New legal Concepts in the XXIst Century Global Society: from “Global Good Governance” to “Global Eco-diplomacy”

Author(s): Mădălina Virginia Antonescu / Language(s): Romanian Issue: 09/2015

In the present paper, we’ll try to analyze briefly some of the concepts commonly used in the domain of international relations, connected to the field of human rights and we’ll attempt to show their connection to other areas as human security, human development and sustainable development. After briefly analyzing the content of concepts such as global governance, good governance, we’ll reveal their relation to the concept of environmental security, due to the reality that, for the XXIst century global world, the protection and preservation of the Earth environment will represent one of the fundamental obligations of the political actors. This ethical (the ethical element representing, within the global society of XXIst century, one of the most important instruments of the global post-capitalist policy) and legal obligation (consolidating an authentic global environmental law, significantly enriched from the sanction-implementation viewpoint, as compared to the current set of international environmental regulations law, deeply enriched at compulsory level, in comparison with the present legal body of environmental law) will be implemented not only regarding state actors but also, non-state actors which cannot be neglected anymore in the XXIst century global society. We’ll also analyze other juridical concepts as eco-development, sustainable development, with some short observations regarding a global environmental law. The third section will present some considerations over the perspective of introducing “the rights of the nature”, within the XXIst century international law, where environment would be a distinct subject of international law, nearby states and international organizations, enjoying a special range of distinct rights. The fourth section focuses on the perspectives of eco-diplomacy and its legal nature (an inclusive type of diplomacy, based on the harmonious relation between the human being and nature or, on a contrary, dichotomic diplomacy, based on an antagonist relation between the human being and the environment).

Polityka energetyczna UE w kontekście realizacji Europejskiego programu energetycznego na rzecz naprawy gospodarczej

Author(s): Michał Piechowicz / Language(s): English,Polish Issue: 1 (73)/2015

This article is based on documents and legal acts of the EU institutions which are essential for the functioning of the European Energy Programme for Recovery. It also provides the legal basis and assumptions of the EU common energy policy. Important aspect addressed in this paper is the efficiency and the level of integration of European gas market and ways to ensure a secure supply of raw materials, which are combined with investments in infrastructure. In this context there is a significant need to set up works on the development of the internal network and interconnections. This article also reveals the importance of the European Energy Programme for Recovery as a useful tool tailored to the objectives of the discussed legislations that allows progress in key European investment projects.

JOHN GHAZVINIAN: UNTAPPED: THE SCRAMBLE FOR AFRICA’S OIL ORLANDO 2007

Author(s): Michał Paszkowski / Language(s): Polish Issue: 07/2010

THE KYOTO PROTOCOL AS A DETERMINANT OF INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION

Author(s): Herbert Gnaś / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2014

The Kyoto Protocol as the Framework Convention on Climate Change is a milestone in the formation and development of the climate change regime that is aimed at controlling global warming by the international community. But besides that this international agreement also became a factor that created new circumstances and opportunities for international cooperation. These circumstances were created for all the participants of the regime: the states, the non-governmental organizations on behalf of the societies and the business organizations as well as the corporations. The Kyoto Protocol became a catalyst for international cooperation between these international relations’ actors at all stages of its existence: the negotiation process, the ratification of it and its implementation, leading to the establishment of new political, social and especially economic ties.

An Analysis of the "Bio" / "Eco" Products Market, Referring to the EU and Romania

Author(s): Ionel Bostan / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

The EU and Canada represent the largest market in the world for the sale of ecological products attracting exports from many third countries and recording a total sale of 95% of the worldwide total market. The European market for ecological products – also known as “bio” / “eco” – in absolute figures – is somewhere around 20 billiards euro/year, and in the case of Romania, the market for those products varies around 200 million euro/year. According to European legislation, there are harmonized provisions and procedures for the import of ecological products which can be implemented in two ways: either by complying with the EU legislation on ecologic products, or based on the equivalence between the existent standards and control systems. In many European countries, the operators on such a market obey the rules established by Legislation for ecologic productions strictly. In Romania, a sanctioning system against those economic operators who fraudulently use product labels suggesting they are organic products has just recently been considered. Taking into consideration all these aspects, the present paper relies on the most recent bibliographic and statistical references in this field.

The Perception of the State‘s Influence on its Business Environment in the SMEs from Czech Republic

Author(s): Zuzana Virglerová,Kamil Dobes,Sergej Vojtovič / Language(s): English Issue: 26/2016

The state plays a very important role within its business environment. Through ist legislative environment, the state can be helpful to entrepreneurs in their activities or it can burden them. This article aims to find out how entrepreneurs of small and medium enterprises (SME) in the Czech Republic perceive the role of the state and its influence on business. The basis for the article were results of a project conducted at Tomas Bata University in Zlín in 2015. The project addressed 1,141 respondents from all regions of the Czech Republic to answer questions about the business environment. The research also considered the period during which the questioned entrepreneur was active in the market. Companies active in the market from 1st to 5th year represented 21%, companies active from the beginning of the 5th to the beginning of the 10th year represented 17%, and companies active for more than 10 years represented 62% of the researched sample. The structure of the researched sample according to the size of companies was as follows: 65% were micro enterprises (<10 employees), 27% were small enterprises (10-50 employees), and 8% were medium-sized enterprises (50-250 employees). This structure reflects the distribution of enterprises in the economy. Three areas of the state’s influence on the business environment were selected: the state’s help with entrepreneurship, administrative burdens related to entrepreneurship, and corruption and clientelism. These areas were moreover examined in terms of the length of business and company size. It was found out that SMEs perceive the help of the state more than micro businesses. More than 53% of entrepreneurs encountered clientelism. Furthermore, the results confirm that the problem of corruption increases with company size. Encountering corruption and clientelism may be significantly more influenced by the length of entrepreneurship than by company size.

Evolution of European Waste Management Practices: an Informal Sector Perspective

Author(s): Ştefan Gabriel Burcea / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2015

Human progress has been intrinsically influenced in time by the availability and seriousness by which mankind treated the issue of cleanness and sanitation of human settlements, in general of wastes. Given the direct negative impact on public health, the improper waste management affected the history of mankind in different ways, causing, from epidemics of incurable diseases, up to falls of great empires. The research on the evolution of waste management practices pursues to identify the factors that have generated the development of waste management methods and techniques, the determination of the manner in which the technical progress and innovation have contributed to the modernization of the practices in the field, to the analysis of the part played by the public authorities and society in general in the proliferation of coherent waste management practices, to the evaluation of the informal sector’s contribution to the evolution of waste collection systems and to the comparison between various perspectives of the impact that wastes have on the environment and human health. This research used the indirect observation research method by analyzing the foreign literature and the various documents available in the virtual environment, on the websites of certain organizations involved in the wide and complex issue of waste management.

Punkt widzenia pasażerów na regulacje i deregulacje w pasażerskich przewozach kolejowych

Author(s): Maciej Kruszyna / Language(s): Polish Issue: 368/2014

The article concerns the evaluation of regulation and deregulation in the passenger rail transport in Poland from the passengers point of view. The rating is based on the socalled “journeys offer”. Various parameters of journeys offer are described here. On the basis of national regulations, including the Act of the Public Transport, the basic problems are identified. The most serious issue is the difficulty of reconciling the conditions of competition in the access to the market with the need to integrate the timetables and tickets. The successful examples from abroad are indicated. A new idea of approach to planning the rail transport system is formulated.

Slovenská energetická politika v roku 2013

Author(s): Karel Hirman / Language(s): Slovak Issue: 1/2013

International Policy Transfer and Domestic Politics. The Limited Effectiveness of National Environmental Strategies in Romania

Author(s): Ralf Nordbeck / Language(s): English Issue: 03/2015

This case study describes an instance of international policy transfer within the framework of Romania’s National Environmental Action Programme (NEAP) and examines the policy’s domestic effects from 1993 to 2003. The article focuses on three factors: (a) international and bilateral transfer mechanisms; (b) domestic capacity to implement the policy innovation; and (c) the degree of political will in support of such policy innovation. The analysis shows that limited domestic capacities, a scarcity of available financial resources to implement national environmental strategies as well as limited political support, from the government and Ministry of Environment in particular, have hindered the effective implementation of national environmental strategies in Romania, despite international and bilateral assistance provided by the international community in support of the NEAP model.

GOSPODAROWANIE W KRAJOBRAZIE W KONTEKŚCIE ROZWOJU TERENÓW INWESTYCYJNYCH NA PRZYKŁADZIE FABRYKI VW W BIAŁĘŻYCACH

Author(s): Paweł Szumigała / Language(s): Polish Issue: 46/2/2016

This paper discusses how the impact on the shape of the landscape caused the implementation of the second VW factory, located in Białężyce near Września. It presents the results of analysis of spatial landscape in the region of location of the complex VW. The article attempts to assess the changes in the landscape and the directions of corrective actions. The analyzes are illustrated drawings and photographs.

Transitions Online_Peter Rutland-Putin Joins the Climate Change Deniers

Author(s): Peter Rutland,Elizabeth Plantan / Language(s): English Issue: 04/25/2017

Were his comments just off-the-cuff remarks, or a reflection of a deeper policy change?By Elizabeth Plantan and Peter Rutland

Transitions Online_Around the Bloc-Persistently Bad Air Earns Bulgaria A Legal Reproof

Author(s): TOL TOL / Language(s): English Issue: 04/11/2017

Country racks up some of the worst air quality stats in the EU, along with other eastern members.

Međunarodni ugovori u oblasti životne sredine i uzroci (ne)efikasnosti

Author(s): Dragoljub Todić / Language(s): Serbian Issue: 2/2017

In the contemporary literature dealing with international environmental law a significant number of papers is devoted to criticism on account of efficiency of international environmental treaties. The purpose of this paper is to show the various factors and causes of (in) efficiency of these international treaties. In the first part of paper the importance of international environmental treaties, as a source of law, is emphasized. Other sources of the international environmental law are pointed out, too. In the main part of the paper methodological issues and criteria for measurements of effectiveness and the causes of (in) efficiency of international environmental treaties are discussed. Paper provides an overview of the problems that affect the achievement of goals. Some international treaties which achieved the prescribed objectives, as well as some which did not meet the objectives are mentioned. It is noted that there are several different factors that determine the possibilities of achieving the goals of international environmental treaties.

Transitions Online_Around the Bloc-EU Court Orders Halt to Bialowieza Logging

Author(s): TOL TOL / Language(s): English Issue: 08/01/2017

Poland is pushing back on two fronts against what it calls the European Union’s unjustified interference in its internal affairs.

Water deficit as a security threat

Author(s): Anna Sakson-Boulet / Language(s): English Issue: 9/2016

The aim of the article is to explain the key definitions connected with water security and to analyse state relations in the context of water issues. In this context therefore water can be seen to be a precious resource because there it has no substitute. Thus the lack of water security is emerging as one of the major barriers for economic and social growth in developing countries and a source of domestic conflicts. On the other hand, water-related events might result in international cooperation, as Kofi Annan noticed during the celebration of World Water Day: “Fierce national competition over water resources has prompted fears that water issues contain the seeds of violent conflict. [...] If all world’s peoples work together, a secure and sustainable water future can be ours”. What is certain, in the near future any environmental security planning will have to take into consideration the prime issue of water security.

Polityka Unii Europejskiej a rozwój odnawialnych źródeł energii w Niemczech

Author(s): Beata Molo / Language(s): Polish Issue: 10/2016

The article raises the problem of the development of the renewable energy sources in Germany in the context of the energy policy of the European Union and one of its principal targets– the build-up of the renewable energy sources. The study describes potential of the renewable energy sources of the EU as well as the origin and evolution of the significant of the renewable energy sources in the energy policy of the EU. The article contains the balance sheet of there new able energy sources’ usage in Germany as well as it presents their role in the process of the energy transformation (Energiewende) and mechanisms for support of their development.

Transitions Online_Around the Bloc-Turkmen Sweat for the Motherland

Author(s): TOL TOL / Language(s): English Issue: 08/07/2017

One of the world’s most isolated countries may also be one of the healthiest.

Framing Ecological Values In The Global Natural Resource Economics

Author(s): Olha Prokopenko,Iryna Marekha / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

Generation-based approach to natural resource economics has been developed in the article. Based on sustainable development definition, generations can be categorized by present and future ones. An ecological classification of the global natural resources has been proposed, which is related to future generations. Economic issues of eco-futuristic classification have also been raised in the article. Classification of ecological values has been proposed and ecological values being incorporated into a form of ecological culture and exploited as a new factor of production have been analyzed. The effect of increasing marginal futuristic utility of ecological values has been revealed at the end of the article.

Indicators Of Sustainable Development In Framework Of Environmental Policy Experience Of Eastern Neighbors

Author(s): Ievgen Khlobystov,Liubov Zharova,Natalia Eremeeva / Language(s): English Issue: 1/2016

The sustainable development indicators perform an essential function of incorporating knowledge about the development of human society into decision making at all stages from planning and implementation to evaluation of the policy impacts. This paper provides an overview of evolution and application experience of sustainability measuring practice. Researchers analyze the directions of measurement approach progress. Modern trends of indicators’ using are explored. From assessment of current status of sustainable development indicators authors reveal the main challenges in defining an appropriate set of them. The ways of overcoming the lack of harmonization in variety of conceptual and organizational frameworks used by the different countries are reviewed. Authors consider the direction of modernization of SDI system. The importance of measuring sustainable development at different scale levels: local, regional, enterprise and household levels is stressed. Researchers reveal the main task in division of responsibilities of national authorities; managing data quality and data accessibility. An additional challenge of providing better analysis of cross linkages between indicators is pointed out.