Maximum Harmonization Research Articles

DEVELOPING THE CONSCIENTIOUSNESS OF A SCIENTIST: COORDINATION OF THEORY AND PRACTICE WHEN EDUCATING HIGHLY QUALIFIED PERSONNEL

Contemporary challenges tend to raise new questions about the researchers’ conscientiousness and about the ways of developing it in young scientists. In this regard, the article systematizes ethical aspects of scientific research and manifestations of the researchers’ conscientiousness; it also suggests effective methods for teaching postgraduate students aimed at developing a conscious, responsible approach to their professional activities. The article suggests to consider ethical dilemmas from different points of view: utilitarianism, aretology, deontology. Conscientiousness appears to be understood as an ability for “inner dialogue”, on the basis of which a person strives for the maximum harmonization of him-/herself and the world in the horizon of the possible. The choice of the best, therefore, seems not to have pre-made schemes, it involves “trying on” each-time-unique situation using critical and creative thinking. Thus, development of the conscientiousness of a scientist may be built on the material of experience, reflection and self-sustained solution of certain situations (from the history of science and modeled). Hence, it is advisable to use problem-based learning methods, game technologies and case studies, the methodological designs and examples of which are also briefly presented in this article.

Addressing Regulatory Failures in the Draft Revised Consumer Credit Directive

New forms of consumer credit, alongside the use of big data and macroeconomic developments, necessitate the revision of the 2008 Consumer Credit Directive (‘CCD’). The impact assessment conducted by the European Commission should collect and use relevant evidence that help lawmakers identify and address problems for the internal market and consumer protection. The impact assessment acknowledges that CJEU case law and legal literature are relevant sources of evidence that should inform the revision of the CCD. An analysis of CJEU case law and legal literature reveals three possible regulatory failures: firstly, it is more complicated for legislators to address new forms of credit under maximum harmonization, especially as the scope of maximum harmonization is unclear, which renders the CCD more vulnerable to obsolescence. Secondly, the emphasis on information obligations does not reflect consumers actual decision-making, and thirdly, there appears to be insufficient enforcement of consumer rights under the CCD. The impact assessment rarely directly refers to CJEU case law and legal literature but reflects the existence of these regulatory problems. However, the problem analysis with regard to maximum harmonization and enforceability remains superficial and one-sided, and the draft CCD continues to allow for divergences. While the draft CCD further harmonizes enforcement, it does not indicate which civil law sanctions, as developed in CJEU case law, are effective, proportionate and dissuasive. Further, the impact assessment fails to benefit fully from behavioural insights and the draft CCD accordingly contains obligations to provide consumers with considerable, but not timely and salient, information. The impact assessment does convincingly address the shortcomings in the creditworthiness check, and the draft CCD accordingly proposes more stringent provisions on this topic, which, coupled with mandatory protection, which may well help to address overindebtedness

Processing speed and memory test performance are associated with different brain region volumes in Veterans and others with progressive multiple sclerosis.

Cognitive dysfunction and brain atrophy are both common in progressive multiple sclerosis (MS) but are seldom examined comprehensively in clinical trials. Antioxidant treatment may affect the neurodegeneration characteristic of progressive MS and slow its symptomatic and radiographic correlates. This study aims to evaluate cross-sectional associations between cognitive battery components of the Brief International Cognitive Assessment for Multiple Sclerosis with whole and segmented brain volumes and to determine if associations differ between secondary progressive (SPMS) and primary progressive (PPMS) MS subtypes. The study was based on a baseline analysis from a multi-site randomized controlled trial of the antioxidant lipoic acid in veterans and other people with progressive MS (NCT03161028). Cognitive batteries were conducted by trained research personnel. MRIs were processed at a central processing site for maximum harmonization. Semi-partial Pearson's adjustments evaluated associations between cognitive tests and MRI volumes. Regression analyses evaluated differences in association patterns between SPMS and PPMS cohorts. Of the 114 participants, 70% had SPMS. Veterans with MS made up 26% (n = 30) of the total sample and 73% had SPMS. Participants had a mean age of 59.2 and sd 8.5 years, and 54% of them were women, had a disease duration of 22.4 (sd 11.3) years, and had a median Expanded Disability Status Scale of 6.0 (with an interquartile range of 4.0-6.0, moderate disability). The Symbol Digit Modalities Test (processing speed) correlated with whole brain volume (R = 0.29, p = 0.01) and total white matter volume (R = 0.33, p < 0.01). Both the California Verbal Learning Test (verbal memory) and Brief Visuospatial Memory Test-Revised (visual memory) correlated with mean cortical thickness (R = 0.27, p = 0.02 and R = 0.35, p < 0.01, respectively). Correlation patterns were similar in subgroup analyses. Brain volumes showed differing patterns of correlation across cognitive tasks in progressive MS. Similar results between SPMS and PPMS cohorts suggest combining progressive MS subtypes in studies involving cognition and brain atrophy in these populations. Longitudinal assessment will determine the therapeutic effects of lipoic acid on cognitive tasks, brain atrophy, and their associations.

RESULTS AND PROSPECTS OF THE REFORMING OF TAX SYSTEM IN GEORGIA IN ACCORDANCE WITH EU REQUIREMENTS

Taxes are the main source of formation of the state budget of Georgia. 90% of the total amount accumulated in the country's budget is due to taxes. Value Added Tax (VAT) is approximately 45% of the tax structure, that is, up to 30% of income, up to 10% of income tax, and the rest is excise, import and customs duties. Taking into account the role and importance of taxes in the dynamic and stable development of the country, the article presents the opinions of the authors on the reforms of the Georgian tax system and the main directions for improving tax administration. The essence of the changes made to the tax legislation of Georgia was studied, analyzed and evaluated on the basis of empirical data; the possibility of mobilizing funds in the country's budget through the maximum harmonization of the tax system of Georgia with the best practices of the European Union was argued in this article. The authors develop the next point of view: the tax system of Georgia and its regulation are gradually approaching the European model, although certain norms of tax administration still need to be finalized. Also a full harmonization with the EU tax system is needed.

Digitalization and consumer protection enforcement

The era of “new consumer protection” is marked by maximum harmonization rather minimum harmonization, (more) policy-based approach, legislation driven by the fast-emerging ecosystem of digital platforms, the strengthening of collective remedy and agency enforcement, and more cooperation between Member State regulatory bodies and EU Commission. All of the above phenomenae emphasize changing directions and methods of consumer protection enforcement: digital platforms present a unique set of issues that trigger different policy solutions, mostly based on the findings of behavioral economics. The practices of digital platforms usually affect consumers in more than one Member State, thus EU-wide cooperation is more likely to happen vis-à-vis digital platforms than other traders. Individual remedies against digital platforms – due to their immense size – result in little change. The European Consumer Protection Cooperation Network is highly likely to open cases with regards to digital platforms. In Hungarian law, EU-wide coordination complements an already existing rich practice of the Hungarian Competition Authority in the field of unfair commercial practices. In the future, where quite possibly, the number of cases against digital platforms will grow, the issue of cooperation will grow even more important.

Nasrtljiva poslovna praksa u srpskom i evropskom pravu i pravnoj praksi

Any trader's behavior that is inherently disturbing, involves coercion (even physical), or undue influence, violating the consumer's freedom of choice, leading him to make an economic decision he would not make - is considered aggressive business practice. Prior to the adoption of the European Directive on Unfair Business Practices in 2005, legal particularism prevailed in this area, and concluding contracts with the behavior of a trader which can be considered aggressive, fell almost exclusively under the provisions of civil law. After the adoption of the already mentioned Directive, there is a so-called maximum harmonization, which results in the direct transposition of its provisions into the positive legal regulations of the member states and candidate countries for EU membership. The Serbian legislator acted in this way in all laws on consumer protection from 2010 until today. In this paper, an analysis of the European normative framework is performed, as well as a comparative legal analysis of several legal systems, and a case law in their framework, too. Special emphasis was placed on Serbian law. In writing the article, the author was motivated by the fact that there are almost no articles on this specific topic in domestic legal doctrine, as well by the need to provide answers to some questions that consistently arise from almost a list of unanimous provisions on aggressive business practice in European law. Some of these doubts relate to the dilemma of whether the ban on aggressive business practices extends to so-called "business-to-business" relations, which is not common for the Directive, which protects, above all, consumers who are not professionally engaged in business, and does not have the experience of a trader, nor is he expected to have the standard of care expected of a person selling a product or providing a service. Then, the question arises whether the provisions on the prohibition of aggressive behavior in commercial relations protect the economic interests of conscientious companies that comply with regulations in relation to competitors who do not respect them, or is the exclusive object of protection - the consumer. Some dilemmas relate to the question of whether the prohibition of aggressive business practices towards consumers also applies to public entities whose activities include the sale or provision of services, ie to entities founded by the state, as well as to the doubt as to whether there is a measure of harassment that is considered "common", given good business practices? It is inevitable, also, to rise a question about the fact that there is very small number of Serbian court decisions in this area - is the reason that in our country the level of consumer protection is raised to such a high level that there is no need to resort to protection mechanisms defined by law and the Law on Obligations, or is it something else? These are just some of the questions I have tried to answer in this article.

Current state and prospects for the legal regulation of cryptocurrencies in the European Union

The author analyzes the existing legal regulation of relations related to the use, issuance, trade and other operations with cryptocurrencies in the European Union law. It was noted that the development of cryptocurrency markets in the EU requires a well-built legal framework clearly defining the regulation regime for all cryptocurrencies that are not subject to current legislation on financial services. The main directions of regulatory influence on the cryptocurrency market in some EU Member States are identified. The problems of the system of legal acts covering legal relations with cryptocurrencies are analyzed. It was stated that creating a high-quality and effective legal framework within the EU internal market is an extremely important though challenging task. Perspective directions of legal regulation of crypto-assets according to the Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Markets in Crypto-assets, and amending Directive (EU) 2019/1937, COM/2020/593 final, are analyzed. When analyzing the draft Regulation, it was found that its adoption would be an important step towards maximum harmonization of cryptocurrency legislation. A number of problems of the future legal act have been revealed. These include ambiguous legal regulation of cryptocurrency market participants’ cybersecurity. In addition, the legislative bodies should bear in mind that cryptocurrencies are in the process of constant transformation and transition from one type of token to another. In this case, the rules of the upcoming Regulation should be more flexible to future changes. It was concluded that according to the current draft Regulation, it is extremely unlikely that any types of crypto-assets will remain unregulated in the EU.

Tendencje harmonizacyjne w prawie konsumenckim Unii Europejskiej

The aim of this article is to examine the ongoing process of harmonisation of consumer law in the European Union and a trend away from minimum harmonisation in consumer law towards full (complete, maximum) harmonisation. In the field of consumer protection, the EU followed for a long time a minimum harmonisation approach and directives were based on this particular method of harmonisation. Over the last years, the EU policy on consumer protection has shifted from minimum to full harmonisation. Whereas minimum harmonisation allows Member States to adopt more protective rules, full harmonisation does not allow Member States to deviate from directives at all. This way, full harmonisation should guarantee that one uniform set of rules applies in the whole EU and directives resemble directly applicable regulations. In theory, this should contribute to legal certainty for both consumers and businesses. However, in practice, this is undoubtedly controversial. Legal doctrine indicates certain problems i.e. full harmonisation directives give rise to serious implementation problems at the national level and cause risk of decomposition of national legal orders.

A Critical Assessment of the Need for Harmonization of the Legal Framework Concerning Abusive Informal Debt Collection Practices in the European Union

The loss of jobs and the decline in real incomes caused by the 2008 financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic have affected consumers’ ability to repay their debts. These have led to high ratios of non-performing loans (NPLs), which affect the stability of the financial industry and undermine economic recovery. The result has been a need for faster debt enforcement and a drastic increase in abusive informal debt collection practices (IDCPs). In the EU, the need to regulate and harmonize abusive IDCPs surfaced in 2018 in connection to the Proposal for a Directive on Credit Servicers, Credit Purchasers and the Recovery of Collateral (CSDP). The directive would enable banks to outsource the servicing of NPLs to a specialized debt collector, but it contained no protection rules against abusive IDCPs. In this article, the researcher critically assesses the need for harmonization of the legal framework concerning abusive IDCPs in the EU, mainly from the standpoint of the initial and current text of the CSDP. Where necessary, the researcher will refer to both historical and comparative law perspectives. The researcher focuses on the legal character of informal debt collection, its relation to financial services, and its potential sui generis character. After that, the researcher will address the arguments for and against establishing pan-EU sector-specific legislation dedicated to IDCPs. Next, the researcher discusses the constitutional authority of the EU to regulate abusive IDCPs. Finally, the researcher will examine the interaction of the CSDP with other consumer (financial) protection instruments to identify the best solution for harmonizing abusive IDCPs at the EU level. The researcher will juxtapose several dichotomies: general versus sector-specific, procedural versus substantive, minimum versus maximum harmonization, and hard versus soft regulation. In the conclusion, the researcher shall synthesize the core problems and suggest an approach.

Demystifying the Draft EU Artificial Intelligence Act — Analysing the good, the bad, and the unclear elements of the proposed approach

In April 2021, the European Commission proposed a Regulation on Artificial Intelligence, known as the AI Act. We present an overview of the Act and analyse its implications, drawing on scholarship ranging from the study of contemporary AI practices to the structure of EU product safety regimes over the last four decades. Aspects of the AI Act, such as different rules for different risk-levels of AI, make sense. But we also find that some provisions of the Draft AI Act have surprising legal implications, whilst others may be largely ineffective at achieving their stated goals. Several overarching aspects, including the enforcement regime and the risks of maximum harmonisation pre-empting legitimate national AI policy, engender significant concern. These issues should be addressed as a priority in the legislative process.

The New Directive of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) 2019/771 on Certain Aspects Concerning Contracts for the Sale of Goods: A Choice of Maximum Harmonization and Its Significance

This article examines the nature of maximum harmonization that underlies the Consumer Sales Directive, the goals of such choice, its practical implications, and argues that even though the level of consumer protection will not be radically changed due to the implementation of this directive, its adoption prompts legal instruments regarding consumer protection as tools for deeper market integration rather than solutions for fundamental problems which consumers face.

INSTITUTE OF TAXATION UNDER THE CONDITIONS OF THE NATIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEM TRANSFORMATION

The article reveals the role and place of the institute of taxation in the national innovation system (NIS). This institute is presented through simple institutions of tax benefits and pressure, which stimulate innovative behavior. Institutions of stimulation of innovative behavior are the rules, regulations, incentives, sanctions and mechanisms designed to influence the motivation of economic subjects so that they choose from the available alternatives in favor of innovative behavior. Tax benefits have a stimulating effect by reducing the costs of participants in innovative activities and increasing financial results. The stimulating effect of tax pressure is the need for the economic entity to seek and implement new technologies, if it uses outdated and “harmful” technologies to the environment. The forms of the institutions of tax benefits used in foreign practice have been studied in detail and proposed by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. The forms of the institutions of tax benefits used in foreign practice have been studied in detail and proposed by the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Radical reform of the system of tax benefits is needed, which should radically change the institutional environment, formal rules, by strictly regulating the mechanism of their provision and strengthening control over the purposeful use of the amounts of received benefits. The conceptual principles of the reform should be based on the maximum harmonization of innovation and tax policy, on the ideas of the active influence of tax benefits on innovative behavior. It is noted that the institution of tax benefits is quite effective in stimulating innovation in developed countries but in Ukraine it has been relatively ineffective. The reason for the failure to apply tax benefits to stimulate innovative behavior in the Ukrainian economy lies in the specifics of the basic institutions of the institutional environment. To increase the strength of the formal Institution of Taxation, its institutions of innovative behavior stimulating, it is necessary to form adequate stereotypes of tax behavior purposefully.

Online Platform Service Providers on Platform 9¾: A Call for an Update of the Unfair Contract Terms Directive

This article argues for an update of the Unfair Contract Terms Directive of 1993 in light of the Commission’s Digital Single Market Strategy of 2015. The Directive in its current setup tolerates a certain amount of differences in the unfairness assessment based on national law due to its minimum harmonization approach and the mechanism of decentralized enforcement by national courts according to national law, designed by the CJEU. A comparative unfairness assessment of contract terms of five popular online platform service providers according to the national laws of Germany, the UK and France reveals just how different the result really is. The differences in national unfairness assessment according to the laws of the Member States go beyond the amount of differences justified by the Directive viewed from the perspective of the Commission’s legislative strategy. This inconsistency can be resolved by an update of the Unfair Contract Terms Directive. A modernization and the adoption of a maximum harmonization approach seem the most adequate considering the Digital Single Market Strategy. Right now, the Directive is stuck on the symbolic platform 9¾ – in between platform 9, the offline world for which it was created, and platform 10, the digital market. Online Platform Service Providers, Unfair Contract Terms, Digital SingleOnline Platform Service Providers, Unfair Contract Terms, Digital Single Market, Liability Clauses

Transpozycja konsumenckich dyrektyw maksymalnych na przykładzie dyrektywy turystycznej 2015/2302 do polskiego porządku prawnego

Dyrektywy konsumenckie licznie uchwalane w latach osiemdziesiątych i dziewięćdzie-siątych XX wieku były oparte na metodzie minimalnej harmonizacji. Nie przyniosło to jednak spo-dziewanych rezultatów w zakresie zadawalającego zbliżenia systemów prawnych państw człon-kowskich i na początku XXI wieku prawodawca unijny zrezygnował z harmonizacji minimalnej na rzecz harmonizacji zupełnej (maksymalnej). Na gruncie usług turystycznych obowiązywała dyrek-tywa z 1990 roku w sprawie zorganizowanych wakacji, wycieczek i podróży, oparta na najniższym wspólnym mianowniku. Obecnie została ona zastąpiona dyrektywą z 2015 roku w sprawie imprez turystycznych i powiązanych usług turystycznych, wpisującą się w trend dyrektyw maksymalnych. W artykule poddano analizie i ocenie skuteczność zastosowania metody pełnej harmonizacji jako sposobu realizacji celów i założeń dyrektyw konsumenckich na przykładzie dyrektywy turystycznej z 2015 roku. W założeniu harmonizacja maksymalna powinna wydatnie przyczyniać się do urze-czywistniania idei wspólnego rynku, ułatwiać przedsiębiorcom świadczenie usług w sposób tran-sgraniczny i jednocześnie zapewniać wysoki i jednolity poziom ochrony konsumentów. Jednakże analiza dyrektyw konsumenckich w kontekście ich transpozycji prowadzi do wniosku, że harmo-nizacja maksymalna raczej nie spełni pokładanych w niej oczekiwań. Nie doprowadzi do pełnego zbliżenia prawa w obszarach objętych zakresami dyrektyw; odrębności będą nadal występować i w dalszym ciągu będą zniechęcać konsumentów do usług transgranicznych. Natomiast negatywne konsekwencje transpozycji dyrektyw maksymalnych uwidoczniają się w postaci znacznej ingerencji w porządki prawne państw członkowskich i mogącym wystąpić negatywnym wpływem na stabil-ność krajowych systemów prawnych.

FORMATION OF SMALL-SCALE REGIONAL AGRO-INDUSTRIAL CLUSTERS AS A BASIS FOR SUSTAINABLE RURAL DEVELOPMENT

The agrarian sector of the Ukrainian economy is characterized by a number of problems in agriculture, rural development and rural areas. Problems in the agrarian sphere arose both against the background of the peculiarities and specifics of the industry, and against the background of political, economic and social changes in the country. The purpose of the article is to summarize the theoretical approaches to the formation of small-scale regional agro-industrial clusters as a basis for sustainable rural development and to propose the creation of agro-industrial infrastructure management to enhance the development of small business as an integrated form of cluster association. The article is devoted to the problem of formation of regional small-scale agro-industrial clusters as a basis for stable development of the agrarian sector of the economy. It is proposed as an integration form of cluster integration to create agro-industrial infrastructure management, which operates on the basis of logistical coordination and provides maximum synergistic effect and harmonization of economic interests of participants of economic processes in the cluster. The model of interaction of participants of regional agro-industrial cluster of small form of economic activity in modern economic conditions is developed and its role in activation of small business development in agrarian economy of the region is substantiated. It has been found out that agro-industrial infrastructure management, as part of a cluster, must consist of a set of elements of the defining and supporting systems that are combined by material flows. In turn, the defining system has four interrelated element groups (processing, transportation, warehousing and marketing) and the support system has four interrelated element groups (regulatory, financial, logistical and personnel support). The types of small farms in rural areas, which are the basis for the formation of regional agro-industrial clusters of small farms, are presented, namely: small agricultural enterprises, farms, personal peasant farms, households, sole proprietors, agricultural cooperatives. The formation of small-scale agro-industrial clusters as an effective mechanism for solving socio-economic problems in rural areas contributes to employment and enhances the competitiveness of agro-industrial production.

'What to Expect when You Are Expecting' a European Crowdfunding Regulation: The Current ‘Bermuda Triangle’ and Future Scenarios for Marketplace Lending and Investing in Europe

Marketplace lending and investing have been recently attracting increasing regulatory attention. However, regulatory responses to such phenomenon have been extremely varied, even in Europe, characterized by maximum harmonization in the field of financial regulation, continuous efforts in creating a single market and in centralizing supervision. Such fragmented framework poses the risk of different levels of investor protection in Europe, regulatory arbitrage, competition distortions, obstacles to cross-border activity and to existing EU passports. The European Commission, after an initial “wait-and-see” approach, adopted in March 2018 a proposal for a Regulation on European Crowdfunding Service Providers (ECSPs) for businesses. Such proposal, nonetheless, has undergone a number of significant revisions during the trilateral negotiations among the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, underlying the ambiguous nature of crowdfunding and the complexity in reaching a common view on the same. The three European Institutions seem in fact to have divergent views of crowdfunding and different ideas on how to regulate it, this delaying the approval of the proposed Regulation. Will crowdfunding eventually escape such Bermuda Triangle receiving adequate regulation or is it destined to die in the process? The present paper, after briefly describing crowdfunding main features and regulatory trends in Member States, will critically analyze the ECSPs Regulation Proposal, with respect to all the three different versions, inferring from each text a different vision (and consequent envisioned regulation) of crowdfunding and of financial regulation in general, underlying their pros and cons and proposing adjustments to reach a functional, tiered and proportional regulation. Finally, after mentioning certain recent revisions in national crowdfunding laws (e.g. in Italy, Belgium, UK and Germany), the paper will conclude trying to forecast the future direction of the ongoing trilateral negotiations and the possible impact of the European Regulation on national crowdfunding laws and the sector.

How Single is the Single Resolution Mechanism?

Since the first of January 2016, the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) has become fully operational. For the Member States of the European Banking Union the new regime entails a transferral of the decision-making on failing banks to the European level, specifically the Single Resolution Board (SRB). The political sensitivity hereof is illustrated by the European and Italian reaction to the mounting troubles in some parts of the Italian banking sector. The new European regime raises the question if, and if so to what degree, Member States participating in the European Banking Union (EBU Member States) retain discretion in determining the course of action for, and future of, a troubled bank. This question is explored along three lines of inquiry. First, we analyse the degree of harmonisation provided for by the BBRD and SRM. The second line of inquiry analyses EBU Member States’ influence in the SRB’s decisionmaking process. The third line of inquiry considers the possibilities (if any) for a public recapitalisation of troubled banks without applying the new general bail-in standard. Our first line of inquiry leads us to conclude that the EBU Member States have surrendered the decision-making on bank resolution to the EBU level, specifically to the SRB. The SRM regulation, consequently, provides for maximum harmonisation, leaving no room for national resolution tools. National resolution powers which operate and compete in the same area as the SRM, such as the Dutch nationalisation law, must thus be held as inapplicable. In the second line of inquiry we found that the SRM has both a supranational and an intergovernmental dimension. While the SRB in its executive session has a strong supranational character Member State influence in bank resolution decision remains present through the involvement of the Council and the SRB in plenary session in key decisions. In the third line we conclude that the rules imposed by the BRRD and SRM Regulation in combination with the State aid regime have rendered public recapitalisation without a bail-in virtually impossible.

Maximum vs minimum harmonization: what to expect from the institutional and legal battles in the EU on gene editing technologies.

New plant‐breeding technologies (NPBTs), including gene editing, are widely used and drive the development of new crops. However, these new technologies are disputed, creating uncertainty in how their application for agricultural and food uses will be regulated. While in North America regulatory systems respond with a differentiated approach to NPBTs, the Court of Justice of the European Union (EU) has in effect made most if not all NPBT subject to the same regulatory regime as genetically modified organisms (GMOs). This paper discusses from a law and economics point of view different options that are available for the EU's multi‐level legal order. Using an ex‐ante regulation versus ex‐post liability framework allows the economic implications of different options to be addressed. The results show that under current conditions, some options are more expensive than others. The least costly option encompasses regulating new crops derived from NPBTs similar to those used in ‘conventional’ breeding. The current regulatory situation in the EU, namely making the use of NPBTs subject to the same conditions as GMOs, is the most costly option. © 2019 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

How Single is the Single Resolution Mechanism?

Since the first of January 2016, the Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) has become fully operational. For the Member States of the European Banking Union the new regime entails a transferral of the decision-making on failing banks to the European level, specifically the Single Resolution Board (SRB). The political sensitivity hereof is illustrated by the European and Italian reaction to the mounting troubles in some parts of the Italian banking sector. The new European regime raises the question if, and if so to what degree, Member States participating in the European Banking Union (EBU Member States) retain discretion in determining the course of action for, and future of, a troubled bank. This question is explored along three lines of inquiry. First, we analyse the degree of harmonisation provided for by the BBRD and SRM. The second line of inquiry analyses EBU Member States’ influence in the SRB’s decision-making process. The third line of inquiry considers the possibilities (if any) for a public recapitalisation of troubled banks without applying the new general bail-in standard. Our first line of inquiry leads us to conclude that the EBU Member States have surrendered the decision-making on bank resolution to the EBU level, specifically to the SRB. The SRM regulation, consequently, provides for maximum harmonisation, leaving no room for national resolution tools. National resolution powers which operate and compete in the same area as the SRM, such as the Dutch nationalisation law, must thus be held as inapplicable. In the second line of inquiry we found that the SRM has both a supranational and an intergovernmental dimension. While the SRB in its executive session has a strong supranational character Member State influence in bank resolution decision remains present through the involvement of the Council and the SRB in plenary session in key decisions. In the third line we conclude that the rules imposed by the BRRD and SRM Regulation in combination with the State aid regime have rendered public recapitalisation without a bail-in virtually impossible. Outside of resolution, NCBs may assist solvent banks through ELA. In addition, EBU Member States could turn to the possibility of precautionary recapitalisation to prevent that the control over a bank’s fate is shifted to the SRB. Such precautionary recapitalisation is however subject to strict conditions.

СОЦИАЛЬНОЕ ПАРТНЕРСТВО В ПРОФЕССИОНАЛЬНОМ ОБРАЗОВАНИИ: ИНСТИТУЦИОНАЛЬНО-ОРГАНИЗАЦИОННЫЕ ОСНОВЫ

Социальное партнерство в системе профессионального образования представлено как один из важнейших аспектов государственно-общественного управления системой образованием. Модернизация системы профессионального образования происходит в условиях обновления системы отношений между субъектами на рынке труда и образовательных услуг. Наличие функциональных связей системы высшего образования с производственными, коммерческими и общественными структурами решает стратегические задачи регулирования рынка труда в стране. В статье рассматривается роль государства в становлении новой системы отношений между потребителями и заказчиками образовательных услуг с учетом максимального согласования интересов всех субъектов образовательного процесса. Системный подход к анализу типов взаимодействия профессиональных образовательных учреждений с субъектами и институтами рынка труда является методологическим основанием социального партнерства в профессиональном образовании.Цель: анализ условий и факторов государственно-общественного управления системой профессионального экономического образования.Метод или методология проведения работы: в статье использовались экономико-математические, системно-аналитические и структурно-ретроспективные методы, а также статистические и факторные методы анализа.Результаты: Установлено, что социальное партнерство в системе общественных отношений есть важный элемент в формировании современного подхода к профессиональному образованию. Проведен анализ регионального социального партнерства в Кузбассе с целью выявления общих тенденций развития государственной поддержки сетевого партнерства в образовании на муниципальном уровне. Организация сетевого партнерства в профессиональном образовании на региональном уровне отражает потребность современного общества в высококвалифицированных кадрах и характеризуется интеграцией всех ответственных субъектов в вопросе организации профессионального образования.Область применения результатов: Рассмотрены факторы и условия становления системы сетевого взаимодействия организаций высшего образования и различных субъектов и институтов рынка труда с целью повышения социальной значимости профессионализации и конкурентоспособности будущих специалистов. На основе факторного анализа выявлен комплекс системных противоречий инновационного социально-экономического развития и модернизации педагогического процесса и системы профессиональной подготовки будущих специалистов. Нормативное включение профессионального образования в систему базовых приоритетов социально-экономического развития Российской Федерации есть показатель реальной заинтересованности общества и государства в дальнейшем развитии социального партнерства.