European History and the Future of Legal Freedoms

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> The fast development of ICTs pose new challenges to the European Union and its Member States. Every EU country has its own policies regarding technology transfer, ownership of state e-services, and the possibilities how the state-owned or licensed e-service could be exported. Taking into account the free movement of goods, the EU has created a platform to cooperate and export IT solutions. However, the lack of preparedness of infrastructures, legislation and stakeholders for cross-border exchanges poses a threat to IT transfer and should be taken into consideration in the EU as well. In the coming decades the number of outsourced ICT solutions, strategically important ICT solutions, public services and critically important information exchange platforms developed on behalf of the states, will grow exponentially. Still, digital development is uneven across the EU, they grow at different speeds and the performance is quite splintered. There are legal provisions which are outdated and therefore impede technological cooperation and export of IT solutions. A Member State may restrict the ICT licensing based on national security and policy reasons and the ownership of intellectual property might pose a threat to technology transfer or further development of the IT solution. There are examples of strategically important export of ICT solutions, the experience at which can be expanded to cover other EU Member States. Strong collaboration would enable mutual learning from past experiences along with the opportunities for better use of technology. Parallels can be drawn with military technology transfers, as the policies and legal framework was first developed and mostly used with them.This introduces a question of what are the conditions for exporting strategically important ICT solutions from one Member State to another, given that there is no common legal framework developed yet, and who should decide whether to transfer or not? </abstract>

Estonian Human Rights Centre Narva mnt 9j, Tallinn 10117, Estonia

Tallinn Law School, Tallinn University of Technology Akadeemia tee 3, Tallinn 12618, Estonia

Technology Transfer in the EU: Exporting Strategically Important ICT Solutions to Other EU Member States

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The purpose of this study is to investigate anti-EU and anti- LGBT attitudes in Poland on the basis of quantitative evidence (statistical data) and qualitative evidence (discourse analysis of statements expressed on the Internet). As Euroscepticism seems to frequently appear in conjunction with prejudice against LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual or transgender) persons, the task of this article is to find out whether they may have a common foundation and what it may be.A possible answer, as the article argues, is that both attitudes could be considered symptoms of a deeper, more wide-ranging and fundamental problem-a fear, tension, or anxiety caused by social change, especially the fragmentation of dominant collective (national) identity. The case for such an interpretation of the situation is first made on the basis of existing academic literature and statistical data provided by Eurobarometer and the Polish Public Opinion Research Centre (Centrum Badania Opinii Społecznej, CBOS). However, as the text further argues, such quantitative methods have their limitations and should be supported and illustrated with qualitative studies. The article thus proposes an alternative discourse-oriented approach, namely critical discourse analysis (CDA). This approach is used to conduct an introductory, presentational analysis of some examples of anti-EU and anti-LGBT discourse found on the Internet.This analysis shows that sexual minorities represent values so strange and foreign to Polish conservatives that they can only be conceptualized as something imposed by the power which is both new and distant-by Brussels. And the other way round, the European Union’s liberalism and espousal of human rights, including women’s and LGBT rights, makes it impossible for the conservative parts of the Polish society to accept a “European identity”. This means that Euroscepticism and LGBT prejudice are not just occasionally, coincidentally connected expressions of an underlying resistance to change, but that a closer relationship exists between them. Namely, the conservative reluctance or hostility towards both the EU and LGBT is caused by their incompatibility with the patriotic and religious national identity construction. </abstract>

Anti-EU and Anti-LGBT Attitudes in Poland: Considering Quantitative and Qualitative Evidence

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This paper tests the Varieties of Capitalism (VoC) framework to explain variation in fiscal stimulus measures across OECD countries in response to the 2008-2010 economic crisis. Following Soskice (2007), I argue that coordinated market economies are less flexible with fiscal policy than liberal market economies. Multivariate analysis across 23 OECD countries demonstrates that VoC is more powerful than three competing theories: fiscal institutions, which hypothesizes more stimulus in countries with less restrictive budgetary rules; debt credibility, which hypothesizes more stimulus in less indebted countries; and political partisanship, which hypothesizes more stimulus in countries governed by the left.</abstract>

Varieties of Capitalism and Fiscal Stimulus, 2008–2010

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This article deals with the issue of administrative decision, which represents one of the principal forms of the realization of public administration in the Czech Republic. Even if the Czech legislation provides for its issuance a number of requirements in relation to its content and form, in practice, however, there are violations of these legal conditions and requirements and then we talk about a defective administrative decision. According to how to remedy the defective administrative acts, distinction is made between formally defective administrative decisions, factually inaccurate decisions, unlawful decisions, and next to them, separately null administrative decisions. The main attention is paid to the nullity, because only the nullity represents the most serious and also irremovable defect of an administrative decision. As the null decision does not exist from the perspective of law, it is not able to affect the rights and duties of its recipients. The null acts, as the only category of defective administrative acts, constitute an exception to the principle of the presumption of validity and correctness of administrative acts.</abstract>

Nullity and Other Defects of Administrative Decisions in the Czech Republic

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">In the context of high migration rates and limited formal care support for the elderly the paper deals with normative expectations and actual flows of support in Lithuanian transnational families. The study is based on a representative survey of elderly parents who have at least one migrant child (N=305). The data analysis revealed predominance of familistic attitudes towards filial responsibilities in transnational families. We did not find any significant differences in filial expectations between the two types of transnational families (elderly parents having only migrant children and those with both migrant and non-migrant children). High expectations of elderly parents are not being met in regards to face-to-face and virtual contacts with migrant adult children. The differences in provided/ received emotional support between migrant and non-migrant children were insignificant. However, the data revealed significant differences in provided/received financial support between migrant and non-migrant children.</abstract>

Norms and Care Relationships in Transnational Families: The Case of Elderly Parents Left Behind in Lithuania

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The EURODAC Regulation establishes the database of the fingerprints of asylum seekers. In 2015, the new EURODAC Regulation came in force and some basic concepts that were not in the previous regulation have been changed. The article analyzes the responses to the new EURODAC Regulation from UNHCR and the Commission and the threats that this new regulation is creating. This article aims to find out whether the changes introduced in the new EURODAC will bring potential discrimination concerns and whether asylum seekers are treated as potential criminals and therefore causing stigmatization of those groups of people in society. The article gives an overview of the EURODAC database, fingerprinting and biometric systems, and comparison of old and new EURODAC regulation. The full assessment of the application of the regulation can be done after it has been in force for some time</abstract>

The New EURODAC Regulation: Fingerprints as a Source of Informal Discrimination

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The objective of this study was to gather information about the last habitual residence (LHR) of the deceased in the context of the upcoming EU Succession Regulation. In addition, the aim was to analyze the adequacy of the legally undefined LHR as the principal connecting factor in cross-border succession within the EU. This study was carried out as a part of a bachelor thesis conducted on the same subject. The data were collected from relevant jurisprudence, international law, national acts, the EU published materials and case law. These results suggest that the legally undefined LHR is an unstable connecting factor for the purposes of the Succession Regulation, since it cannot guarantee sufficient legal certainty, and hence, the EU citizens are not able to fully utilize their right to free movement. The findings indicate that there might be a need to amend a legal definition for the LHR, not only for the EU Member States to be able to apply the concept in an harmonized way, but also for the EU citizens to know whether they are considered habitually resident in a state or not.</abstract>

The Last Habitual Residence of the Deceased as the Principal Connecting Factor in the Context of the Succession Regulation (650/2012)

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">The collapse of the communist regime at the end of the twentieth century resulted in a wave of democratization in Central and Eastern Europe. While trying to establish democracy, many states in this region had to demonstrate their ability to protect human rights and to deal with the past of the repressive regime. As these states decided to join various human rights instruments they also became subject to certain obligations towards their people. One of these obligations is the requirement to provide remedies in case of human rights abuses, and the right to know the truth is recognized as part of it. Therefore the goal of this article is to identify the abilities of the victim of the communist regime to access the files of former secret services in post-communist countries in the light of the right to know the truth. The answer is provided using an analysis of international documents, historic, comparative and systemic methods, providing and evaluating the practice of different states dealing with the files of former secret services or government files of the repressive past and academic literature.</abstract>

University Vytautas Magnus University Jonavos st. 66, Kaunas 44191, Lithuania

Faculty of Law, Vytautas Magnus University Jonavos st. 66, Kaunas 44191, Lithuania

Access to Archives in Post-Communist Countries: The Victim’s Perspective

<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">This article explores the political role of a referendum in Central European countries, in particular in Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic. In this article, political effectiveness is understood as a possibility to influence the decision-making process by citizens through a referendum. The transformation of political systems in Central European states from socialist/communist to democratic ones resulted in increasing interest in the notion of referendum, one of the common forms of direct democracy. However, most referenda have been abused for political purposes. The focus of this article is a referendum used at the national level. This study examines the use of a referendum in Central European states from 1989 to 2015. The database presents, country by country, the subject matter of voting, people’s participation and the results in order to show the citizens’ opportunity (or lack of it) to express their opinions and to contribute to policy-making by circumventing the standard legislative process. The aim of this paper is to analyze referenda in the selected countries and to verify two hypotheses. Firstly, the weak use of a referendum and a small size of complementation of representative democracy. Secondly, the citizens’ belief in a referendum as an element of communication and consultation between authorities and society.</abstract>

How Far Can Citizens Influence the Decision-Making Process? Analysis of the Effectiveness of Referenda in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary in 1989–2015

AHEAD OF PRINT

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    TJES 2022 Special Issue on Technology Governance will be guest edited by Dr Nikita SW Chiu (University College Dublin Innovation Academy). See the Call for Papers.  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.      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. 