Możliwości zablokowania ustanowienia powiązania budżetu Unii Europejskiej z praworządnością

The new regime of conditionality for the protection of the rule of law, understood as the rule of law (new conditionality), appears to be contrary to the European Union Treaties, in particular because its essential provisions are incompatible with the requirement of legal certainty which underlies the rule of law. This conditionality is based on financial liability for the risk of illegality, that is, in sum, for lawful acts of a Member State which may possibly turn out to be unlawful, but after financial sanctions have already been applied. This publication deals with the identification and management of legal risks that give rise to financial risks. After characterising the basic EU budgetary instruments on the basis of the acquis of economic and legal sciences (which implies the application of the external integration method), using a dogmatic method, the author discusses the possibility of blocking by a Member State the introduction into EU law of a mechanism binding the budget with the broadly understood rule of law in connection with the signalled incompatibilities of the new conditionality mechanism with primary Union law. The aim of the paper is to answer the question of what legal possibilities an individual Member State has to counteract a Union regulation prima facie incompatible with the rule of law, apart from challenging the regulation before the Court of Justice (review of the legality of legal acts), on the assumption that the rule of law imposes an obligation to first counteract bad legislation (decent legislation as an element of the rule of law) and only as a last resort to lodge a complaint with the Court against a given act of derived Union law.

Health and long-term care benefits and the proposed revised coordination regulation: A brave new world or much ado about nothing?

This article examines the implications of the proposed Revised Coordination Regulation for long-term care benefits. First, it explores what is meant by ‘long-term care’. This sets the debate around access to long-term care in the context of developments regarding the safeguarding of fundamental human rights for those with disabilities and increasing international concern regarding the human rights of older persons. Secondly, it charts the response at the EU level to calls for safeguards in long-term care. It contrasts this with the disparate approaches taken at the Member State level. Thirdly, it examines the development of CJEU jurisprudence in this area. Fourthly, it considers the proposals for amending Regulation 883/2004 and its inclusion of long-term care. It concludes by questioning the extent to which these proposed developments will provide a radical change of approach, one which may indeed impact on expectations of long-term care at the individual Member State level and asks whether the drafting of an approach taken in relation to the proposals suggests that, ultimately, this may be little more than ‘much ado about nothing’.

Dividing ASEAN and Conquering the South China Sea

The “ASEAN Way” is based on the principle of consensus; any individual member state effectively has a veto over any proposal it does not support. This book analyzes how China uses its financial power and influence to divide the member countries of ASEAN in order to prevent them from acting collectively to resolve their territorial disputes with China in the South China Sea. Comparative case studies of China’s relations with Cambodia, the Philippines, and Myanmar illustrate that the regime type in the country with which China is interacting plays an important role in enhancing or constraining China’s ability to influence the governments of developing states within ASEAN and globally. Authoritarian institutions facilitate Chinese influence while democratic institutions inhibit that influence. The book argues that as long as ASEAN includes developing, authoritarian regimes, and given that the United States and other global powers are unlikely to risk any serious conflict over each push of China’s maritime boundaries, little by little, China will assert its sovereignty over the South China Sea. Nevertheless, the book contends that if China chooses to engage in more sophisticated bilateral politics with democratic states, such as providing incentives to a broader range of interest groups, then China will have more success in projecting its power globally.

TECHNICAL MEASURES TO DECREASE HEAT ENERGY CONSUMPTION OF FINAL CUSTOMER IN MULTI-APARTMENT BUILDINGS ACCORDING TO ENERGY EFFICIENCY DIRECTIVE / TECHNINĖS PRIEMONĖS, SKIRTOS MAŽINTI GALUTINIO VARTOTOJO ŠILUMINĖS ENERGIJOS VARTOJIMĄ DAUGIABUČIUOSE GYVENAMU

Energy consumption in the world increases, so the measures in order to improve energy efficiency must be found. The aim of 2012/27/EU Energy Efficiency Directive targets is to decrease energy consumption for a final energy consumer by 1.5% every year, but there is no definition how these targets could be achieved by an individual member state. This article presents the analysis how these targets could be achieved by the means of individual heat metering by heat cost allocators for every flat thus decreasing an energy consumption for a final consumer. Statistical analysis of identical buildings with individual metering by heat cost allocators and without them is presented. Heat cost allocators do not decrease energy consumption by themselves, so this article presents a technical solution and a set of additional equipment, i.e. thermostatic valves, balance valves, hot water meters and remote data collection system that must be installed. The final results show that the targets of 2012/27/EU Energy Efficiency Directive in Lithuania can be reached, because the buildings with individual heat cost allocators consume about 20–30% less of heat energy. Pasaulyje energijos vartojimas auga, todėl turi būti rastos energetinio efektyvumo pagerinimo priemonės. 2012/27/ES Energijos Efektyvumo Direktyvos tikslas yra sumažinti galutinio energijos vartotojo energijos suvartojimą kasmet po 1,5 %, tačiau nėra nurodyta, kaip kiekviena valstybė narė šiuos tikslus galėtų įgyvendinti. Šis straipsnis pristato analizę, kaip šie tikslai galėtų būti pasiekti, kiekviename bute įrengiant individualios šilumos apskaitos šilumos daliklius, kad sumažėtų energijos vartojimas atskiruose butuose. Pateikta statistinė identiškų pastatų su šilumos dalikliais ir be jų analizė. Šiluminei energijai taupyti neužtenka vien tik šilumos daliklių, todėl straipsnyje pateiktas techninis sprendimas – būtinų įdiegti techninių priemonių paketas, kurį sudaro tokios priemonės: termostatiniai ventiliai, balansiniai ventiliai, karšto vandens skaitikliai, belaidė reguliaraus duomenų nuskaitymo sistema. Galutiniai analizės rezultatai rodo, kad 2012/27/ES Energijos Efektyvumo Direktyvos tikslai Lietuvoje gali būti pasiekti, nes pastatai su individualia šilumos apskaita ir įrengtais šilumos dalikliais vartoja apie 20–30 % mažiau šiluminės energijos nei pastatai be tokios apskaitos.

Diffusion of Innovations on E-Customs Business to Government IT: Developing E-Government Services New Conceptsand Technologies

Objective - This research aims to investigate how e-customs innovation diffusion may take place focusing on the benefits that it can bring to potential stakeholders, for business companies and governments.Two research models have been developed based on a literature review on the diffusion of IT innovations as well as on value assessment methods used for IT innovations implemented in the private and public sector.The first part of research aims to illustrate the innovation-development of business-togovernment IT innovations, while the second aims to provide a guideline on important variables needed to conduct value assessment for such innovations as well as how to classify the identified benefits. Methodology/Technique Multiple SEM analysis on e-customs have been carried out in order to test the proposed research models involving different business companies and governmental bodies. Findings - Although the Indonesian e-customs regulation states the objectives of the envisioned common standardized e-customs system, functional and technical specifications areprovided only on a high level. Therefore, the adoption and diffusion process is relegated to each individual member state. Thus, the analysis on how such a system will be adopted and diffused is the particular interest for all government corporations. Novelty - This conceptual research is an evidence of continuous improvement building in a struggling effort from the Indonesian government in reducing the poor living.The government has a strong and dominant role as an agent of change to innovate the way of doing business for living. View of research studying this correlations in Indonesian context. Type of Paper - Conceptual Keywords : Diffusion of Innovations, E-Customs, E-Government Services.

Responsibility of a Member state of an International Organization: Where Will It End? Comments on Article 60 of the ILC Draft on the Responsibility of International Organizations

The paper addresses the issue of possible responsibility of a member state for acts of an international organization of which it is a member. This particular issue forms part of the on-going work of the International Law Commission of establishing rules for the responsibility of international organizations. The particular challenge is posed by possible “responsibility gaps”, i.e. situations where a state might avoid compliance with its own obligations by prompting the organization of which it is a member to act instead. The paper compares the ILC approach, approaching the issue by way of trying to establish general rules of responsibility (“secondary rules”) and the practice of the EU, which has addressed the issue by tailor-made solutions in the context of specific treaties (“primary rules”). The latter approach is more flexible as it allows individual solutions pertinent to particular circumstances and treaty regimes so as to ensure that either the organization itself or its member state is responsible, depending whichever is genuinely responsible. The paper concludes that the ILC work is progressing in the right direction as it narrows down the possibilities where a member state can be held responsible to cover only situations bordering abuse, rather than more open-ended standards for individual member state responsibility, which can open the door for unpredictable results.

Common Commercial Policy: The Expanding Competence of the European Union in the Area of International Trade

The European Union (EU) acts in the area of international trade through the community's commercial policy regulated by the European Community (EC) Treaty. The position of the Union in external trade relations is dependant on the unique legal character of this entity. By developing a legal order which is supreme to the law of its Member States, and creating a complex system of institutions and modes of decision-making, the Community has ceased to be a mere representative of the countries it comprises. The increasing transfer of competences from the Member States onto the community allowed it to aim at the realization of common objectives as opposed to merely collective ones. As a result, tensions between the EC and dissatisfied Member States occur and the delineation of competences may turn out to be crucial when interests of an individual Member State are involved. Therefore, the paper which considers the situation of the “new” European Union in the area of international trade, in light of the Treaty Establishing a Constitution for Europe (Constitutional Treaty), should necessarily investigate how the position of the EU will be strengthened vis-à-vis its Member States.