐Brexit. The paper considers the framework currently implemented by the Recast European Insolvency Regulation and the possible approaches when it will cease to apply to proceedings commenced post‐Brexit. The paper identifies that there will be no overarching framework in the event that 'no deal' is reached between the UK and the EU for post‐Brexit arrangements, resulting in reliance on individual Member States' domestic laws to determine recognition of insolvency proceedings commenced in the UK. The paper sets out the contrasting approaches of five of the UK's key trading partners in the EU: France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands and Spain. The paper concludes that UK insolvency proceedings will not be recognised in a consistent manner in these Member States, which will be detrimental to stakeholders in, and ultimately the economies of, the UK and these Member States. In doing so, the paper underlines the importance of an agreement being reached between the UK and the EU on the recognition of cross‐border insolvency proceedings for the benefit of all parties. Copyright © 2018 The Authors International Insolvency Review published by INSOL International and John Wiley & Sons Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The death and disease burden of non‐communicable diseases falls disproportionately on members of lower socioeconomic groups. This paper explores NCD prevention measures introduced through EU consumer law in order to assess the impact these have had on health inequalities. It demonstrates that these interventions often have limited impact, and therefore maintain inequalities. Indeed, when interventions do work, they tend to be more effective with advantaged citizens than disadvantaged citizens, and therefore increase inequalities. From a behavioural research perspective, this paper demonstrates why these interventions – which focus on regulating the consumer information environment – have failed to reduce health inequalities, and analyses the debate on the extent to which behavioural research should act as a core consideration in public health related consumer policy. The paper concludes that, while regulating consumer information is a useful tool for NCD prevention, if information‐based interventions are to reduce health inequalities the EU will need to incorporate greater insights from the way consumers actually behave. Moreover, there are limitations to policies which regulate information, and therefore the EU should make more use of other tools in its regulatory toolbox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The right to appeal as one of the fundamental human rights is foreseen by international legal acts and domestic legislation. In this scientific paper we have handled the right to appeal under article 6 (1) of the European Convention on Human Rights and Kosovo legislation, with special emphasis on contested procedure by including the appeal against judgment and the appeal against ruling, the grounds of appeal against judgment and limitation of appeal grounds against several judgments. All those abovementioned matters are the main object of review in this scientific paper. Handling the right to appeal against the first instance court judgment is important also due to the fact that in Kosovo according to the new Law on Courts as a competent court to review and decide on appeal submitted by the appellant is the Court of Appeals as a second instance court. In this scientific paper we have used normative, deductive, descriptive methods. At the end of this scientific paper there are conclusions in relation of the right to appeal with special emphasis on contested procedure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maritime industry has deep roots in Europe. International ports and Inland water ways are in use by European merchants in the course of their trade all along the history. Formation of the European Union and Single European Market has increased the importance of maritime transport even more than before. Currently, industry is regulated at the Union level with body of law which intends to create a safe and predictable business environment for European and foreign enterprises. However, shared nature of the EU with her Member States in regulating Maritime Transport has created a big question mark for many external parties as well as European stack holders of Maritime industry. The question is who can represent EU maritime industry externally and where to draw the limits of Union and Member States Competencies in this industry? At the midst of the second decade of 21th Century, still many international businesses and even foreign governments wonder about limits of external competencies of the EU in maritime industry. Such confusion creates trouble for foreigners and even Europeans in determining where should they referee their matters to the Commission and where should they approach Member States? In this paper, author tries to answer above mentioned question by scrutinizing external and internal challenges facing the EU about its competencies to represent maritime industries outside of her boundaries. Paper is divided into five main sections. After introductory comments, second part will discuss maritime policy and its regulation in the EU. In third part with particular focus on the EU-IMO relations, paper will analyse external challenges facing the Union in representing her maritime industry in international organizations. Forth part will take a look at internal challenges and regulatory limits which affect the extremal representation of maritime industry by the Union. Final part is dedicated to concluding remarks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using a historical-institutionalist framework, this paper discusses the emergence and evolution of transnational cooperation initiatives in post-war Europe. A number of critical junctures can be identified at which different goals and approaches were introduced. Due to the path-dependent nature of institutional arrangements, this has resulted in increasingly fuzzy rationales and contradictory objectives for transnational regions in Europe today. The paper concludes with a reflection on the value of historical institutionalism to identify the malleability of such complex policy concepts and the key challenges that transnational regions are facing due to unresolved tensions in their policy design and evolution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the Solvency II standards for EU supervision of insurance groups operating across borders as detailed by the guidelines issued by EIOPA. The EU legislator has preferred to reinforce the tool of the colleges of supervisors, which are multilateral platforms where national supervisors involved in the supervision of a single insurance group cooperate, instead of opting for a single EU supervisor. The paper analyses cooperation between supervisory authorities in the context of the colleges in order to clarify the fields covered by the colleges as well as those that are not. In this respect, the paper argues for including in the mandate of the colleges the task of defining and implementing a common principle of group interest to administer the governance system of cross-border insurance groups, and to extend the supervision of colleges to the distribution of insurance products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing awareness of the potential risks involved in lending to heavily indebted governments focuses attention on credit pricing in the Eurodollar market. This paper utilizes a recent survey of country-by-country risk assessments as perceived by lenders to show that a systematic relationship exists between these assessments and interest rates in the Euromarket. The relationship is derived from an underlying model described in the paper. The estimated parameters verify a number of hypotheses, providing insights on the loss rates lenders expect to incur in case of default. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Throughout the crisis, citizens’ trust in the European Central Bank has significantly declined throughout the Euro area (EA-12). Although a decline in the core countries of the EA-12 has been distinct, a more pronounced decline has been taking place in the peripheral countries of the EA-12. Taking panel data and using a fixed effects DFGLS estimation for an EA-12 country sample over the time period of 1999–2012 with a total of 305 observations, this paper detects a negative and significant relationship between unemployment and trust in times of crisis. The robustness analysis of the paper confirms that this decrease in trust is strongly driven by the significant increase in unemployment rates in the four peripheral countries Spain, Ireland, Greece and Portugal. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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]

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming a key element in supporting the migration and border management policies of the European Union and its Member States, so far, AI‐based migration technologies have been tested and implemented with limited public scrutiny. In this context, the EU AI Act holds the promise of a regulation in line with the protection of fundamental rights and the rule of law. While Member States are bound by existing EU legislation when deploying AI, the Act represents the first attempt to regulate this technology in migration and border management. This paper examines the evolution of the Act throughout the negotiation process and its potential to hold actors involved in AI‐driven migration technology accountable, thereby promoting the rule of law. It argues that while the regulation offers promising and important elements, a closer examination brings to light important concerns about its ability to ensure accountability. [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]

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]

This article argues that the causes of the crisis in Romania and other new EU member states were different from those affecting Western Europe or the US. The main argument of this paper is that bad domestic monetary, fiscal and regulatory policies were the real crisis generators, while exogenous crisis mechanisms, including contagion from the global financial crisis, were just the trigger. Romania, and other new EU member states, has been facing the crisis of a consumption-led development model, not just a financial crisis imported from more developed economies. This paper brings insights into the impact of the flat-tax regime on consumption and the impact of speculative capital inflows disguised as foreign direct investments. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Will European companies investing abroad be transmitters of EU environmental policies or environmental dumpers? This article utilizes a most-differentcases approach to analyze transnational corporation (TNC) behavior in countries with less stringent environmental standards. Drawing on rational institutionalism, the article examines two significant European business investments in Mercosur countries: paper pulp mills in Uruguay and fishing off the coast of Argentina. These cases demonstrate that EU environmental standards will be diffused beyond Europe's borders if significant fixed assets are involved, high levels of public awareness and action in response to environmental degradation are possible, and if the environmental policy of an industry is successfully implemented in Europe. Paper pulp milling in Uruguay fulfilled these conditions and TNCs, in this case applied EU standards. This was not so with TNC fishing practices in Argentina. Also, with high citizen attention, local companies will adopt similar environmental practices to those of their European counterparts, improving environmental practices even without domestic government regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents an introduction in which the authors discuss the various articles within the edition on the issue of intersectionality relating to feminist theory within European countries, with an emphasis on the comparative analysis between the countries.

This paper introduces a special section of Science and Public Policy on science in society in Europe. Based on extensive data collected for the Monitoring Policy and Research Activities on Science in Society in Europe (MASIS) project, contributions to this special section explore pertinent issues related to the location, role and responsibility of science across EU member states and associated countries. By developing analytical typologies and classifying countries, the collection of papers provides a novel and detailed picture of Europe. It reveals considerable variation regarding the interactions of science and society at the national level, and it offers a platform for international learning. The identification of patterns and trends concerning the place of science in society may also feed into emerging European discussions about 'responsible research and innovation'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shadow economy is a perennial, multifaceted and hard to gauge phenomenon that affects to some degree all countries. Scientific research needs to develop rigorous and internationally comparable metrics of shadow economy in order to avoid possible misunderstanding, exaggeration and sometimes bad intentions concerning the assessment of shadow economy, corruption and fiscal fraud. Considering the limitations of single shadow economy indicators we propose a more comprehensive measurement based on a new synthetic shadow economy index (SSEI). This index encompasses three relevant indicators, namely the size of shadow economy per capita, the shadow economy relative to GDP and the countries' shares in EU total shadow economy. The analysis covered the period 1999 to 2012 and the results indicated that some of the developed EU countries, rather than the new members, are on top positions of the shadow economy. We also found a sigma convergence trend in shadow economy size and intensity among EU-28 countries over 1999-2012. The main conclusion of our paper is that the analyses of shadow economy should be based on a set of relevant indicators, instead of a single indicator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy efficiency policy is expected to play a key role for meeting the European Union's energy targets (particularly for reduced energy demand and reduced CO2emissions) using a range of policy instrument combinations. However, most analyses undertaken so far have focused on single-policy measures rather than developing a more generic framework for assessing to what extent a particular policy mix is effective and under which specific conditions. This paper both contributes to the theoretical literature on policy mixes and undertakes an empirical analysis of the current policy mixes in buildings efficiency policy in 14 European Union countries. Building on the existing literature, and using expert knowledge, an assessment of the interaction of 55 pairs of policies is presented. This identifies policy mixes likely to deliver more, less or the same energy savings in combination than singly. The theoretical assessment is compared with actual policy mixes present within the European Union, highlighting that combinations of multiple financial incentives may need further investigation. By bringing these forms of knowledge together, the paper suggests how buildings policy mixes could be made more effective, shows gaps in current knowledge and highlights key research needs. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Hawk and Huser, who started the legal debate on EU competition law relating to minority shareholdings, compared the evolving legal situation in the 1990s to shifting sands. More than two decades after their demand for a clearer approach, the situation has not substantially changed. The legal framework emerging from the recent Commission White Paper, entitled 'Towards a More Effective Merger Control', looks to be struggling in the midst of two kinds of shifting sands, that is, on the one hand, those pertaining to the uncertainty of current EU competition law on this matter and, on the other hand, those represented by evolving European corporate law and practice, among which are the increasing introduction of stronger minority shareholder rights, the diffusion of new forms of equity ownership, for instance the so-called morphable ownership, and the emergence of hybrid finance, especially in the banking sector. Such uncertainties at the corporate law level may suggest the opportunity to improve the proposed reform framework, redesigning thresholds, including the assessment of the anticompetitive effects of debt and hybrid financial instruments and eventually the decentralization of part or all of the application of the new rules at a national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on water scarcity and water management in Europe has accelerated significantly in the past two decades, mainly as a result of growing water demand for agricultural, industrial, and municipal uses. Most research studies in the field evaluate water use and management by means of static indicators that depict a one-time value for a given time period (e.g., one year). This paper suggests a dynamic indicator measuring product (here: water) generational dematerialization. The indicator presents a comprehensive approach for evaluating water resources and water management strategies, as it represents a function of both resource use changes and population changes occurring simultaneously and over time. To accentuate the benefits of this dynamic indicator over static indicators as well as its practical applicability for decision-making support, the paper evaluates water management in Europe based on the total water use between 2001 and 2013. The results show that water management estimated cumulatively for the analyzed European countries has been effective for the last 13 years, though significant regional variations have been found. The research and the dynamic water generational dematerialization indicator can be helpful with addressing regional and national water deficit problems and designing sustainable water management strategies in the mid- and long-run. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the process that led the European Commission to the decision to develop European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS) for harmonizing public sector accounting practices within the European Union. The paper finds that there was limited scope in terms of stakeholder participation in the public consultation that served as a basis for the decision. In addition, the decision to adopt EPSAS for EU member states raises questions on the relationship between regional and global governance in the area of public sector accounting. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper presents the impact of decreasing MFI interest rates on household deposits and saving goals in 12 Monetary Union member countries in the years 2009-2015. It analyses tendencies in household deposits (overnight, with agreed maturity and redeemable at notice), and att empts to link them with certain household saving motives (target, retirement and precautionary). The paper identifies those deposit categories which appeared as sensitive to declining interest rates and indicates the Eurozone countries whose populations are expected to revise their savings plans. Precise implications are drawn for target saving motives of households in Austria, Cyprus and Malta. However, in the case of two other motives, the analysis does not conclude on the impact of decreasing MFI interest rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analysis the Euro area's growth over the last 15-20 years and provides a medium term outlook. We find that in a no policy change scenario, growth will be subdued, essentially reflecting the influence of weak pre-crisis trends, most notably for TFP (especially since the mid-1990's). This trend will be exacerbated over the coming decade by the ongoing negative fallout from the financial crisis and by the emerging drag on growth emanating from ageing populations. Unlike in standard recessions, the GDP losses relative to a pre-crisis projection appear to be permanent. The picture presented could potentially improve with the implementation of an ambitious programme of structural reforms focussed on boosting employment and productivity. Since the usefulness of such policies is controversial in the current juncture with constrained monetary policy, the paper also looks at the impact of such reforms in a realistically calibrated model and concludes that fears of large permanent deflationary effects from structural reforms are exaggerated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of International Relations / Medzinarodne Vztahy is the property of University of Economics in Bratislava, Faculty of International Relations 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.)

This paper focuses on the role played by the Agency for Fundamental Rights in the wake of the euro area crisis. The Agency was created as part of a wider trend towards a broader, more pro-active strategy for the protection of fundamental rights that includes administrative and political rights promotion as a complement to judicial enforcement. In the context of the euro crisis, however, the Agency has not been able to fulfil this role. This paper will analyze the reasons for this missed opportunity, as well as its consequences. It will argue that the sidelining of the Agency in this area is due to the confluence of two factors: on the one hand, the Agency's lack of discretion in setting its own agenda; and, on the other, the predominance of the executive, and resulting resurgence of intergovernmentalism, that have been a feature of post-crisis developments. Ultimately, this paper argues that the sidelining of the Agency in this context is an unfortunate result, given the magnitude of the political debate in this area and the valuable role that the Agency might have played or could still play in informing it. [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]

To improve their competitive ability, organisations are turning towards implementing improvements into their operations and processes. Whilst operations improvement projects are often identified with relative ease, resource constraints limit the ability of organisations to conduct them simultaneously. This paper supports the limited empirical research on prioritisation of improvement initiatives by investigating how European manufacturing organisations conduct this activity. To do this, four hypotheses and two research questions were formulated and tested using a combination of descriptive statistics and two proportion T-tests, while data was collected through a survey questionnaire responded by 203 organisations. The results highlight the importance of objectively prioritising improvement projects and establish that the adoption of this method increases through the implementation of improvement methodologies, especially those that stipulate the use of objective methods towards project prioritisation. In this way, Six Sigma is defined as the most influential improvement methodology for supporting the use of objective prioritisation approaches. The paper also identifies the reasons as to why organisations adopt subjective over objective prioritisation methods, and the most common approaches used by large organisations and small and medium enterprises. This research provides organisations, and their managers, with a better understanding of the different factors that affect this key aspect of operations improvement projects. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

ABSTRACT This article introduces the subject of this special issue and presents the papers that follow. It traces the origins of the label 'transit migration' to discussions of what was called the 'new migration' in the early 1990s. These migrations related to the particular geopolitical context at the end of the Cold War. Though they established the pre-emptive rationale whereby concern is focused as much on potential migration as on actual movement, there have been four substantial changes since then. As the geopolitical context has changed, so has the geographies of migration, with a general shift of attention from east-west to south-north; the technological supports of migration have improved, allowing migrants easier, cheaper access to different routes; the categories of migrant have proliferated and finally similar movements may be observed all over the world though only those in the vicinity of Europe are labelled as 'transit'. This leads us to a critical stance around the term 'transit' that is common to all papers in this special issue. Nevertheless, despite the problematic term, there is something worthy of attention amongst these new developments around the fringes of Europe. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this paper is to describe selected leading indicators of global competitiveness. This will be accomplished by reviewing several selected sources that focus on various metrics. The reported data was determined to be the most recent at the time of a presentation of this material to NFAIS in February 2012. The goal of this paper is to be objective and informational. Each of the selected indicators will be described in a high-level with a brief review of significant results. This paper will illustrate that there is no one 'global leader' across the various categories that are reviewed. The data will show that well established economies, such as the US and EU countries continued to maintain significant levels of funding and achievement, yet these data will also demonstrate how leading positions are being eroded by rapid advances among emerging economies led by China. The Regionally Developing Economies (RDEs) are visibly increasing their positions in various rankings. The data also shows that some of the smaller, yet more established economies, such as Switzerland achieved top positions when a variety of input and output pillars and sub-pillars are utilized within the assessment methodology. Switzerland has long been considered to be a wealthy economy. Finally, the presentation will review, at a high-level the status of STM publishing within an increasingly global market. The paper will summarize recent activities and point to selected RDE markets where local STM market forces are emerging, either in the form of incumbent global publishers who are establishing presence via local partnerships or country-specific publishing operations. In addition, the emerging markets feature notable in-country participants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Review of Contract Law is the property of De Gruyter 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.)

This paper documents the existence and main patterns of inter-industry wage differentials across a large number of industries for eight EU countries at two points in time (in general 1995 and 2002) and explores possible explanations for these patterns. The analysis uses the European Structure of Earnings Survey, an internationally harmonised matched employer-employee data set, to estimate industry wage differentials conditional on a rich set of employee, employer, and job characteristics. After investigating the possibility that unobservable employee characteristics lie behind conditional wage differentials, a hypothesis which cannot be accepted, the paper investigates the role of institutional, industry structure, and industry performance characteristics in explaining industry wage differentials. The results suggest that inter-industry wage differentials could reflect efficiency wages or rent-sharing mechanisms and that rent-sharing is more likely in industries with firm-level collective agreements and with higher-collective agreement coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

International demand for military crisis-management missions continues to grow and demand for troops continues to outstrip supply. Like other Western democracies, European Union member states, because of their wealth, relative military competence and commitment to human rights, bear a particular responsibility to expand the international community's capacity for action. But while the EU has succeeded in defining a complex military-technical and political-strategic framework to boost its role and that of its member states in crisis management, its performance so far has fallen well short of its ambitions. This paper analyses what the EU wants to be able to do militarily - its level of ambition - and contrasts this aspiration with the current reality. To explain the gap between the two, the paper examines national ambitions and performance across the EU and analyses their domestic determinants using the examples of Austria, Germany and the United Kingdom. The paper concludes by suggesting that the EU might need to strike a new balance between the inclusiveness and the effectiveness of its activities in this area if it wants to increase its military crisis-management performance and live up to its declared ambitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces the special issue “Effects of the euro changeover on consumer behaviour” by briefly reviewing the contents of the included papers. The introduction follows the organization of the papers in three sections each focusing on a common set of issues. In the first section, research revealing the perceived and actual problems consumers face after the euro changeover is described. Research illuminating learning and adaptation to the euro changeover is the focus of the second section. A special problem is the misperception of inflation after the euro changeover. Research on this problem is addressed in the third section. In a final section, the main findings and their policy implications are summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Focuses on the concept of international governance in the European Union. Promotion of human rights; Legal system of the international organizations; Principles underlying the concept of governance.

The two main anomalies characterizing Initial Public Offerings (IPOs) in Europe, initial underpricing and long run underperformance, are analyzed using a sample of 437 IPOs over the period 1997-2011. The paper focuses on three highly developed European countries (Italy, France and Germany), and studies the two anomalies across different industries. The three countries are found to have a broadly similar trend in the short run anomaly, but more significant differences in long run underperformance. Industry is not found to be a determinant of underpricing or long run performance. Unlike previous literature, this paper focuses on homogeneous Eurozone countries considering the recent financial crisis period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper analyses one of the most important and discussed economic topics, namely foreign direct investments, from the point of view of their possible theoretical contingency with the gross domestic product per capita, which up to a certain extent stand for the welfare of a nation. Out of the 28 belonging to the European Union, six countries, the lowest ranked in respect to this indicator, namely: Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Latvia, Hungary and Poland, are analysed from the perspective of net FDI inflows and FDI inflow share in GDP. The results are construed in comparison with one another. The paper reveals that there is indeed a connection between the level of GDP per capita, the level of net FDI inflows and the living standard of the population, although sometimes such results are not strongly confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the EU and EU member states’ reactions to the 2015 refugee crisis from an ontological security perspective while arguing that these reactions are the product of three socio-psychological lenses, which have led to various responses to the perceived threat. The first reaction, ascribed especially to the Visegrad Four, is the “securitise-the-self” reaction to feelings of anxiety and ontological insecurity and involves reaffirmation of national biographical narratives and national immigration policies at the expense of supranational European policies. The second reaction is illustrated by the European Commission's response to the refugee crisis and involves “managing securitisation.” Accordingly, the Commission's reaction to ontological insecurity when faced with the challenge of unmanaged migration was to reaffirm the EU's semi-sovereign identity (collective border control competencies) while preserving a global discourse on human rights and refugee-related inclusive norms. The third reaction stemmed from viewing the crisis with the lenses of “empathy” and “desecuritisation” and is best illustrated by Germany's temporary “open door” policy on refugees that was driven by a psychological lack of perceived threat from the “immigrant-other” and a “civilian power” collective identity. The paper argues that recognising these three lenses can help us to understand socio-psychological reactions to immigration in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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After 8 years of investigation, the European Commission decided that Google has abused its market dominance by giving prominent placement in its search results to its own comparison shopping service, whilst demoting rival services. This paper discusses the first of these conducts. The paper will assess the harm arising from Google's conduct on consumers and merchants, and will discuss the importance of causality in proving that a conduct is abusive. The paper will also briefly present the remedies for Google's conduct. The argument made herein is that the Commission's decision enters uncharted territories in unilateral conduct enforcement and the decision is subject to criticisms which will be analysed herein. The paper shall assess the implications of the Commission's approach and remedies in this case for future enforcement in unilateral conduct cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Onward migration is a rising issue in migration studies as a consequence of the growing complexity in migration patterns worldwide. This paper analyses historic and economic reasons behind the recent surge of onward migration from Southern European countries and, more specifically, Italy. Using 2014 ORIM data about short‐term onward migration intentions and a logistic regression model, the paper explores factors that select aspirant onward migrants from Italy. The model tests the effects of socio‐demographic and economic factors. The results of the study question the idea of citizenship as the highest level of integration in the host country and suggest that the recent wave of onward migration from Italy is mainly a reactive phenomenon triggered by the economic crisis. Most of all, this study explicitly underlines the role of gender in shaping intentions of short‐term onward migration in Italy. The gender‐sensible approach adopted in the present study shows the important role of women in the decision‐making process of couples: female unemployment significantly increases intentions of onward migration, and the migration is also considered as an opportunity for the spouse and a gain in the economic prospects of the entire family. Conversely, female employment has a significant role in preventing onward migration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the 'making' of Capital Markets Union (CMU) through the theoretical lens of 'actor-centred constructivism', by considering the 'policy narratives' that bureaucratic actors have employed strategically to promote the project. It is argued that two main narratives were articulated by the European Commission in order to mobilize the political support necessary to push forward CMU and reduce potential opposition to it. The first narrative was to boost the size and internal and external competitiveness of European Union capital markets. The second narrative was the increased funding to the real economy, especially to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and infrastructural projects. The Commission used these narratives instrumentally in 'framing' CMU as a positive-sum game, rather than a zero-sum game with potential winners and losers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: By reflecting on both the exclusionary and the inclusionary role of humanitarian migration and border management in the Central Mediterranean, this paper explores the relationship of humanitarianism with the delocalization of the EU border and with human rights. First, the paper analyses the role of human rights in the institutional humanitarian discourse about migration and border management at the Mediterranean EU border. The paper then analyses the Italian operation Mare Nostrum and, more generally, Italian humanitarianized border management in the Central Mediterranean. In doing this, it shows that humanitarianism contributes to the discursive legitimation and spatial delocalization of exclusionary policies and practices. Moreover, humanitarianism contributes to a symbolically and legally subordinate inclusion of migrants in the European space. While such humanitarian inclusion can be more inclusive than what human rights would require, it is posited as an act of grace rather than an enhancement of human rights. In both its exclusionary and inclusionary dimension, humanitarianism transcends and expands territorial boundaries by outsourcing responsibilities and enhancing delocalized border management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]