Financial services have a very significant impact on and meaning to the daily life and welfare of consumers. The spectrum of these types of services is very broad, and their regulation is also changing both at EU and national (Member State) level. In order to implement the main or the most relevant EU level goals, such as high level consumer rights protection, consumer trust in business sector, proper and effective functioning of the EU internal market it is essential to ensure (...) clear and sufficient legal regulation, establish responsibility of the services providers, consumer rights and duties as well as promote, seek for the more effective, faster and cheaper ways of solving consumer and business sector disputes. The authors of this article support the idea that the abovementioned goals can be achieved by close and more fruitful cooperation between the EU and national competent authorities, participation in various ad hoc expert working groups, committees or EUwide networks, such as FIN-NET. This article reflects general ideas about the problems arising in the financial consumer services sector, the activity of the EU and national institutions, seeking to ensure fair and transparent provision of such services to consumers, analysis of alternative dispute resolution (hereinafter – the ADR) methods and the good practice of their application in the EU Member States. This article highly supports the application of alternative, nonjudicial procedures and broader application of the means of selfregulation, such as codes of conduct. (shrink)

Energy services have a particularly significant impact on the daily life and welfare of consumers. The importance of such services is high, and their regulation is also changing both at the EU and Member States level, especially after the adoption of the Third Energy Package1, which is focused on improving the operation of retail markets to yield real benefits for both electricity and gas consumers. In order to implement the main or the most relevant goal of the EU, such as (...) high level of consumer rights protection, resulting in consumer trust in business sector, proper and effective functioning of the EU internal market etc., it is essential to ensure clear and sufficient legal regulation, establish responsibility of the services providers, consumer rights and duties as well as promote more effective, faster and cheaper ways of solving consumer and business disputes. The authors of this article feel the lack of scientific analysis on this issue. Despite its importance, discussions take place at political or practical level, but no recent analyses exist as to why energy services sector is so fragmented and how it affects different conditions or rights of consumers in various Member States. This article also clearly supports the idea that the above-mentioned goals can be achieved by close and more fruitful cooperation between the EU and national competent authorities, participation in various ad hoc expert working groups and committees, such as the Vulnerable Consumers Working Group. This article reflects general ideas about the problems arising in the energy consumer services sector, the activity of the EU and national institutions, seeking to ensure fair and transparent provision of such services to consumers, it also contains an analysis of alternative dispute resolution (hereinafter – the ADR) methods and good practice of their application in the EU Member States. This article highly supports the application of alternative procedures in the field of energy services and sees them as a possibility to minimise increasing consumer problems, e.g. a new phenomenon – consumer energy poverty in the EU, which is defined as the situation where a household is unable to access a socially and materially necessitated level of energy services at home and pay for the provided services. (shrink)

Out-of-court proceedings or alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is a peaceful, voluntary alternative method for settling disputes without litigation in the court. ADR institutions usually use a third party to help the consumer and the trader reach a solution. The main purpose of this article is to share the main insights and experience about the out-of-court proceedings in various countries and present main trends of ADR development. First of all, in this article, ADR is presented and its main advantages or disadvantages, (...) main reasons of its origin are outlined. For example, ADR institutions are indeed a low-cost and quick alternative for consumers to settle disputes with businesses. These are the main reasons why ADR originated and developed so fast in the United States of America. Secondly, it is important to analyse various definitions used to describe ADR and its characteristics, because it is a very complicated and complex phenomenon. ADR and the principle of legal accessibility are also very closely related issues which are deeply analysed in this article. (shrink)

Out-of-court proceedings or alternative dispute resolution (ADR) is a peaceful, voluntary alternative method for settling disputes without litigation in the court. ADR institutions usually use a third party to help the consumer and the trader to reach a solution. The main purpose of this article is to share the main insights and experience about the out-of-court proceedings in various countries and European Union Member States, to discuss the most important problems concerning ADR and propose possible solutions of these problems. First (...) of all, in this article, ADR is presented and its main advantages are outlined. For example, ADR institutions are indeed a low-cost and quick alternative for consumers for settling disputes with businesses. ADR mechanisms are highly diverse. There are public and private institutions as well as institutions established on the basis of cooperation between the public sector and the industry or consumer organizations and the industry. Although there is a high correlation between the nature of the institution and the funding, i.e. private institutions are usually financed by the industry and public institutions by public funds, ADR bodies established by public law can also be financed by the industry (especially in highly regulated markets). In the majority of the institutions, the participation of the industry in the ADR procedure is voluntary. (shrink)

Consumer disputes and their nature are changing very fast every day. E-commerce is promoted by the all relevant stakeholders such as European Commission, consumers associations, competent institutions, and business sector in order to achieve the main present goal—consumer confidence in business and full functioning of the internal EU market. Here the third parties are important—trade partners from all over the word. There is no legal relation or actions between disputes and searching for the most convenient, fast, cheap and comfortable. Because (...) of that, this article sets out general views on online transactions and consumer protection in the context of e-commerce and possible online dispute resolution means. The authors of this article are chiefly concerned about legal uncertainty and the jurisdiction as well as applicable law in business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce. Online dispute resolution or in other words it is called the ODR is seen as a possibility to solve these barriers in dispute resolution using technology to facilitate the resolution of disputes between parties primarily involving negotiation, mediation or arbitration, or a combination of all three. In this respect it is often seen as being the online equivalent of alternative dispute resolution. However, ODR can also augment these traditional means of resolving disputes by applying innovative techniques and online technologies to the process. (shrink)

Nitric oxide (NO) is involved in synaptic long-term potentiation (LTP) by multiple signaling pathways. Here, we show that LTP of synaptic transmission can be explained as a feature of signal transduction—bistable behavior in a chain of biochemical reactions with positive feedback, formed by diffusion of NO to the presynaptic site and facilitating the release of glutamate (Glu). The dynamics of Glu, calcium (Ca2+) and NO is described by a system of nonlinear reaction–diffusion equations with modified Michaelis–Menten (MM) kinetics. Numerical investigation (...) reveals that the chain of biochemical reactions analyzed can exhibit a bistable behavior under physiological conditions when production of Glu is described by MM kinetics and decay of NO is modeled by means of two enzymatic pathways with different kinetic properties. Our finding extends understanding of the role of NO in LTP: a short high-intensity stimulus is “memorized” as a long-lasting elevation of NO concentration. The conclusions obtained by analysis of the chain of biochemical reactions describing LTP can be generalized to other chains of interactions or for creating the logical elements for biological computers. (shrink)

Feliks Młynarski ciągle jeszcze nie należy do kanonu lektur z polskiej myśli filozoficznej, chociaż coś takiego zasugerował już Władysław Tatarkiewicz w swojej Historii filozofii. Łączył go tam, jeśli chodzi o orientację, z Florianem Znanieckim, tj. przede wszystkim z jego wczesną, filozoficzną właśnie, twórczością. Obaj autorzy, Znaniecki i Młynarski, budowali swój filozoficzny światopogląd na przekonaniu o wielkiej roli swoistości świata społecznego, często ignorowanego przez profesjonalnych, akademickich filozofów. Zwięzła charakterystyka Tatarkiewicza jest jak gdyby wyciągiem z autoprezentacji samego Młynarskiego, napisanej w r. 1949, (...) w której nasz autor podkreślał takie momenty, jak konieczność odróżniania rzeczywistości społecznej od przyrodniczej, w szczególności w kwestii innej realności tworów społecznych opartych na powtarzalności „aktów obcowania”, a także w fundamentalnej kwestii „uznania cudzej świadomości”. Poza tym zwracał uwagę na rolę mowy w tworzeniu tradycji, a także na radykalny pomysł, aby z metafizyki odrzucić wszystkie pojęcia pochodzące z praktyki społecznej i dostrzec jej istotę wyrażalną w języku matematycznym. […]. (shrink)

The aim of this thesis is to describe contemporary cultural problems in Europe using the category of historiosophy developed by Feliks Koneczny. The author discusses the division of civilisations in Europe as described by Koneczny and his ‘historical laws’ which concern mutual relations between these civilisations. Nowadays, Europe is an area where five civilisations mix. One of them has appeared in Europe due to the mass migration of the Muslim population. According to Koneczny, there can be no synthesis between civilisations (...) and only a mixture of civilisations can emerge which will lead to an anti-civilisational status or a war. The current situation in Europe requires serious correction. The paper refers to a multi-civilisational phenomenon that was the Polish‑Lithuanian Commonwealth. Its two main pillars were a strong identity of the state and respect for civilisational minorities. The model of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth seems to be the best solution for the present problems of the European Union. (shrink)

The article attempts to analyze Feliks Koneczny’s beliefs about paedocracy in the context of presently observed forms of youth political activity. For this purpose, the paper offers a discussion of selected texts on paedocracy published by Koneczny in the Słowo daily between September 16 and October 22, 1912. At that time, Koneczny wrote: “O pajdokracji” [On Paedocracy], “Partenogeneza pajdokracji” [Partenogenesis of Paedocracy], “Pajdokracja z prowokacji” [Provoked Paedocracy], “Młodzież jako środek reklamy” [Youth as a Means of Advertising], “Młodzież jako rzekoma rękojmia (...) przyszłości” [Youth as the Supposed Guarantor of the Future], “Pajdokracja i apatia” [Paedocracy and Apathy], “Stronnictwa a pajdokracja” [Parties and Paedocracy], “Brak pajdokracji w Wielkopolsce” [No Paedocracy in Greater Poland], “Patryjotyzm bez zajęcia” [Jobless Patriotism] and “Szacunku dla młodzieży” [Respect Youth]. Based on the analysis of source texts, the definition of paedocracy is presented on to of its causes and effects. This information is juxtaposed with other takes on paedocracy and its contemporary faces. Koneczny’s assessment of paedocracy was unequivocally negative. He believed it was socially harmful and resulted from a number of misconceptions. “Youth rule”, in the scholar’s view, is inspired solely by mature politicians who manipulate the young to achieve their own agendas. Such behavior stems from the lack of respect for youth that Koneczny clearly sought. The researcher saw many advantages of young Poles, but at the same time he was aware that some features of youth are not desirable in politics. He concluded that the only way to combat paedocracy might be to remove the young from politics altogether. At the same time, he realized that such a radical solution was not possible. In his argument, Koneczny not only described the flaws of paedocracy, but also showed how it can be combatted. (shrink)