Management of Waste Batteries and Accumulators: Quest of European Union Goals

Energy issues are multifaceted and are not limited to power plants, biogas plants or transmission lines. They also include the production, usage and utilisation of batteries and accumulators, which are increasingly valuable due to, among other things, the decision to develop the production of electric cars. This article creates new ground by analysing the European Union management system of batteries and accumulators in the cause–effect context. This paper’s insights have emerged iteratively based on the theory reviewed and the empirical case—a deep analysis of the Polish management system of batteries and accumulators. The findings show that the public institutions in the analysed European Union Member State—Poland—were not ready to create a fully coherent and effective oversight system on managing batteries and accumulators. It may limit the reliability of the European Union’s reporting on battery and accumulator management, which is a part of the European energy policy. The findings make two main contributions: first, they contribute to developing a theory of energy resource management; second, this article contributes to a further contextual diagnosis of the comprehensive management system of waste batteries and accumulators, which is an important part of the European Battery Alliance. Moreover, the avenues for further research emerged from the present study.

Australia

Intelligence accountability in Australia balances compliance and bodies whose systematic focus is on efficacy and financial review with independent intelligence reviews, commissions, and inquiries that focus on efficacy. Australia differs insofar as it is not subject to a constitutionally or supranationally enshrined civil right regime. A diversity of mechanisms, ranging from parliamentary committees and executive bodies to periodic independent reviews, fashion an oversight system that drives innovation. From the three Royal Hope Commissions to regular inquiries into the National Intelligence Community, Australia’s independent in-depth periodic reviews, inquiries, and commissions have a track-record of shaping and spurring change and innovation in the scope and structure of accountability across its broader intelligence and security community. The Australian tradition of independent expert intelligence reviews, commissions, and inquiries offsets the lack of accountability bodies dedicated to reviewing for efficacy and innovation. The chapter reviews the member organizations of the Australia’s National Intelligence Community, the strategic environment that has informed intelligence and accountability in Australia, national security threats as seen by Australia, as well as Australia’s systematic approach to reviewing and innovating its intelligence accountability architecture. It consists of the Inspector General of Intelligence and Security, the Parliamentary Joint Committee on Intelligence and Security, and the Independent National Security Law Monitor. Although similar to the United States Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the United Kingdom’s Joint Intelligence Organization, Australia’s Office of National Intelligence is quite unique insofar as neither the US and UK equivalents nor comparable offices in Canada and the New Zealand have an analogous accountability function. These mechanisms balance existing independent review mechanisms with mandates to review legislation and compliance, propriety, administration.

7. The Structure of the Tribunals

This chapter examines the jurisdiction and structure of tribunals. It then considers two very different tribunals through the use of case studies, namely the Employment Tribunals and the Investigatory Powers Tribunal. Tribunals have existed for many years but have traditionally operated as an oversight system for administrative issues. In recent years, the number of tribunals has increased and their work has begun to involve more complicated legal questions. Tribunals are now, in essence, a parallel system of dispute resolution and their complexity is recognized by the fact that their presiding officers now bear the title of ‘judge’. This chapter examines this parallel judicial system and identifies similarities between and differences from court justice.

Improvement of tax administration based on the requirements to marking of goods

The subject of this research is one of the most relevant vectors in the work of tax and other competent authorities – implementation of the procedure of digital marking of goods and creation of the unified verification base for the released products. The object of this research is the oversight system, in which the monitoring functions of commodity flow are divided between the competent authorities that also control the discharge of fiscal obligations and usage of cash trade mechanisms. Based on the acquired results, the author formulates the tasks solved in implementation of the marking of goods technology; structures the model of system interaction of the authorized state agencies on the questions of monitoring goods turnover; determines the role of fiscal control authorities in the new mechanism of administering sales relations; establishes the theoretical-methodological content of the effectiveness of digital marking of goods. Analysis is conducted on the law enforcement practice of administrative infractions with regards to mandatory requirements of the marking of goods. The author proposes the directions for the development of technologies for monitoring goods turnover and discharge of fiscal obligations by the counterparty. These recommendations along with the obtained results define the novelty of this research, substantiated by a relatively small experience in the area of marking technologies within the system of tax and operational administration of product turnover.

Analysis of Village Fund Policy Implementation in Improving Village Independence in Lombok Tengah Districtnusa Tenggara Barat Province

The purpose of this study is to analyze the implementation of village fund policies in Central Lombok seen in its performance of increasing village independence. The research method used is qualitative research design (case study). Determination of informants, researchers used purposive and snowball techniques. Data collection techniques through in-depth interviews, observation, and documentation techniques. The Village Fund's policy is not optimal in increasing the independence of the village in terms of content and policy context. a) interests that are affected: the freedom of the village in managing the budget requires the need to measure the efficiency of the program / activity; b) type of benefit, more activities lead to infrastructure and not optimal participation of citizens, this happens because of some difficulties; c) desired target changes, different targets lead to lengthy policy controls, the oversight system is not optimal; d) the location of decision making, is still limited to the perception of the village elite; e) implementing the program, there TPK actually shows the inability of the village to build collective awareness of the community; f) resources allocated, the use of technology in the operation of the Village Fund has not been optimal, the education level of the village apparatus is an average high school equivalent and a hamlet head of junior high school is equivalent; g) the power, interests and strategies of the actors involved, this difference causes a mixture of values in the implementation of policies that give birth to manipulative legalistic; h) characteristics of regimes and institutions, there are feudalistic, capitalistic practices in political affiliation and village government management; i) compliance and responsiveness, there is a relationship between compliance with transparency of activities, compliance with the consistency of policy implementers, and the relationship between compliance and commitment.

The Effects of Performance Audits on School District Financial Behavior

Performance audits are a form of weak financial oversight intended to curb inefficient spending and help alleviate financial problems. This study examines the effect of these performance audits on school district finances in Ohio, where performance audits are used on their own and within the context of the state’s fiscal stress labeling system—a strong financial oversight system. Using a difference-in-differences analysis, we find school districts do reduce expenditures as a result of these performance audits. These changes in financial behavior are found even for performance audits in nonfiscal stress districts, suggesting that weak oversight programs may be an effective means toward changing fiscal behavior. Despite the financial changes in nonfiscal stress districts that receive audits, there appears to be little impact on school district proficiency rates. These results suggest that audits may provide a useful mechanism for changing financial behavior of school districts without much associated efficiency losses.