scholarly journals Rethinking Financial Rewards for Whistle- Blowers Under the Proposal for a Directive on the Protection of Whistle-blowers Reporting Breaches of EU Law

2019 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 38-49
Author(s):  
Dimitrios Kafteranis

The European Commission recently published a proposal for a Directive on the protection of whistle-blowers reporting breaches of EU law. This proposal is welcomed not only by the legal community but also by many citizens who desire more transparency. The recent scandals revealed by whistle-blowers along with the active role of the European Parliament have led the European Commission to propose this important text of the proposed Directive. The whistle-blower is recognised as an enforcement tool for the EU and is a key component in helping to ensure the successful enforcement of EU law. There is one element, however, that is not discussed by the European Commission: financial rewards for the whistle-blowers.1 The United States, especially in the financial sector, has adopted a system of financial awards. Europe, on the other hand, is resistant to introducing such incentives. The aim of this paper is to introduce the proposal for a Directive and to highlight the problems that such a step may create at the EU level.

2008 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 1-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry Bosworth ◽  
Susan M. Collins

This paper examines U.S. goods trade with China, focusing on the performance of exports. Throughout the analysis, we explore whether U.S. trade is unusual by contrasting it with trade from Japan and the EU-15.1 The issue is examined from three perspectives: the commodity composition of exports, the role of multinational corporations (MNCs), and the determinants of trade as specified in a formal “gravity model.” As an initial point of departure, we show that the commodity composition of U.S. exports to China is similar to the pattern of exports to the world as a whole, and that the operations of U.S. MNCs have only minor implications for trade with China. Consequently, we emphasize the estimation of a set of “gravity equations” that explore the role of market size and distance from the United States. Distance exerts a surprisingly large effect on trade. Finally, although exports to China may be a small share of U.S. GDP, they are relatively substantial compared to U.S. exports to other countries. In other words, the measure of U.S. trade performance in China is distorted by the low level of its exports to all countries. We present evidence that the United States underperforms as an exporter relative to a peer group of high-income European countries and Japan.


Author(s):  
Pierre Rosanvallon

This chapter turns to the increasingly active role of constitutional courts. These courts have established themselves—not without reservations and challenges—as an essential vector of the push for greater reflexivity. For a long time the United States, India, and the German Federal Republic stood out as exceptions because of their traditional emphasis on judicial review. Now, however, constitutional courts of one sort or another are at the heart of democratic government everywhere. Indeed, some scholars go so far as to discern a veritable “resurrection” of constitutional thought. It is noteworthy that these new constitutional courts on the whole receive strong support from the public, as numerous comparative surveys have shown, and they count among the most legitimate of democratic institutions.


Author(s):  
Massimo Miglioretti ◽  
Francesca Mariani ◽  
Luca Vecchio

In recent decades, medical malpractice litigation experienced a large-scale expansion in the United States as well as in Europe, involving both medical and surgical specialties. Previous studies have investigated the reasons why patients decide to sue doctors for malpractice and highlighted that adverse outcome, negative communication with doctors and seeking compensation are among the major reasons for malpractice litigation. In this chapter, patient engagement is discussed as a possible method for reducing the risks of doctors being sued for medical malpractice. The results of a first qualitative study underline how an active role for patients and their engagement in the treatment definition and execution could be a way to limit the occurrence of malpractice litigations. However, a second study noted that in Italy, many patients are still struggling to become involved in the process of their care. The authors discuss the role of professional education in promoting patient engagement in Italy.


2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (6) ◽  
pp. 1343-1374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Giuseppe Martinico

Recently, scholars have argued of the necessity of going beyond “judicial dialogues” and “conflict-and-power” approaches to the analysis of the role of national Constitutional Courts in the Union. On the one hand, there are risks connected to a “too welcoming an approach by national constitutional courts to EU law”; on the other hand, it is possible to criticize both the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and some national Constitutional Courts for other, less cooperative, decisions. I share this cautious approach for many reasons, and primarily because the preliminary ruling mechanism does not exhaust all the possible means of communication between constitutional courts and the CJEU. For instance, what Komárek calls “parallel references” can serve, in some circumstances, as a technique of alternative (or hidden) dialogue, that has favored a sort of “remote dialogue” over the years. My sole point of disagreement with this scholarly position is over the role of conflicts in this scenario. Whilst Komárek seems to confine conflicts to phenomena of mere resistance or to “‘cold’ strategic considerations,” in this work I am going to adopt a much broader idea of conflict, which goes beyond mere “conflicts and power games.”


2013 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 297-306 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Weimer

Reality is complex, and often does not lend itself to generalization or simplifying explanations. Yet at the same time, explaining reality often requires the shaping of notions and concepts of it through generalization and the reduction of complexity. This tension between complexity and particularity on the one hand and generalization and the search for abstracting explanatory patterns on the other is beautifully illustrated by two recently released publications on precaution and risk regulation in the United States and Europe, namely “The Politics of Precaution” by David Vogel1 and “The Reality of Precaution” edited by Jonathan Wiener, Michael Rogers, James Hammitt, and Peter Sand.Both books together can be seen as the latest significant contribution to the ongoing debate on the role of the precautionary principle in risk regulation in a comparative EU-US perspective. Both contributions are significant in that they consolidate the trend towards an empirically informed analysis of the actual practice of the application of precaution in risk regulation.


Subject Russian influence in Bosnia. Significance Russia seems much more adept at playing the Balkan political game than the EU or the United States. Thanks to that and the gradual weakening of Bosnia’s EU perspective, Russia has managed to fill the EU vacuum and establish influence over Bosnia-Hercegovina (BiH) with a minimum of investment. Impacts BiH could achieve EU candidate status in 2019 if it can satisfy the European Commission that it is meeting required conditions. The EU’s much stronger economic relations with Balkan states will limit Russian influence. Russia’s presence in both Bosnia and Serbia will continue to take the form solely of being able to influence Serbs.


2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 127-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
SEBASTIAAN PRINCEN

This article analyses the conditions under which a race to the top or California effect is likely to take place. To that end, it examines two cases in which the EU restricted or threatened to restrict imports from the United States and Canada because of differences in regulatory standards. In one case, the European data protection directive, a California effect occurred. In the other case, the EU ban on hormone-treated beef, no California effect occurred. An analysis of these two cases leads to two additions to existing explanations of the California effect. The analysis also has a number of implications for the debate on the race to the bottom thesis.


2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (2/2021) ◽  
pp. 29-44
Author(s):  
Milan Igrutinovic

Over the last decade the EU has faced challenges on numerous fronts: economic crisis and slow recovery, refugee crisis, terrorism, Brexit, lack of effectiveness of its foreign and security policy. In recent years, the EU has put new effort to define its purpose and standing in international relations, and it seeks to become strategically autonomous actor. That means an actor with the ability to set priorities and make decisions. As the role of the United States is still pre-eminent in the security of Europe, the EU-US relations have a special bearing on that EU’s ambition. In this paper we provide an overview of the relations between these two actors with the focus on the first year of Joseph Biden presidency, and we argue that through a complex interaction the EU will seek to define its policies independently of the United States, wishing to expand its space for maneuver and action.


2021 ◽  
Vol 105 (5) ◽  
pp. 5-18
Author(s):  
Mikhail Nosov ◽  

COVID-19 pandemic started one century after Spanish flu epidemic that killed about 40 million people. It ended as unexpectedly as it began, and was followed by the Paris Conference of 1919, which gave start to the Versailles system, planned as a new system of eternal peace, but collapsed 20 years later. The same happened with the Yalta system at the end of XX centure. Today, the configuration of the world is in the process of changes. The USSR disappeared from the political map of the world, and new world centers appeared with different views on global politics. The interests of the United States, Russia, China, and EU-27 do not coincide, and often contradict each other. Today, with a certain degree of probability, one can speak of the formation of a "new bipolarity", where the United States? NATO and the EU enter into an economic, political and potentially a military confrontation with China and Russia. The future of this system will largely depend on both the outcome of economic competition between the West and China and the level of development of relations between China and Russia. The current pandemic, let's hope, will also end someday, and humanity will be able to create a system of bipolar or multipolar interstate relations that will reliably protect the world from epidemics and wars. This article examines the prospects for the formation of a multipolar world and the future role of Russia


Significance The role of Germany, holder of the six-month EU presidency, has been crucial in averting war between Greece and Turkey. However, the EU has found it difficult to reach a common position on whether to impose sanctions against Turkish interests and has struggled to devise a clear strategy in the Eastern Mediterranean. Impacts Greece's military role in the Eastern Mediterranean will expand now that it is the most reliable US ally in the region. The EU will focus on a positive agenda with Turkey including the customs union and generous aid for migrants, at Germany's initiative. Greece will proceed with major arms purchases from France, the United States and other countries.


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