The 2020 Chinese export control law: a new compliance nightmare on the foreign trade law horizon?

On 1 December 2020, the Export Control Law of the People’s Republic of China entered into force. The PRC’s first comprehensive piece of legislation on export control had been passed by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress on 17 October 2020 after a three-year legislative process. Regarded as one of the PRC’s key responses in the engulfing China-United States trade dispute, the law has attracted wide public attention. It has been described as “a new flashpoint in EU-China relations” posing “substantial challenges for European companies”. The compliance costs of European companies who have a direct or indirect trade relationship with China will likely increase as a consequence of the ECL and so does the legal uncertainty involved in doing business in and with China. The essay will examine the ECL’s background (1) as well as its legislative approach and key provisions (2). It will then attempt to gauge the ECL’s immediate impacts and project its potential future developments (3).

The dark side(s) of the EU Directive on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market

The article examines some pivotal aspects of Directive (EU) 2019/790, which is the new legislative act adopted by the European Union to adapt copyright to the evolving digital environment. Indeed, this measure is meant to have considerable implications on the European plane and is supposed to influence, at least in part, also the relations between the EU and third States in the field of copyright. The Directive shall be transposed by mid 2021, but the time is ripe for a first assessment and some reflections. The analysis primarily investigates the relationship between Digital Single Market and EU copyright law and focuses on the most controversial issues of a long-awaited piece of legislation that so far has been widely criticized. In particular, the article explores three new key points: mandatory exceptions and limitations to right holders’ exclusive rights, press publishers’ rights, and platforms’ liability.

Cultural innovative enterprises: not just philantrophy

This paper is focused on the “cultural innovative enterprises”, introduced into italian law by Decree Law 179/2012 on “Further urgent measures for Italy’s economic growth”, converted into Law 221/2012. It is about new innovative enterprises that deal to develop, manufacture and distribuite innovative goods and services of high technological value, operating exclusively in the fields of cultural heritage promotion and cultural services provision. These companies can contribute to reduce the Italian youth employment emergency thanks on one hand to the reduced entry barriers related to the technology developments needed to “begin doing business” and on the other hand to the widespread territorial distribution of the italian cultural heritage to which services and processes will be applied. Furthermore, the increase of the GDP in regions undergoing a state of economic difficulty is a goal at hand. From a more general point of view, the cultural innovative start ups are an important element in stimulating new forms of collaboration between public entities responsible for the protection of the artistic heritage and private companies involved in its promotion. This type of partnership can contribute to the promotion and dissemination of new essential skills within the public administration aimed at a virtuous evolution of the way the overall economic system works.

The right to an effective remedy in European law: significance, content and interaction

One of the basic rights and a general principle of the European Union is the right to an effective remedy. In the paper is presented the basis of the right to an effective remedy derived from the first paragraph of Article 47. The right could be realized only before a tribunal which is an extraordinary public authority competent to adjudicate civil, criminal and administrative cases. The effectiveness of a remedy manifests itself in the sense of preventing the alleged violation of law or its continuation, or in providing adequate redress for any violation that had already occurred. The standard of the right to an effective remedy is fulfilled in all EU Member States differently. As an example in the paper was presented interactions between above mentioned standards and polish legal system in the area of administrative judiciary.