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Showing papers on "Directive published in 2020"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated whether the quantity and quality of non-financial information, voluntarily disclosed in the years before the directive came into force, were linked to the level of compliance.
Abstract: The recent European Union Directive 95/2014 enforced a radical shift from voluntary to mandatory disclosure of non-financial information. Given radical changes in reporting practices, there is an urgent need to assess the firms’ attitude to disclose non-financial information regarding the new requirement. This paper aims to investigate whether the quantity and quality of non-financial information, voluntarily disclosed in the years before the directive came into force, were linked to the level of compliance.,Selecting a sample of 60 Italian companies from the obliged entities, the authors carried out a manual content analysis on corporate reports and developed some research hypotheses to explore if their sustainability practices can affect non-financial disclosures required by the Italian adoption of the European directive (i.e. Legislative Decree 254/2016).,Evidence showed that prior skills and competencies in non-financial reporting made a significant contribution especially regarding to the presence of business model, but further efforts are expected to improve the quality of non-financial reports.,This study yields an initial assessment of the implementation of the European directive in Italy. It may, therefore, help policymakers to identify ways to improve the harmonization of reporting practices. Preparers can also be supported in choosing different positioning of reporting on non-financial information.,This research provides interesting insights into the ex ante and ex post adoption of the European directive by investigating how Italian companies are reacting to regulatory and institutional requirements. One of the main problems remains the lack of a shared understanding of the term “non-financial”, which can make the communication process difficult and unclear.

84 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the concept of accountability within the context of the European Union (EU) Directive on non-financial disclosure (hereafter the EU Directive) is examined and a critique and a novel perspective for future research into mandatory NFR and to advance future practice and policy.
Abstract: Purpose: This paper introduces the special issue “Rebuilding trust: Sustainability and non-financial reporting, and the European Union regulation” Inspired by the studies published in the special issue, this study aims to examine the concept of accountability within the context of the European Union (EU) Directive on non-financial disclosure (hereafter the EU Directive) to offer a critique and a novel perspective for future research into mandatory non-financial reporting (NFR) and to advance future practice and policy Design/methodology/approach: The authors review the papers published in this special issue and other contemporary studies on the topic of NFR and the EU Directive Findings: Accountability is a fundamental concept for building trust in the corporate reporting context and emerges as a common topic linking contemporary studies on the EU Directive While the EU Directive acknowledges the role of accountability in the reporting practice, this study argues that regulation and practice on NFR needs to move away from an accounting-based conception of accountability to promote accountability-based accounting practices (Dillard and Vinnari, 2019) By analysing the links between trust, accountability and accounting and reporting, the authors claim the need to examine and rethink the inscription of interests into non-financial information (NFI) and its materiality Hence, this study encourages research and practice to broaden mandatory NFR practice over the traditional boundaries of accountability, reporting and formal accounting systems Research limitations/implications: Considering the challenges posed by the COVID-19 crisis, this study calls for further research to investigate the dialogical accountability underpinning NFR in practice to avoid the trap of focusing on accounting changes regardless of accountability The authors advocate that what is needed is more timely NFI that develops a dialogue between companies, investors, national regulators, the EU and civil society, not more untimely standalone reporting that has most likely lost its relevance and materiality by the time it is issued to users Originality/value: By highlighting accountability issues in the context of mandatory NFR and its linkages with trust, this study lays out a case for moving the focus of research and practice from accounting-based regulations towards accountability-driven accounting change © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited

81 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors investigate how the shift from voluntary to mandatory non-financial information started by the European Union (EU) Directive 95/2014 may influence corporate practices and present a paradigmatic case study to highlight relevant changes in reporting strategy and corporate governance adopted by an Italian listed company that never disclosed sustainability information before the transposition of the EU Directive into the Legislative Decree 254/2016.
Abstract: This paper aims to investigate how the shift from voluntary to mandatory nonfinancial information started by the European Union (EU) Directive 95/2014 may influence corporate practices. In particular, this research presents a paradigmatic case study to highlight relevant changes in reporting strategy and corporate governance adopted by an Italian listed company that never disclosed sustainability information before the transposition of the EU Directive into the Legislative Decree 254/2016. In this scenario, new obligations on nonfinancial reporting were not perceived as mere additional administrative duties and the nonfinancial statement became an opportunity to communicate company's paths towards sustainability, guaranteeing transparency and greater stakeholders' engagement. Our findings go beyond prior studies pointing out how organisations adopt strategic and tactical responses to the pressure stemming from the external environment. Additionally, it highlights the pivotal function played by the internal audit in setting up the direction of change. This research has theoretical and practical contributions for academic communities, policymakers and practitioners.

69 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluate the effectiveness of the comply-or-explain principle in the Italian context and evaluate, which factors impact on firms' voluntary adoption of this tool to adequate their non-financial reports to the legal requirements of Directive 95/2014/EU.
Abstract: The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of the comply-or-explain principle in the Italian context. In particular, the analysis will evaluate, which factor impact on firms' voluntary adoption of this tool to adequate their non-financial reports to the legal requirements of Directive 95/2014/EU.,The methodology consists of two different levels of analysis. The first part is statistical descriptive, and it consists of a rhetorical analysis on the justifications provided by the firms about their omissions to comply with Directive 95/2014/EU. The second part is inferential and its aim is to evaluate, which factors impact on comply-or-explains adoption.,The findings reveal how the comply-or-explain application in Italy has been characterized by several criticisms. The result highlight how the justifications adopted by the firms is influenced by their sector of activity and omission's type. Moreover, the analysis suggests how the sector of activity and the level of adherence to global reporting initiative influenced the average number of omissions.,The limitations of the research are represented by the focuses on a single country and by the short period of analysis. In this sense, future research could be addressed to the analysis of countries different from Italy. Moreover, accounting scholars could provide further contributions to the political debate through the evolution of the “comply-or-explain” principle’s strategies over the years.,The practical implications connected to the present research are twofold. The first one is represented by the possibility for policymakers to increase the degree of attention about the use of comply-or-explain as legitimization's tool. The second one is represented by the possibility for practitioners to identify a new reporting framework.,The social implications are represented by the possibility for stakeholders to evaluate the reliability's degree of the disclosure produced by Italian public interest entities after the implementation of Directive 95/2014/EU.,Despite the growing attention paid by academics regard Directive 95/2014/EU, this is the first attempt to analyze the comply-or-explain from a rhetorical perspective.

50 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors hypothesized that legitimacy theory's ability to predict NFI disclosure after the implementation of the EU Directive would decrease, and hence after non-financial information disclosure became mandatory, would increase.
Abstract: Directive 2014/95/EU (the EU Directive) requires large companies to disclose information on the way they operate and manage social and environmental challenges, thus shifting the disclosure of non‐financial information (NFI) from the voluntary to the mandatory realm. Building on the idea that regulatory changes can shape stakeholder expectations, we hypothesized that legitimacy (agency) theory's ability to predict NFI disclosure after the implementation of the EU Directive, and hence after NFI disclosure became mandatory, would decrease (increase). By relying on a hand‐collected data set measuring NFI disclosure, we have found that legitimacy theory maintains its predictive ability in the new mandatory setting, while agency theory's predictive ability partially increases.

41 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, a bibliometric analysis was conducted on a database containing 108 publications in English language with a publication date from 2013 to 2019, and the findings showed that research published on non-financial reporting per the Directive focuses on performance, trust, and quality of disclosure in terms of social and environmental issues, while the human resources discussed in the Directive are still under investigation.

40 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined whether companies can comply with corporate reporting laws using de facto standards or frameworks, such as the International Integrated Reporting Framework (IRF) and the EU Directive (2014/95/EU).
Abstract: Motivated by claims that the International Integrated Reporting Framework (IRF) can be used to comply with Directive 2014/95/EU (the EU Directive) on non-financial and diversity disclosure, the purpose of this study is to examine whether companies can comply with corporate reporting laws using de facto standards or frameworks.,The authors adopted an interpretivist approach to research along with current regulatory studies that aim to investigate business compliance with the law using private sector standards. To support the authors’ arguments, publicly available secondary data sources were used, including newsletters, press releases and websites, reports from key players within the accounting profession, public documents issued by the European Commission and data from corporatergister.com.,To become a de facto standard or framework, a private standard-setter requires the support of corporate regulators to mandate it in a specific national jurisdiction. The de facto standard-setter requires a powerful coalition of actors who can influence the policymakers to allow its adoption and diffusion at a national level to become mandated. Without regulatory support, it is difficult for a private and voluntary reporting standard or framework to be adopted and diffused. Moreover, the authors report that the preferences stock market capitalism over sustainability because it privileges organisational sustainability over social and environmental sustainability, emphasises value creation over holding organisations accountable for their impact on society and the environment and privileges the entitlements of providers of financial capital over other stakeholders.,The authors question the suitability of the goals of both the and the EU Directive during and after the COVID-19 crisis. The planned changes to both need rethinking as we head into uncharted waters. Moreover, the authors believe that the people cannot afford any more reporting facades.,The authors offer a critical analysis of the link between the and the EU Directive and how the can be used to comply with the EU Directive. By questioning the relevance of the compliance question, the authors advance a critique about the relevance of these and other legal and de facto frameworks, particularly considering the more pressing needs that must be met to address the economic, social and environmental implications of the COVID-19 crisis.

39 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
19 Nov 2020
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors evaluate legal regulations regarding legislative protection of personal data in the European Union against the background of EU Regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and the Council with respect to the protection of individuals due to processing personal data, its free movement and repealing Directive 95/46/EC.
Abstract: The process of establishing normative acts in the European Union does not occur out of nowhere, but in the context of specific social needs. That was the case of the genesis of establishing legal regulations regarding the protection of personal data in the European Union. Socio-economic integration, which resulted from the functioning of internal market in the European Union, has led to a significant increase in cross-border transfers of personal data. It led to situation in which various economic operators or state institutions of the Member States have increasingly processed the personal data of the EU citizens. Within time, these data have become an equally valuable commodity - not to say even more valuable – compared to goods and services (Costa-Cabral, and Lynskey Orla, 2017, p. 11). Making use of personal data on a large scale especially by public and private entities, associations and companies over time has posed a threat to the security of personal data. This has made it necessary to introduce legal protection measures for personal data in the European Union that would eliminate the negative effects of any form of personal data processing. The purpose of this article is to evaluate legal regulations regarding legislative protection of personal data in the European Union against the background of EU Regulation 2016/679 of the European Parliament and the Council with respect to the protection of individuals due to processing personal data, its free movement and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (hereinafter referred to as Regulation 2016/679). Due to initially adopted purpose of the considerations there arose a problem which was formulated in the form of a question: Do the legal measures introduced by the Regulation constitute an effective tool for the protection of personal data in the event of a violation of the law by personal data administrators and entities while processing such data? The presented purpose of the considerations and the research problem determined the order of the analysis.

37 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors examined the mandatory disclosure of non-financial risks by listed Italian companies, as required by the EU Directive, focusing on both the state-of-the-art of such disclosure and its usefulness for investors.
Abstract: In October 2014, the European Union adopted Directive 2014/95/EU (hereafter, EU Directive), mandating companies of a certain size to draft and publish corporate nonfinancial information (NFI) regarding society and the environment. In this study, we examine the mandatory disclosure of nonfinancial (NF) risks by listed Italian companies, as required by the EU Directive, focusing on both the state‐of‐the‐art of such disclosure and its usefulness for investors. For this purpose, the study adopts a two‐staged research approach; in the first stage, we employed a manual meaning‐oriented content analysis to investigate the NF declarations (NFDs) of the listed Italian companies that were obliged to disclose NFI, returning a quality NF risks disclosure index. In the second stage, we used the value relevance methodology to investigate whether the disclosed NF risk information affects the levels of equity prices, through a modified Ohlson model. Our research is one of the first to investigate the value relevance of mandatory disclosures of NF risks following the implementation of the EU Directive, in the Italian context. The research was carried out in 2017, the first year of the directive's application for listed Italian companies. The main findings support a positive association between NF risk information disclosure levels and companies' market value. Moreover, they provide evidence of a significant mediating effect of NF risk on the relationship between financial risks and market value.

30 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated the impact of the Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) on the number of newly established PayTech companies in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Abstract: The implementation of Payment Services Directive 2 (PSD2) has radically changed the regulatory environment for providing payment services in the European Economic Area. The main objective of the study is to determine the impact of PSD2 on the number of newly established PayTech companies. The second objective is to explain the factors driving the distribution of PSD2-licensed entities across the European Union countries. The difference-in-difference method and the Poisson regression model served our empirical analysis. The results show that the adoption of PSD2 in November 2015 caused a rapid but temporary surge in PayTech start-ups in Europe. After national transpositions of the directive, the number of new entrants fell in 2018; however, it remained at a higher level than before the adoption of PSD2, which indicates its positive impact. The analysis has proved that market potential, the characteristics of payment systems, including the popularity of payment cards, and the public environment for FinTech start-ups provided by the authorities significantly affected the number of PSD2 licences issued. The introduction of the PSD2 has made the size of the domestic market play a smaller role, as PayTechs can operate on a pan-European level also while based in a smaller country. The importance of an open business environment has increased and offering regulatory sandboxes has proven to effectively support the development of the PayTech sector.

28 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present the shortcomings of the fifth anti-money laundering Directive (EU 2018/843) and provide concrete legislative recommendations on how to fix the Directive's shortcomings.
Abstract: Virtual currencies pose a serious threat to be used for money laundering, weakening the European Union’s financial system. Directive (EU) 2018/843 (the fifth anti-money laundering Directive) intends to mitigate these risks by introducing a definition of virtual currencies within Union law. Some service providers connected to virtual currencies are made subject to anti-money laundering law. Member States are required to transpose this Directive into national law by January 2020. Consultations on national level are currently ongoing. This article analyses how the Directive applies to current forms of cryptocurrencies, their adjacent services and intermediaries. It highlights the Directive’s imprecise wording as well as its limited scope. If Member States transpose it verbatim, they will create legal uncertainty and loopholes for relevant entities. Therefore, this article seeks to contribute to the national consultations of Member States by providing concrete legislative recommendations on how to fix the Directive’s shortcomings.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide a reflective account from three experienced midwives in different European countries, one working in education, one in clinical practice and one in research as to some of the major issues that are emerging in undergraduate midwifery education programs.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Sep 2020-Water
TL;DR: In this article, a special issue on water quality and agricultural diffuse pollution in light of the EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) aims to advance the understanding of the different governance arrangements European Member States developed to address this problem.
Abstract: Progress has been made on improving Europe’s water quality. Nevertheless, there is much scepticism as to whether the goals of the European Water Framework Directive will be realised by 2027. Addressing diffuse agricultural sources of pollution remains a persistent problem. The Special Issue “Water Quality and Agricultural Diffuse Pollution in Light of the EU Water Framework Directive” aims to advance the understanding of the different governance arrangements European Member States developed to address this problem. The contributions in this Special Issue focus on governance arrangements in Denmark, England, Flanders/Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Poland, The Netherlands, Norway and Scotland. The contributions address three themes. First, the contributions signal serious concerns with policy integration across policy domains. Second, it appears to be tough to prioritise source-based measures over effect-based measures of all sorts despite the principles embedded in the Directive. Third, scientific knowledge is an important ally for water interests, yet politicisation in power struggles looms. The contributions in the Special Issue offer reflections on the open, participatory, experimentalist governance that the WFD exemplifies. While most authors agree that this path is attractive and appropriate in some respects, questions can be raised as to whether it also avoids confrontations and hampers the effectiveness of policies.


Journal ArticleDOI
21 Aug 2020-Energies
TL;DR: In this paper, a logistic regression model was applied to identify the dependencies between the provisions of the directive and the motivation of enterprises to manage energy, and conclusions were drawn up concerning the assessment of the content of Directive 2012/27/EU in regard to activities undertaken by EU enterprises to the favour of effective energy management.
Abstract: One of the ways to sustain development is striving for energy efficiency. This is the purpose of directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency, which aims at explaining and promoting energy–saving and ecological solutions that allow increasing the output of consumed energy. Several years after implementation, it is possible to assess the directive’s usefulness and completeness in a few areas of the economy, in particular in the operation of enterprises, which substantially contribute to the global energy consumption. Therefore, the purpose of the study was defined as an assessment of the execution of the concept of energy efficiency in business operations in EU countries, in accordance with the assumptions of directive 2012/27/EU. The collected raw data were derived from surveys gathered in the process of public consultations of the European Commission regard directive 2012/27/EU on energy efficiency. Resulting observations were analysed using the basic methods of descriptive statistics, along with a factor analysis. A logistic regression model was applied to identify the dependencies between the provisions of the directive and the motivation of enterprises to manage energy. As a result of conducted analyses, conclusions were drawn up concerning the assessment of the content of the directive in regard to activities undertaken by EU enterprises to the favour of effective energy management. Obtained results suggest that there is a need to introduce changes in the provisions of the directive, preceded by consultations with the EU business environment. The analysed literature concerning this issue demonstrates that the effectiveness of energy management is taken into consideration from this angle for the first time in our studies.

Journal ArticleDOI
01 Jan 2020
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigated whether institutional pressure toward non-financial reporting harmonization represented by the Directive/2014/95/EU led to convergent behaviours between Member States, at least at the transposition stage.
Abstract: CSR practices and reporting vary across countries and companies. Accouting studies using institutional theory show that even where there are coercive pressures to converge, local practices and traditions are other types of pressures that play a role in maintaining divergence. Similarly, legal studies indicate that harmonisation attempts made by the European Union are usually challenged by States attempting to maintain the status quo of the local context, and this may also apply to CSR reporting harmonization. This research investigates whether or not the institutional pressure toward non-financial reporting harmonization represented by the Directive/2014/95/EU led to convergent behaviours between Member States, at least at the transposition stage. Transposition laws in Member States where CSR has historically played a limited role (i. e. Romania and Bulgaria) are compared with those issued by countries where CSR traditions are much more well developed (France, Belgium and the UK). The analysis focuses on how both mandatory and discretionary requirements have been transposed at a national level. The transposition outcome is analysed in the face of economic-, government- A nd society-related factors of each country and results show that on several occasions, divergence is catalysed by differences in national business systems. This is aligned with the results of previous studies (e. g. Jamali and Neville, 2011), which argue that historical, cultural, economic and political local contexts mould the CSR conceptualisation existing in a given country, and therefore the convergence of different CSR practices is only apparent.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors investigate how firms disclose the presentation and content of business model (BM) information in corporate reports to manage their legitimacy in response to European Directive 2014/95, which is used to identify disclosure strategies pursued by firms in reaction to the new regulation.
Abstract: This paper aims to investigate how firms disclose the presentation and content of business model (BM) information in corporate reports to manage their legitimacy in response to European Directive 2014/95.,Legitimacy theory is used to identify disclosure strategies pursued by firms in reaction to the new regulation. To understand how firms adopt these strategic responses, semiotic analysis is applied to a sample of European companies’ reports through Crowther’s (2012) framework, which is based on a mechanism of binary oppositions.,Half of the sample strategically choose to comply with the European Union (EU) Directive regarding BM information through the use of non-accounting language, figures, and diagrams. Other firms did not disclose any substantive information but managed the impression of compliance with the regulation, while the remainder of the sample dismissed the regulation altogether.,This study demonstrates how organisations use the disclosure of BM information in their corporate reports to control their legitimacy. The results support the idea that firms can acquire legitimacy by complying with the law or giving the impression of compliance with the regulation. This study provides evidence on the first-time adoption of the EU Directive, and therefore, future research can enlarge the sample and conduct the analysis over a broader time frame.,A more precise indication of the EU Directive regarding “where” firms should report BM information, “how” the description of a BM should refer to the environmental, social, governance (ESG) factors, and a set of performance measures to track the evolution of a company’s BM overtime is needed.,While there has been a notable amount of research that has applied content analysis methodologies to investigate the thematic and syntactic aspects of BM disclosure in corporate reports, only a few studies have investigated BM disclosures in relation to the EU Directive. Furthermore, the application of semiotic analysis extends beyond traditional content analysis methodologies because it considers the structure of the story at many levels, thus developing a more complete textual picture of how BMs are described, allowing an analysis of the reasons behind the disclosure strategies pursued by firms.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is found that while the impacts of the Judgment on the NBT might have been slightly overvalued, its potential negative effects on techniques of random mutagenesis and varieties breed through them have been generally underestimated if not absolutely overlooked.
Abstract: The Judgment of 25 July 2018 of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) was optimistically awaited by breeders and supporters of agricultural biotechnology, but shortly after the press release advancing the Judgment, hope turned into frustration. Opinions on how to frame the New Breeding Techniques (NBT) in the context of Directive 2001/18/EC were issued before the Judgment, while proposals to assist the EU legislator to amend the regime driven by the Directive have been also provided afterwards by scientists and institutional bodies around the EU. However, they do not seem to have paid so much attention to the Judgment itself. This paper focuses on the Judgment. It finds out that while the impacts of the Judgment on the NBT might have been slightly overvalued, its potential negative effects on techniques of random mutagenesis and varieties breed through them have been generally underestimated if not absolutely overlooked. The analysis also shows that the Judgment does not preempt the possibility to exempt certain applications of some NBT from the scope of Directive 2001/18/EC, and, in fact, ODM, SDN1, and SDN2 might be, under certain conditions, easily exempted from its scope without the need of a deep legislative revolution nor even the amendment of Directive 2001/18/EC. As regards techniques of random mutagenesis and mutant varieties bred by means of those techniques, until action is taken by Member States (if finally taken), no real limitations upon them are to be feared. However, if Member States start to consider the path opened by the CJEU, then their regulation at an EU level should be readily explored in order to avoid further negative effects on plant breeding as well as on the free movement inside the EU of those varieties and the products thereof.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The European Union selected achieving a leadership position in the AI sector as one of the priorities for the future of the EU as a whole as discussed by the authors, and economic reasons are behind this decision, but they are not economic reasons alone.
Abstract: The European Union selected achieving a leadership position in the AI sector as one of the priorities for the future of the bloc as a whole. Economic reasons are behind this decision, but they are ...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The article discusses the concept of infrastructure in the digital environment, through a study of three data sharing legal regimes: the Public Sector Information Directive, the discussions on in-vehicle data governance and the freshly adopted data shares legal regime in the Electricity Directive.
Abstract: The article discusses the concept of infrastructure in the digital environment, through a study of three data sharing legal regimes: the Public Sector Information Directive (PSI Directive), the dis...

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors provide an overview and critical examination of the new Directive on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market, including the controversial new right for press publishers and the new liability regime for content-sharing platforms.
Abstract: This article provides an overview and critical examination of the new Directive on copyright and related rights in the Digital Single Market. Despite some positive aspects, the Directive includes multiple problematic provisions, including the controversial new right for press publishers and the new liability regime for content-sharing platforms. On balance, the Directive denotes a normative preference for private ordering over public choice in EU copyright law, and lacks adequate safeguards for users. It is also a complex text with multiple ambiguities, which will likely fail promote the desired harmonization and legal certainty in this area.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The aim of this opinion paper is to explore and discuss the challenges presented by EU requirements to clinical practice in nursing education.
Abstract: Nursing education in countries belonging to the European Union (EU) must follow EU directive requirements. The aim of this opinion paper is to explore and discuss the challenges presented by EU req...

Proceedings ArticleDOI
01 Sep 2020
TL;DR: In this article, the authors highlight how Energy Communities have been introduced in the European legislation, identifying the distinctive elements of the Renewables Energy Communities (RECs) defined by Directive 2018/2001 (RED II) on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, and the Citizens Energy Communities defined by IEM on common rules for the internal market for electricity.
Abstract: The growth of renewable energy sources in the European energy market is one of the most important objectives to foster the transition to a more sustainable society. The Clean Energy for All European Package entrust citizens with a leading and active role in the energy policies of the European Union and its Member States. It must also be noted that this legislative framework, for the first time, does not only focus on the role of the individual citizen but also on citizens who carry out energy generation, sharing and consumption in a collective form.The paper highlights how Energy Communities have been introduced in the European legislation, identifying the distinctive elements of the Renewables Energy Communities (RECs) defined by Directive 2018/2001 (RED II) on the promotion of the use of energy from renewable sources, and the Citizens Energy Communities (CECs) defined by Directive 2019/944 (IEM) on common rules for the internal market for electricity. Then, the paper focuses in detail on the Italian context, describing the law that implemented a partial and anticipated transposition of the RED II Directive and the open questions to be answered in view of the full transposition of the Directives.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The 2018 Amending Directive is the most recent response to the failings of the European Union (EU) legal framework for the posting of workers as discussed by the authors, and it recognises the capacity for EU Member States to do more to protect posted workers than was possible previously.
Abstract: The 2018 Amending Directive is the most recent response to the failings of the European Union (EU) legal framework for the posting of workers. This article uses an original case study of workers posted from Serbia via Hungary to Slovakia as a basis on which to assess the practical impact of this latest Directive. We recognize the capacity for EU Member States to do more to protect posted workers than was possible previously. However, we also note significant regulatory omissions relating, in particular, to the manufactured uncertainty of employment and immigration status, limited supply chain regulation and obstacles to trade union representation. We identify the need to address in greater detail the complex operations of transnational temporary work agencies involving third country nationals which can produce legal uncertainty and foster unfree labour relations.

Book ChapterDOI
01 Jan 2020
TL;DR: In this article, the authors evaluate the quality of the third-party external assurance of the non-financial information produced by the European PIE in 2017 and evaluate how the legal provision of a third party external assurance impacted the choice of firms to adopt this kind of legitimization strategy.
Abstract: Since December 2017, all the European members have transposed the Directive 2014/95/EU into their legal systems. The aim of the directive was to promote the harmonization of non-financial information through the definition of guidelines aimed at regulating its content. In accordance with the principle of gold plating, the transposition of the directive into national legal systems has been characterized by the prediction of different constraints. In particular, the Member States have provided for different rules on the activity of external assurance. This phenomenon represents one of the most difficult for an effective non-financial reporting harmonization in Europe. The provision of a third-party assurance is one of the most important drivers to achieve legitimization by the stakeholder. In particular, previous studies have shown that non-financial information presents a physiological gap in credibility toward stakeholders. This credibility gap stems from the risk of greenwashing; that is, the attitude of management to report false or untruthful information of a non-financial type in order to pursue utilitarian benefits. Also, from the investor’s point of view, the third-party external assurance could be useful to evaluate the firm’s performance before investing. In particular, it shows that assurance of sustainability reporting is comparable, in terms of its effects on stakeholders, to the financial statement certification process. According to previous studies, the aim of this paper is to evaluate the quality of the third-party external assurance of the non-financial information produced by the European PIE in 2017. Our findings will provide further information regarding the effective level of harmonization of non-financial reporting in Europe after the implementation of the Directive 2014/95/EU. Also, we evaluate how the legal provision of a third-party external assurance impacted the choice of firms to adopt this kind of legitimization strategy.

Journal Article
TL;DR: In this article, the recent normative modifications introduced in the European Union by the Directive 2011/83/EU (aimed to realize a full harmonization of member states’ rules in some aspects of consumer and contractual law), and consequently in Italy, through the Legislative Decree No. 21/2014 (which transposed the supranational source).
Abstract: This paper deals with the recent normative modifications introduced in the European Union by the Directive 2011/83/EU (aimed to realize a full harmonization of member states’ rules in some aspects of consumer and contractual law), and consequently in Italy, through the Legislative Decree No. 21/2014 (which transposed the supranational source). As it is known, the principal legal instruments used in the last years by the EU to protect the weak parties are the ‘information duties’ and the ‘right of withdrawal’. The new rules try to strengthen them, but the implementation of the European Directive in Italy gives rise to many arguable points and perplexities.


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, a number of legal developments have accelerated discussions around whether intellectual property rights can be claimed in materials generated during the reproduction of public domain works, focusing on the 2018 German Federal Supreme Court decision Museumsfotos, Article 14 of the 2019 Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market Directive, and relevant provisions of 2019 Open Data and the Reuse of Public Sector Information Directive.
Abstract: In the past year, a number of legal developments have accelerated discussions around whether intellectual property rights can be claimed in materials generated during the reproduction of public domain works. This article analyses those developments, focusing on the 2018 German Federal Supreme Court decision Museumsfotos, Article 14 of the 2019 Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market Directive, and relevant provisions of the 2019 Open Data and the Re-use of Public Sector Information Directive. It reveals that despite the growing consensus for protecting the public domain, there is a lack of practical guidance throughout the EU in legislation, jurisprudence, and literature on what reproduction media might attract new intellectual property rights, from scans to photography to 3D data. This leaves ample room for copyright to be claimed in reproduction materials produced by new technologies. Moreover, owners remain able to impose other restrictive measures around public domain works and data, like onsite photography bans, website terms and conditions, and exclusive arrangements with third parties. This article maps out these various legal gaps. It argues the pro-open culture spirit of the EU Directives should be embraced and provides guidance for Member States and heritage institutions around national implementation.

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In this article, the authors explain the differences in local implementation performance based on the political and managerial approaches and distill policy saliency as the driving causal mechanism for variation in implementation performance.
Abstract: As far as local governments are responsible for the practical implementation of many European Union (EU) policies, they codetermine member states’ EU compliance records and the fate of EU legislation. Yet, they do so in remarkably different ways, as exemplified by the variegated implementation of the Ambient Air Quality Directive 2008/50/EC by Dutch municipalities. Taking guidance from the literature on EU compliance, in this article we explain the differences in local implementation performance based on the political and managerial approaches. Understanding which of the two approaches drives different local responses to EU policy bears consequences for the appropriate remedy for nonimplementation. Four municipalities were purposefully selected along with the two-by-two implementation performance scoring matrix in the realm of air quality. A comparative within-case analysis specifies how political explanations outweigh managerial explanations in accounting for variation in implementation performance and distils ‘policy saliency’ as the driving causal mechanism.

Journal ArticleDOI
28 Jul 2020
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors analyze the 2018 German Federal Supreme Court decision Museumsfotos, Art. 14 of the Digital Single Market Directive, and relevant provisions of the 2019 Open Data and the Re-use of Public Sector Information Directive.
Abstract: In the past year, a number of legal developments have accelerated discussions around whether intellectual property rights can be claimed in materials generated during the reproduction of public domain works. This article analyses those developments, focusing on the 2018 German Federal Supreme Court decision Museumsfotos, Art. 14 of the 2019 Copyright and Related Rights in the Digital Single Market Directive, and relevant provisions of the 2019 Open Data and the Re-use of Public Sector Information Directive. It reveals that despite the growing consensus for protecting the public domain, there is a lack of practical guidance throughout the EU in legislation, jurisprudence, and literature on what reproduction media might attract new intellectual property rights, from scans to photography to 3D data. This leaves ample room for copyright to be claimed in reproduction materials produced by new technologies. Moreover, owners remain able to impose other restrictive measures around public domain works and data, like onsite photography bans, website terms and conditions, and exclusive arrangements with third parties. This article maps out these various legal gaps. It argues the pro-open culture spirit of the EU Directives should be embraced and provides guidance for Member States and heritage institutions around national implementation.