scholarly journals Automated decision-making in the EU Member States: The right to explanation and other “suitable safeguards” in the national legislations

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 105327 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gianclaudio Malgieri
2017 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 43-66
Author(s):  
Saila Heinikoski

This article discusses how the right to free movement within the European Union is presented as a matter of obligation, a duty of the other EU member states, in the discourse of Romanian Presidents and Prime Ministers (2005–2015). An examination of speeches and other statements from these politicians illuminates Romanian political reactions during the period when Romania became an EU member state, and reflects perceptions of Europeanness and European agreements. These issues take on an additional contemporary significance in the context of the Brexit negotiations, and they also add to the broader debate on whether EU norms and obligations are seen as being both just and equally applied. By analysing different types of argumentative topoi, I examine the deontological (obligation-based) argumentation employed in the free movement context. Furthermore, I examine to what extent these arguments are invoked in support of the right to free movement and who this right applies to. I argue that for Romanian politicians, deontological free movement arguments are connected to other states’ compliance with European treaties and to demands for equal application of European rules without discrimination, or the delegation of responsibility to others. This manifested itself most frequently in the calls for the EU and its member states to do their duty by treating Romanians equally to other EU citizens.


Author(s):  
Suzanne Kingston ◽  
Zizhen Wang ◽  
Edwin Alblas ◽  
Micheál Callaghan ◽  
Julie Foulon ◽  
...  

AbstractEuropean environmental governance has radically transformed over the past two decades. While traditionally enforcement of environmental law has been the responsibility of public authorities (public authorities of the EU Member States, themselves policed by the European Commission), this paradigm has now taken a democratic turn. Led by changes in international environmental law and in particular the UNECE Aarhus Convention (UNECE, United Nations Economic Commission for Europe Convention (1998). Convention on access to information, public participation in decision-making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters (the Aarhus Convention), signed on June 25, 1998.), EU law now gives important legal rights to members of the public and environmental non-governmental organisations (“ENGOs”) to become involved in environmental governance, by means of accessing environmental information, participating in environmental decision-making and bringing legal proceedings. While doctrinal legal and regulatory scholarship on this embrace of “bottom-up” private environmental governance is now substantial, there has been relatively little quantitative research in the field. This article represents a first step in mapping this evolution of environmental governance laws in the EU. We employ a leximetrics methodology, coding over 6000 environmental governance laws from three levels of legal sources (international, EU and national), to provide the first systematic data showing the transformation of European environmental governance regimes. We develop the Nature Governance Index (“NGI”) to measure how the enforcement tools deployed in international, EU and national law have changed over time, from the birth of the EU’s flagship nature conservation law, the 1992 Habitats Directive (Directive 92/43/EEC). At the national level, we focus on three EU Member States (France, Ireland and the Netherlands) to enable a fine-grained measurement of the changes in national nature governance laws over time. This article introduces our unique datasets and the NGI, describes the process used to collect the datasets and its limitations, and compares the evolution in laws at the international, EU and national levels over the 23-year period from 1992–2015. Our findings provide strong empirical confirmation of the democratic turn in European environmental governance, while revealing the significant divergences between legal systems that remain absent express harmonisation of the Aarhus Convention’s principles in EU law. Our data also set the foundations for future quantitative legal research, enabling deeper analysis of the relationships between the different levels of multilevel environmental governance.


Author(s):  
Emma Lantschner

The Covid pandemic has revealed how far we, as a European society, still are from the proclaimed Union of Equality. This book explores how the promise of equal treatment can become a reality and compliance with the EU acquis relating to equality and non-discrimination be improved. It studies enforcement and promotion aspects of the two watershed Directives of 2000, the Racial Equality Directive 2000/43/EC and the Employment Equality Directive 2000/78/EC, through the lens of reflexive governance. This governance approach is proposed as having a great potential in enhancing the likelihood of sustainability (or continuation) of reforms in the current candidate countries and EU Member States through its emphasis on reflexive learning processes and the cooperation between EU institutions, national authorities, and civil society actors. In order to deploy this potential, there is, however, a need for more consistent and transparent monitoring, both with regard to candidate countries as well as old and new Member States, and a reconsideration of the understanding of monitoring as such. It should be seen as helping to deconstruct own-preference formations and as an opportunity to learn from successes and failures in a cooperative and recursive process. To work on these lacunae and improve learning and monitoring processes, this book identifies indicators that are deduced from the comparative review of the implementation practice of the Member States. It is thus a contribution to the existing literature in the fields of Europeanization, governance studies, and the right to equality and non-discrimination.


2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexander Popov ◽  
Kristian Kaludov ◽  
Mehnur Salieva ◽  
Antoniya Dimova

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 115-133
Author(s):  
Iryna Izarova

Abstract Judicial cooperation between EU Member-States and Ukraine is still at a basic level. The EU-Ukraine Association Agreement does not prove an appropriate approach, and their relations are regulated mostly with the bilateral agreements. The Baltic states and Ukraine, which are the focus of this research, are deeply engaged by their close geographical location, common historical issues and friendly relations, and seek further development of their relations. This should be accompanied by mutual judiciary trust and therefore by the corresponding evolution of bilateral relations proper to this trust. The following types of judicial cooperation in civil matters were chosen as objects of this research: recognition of Baltic States’ courts’ judgments in Ukraine, as well as service of documents and taking of evidence in Ukraine. The conclusions consist of several proposals related to deeper judicial cooperation between Member-States and third countries, illustrated by the example of the Baltic States and Ukraine, in light of the right to fair trial and mutual trust in the judiciary.


Author(s):  
Jacqueline Dufalla

In 2014, the agricultural sanctions Russia imposed on the European Union (EU) had a perceivable impact on the EU’s economy. Yet the sanctions arguably had a disproportionate impact, which suggests they were particularly successful in exposing underlying issues within the EU. Specifically, former Soviet bloc countries and southern European countries were far more greatly impacted by the sanctions than the larger western EU member states. This brings to light problems of disproportionate representation of member states within decision-making processes (especially within the Committee for Agriculture and Rural Development), and the fragility of the EU's internal cohesion. By comparing typical decision-making processes of the EU with its responses during times of crisis, it becomes clear that the EU’s decision-making process and its internal cohesion with regard to economic assistance for former Soviet states, are vulnerable to Russia’s actions. The essay will conclude with recommendations on how to improve EU decision-making during times of crisis to counter this vulnerability. Full text available at: https://doi.org/10.22215/rera.v10i1.261  


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (4) ◽  
pp. 571-596
Author(s):  
Rufat Babayev

Abstract This article explores the status of jobseeker in Directive 2004/38 that is aimed to simplify and strengthen the right of free movement and residence of all Union citizens. Unlike the categories of economically active and inactive persons, Directive 2004/38 employs a somewhat piecemeal approach towards setting out the status of jobseekers. It is submitted that this leads to much uncertainty over their residence rights and raises the prospect of divergent national implementation measures, leaving much leeway for the adoption of stringent approaches. While this is manifested itself, for instance, in the UK’s policy towards Union jobseekers, it is also particularly salient within the framework of the EU-UK Withdrawal Agreement that authorises a constitutive approach to post-Brexit residence status, which is shown to carry a greater risk for UK nationals residing in EU Member States. Both instances are argued to further substantiate the need for a more systematic approach towards the outline of the status of jobseeker in Directive 2004/38, though the introduction of any legislative change may not currently be politically viable.


2000 ◽  
Vol 49 (4) ◽  
pp. 953-963 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Happold

The participation of the Freedom Party in the Austrian government has given rise to exceptional reactions both in Austria and internationally. The imposition of a freeze in bilateral diplomatic relations by Austria's European Union partners has been particularly notable, amounting to an unprecedented response to the election of a new government in another Member State. This note seeks to describe the development of events and assess the status of the 14 Member States' actions under international law, in particular in the light of any developing norms concerning non-intervention, respect for human rights and the right to democratic governance.


2010 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 435-453 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yasin Kerem Gümüs

AbstractIn October 2007, the European Commission adopted a controversial proposal on the conditions for entry and residence of third-country nationals for highly qualified employment. The Blue Card scheme is intended to provide Member States and European Union (EU) companies with additional “tools” to recruit, retain and better allocate the workers they require, and so to increase the competitiveness of the EU economy through legal immigration and provide the EU with an advantage to compete with the US Green Card. However, the EU Blue Card scheme has been the subject of much controversy among not only EU Member States but also among less developed countries. This article aims to analyze the Blue Card scheme, which was adopted on 25 May 2009 and gives Member States two years to incorporate the new provisions into their domestic legislation. After providing an overview of the scheme, the second part deals with critics of the scheme and national responses of Member States to the scheme. Finally, the third part of the article seeks to answer the question: is the Blue Card scheme the right step in the right direction?


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