Structural Funding in the Management of Cultural Heritage in Poland

ABSTRACT

This article concerns structural funding for Polish cultural heritage for the years 2007–13, focusing on the largest operational program, “Infrastructure and Environment,” financed by the European Regional Development Fund. It presents the results of empirical research based on a questionnaire study of a specifically selected group of projects funded under this program. The objective of the study was to analyze the outcomes of this funding upon completion of the financial perspective, presenting tangible and intangible results as well as potential external effects. The empirical data allowed the development of conclusions and recommendations, stressing the importance of the continuing improvement and development of the funding scheme.     

Implementing EU emissions trading: success or failure?

This article assesses and explains the implementation of the EU emissions trading scheme (EU ETS). It argues that implementation in terms of ambitiousness has been only moderately successful so far, but significant differences between the Member States are also observed. Similarities and differences are then explained within a multi-level governance approach emphasizing the need to search for explanations at national, EU, and global levels. The EU ETS case shows that the multi-level governance approach can be as relevant for understanding implementation as for explaining policy-making. In addition to factors located at the national level, the decentralized nature of the EU scheme itself is important for understanding how the system works in practice. At the global level, the link to the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol is particularly important for determining how well the EU ETS will perform in the future.     

European Regional Policy and Backward Regions: Implications Towards EU Enlargement

In this paper we show that the success of the EU Regional Policy, in terms of boosting growth in objective 1 regions, will mean a big opportunity for Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) and hence the increases in competition arising from an enlarged European market combined with a suitable regional development policy should in the future boost the growth of those countries. In the last part of the paper we made a simulation for the funding envelope from 2007, based on the 2000–2006 budget. We show that the figures of the Agenda 2000 provide enough financial support for 90% of the total CEEC population and for 75% of current objective 1 population.     

A Reductionist Penal Policy and European Human Rights Standards

Official discourse in many European countries advocates the use of imprisonment as a measure of last resort. This principle is also at the core of several Recommendations of the Council of Europe and a Resolution of the European Parliament. In practice, detention rates in European countries vary greatly, and many countries have witnessed an increase in their prison population. This article argues that the application of deprivation of liberty raises in itself a human rights issue, and considers the support that European human rights instruments give to a reductionist penal policy. It concludes by defending a normative argument in favour of rethinking the principle of proportionality in its application to imprisonment.     

中国网络公共事件的议程互动模式——基于社会公平正义相关事件的经验研究

随着互联网技术的发展及网民队伍的不断壮大,"网络议政"和"网络倒逼决策"已然是当前我国互联网社会发展的重要特征。然而,透视近年来数十起网络公共事件可以发现,即便是在关乎社会公平正义的特定领域里,网络民意也不再局限于只对政府选定的政策议程进行讨论、监督和评价,而是不断借助网民集体行动和媒体的力量,在社会与政府的互动过程中确立新的政策议程,从而影响公共政策的制定。因此,客观且准确地描述并抽象出中国网络公共事件的议程互动模式以及理清该模式中主要环节的变化方式、作用及相互关系,对于提升网络时代中国政府决策的科学性、民主性和有效性以及维护社会稳定都具有积极意义。     

For Better or Worse? The Europeanisation of the Conflict of Laws

From its very beginnings the European Union(EU) has taken an interest in that area of legal activity known as the conflict of laws or private international law. The purpose of the conflict of laws is to determine how a national court should behave when confronted with a legal dispute that involves a foreign element. A state's conflict rules will provide the answer to three basic questions: in what circumstances their courts may assume jurisdiction over cases involving a foreign element, what system of municipal law to apply (their own or that of some foreign legal system) and which foreign judgments are capable of recognition and enforcement within their national system. The very fact that the EU exists in order to bring states together to form a single internal market would seem likely to provoke conflict of laws situations. It, therefore, appears unremarkable that the EU has agreed a variety of measures with a bearing on the conflict of laws. The purpose of this article, however, is not to give a detailed account of the EU's interventions on this topic. Instead the intention is to offer some thoughts upon and to raise some questions regarding the implications of the EU's engagement with the conflict of laws. In particular this article aims to provide an overview of the direction in which the EU is taking the conflict of laws and how this has affected the focus and character of the subject in one Member State, namely the United Kingdom. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

论欧盟区域内的强制性规则

由于欧盟尚无统一的欧洲合同法,各成员国合同法中的强制性条款的差异成为欧洲共同市场一体化进程的阻碍之一,因此研究欧盟区域内冲突法意义上的强制性规则十分必要。基于现在欧盟无冲突法意义上关于强制性规则的立法,笔者试图依据欧盟成员国缔结并适用的罗马公约从冲突法的角度解释不同类型的强制性规则,分析它们的不同之处,并比较具代表性的欧盟成员国的强制性规则,同时讨论欧盟这一层面的现行规定及发展。     

Toward Subnational Comparative Cultural Policy Analysis: The Case of Provincial Cultural Policy and Administration in Canada

Comparative policy analysis is an underdeveloped field of study in Canadian policy scholarship at the national and subnational levels. Cultural policy research is also underdeveloped in Canada, particularly at the provincial level. This article aims to contribute to the development of subnational comparative cultural policy analysis by assessing the analytical value of utilizing national-level cultural policy approaches as referents for provincial comparative analysis. We develop four main approaches to cultural policy and administration—the French, British, American, and hybrid (mixed) approaches—and explore their applicability to analyzing the origin and evolution of cultural policy and administration in five Canadian provinces. The article draws on a recently concluded three-year national study of provincial and territorial cultural policy and administration codirected by authors Gattinger and Saint-Pierre.     

Belgian regional parliaments and the European Union: an analysis of parliamentary scrutiny in agricultural and environmental policies

ABSTRACT

Drawing on qualitative case studies of two specific European decision-making processes in the agricultural and environmental sectors, this paper discusses how and why Belgian regional parliaments activated (or not) their control mechanisms to scrutinise their respective regional ministers. The findings show that parliamentary scrutiny of the agricultural and environmental policy fields has undergone a process of institutional and behavioural Europeanisation. Belgian regional parliaments rely mostly on classical parliamentary tools aimed at gathering information and, to a lesser extent, on constraining instruments aimed at influencing their government. Rather than trying to influence the EU negotiations, the MPs try to assess the potential impact of the reforms on their regional policy sectors. The findings also demonstrate that domestic media coverage and political salience of the EU negotiation associated with important implementing powers of regional parliaments have a positive effect on the level of scrutiny conducted by Belgian regional assemblies.     

Science and Policy in International Environmental Agreements: Lessons from the European experience on Transboundary Air Pollution

Science and policy come together in the use of computer models for International Environmental Agreements (IEAs). We study a successful case in using Integrated Assessment Models (IAMs) in defining the long-range transboundary air pollution policies in Europe. In the light of the history of the LRTAP Convention of the UN-ECE, we consider the special circumstances which led to the success of the RAINS model that was employed. We find that the collaborative, self-aware and evolutionary character of the institutional framework built among the LRTAP Convention, IIASA and the EU facilitated the successful adoption of RAINS. We also show how the limits of computer models, fully recognised in this case by producers and users, leave issues of uncertainty, distribution and ethics unresolved. When facing international negotiations, several coalitions might emerge. An analysis of the situtation is done in terms of First-Comers and Late-Comers in Environmental policy, the first group undertaking the initiative to formulate international policies on issues that are of concern to themselves and for which they have acquired technologies, models and know-how, while the second group is just following international policy and most often viewing it as a constraint. This is discussed in the example of the Spanish participation in the negotiations about sulphur emissions in the buildup to the Oslo Protocol. The adoption of the precautionary principle is often being used as a way to handle uncertainty when facing urgent policy responsibilities for environmental issues.     

刑罚进化论——从刑事政策角度的批判

刑罚进化论对刑罚制度的线性发展持乐观态度 ,认为越是到现代 ,刑罚越人道和轻缓 ,这种观念影响较大 ,但是很值得质疑。作者通过对近现代刑罚改革思潮进行分析后指出 :所谓的刑罚进化论是不能成立的 ;刑罚的正当性与进化论无关 ,而只与刑事政策的运用 ,以及规范有效性的维持、规范的稳定有联系。坚持刑罚进化论命题 ,在刑事法领域会产生负面效果。一方面 ,刑罚进化论强制人们忍受残酷、多余的刑罚制度 ;另一方面 ,它也会导致阻碍刑罚改革的惰性思维的产生。     

连选连任:企业家成长的制度障碍

企业家连选连任不利于经营能力的提高,导致人才断层,企业家缺乏,许多企业家退化变质。废除连选连任制度,要破除优秀者连任的错误价值观,建立竞选、培训、任职周期循环体系。     

European Union Soft Law: New Developments Concerning the Divide Between Legally Binding Force and Legal Effects

The judgment in Polska Telefonia Cyfrowa sheds light on the legal effects of soft law instruments that the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) will recognise, while distinguishing between their legally binding force and their legal or practical effects. European soft law is now often relied on in national courts, and can have an important impact on the rights and obligations of individuals. However, some of the goals of the Commission are only partly attainable due to the specific legal status of soft law instruments, and the current languages policy of the European Union. Given that soft law was not found to expressly impose obligations on individuals, the Court held that there was no requirement to publish it in all the official languages of the European Union. This has a negative impact on transparency and legal certainty, diminishing the role of soft law instruments in promoting such goals.     

Eu merger control and the compatibility test:a review of recent developments

The compatibility test contained in Article 2 of the Merger Control Regulation (MCR) is at the very heart of EU merger control, for it determines whether a concentration with a community dimension is deemed compatible or incompatible with the common market. Incompatibility can lead to prohibition of a concentration, although this is rare. The paper reviews the recent developments to the conditions of the test itself as well as the analytical methods employed to determine compatibility. Concerning the former, the new foreseeable dominance interpretation, put forward by the European Commission and made law by the Court of First Instance (CFI), is explored. This new variant of the dominance condition is important on its own right but it is also of major interest because of the explicit legal requirement placed on the Commission to assess the future likelihood of abusive behaviour by the merging parties in its prospective analysis. This is not the case with the original dominance compatibility condition. The unexpected but important clarification by the CFI of the notion of substantial part of the common market, as contained in the express wording of the compatibility test, is also commented upon. Concerning the determination of compatibility, the Commission's controversial employment in certain conglomerate concentrations of the range effects of competitive harm theory is examined, as is the need to take cognisance of merger specific efficiencies when determining if a merger increases societal welfare. The EU is making progress toward such an efficiencies assessment as part of the compatibility determination. EU merger control – and hence the compatibility test – do not exist in a vacuum. The EU has played a major role in shaping the new multilateral architecture and its goal of increasing international convergence in competition matters. This in turn has led the EU to rethink the nature of the compatibility test. For example, it has sought to evaluate the dominance condition of the compatibility test with the substantial lessening of competition (SLC) approach used by some other regulators, like the US. The paper concludes by looking at a fundamental issue that has arisen from recent CFI judgements and the GE/Honeywell merger: the competence of the Commission, or more accurately the Merger Task Force (MTF), to carry out the compatibility determination. Proposals are outlined so as to ensure that the Commission's prospective analysis in a concentration case meets the requisite legal standard. It is essential for this standard to be met if EU merger control is to remain credible. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Revisiting country of origin principle: Challenges related to regulating e-commerce in the European Union

The article analyses the country of origin principle of information society services in the light of harmonisation and unification efforts undertaken by the European lawgiver. Although the country of origin principle remains the key element of the construction of freedom to provide information society services, the principle itself suffers a number of both explicit and implicit restrictions which render its practical application a serious challenge. The difficulty is posed by the fact that the Electronic Commerce Directive fails to expressly specify both the scope of harmonisation as regards the principle, and the level of harmonisation of the directive itself. Furthermore, it is understood differently by private international lawyers. In the eDate Advertising case the ECJ ruled that the principle is not a conflict-of-laws rule, neither does it require implementation to the national legal systems in this shape. This is not to mean, however, that the debate over the function of the country of origin principle in private international law is over. Last but not least, there are many different types of country of origin principles applicable to various types of services provided via the Internet. This multitude of country of origin principles is perhaps the greatest weakness the regulatory approach adopted by the European lawmaker.     

检视与重塑：宽严相济刑事政策的理论基础

宽严相济刑事政策是当下刑事法界域一个颇为热门的话语,并带动了新一轮刑事政策研究浪潮。这固然是一个可喜现象,但在繁华表象下保持一定的慎思却是必要的。基本刑事政策乃刑事法治的灵魂与导向,从根本上决定了刑事法律活动的基本框架,并将直接影响惩治犯罪与预防犯罪的效果。因此,有必要进一步夯实宽严相济政策的理论基础,提升基本刑事政策研究的理论品格,并为其实践展开作好理论准备。     

论互联网平台反垄断的宏观定位——基于政治、政策和法律的分析

反垄断法的定位取决于其独特的价值、目标和功能。反垄断法自始即具有重大的政治经济使命,可以成为有着宏大价值目标和强大经济调整功能的"超级法"。互联网产业在资本、技术和商业模式上的独特性,使平台易于触角广泛和无序扩张,具有反垄断的高关联度。互联网平台反垄断首先要在宏观价值上拓展思路和提高站位,又要积极寻求恰当的法律和经济的技术性路径。我国互联网平台反垄断不能轻言和盲从当今美欧的表面趋势,不汲汲于引领潮流和贡献经验,趋势之下可能掩盖着不同的利益诉求,而要一切服从和服务于我国数字经济的实质性发展利益,既要及时、积极和到位,又要适时、适度和谦抑,并始终以促进我国互联网产业创新发展和提升国际竞争力为目标。互联网平台反垄断应当坚持法治进路,构建相应的规则体系,并确保客观、中立和理性,防止非理性和情绪化。     

The Road to EU Membership. Enforcing Competition Policy in Hungary: Double Protection and Domestic Developments

The present article is concerned withthe so-called process of harmonisation to theCommunity Law, which is taking place in thecentral eastern European countries, candidatesto join the European Union. Specifically, thisarticle deals with the building of a matureHungarian competition policy, inaccordance with the acquis communautaire,as part of a larger long-term programme ofpro-market decisions concerning privatisationand market openness. On the one hand, theso-called iterated multi-level interaction indifferent arenas between Hungarian institutionsand the Union, structured on path-dependentdynamics, influences the mechanisms and thetiming of harmonisation to the EuropeanUnion. On the other hand, the gradualempowerment of an independent national Office of Economic Competition and theprogress made to the adaptation of policystructures and policy behaviours to theEuropean Union's canons and laws are taken asthe main factors explaining the development ofa clear, predictable, and transparent processof competition law enforcement. Byfollowing a multidisciplinary approach, thisarticle combines an analysis of the meaning ofboth the Hungarian Competition Act and theprovisions on competition contained in the Europe Agreement, alongside a study of theirenforcement experience, revealing a gap betweenthe high consistency of the Hungariandiscipline on competition protection withEuropean Union law and the real enforcement capacity.     

To block or not to block: European approaches to content regulation,and implications for freedom of expression

Based on the limited effectiveness of state laws, and lack of harmonization at international level a number of states started to introduce policies to block access to Internet content and websites deemed illegal which are situated outside their legal jurisdiction. However, blocking policies are not always subject to due process principles, decisions are not necessarily taken by the courts of law, and often administrative bodies or Internet hotlines run by the private sector decide which content or website should be subject to blocking. Therefore, increasingly, the compatibility of blocking action is questioned with regards to the fundamental right of freedom of expression. This article assesses significant developments at the pan-European level with regards to the development, and implementation of Internet content blocking policies. Adaptation of content blocking policies from certain member states of both the European Union and the Council of Europe will be used to assess the nature and implementation of access blocking policies. It will be argued that there could be a breach of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights if blocking measures or filtering tools are used at state level to silence politically motivated speech on the Internet.     

The European Court of Justice and the Annulment of the Tobacco Advertisement Directive: Friend of National Sovereignty or Foe of Public Health?

In Case C-376/98 Germany v Council the European Court of Justice annulled a Directive which banned the advertisement and sponsorship of tobacco. The judgment sanctions regulatory policy-making at the national rather than the Community level. The paper examines the legal basis of the annulment, its effect on economic efficiency and the implied role of the Court in the formulation of public policy in Europe. Within the institutional limits of the judicial power to determine policy, the Court focused on whether or not disparate national laws restrict free movement and distort competition and affirmed the primacy of the nation state to regulate economic activity.