Europeanization acted at all stages of society development in Slovakia, with varying degrees of intensity and in various forms, since the signing of the association agreement with the European Union. A significant impact was already in the stage of transition, when the consistent implementation of the Copenhagen criteria insist by the EC/EU help to return to the path of democratic development in Slovakia. However, it wasn’t just about the application of the generally accepted principles of parliamentary democracy, but also on the active impact of the EC/EU institutions within the existing opportunities provided by the signing of the Association Agreement. A qualitatively new stage began after completion of the Copenhagen criteria and the opening of negotiations, which was to implement acquis communautaire into the internal legal order of the country. At this stage, clearly dominated the process of Europeanization “top-down”, i.e. the adoption of standards, laws of the European Union, to make country compatible with other countries of the EU. After the entry of the Slovakia into the EU, a two-sided process of Europeanization: “up-down” and “bottom-up” has started.

It is without any doubt that one of the most important elements of every democratic political system is a Parliament, that is, a collective authority elected in direct elections, which is simultaneously an emanation of will of citizens as a sovereign. Over the years of the technological development of societies and evolution of the economic cooperation amongst states, its role and scope of responsibilities have gradually grown. The European Parliament is one of the key elements of the institutional system of the European Union, and thus, the only body, the composition of which is elected in direct election. This body, as a forum for universal representation by the elected deputies from the member states, brings together views and positions not only of the representatives but also of their electorate. The parliament is also an expression of the multinational EU community, its voice and its desire to have influence on the fate of the entire EU.
This article presents the evolution of the European Parliament and of the election law concerning this body, since its formation as an institution of the European Union until now. The purpose of this article is to present changes which have taken place in the EU legislation in respect of the electoral law, on the basis of which members of the parliament are elected, since the formation of the EP. The main subject of this article covers following issues: how the evolution process of the parliament has looked like over the years, how its position in the institutional architecture of the EU has been evolving and how it has been endeavoured to harmonize electoral procedures to this body over the years. The article is about the evolutionary political position of the EP. The article focuses on selected aspects of unification of the electoral procedure for the election to the EP due to their path-breaking character and importance of the procedure being currently in force.

The accession process of Croatia to the European Union – implications for future enlargement of the European Union

This article analyzes the possible implications of Croatia’s accession process for further expansion of the Community (officially aspiring to membership in the European Union aspires five countries – Albania, FYROM, Montenegro, Serbia and Turkey). In order to carry out the present historical relations between the EU – Croatia, the characteristic way of Croatia’s accession process on each of its stages, the state of its accomplishment by the designated official candidates, assessment of their nature of the relationship with the European Union and possible prospects for future membership.

After 1989, Poland’s foreign policy initially prioritized aiming for membership in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and the European Union and, upon achieving this goal, the focus shifted to strengthening the bonds with these organizations. This very image was not disturbed even by a short period of time (2005–2007), during which a coalition of the Euroskeptics and the extreme Right ruled the country. However, some symptoms were noticeable back then, regarding a certain change in the manner of thinking about the role of the foreign policy within the framework of state policies or about the model of the unification of Europe. After 8 more years of Poland’s existence within the main trend of European integration processes, a rapid shift to the right occurred on the domestic political scene and in consequence the Law and Justice party achieved full and selfcontained authority. Since that very moment, we have been observing a Warsaw-Brussels conflict that seems to be escalating with almost every passing day. What initiated the conflict? What matters does it concern? What is the possible course of events? In this article, we shall attempt at providing an answer to these, as well as other questions.

Strategic partnerships are nowadays one of the tools most willingly applied in foreign policy. The subject of the presented analysis is the institutionalization process of a strategic partnership understood as the functioning of certain norms and rules in a given relationship (expressed in the founding documents of partnerships) and the regularization of joint bodies and meeting formats. The aim of the article is a comparative analysis of institutional solutions applied in the European Union’s strategic partnerships with its established partners: the United States, Japan, and Canada. The results show that it is possible to identify a pattern of institutionalization process used by the European Union in its relations with strategic partners; they also reveal how great importance contemporary players in the international arena attach to institutionalization processes in their mutual relations.

Outline of international legal regulations concerning bar associations

In the modern democratic states the independent bar associations are an important guarantee of an effective right to legal aid, which is in turn an important element of the right to fair trial. In the multicentric legal system of modern democratic countries, not only constitutional norms, but also international regulations are the source of proper standards regarding the features of these self-governments. The aim of this study is to present these regulations synthetically in the universal system of the United Nations and in the European systems of the Council of Europe and the European Union.

Celem artykułu jest zaprezentowanie wpływu priorytetów i instrumentów polityki społecznej Unii Europejskiej na realizację podejścia inwestycyjnego w politykach społecznych państw członkowskich na przykładzie Polski. Przedmiotem badań są cele społeczne Unii Europejskiej zdefiniowane w strategii Europa 2020 oraz Pakiecie Inwestycji Społecznych, implementowane za pomocą otwartej metody koordynacji i interwencji Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w państwach członkowskich Unii Europejskiej. W konkluzji stwierdzono, że proces europeizacji polityk społecznych państw członkowskich UE, na przykładzie Polski, w odniesieniu do implementacji paradygmatu inwestycyjnego, ma ograniczony charakter.

Artykuł ukazuje problematykę edukacji międzykulturowej jako koniecznego kroku w celu integracji i wzajemnego porozumienia pomiędzy mieszkańcami a imigrantami w Europie. Rada Europy oraz Unia Europejska popierają migracje międzynarodowe. Większość działań UE jest jednak skierowana do obywateli unijnych. Unia Europejska wraz z Radą Europy próbują zwiększyć kompetencje międzykulturowe poprzez organizowanie wydarzeń (np. zainicjowanie Roku Dialogu Międzykulturowego w 2008 roku) oraz propozycje zmian w aktach prawnych. Unia Europejska promuje również migracje o charakterze edukacyjnym, m.in. Erasmus, Tempus oraz Młodzież w działaniu. Udział w projektach zaproponowanych przez Komisję Europejską umożliwia zwiększenie kompetencji kulturowych oraz chęć odkrywania innych kultur oraz zrozumienie międzykulturowe. Natomiast podczas spotkań Rady Europy w latach 2003 i 2005 postanowiono podtrzymywać i rozwijać jedność pomimo różnorodności społeczeństw poprzez aktywne działanie w zakresie zwiększenia poziomu edukacji międzykulturowej jako elementu polityki edukacyjnej. W Planie Działań podkreślono szczególną rolę edukacji w tworzeniu nowej Europy. Wyznaczano wówczas takie kierunki działań, jak rozwój kilku edukacji: obywatelskiej, na rzecz praw człowieka, międzykulturowej, a także promocję wymiany międzykulturowej oraz zapewnienie różnorodności kulturowej i dialogu międzykulturowego. Zalecane jest, aby politycy unijni zastanowili się nad rozwiązaniem problemu niezrozumienia pomiędzy Europejczykami a imigrantami z Azji oraz Afryki.

The protection of cultural heritage does not only have social but political and economic consequences as well. While the contents of a national and personal identity are closely tied to inherited cultural heritage, this heritage, as far as material culture is concerned, requires political support often beyond the means of the countries concerned. International support is rendered by organizations such as UNESCO with its World Heritage List, which includes World Cultural treasures as well as Natural Monuments. Politically, cultural heritage can be either a cohesive force or a divisive one when exploited for political purposes directed towards political hegemony. Economically, the cost of preserving cultural heritage can be a lucrative source of income as a result of the global promotion of cultural tourism. By this research, we can come to the idea that the State should facilitate the community empowerment through preservation and development of the cultural heritage – its organic environment, because without protection of the cultural environment and misusing the opportunities offered by it we cannot achieve the proper – i.e., feasible, sustainable – social and economic development of a country.

The article presents one of the institutions of international cooperation of the member states of the European Union – Conference of Parliamentary Committees for Union Affairs of Parliaments of the European Union (COSAC). COSAC is an important element of the so-called parliamentary diplomacy. The article presents the reasons for the creation of the Conference and the principles of its functioning, as well as impact on the implementation of the control function of national parliaments in regard to their own executive bodies.

Language Problems of the European Union. Between the Idealism of Assumptions, Utilitarian Solutions, and the Need for Communicative Law. Part 1

The presented text is the first part of a broader study dedicated to linguistic issues in the constitutional aspect with reference to the territory of the Republic of Poland and the European Union. Linguistic issues, issues of the official language disappear from the perspective of constitutionalists and researchers dealing with European Union law. However, this is an important problem, given that the interpretation of legal norms is primarily a linguistic interpretation. The text deals with the issue of the official language in Poland, considering it in the constitutional aspect and in specific laws, especially in the law on the Polish language. The concepts of the state language, preferred in the interwar period, were considered. It has been pointed out that language is an element of identity. It causes problems in the area of the European Union. an attempt to solve them was the European Charter of Regional or Minority Languages. The article discusses the regulations on official languages, addressing the issue of the status of official and working languages. Due to the nature of the considerations taken in the text, their meaning, the complexity of the problem, the content of the article is divided into two parts.

Attempts of the European Union for accession to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms have been made for years, which proves the task is very difficult in the context of the institutional and legal issues. In view of the complexity of the issue and limitations as to the scope of this paper the focus is on selected legal acts sui generis, as passed by the EU institutions and by the Council of Europe. The analysis covered the stance of the Court of Justice of the European Union and it was based on the legal opinions formulated on the basis of the primary law. The question whether the said accession is still possible remains unanswered.

The article is devoted to the problem of further steps that Great Britain could take to break the stalemate in which it found itself after June 2016 when the British decided to leave the European Union. Despite making this decision, it turned out that its implementation was unexpectedly difficult, which in turn caused a political crisis in Great Britain that has not been seen in this country for a long time. The aim of the article is to try to find answers to two research questions. First of all, could the Brexit process – both from a legal and political point of view – have been stopped and reversed, for example, by holding a second referendum? Secondly, whether, since Brexit has become a fact, we can expect a quick return of Great Britain to the European Union (“Breturn”). Using the method of institutional and legal analysis and the content analysis method, the Author tries to prove the thesis that the idea of a second referendum seemed unlikely, and hence – Brexit was rather inevitable. As for “Breturn” – this scenario also looks unrealistic, as it would involve various legal and political obstacles as well as practical inconveniences for Great Britain.

During the last decades, alongside the growing role of cities, the process of urbanization has been receiving more and more attention from the European policy-makers. This study analyzes the evolution of the EU urban agenda establishment since 1970s till the present times. In the first part, the paper presents five stages, most important milestones and core programs regarding the urbanization process in Europe. In the second section, the author pays a special attention to the Urban Agenda for the EU (the Pact of Amsterdam) as one of the key documents promoting the sound cooperation among the European urban policy stakeholders. In the final part, the paper provides the evaluation of the EU urban agenda’s genesis by indicating the main features of this process.

The purpose of the article is to present a proposal to amend the Basic Law and to indicate its close connection with the nature of the political (system) decision. The amendment to the Basic Law may be extended or limited. Possible legal constructions were carried out in the article. This would determine the conditions of Poland’s participation in the euro area, which are acceptable from the Polish constitution’s point of view.

Independence referenda in Catalonia and the reaction of the European Union

The article deals with the issues of independence referenda in Catalonia and the reaction of the European Union to them. These referenda were held in 2014 and 2017, with no approval from the Spanish government. At the beginning of the 21 st century, regionalist and nationalist movements have developed in the Member States of the European Union. An important determinant of these centrifugal forces was the economic crisis in Europe, which activated separatist tendencies in the economically developed regions of the EU. An ex- ample of such secessionism is Catalonia, where there was a revival of regional nationalism manifested by the wave of separatist movements. Disputes over the independence of Catalonia have been an important topic of consideration in the European Union in the context of its integrity. This text concentrates on the causes, course, and consequences of the independence referenda in Catalonia as well as on the EU’s reactions to the Catalonian crisis.

Language problems of the European Union. Between the idealism of assumptions, utilitarian solutions, and the need for communicative law. Part II

This article is the second part of the considerations regarding language issues in the constitutional aspect with reference to the territory of the Republic of Poland and the European Union. The issues of linguistic interpretation in the practice of the European Court of Justice, as well as issues relating to language interpretation in the proceedings before the Court of Justice of the EU, draw attention to the content of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the consequences thereof. The problem of the status of semi-official (additional) languages has been pointed out. The author analyses normative acts referring to this issue and the language problems that occure in the proceedings before the Court of Justice of the European Union. The summary points out the financial aspect resulting from the fact that Europe does not have a language which the entire population of the Union would identify with, stressing the difficulties that will arise after the expected departure from the European Union by the United Kingdom.

Artykuł stanowi próbę porównania obecności problematyki rządów prawa w dorocznych exposé ministrów spraw zagranicznych RP z perspektywy 1990 i 2019 r. Impulsem do wzmiankowanej analizy wystąpień Krzysztofa Skubiszewskiego i Jacka Czaputowicza były: 30. rocznica powołania rządu Tadeusza Mazowieckiego i – co się z tym wiąże – zapowiedź ustanowienia standardów prawnych charakterystycznych dla zachodnich demokracji liberalnych oraz, siłą rzeczy, bieżący spór wokół praworządności w Polsce. Okoliczności te sprawiły, że zagadnienie rządów prawa zajęło istotne miejsce w przemówieniach obu szefów dyplomacji. W artykule dokonano analizy wystąpień obu ministrów spraw zagranicznych. Kwestia praworządności pojawia się w nich w następujących kontekstach: krajowym (transformacja wymiaru sprawiedliwości i towarzyszący jej dyskurs) oraz międzynarodowym, obejmującym relacje Polski z innymi państwami (ze szczególnym uwzględnieniem państw sąsiedzkich) i organizacjami międzynarodowymi (Rada Europy – przez pryzmat przede wszystkim Europejskiego Trybunału Praw Człowieka, Unia Europejska, ONZ). O ile minister Skubiszewski w pewnym sensie wyznaczył w swym exposé „punkt wyjścia” polskiej polityki zagranicznej (w tym zobowiązanie do implementacji międzynarodowych standardów ochrony praw człowieka), tak Jacek Czaputowicz „punkt dojścia”, bowiem najistotniejsze cele wolnej Polski w sferze stosunków zewnętrznych zostały na przestrzeni 30 lat zrealizowane. Zmiana polityczna, jaką przyniosły wybory parlamentarne w 2015 r., sprawiła, że problem rządów prawa w Polsce stał się – także w polityce zagranicznej – na powrót aktualny.

The operation of the Constitutional Court in Albania as a determinant of the EU accession process

The place of the Constitutional Court in Albania’s political system, the significance attributed to this institution and most of all the possibilities of fulfilment of its constitutional role are the subject of the analysis taken up in this paper. It addresses in particular the impact of the manner of operation of the Constitutional Court in the context of Albania’s European aspirations. Moreover, the study emphasises a thesis that Albania’s efforts to obtain membership of the European Union have been an essential element strengthening the process of Albania’s political, social and economic transformation.

Zasadniczym celem artykułu jest kwestia zorganizowania skutecznego systemu obronnego Unii Europejskiej w kontekście zmiany geopolitycznej dokonującej się w świecie. Tym samym istotna staje się odpowiedź na pytanie, czy Unia Europejska chcąc utrzymać istotną rolę w globalnym układzie politycznym może tego dokonać nie dysponując sprawnym instrumentem militarnym? Wydaje się, że Unia Europejska pozbawiona efektywnej siły militarnej może zachować ważną pozycję w systemie globalnym, lecz zostanie zredukowana do roli mocarstwa drugiego rzędu, jako podmiot nie pełnowymiarowy. Zasadniczymi metodami badawczymi są różne metody pomiaru potęgi jednostek politycznych.