scholarly journals Innovation and technology transfer barriers in Slovakia and other new EU member states

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 140-146
Author(s):  
Štefan Luby ◽  
Ivan Chodák ◽  
Martina Lubyová

The performance of European Union in terms of R&D investment, innovations, and educational attainments generally lags behind that of its main competitors - the United States and Japan. Within the EU, the new member states from Central and Eastern Europe belong to the group of moderate innovators. As technology is the key component of the innovation system of the 2nd generation, this paper is dedicated to discussing the methods of technology transfer applied by innovation leaders in the EU (e.g. Germany or Finland) and to identifying the factors that may represent the main stumbling blocks in the way of more effective innovation procedures in the new member states (e.g. Governments´ preferences for FDI that is attracted by the relatively cheap and skilled labour force; investors´ preferences for using know-how developed in their home countries; the absence of venture capital available for R&D and technology transfers, etc.). As the situation in the new member states begins to change - wages are growing and the countries are building new research infrastructure with the help of the EU funds - a new innovation and TT paradigm enters the stage. We discuss the ways of coping with these new challenges – such as better governance in the field of patents, extended education of students in the field of innovative competences and entrepreneurial skills, deeper understanding of the operations of industry technology transfer organizations and improved access to venture capital.

Author(s):  
I.M. Harhat

The article explores the concept of «unfair terms contract terms» through the analysis of its origin and fixing in the legislation and legal literature of the European Union, Ukraine and the United States. Comparisons of interpretations of this concept according to Directive 93/13/EEC, Model Rules of European Private Law, The Uniform Commercial Code, as well as the Law of Ukraine «On Consumer Protection». In the article author notes that the definition of unfair terms of the contract is a complex symbiosis of material and procedural, a combination of justice and dishonesty, comparison of signs of «imbalance of interests» and «significantly disadvantaged» and therefore at this stage of civil law is not can be defined unambiguously. It is investigated that the modern civil legislation of Ukraine is still in solidarity with the legislation of most EU member states in terms of introducing this concept primarily to protect consumer rights. Regarding the definition of «unfair terms», author notes that Ukrainian legislation follows common legal trends and recognizes unfair terms when they violate the principle of good faith and fairness, as well as when they lead to a significant imbalance of contractual rights and obligations of the parties and harm the consumer. As a result, it was found that in general the concept of «unfair terms» is evaluative and can not by its very nature reflect the motives laid down in the contract by one or another party. The Court of EU and the courts of the EU member states do not give general conclusions on a case-by-case basis, using the definitions contained in the text of Directive 93/13/EEC, which set out the conditions that may be considered unfair. Author proposes to use the sign «significantly unfavorable position» proposed by A.A.Leff to define the concept of «unfair terms of the contract», as it will improve the protection of the interests of the economically weaker party in the contract.


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.


Author(s):  
F. J. Brewerton ◽  
Jane LeMaster

Globalization has been responsible for a number of ongoing interrelated trends including an accelerated worldwide movement toward economic integration, an ongoing proliferation of new multinational corporations, a widening search for new economic opportunities by multinational corporations, and an increasing concern for and attention to bankruptcy as a contingency strategy for multinational corporations when primary strategies catastrophically fail. The economic benefits associated with the removal of trade barriers is also attracting new member countries to the EU and other trading blocks but these new member countries bankruptcy law provisions may have uncertain contingency strategy implications for MNCs.This paper comprises (1) a brief summary of the general trends associated with globalization; (2) a discussion of why international bankruptcy law is becoming increasingly important in the formulation of contingency strategy in multinational corporations; (3) a discussion and analysis of bankruptcy law provisions in new EU member states; (4) a discussion of the strategic implications associated with new member states bankruptcy laws; and (5) general conclusions regarding the attractiveness of new member states bankruptcy laws to multinational corporation strategists.


2020 ◽  
Vol 23 (2) ◽  
pp. 129-140
Author(s):  
Iva Vuksanović Herceg ◽  
Tomislav Herceg ◽  
Lorena Škuflić

AbstractUnlike the old member states that compensate the negative net birth rate with immigration, the new EU member states face both migrational and natural demographic decline. In the last decade, poor level of economic development as well as the accession to the EU encouraged net emigration from the new member states. Panel data for the 12 new member states for the 2007 - 2016 period were used to determine how the length of membership and GDP per capita trailing behind the EU average affect the proportion of the net emigration. It has been shown that on average a country has to reach at least 85 percent of the average EU GDP p.c. (measured in PPS) to prevent emigration, but this level increases with each year of membership by 1.37 percentage points.


2016 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 93-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lyra Jakulevičienė ◽  
Mantas Bileišis

Abstract Refugee resettlement is not new to EU member states. But the EU only accounts for about 10 percent of resettlements globally. Before the 2015 European Council decisions to relocate about 160,000 persons from Italy and Greece only half of EU Member States participated in resettlement programs. Relocation of refugees has emerged as a new form of resettlement as an EU reaction to the growing refugee influx. It is likely to become a permanent part of Common European Asylum Policy. The refugee emergency has intensified discussions about the application of the solidarity principle to pressure member states not yet engaged in relocation to contribute to the joint efforts of the EU. But this has created serious political controversy in many of the new (eastern) member states. The article outlines key elements of refugee resettlement and relocation that have recently emerged in the EU and discusses the prerequisites for the sustainable use of this tool in an unfavorable political and unclear legal environment, with particular focus on new member states. The main goal of the article is to identify factors that need to be considered for the design of sustainable resettlement and relocation programs, considering the aspects of political salience, legal conditions, burden-sharing, and member states’ capacity. The case study of Lithuania presented in this article suggests that such programs need to be carefully considered and adequately funded as there are ample pitfalls which can quickly discredit the idea among the citizens.


Ergo ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 11-21

Abstract During the programming period 2007-2013, the Structural Funds represented an important source of funds for research, development and innovation in the new member states of the EU. The article compares thematic focus of the EU Structural Funds support to this area (according to the categories of expenditure set by the EU legislation) in five countries with common historic experience - Czechia, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Slovenia. The aim is to identify different approaches of individual states to finance research and innovation from the EU funds, also related to the development and structure of R&D expenditure, analysed in the first part of the text. The states in question have selected diverse strategies to invest European resources in research and innovation, particularly concerning the proportion of investment in research infrastructures to investment in research, innovation and related activities in business sphere. According to this comparison with the other examined countries, the Czech Republic is characterized by the highest orientation at spending the EU funds on the construction of research infrastructure.


2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 29-42
Author(s):  
Matúš Mišík

Abstract This paper tries to shed some light on factors influencing the positions of the new member states of the EU on Eastern Partnership in its initial phase. It utilises an analytical approach developed by Copsey and Haughton (2009) and argues that the two most important factors affecting positioning of newcomers towards the initiative are: perceived size and geography. While the new members were especially keen to support their immediate neighbours, they were using a common policy towards these countries to increase their presence and influence in the region since the initiative helped them to deal with neighbourhood issues they were not able to solve on their own. The paper suggests an amendment to the theoretical approach and proposes an assumption explaining positioning of the member states towards the third countries that better reflect the empirical evidence than the original framework. Moreover, the research showed that Poland differed from the rest of the new EU countries, was much more active and influential and rather resembled the old members. However, due to its not very positive image (caused by its assertive approach and strong effort to play a prominent role within the EU) its influence within the EU was limited and, therefore it proposed the Eastern Partnership together with Sweden that held a much better image.


Global Jurist ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 0 (0) ◽  
Author(s):  
Leo Paul Martinez ◽  
Pierpaolo Marano

AbstractEffective October 1, 2018, the Member States of the European Union had to bring into force the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with Directive (EU) 2016/97 of the European Parliament and of the Council of January 20, 2016 on insurance distribution (IDD). The IDD arose out of a desire to give insurance customers equal protection regardless of the type of distributor from which they obtained insurance. Essentially, the IDD seeks to level the playing field of protections for insurance customers by simplifying, consolidating, and expanding customer protections when needed. The IDD has the stated goal of focusing on “the area of the disclosure of information” to customers. The directive is intentionally broad and applies “to persons whose activity consists of providing insurance or reinsurance distribution services to third parties.”Although it is much too early to predict the course of the IDD within the European Union, a comparison can be drawn with the Model Acts promulgated by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) in the United States to glean an inkling as to where the IDD might be headed. Parts of the Model Acts have been in place for a number of years and, while the legal regimes they cover are modestly different, there are nonetheless broad lessons that can be drawn in the comparison of the two. Whether the path of the IDD follows the arc of the Model Acts, or not, will perhaps be attributed to three instrumental aspects: 1.The IDD is unquestionably focused on customer protection. The NAIC is more nearly concerned with uniformity. It may be that the IDD’s focus will contribute to better traction among the EU Member States then Model Acts have experienced in the United States.2.Unlike the IDD, the NAIC Model Acts are not comprehensive with respect to customer protection.3.The NAIC Model Acts have seen inconsistent adoption by the states, a factor that has contributed to a lack of uniformity and constancy across any number of insurance products. While the IDD should not suffer from spotty adoption, the relative flexibility of the EU Member States in adopting more stringent rules may lead to a lack of uniformity and consistency similar to that of the Model Acts. Thus, the IDD may very well face the same headwinds faced by the Model Acts in the United States.Accurate predictions are always elusive when dealing with the implementation of regulation and legislation. Accordingly, we will watch with curiosity whether the IDD, which takes a much more global approach in customer protection, will see more success.


2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 664-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Lightfoot ◽  
Balázs Szent-Iványi ◽  
Kataryna Wolczuk

The accession of the East-Central European (ECE) countries carried a promise of enhancing and enriching the EU’s Eastern policy. The new member states had the strongest interests among EU member states to ensure that countries in the East are prosperous, stable, and democratic. Yet, the EU’s Eastern policy has been largely criticised for its ineffectiveness. So why have they not been able to address the shortcomings in the EU’s Eastern policies? The article argues that the ECE countries supported the way the EU’s Eastern policies were conceived and implemented because they saw it as a potent vehicle to promote their own transition experience not only in the region but also within the EU. We argue that the ECE states have experienced three types of challenges when promoting their transition experience. First, uploading to the EU level remained largely at a rhetorical level. Second, there are conceptual and practical difficulties in defining what constitutes transition experience and harnessing it, as well as coordinating its transfer between the ECE states. Finally, while using transition experience as the basis for their development assistance strategies, the ECE countries actually insufficiently conceptualised the “development” aspect in these policies. Being so driven by their own experience, they have not drawn the lessons from enlargement to use in a non-accession context, especially by incorporating the broader lessons with regard to development.


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