Economic actors and the problem of externalities : could financial markets play a role in democratic backsliding?

Purpose: Economic actors tend to exert powerful impact on socio-economic and political developments around the globe, including yielding financial and political crises in developed democracies. Approach/Methodology/Design: While a number of studies discuss the impact of finance on political and societal reality, research on the interlink between finance and democratic processes is very limited. Drawing on secondary literature and a case study of two young Central-European democracies, this paper contends a relationship between financial economy and democratic backsliding. Findings: The findings challenge the existing conventional accounts of the reversal to authoritarian politics in Poland and Hungary. Practical Implications: They also identify a mismatch between the constitutional foundations for embedding the market within the society and its institutions on the one hand, and the political-institutional reality in contemporary democracies. Originality/Value: The research provides theoretical assumptions encouraging further study on unwelcome externalities produced by financial markets.peer-reviewe

Human rights due diligence as part of corporate risk management : insights from the EU policy debate

Purpose: This paper investigates possible modalities of new EU-wide mandatory human rights due diligence (mHRDD) measures and their implications for the practice of corporate risk management. Design/Methodology/Approach: The contribution originates in a desk-based review and analysis of the EU policy debate and other relevant scholarly and stakeholder contributions. The applied research methodology includes a combination of theoretical and analytical methods. Findings: Businesses’ input pointing out the specificities of branches and suggesting best practices for implementing HRDD obligations is highly relevant for framing upcoming legislation. Proper fulfillment of HRDD obligations will, however, be definitively ascertained in court only. Compliance-oriented risk management accounting solely for the risks to the company may thus prove insufficient regarding HRDD and eventually lead to liability. Practical Implications: Given expectations of high corporate due diligence standards by investors, consumers and civil society on the one hand, and the prospective new EU HRDD measures on the other, it appears desirable for companies to take appropriate steps so as to adapt their business structures and operations for the endorsement of such new HRDD standards. Originality/Value: The contribution provides insights into mHRDD as a prospective new legal standard of care for companies operating on the EU Internal Market.peer-reviewe

Sprachliche Formen bei der Bewältigung der europäischen Wirtschafts- und Finanzkrise: Wege zur Integration oder Desintegration?

Europa ist im Werden. Doch es tut sich schwer, zu einer ihm angemessenen Sprache zu finden. Ausgangspunkt der in diesem Beitrag entwickelten Überlegungen zum Umgang der Europäischen Institutionen mit der Sprache sind einige Neologismen auf dem Gebiet der Europäischen Wirtschaftsregierung. Die analysierten sprachlichen Neuerungen stehen nicht für bekannte Formen hoheitlichen Handelns. Sie verschleiern vielmehr echte Innovationen, die zur Bewältigung der Krise möglich und als notwendig erachtet wurden. Wenn jedoch das Neue nicht treffend zur Sprache gebracht wird, misslingt die Kommunikation, korrektes Verständnis ebenso wie sachliche Kritik. Bei vielen Menschen führte dies zu einer pauschalen Ablehnung des Integrationsprozess. Mit anderen Worten, fur ein besseres Verständnis des Neuen, das sich im Prozess der Europäischen Integration ereignet, und eine sachliche kritische Auseinandersetzung mit ihm erscheint es sinnvoll, hinter die Fassaden der Worthülsen (bzw. "Begriffsmonster") zu blicken. Verdient die Leistung der Europäischen Politik nicht eine Sprache, die direkter auf die Sachen zugreift? Warum verbirgt die amtliche Sprache Europas mehr als sie offenlegt? Dieser Beitrag ist ein Versuch, auf diese Fragen einzugehen

New constraints on mobility in Europe: Policy response to European crises or constitutional ambiguity?

This paper investigates the effectiveness of recent measures undertaken by the governments of some European Union Member States such as the United Kingdom, Germany and Poland as well as of non-EU European countries such as Switzerland in order to face growing concerns in the public opinion with the increase of transnational migration flows on European continent. The authors analyse selected legislative, regulatory and administrative measures motivated by objectives of migration policy or affecting the mobility of workers, taken in the aftermath of the economic and financial crisis. They argue that, albeit political discourse unfavourable on immigration and migrant workers has become the mainstream in some countries, the measures taken by national governments and legislators seldom involve direct constraints on the free movement of workers which is safeguarded by EU treaty provisions. However, concrete examples illustrate that access of such workers to social security benefits has been restricted through making use of certain derogations from the principle of equal treatment allowed under EU law. In some cases national legislators had to abandon plans to limit directly the free movement of workers, because the envisaged provisions were incompatible with the EU Treaties. With regard to social security, regulatory measures and administrative actions may have effectively implemented national policy concerns with large-scale migration movements. In general, it could be concluded that the European Union, while struggling against multiple crises, has taken a not fully favourable approach to free movement and migration of EU citizens. The present political climate unfavourable to intra-European migration may be understood, from the perspective of historical analysis, as an expression of constitutional ambiguity underlying the European Union’s normative framework, consisting in a gap between its formally recognised noble values and the mentalities prevailing in the citizenry, which may place democratic forms of governance in a serious dilemma