scholarly journals The Role of Spatio-Temporal Information to Govern the COVID-19 Pandemic: A European Perspective

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (3) ◽  
pp. 166
Author(s):  
Hartmut Müller ◽  
Marije Louwsma

The Covid-19 pandemic put a heavy burden on member states in the European Union. To govern the pandemic, having access to reliable geo-information is key for monitoring the spatial distribution of the outbreak over time. This study aims to analyze the role of spatio-temporal information in governing the pandemic in the European Union and its member states. The European Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics (NUTS) system and selected national dashboards from member states were assessed to analyze which spatio-temporal information was used, how the information was visualized and whether this changed over the course of the pandemic. Initially, member states focused on their own jurisdiction by creating national dashboards to monitor the pandemic. Information between member states was not aligned. Producing reliable data and timeliness reporting was problematic, just like selecting indictors to monitor the spatial distribution and intensity of the outbreak. Over the course of the pandemic, with more knowledge about the virus and its characteristics, interventions of member states to govern the outbreak were better aligned at the European level. However, further integration and alignment of public health data, statistical data and spatio-temporal data could provide even better information for governments and actors involved in managing the outbreak, both at national and supra-national level. The Infrastructure for Spatial Information in Europe (INSPIRE) initiative and the NUTS system provide a framework to guide future integration and extension of existing systems.

Author(s):  
Dieter Grimm

This chapter examines the role of national parliaments in the European Union. It first considers the general trend towards de-parliamentarization in the EU before describing the European situation by distinguishing three separate phases, in which the national parliaments have different functions: the transfer of sovereign rights from the Member States to the EU, the exercise of those transferred rights by the EU, and the implementation of European decisions by the Member States. The chapter then explores the question of whether the European Parliament is capable of compensating at the European level for the erosion of legislative authority at the national level. Finally, it discusses the proposal that the European Parliament be vested with the powers typically possessed by national parliaments as a solution to the EU’s legitimacy crisis and argues that full parliamentarization is not the answer.


Author(s):  
Miguel Poiares Maduro ◽  
Benedita Menezes Queiroz

The rule of law is under threat in the European Union. Systemic violations of fundamental rights are affecting the rule of law, democracy, and judicial independence in some Member States and consequently the EU legal order. The level of interdependence between the Member States and the EU legal order is such that systemic violations of those principles in the Member States end up impacting on EU compliance with the same principles. Article 7 TEU did not prove, however, to be the most effective tool to face these problems due to its political nature. The EU’s intervention in the form of infringement actions to safeguard the rule of law at the national level may be a suitable action to address some these serious violations of fundamental rights. Despite of the earlier hesitation to take a bolder action in this regard, the EU Commission, after the Court of Justice’s recent decisions in Associação Sindical dos Juízes Portuguese and LM, brought infringement proceedings against Poland challenging this country reforms that put into question the independence of its judiciary. The Court established its power of judicial review over the rule of law in the Member States in C-619/18 Commission v Poland. Ultimately, this decision highlighted the role of EU law in safeguarding the rule of law in its Member States, but more importantly in safeguarding the rule of law in the EU legal order as a whole.


2021 ◽  
Vol 28 (2) ◽  
pp. 139-155
Author(s):  
Łucja Kobroń-Gąsiorowska

Corruption, harassment in a workplace, practices contrary to the correct work process, and many others are irregularities that can arise in any enterprise. This is a problem that affects established democracies and free markets and post-communist countries that are transitioning to democracy and market economies. While the causes of irregularities vary, the tools often suggested tackling them include that do not necessarily encourage potential whistleblowers to report them, whether inside or outside the organization. This article discusses the role of whistleblowing as a whistle­blowing tool. Describes the law and whistleblowing in a comparative context, focusing on the United States and the European Union. The article then concludes with recommendations for strengthening whistleblowing in Europe, where reporting irregularities is just beginning, and the level of protection differs between the Member States.


2019 ◽  
pp. 16-51
Author(s):  
Anniek de Ruijter

This book looks at the impact of the expanding power of the EU in terms of fundamental rights and values. The current chapter lays down the framework for this analysis. Law did not always have a central role to play in the context of medicine and health. The role of law grew after the Second Word War and the Nuremberg Doctors Trials (1947), in which preventing the repetition of atrocities that were committed in the name of medicine became a guidepost for future law regarding patients’ rights and bioethics. In the period after the War, across the EU Member States, health law developed as a legal discipline in which a balance was struck in medicine and public health between law, bioethics, and fundamental rights. The role of EU fundamental rights protections in the context of public health and health care developed in relation with the growth of multilevel governance and litigation (national, international, Council of Europe, and European Union). For the analysis here, this chapter develops an EU rights and values framework that goes beyond the strictly legal and allows for a ‘normative language’ that takes into consideration fundamental rights as an expression of important shared values in the context of the European Union. The perspective of EU fundamental rights and values can demonstrate possible tensions caused by EU health policy: implications in terms of fundamental rights can show how highly sensitive national policy issues may be affected by the Member States’ participation in EU policymaking activities.


2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Davor Mikulić ◽  
Željko Lovrinčević ◽  
Andrea Galić Nagyszombaty

Abstract Over the past two decades, the issue of regional convergence in the European Union has been the subject of a wide range of empirical research. This paper aims to provide more information on the differences in regional growth patterns of new member states (NMS), as well as Croatia, in addition to the factors influencing regional disparities within each country. This research provides an analysis of regional convergence in the period 2001-2008 at the NUTS II and NUTS III level. The most widely used model for testing convergence hypotheses is beta-convergence analysis. Other factors commonly included in the econometric modelling of convergence are demographic variables, labour market conditions, industrial structure, institutional factors and overall government policy. The main hypothesis is that the process of regional convergence in NMS and Croatia is not strong enough to dominate over other factors, influencing regional potential growth (mainly industry structure and quality of human capital). Absolute β-convergence can be found at the national level for EU countries. Convergence also can be found for NMS regions, but the pace of convergence on the regional level is lower in comparison to the national level and the estimated β-convergence parameter is less significant.


2020 ◽  
Vol XIV ◽  
pp. 1-2
Author(s):  
Beata Błażejewska ◽  
ZBIGNIEW CIEKANOWSKI

The study analyzes the management of the borders of the European Union as a factor having a significant impact on improving the security of Member States. Legal regulations regulating the external borders of the Schengen Group, treated as land and sea borders as well as airports and seaports of the parties to the Schengen Convention are indicated, provided that these borders are not external borders that formally form borders. The role of entities supporting border traffic management in the European Union is described. In addition, an analysis of documented attempts to illegally cross the external borders of the EU and the borders of countries associated with the Schengen area between border control visits was made, indicating potential threats in this area.


elni Review ◽  
2008 ◽  
pp. 19-24
Author(s):  
Volker Mauerhofer

The Environmental Liability Directive (‘ELD’) of the European Union entered into force on 30th April 2004 and had to be implemented by 30th April 2007. It had been already from the early beginning up to today subject to multiple considerations by many scholars and is implemented quite differently in the different EU Member States. The ELD contains provisions concerning the liability for ‘environmental damage’, which is further defined inter alia as a specific damage of certain species and habitats (‘biodiversity damage’). Besides the ELD there are already other legal provisions on the European as well as on the international and national level covering several aspects of these liability issues more stringently. Hence the question arises as to how the new provisions of the ELD delimit from these similar but other EU, international and national norms.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (8) ◽  
pp. 2408
Author(s):  
Natália ZAGORŠEKOVÁ ◽  
Michaela ČIEFOVÁ ◽  
Andrea ČAMBALÍKOVÁ

The paper focuses on competitiveness at the national level and on the impact of competitiveness on economic growth. We look at the relationship between competitiveness and economic growth based on the data from the European Union member states. The competitiveness of the economies is measured by the Global Competitiveness Index, which is published by the World Economic Forum. The European Union member states show significant differences in competitiveness. In the sample examined, the positive relationship between the level of competitiveness and economic growth was not confirmed.


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