vol. 28, no 1, spring/printemps 2016 (99)
In this issue of the ERPL are published the proceedings of the annual conference of the EGPL organised from the 11th to the 13th of September 2015 on the island of Spetses (Greece), on the subject “The New European Economic Governance”.
Under the heading “General Introduction: The Powers of the Union in the European Econonomic Governance: New Transfers of Sovereignty”, the first paper claims that European integration is facing one of the most difficult, but at the same time, challenging periods of its life, the European crisis not yet having been overcome and the new Asian crisis approaching. The report aims to point out and stimulate the debate on issues strictly related to the “monetary governance” of the European Union. It illustrates the most important issues concerning the European Monetary Union and the establishment of the European Central Bank. In order to discuss the problem of whether a political union is advisable or even necessary, the European experience is compared with the origings of central banking of two “integrating” countries (the United States and Italy). The second paper under this heading argues there is a major concern among the Member States and within the Union itself, that the survival of the monetary union is dependent on the further development of unitary structures, which means: more integration. It looks at the constitutional questions of the last major prospective plan in this respect, the “Report of the five presidents of the Union”, which deals with further developments in the economic, financial, fiscal and political Union, and it tries to highlight some pivotal questions that have to be answered before such a plan can be driven forward.
The next heading is titled “The European Banking Governance“. According to the first paper under this heading, several legal acts have been adopted by EU financial regulators, which reshaped the regulatory and supervisory framework pertaining to the EU banking system. The main by-product of this response was the establishment of the European Banking Union and, in particular, of the Single Supervisory Mechanism, the Single Resolution Mechanism and the Single Resolution Fund. These three components should be considered in unison, given that shared liability for bank resolutions requires centralized supervisory oversight. The next paper under this heading claims the Single Supervisory Mechanism is a major development in the area of Economic and Monetary Policy, as it is entrusted with the prudential supervision of European credit institutions and confers very significant powers on the European Central Bank, including coercive and investigatory powers. Due to those powers, a system of checks and balances has been introduced, in which the European Parliament and the Court of Justice of the European Union play a significant part.
Under the heading “The Guarantees of the States Participating and Not Participating in the Banking Union and in the ‘Fiscal Compact’“, the first paper deals with the regime of close cooperation with the European Central Bank by non-euro Member States which decide to opt in. The difficulty of putting them on an equal footing with euro Member States is not adequately addressed by the rules on the suspension and termination of the close cooperation; therefore, an amendment of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union would be needed. In the next paper under this heading, the topic of guarantees from States participating or not in the Banking Union is discussed, as one’s guarantees can be perceived as risks for others. A distinction is made between preventive and remedial guarantees against potential infringements of the interests of Member States, and it is claimed that, although safeguarding the States’ consent remains an essential guarantee, it is not always realistic, and therefore other ways, such as a furthering of the accountability procedures, should be further exploited.
In the “General Conclusions“, four main issues are discussed: a) the changes that have occured in the European economic governance to contrast the great crisis initiated in 2008, b) the features of the European Banking Union, c) the role and attitude of the European and national judges facing the new discipline and d) the democratic legitimation of the new European banking system. It is argued that the new system is providing an effective package of quick, effective and reliable measures and that the new European banking law and the Banking Union represent a positive development in the integration process.
The second part of this ERPL issue includes papers presented or prepared within the framework of Workshops that took place during the Conference.
In the context of the Workshop on “Financial Inclusion: Services of General Economic Interest in the Banking Sector and Citizen’s Rights“, the first paper examines the concepts and main characteristics of financial inclusion referring to its definition and content, to the typical indicators for its measurement as well as to its causes. It also examines the policy aspects related to financial inclusion. Moreover, the correlation between financial literacy and financial inclusion is analyzed whereas also the link between technology and financial inclusion is also briefly presented. The next short study underlines the main features of Directive 2014/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council in relation to the access to payment accounts with basic features. The Directive is a tool to fight against financial exclusion in a general European movement that seems to progressively consider some banking activities as services of general economic interest. The next paper analyzes the originality of the public law system connected to the European Banking Union and examines the Italian experience as an example of the non-reducible space remaining to the State in this framework.
n the context of the Workshop on “Normative Defeasibility in Public Law”, the following paper is a brief introduction on the core ideas of normative defeasibility in public law. The main points are to understand what normative defeasibility is and to demonstrate that every norm within a legal order is defeasible, which means that defeasibility is a property of legal norms.
In the context of the Workshop on “The New Legal Status of Railway Companies in Europe and in China”, the next paper finds similarities in the evolution of the Chinese and European railway systems since, in both cases, the starting point was a national public monopoly, which is progressively open to competition. European Law, although at a more advanced stage of this process, is still facing issues that the Chinese system is now addressing, like regulation of the network’s utilization and determination of prices.
The third part of this ERPL issue comprises the speeches by Professors Marco D’Alberti and Elisenda Malaret on the “Celebration of the 100 Years from the Birthdate of Massimo Giannini”.
Finally, in the fourth part of this ERPL issue are presented the speeches pronounced on the occasion of the Laudationes to Professor Agustín Gordillo (speeches by Professors José Esteve Pardo and Isaac Augusto Damsky and Acknowledgments by Professor Agustín Gordillo).
VOLUME SUMMARY
PART I / IÈRE PARTIE
FOREWORD / AVANT-PROPOS
GENERAL INTRODUCTION: THE POWERS OF THE UNION IN THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE: NEW TRANSFERS OF SOVEREIGNTY / INTRODUCTION GÉNÉRALE: LES POUVOIRS DE L’UNION DANS LA GOUVERNANCE ÉCONOMIQUE EUROPÉENNE: NOUVEAUX TRANSFERTS DE SOUVERAINETÉ
M. GNES, The European Union at the Monetary Turning Point: Towards Genuine Integration or Dis-integration? [IN ENGLISH]
W. MENG, The Powers of the Union in the European Economic Governance: New Transfers of Sovereignty [IN ENGLISH]
THE EUROPEAN BANKING GOVERNANCE / LA GOUVERNANCE BANCAIRE EUROPEENNE
CH.V. GORTSOS, The European Banking Union: An Introduction to the Legal Framework [IN ENGLISH]
D. SARMIENTO, The European Banking Governance. The Single Supervisory Mechanism and the Union’s Constitutional Challenge [IN ENGLISH]
THE GUARANTEES OF THE STATES PARTICIPATING AND NOT PARTICIPATING
IN THE BANKING UNION AND IN THE “FISCAL COMPACT” /
LES GARANTIES DES ÉTATS PARTICIPANT OU NON À L’UNION BANCAIRE
ET AU “PACTE BUDGÉTAIRE”
M. CLARICH, The Guarantees of the States Participating and Not Participating in the Banking Union [IN ENGLISH]
P. IDOUX, The Guarantees of the States Participating and Not in the Banking Union and in the “Fiscal Compact” [IN FRENCH]
GENERAL CONCLUSIONS / CONCLUSIONS GÉNÉRALES
M.P. CHITI, The New European Economic Governance and the Banking Union. General Conclusions[IN ENGLISH]
PART II / IIÈME PARTIE
WORKSHOPS / ATELIERS
FINANCIAL INCLUSION: SERVICES OF GENERAL ECONOMIC INTEREST IN THE BANKING SECTOR AND CITIZEN’S RIGHTS / Inclusion financière: services d’intérêt économique général
dans le secteur bancaire et le secteur des droits des citoyens
CH.V. GORTSOS, Financial Inclusion: An Introduction [IN ENGLISH]
J. PONCE, Directive 2014/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, of 23 July 2014, and the Access to Payment Accounts with Basic Features [IN ENGLISH]
V. FERRARO, Public Law Approaches toward the European Banking Union: A Focus on the Italian Experience [IN ENGLISH]
NORMATIVE DEFEASIBILITY IN PUBLIC LAW / Défaisabilité normative en droit public
D. DUARTE, A Brief Note on Normative Defeasibility in Public Law [IN ENGLISH]
THE NEW LEGAL STATUS OF RAILWAY COMPANIES IN EUROPE AND IN CHINA /Le nouveau statut juridique des entreprises ferroviaires en Europe et en Chine
HUAIDE MA / TH. DESTAILLEUR, The New Legal Status of Railway Companies in Europe and in China [IN ENGLISH]
PART III / IIIÈME PARTIE
Celebration of the 100 years from the birthday of MASSIMO SEVERO GIANNINI / Célébration du 100ème anniversaire de la naissance DE MASSIMO SEVERO GIANNINI
M. D’ALBERTI, Professor at the University of Rome La Sapienza, Italy [IN ENGLISH]
E. MALARET, Professeure à l’Université de Barcelone, Espagne [IN FRENCH]
PART IV / IVÈME PARTIE
Laudatio: PROF. AGUSTÍN GORDILLO
J. ESTEVE PARDO, Professor at the University of Barcelona, Spain [IN ENGLISH]
I. A. DAMSKY, Professor of Administrative Law at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina [IN ENGLISH]
A. GORDILLO, Professor Emeritus at the University of Buenos Aires, Argentina [IN ENGLISH]
INFORMATION
Brief summary of selected articles
„THE EUROPEAN UNION AT THE MONETARY TURNING POINT:
TOWARDS GENUINE INTEGRATION OR DIS-INTEGRATION?”
Matteo GNES
Professor at the Università di Urbino Carlo Bo, Italy
European integration is facing one of the most difficult, but at the same time, challenging periods of its life. The European crisis is not yet overcome; and the new Asian crisis is approaching. Only a strongly integrated Europe may resist and even make profit from such challenges. Only if linked together will European countries be able to remain in the G8 group after 2050. The aim of the report is to point out and to stimulate the debate only on those issues that are more strictly related to the “monetary governance” of the European Union. In order to better understand the path to the European monetary integration, the report first quickly examines the process that led to the construction of a common currency in the European Union, i.e. the path to the European Monetary Union (EMU) and to the establishment of the European Central Bank (ECB). Then, it illustrates some of the most important issues concerning EMU and ECB, especially as concerns the costs and benefits of a monetary union; the problem of the “unaccountability” of the ECB; the overregulation aimed at achieving economic and fiscal coordination; the consequences on citizens’ rights and safeguards. Finally, in order to discuss the problem of whether a political union is advisable or even necessary, the European experience is compared with the origins of central banking of two “integrating” countries (i.e. the institution of the federal central bank system in the United States and the institution of the central bank in Italy after its unification).
„THE POWERS OF THE UNION IN THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE:
NEW TRANSFERS OF SOVEREIGNTY”
Werner MENG
Prof. Dr., Saarbrücken/Mainz (D), Athens (GR)
In the middle of a deep and perhaps existential crisis of the European Union, there is a major concern among the Member States and particularly within the Union itself, that the survival of the monetary union is dependent on the further development of unitary structures, which means: more integration. The last major prospective plan in this respect is contained in the “Report of the five presidents of the Union”, that was issued in June 2015 on “Europe’s Economic and Monetary Union”. It deals with further developments in the economic, financial, fiscal and political Union. The present report looks at the constitutional questions of this plan. Unfortunately, the legal prerequisites are not being dealt with therein in sufficient clarity. Since the plan contains some considerable steps for further integration, at least as concerns the second step, it is indispensable that the constitutional questions, and particularly the powers of the Union, are thoroughly evaluated. This is even more necessary, since the constitutional control of any further steps of integration in the Member States has been tightened given the jurisprudence of some constitutional courts. The present report tries to highlight some pivotal questions that have to be answered before such a plan can really being driven forward.
EUROPEAN REVIEW OF PUBLIC LAW (ERPL)
vol. 27, no 3, autumn/automne 2015 (97)
This ERPL issue starts with an article showing the importance of a measure of state intervention in the market arena to induce sustainable development, amidst the recent economic-financial and environmental crises. The conditions are presented for a regulation compatible with the Constitution, especially to correct market and government failures.
The next article views ‘security in the balance’ in the context of state surveillance measures post-9/11 and conceptualizes it in the ‘war on terror’ model as opposed to the ‘law enforcement’ model. As many states seem to have valued security higher than others, the focus is placed on courts, rather than parliaments, as forums of such choices, especially the European Court of Human Rights and the US Supreme Court. This article concludes that European judges, compared to their American counterparts, have proved to be less deferential to the government prerogatives in security matters.
In the next article, it is claimed that the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) sets rigid budgetary frameworks to EU Member States, within which the latter must ensure local authorities adequate financing for their statutory responsibilities as required by the financing principle. It is stated that the financing principle can be interpreted as meaning that the public sector cannot take on more tasks than it can afford, which means that the SGP and the financing principle are not in conflict with each other but rather complement each other.
The fourth article on the European Single Supervisory Mechanism focuses on the European Central Bank (ECB), which has been entrusted with prudential supervision of the most important credit institutions of the Eurozone, a process that raises controversial issues. It is concluded that close cooperation between European and national authorities will be essential to ensure the smooth functioning of a very complex supervision system and that the provision of an internal administrative review of the ECB supervisory decisions may play a significant role in protecting stakeholders.
In the section of Chronicles on Constitutional Law, the first one deals with the Slovak experience in the semi-presidential system as introduced by the 1999 Amendment to the Constitution. The first part explains the origins of semi-presidentialism in Slovakia and examines the constitutional powers of the President, while the second part analyzes two recent cases of the use of the power of appointment by President I. Gašparovič.
The second chronicle maintains that the “Revolution of dignity” was the starting point of a new stage of constitutional changes in Ukraine, including the adoption of legislation by the “revolutionary wave”. The constitutional process was aimed at legal regulation of the new political reality that followed the revolutionary events. The main provisions of this legislation are examined along with developments resulting from the presidential, parliamentary and local elections held in Ukraine in 2014, such as the launching of the procedure for the revision of the Constitution of Ukraine concerning the decentralization of power.
Next, in the section of Administrative Law, the first chronicle focuses on the developments in the grounds of judicial review in Ireland in the period 2013 to 2015, namely the law of financial bias, the right of an individual to correct defective fact-finding, the operation of the English Carltona rule in Irish law and the right of campaign groups to engage in judicial review.
The second chronicle provides an overview of the new Portuguese Code of Administrative Procedure and of the substantial amendments introduced to the Procedural Code of Administrative Courts, both enacted in 2015. Several major topics of development are also reflected upon and considered.
In the third chronicle in the section of Administrative Law, the discretionary power of administration and its legislative, administrative and judicial limits under Turkish Administrative Law are set forth briefly.
In the final chronicle of the section, the dynamics of legislative reforms of the administrative proceedings in Ukraine in 2014-2015 are dealt with. This chronicle describes the impact of the reform of justice in the proceedings of the judicial review institutions and the resolution of public law disputes.
The first chronicle in the Jurisprudence section intends to provide an accurate account of the 2013-2014 case law of the Belgian Constitutional Court. The authors recall the structure, the organization and the specificities of constitutional litigation in the country and they devote important developments to the judicial techniques used by the Court in its decisions. In this framework, the authors carefully examine fundamental rights litigation and competences litigation.
The second chronicle focuses on a variety of subject matters offered by the cases dealt with by the Court of Justice of the European Union in 2014. The economic and social life remains in the center of the questions raised, but the questions arising from issues touching most sensitive parts of the human condition appearing in the Union law lead to new innovative solutions.
The third and final chronicle of this section focuses on the decisions issued by the Portuguese Constitutional Court in 2014, noticing that most of them refer to concrete, rather than abstract, constitutional control, although the latter registered an increase in comparison to preceding years. The most significant decisions regarded public servants and pensioners. Decisions on tax law, penal issues, civil liberties, family law and regional autonomy were selected considering both the subject in itself and its relevance for the international reader.
This ERPL issue continues with its Book Reviews section, with an interesting selection of three books from Austria, Slovakia and Ukraine. Finally, ten books received by the EPLO Library are presented in this last section of the issue.
CONTENT SUMMARY
ARTICLES
J. FREITAS, Administrative Law and Regulatory Challenges: Market and Government Failures [IN PORTUGUESE]
A. TSIFTSOGLOU, Security in the Balance: Reviewing Surveillance Measures in the ‘War on Terror’ [IN ENGLISH]
T. MATIKAINEN, General Principles on the Application of the Stability and Growth Pact and the Principle of Adequate Financial Resources – To Coexist or To Conflict? [IN ENGLISH]
J.C. LAGUNA DE PAZ, The European Single Supervisory Mechanism [IN ENGLISH]
CHRONICLES / CHRONIQUES
I. Constitutional Law / Droit constitutionnel
E. LÁŠTIC, Slovakia / Slovaquie [IN ENGLISH]
А. ЕЗЕРОВ, Ukraine [IN RUSSIAN]
II. Administrative Law / Droit administratif
K. COSTELLO, Ireland / Irlande [IN ENGLISH]
J. LOURO E COSTA / A. CHOON, Portugal [IN ENGLISH]
N. ARAT, Turkey / Turquie [IN ENGLISH]
А. САРЫБАЕВА, Ukraine [IN RUSSIAN]
II. Jurisprudence
A.-S. BOUVY / P. DERMINE, Constitutional Jurisprudence / Jurisprudence constitutionnelle, Belgium / Belgique [IN FRENCH]
A. TROUPIOTIS, Court of Justice of the European Union /Cour de justice de l‘Union européenne [IN FRENCH]
A. SOUSA PINHEIRO / A. GONÇALVES MARQUES / M. MELO EGÍDIO, Constitutional Jurisprudence / Jurisprudence constitutionnelle, Portugal [IN ENGLISH]
BOOK REVIEWS / NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHIQUES
B. LEITL-STAUDINGER [IN GERMAN]
A. ĎURFINA [IN ENGLISH]
Н.В. МИШИНА [IN RUSSIAN]
Brief summary of selected article
GENERAL PRINCIPLES ON THE APPLICATION
OF THE STABILITY AND GROWTH PACT AND THE PRINCIPLE OF ADEQUATE FINANCIAL RESOURCES – TO COEXIST OR TO CONFLICT?
Tanja MATIKAINEN
LL.D., University of Helsinki, Finland
The Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) lays down rules for a national budgetary framework in each Member State. The SGP applies to general government as a whole, but it is required to have a separate national budgetary framework for each sub-sector also. These comprise of State, local government and social security funds. The financing principle on the other hand only lays down rules for the State in the sense that the central government must provide local authorities adequate financial resources for their statutory responsibilities. The SGP sets rigid budgetary frameworks to Member States of the EU. Within those budgetary frameworks a Member State must ensure local authorities adequate financing for their statutory responsibilities as required by the financing principle. This is also a question of public sector responsibilities in general and thus highly political. It can be stated that, from the point of view of the public finances, the financing principle can be interpreted as meaning that the public sector cannot take on more tasks than it can afford. The SGP and the financing principle thus are not in conflict with each other. Rather, they complement each other.
EUROPEAN REVIEW OF PUBLIC LAW (ERPL)
vol. 27, no 2, summer 2015 (96)
This volume of the ERPL starts with an article dealing with the reconsideration of public intervention in the financial sphere in connection with the concept of financial exclusion. The national banks of EU Member States, pursuant to Directive 2014/92/EU, will be obliged to offer payment accounts with basic features, which creates the right to open such a payment account, while some precautions are taken in relation to money-laundering. Finally, it is considered whether the banking activity should be understood as an economic service of general interest.
The second article claims Public Financial Management has its roots in public policy, economics, law, political science, business studies and is widely considered to be a political and institutional rather than a purely technical and accounting process. Well-structured Public Financial Management systems may certainly help address the challenges of the current global financial crisis and also facilitate the ongoing fiscal adjustment process. In the third article, it is argued that the government and administration of central and local levels are put through difficult trials as far as their financial situation is concerned. Local administration may improve effectiveness and efficiency of budget-keeping by applying modern methods of New Public Management and good Regulatory Impact Assessment. It is the mandate of the legislator to set the frame for autonomous, vital and creative local governments and to empower them – including the provision of financial resources – to master the problems of their citizens. In the next article, it is maintained that Italy has been the first nation worldwide which has imposed the protection of the cultural heritage and of the landscape as a fundamental principle of the Constitution, but planning has always been deficient and therefore the State introduced, starting from the year 2010, a binding opinion on landscape authorization. The conclusions of the article announce the existence of a genuine landscape law. In the fifth article, it is noticed that an increasing number of constitutions contain “unamendable provisions” in order to protect essential characteristics of the constitutional order or principles perceived as being at risk of repeal via the democratic process. The paper studies the text of unamendable provisions in 735 former and current written national constitutions and argues that the limitations are utilized to preserve a core of a nation’s constitutional identity, thus comprising its “genetic code”. Finally, the sixth article raises the question of the autonomy of the concept of sanction in substantive law, argues that the concept of sanction is making its presence tangible in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights, while it is also claiming the concept’s autonomy in everything we can characterize as the European law enforcement universe.
In the section of Chronicles on Constitutional Law, the first chronicle examines the case Ioannidou & Others v. Republic through the Treasury of the Republic of Cyprus, dated of October 7, 2014, the subject-matter of which is the administrative decisions for “suspension” of the payment of the retirement pension of the applicants. The majority decision of the Supreme Court of Cyprus held that the applicants’ pensionary rights constitute property rights, and as such the contested decisions were declared null and void.
The second chronicle underlines the three main internationally recognized features of a central bank’s governance and describes how the National Bank of Georgia and Georgian legislation meet these international requirements.
The third chronicle examines the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Enrico Letta following the decision of his party to change the cabinet, the appointment of Matteo Renzi, whose cabinet is supported by parties belonging both to the centre-left and the centre-right, his promotion of an agreement with Silvio Berlusconi to approve some electoral and constitutional reforms and the annoucement of President Napolitano’s intention to resign.
The fourth chronicle refers to the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Netherlands, during which period the Dutch Constitution has proved to be of great value in shaping and regulating the Dutch society and legal order. Given the stringent amendment procedure of the Constitution, it is unlikely that proposed amendments to it will be enacted into law in the near future. It also notes other developments such as the practice of ‘seat banditry, the inauguration of the new Head of State King Willem-Alexander, the SGP-case, the Vereniging Martijn case and the upcoming trial against Geert Wilders, all three of importance for human rights in the country, and the decentralization proposals carried out by the government in 2013 and 2014.
The final chronicle of this section focuses on a number of significant amendments made to the Russian Constitution in 2014, a year that is remarkable for the increase in legislative initiatives and the legislative activity of the federal parliament in comparison with the previous years, revealing the intention to preserve the existing political regime, to strengthen the presidential power and suppress the political opposition and the foreign influence in favor of the state interests, a tendency which has an adverse effect on fundamental human rights.
Next, in the section of Administrative Law, the first chronicle focuses on the rich developments in French Administrative Law, marked by the strengthening of the role of the administrative court. On the legislative level, the law on the provisions regarding the fight against terrorism as well as the establishment of a semi-public company consisting of a single operation purpose dominate the developments, whereas the exercise of the principle “silence is deemed to signal acceptance” keeps on requiring measures of implementation.
The next chronicle discusses the developments in administrative law and jurisprudence that took place in the Netherlands in 2014-15. Overall, Dutch administrative law seems to be moving away from its recent infatuation with efficiency towards a more balanced approach.
The third and final chronicle in the section of Administrative Law is devoted to actual amendments of Russian administrative law that occured in the field of state antimonopoly control in public and corporate procurement. The main novation and changes in the regulations governing the contract system in procurement and corporate procurement are also considered.
The first chronicle in the Jurisprudence section provides an overview of the 28 final judgments that deemed to bear the highest level of importance and were selected for publication in the Reports of Judgments and Decisions 2014 of the European Court of Human Rights. The discussion is structured under different headings, with reference to the main Convention Article concerned, while reference is made to the main parts of the judgments.
The second and final chronicle of this section analyzes the decisions rendered by the French Constitutional Council in 2013, a year marked by an increase in a priori litigation and a slight decrease in a posteriori litigation. Adjudicating on the institutional law as material, the Constitutional Council confirmed both its role as interpreter of the Constitution and its place within the institutions.
This ERPL issue concludes with the Book Reviews section, with two chronicles coming from Italy and the Netherlands respectively, while the section finishes with reviews of important public law books that were received.
Overall, this is another issue of the ERPL where, as standardly pursued by the Review, many topical issues are discussed and a multinational overview of developments in the Constitutional and Administrative Law and Jurisprudence of several countries is presented.
CONTENT SUMMARY
ARTICLES
J. PONCE, Private Banks, Services of General Interest and Prevention of Money-laundering with regard to Corruption [IN ENGLISH]
E. G. BALTA, Towards a New Sustainable Public Financial Management in Times of Crisis [IN ENGLISH]
U. KARPEN, Legislation Plan to Strengthen Local Finance [IN ENGLISH]
S. FLORIO, The Prism of the Landscape: An Italian Run [IN FRENCH]
Y. ROZNAI, Unamendability and the Genetic Code of the Constitution [IN ENGLISH]
S. LYTRAS, The Concept of Sanction in the Field of European Law Enforcement: Criminal or Disciplinary Law? [IN FRENCH]
CHRONICLES / CHRONIQUES
I. Constitutional Law / Droit constitutionnel
M. KYRIACOU, Cyprus / Chypre [IN ENGLISH]
I. KALANDADZE, Georgia / Géorgie [IN ENGLISH]
CH. MARTINI / F. TEDDE, Italy / Italie [IN ITALIAN]
R. NEHMELMAN / M. VETZO, The Netherlands / Pays–Bas [IN ENGLISH]
A. HURSHUDYAN / O. KUDRYASHOVA / S. OLENNIKOV / I. VASIL‘EV, Russia / Russie [IN ENGLISH]
II. Administrative Law / Droit administratif
L. BAHOUGNE, France [IN FRENCH]
A. BUIJZE, The Netherlands / Pays-Bas [IN ENGLISH]
К.А. ПИСЕНКО / В.В. КИКАВЕЦ, Russia / Russie [IN RUSSIAN]
III. Jurisprudence
CH. NIKOLAIDIS, European Court of Human Rights / Cour européenne des droits de l’homme [IN ENGLISH]
B. MATHIEU / M. VERPEAUX, Constitutional Jurisprudence / Jurisprudence constitutionnelle, France [IN FRENCH]
BOOK REVIEWS / NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHIQUES
M. BENEDETTI / S. MORETTINI [IN ITALIAN]
A.D.L. KNOOK [IN ENGLISH]
BOOKS RECEIVED / LIVRES REÇUS [IN ENGLISH]
Brief summary of a selected article
„LEGISLATION PLAN TO STRENGTHEN LOCAL FINANCE”
Ulrich KARPEN
Prof. Dr. jur., University of Hamburg Law School,
International Association of Legislation
Goverment and administration of central and local levels today are put through difficult trials, namely – but not only – as far as their financial situation is concerned. Budgetary deficits and public debt cause constraints on all levels of governance. But citizens are aware of them particularly on the local level, because they are close to their day-to-day life. They evaluate local administration mainly based on its democratic performance, trust in the actors and financial stability and sustainability. To properly administer their tasks, local communities need a solid, reliable and sustainable basis of financial resources. The legislator must assure a sufficient and fair allocation of revenues to municipal entities, either cities and towns or regional units. Furthermore, there should be an income from local revenues, which local government can influence by statutes. A horizontal approximation of local incomes between municipalities is mandated by solidarity. Local administration may improve effectiveness and efficiency of budget-keeping by applying modern methods of New Public Management and good Regulatory Impact Assessment. It is the mandate of the legislator to set the frame for autonomous, vital and creative local governments and to empower them – including the provision of financial resources – to master the problems of their citizens.