Suchergebnisse

In the Euro-Atlantic relations system (USA, NATO, EU), small Nordic countries are forced, in a conformist way, to adapt themselves to unsteady parameters of global and regional conditions. Irrespective of the Ukrainian crisis duration, they will drift together with their EU partners to a greater autonomy from the USA, not interrupting tight links with their transatlantic supervisor. It seems that the geopolitical pressure on Russia, the creation of threat to its North-West by the growing military potential is not seen very clearly. A deep transformation of relations between the USA, Europe and Russia indirectly affected the Nordic Europe. The mobilization of elites and inhabitants on the basis of defensive discourse is taking place in the Northern subregion. NATO and EU are trying to react accordingly, but still do not justify the expectations of Nordic Europeans. The new strategy accomplishing to deter Moscow's "revisionist behavior", but at the same time, to secure Russia's involvement in international affairs for a long-term perspective is, from viewpoint of the Nordic community, one of the priority tasks of transatlantic partners for a more balanced, stable, complex world order. The transatlantic policy of Nordic countries is changeable in a very short range of variants. In this subregion, one may see the interaction/competition between two segments of the Euro-Atlantic security: NATO (art. 5 of the Washington Treaty) and EU (Lisbon Treaty – an additional option) as an independent "power center". The activation, especially the institutionalization of the subregional Northern defense cooperation (the report made by T. Stoltenberg on February 9, 2009; NORDEFCO; the initiative of the Ministers of Defense on April 9, 2015) may become a new strategic macro factor under conditions of the complicated interaction/ competition between two segments (NATO and EU) for the Euro-Atlantic security in the future Europe.

The article deals with the retrospective of relations between Russia, USA and EU in the sphere of energy security, as well as their interaction regarding the current political crisis in the Ukraine. Particular attention is paid to the evolution of the key actors'positions and the development of their relations within the framework of the regulatory regimes established by the most significant agreements in the energy sphere. In conclusion the authors claim that what they say in their article not only does substantially reinforce the arguments set forth by Professor Giuseppe Guarino, who argues about the negative consequences caused by the dictatorship of the Brussels's bureaucracy within the EU, but also inflicts another blow on the Maastricht Treaty and the Treaty of Lisbon in terms of external policy and trade, since the both Treaties were designed to convert the EU in a real competitor of the United States in the then forming multipolar World. The Brussel's bureaucracy, having turned into a dutiful instrument of the US geopolitical strategy, hindered the movement of the EU in that direction, while its dictatorship in energy security aggravates the crisis situation of the EU, almost pushing the EU to the brink of collapse and disintegration. We have lately witnessed an evolving and growing phenomenon of the so called "Euroscepticism". The results of the Europarliament elections in late May, 2014, were a graphic demonstration of the symptoms of this alarming for the EU disease, when the anti-EU parties in the four out 22 EU countries won the elections (France, United Kingdom, Denmark, and Greece) Those results, regardless of the panic headlines in mass media and statements like "shocking" or "earthquake" made by some politicians, were not able to significantly affect the nature of the European Parliament, though they can significantly complicate its work. This is so far the first "alarming bell" tolling for the EU.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to deal with an issue of female labour inactivity in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, more specifically women in the 16‐65 age category who are long‐term inactive in the formal labour market due to family responsibilities. This group currently represents one‐third of the female population of working age in the country.Design/methodology/approachThe core of the analysis lies in examining the main socio‐demographic characteristics of family carers. First, the paper provides descriptive analysis of socio‐demographic background of women who are inactive in the labour market. Second it examines the influence of selected socio‐demographic characteristics on the woman's choice not to participate in the labour market due to family care. In the conclusions, based on the outcomes of the conducted analysis and information on the existing welfare setting in the country, the paper suggests policies which should facilitate greater participation of these women in the labour market.FindingsReferring to the presented theory and to the findings, it can be concluded that Luxembourg is a country with a conservative orientation where women, especially those with lower education, who are married, multiple‐mothers, older than 35 years, Luxembourg nationals, and who are living in households receiving higher social benefits, choose to withdraw from the labour market due to family responsibilities.Originality/valueGiven the lack of more detailed information concerning labour market inactivity of Luxembourgish women and their labour market potential, the fact that the female labour inactivity in the country has never been examined in light of the theory of welfare states' regimes, and the pressing Lisbon employment strategy targets, this paper represents the first in depth empirical attempt to describe and explain the phenomenon of female labour market inactivity in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and provides evidence based policy suggestions which could promote women's labour market participation. The outcomes of the cross‐sectional approach applied in this paper could serve as a base for further more sophisticated analyses of the issue of female inactivity due to family care in Luxembourg. It would be particularly interesting to focus on longitudinal analysis of transistions in and out labour market inactivity and analyze the main socio‐demographic determinants of these transitions.

Abstract: This article provides a comparative analysis of collective enforcement of consumer claims in Europe, the US, and Canada. It engages in a comparative institutional analysis and shows the relevance of the institutional framework for assessing the effectiveness of different strategies.
Collective enforcement of consumer claims is attracting the attention of both policy makers and scholars. The Lisbon Council of 2007 has placed collective redress at the core of consumer strategy for the near future.
The implementation of Directive 98/27 on injunctions, the new regulation on consumer protection 2004/2006, proves the existence of different legal cultures concerning consumer protection and the choice of enforcement mechanisms. A new series of law reforms concerning group actions is taking place in different Member States without the impetus of European legislation, in part as a response to scandals in fi nancial and product markets.
These new reforms raise the issue of the effective combination of judicial and administrative enforcement at EU and Member State levels. The article clearly shows that this alternative does not correspond to public–private enforcement, given that judicial enforceability may also be sought by public agencies. It is necessary to rethink the factors upon which to define the combination of administrative and judicial enforcement. The ex ante–ex post division is overly simplistic and does not reflect the current division of labour between courts and agencies. The damages–injunctions combination needs to be tailored to new regulatory functions of remedies in consumer law.
Furthermore, the success of a new strategy depends on providing the right incentives and accountability mechanisms to key institutional players. Consumer associations empowered with enforcement need to become more accountable towards members and the general public. Pecuniary and non–pecuniary incentives need to be provided for plaintiffs' lawyers. These may not be only market driven, but also public policy oriented, thus affecting the selection of claims to be litigated. The piecemeal process should be rationalized with new policy choices to grant greater consumer protection in a strongly competitive environment.
Résume: Cet article prévoie une analyse comparative sur l'exécution collective du droit de la consommation en Europe, à Canada et aux Etats–Unis. Il s'engage dans une analyse institutionnelle comparative and démontre l'importance du cadre institutionnel pour mesurer l'effectivité des stratégies différentes.
L'exécution collective du droit de la consommation attire l'attention de la politique aussi bien que de la recherche scientifi que. En 2007 le Conseil de Lisbonne a accordé priorité au développement d'une action collective en faveur es consommateurs en Europe.
La transposition de la directive 98/27 sur l'action en cessation, la réglementation 2004/2006 sur la coopération dans l'exécution transfrontalière du droit de la consommation prouve l'existence des différentes cultures juridiques en ce qui concerne la protection du consommateur et le choix des moyens de l'exécution. Une bonne partie des Etats Membres ont adopté des reformes en ce qui concerne l'action collective, souvent en réaction aux scandales dans les marchés financiers et les marchés des produits.
Les nouvelles réformes législatives soulèvent la question sur une combinaison effective de l'exécution judicaire et administrative au niveau de la CE et des Etats Membres