Pandora Papers and the latest European efforts to combat money laundering, tax evasion and tax avoidance

Following the revelations of the Pandora Papers on offshore financial mechanisms which allow European citizens to avoid paying tax obligations and to commit tax evasion or money laundering offenses, the European Parliament adopted Resolution 2021/2922 (RSP) requiring Member States to take urgent and decisive action, both legislative and investigative, to combat this type of criminal behavior. As a response to the request formulated by the Parliament, the European Commission drafted a Proposal for a council Directive laying down rules to prevent the misuse of shell entities for tax purposes by introducing new monitoring and reporting regulations.

Going transnational? Candidates' transnational linkages on Twitter during the 2019 European Parliament elections

How transnational are European Parliament (EP) campaigns? Building on research on the Euro-pean public sphere and the politicisation of the EU, this study investigates to what extent the 2019 EP campaign was transnational and which factors were associated with ‘going transna-tional’. It conceptualises Twitter linkages of EP candidates as constitutive elements of a transna-tional campaign arena distinguishing interactions with EP candidates from other countries (hori-zontal transnationalisation) and interactions with the supranational European party families and lead candidates (vertical transnationalisation). The analysis of tweets sent by EP candidates from all 28 member states reveals that most linkages remain national. Despite this evidence for the second-order logic, there are still relevant variations contingent on EU positions of parties, the adoption of the Spitzenkandidaten system and socialisation in the EP. The findings have impli-cations for debates on the European public sphere and institutional reform proposals such as transnational party lists that might mitigate the EU’s democratic deficit.

Law and HRM Challenges in Generational Transition of Family Firms

This chapter examines some of the most relevant HRM problems in generational transition of family firms and proposes a number of legal instruments capable of resolving them. Use of corporations as vehicles to run the family business is examined, also with respect to consequences of this choice in business transition. Definition and “protection” of family roles within the firm are observed. Patrimonial issues are compared to personal issues and their interplay is explained by reference to five different scenarios. Last, the possibility to “select”, so to say, the law applicable to one's succession under Regulation (EU) no 650/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 is explored. At the end, it is concluded that even if HRM in family business shows informality along with formality in designing business practices, generational transition of family firms requires structuring and needs be planned, appropriately and in detail, in advance.

Europe and Euroscepticism on Twitter During the 2019 European Parliament Elections

The purpose of this research is to analyse the activity on Twitter of the eight main candidates who stood in the 2019 European election in Spain. The analysis was developed throughout the electoral campaign and established based on two methodological perspectives. First, the content analysis allowed to observe which topics each candidate spoke about and from which perspective (pro-European or Eurosceptic). Second, the discourse analysis allowed to further explore the political communication strategies developed. This analysis is based on two hypotheses. The first (H1) is that European issues and approaches will not be a priority in candidates' discourses for the European Parliament, given the context of political polarisation in Spain and the fact that these elections can be read as a second round for the April 2019 general election. The second (H2) is that Euroscepticism will have a marginal presence in candidates' messages. The results confirm H2 but reject H1.

APPLICATION IN SWITZERLAND OF THE REGULATION (EC) NO. 883/2004 OF EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND COUNCIL OF 29 APRIL 2004 ON THE COORDINATION OF SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEMS

The aim of this article is to show that Switzerland applies European laws concerning coordination of social security systems in order to solve cross-border problems connected in particular with the increasing fenomenon of multiskilling, for the benefit of isured people, Switzerland and EU member countries.

IMPLEMENTATION OF DIRECTIVE (EU) 2019/1158 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL OF 20 JUNE 2019 ON WORK-LIFE BALANCE OF PARENTS AND CARERS, REPEALING COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 2010/18/EU ‒ POLISH IMPLEMENTATION

The purpose of this article is to analyse the possible effects of the implementation by the Polish legislator of the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) 2019/1158 of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance of parents and carers, repealing Council Directive 2010/18 / EU. In accordance with the provisions of the recitals of the Directive, its aim is to improve the functioning of States in the field of equal opportunities on the labour market and the treatment of women and men at work because of their family and carer responsibilities. The Directive responds to the needs related to demographic changes also affecting Poland, the necessity to deepen the functioning of the principle of gender equality resulting from legal acts adopted for the community, the needs related to the professional activation of women and the fight against exclusion caused by guardianship of minors. The Directive addresses issues that are to be understood as social norms and these are mainly issues related to the concern for the sustainable development of all children and for guaranteeing stable conditions to parents and carers whose work also helps support their children.

COUNTERACTING PAY DISCRIMINATION – A FEW REMARKS ON THE PROPOSED AMENDMENT TO ART. 943 § 2 OF THE LABOUR CODE AND ON THE PROPOSED DIRECTIVE OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL TO STRENGTHEN THE APPLICATION OF THE PRINCIPLE OF EQUAL PAY FOR EQUAL WORK OR WORK OF EQUAL VALUE BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN THROUGH PAY TRANSPARENCY AND ENFORCEMENT MECHANISMS

In July 2020, a Parliamentary draft bill was brought before the Polish Sejm amending the Act – Civil Code (print no. 463). Currently, the legislative process concerning that draft is underway. The draft proposes to expand the definition of mobbing – as specified in Art. 943 § 2 of the Labour Code – by adding a provision under which mobbing would also consist in persistent and long-term differentiating the level of pay on grounds of an employee’s sex. The intention of the authors is to strengthen the legal instruments guaranteeing respect for the principle of equal rights for women with regard to pay for equal work or work of equal value. At the same time, in March 2021 – at the EU level – a legislative procedure was initiated in respect of the Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council to strengthen the application of the principle of equal pay for equal work or work of equal value between men and women through pay transparency and enforcement mechanisms. This article discusses the legal solutions expressed in the draft amendment to Art. 943 § 2 of the Labour Code and in the proposed Equal Pay Directive. The article is an attempt to answer the question if the introduction of the proposed regimes will eliminate or at least reduce pay discrimination on grounds of sex.

REFLECTIONS ON WORK-LIFE BALANCE FOR PARENTS AND GUARDIANS IN THE LIGHT OF DIRECTIVE (EU) 2019/1158 OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL

In this article the authors submit thorough analysis a new Directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers as well as the repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU that entered into force on August 1, 2019, paying special attention to adjusting domestic regulations to it. The solutions adopted in this Directive lay down minimum requirements designed to achieve equality between men and women regarding labour market opportunities and treatment at work, by facilitating the reconciliation of work and family life for workers who are parents, or carers. To that end, this Directive 2019/1158 provides for individual rights related to the following: paternity leave, parental leave and carers’ leave, flexible working arrangements for workers who are parents, or carers.

Regionalne ujednolicenie prawa prywatnego międzynarodowego w Skandynawii ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem spraw spadkowych

The aim of the following article is to introduce characteristics of the Nordic countries’ cooperation in the field of private international law, with particular emphasis on legislative cooperation concerning matters of inheritance law. The study discusses the genesis, characteristics and methods of legislative cooperation, along with selected Nordic conventions on private international law. As an example of a legal act of such kind, the article presents the Convention of 19 November 1934 comprising private international law provisions on succession, wills and estate administration, the detailed analysis of which was based on the author’s translation of the act from Swedish to Polish. Selected detailed issues discussed in the content of the Convention were also presented, some of which were compared to the solutions adopted by Regulation (EU) No 650/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012.