Development of the German Immigration Policy after 2015

Germany is seen and presented by itself as a welcome country. It is a country of immigration. First, there was the “Gastarbeiter” period when within agreements made by Germany and southern European states several thousand worker arrived in Germany and most of them made the country their permanent home. The country experienced another migration wave when the former Central-European countries became members of the European Union. In 2015, similar to other European States, Germany too experienced a migration-shock which resulted in a political-social turmoil in the German society. Not only politicians, but average people faced the same never-seen-before challenge on different levels, due to the number of migrants arriving in short term onto the territory of the state: one in the everyday life of its community, one in the political and legal perspective. Irrespectively of their reactions or adaptation methods, one common point of these actors was that they had to come to terms with the fact that a huge number of irregular migrants will stay long-term in Germany. However, the wave challenged the “welcome” country attitude both at political and at societal level. The author argues that roles, namely, the country affected by the migration wave, and the country being a leading European Union Member State became contradicted because of the measures introduced after 2015. This is underlined by the normative analysis of the main measures in this article, but because migration policy overlaps other policy areas, for example integration policy, interior policy, these measures touch upon different issues.

DO THE PROVISIONS REGULATING THE TERMS OF EMPLOYMENT OF POSTED WORKERS, AS MANDATORY PROVISIONS, ENSURE THE PROTECTION OF THE EMPLOYEE?

All employment relationships, including strictly employment relationships, may be related to the legal areas of two or more countries, which raises the question of the law applicable to a specific legal relationship. The Rome I Regulation has a key importance in determining the applicable law to which the employment relationship is to be subjected. In this respect, the decree of Art. 8 of the Regulation has a fundamental importance, which was analyzed in the first part of this publication. However, the mechanism according to which the lex labori will be corrected by the provisions forcing their application, the issues of which are presented later in the publication, should be distinguished from the scheme presented in the above-mentioned regulation. According to the EU legislator, one of the matters of employment relationships regulated by such provisions is the standardization of the terms and conditions of employment of employees posted to perform work in the territory of a European Union Member State. Answers to the question whether it is appropriate to assign a nature of the rules enforcing its application provisions to this regulation (concerning the terms and conditions of employment of posted workers) has been made at the end of this publication.

Collective and Social Representations on Nature and Environment: Social Psychology Investigation in Rural Areas

This is a qualitative research based on a phenomenological perspective of understanding, that aim to captures the way in which the population of rural areas from the western part of Romania understands the terms of nature and environment. Starting from valuable scientific studies related to the relationship between man and nature, we propose an original interdisciplinary approach that combines social methodology with a geographical, ecological and land use perspective. This study aims to identify the forms in which social representations about nature and environment are outlined on the level of rural areas people perceptions. As Romania is a European Union member state, its rural areas have seen transformations and changes in detail that reflect in the environmental-geographical ambience typical of the three main relief types (mountains, hills and plains), the mixed geomorphological type, its residents’ basic aspirations and conscious attitudinal and behavioral levels. The two study benchmarks are the notions of nature and environment, raising perception sensitivities and everyday concerns belonging to the residents of the rural areas surveyed. The administrative unit of Bihor County, belonging to the northern half of the Crișana Province and comprised of rural communities in 97 villages, was selected as the study’s target area. These villages were selected in such a way that they had to meet the requirements of balance and diversity of local environmental conditions, land use and the result of changing their land cover and the socio-geodemographic conditions of the population. A series of 1576 questionnaires were administered to subjects who are over 18 years old and are aware of the reality of their places. The results of the applied tests (Levene’s test) show that the concrete factors of daily activities are very good predictors of the relationship between man and nature.

Copyright and Patent Protection of Cloud Storage Software in the BRICS Member States

In the BRICS Member States, serious attention is paid to Information Technology development in terms of both technology and law. These countries are at the forefront in the development of the digital economy and digital innovations. Cloud storage software is an important element in this sector and is intensively applied in civil law transactions. The processes of approval, storage and sorting of documents are being automated on the basis of the relevant computer programs. This helps companies and government agencies to systemize their operations. At present, the most pressing issues are those related to copyright and copyright holders of computer programs since software code may be copied, even illegally or unconscientiously, and used as the basis for another software product. Cloud storage software is copyright-protected, but, depending on the scope of its use, additional patent protection may be required. Given the rapid development of the IT sector, a software product may be one of the components in an invention subject to patenting. The article focuses on the relationship between copyright and patent protection of software and offers a comparison of the approaches taken by the BRICS countries. Approaches taken by Germany as a European Union Member State and the United States of America are shown in the all-out comparison. The article also analyzes the views of academics on the relationship between copyright and patent protection of software.

Local spatial policy in Ukraine and Poland

The article aims to compare the local tools of Ukrainian and Polish spatial policy. It includes legal solutions (with a particular emphasis on the basics of development restrictions) and problems related to their application diagnosed in the literature on the subject. Based on the analysis of the spatial management systems of both countries, the similarities and differences were determined, referring them to the international discussion and suggesting directions for further research (on the spatial management systems of Central and Eastern European countries). Ukraine and Poland were selected for analysis in terms of similarities (partially similar historical conditions, location) and differences (status of a European Union Member State, spatial planning traditions).

Management of Waste Batteries and Accumulators: Quest of European Union Goals

Energy issues are multifaceted and are not limited to power plants, biogas plants or transmission lines. They also include the production, usage and utilisation of batteries and accumulators, which are increasingly valuable due to, among other things, the decision to develop the production of electric cars. This article creates new ground by analysing the European Union management system of batteries and accumulators in the cause–effect context. This paper’s insights have emerged iteratively based on the theory reviewed and the empirical case—a deep analysis of the Polish management system of batteries and accumulators. The findings show that the public institutions in the analysed European Union Member State—Poland—were not ready to create a fully coherent and effective oversight system on managing batteries and accumulators. It may limit the reliability of the European Union’s reporting on battery and accumulator management, which is a part of the European energy policy. The findings make two main contributions: first, they contribute to developing a theory of energy resource management; second, this article contributes to a further contextual diagnosis of the comprehensive management system of waste batteries and accumulators, which is an important part of the European Battery Alliance. Moreover, the avenues for further research emerged from the present study.

7. Working time

Each Concentrate revision guide is packed with essential information, key cases, revision tips, exam Q&As, and more. Concentrates show you what to expect in a law exam, what examiners are looking for, and how to achieve extra marks. This chapter focuses on the Working Time Regulations 1998 (WTR). The WTR implement the Working Time Directive 1993 and parts of the Young Workers Directive 1994. The WTR impose a maximum 48-hour week during a 17-week reference period and provide rules on night work, rest periods, and annual leave. The UK has opted out of the maximum 48-hour working week. It was the sole European Union Member State to do so. On Brexit, the WTR are one of the areas which may come under attack from neoliberals.

Establishment of a national DNA database in the Republic of Serbia: Legal aspects and implications for the future

Forensic DNA databases have been established in the vast majority of European countries and represent an essential personal identification instrument in the criminal justice system. The implementation of suitable legislation and accompanying legal practice is an imperative to ensure sensible use of the DNA repository, without interfering with the rights, freedoms and privacy of individuals and their families. Thus, the complex matter of DNA databank effectiveness and intrusiveness is a delicate balancing act, which has resulted in diverse database governing regimes among different countries. In 2018, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia passed the first Law on the National DNA Register, which was created by the Ministry of Interior. This short and imprecise regulation was announced without prior consultation with professional stakeholders or the public, resulting in controversy. In this article, we examine essential questions pertinent to launching a forensic DNA database through the lens of the new Law on the National DNA Register in the Republic of Serbia and in comparison to the other European approaches and guidelines to regulating forensic DNA repositories. We further discuss the resulting legal, social and ethical implications and concerns and propose future actions intended to improve the legal framework. We believe that stimulating such discussions throughout the scientific and professional community will result in the advancement of DNA profiling and databasing in a future European Union member state and, more generally, the manner in which biological data are managed in various countries, particularly those that are developing.

Legal Aspects of the Imposition and Enforcement of an Administrative Penalty for Failure to Register a Vehicle Imported from the Territory of a European Union Member State

<p class="Akapitzlist1">The amendment to the Act on Road Traffic Law introduced a new legal institution related to failure to register a vehicle consisting of an administrative fine in the amount of PLN 200 to 1,000. The penalty is imposed by means of an administrative decision issued by a competent starost. With the introduction of the above-mentioned institution in legal circulation, new problems will arise in connection with conducting administrative proceedings to impose a penalty, as well as determining its amount. In addition, a starost, as a creditor, is obliged to initiate enforcement proceedings in the absence of voluntary execution of the decision imposing the penalty. The established body aims to ensure the implementation of Directive 2000/53/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 18 September 2000 on end-of-life vehicles, concerning, i.a., the absence of sanctions for not registering an imported vehicle and not registering an end-of-life vehicle. The following article discusses the main problems related to the application of the institution introduced with regard to the administrative procedure, the nature of the penalty imposed, as well as its enforcement. The considerations were carried out on the basis of a dogmatic method.</p>