<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

Land-based Trans-Eurasian transport corridors, their current development and perspectives have been high on the political agenda in the last two decades not only in Europe and China but also in the transit countries such as russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan. A number of conceptual initiatives are already being implemented. The Belt and road or the one Belt, one road (oBor) initiative on the Chinese side and the rail Baltica project from the European perspective have gained special attention. Big-scale infrastructural projects are also being implemented by transit countries, e.g., the construction of a motorway from China to Europe—from Kazakhstan via russia to Belarus—to facilitate the land-based shortcut for cargo transport within the Eurasian transport corridor. This article investigates the general framework conditions of infrastructural investments into projects related to Eurasian logistics and discusses strategic areas of intersection between the European activities and the new Silk Way. in the framework of the oBor initiative, this article also addresses the interaction of the Chinese–Kazakh–russian–Belarusian –polish railway transport, with a special focus on Belarusian–polish cross-border issues. The authors have participated in several projects focusing on transport corridors and discuss the research question of how different Eurasian land-based transport corridors can be integrated and which strategic role can the rail Baltica project play in the context of the new Silk route. The research is based on surveys, expert interviews, secondary data research and case studies.
</abstract>

Department of Business Administration, School of Business and Governance

Integration Perspectives of Eurasian Land-Based Transport Corridors: Empirical Evidence from the OBOR and Rail Baltica Initiatives

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Certain legal instruments have been developed in business transactions in order to facilitate the conclusion of an agreement under negotiation. The instruments of this kind are called precontractual agreements. They play an important role in shaping the legal situation of entities involved in the negotiation process. The basis for concluding precontractual agreements is the main principle of civil law, namely, the principle of freedom of contract. The most often mentioned precontractual agreements include a letter of intent and an agreement to negotiate. A letter of intent is a statement of intent to conclude an agreement in the future, although at a later stage of the letters exchange, they may also include statements of intent to continue negotiations. Legal doctrine has not developed a consistent categorization of letters of intent. Such attempts are limited to separating a number of terms, which intrinsically describe similar legal instruments. furthermore, an agreement to negotiate is a separate type of unnamed agreement, which aims to prepare the procedure of concluding the final contract through negotiation. It is a temporary contract related to a specific agreement which it concerns. An agreement to negotiate is a due diligence agreement. The infringement of provisions of an agreement to negotiate will result in contractual liability. The aim of the article is to answer the question whether, at the current stage of shaping legal relations, it is necessary to regulate precontractual agreements at the level of Eu legislation in order to harmonize them in the European union.
</abstract>

Precontractual Agreements in Selected Legal Systems

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The aim of the article is to study both the magnitude and structure of internal labour reserves in the Baltic countries as well as to discuss potential policy measures that might help to activate these reserves. despite the record-high employment rates recently posted by Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, considerable internal labour reserves can still be found in some population groups. Among upper-middle-aged men, low employment might reflect a low incidence of lifelong learning, inadequate digital skills and rapidly deteriorating health condition. Low employment of youth mirrors the low prevalence of apprenticeships. in Lithuania and Latvia, there is also a postponed entry of young women into the labour market. These internal labour reserves total more than 25,000 people in Estonia, 55,000 in Latvia and 85,000 in Lithuania, corresponding to 4–7% of the total employment. The recent outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic may somewhat increase and change the structure of these labour reserves.
</abstract>

Have the Baltic Countries Run Out of Labour Reserves?

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The rapid development of computer technology over the past decades has brought about countless benefits across industries and social benefits as well—constant interpersonal connectivity is facilitated through numerous communication channels and social media outlets, energy-producing enterprises employ complex machinery management systems for increased efficiency, ease of access and safety, hedge funds make use of high-frequency trading algorithms to engage in trades happening at a fraction of a second, while medical professionals use predictive technologies to diagnose diseases and forecast viral outbreaks. Widespread adoption of technology necessitated the creation of regulatory frameworks that would ensure the safeguarding of rights and regulatory and judicial supervision over the exploitation of high technology. one such framework is the Gdpr, created due to the need for a comprehensive, contemporary legal regime governing the processing of personal data in a time when such data has become a commodity that is traded and sold in return for services or financial gain. However, in the authors’ view, the Gdpr suffers in terms of efficacy in the context of artificial intelligence-based technologies, and full compliance of data controllers and processors employing such technologies is unlikely to be achieved, particularly in regards to the right to information, the general principle of transparency and the right to erasure. The article provides an overview of these issues, including a discussion on the movement towards a regime of data ownership, and proposes legislative amendments as an effective method of mitigating these drawbacks.
</abstract>

Artificial Intelligence and the GDPR: Inevitable Nemeses?

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">

Normally, after the end of the exclusivity period offered by patents, medicines fall in public domain attracting competing companies to launch generic production that would bring down price levels. for different reasons, generic production of off-patented medicines does not always take place, allowing the main producer to continue dictate price levels. under some circumstances, this conduct may turn into exploitative abuse. However, excessive pricing itself is not anti-competitive unless other cost-and non-cost-related factors are present that turn excessive pricing a concern of competition law.
The article analyses the most relevant Eu case-law on abusive pricing in the pharmaceutical sector questioning what the right benchmark price is in the light of the <italic>United Brands</italic> two-limb test. As economic calculations cannot provide universal solutions in these cases, the article suggests that the <italic>United Brands</italic> test should not be the only method to judge exploitative abuse, but rather a combination of different methods that need to be applied to achieve reliable results. As emphasised in several cases, both economic calculations and other factors should be considered to avoid the risk of false-positive results. furthermore, exploitative abuse exists only in case excessive pricing is additionally unfair. However, judging unfairness, as discussed in this article, is a complicated task where the outcomes depend on the impact of the test results on the competition process.
</abstract>

Excessive Pricing of Pharmaceuticals in the EU: Balancing between Exploitation and Exploitative Abuse

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Higher education institutions around the world have embarked on complex journeys of organizational change to facilitate the transition towards a more competent and educated society, especially one able to adapt to advanced and sustainable political, economic and sociotechnical paradigms. in this context, leading universities have adopted the <italic>Research-Based</italic> (rB) approach as a fundamental component of their strategies to bring closer together their main educational activities: teaching, learning and research. However, in spite of ample efforts, serious shortcomings at the implementation level are commonly reported. Especially revealing are the students’ limited self-reliance, confidence, and academic research and writing skills documented in the literature. This article examines and updates the concept of <italic>Research-Based</italic> maps and explores the multilevel regulatory framework that has conditioned the implementation and alignment of educational initiatives, including the institutional arrangements that are common in public universities in the European union, and in Estonia, as an example. it enhances the understanding of complex institutional and regulatory interactions in general, emphasizing the importance of reflexive and well justified normative determination.
</abstract>

Regulatory Framework of the Research-Based Approach to Education in the EU

AHEAD OF PRINT

Volume 14 (2024): Issue 1 (June 2024)

Volume 13 (2023): Issue 2 (December 2023)

Volume 13 (2023): Issue 1 (June 2023)

Volume 12 (2022): Issue 2 (December 2022)

Volume 12 (2022): Issue 1 (May 2022)

Volume 11 (2021): Issue 2 (September 2021)

Volume 11 (2021): Issue 1 (May 2021)

Volume 10 (2020): Issue 3 (December 2020)

Volume 10 (2020): Issue 2 (September 2020)

Volume 10 (2020): Issue 1 (June 2020)

Volume 9 (2019): Issue 4 (December 2019)

Volume 9 (2019): Issue 3 (September 2019)

Volume 9 (2019): Issue 2 (September 2019)

Volume 9 (2019): Issue 1 (June 2019)

Volume 8 (2018): Issue 2 (September 2018)

Volume 8 (2018): Issue 1 (June 2018)

Volume 7 (2017): Issue 2 (October 2017)

Volume 7 (2017): Issue 1 (June 2017)

Volume 6 (2016): Issue 2 (October 2016)

Volume 6 (2016): Issue 1 (February 2016)

Volume 5 (2015): Issue 2 (October 2015)

Volume 5 (2015): Issue 1 (February 2015)

Volume 4 (2014): Issue 2 (October 2014)

Volume 4 (2014): Issue 1 (June 2014)

Volume 3 (2013): Issue 3 (December 2013)

Volume 3 (2013): Issue 2 (October 2013)

Volume 3 (2013): Issue 1 (June 2013)

TalTech Journal of European Studies

 TalTech Journal of European Studies (abbreviation TJES) is a semiannual international peer-reviewed research journal (formerly known as the Baltic Journal of European Studies and Proceedings of the Institue for European Studies) with an international editorial office and extensive international editorial board. The journal is abstracted in SCOPUS, Web of Science (Emerging Sources Citation Index) and other relevant databases. Since 2020, the scope of the journal is related to digitalisation and technology implementation and their impact in the social, legal, political, economic and cultural domains in the European Union and its Member States. We kindly encourage members of the academic community to contribute to our journal. Papers submitted to the forthcoming issues will be reviewed by eminent scholars in the particular field under strict supervision of the international editorial board. Special issues   BJES 2013 Vol. 3 Issue 3 was guest co-edited by Natalia Chaban and Martin Holland (University of Canterbury, New Zealand)  BJES 2014 Vol. 4 Issue 2 was prepared in cooperation with Latvian European Community Studies Association (LECSA)  BJES 2017 Vol. 7 Issue 2 has been supported by the European Commission’s Jean Monnet Module “Digital Single Market as a New Core of European Union Studies”, project reference number 587255-EPP-1-2017-1-EE-EPPJMO-MODULE.   BJES 2018 Vol. 8 Issues 1 and 2 have been supported by the project ‘Digital Single Market as a Key Element in EU-oriented Georgian Higher Education’ (no. 155-2016-A), funded by the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the framework of Development Cooperation and Humanitarian Aid. TJES 2023 Vol. 13 Issue 1 was guest edited by Viktorija Skvarciany (Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania).      Why submit  TJES is an effective channel of academic dissemination as it is widely read and distributed through Baltic and European research networks and libraries and read by policy makers as well.  Archiving  Sciendo archives the contents of this journal in Portico - digital long-term preservation service of scholarly books, journals and collections.  Plagiarism Policy  The editorial board is participating in a growing community of Similarity Check System's users in order to ensure that the content published is original and trustworthy. Similarity Check is a medium that allows for comprehensive manuscripts screening, aimed to eliminate plagiarism and provide a high standard and quality peer-review process. 