Tom 12 (2022): Zeszyt 1 (May 2022)

The article discusses the implementation of the global concepts of smart city or smart municipality at the local level, focusing on the importance of mayor as a leader and his competencies in this context. The status of elected representatives of self-government in the branch of labour law is legislatively only marginally regulated, with insufficient terminological and functional interconnection between special legislation and labour law. The aim of the authors is to point out the relationship between the current legislation on prelegal relations between the mayor and his leadership duties and powers and to identify barriers in the implementation of the concept of smart cities in the Slovak Republic.

The objective of the scientific study is determined based directly on current needs and emerging practical issues. Understanding and applying these correctly has a fundamental impact on the possibilities of rules in local government. Methodologically, our research relies on the basic methods of scientific abstraction in the context of the analysis of de lege lata legislation with a thorough application of the methods of legal logic. The authors draw attention to the partial questions of the labour status and educational census of the Mayor of the Municipality in the context of smart city concept and propose solutions.

The Russian Federation has developed a large number of instruments to put pressure on the West using non-conventional means such as cyber attacks, economic tools and information warfare. Using modern IT technologies in its hybrid activities, Russia, much like China or other authoritarian powers, is trying to challenge the current world order. These instruments are particularly evident in the Baltic States. This article uses Estonia as a case study to inquire into the political goals and strategic conduct of Russia. Specifically, the focus is on the political context, instruments of information war, and available countermeasures. As argued in the current study, the shift from European to Eurasian power, Russia’s careful management and success in avoiding crossing the “red lines” of its adversaries, as well as in exploiting the socioeconomic weaknesses and openness of the West, all play a relevant role in understanding the political context. As for instruments, Russia has developed strategic narratives and conspiracy theories, plus several channels next to media channels, and policy tools such as Pax Russica and the compatriot policy. These are deployed in its neighborhood and aimed at unintegrated segments of the Russophone populations.

The European Union is a unique political process in the world. It continuously integrates different aspects creating a communality among its Member States. The process of integration responds to the necessities of the organization to adapt to the social, political, and economic reality and solving the dysfunctionalities arisen from the process. Currently, digitalization is a process required to adapt the European Union to the reality, to provide a common frame to an existing digital world. Therefore, the EU needs to respond the requirements of the society for the implementation of European standards in a new, but already relevant, area. In addition, the EU drag from the past dysfunctionalities that can be addressed thanks to the new possibilities generated by the digitalization of politics and economy. This research analyses both the necessity of adapting and solving previous obstacles under the prism of the available digital solutions.

The problem of value alignment in the context of AI studies is becoming more and more acute. This article deals with the basic questions concerning the system of human values corresponding to what we would like digital minds to be capable of. It has been suggested that as long as humans cannot agree on a universal system of values in the positive sense, we might be able to agree on what has to be avoided. The article argues that while we may follow this suggestion, we still need to keep the positive approach in focus as well. A holistic solution to the value alignment problem is not in sight and there might possibly never be a final solution. Currently, we are facing an era of endless adjustment of digital minds to biological ones. The biggest challenge is to keep humans in control of this adjustment. Here the responsibility lies with the humans. Human minds might not be able to fix the capacity of digital minds. The philosophical analysis shows that the key concept when dealing with this issue is value plurality. It may well be that we have to redefine our understanding of rationality in order to successfully deal with the value alignment problem. The article discusses an option to elaborate on the traditional understanding of rationality in the context of AI studies.

Following the declaration of the COVID-19 pandemic, the restrictions imposed by the Member States (MSs) of the European Union (EU) led the tourism and commercial air transport industry to face serious financial difficulties that required airlines to apply for state support. In March 2020, the European Commission adopted a State Aid Temporary Framework (TF) for the COVID-19 period to simplify the process of granting aid, allowing the MSs rapid economic interventions. Claims regarding the approval of State aid to certain airlines reached the EU General Court (EGC), on the grounds of violation of the fair competition principle. It became clear that the processes enabled by the TF dispensed unequal treatment to airline companies and that the flexibility of the TF created competition imbalances. In spite of these events, little attention has been given to the way its application ignores the requirements of EU State aid control and other procedural justice and fairness principles, by failing to ensure neutrality and equality. This article addresses the matter using a standard legal interpretive approach to explain the imbalances created by the regulation. It presents a systematic review of the current regime, identifies the TF inefficiencies affecting competition principles, and argues for specific adjustments that could enhance its transparency. These contributions are useful to improve the existing framework and help prepare for a better management of future crises.

The availability of open data has increased dramatically, partly in reaction to several types of government agencies publishing their raw data. Access to and use of open data is not only essential for the development of public policy and delivery of various services, but it is also of eminent value for private (and often economic) purposes. To meet these demands, the availability of open data has increased dramatically both domestically and EU-wide. Nevertheless, it is still access to and use of personal data which is usually in the spotlight of public—and also legal—debates. Contributing to fill this gap, this paper analyses the significance of open data and the resulting challenges imposed by the widespread lack of specific open data policies. The paper also provides an overview of the existing systems used in Estonian governance to ensure access to open information, but also highlights the shortcomings, before it finally makes proposals on how to improve open data disclosure practices in Estonia.

The rapid development of technology is having an enormous effect on our lives. Emerging technological solutions offer new possibilities in various fields and on different levels, either for ordinary human beings or organisations and governments. However, the ethical implications of such technologies on our lives, our societies, are often not fully understood and require careful analysis. This article focuses on one type of such technologies, genetic tests available to the public, analysing the potential ethical concerns in these tests being directly provided to the consumers.

The article is devoted to the research of the problematic aspects and modern challenges of data protection in the digital age from the perspective of the digital integrity of the person. We believe that personal data cannot be effectively protected as components of digital integrity of the person in the context of regulation of a separate right to personal data protection, which, in its turn, acts more as a tool of market regulation rather than a classical fundamental right. We argue that the consideration of digital integrity as a new foundation for digital rights and as a new manifestation of the restrictive concept of human dignity may help increase the level of effective protection of the person in the digital sphere as well as properly cover the existing gaps in the protection of the digital rights of the person.