Latest Reform Research Articles

On the legality of national carbon pricing instruments alongside the new EU ETS 2

With the EU ETS 2 a new EU-wide emissions trading system is introduced that covers the greenhouse gas emission of the buildings and road transport sectors, i.e. sectors the decarbonization of which has so far been the responsibility of the Member States under the Effort Sharing Regulation. Since they will remain responsible for the achievement of their national greenhouse gas emission reduction targets under that regime, the question arises whether the Member States can maintain or introduce additional carbon pricing instruments alongside the new EU ETS 2. Hence, this paper examines the legality of such an approach, by assessing relevant provisions of EU secondary and primary law. Without going deep into the economic and political considerations, it concludes that from a legal perspective, the coexistence of national carbon pricing instruments and the EU ETS 2 is not prohibited.With the latest reform of the EU Emissions Trading System Directive (ETS Directive), the European Union (EU) has introduced a new EU emissions trading system for buildings and road transport (EU ETS 2)1. The decarbonization of those sectors traditionally falls within the responsibility of the EU Member States under the regime of the Effort Sharing Regulation (ESR). The ESR introduces legally binding national greenhouse gas (GHG) emission reduction targets. Hence, over the last few years, the Member States have introduced different measures in order to reach their targets. Those include carbon pricing instruments, understood as measures that put a price on the emission of GHG and thus create an incentive to reduce those emissions. Carbon pricing instruments include carbon taxes, as well as emissions trading systems2. With the introduction of the new ETS 2, the question arises whether the Member States can maintain (or introduce) such national carbon pricing instruments in parallel to the new EU ETS 2.

The curious genealogy of the “executive state”: A critical review of the latest administrative reform in Greece

Abstract This article critically discusses the latest reform of the Greek administration system, which took the form of an Act establishing an “executive state.” It intends to make two contributions to the existing literature. First, it offers a critique of the executive state. Existing critiques generally focus on the bureaucratic concentration of powers in the office of the Prime Minister or the abandonment of positive elements found in previous reform attempts. However, they largely accept the reform as a technical response to the crisis. In contrast, this article presents a comprehensive critique that fully addresses the historic origins and contemporary significance of the notion and institutional forms of the executive state, revealing it as a political, rather than technical, measure that reflects deeper views about the relationship between the state, the economy, and society. Additionally, the article assesses the two main effects of this administrative reform—the centralization and depoliticization of policymaking—as manifestations of an authoritarian shift. The second contribution concerns the literature on authoritarian liberalism, which examines the authoritarian tendencies inherent in liberal forms and ideals. While several authors have explored the authoritarian tendencies of institutional reform in the face of crisis, this article seeks to explore the authoritarian phenomenon as part of a process of market capture and to examine its effects specifically on administrative law and structures. Ultimately, this article argues that administrative reform in Greece follows a rather sinister genealogy, and must be understood as an essential counterpart to the generalized and sustained attack on social and political rights following the dictates of the market.

Pre-trial protocol in civil proceedings

The scientific article examines the legal nature of the pre-trial protocol in civil proceedings. The institution of judicial evidence was subject to change in connection with the latest reforms of the civil procedure legisla-tion. This has led to the emergence of new institutions and the pre-trial protocol in civil proceedings is such. Until 2022, the Civil Procedure Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan (hereinafter CPC RK) did not have di-rect legal regulation of this institution, and accordingly, no theoretical studies were conducted on this issue. In civil proceedings, the prototype of the institute of pre-trial protocol was a foreign legal institution, such as the disclosure of evidence and the exchange of arguments, characteristic of English and American procedural law. The practical necessity of many aspects of such a phenomenon as the pre-trial protocol, the incomplete-ness of theoretical developments and the need to improve legislation determined the relevance of the topic of the scientific article. It should be recognized that the mechanism for drawing up a pre-trial protocol, in fact, designed to ensure the implementation of the principles of competition and equality of the parties, was not sufficiently enshrined in the civil procedural legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan. At the same time, consistent legislative regulation of the activities of bodies for the disclosure of evidence in civil proceedings is required. The institution of pre-trial protocol in civil proceedings requires regulation and integration at the legislative level, since the mechanism of conclusion in the current CPC of the Republic of Kazakhstan has not been fully investigated.

From sectoral policy change to cross-sectoral (dis)integration? A longitudinal analysis of the EU's forest and rural development policy

Policy integration (PI) is critical to address cross-cutting challenges like climate change and biodiversity loss holistically. In the European Union, forests are confronting increasingly adverse climatic conditions and numerous stressors that impact their biodiversity. Political efforts to counteract these trends are mainly channeled through funding from the rural development policy as a pivotal part of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). In contrast, forest policy is hardly institutionalized at EU level. This study employs process tracing using 65 EU forest and rural development policy documents, including legal acts, preparatory documents, communications, related working documents and evaluation reports, predominantly produced over the last 25 years. By doing this, it examines the development of sectoral policy changes over time and their implications for the cross-sectoral integration of EU forest policy into rural development policy as part of agricultural policy at EU level. Results suggest that the adoption of the EU Forest Strategy for 2030 represented a provisional paradigm shift in EU forest policy. This shift is characterized by a substantial reprioritization of policy objectives, transitioning from an emphasis on economic aspects to a more climate- and biodiversity-centric approach, alterations in supported policy instruments and the introduction of various new regulatory instruments. On the other hand, the CAP and its rural development policy remain characterized by a path dependent incremental change and the latest reforms hardly reflect ambitious forest policy objectives both from budgetary and content perspectives. The findings suggest that the latest seemingly decoupled developments within both policy areas have led to an emergence of forest policy fragmentation at the EU level.

Skimming the achieved? Quantifying the fiscal incentives of the German fiscal equalization scheme and its reforms since 1970

Marginal rates of contribution (MRC), i.e., the rates at which additional revenues are skimmed via larger contributions or lower transfer receipts, quantify the incentives of a fiscal equalization scheme. This paper is the first to calculate marginal rates of contribution for the Laender (states) in the German fiscal equalization scheme for each of the 51 years since its establishment in 1970 and over five major reforms, taking into account all relevant revenues. Our results show that MRC have been at a consistently high level. Until 2019 the scheme induced an almost full skimming of additional tax revenues of recipient states. With the system’s latest reform in 2020, MRC increased further. Recipient states now face an over-skimming of additional tax revenues and, thus, massive fiscal disincentives to maintain their own tax base. While these findings have been widely expected, comprehensive evidence has been missing so far.

Research on the Manifestation and Formation Mechanism of New Characteristics of Land Disputes: Evidence from the Yangtze River Economic Belt, China

Land disputes have significantly disrupted legal order, production, and social harmony, and has been regarded as a quintessential challenge in public governance, attracting worldwide attentions from scholars. As an emblematic feature of China’s latest reform and opening-up strategy, the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) in China has experienced rapid development after entering the new era (2012–2021) alongside substantial risks and challenges, particularly regarding land disputes. Better understanding of the manifestation and formation mechanism of new characteristics of land disputes is beneficial for contemporary public governance and for achieving a high-quality development of the YREB, whose Gross Domestic Product (GDP) accounted for 46.3% of the national GDP in 2023. A total of 325,105 land dispute cases in 11 provinces or municipalities of the YREB from 2012 to 2021 were collected and analyzed. On this basis, an evaluation index system of the new characteristics of land disputes, named the overall land dispute (OLD) index, was constructed according to measurement theory by coupling the interactions of quantity, claim amounts, duration periods, and the appeal rate of land dispute. Then, the OLD index was evaluated by descriptive statistical methods, a geographic information system (GIS) spatial analysis, a center of gravity model, kernel density estimation, and Theil index methods, to reveal the new characteristics and formation mechanisms of land disputes in the YREB from 2012 to 2021. The results indicated that: (1) The OLD index exhibited a trend of an initial increase followed by a decline, indicating that land disputes in the YREB showed signs of alleviation. (2) The government’s capacity for resolving land disputes was significantly improved, as evidenced by the decline in the OLD index from 0.59 in 2018 to 0.51 in 2021. This improvement could be attributed to the effectiveness of enhanced governmental working mechanisms, regulatory standards, and the integration of digital technologies. (3) The analysis of the center of gravity model indicated that the focus of land disputes shifted westward, propelled by national policy support for upstream regions of the YREB and the need for land ecological protection. (4) The analysis of kernel density estimation indicated that regional disparities in land disputes within the YREB had declined, driven by a positive trend toward balanced regional development and rural governance. This study provides scientific insights into the new characteristics of land disputes in the YREB and guidance for policy decision making on effective land dispute management.

Iatrogenic crimes: issues of criminalization and criminal liability

The article is devoted to the peculiarities of legislative regulation of iatrogenic crimes in the light of the latest reform of the criminal legislation of the Republic of Armenia. The author analyzed the term “iatrogeny”, differentiated crimes according to the characteristics of a special subject of the crime (medical worker) when performing professional duties, and conducted a comparative legal analysis with the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. The author focused on the criminalization of acts in the field of reproductive cloning and eugenic experiments, justifying the need for legislative regulation of these crimes, taking into account the growing needs of modern medicine in conducting experimental research. The relevant laws of the Republic of Armenia containing norms and definitions used in constructing the group of crimes under consideration are also analyzed. Medical error and qualification issues based on the characteristics of a special subject of a crime are considered.

The Law and Order System in Kerala: a Historical over View

The concept of law and order maintenance was got much attention in India from ancient period onwards. Kerala was considered to be one of the most conscious society in India. The police in Kerala was in more democratic way. There were some drawbacks, too. In this background, the paper explores the historical outline of the law and order system in Kerala and critically analyses the undemocratic attitude of the police force, the most important stakeholder in the law and order system in Kerala. In this study, historical and exploratory methods were employed. There was use of both primary and secondary data. From the ancient period onwards, strong and well-built law and order machinery exist in Kerala. In the course of time, several reforms were introduced. The latest reform is the Janamaithri Suraksha Project. It is worked in a zigzag fashion.

What is the environmental potential of the post-2022 common agricultural policy?

With the latest reform of the EU’s common agricultural policy (CAP) in 2021, the EU has introduced a modified toolkit of environmental instruments. This paper compares the final version of the legal texts of the current and preceding CAP to analyse whether there is potential scope for greater environmental ambition. A pivotal element of the new CAP is the new delivery model. This model grants Member States more flexibility to adjust CAP instruments according to their respective needs. While the new delivery model provides opportunities for more targeted interventions, clear guardrails are missing. In consequence, the EU institutions have limited influence on the CAP Strategic Plans’ level of ambition. Generally, the ambition level of the conditionality and also the budget attributed to environmental instruments within Pillar 2 was increased. The design of and participation in Eco-schemes, a new instrument in Pillar 1, will be the key factors determining whether the new CAP will lead to a significantly higher environmental performance. However, the Strategic Plan Regulation only contains vague recommendations to the Member States to take the Green Deal into account, which in no way meets the requirements formulated in the Green Deal. Furthermore, recent revisions to the new CAP legislation have rolled back some of the potential improvements that we identify in this paper.

Impact of motivation on the job performance of public sector employees: the case of Morocco

This study investigates the driving forces behind job performance in Morocco's public sector amid its latest reforms. Despite extensive research on motivation and job performance, the unique dynamics within this sector, particularly following recent legislative changes, still need to be explored. This study links job performance to an incentive-based system by examining the roles of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivations in enhancing employee performance. Employing qualitative methodology, this study explores how incentives and motivation impact job performance. Data collected via a structured questionnaire are analyzed using structural equation modeling to elucidate the connections between work performance, motivation, and incentives. These findings highlight the significance of transparent human resource policies, comprehensive incentive systems, appropriate performance metrics, and robust leadership in cultivating a motivated and high-performing workforce.

The Impact of Teachers’ Dressing on Students’ Academic Performance: A Case Study of Junior High Schools in Kumasi, Ghana

Ghana has seen persistent agitations for education reforms due to the unsatisfactory outcome of education objectives since independence. The major reasons were no different from the latest reform that was introduced, the Junior High School (JHS) system. That was so because it was yet another review of the entire education system of the country with the view of making it responsive to current global and social challenges. One of the concerns has been whether the influx of numerous foreign dress styles among teachers in Ghanaian society has an effect on students, teachers, and quality education. The aim of this research is to assess the dressing of teachers and its impact on junior high school students’ academic performance. The research identified, discussed, and assessed the impact of teachers’ dressing on students’ performance in selected junior high schools in the Oforikrom Municipality in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Both quantitative and qualitative research designs were used for the research. The questionnaire, observations, interviews, and focus group discussions were the instruments used in the collection of the data. A simple random and cluster area sampling method was adopted to select the respondents for the study. The accessible population for the study consisted of three hundred (300) JHS students, fifty (50) teachers, twenty (20) parents, and ten (10) education officers.A comparative analysis of four categories (students, teachers, parents, and education officers) on the impact of teachers’ dressing on students’ performance was performed. The study identified, assessed, and discussed the impact of teachers’ dressing on students’ academic performance in some selected junior high schools in the Oforikrom Municipality. Out of the hypothesis speculated before the investigation, it was established, with p-values greater than 0.05, from a paired two sample T-test analysis that there is a significant effect of teachers’ dressing on students’ performance. The study recommended that teachers should be given a dressing allowance to allow them to purchase appropriate school attire, and the government should institute a non-destructive dress code for teachers. The study will help teachers dress more appropriately and will have a significant impact on the lives of students.

Viticulture and the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP): Historical overview, current situation and future perspective

AbstractThe grapevine is one of the most important perennial fruit crops worldwide. The historical stability of winegrowing methods has spanned almost 3000 years since the introduction of viticulture in Europe. However, in the last 70 years, the wine sector in the Europe has experienced substantial transformations. These changes are attributed to the widespread adoption of mechanisation and industralisation in the 1950s and the establishment of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The growing concern for the environment and climate change in the European Union (EU) has significantly influenced the successive reforms of the CAP. These reforms have resulted in the acquisition of new commitments to protect the environment, mitigate climate change and reduce biodiversity loss over the years. In this work, we carried out a critical analysis of the most relevant aspects of the new CAP and address the regulatory framework of organic agriculture in the EU as a tool for improving the sustainability of vineyards. Currently, Spain is the country with the largest vineyard area in the world, reaching 964,000 hectares. This represents 13% of the world's vineyards and 30% in the EU, which demonstrates the importance of this crop in Europe. Due to its relevance, we focused our critical analyses of the new CAP on Spain as a case study. The latest reform of the CAP, applicable for the period 2023‐2027, is the most ambitious in environmental terms and includes instruments such as reinforced conditionality, eco‐schemes and payments for agri‐environment–climate commitments. Finally, we propose that by integrating concepts and management strategies from current organic and regenerative viticulture together with historical strategies derived from treatises and classic authors across a wide range of societies and cultures, the goals of the new CAP can be successfully met. This will contribute to reuniting the past, the present and the future of viticulture for a more nature‐based winemaking.

Social conditionality: An adequate legal response to challenges faced by agricultural workers in the EU, or an example of redwashing within the Common Agricultural Policy?

This article provides a doctrinal legal analysis of the ‘social conditionality’ mechanism introduced in the latest reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). Building on that analysis, the article proceeds to assess the likelihood of social conditionality improving the conditions of agricultural workers in the EU, thereby achieving the objectives set out for it by the EU legislator. The article concludes that due to numerous issues regarding its legal architecture, including limitations in its scope, the absence of novel requirements imposed on farmers, and the rather limited dissuasive effect of its enforcement mechanism, social conditionality is unlikely to improve the conditions for agricultural workers in the EU. Therefore, it is ultimately proposed that social conditionality might more appropriately be considered as an example of ‘redwashing’ within the CAP rather than an adequate legal response to the challenges faced by agricultural workers in the EU.

Constrained Power Expansion: China’s Procuratorial Reforms within and beyond Criminal Justice

This article employs the ecological theory of “boundary work and exchange” to elucidate the latest reforms in China’s procuratorial system, delineating the expanding remits of the procuratorates both within and beyond their traditional domain of criminal justice. Following the national supervision system pilot reform in 2016, which stripped the procuratorial bodies of their authority to investigate official crimes, China’s procuratorates have endeavored to expand their jurisdictions in areas such as criminal, civil, administrative, and public interest litigation. By examining how China’s procuratorates leverage their respective institutional advantages to broaden their functions, we find that they have not only strengthened their role in criminal proceedings but have also continuously expanded their functions beyond criminal litigation. These reforms follow a well-defined trajectory shaped by boundary work and exchange. However, in contrast to boundary work and exchange as usually theorized, which usually starts in ambiguous and elastic areas, China’s procuratorial reforms are notably confined to a fixed sphere. This can be attributed to the procuratorate’s pursuit of state support, which has, in turn, led to its constrained expansion. This enhanced theoretical framework sheds light on the evolving role of China’s procuratorates and underscores the potential significance of ecological theory for understanding broader institutional reforms in China.

Bargaining for secure jobs and better pay: The latest reforms to Australia’s Fair Work Act 2009

Bargaining for secure jobs and better pay: The latest reforms to Australia’s Fair Work Act 2009

Building Collaborative Capacity through formalized and Imposed Cooperation: The Implementation of Health Care Communities in Norway

Today, the nexus of ´co-ordination – co-production – co-creation´ constitutes the new political prism through which the ´wicked issues´ of the public sector is re-imagined, and by calling forth new cooperative endeavors stressing shared problem solving, the welfare state might signal a shift in mode of governance from New Public Management (NPM) to New Public Governance (NPG). In this paper we inquire into an empirical example from the Norwegian healthcare sector, namely the implementation of healthcare communities (HCCs).
 Public healthcare is an essential part of the Nordic welfare state model. Being a multi-dimensional policy field, it is notoriously characterized by both ´wicked issues´ and complexity – in terms of service provision, organizing and governing. Often patients require several healthcare services from multiple providers. In Norway, healthcare is organized in two main parts, primary (municipalities) and specialized healthcare (central government). While this division in theory should lead to a clear assignment of tasks and responsibilities, it has built-in challenges of lack of continuity of care and the risk of services being fragmented. Furthermore, the NPM-reforms during the last three decades has contributed to organizational fragmentation. Problems of service and organizational fragmentation has served as a core focal point for several health sector reforms in Norway during the last three decades. The latest reform initiative is the implementation of 19 HCCs, where hospital trusts and municipalities, through imposed and formalized cooperation structures are expected to cooperate, as well as co-plan, service provision, aiming to make better, more efficient services, and give patients a more coherent and seamless experience. 
 We are interested in why and how NPG-inspired ideas of collaboration and co-creation are translated and articulated into the specific institutional context of Norwegian healthcare, and whether the HCC reform imply an actual break with the NPM-logics – or rather represents more of a continuation adding an extra reform layer, so to speak. In this paper the following research question guides our inquiry: In which ways does the HCC reform as an expression of the New Public Government paradigm represent a break or continuation with New Public Management logics in the healthcare sector in Norway, and how are the concepts of co-design, co-creation and collaborative capacity framed and constructed as the remedy for fragmentation by the policy makers?
 
 Methodologically, this paper is based on critical discourse analysis of official documents central in the development of the reform, as well as a qualitative analysis of interviews with central and local actors, in addition to a study of relevant public governance literature.

Single national curriculum: promise of inclusion, global citizenship education and the empirical reality

ABSTRACT The present study investigated the integration of inclusion and global citizenship education in the Single National Curriculum (SNC). SNC is the latest reform in the education sector in Pakistan, planned to apply a single and modern curriculum in order to bridge the gap between public and private educational institutions, to provide quality and equity in education, and to reduce social inequalities through education. SNC is aligned with the goals and targets of Sustainable Development Goals-4 and Agenda 2030, which prominently aims at inclusion and global citizenship education. The present study found that teaching inclusion and global citizenship education is inadequate, limited and lacks rigour in SNC. Textbooks wrongly teach inclusion as people with unique needs and women are not presented as equal and representation of religious minorities is very low. Environmental and moral global citizenship are more focused areas of global citizenship while others are neglected. SNC frequently inculcates patriotism and Muslim brotherhood in the curriculum, which is in conflict with the cosmopolitan values of global citizenship. Generally, the curriculum has frequently focused on the knowledge level instead of skill development among students. However, mainly skills can enable students to play an active role in society, which is highly commendable for both constructs.

THE HISTORY OF THE FORMATION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE UZBEK MAKHALLA

In this article, the stages of formation and development of the institution of the makhalla will be covered by the example makhallas of the Tashkent. At the same time, the importance of the latest reforms carried out to improve the institution of the makhalla is highlighted. In particular, the role of makhallas in Tashkent in the development of the management of the makhalla institution is analyzed.

THE FORMATION OF ORTHOGRAPHIC NORM IN GERMAN LANGUAGE

The article is about the formation of orthographic norm in German language since the XVII century up to the present time. The stages of the formation of German orthographic norm are examined with the description of the main characteristics of each of them. On the basis of the research works of prominent Ukrainian and foreign linguists and conference documents related to the formation and codification of a definite orthographic norm in German (Standarddeutsch) from the XVII century up to the present day, a certain simplification of certain spelling rules in modern German and more consistent adherence to the etymological principle of spelling have been revealed. The aim of this paper is to describe the processes of orthographic norm formation in the German language. The object of the research is orthographic peculiarities of the German written language in XVII–XIX centuries. The subject of the research is orthographic changes in the German language in the XVII–XIX centuries. The research is based on the works of prominent Ukrainian and foreign linguists and conference documents related to the formation and codification of a universally accepted orthographic norm in the German language. The conducted research has revealed the ways in which the orthographic norm in the German language has developed. Undoubtedly, all the authors of the various orthographic reforms were motivated to improve German spelling in order to meet the cultural objectives of the German language at every stage of its development. However, only time will show how much the new rules will ease the task of using the German language in writing. In our opinion, the authors of the latest reform avoided radical reforms, which explains, for example, the preservation of capitalization of nouns in German. The results of the study can be useful in lectures on the History of the German Language, Historical Phonetics of the German Language, as well as in teaching and learning a practical course of German.

PROMOTERS AND OBSTACLES OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT IN A MERGED HE INSTITUTION FROM THE UAS STAFF POINT OF VIEW

<p>Universities and universities of applied sciences form the higher education sector in Finland. New HE communities in which both sectors cooperate were formed in the latest reform. Our interest is in community feeling and connectedness taking place inside four such new organisations. The research question is: which are the promoters of and obstacles to communality in merged higher education institutions in Finland from the university of applied sciences staff´s point of view? The data is gathered from 42 key persons. The analysis is done in a qualitative way. As promoters, we found spaces, dignity, shared goals, and action. The obstacles were haste, lack of trust, unfamiliarity, and use of spaces. Spaces seem to play a big role: they serve as promoters and obstacles. They can serve as a source for recognition and one´s meaningful share but also as a place to get to know each other and promote action towards goals. And vice versa. Anyway, feeling connectedness is an important source for creating social identity.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0049/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>