The Impact of EU Norms and Policies on Consumer Protection Enforcement in Serbia

Pursuant to its 2008 Stabilization and Association Agreement governing the process of EU integration, Serbia is obliged to align its consumer protection standards (including those related to enforcement) with those of the EU. This article considers the overall approach to enforcement of consumer law in Serbia, focussing in particular on the extent to which EU enforcement principles have been successfully exported to Serbia and whether the goals of EU consumer policy have been achieved. It argues that the incorporation of EU norms has brought fundamental changes to Serbian enforcement mechanisms at a formal level, such as in relation to mediation processes as well as the introduction of injunctions for the protection of collective consumer interests. In practice, however, the impact of this incorporation is quite limited. A number of factors that restrict the practical effectiveness of the mediation processes and injunctions required by EU law are explored in the article, including weak sanctions, excessive reliance on poorly resourced consumer organizations, absence of a business culture of compliance or a sophisticated and determined consumer protection enforcement culture sufficiently grounded in expertise, as well as an overarching political, legislative, and institutional instability. These factors also undermine the general aim of EU policy to achieve effective consumer protection enforcement in the Serbian context

Achieving Safety and Affordability in the UK Payday Loans Market

In the aftermath of the global financial crisis, financial regulation and supervision has been significantly reformed in the UK. As an important part of this reform, consumer credit, including payday loans, has been transferred to the new conduct of business regulator and supervisor, the Financial Conduct Authority. This paper considers the key rules on responsible lending and product regulation, introduced to protect the payday loans consumers. It shows that the responsible lending regime now reduces the risk that payday loans will be given to those who cannot afford the high costs involved, although responsible lending will only be fully effective if credit reference agencies hold up-to-date and correct information. Product regulation, in the form of a rollover restriction and a price cap, should make payday loans cheaper and safer for those who do use them, although, for the price cap to be most effective, steps must be taken to enhance price competition in the space below the cap. Finally, it is shown that firms are now subject to interventionist, rigorous, and consumer-centric supervision, which seems to stand a good chance of securing compliance with the new rules

Report on legal and public policies proposals to address anti-gender hate speech

This report is the result of the European project titled "Hate speech, gender, social networks and political parties" (GENHA)(Reference: 875388

Anti-Gender Hate Speech in Populist Right-Wing Social Media Communication

This report is the result of the European project titled "Hate speech, gender, social networks and political parties" (GENHA)(Reference: 875388

Map of the main political parties using hate speech against the "ideology of gender" through the social networks and internet in Europe

This report is the result of the European project titled "Hate speech, gender, social networks and political parties" (GENHA)(Reference: 875388

Kulturális csere és etnikai identitásváltozások a vegyesházasságokban a XX. századi kassai népesség példáján

A kutatók a projekt keretében kiegészítették és elemezték a vegyes házasságok adatbázisát Kassán és egész Szlovákiában az 1920-1991 közötti időszakra vonatkozóan. Miután rendszeres képzéseket tartottak egyetemi hallgatókkal, amelyeken megismerkedtek a narratív életrajzi interjúk készítésének technikájával, kiválasztották az interjúpartnereket. Ezután a házasság és a családi élet témájára összpontosító interjúkat készítettek. Az interjúk segítségével esettanulmányokat készítettek a vegyes házasságok életrajzi, társadalmi és családi hátteréről, rekonstruálták a családi "magántörténet" narratíváit és azok változásait, a kulturális csere fontosabb eseteit, a családi traumákat és a kezelési kísérleteket. Mindemellett mind egyéni, mind családi szinten rendszerezték az identitáspolitika mechanizmusát és stratégiáit