Suchergebnisse

Phone tapping has been an evolving issue concerning the protection of the right of privacy under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. In several cases, namely Klass, Malone and Kruslin&Huvig, the European Court of Human Rights did set up a number of requirements that national legislations must comply with concerning the admissibility of telephone-tapping as an important tool of criminal procedure, since it is understood as an infringement of the right of privacy provided by Article 8 of the ECHR, despite its wording. Moreover, the Court did also establish the requirements for the use illegally collected evidence (i.e. evidence collected without compliance of phone-tapping requirements), which are different from the American exclusionary rules ("Miranda's Rights" Doctrine) and the German «Beweisverbote» (the BGH «evaluation of interests» Criteria and the Doctrine of the "three spheres of privacy"). At the same time, in case Schenk, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) seemed to reject a strict application of the doctrine of the "fruit of the poisonous tree" (US Supreme Court) and the BGH "Fernwirkung" criteria. This paper, originally drafted for European Criminal Law at the Catholic University of Leuven as Erasmus student, questions whether the impact of the ECHR's case-law on national legislation of Member States is not leading towards a Uniform European Criminal Law.

The EU today is the main biodiesel producer in the entire world. Many countries are promoting biodiesel production for various reasons: for satisfying their own internal growing need for energy, to ensure fuels' availability for the transport sector, thus lowering the dependence on fossil fuels, for more efficient combating of climate changes. The actual strategies of sustainable development have determined a very fast increase in biodiesel consumption within the EU, especially since 2005. In this context, using the available data, we assessed the effects of biodiesel consumption by transport on economic growth in the EU over the period 2010-2016. The results based on the panel data approach indicate a positive, but very low impact of energy obtained from biodiesel consumption by transport on the EU's economic growth. There is only a unidirectional causality relationship between these two variables: the biodiesel consumption Granger caused the EU economic growth from 2010 to 2016. Policy recommendations should focus on the extension of biodiesel consumption for transport within the EU by establishing a higher minim percentage of biodiesel in transport. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5755/j01.ee.30.1.21831

This article aims to elucidate the effects of the Great Recession and the retrenchment of welfare on national identity in several European countries. While different authors have observed that good economic performance, redistribution, and the growth of welfare strengthen countries as political communities of solidarity, there is much less empirical evidence regarding the consequences of an economic crisis for national identity. To investigate these consequences, we focus on a set of countries where the 2008 Great Recession resulted in different impacts, namely, Germany and four countries in Southern Europe (Italy, Spain, Portugal, and Greece). We use secondary quantitative data from Eurobarometer surveys to test aggregated and individual hypotheses relating to both the size and direction of the Great Recession's effects on national identity. Our results suggest that the roles and impacts of economic variables may be different depending on the relative economic performance of a country within its own context. It seems easier to confirm that good economic performance, in relative terms, might strengthen national identity than proving that poor economic performance will weaken national identity. Even if no definitive empirical evidence can be given at this point, our data suggest a rationalization or compensation mechanism such that citizens look for where to anchor their strong national identities after they have decided on them. If an economy is performing well, then it would become a good anchorage for holding a strong national identity; however, if an economy is not performing well, then economic factors will cease to be a fundamental element for national identity holders.

AbstractOver the past 30 years, the economies in Europe have undergone major transformations that have been powered by diffusion of information and communication technology (ICT), intensification of innovation, and reforms in the financial sector to support innovative endeavors. The primary objective of this study was to examine the causal relationships amongICTdiffusion, innovation diffusion, venture capital investment, and economic growth for 25 countries in Europe for the period from 1989 to 2016. Using a vector error‐correction model, the study examines the underlying short‐run and long‐run relationships for the above variables. The empirical analysis shows that in the long run, venture capital investment,ICTdiffusion, and innovation diffusion have significant impacts on economic growth in Europe. However, in the short run, the direction of the causality varies depending on the specific measures ofICTdiffusion and innovation diffusion that are utilized. Results from this study provide valuable insights into the types of policies that will contribute to sustainable economic growth in Europe.