scholarly journals Withdrawal of European Soil Framework Directive: Reasons and Recommendations

2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Yijia Chen

The European Soil Framework Directive was the first policy approach of soil protection at the European level. It had an objective to protect soils across Europe and maintain the sustainability of soil functions. Notwithstanding the significance of the directive along with both the current state and the trend of the soil in Europe were negative, it had been strongly blocked by five member states of the European Union since it was adopted in 2006, encompassing the UK, Germany, France, the Netherlands, and Austria. The proposal was withdrawn formally on 21 May 2014 by the European Commission without any official statement of reasons. Consequently, this study aimed at the reasons for the withdrawal and the amendments to the directive, which contributed to restoring its role in soil conservation. It ascertained the reasons and proved some recommendations principally via a deductive approach and qualitative research. The results demonstrated that the resistance of the five main blocking countries was the direct factor in the withdrawal. Behind the statements of opponents, financial difficulties and political issues were the possible underlying reasons. Hence, the European Commission could arrange more meetings and change some provisions to eliminate the misunderstanding with its member states. On the other hand, it is sensible for the opponents to be more flexible to deal with the directive, for instance, establishing the benefits from the articles as well as more approaches for solving the problem of financial shortage.

Author(s):  
Olga Nikolaevna Sinkina

The object of this research is the concept of restructuring, which in the conditions of crisis in the European Union is positioned as an instrument for its overcoming and the procedure for its verification by the auditor. The subject of this research is a range of question associated on the peculiarities of positioning of the concept of restructuring in the EU. The article analyzes the criteria for insolvency and tests for the presence of the signs of insolvency according to the national legislation of the EU jurisdiction based on the typical crisis process. The author introduces the definition of the concept of restructuring, its framework and elements. The recommendations of the European Commission on overcoming crisis situations and insolvency of companies are provided; the principles of preventive concept of restructuring are analyzed; the auditor’s procedures pertaining to the concept of restructuring are formulated. The research methodology relies on the fundamental provisions presented in the works of foreign scholars. The main conclusions are as follows: the responsibility of the corporate management in a number of EU member-states includes verification of compliance with the established criteria of insolvency on the regular basis; for this, it is necessary to submit the report to regulatory authorities on the current state of the company and decision on overcoming the crisis, usually in the form of the concept of restructuring approved by the auditor. The scientific novelty of this research consists in: 1) generalization of legal regulation of the criteria of insolvency in the EU member-states, tests for the presence of the signs of insolvency, responsibility of corporate management, outline of the restructuring plan; 2) positioning of the concept of restructuring, formulation of definition of the concept of restructuring, its framework and elements; 3) analysis of the principles of the preventive concept of restructuring of the European Commission; 4) development of audit procedures concerning the concept of restructuring.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 121-144
Author(s):  
Touko Johannes Sinisalo

AbstractOn 28 March 2018, the European Commission published a press release stating that there is a plan to revoke all.eu domains owned by the United Kingdom’s individuals and entities due to Britain’s exit from the European Union. The article highlights issues related to the process of the UK leaving the EU, gives examples from other fields of the Union law and the national law of the Member States which have experienced similar situations and also points out the fundamental rights that the Commission needs to comply with. The basics of domain names are also partially covered to inform the reader about what domain names are based on and of existing regulations in the field.


Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (13) ◽  
pp. 3765
Author(s):  
Jarosław Brodny ◽  
Magdalena Tutak ◽  
Peter Bindzár

The global economic development is, to a great extent, dependent on access to large amounts of cheap energy sources. The growing social awareness of ecology and the enormous damage to the Earth’s ecosystem due to the production of energy from conventional sources have forced fundamental changes in the energy sector. Renewable energy is considered to be an opportunity for such changes. The current state of the art allows such changes to be made without restricting economic development. Therefore, activities related to the energy transition are being taken all over the world. The European Union has definitely managed to achieve the most tangible effects in this regard. This article presents the findings of the research aimed at presenting the current state of renewable energy in the European Union and analyzing the changes reported in this sector in the last decade. The research was carried out using a selected set of 11 indicators characterizing renewable energy in individual countries. These indicators were selected on the basis of literature review and own studies of the state of renewable energy and its development prospects. Based on these indicators, changes in the energy structure of individual European Union countries between 2008–2018 were determined. The study is divided into two main stages. The principal components analysis (PCA) was used for the first analysis. In turn, the Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was adopted to assess the level of renewable energy development in the European Union countries. Both these methods and the extended statistical analysis were applied to determine the state of renewable energy development in the European Union countries in the studied period and to divide the Member States into classes with different levels of development. The results of the study showed that the EU countries are characterized by significant differences in the development of RES during the period in question. The unquestionable leaders in this respect are Sweden, Austria, Finland, and Latvia. Based on the findings, it is possible to evaluate the effects of activities related to renewable energy development and to prepare assumptions for future activities. Additionally, both the research and its findings broaden the knowledge of the directions of renewable energy development in individual European Union countries. This is particularly important in the context of changes related to the need to reduce harmful substance emissions and the implementation of the European Green Deal idea.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-187
Author(s):  
Pauline Melin

In a 2012 Communication, the European Commission described the current approach to social security coordination with third countries as ‘patchy’. The European Commission proposed to address that patchiness by developing a common EU approach to social security coordination with third countries whereby the Member States would cooperate more with each other when concluding bilateral agreements with third countries. This article aims to explore the policy agenda of the European Commission in that field by conducting a comparative legal analysis of the Member States’ bilateral agreements with India. The idea behind the comparative legal analysis is to determine whether (1) there are common grounds between the Member States’ approaches, and (2) based on these common grounds, it is possible to suggest a common EU approach. India is taken as a third-country case study due to its labour migration and investment potential for the European Union. In addition, there are currently 12 Member State bilateral agreements with India and no instrument at the EU level on social security coordination with India. Therefore, there is a potential need for a common EU approach to social security coordination with India. Based on the comparative legal analysis of the Member States’ bilateral agreements with India, this article ends by outlining the content of a potential future common EU approach.


2012 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-156
Author(s):  
Janina Witkowska

Water resources are among the most valuable resources of the natural environment. The sustainable and integrated management of these resources is the basis of European water policy. Pursuant to the Water Framework Directive, all waters in the European Union should achieve a state considered at least good by the year 2015. Just how this objective can be met continues to be a topic of discussions in some of the Member States. There exist serious problems and delays in performing and implementing the provisions of the Directive in most EU countries. What is more, the state of the water economy in several countries, including Poland, has been criticized by the European Commission. Many challenges stand before European water policy. They require solutions on a global and local level. This article presents current key problems and planned directions for EU water policy development, subjected to analysis and assessment. Note is taken on the newest initiative of the European Commission in the area of water policy, especially the plan for protecting Europe’s water resources—the Blueprint to Safeguard Europe’s Water Resources


Author(s):  
Petr YAKOVLEV

The decision on Britain’s secession from the European Union, taken by the British Parliament and agreed by London and Brussels, divided the Union history into “before” and “after”. Not only will the remaining member states have to “digest” the political, commercial, economic and mental consequences of parting with one of the largest partners. They will also have to create a substantially new algorithm for the functioning of United Europe. On this path, the EU is confronted with many geopolitical and geo-economic challenges, which should be answered by the new leaders of the European Commission, European Council, and European Parliament.


Author(s):  
Radovan Malachta

The paper follows up on the arguments introduced in the author’s article Mutual Trust as a Way to an Unconditional Automatic Recognition of Foreign Judgments. This paper, titled Mutual Trust between the Member States of the European Union and the United Kingdom after Brexit: Overview discusses, whether there has been a loss of mutual trust between the European Union and the United Kingdom after Brexit. The UK, similarly to EU Member States, has been entrusted with the area of recognition and enforcement of judgements thus far. Should the Member States decrease the level of mutual trust in relation to the UK only because the UK ceased to be part of the EU after 47 years? Practically overnight, more precisely, the day after the transitional period, should the Member States trust the UK less in the light of legislative changes? The article also outlines general possibilities that the UK has regarding which international convention it may accede to. Instead of going into depth, the article presents a basic overview. However, this does not prevent the article to answer, in addition to the questions asked above, how a choice of access to an international convention could affect the level of mutual trust between the UK and EU Member States.


2021 ◽  
Vol IV (IV) ◽  
pp. 27-47
Author(s):  
Stefan Babiarz

Gift and inheritance tax in the European Union Member States is calculated and charged in numerous ways. In the majority of countries of the European Economic Community it constitutes a separate tax. In several countries it is not charged at all or is part of the income tax. Despite the attempts made by the European Commission to unify the legislation of the Member States in this regard, there has been no success. The article presents the above-mentioned attempts of the European Commission, their results and consequences. It identifies the methods of avoiding a double or even triple taxation on cross-border inheritances or donations. This is of crucial significance also to the Polish citizens who demonstrate higher and higher investment activity in the countries of the European Economic Community and third countries.


Author(s):  
Federico Fabbrini

This chapter analyses the European Union during Brexit, explaining how the EU institutions and Member States reacted to the UK’s decision to leave the EU. It outlines how they went about this in the course of the withdrawal negotiations. The EU institutions and Member States managed to adopt a very united stance vis-à-vis a withdrawing state, establishing effective institutional mechanisms and succeeding in imposing their strategic preferences in the negotiations with the UK. Nevertheless, the EU was also absorbed during Brexit by internal preparations to face both the scenario of a ‘hard Brexit’—the UK leaving the EU with no deal—and of a ‘no Brexit’—with the UK subsequently delaying exit and extending its EU membership. Finally, during Brexit the EU increasingly started working as a union of 27 Member States—the EU27—which in this format opened a debate on the future of Europe and developed new policy initiatives, especially in the field of defence and military cooperation.


2021 ◽  
pp. 126-143
Author(s):  
Tereza Čejková

After expressing concerns about the state of democracy and civil rights in Poland and Germany in recent years, the European Commission proposed to implement the so-called rule of law condition in the 2021–2027 multiannual financial framework scheme, under which EU budget funding would not be allocated to those Member States which do not comply with the condition. This work will examine the financial and legal aspects of this condition and assess the impact of its application on the economy of the European Union.


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