Using a surname as a trademark or part of a trademark has been the subject of numerous case-laws and has been widely discussed in the literature. However, it seems that after the Messi case (cases C-449/18 P and C-474/18 P), the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) seems to have departed from their previous approach where it was held that surnames in trademarks should be treated as normal signs. In the Messi case, the CJEU, however, ruled that the reputation of Messi – an internationally famous football player – is so well known that an average consumer, seeing the ‘MESSI’ mark placed on clothing, gymnastic or sporting articles and protective equipment, will establish a link between the mark and the sports personality, despite the similarity between the ‘MESSI’ mark to the ‘MASSI’ brand name, a previously registered trademark. However, this ruling gives rise to the following questions, which this article seeks to address:
- How can one prove that someone’s surname is globally recognised?
- Why did the CJEU decide that Messi is better known than, for instance, Picasso who was the subject of the previous case? Who else can be as famous as Messi if Picasso was held not to be?
- Has Messi changed the CJEU’s approach and opened the floodgates to expand trademark protection for an unlimited number of trademarks?

This article attempts to answer these questions.

The aim of the study is a comprehensive analysis of the legislation on the fight against illegal employment both at the supranational level of the European Union and at the EU Member States level, inter alia, in Poland, France, and Germany. The leading method in the study was the comparative-legal method. It helped to compare the peculiarities of the practice of European countries in the field of combating illegal employment in the EU Member States, as well as to identify how this issue is regulated. The results demonstrate that illegal employment destroys legal jobs, leads to the increase in unemployment and deprives the state of revenues such as tax and social contributions, etc. That is why international declarations and conventions should guarantee the right to work in the European Union for the citizens of non-European states.

The research objective of the publication is expressed in its content devoted to the
general analysis of the solutions adopted in the draft regulation of the European
Union on the digital asset market. The entry of this legal act into force will fill the
so-called ‘regulatory gap’ as the digital asset sector is not regulated in the EU. The
research approach has been determined by the subject of the legal analysis, namely
the provisions of the proposed new EU regulation on the digital asset market. The
study describes the proposed legal regulation and its systemic importance, as well
as indicates the similarity of the proposed solutions to well-known legal institutions
in the area of the capital market. The main theses are as follows: the proposed legal
act will order the digital asset market in terms of law (firstly); the proposed legal act
in terms of content is based on solutions provided for in the capital market law
(secondly); the proposed legal act provides for legal institutions ensuring the
so-called safety of trading (thirdly). The results should be considered original
because the publication constitutes a pioneering study on the proposed legal act.
With its entry into force (the date is unknown), a discussion on specific topics will
begin in the science of law. Therefore, it is worth speaking up and evaluating the
proposed regulation before the new law is passed. The cognitive value of the publication results from its pioneering nature, and the impact on social relations is
significant. The digital asset market is developing extremely dynamically, and the
interest in this sector is very high.

The research objective of the publication is expressed in its content devoted to the general analysis of the solutions adopted in the draft regulation of the European Union on the digital asset market. The entry of this legal act into force will fill the so-called ‘regulatory gap’ as the digital asset sector is not regulated in the EU. The research approach has been determined by the subject of the legal analysis, namely the provisions of the proposed new EU regulation on the digital asset market. The study describes the proposed legal regulation and its systemic importance, as well as indicates the similarity of the proposed solutions to well-known legal institutions in the area of the capital market. The main theses are as follows: the proposed legal act will order the digital asset market in terms of law (firstly); the proposed legal act in terms of content is based on solutions provided for in the capital market law (secondly); the proposed legal act provides for legal institutions ensuring the so-called safety of trading (thirdly). The results should be considered original because the publication constitutes a pioneering study on the proposed legal act. With its entry into force (the date is unknown), a discussion on specific topics will begin in the science of law. Therefore, it is worth speaking up and evaluating the proposed regulation before the new law is passed. The cognitive value of the publication results from its pioneering nature, and the impact on social relations is significant. The digital asset market is developing extremely dynamically, and the interest in this sector is very high.

The paper entitled “Counteracting Tax Avoidance and Tax Evasion in Selected EU Directives on Direct Taxes” discusses the provisions of Directive 2003/49/EC, Directive 2009/133/EC and Directive 2011/96/EC that are capable of withdrawing the benefits provided under the directives in the case of tax fraud and abuse, tax evasion or tax avoidance. The paper reviews provisions of the directives and also the case law of the European Court of Justice concerning tax fraud and abuse. The jurisprudence of the ECJ plays a key role in setting standards for regulations on the prevention of tax evasion and avoidance adopted by Member States of the European Union. The paper’s centre piece argument is that the solution adopted by the EU legislator, which shifted the burden of preventing tax escape from the EU to Member States, is ineffective and falls short of fulfilling its proper role. The paper emphasises that many tax payers take advantage of the fundamental treaty freedoms and applicable directives to obtain tax benefits or double non-taxation. Limitations imposed by a strict jurisprudential approach of the European Court of Justice also pose a significant barrier to effective tackling the negative phenomenon of aggressive tax planning based on EU laws, the paper suggests. By assessing the effects of the application of the existing regulations and juxtaposing them with the current scale of the problem, the author presents an argument for changing the direction of measures taken to curb international tax avoidance and evasion.

The aim of this paper is to address the issue of implementation of international legal instruments regarding cybercrime into the Polish criminal law. Effective protection against cybercrime requires, among other things, the establishment of an appropriate legal framework. Criminal prohibitions of a deterrent effect, which are a part of this framework, seem of particular importance. In Europe such a set of rules is provided for in the instruments of the Council of Europe as well as in the European Union instruments. As a member of both these international organisations, Poland is obliged to implement their standards. The author’s aim is to analyse whether and, if so, to what extent the current Polish criminal legislation is in line with European requirements. The process of implementation of these norms has expanded in the span of over 10 years and was initiated even before Poland accessed the European Union. Polish criminal law, however, is not yet fully compliant with international requirements on cybercrime. This paper is an attempt to identify some areas of the criminal law which are still to be amended as well as to submit some solutions de lege ferenda.

These standards were introduced at four international organizations and supranational associations: 1) the European Union; 2) the Council of Europe; 3) the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; 4) the Commonwealth of Independent States. The article states that the key reason for the introduction of standards for the regulation of lobbying at the international level was considerable corruption in the adoption of legal acts. It is concluded that latent and unregulated lobbying can seriously undermine public confidence in the institution of government, especially in the countries of the so-called “new democracy”. International regulation of lobbying takes the form of resolutions, procedural rules, guidelines, recommendations and model legislation. Notably, the first steps towards international regulation of lobbying were taken by the institutions of the European Union. Today EU standards for the regulation of lobbying is based on a series of articles set out in the EU-founding treaties and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. EU standards for the regulation of lobbying influence not only the EU Member States, but it also extends to EU Partner Countries. Significant steps in the implementation of international standards for the regulation of lobbying are being constantly carried out by the Council of Europe. The establishment of CE standards for the regulation of lobbying is reflected in the activity of statutory bodies of the Council of Europe and its semi-autonomous bodies. In recent years a lot of work on the strengthening of international standards for lobbying regulation has been done by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. To help address the concerns with transparency and integrity in lobbying, the OECD Member Countries adopted in 2010 a Recommendation on Principles for Transparency and Integrity in Lobbying as guidance to decision-makers on how to promote good governance in lobbying. Another international organization, which began to regulate actively the practice of lobbying is the Commonwealth of Independent States. In order to intensify the work concerning legislative regulation of lobbying in the member countries of the CIS, at the XXII Plenary Session of the Interparliamentary Assembly of the CIS member states the Resolution No. 22-16 of November 15, 2003 was adopted, which approved a model law “On regulation of lobbying activity in state authorities”.

The working paper aims to diagnose Brexit’s impact on the taxation of Polish-British commercial exchange. This research problem determined in such a way is considered from the point of view of the possible legislative consequences as well as the application of provisions regulating the structural elements of border taxes. The author formulated the thesis that the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union will be an event that will significantly affect the changes in tax and customs qualification of the exchange of goods between Poland and that country.

Rule of law is one of the most fundamental values of the European Union and the issues related thereto have become one of the top priorities not only in the EU agenda but also in the EU policies of most of the Member States, including Sweden. This is due to the increasing integration, the growing dependence of the functioning of the entire European Union on the way how the system of justice works in different Member States, and the concern over the condition of the rule of law in these Member States. In recent years, the European Union has been making use of some older instruments, whose aim is to control and improve the observance of the rule of law (including Art. 7 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union), and has adopted some new solutions too – the European rule of law mechanism and the regulation regarding rule of law conditionality, related to the new EU budget. The need to work out effective procedures to determine the condition of the rule of law and to uphold the main standards of the system of justice in all EU Member States is becoming more and more urgent and remains one of the greatest challenges faced by the European Union to be dealt with by the Swedish government.

The study discusses the principles of awarding benefits under the Company Social Benefits Fund (original Polish name: Zakładowy Fundusz Świadczeń Społecznych) from the point of view of legitimacy of the processing of personal data. The con-ducted analysis covers the present legal framework in force in Poland, taking the European Union law – GDPR – into consideration. Given the local specificity of the institution in question, the article does not include references to regulations adopted in other countries. The article proposes two theses. One is that the award-ing of benefits under the CSBF with the participation of representatives of the stakeholder community, especially in the area of hardship benefits, should be based on anonymised applications. Documents proving the circumstances acting as the grounds to apply for a benefit to be true should be verified by an employer’s authorised representative in charge of employee welfare initiatives. The other thesis is that copies of documents proving the legitimacy of application for a social benefit, especially in the area of hardship benefits, should be kept by the data controller – meaning the employer – for a period during which Polish tax authori-ties and Social
Insurance Institution (ZUS) may verify the legitimacy of application of the impost law. In this case, this refers to the practice of non-payment of the tax on the awarded benefits and the social insurance contributions. The conclusions the said theses lead to are significant to the practical application of law, and because they are controversial, they may pave the way for a further academic discourse.

The research objective of this paper is to determine the impact that the repressive nature of the European Commission’s amendments to Directive 2008/115 will likely have on the two basic values of the return policy, that is, its fairness and effectiveness. The basic thesis of this study is that the direction of the directive’s recast, assuming – inter alia – an extension of the list of circumstances for applying the entry ban and detention, is contrary to the declared fairness of the migration policy towards third-country nationals. At the same time, the effectiveness of the planned changes is already questionable at the stage of draft legislation. These considerations are based on a juxtaposition of the proposed changes with currently binding legislation, the Commission’s soft law and the case law of the CJEU. The final effect of these analyses is the finding that the solutions proposed by the Commission will lead to an inevitable increase in the use of coercive measures against irregular immigrants in a way that stands in fundamental contradiction to the declared fairness and proportionality of EU actions. In this context, the effectiveness of the return policy should not be identified with a percentage of returns, but rather with the recognised necessity of overall and perfect control over irregular migrants. At the same time, the Recast Return Directive will contribute to the development of an already existing tendency to treat migration law as an instrument of security and public order, and to use administrative law measures so that they function in a manner equivalent to that of a criminal sanction.

Climate change is one of the key civilisational issues. This change is caused by greenhouse gas emission. Stopping this change requires multidirectional actions on a global scale, primarily limiting the combustion of fossil fuels. What reaches towards these needs is the proposals of the international community, which are determined in the protocol of 15 December 2015 (called the Paris Agreement). The legal framework for the strategy of implementing it in the European Union and the member states is formulated by the legislative package “Clean Energy For All Europeans”. The directions and terms of developing the economy pose particular challenges for Poland which plans to maintain
the significant role of coal in the energy industry for decades. Government documents show that the government of the Republic of Poland will not decide on the spectacular decarbonisation of the economy. It cannot be obligated to do it, either, due to the treaty conditions. However, the future of the coal energy industry seems prejudged. This results from the development directions of European economic-legal instruments which serve the direct (determining binding emission standards and environmental quality standards) and indirect (through influencing the prices of greenhouse gas emission allowances) rationing of the activity of entities from the energy sector in the environment.

Tax policy, perceived as a long-term and rational activity which aims to achieve specified legal, economic and social goals has always been connected with the problem of political power within the frames of a given tax system. Regarding the nature of membership in the European Union, issues of tax policy should be analyzed in the context of a ulticentric tax system, since both creators and addressees of political actions remain in a diverse regime of domestic, European and international tax law. The author discusses the legal basis of this phenomenon, which attributes to the complementary nature of the tax policy, reflecting on the conditions and limitations
in the light of challenges to be faced by contemporary tax systems.

This article aims to show the similarity between the arguments developed regarding the Treaty freedoms and the approach to the legal principles proposed by R. Alexy. Treaty freedoms from the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union, developed in the course of the Court’s many years of judicial activity, have a number of similarities to the concept of the principles of law proposed by prof. Robert Alex. This is evidenced by – the position of the principles of law in the legal system, the possibility of grading them, or a separate method of resolving the conflict of two opposing principles of law. The article analyses selected treaty freedoms in relation to tax matters and compares them with theoretical schemas proposed by prof. Robert Alexy.

The article discusses the phenomenon of "tax carousels" in the tax on goods and services, which is a specific abusive practice and is used for VAT refund scam purposes. A discussion on the jurisprudential doctrine of the abuse of law and good faith as offered by the Court of Justice of the European Union is followed by an analysis of the judicial decisions (case-law) issued in this area, which proves that taxable persons involved in value-added tax fraud practice have no right to a tax deduction. Meanwhile, those taxable persons who have fallen victim to tax fraud practices may quote the good faith doctrine and exercise the right to a tax deduction. The judicial decisions of the Court of Justice of the European Union have had a significant impact on the judicial decisions issued by administrative courts in Poland. The Supreme Administrative Court (SAC) tries to define the notion of a "tax carousel" in its decisions, as the notion is quite broad.

The article concerns philosophical justification and philosophical background of copyright protection relating to international treaties and the law of European Union. This paper is divided into three parts. The first one presents the regulation of copyright law on the international level. Moreover, the European Union’s sources of copyright law are demonstrated. The second part concerns philosophical justification of the copyright protection. Various philosophical stands and concepts that can be helpful with better understanding of this branch of law are presented and explained. The conclusions on philosophical justification of copyright protection in regard to the international treaties and the EU law are shown in the final chapter.