The Fall of the Habsburg Monarchy and the Crisis of Modern Europe: A Historical–Sociological Comparison

2020 ◽  
pp. 64-88
Author(s):  
Helmut Kuzmics
Keyword(s):  
The European Union ◽  
Habsburg Empire ◽  
Habsburg Monarchy ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
Norbert Elias ◽  
Final Failure ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Subject ◽  
National Survival ◽  
Instructive Case

The Habsburg Empire was for several centuries a major European power centre, and represents a highly instructive case of state formation. Its final failure has been the subject of a highly diverse debate, ranging from moral accusation to the acceptance of historical inevitability. A closer focus on structural reasons will highlight the question of military efficiency and the centrifugal impact of multiple nationalisms, exacerbated by parliamentarisation. Looking at recent crises of the European Union (centrifugal tendencies of and within member states, inability to act in emergency situations), we can observe striking similarities with the Habsburg Empire. European decision-making at the highest levels is reminiscent of debates in the Austrian Reichsrat. Both these supra-national survival units, as Norbert Elias would call them, can be described as economically efficient agencies of modernisation. A key difference is that the Union lacks both an army and an imperial charisma. Its military arm is external: the US as the pacifier of Europe. But attempts to change that are likely to end in disaster.

scholarly journals Principles of functioning of the judicial system of Ukraine and the Court of Justice of the European Union in the period of global spread of COVID-19 virus: comparative legal analysis

2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 299-307
Author(s):  
Kaminska Ilona Vasylivna.
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Judicial System ◽  
Judicial Power ◽  
Legal Analysis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Global Spread ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Legislative Changes

The article explores the pandemic justice arrangements that have been taken in Ukraine as a democratic unitary state and in the European Union. The objects selected for the study - the judiciary of Ukraine and the Court of Justice of the European Union, in our opinion, can be compared, since the subject of the study is the principles of organization of work of judicial institutions, which were in the same conditions of global spread COVID-19 and the action aimed at combating them. Based on the analysis, we can determine that, at the time of the quarantine, the legislature empowered the courts, regardless of the form of justice, to restrict the access of free listeners to the courtroom. In assessing the work of the courts during the quarantine period, it should be noted that the legislative changes in the quarantine conditions did not contribute to the functioning of the judicial bodies. The judicial institutions continued to operate without much change in the way they worked. But unlike the EU Court of Justice, which on its own initiative postponed the hearing of cases in court sessions and directed the work of the court to hear urgent cases, Ukrainian judges continued to hear cases, postponing their consideration only at the request of the parties. It should be noted that a comparative analysis of the organization of the functioning of the judicial system in Ukraine and the Court of Justice in the period of emergency caused by the spread of coronary virus infection shows that, unlike the Court of Justice, the judicial power in Ukraine is not endowed with independence, as a basis for the organization of judicial power, which makes it impossible to exercise effective handling of cases in emergency situations and is a wake-up call to the independence of the judiciary as a whole. Keywords: Judicial system of Ukraine, EU Court of Justice, comparative legal analysis, COVID-19.

scholarly journals Transfer Prices and Aggressive Tax Optimization

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 242-253
Author(s):  
Marian Podstawka
Keyword(s):  
Transfer Pricing ◽  
Tax Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Applicable Law ◽  
The World Bank ◽  
The Us ◽  
Transfer Prices ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Financial Burdens ◽  
International Companies

SummarySubject and purpose of work: The subject of this study is transfer prices and their use for optimization of financial burdens of international companies (capital groups). The purpose of this study was to present transfer pricing issues in the light of applicable law and using them for tax purposes.Materials and methods: The study uses literature and data from the World Bank and Google. Methods of descriptive and tabular analysis and inference were used.Results: Google makes 91% of its revenues outside the US.Conclusions: Transfer pricing is a tool for optimizing tax burden of international companies that bring them benefits in the form of the so-called “globalization annuity”, which makes them economically stronger and more technologically competitive. Polish tax law on transfer pricing has been tightened since 2001; transfer pricing issues are also regulated by the European Union and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Preventive Debt Restructuring and the Nigerian Draft Insolvency Legislation: Lessons from a Comparative Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 28 (1) ◽  
pp. 66-84
Author(s):  
Sanford U. Mba
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Economic Crisis ◽  
Final Analysis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Debt Restructuring ◽  
The Us ◽  
Financially Distressed ◽  
Bankruptcy Code ◽  
Second Chance

Recently, the Nigerian Senate passed the Bankruptcy and Insolvency (Repeal and Re-enactment) Bill. This is no doubt a welcome development following the continued demand by insolvency practitioners, academics and other stakeholders for such legislation. The call has not only been for the enactment of just about any legislation, but (consistent with the economic challenges faced by businesses in the country), one that is favourably disposed to the successful restructuring of financially distressed businesses, allowing them to weather the storm of (impending) insolvency, emerge from it and continue to operate within the economy. This article seeks to situate this draft legislative instrument within the present wave of preventive restructuring ably espoused in the European Union Recommendation on New Approaches to Business Rescue and to Give Entrepreneurs a Second Chance (2014), which itself draws largely from Chapter 11 of the US Bankruptcy Code. The article draws a parallel between the economic crisis that gave rise to the preventive restructuring approach of the Recommendation and the present economic situation in Nigeria; it then examines the chances of such restructuring under the Nigerian draft bankruptcy and insolvency legislation. It argues in the final analysis that the draft legislation does not provide for a prophylactic recourse regime for financially distressed businesses. Consequently, a case is made for such an approach.

Obywatele Unii Europejskiej – wyborcy Parlamentu Europejskiego – parlamentu ponadnarodowego

2016 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 147-162
Author(s):  
Stefan Marek Grochalski
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Subject Matter ◽  
European Parliament ◽  
Legal Regulations ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Democratic State ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Direct Elections

Parliament – an institution of a democratic state – a member of the Union – is not only an authority but also, as in the case of the European Union, the only directly and universally elected representative body of the European Union. The article presents questions related to the essence of parliament and that of a supranational parliament which are vital while dealing with the subject matter. It proves that the growth of the European Parliament’s powers was the direct reason for departing from the system of delegating representatives to the Parliament for the benefit of direct elections. It presents direct and universal elections to the European Parliament in the context of presenting legal regulations applicable in this respect. It describes a new legal category – citizenship of the European Union – primarily in terms of active and passive suffrage to the European Parliament, as a political entitlement of a citizen of the European Union.

The state of democracy in the European Union in scenarios: federation, empire and Europe à la carte

2016 ◽  
pp. 90-108
Author(s):  
Marta Witkowska
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Reference Point ◽  
The State ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Scenario Development ◽  
Normative Approach ◽  
Norms And Values ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Eu ◽  
A La Carte

The aim of the article is to present possible scenarios on maintaining democracy in the EU, while assuming different hypothetical directions in which it could develop as a federation, empire and Europe à la carte. Selected mechanisms, norms and values of the EU system that are crucial for the functioning of democracy in the European Union are the subject of this research. The abovementioned objective of scenario development is achieved through distinguishing the notions of policy, politics and polity in the research. In the analysis of the state of democracy in the European Union both the process (politics) and the normative approach (policy) have been adopted. The characterised norms, structures, values and democratic procedures in force in the EU will become a reference point for the projected scenarios. The projection refers to a situation when the existing polity transforms into a federation, empire or Europe à la carte. The article is to serve as a projection and is a part of a wider discussion on the future of the basis on which the European Union is build.

Polityka klimatyczno-energetyczna Unii Europejskiej

2014 ◽  
pp. 104-121
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Kułaga
Keyword(s):  
Negative Impact ◽  
Renewable Energy Sources ◽  
Energy System ◽  
The Other ◽  
Energy Sources ◽  
Climate Protection ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Climate And Energy Policy

The article is devoted to the subject of the goals of the climate and energy policy of the European Union, which can have both a positive, and a negative impact on the environmental and energy policies. Positive aspects are the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, diversification of energy supplies, which should improve Europe independence from energy imports, and increasing the share of renewable energy sources (RES) in the national energy system structures. On the other hand, overly ambitious targets and actions can lead to large losses for the economies of EU Member States. The article also highlights the realities prevailing in the international arena and noncompliance of international actors with global agreements on climate protection.

THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION’S APPROACH TO ENERGY SECURITY IN POLAND AND THE BALTIC STATES

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1/2020) ◽  
pp. 33-67
Author(s):  
Olga Stevanovic
Keyword(s):  
Energy Security ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Energy Resources ◽  
Baltic States ◽  
Realist Theory ◽  
Main Research ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
The Us ◽  
The Subject ◽  
The Baltic

The subject of this paper encompasses US policy towards Poland and the Baltic States regarding energy security during Donald Trump’s presidency. It is discernible that vast domestic energy resources have created an opportunity for the US to project more power to these countries, and the surrounding region. We argue that Trump and his administration’s perceptions have served as an intervening variable in that opportunity assessment, in accordance with the neoclassical realist theory. The main research question addressed in this paper is whether US has used that opportunity to contribute to energy security in countries it has traditionally deemed as allies. Two aspects of US approach to energy security of the designated countries are taken into consideration: liquified natural gas exports and support for the Three Seas Initiative. The way Trump presented his policy and its results in his public statements has also been considered in this paper. The article will proceed as follows. The first subsection of the paper represents a summary of energy security challenges in Poland and the Baltic States. The second subsection is dedicated to the opportunity for the US to project energy power and to Trump’s perceptions relevant for the opportunity assessment. The third subsection deals with American LNG exports to these countries as a possible way for contributing to energy security in Poland and the Baltic States. The last part of the paper addresses the Three Seas Initiative and US approach to this platform.

Prevention of Armed Attacks at Schools as a Part of Emergency Situations Didactics

2015 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 95-112
Author(s):  
Miroslava Kovaříková
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
School Management ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Security Risks ◽  
Emergency Plans ◽  
Security Issues ◽  
Emergency Situations ◽  
European Union Countries ◽  
Perception Of Security ◽  
Technical And Organizational Measures

This article deals with the issue of security management and its following application in education. The article focuses on the topic of armed attacks at schools. Based on a research probe aimed at teachers which focused on perception of security risks, there are chosen areas to which Central emergency system services should react. Further, knowledge of technical and organizational measures of emergency plans in the organization and the level of attention paid to this issue by the school management were investigated. In the text there are also international models of solutions of this issue introduced. The contribution also brings outline of how is the issue solved in the European Union countries, in particular in the Kingdom of Spain. Experience with the solution of security issues of schools in Latin America are also mentioned. In the conclusion the summary of measures for improvement of security at schools is presented.

Anti-System Politics

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan Hopkin
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Approach ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Political Systems ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Us ◽  
Long Term Result ◽  
The Rich ◽  
Dramatic Shift ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Right

Recent elections in the advanced Western democracies have undermined the basic foundations of political systems that had previously beaten back all challenges—from both the Left and the Right. The election of Donald Trump to the US presidency, only months after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union, signaled a dramatic shift in the politics of the rich democracies. This book traces the evolution of this shift and argues that it is a long-term result of abandoning the postwar model of egalitarian capitalism in the 1970s. That shift entailed weakening the democratic process in favor of an opaque, technocratic form of governance that allows voters little opportunity to influence policy. With the financial crisis of the late 2000s, these arrangements became unsustainable, as incumbent politicians were unable to provide solutions to economic hardship. Electorates demanded change, and it had to come from outside the system. Using a comparative approach, the text explains why different kinds of anti-system politics emerge in different countries and how political and economic factors impact the degree of electoral instability that emerges. Finally, it discusses the implications of these changes, arguing that the only way for mainstream political forces to survive is for them to embrace a more activist role for government in protecting societies from economic turbulence.

Epilogue

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
José van
Keyword(s):  
Paradigm Shift ◽  
Information Age ◽  
The Other ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
The Us ◽  
Autocratic Regime ◽  
Digital Strategy ◽  
National Governments ◽  
State Interference

The epilogue sketches a few scenarios on potential geopolitical consequences of the global paradigm shift toward multiple online platform “spheres.” Currently, the neoliberal US-based platform ecosystem dominates. This ecosystem revolves around the promotion of individualism and minimal state interference, leaving checks and balances to the market. On the other end of the ideological spectrum is the Chinese ecosystem, in which the autocratic regime controls the platform ecosystem via regulated censorship of tech corporations. Squeezed between the US and the Chinese models is the European Union, whose member states neither own nor operate any major platforms in either ecosystem. For European democracies to survive in the information age, its cities, national governments, and supranational legislature need to collaborate on a blueprint for a common digital strategy toward markets and public sectors.

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