scholarly journals Navigating Through the Maze: Practical Constraints in the Implementation of Forest Regulations (FLEGT) in Ghana

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 31
Author(s):  
Gordon Kofi Sarfo-Adu
Keyword(s):  
Value Chain ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
Tracking System ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Implementation Challenges ◽  
Technical Errors ◽  
Public Policy Implementation ◽  
Transnational Actors ◽  
The Eu

The European Union Forest Law Enforcement on Governance and Trade (EU-FLEGT) Action Plan seeks to promote widespread sustainable forest management and relies largely on transnational actors and international law in its operationalization. The EU FLEGT sets out EU custom regulation through Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) which is a bilateral agreement between the EU and wood exporting countries with instruments aimed at promoting sustainable practices within the forest resources value chain. Ghana became a signatory to the FLEGT VPA since 2007, as part of the process, it is required to use technology to track timber logging from source to point of export. Issues of networks and inter-agency collaboration and dealing with human elements remain crucial in ensuring effective operationalization. Adopting a qualitative case study design as well as theories and concepts from the public policy implementation literature, this study examines the implementation vagaries of the FLEGT VPA in Ghana. Although the VPA is a laudable idea of using Information Technology (IT) in effectively tracking timber to its original source to ascertain legality or otherwise of the timber, the needed IT infrastructure and resources have not matched up with the goal. Additionally, the VPA implementation is expensive and has come with additional cost to the implementers, The study further observes that the increasing ‘red flags’ that are raised on the Ghana Wood Tracking System is a blend of technical errors emanating from negligence or capacity challenges and human manipulation. This calls for regular consultations and workshops with relevant stakeholders in order to assess which skills are deficient and a need to beef up through on-the-job training. The domestic market and trading activities tend to fuel demand for illegal timber hence a constraint to the full realization of the VPA objective. The study makes policy suggestions on how to address these implementation challenges.

European experience in transition to circular economy

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 598-617 ◽  
Author(s):  
S.V. Ratner
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Raw Materials ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
National Level ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Scientific Methods ◽  
European Experience ◽  
General Scientific ◽  
The Eu

Subject. The article considers the concept of circular economy, which has originated relatively recently in the academic literature, and is now increasingly recognized in many countries at the national level. In the European Union, the transition to circular economy is viewed as an opportunity to improve competitiveness of the European Union, protect businesses from resource shortages and fluctuating prices for raw materials and supplies, and a way to increase employment and innovation. Objectives. The aim of the study is to analyze the incentives developed by the European Commission for moving to circular economy, and to assess their effectiveness on the basis of statistical analysis. Methods. I employ general scientific methods of research. Results. The analysis of the EU Action Plan for the Circular Economy enabled to conclude that the results of the recent research in circular economy barriers, eco-innovation, technology and infrastructure were successfully integrated into the framework of this document. Understanding the root causes holding back the circular economy development and the balanced combination of economic and administrative incentives strengthened the Action Plan, and it contributed to the circular economy development in the EU. Conclusions. The measures to stimulate the development of the circular economy proposed in the European Action Plan can be viewed as a prototype for designing similar strategies in other countries, including Russia. Meanwhile, a more detailed analysis of barriers to the circular economy at the level of individual countries and regions is needed.

Recent Developments of Corporate Governance in the European Union and their Impact on the German Legal System

2004 ◽  
Vol 5 (10) ◽  
pp. 1275-1294
Author(s):  
Athanasios Kouloridas ◽  
Jens von Lackum
Keyword(s):  
Corporate Governance ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Company Law ◽  
Public Consultation ◽  
Public Confidence ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Legal Form ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Set Up ◽  
The Eu

The collapses of several US-businesses like those of Enron and Worldcom and a number of scandals in the EU – in the recent past that of Parmalat – have strongly affected public confidence in the operation and governance of large entities trading their shares in organized capital markets. The European Commission reacted by issuing the Action Plan on Modernizing Company Law and Enhancing Corporate Governance in the EU on 21 May 2003. The Action Plan contains measures which the Commission wants to implement over the short term (until 2005), medium term (until 2008) and long term (until 2010). The key issues set up in the Action Plan concern corporate governance, capital maintenance, recapitalization as well as decreasing capital, groups of companies, international corporate restructuring and the introduction of a new legal form of incorporation. The fact that the big rating agencies have begun to rate the corporate governance performances of major companies, can well be seen as a further indicator that good corporate governance has an important concern for managers, shareholders and for policy makers. As part of the Action Plan, the Commission has recently launched consultations on board responsibilities and improving financial and corporate governance information, on directors’ remuneration and on the role of (independent) non-executive or supervisory directors. In the light of these recent consultations and the results of the public consultation on the Action Plan, this Article offers an overview and assessment of the corporate governance measures planned at Community level.

POLISH AND RUSSIAN BORDER ON THE ROAD TO SCHENGEN

2011 ◽  
Vol 161 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-122
Author(s):  
Halina ŁACH
Keyword(s):  
Central Europe ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Migration Policy ◽  
Buffer Zone ◽  
The Other ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Illegal Migration ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
On The Road ◽  
The Eu

After the collapse of communism, the countries of Central Europe, including Poland, be-came a “buffer zone” for the European Union. This was not the result of a deliberate policy by the EU; Poland and the other countries in Central Europe wanted to begin cooperation with the EU as soon as possible, hoping to become its members.Future membership in the Union required Poland to adopt and implement the regulations of the Schengen legal order, which included control on its external borders, a common visa regime, combating cross-border crime, migration policy, infrastructure for border protection, as well as cooperation of border, customs and police services. Adopting the EU standards formed the basis for drawing up and implementing strategic governmental projects: The Action Plan for the Implementation of the Schengen Legal Heritage in Poland as well as the Strategy for the Integrated Border Management.Membership in the EU entailed a wide range of legal, institutional and infrastructural adjustments along the Polish and Russian border, as Poland came to be responsible for the safety of each specific section of the external border. In order to meet the Schengen regulations on the Polish and Russian border, the authorities of the Province of Warmia and Mazury began implementing projects and plans for managing the national border with respect to modernising its infrastructure and construction of border crossings. On the other hand, The Warmia and Mazury Division of the Border Guard took action in border protection consisting in adjusting border protection standards to the border crime threats, illegal migration as well as the intro-duction of regulations to allow for free transfer of persons and objects across the border.

STATE AID IN THE AGRICULTURAL AND FORESTRY SECTORS AND IN RURAL AREAS IN RESPECT OF THE COMPETITION POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION IN THE YEARS 2004-2015

2017 ◽  
Vol XIX (3) ◽  
pp. 250-257
Author(s):  
Krzysztof Rutkiewicz ◽  
Angelika Pruchnicka
Keyword(s):  
Rural Areas ◽  
Competition Policy ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Sustainable Forest Management ◽  
State Aid ◽  
Public Expenditures ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Territorial Development ◽  
Adverse Weather ◽  
The Eu

The aim of the study is to discuss the legal and economic aspects of granting of state aid in the sectors of agriculture, forestry and in rural areas in the light of the EU competition policy in the years 2004-2015. The methods of deduction, descriptive, critical-cognitive and comparative analysis of statistical data (derived from Eurostat database) on the value and structure of state aid for sectoral targets in the EU-28, were used. State aid in the EU is the instrument aimed at achieving the objectives of the Common Agricultural Policy, which strengthens the competitiveness and profitability of all agricultural branches, promotes the sustainable forest management and territorial development of rural areas, stimulating the actions in the field of climate and energy efficiency. The greatest beneficiaries of state aid in the agricultural sector in the years 2004- 2015 were: France (16%), Germany (12%), Finland (10%), Italy (9%), Spain (8%), Poland (7%), Great Britain (6%) and Netherlands (5%). In the structure of state aid in the EU-28 Member States, tax exemptions were the predominant use (14%), followed by investments in agricultural holdings (13.6%), support to the livestock sector (8%), animal disease control (6%), agricultural and livestock insurance contributions (5.4%), technical support (5%), forestry support (4.8%), aid for research & development & innovation (4.7%), adverse weather events (4%), public expenditures for environmental protection and compensations for natural disasters and other exceptional occurrences (3.5% each).

scholarly journals Evaluation of Economic Impacts of Biodiesel Production in Slovakia

2019 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 75-77
Author(s):  
Zuzana Bajusová ◽  
Jana Ladvenicová ◽  
Tatiana Bullová ◽  
Ľubomír Gurčík
Keyword(s):  
Renewable Resources ◽  
Rapeseed Oil ◽  
Slovak Republic ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Biodiesel Production ◽  
Biofuel Production ◽  
Agricultural Crops ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The increasing consumption of energy, as well as exhaustibility of fossil resources, initiate the necessity of finding renewable resources. Especially biofuels represent the important role in terms of renewable resources, development of which is often question under debate in many countries. By increasing of blending mandate in the European Union (EU), the SR after joining the EU forced to implement the changes in its action plan for renewable energy in transport and set benchmarks share of methyl ester of rapeseed oil in diesel fuel. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the economic impact of biodiesel production in the Slovak republic. At the same time, biofuel production has an impact on the price of conventional fuels. The relationship between biofuel production and prices of agricultural crops as well as conventional fuels we examined through regression and correlation analysis, which showed that between production of biodiesel and the prices indicated exists certain dependency.

scholarly journals Das transnationale Kapital und die Bearbeitung der Krise(n) der Europäischen Union

2014 ◽  
Vol 44 (175) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mathis Heinrich
Keyword(s):  
Management Approach ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Ruling Class ◽  
Oriented Growth ◽  
Global Competitiveness ◽  
Political Dominance ◽  
Transnational Actors ◽  
Strategic Influence ◽  
Political Ground ◽  
The Eu

The article stresses the ideological and political dominance of productive capital fractions within the power bloc of the European Union (EU), by exemplifying their strategic influence in transnational struggles over the management of the current crises in Europe. Theoretically, it is shown, that the leadership of a fraction within the ruling class does neither result from its economic dominance in accumulation nor its hegemony in society alone, but rather depends on concrete struggles over power and meaning within the power bloc itself. In this regard, the economic and financial crisis management approach of the EU reveals that especially transnational actors from the European industry are able to use the crisis between 2008 and 2013 to further lock-in their global competitiveness strateg y into EU political structures. While the lobby groups of finance capital, although still economically important, are rather losing political ground and get lost in technocratic disputes among each, productive capital associations are holding the ruling class in Brussels together by using their privileged access to EU institutions and subordinating the interests of others capital fractions under the dominant discourse of a global and export-oriented growth regime of the EU.

scholarly journals EUROPEAN COMMON AVIATION AREA: AVIATION LIBERALISATION AND UKRAINE’S ACCESSION PROCESS

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 149-163
Author(s):  
Kateryna Vodolaskova
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Market Access ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Civil Aviation ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Strategic Development ◽  
Association Agreement ◽  
Priority Task ◽  
Traffic Organization ◽  
The Eu

The signing of the Common Aviation Area (CAA) Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union (EU) is one of the priority task on the agenda in Ukraine. The implementation of the CAA Agreement is envisaged in the Association Agreement (2014) between the EU and Ukraine, the Action Plan of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (CMU) and the Strategic Development Plan of the aviation transport. Despite of the officially announced readiness of the Ukrainian side, the signing of the CAA Agreement has been postponed since 2013. Investigation of the external and internal problems for the integration of Ukraine into the CAA creates the topicality of this paper and leads to the purpose of the article. Purpose of the article is comprehensive study of the legal basis and background of ECAA, analyzing the neighborhood policies and hence, the determination of the main directions of incorporation of the EU civil aviation requirements and standards regarding market access, air traffic organization, flight safety, the environment and other issues in Ukraine’s legislation. The article is based on usage of the general and special-legal scientific methods of cognition, as well as formal legal and dialectical approaches. Legal basement of this work, in particular, consists of: a) the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the EU of 2014; b) National Program of Adaptation of the Legislation of Ukraine to the Legislation of the European Union (adopted by the Law of Ukraine on November 04, 2018, № 2581-VIII); c) the Strategic Plan for the Development of Air Transport (adopted by the Ministry of Infrastructure of Ukraine on December 21, 2015, Decree № 546) and d) the Action Plan to Prepare for the Introduction of a CAA of Ukraine with the EU and its Member States (adopted by the CMU on February 8, 2017, Order № 88-o) and other regulations. Results of the paper include the conceptual theoretic investigation to reveal external and internal problems on the way to the Ukraine’s integration into the CAA of the EU, practical recommendations for the process of approximation of Ukraine's legislation to the EU’s standards, and contribute to the liberalization of regulation of international air services.

scholarly journals New EU Initiatives against Terrorism

2021 ◽  
pp. 17-23
Author(s):  
Olga Potemkina ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Data Encryption ◽  
Terrorist Attacks ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
The European Union ◽  
European Cities ◽  
Security Challenges ◽  
Access To Data ◽  
The Eu

The article examines the EU’s response to a series of terrorist attacks in European cities in the autumn of 2020, after which the topic of terrorism once again came to the fore on the EU political agenda. The author analyses the new Counter-Terrorism Action Plan and the Regulation on the removal of terrorist content from the Internet adopted after a protracted inter-institutional dialogue between the EU Council and the European Parliament. The article also looks at the problem of expanding the mandate of the Europol agency in the field of big data analysis, while the author emphasises that member states still doubt the need to grant the agency access to data encryption. The author comes to the conclusion that the European Union quite adequately fulfills the tasks outlined in the documents to respond to terrorist attacks, but has not been very successful in preventing them. It is noted that in the plans of international anti-terrorist cooperation, the European Union, as before, does not include Russia, which can not but reduce the effect of global and regional confrontation with new security challenges.

scholarly journals The Commitment of Packaging Industry in the Framework of the European Strategy for Plastics in a Circular Economy

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 18 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleonora Foschi ◽  
Alessandra Bonoli
Keyword(s):  
European Commission ◽  
Value Chain ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Food Packaging ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Official Journal ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Market Restriction ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Plastic Products

European Commission is strongly committed into issues related to plastic materials production and plastic waste management. While the Circular Economy Package has set targets generally referred to recycling rates, the European Strategy for plastics in a circular economy (and related action plan), fosters sustainability along the entire plastic value chain: from primary producers to converters, brand owners and retailers to waste collectors and recyclers. The Directive on the reduction of the impact of certain plastic products on the environment (more commonly known as Directive on Single-Use-Plastics, waiting for publication in the Official Journal of the European Union) rules targets on ten plastic products most often found as littering on global beaches, directly affecting plastic industry and, consequently, market. Policy makers and industrial stakeholders are called upon to collaborate. The article aims to illustrate interactions between European Commission and all plastic value chain stakeholders on implementing measures to reach ambitious targets pursued by the recent European policy. The study shows how European Commission has robustly worked to regulate production and consumption patterns on plastic carrier bags and packaging (including food packaging) thus facilitating the achievement of specific targets provided by the recent Directive. However, additional provisions concerning market restriction have been introduced; industrial stakeholders carried on a prompt response by promoting the creation of alliances, join venture and association, as well as a more integrated plastic value chain. On the base of this purpose, a virtuous example of a closed supply chain is presented.

The European Union and Human Rights

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Financial Economic ◽  
Fundamental Rights ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Charter Of Fundamental Rights ◽  
Migration Crisis ◽  
Legislative Activities ◽  
The Eu

With the Treaty of Lisbon, the profile of human rights issues has greatly risen in relation to European Union (EU) policies, whether internal or external. The EU has made the commitment to ensure that all its actions are compliant with human rights, and to seek to promote them. Yet, the Union’s commitment has come under close scrutiny, not only for its groundbreaking character, but also because recent events have put it to the test. The EU has been faced with a number of crises such as the financial-economic crisis and the imposition of austerity measures, the migration crisis, and terrorist attacks. At the same time, the EU has made significant steps to implement its human rights commitment, such as through the binding character of the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights, the adoption of the Strategic Framework and Action Plan on human rights and democracy, and the adoption of human rights country strategies for a large number of third countries. This volume takes stock of these developments. It comprehensively discusses the conceptualisation and operationalisation of the EU’s commitment to human rights throughout its actions, legislative activities, policies, and relationships, and critically assesses them.

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