Blockchain Papers

Evelien Timbermont

No abstract is available for this record.

Viktor Koliba

1 Decentralized Finance from the Perspective of Czech Financial Regulation and MiCA Proposal Abstract Decentralized Finance constitutes a new system for allocating resources by using irreplicable digital data that can be processed within a predefined framework of automatic operations based on blockchain technology. Its development has brought not only new economic opportunities but also a number of risks and legal issues. Since Decentralized Finance is in its early stages, relevant legal questions relating to its positioning within the existing and forthcoming legal frameworks are still not firmly established yet. This thesis aims to answer those relating to the applicability of selected Czech financial regulations and the European Commission's Proposal for a Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council on Markets in Crypto-assets, as well as validate the hypothesis that the wide scope of the MiCA Proposal could influence the ecosystem of Decentralized Finance. First, the important technical foundations of Decentralized Finance and their specifics were outlined, and relevant financial applications were established for further assessment. Subsequently, the applications were compared with the scope of the chosen Czech financial regulation, namely the Act on Payment System, the Act on Currency...

Ethereum Trader

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Marie Černá, Jana Hinke

No abstract is available for this record.

Jasper L. Cummings

The author argues that commentary on the Second Circuit's 1989 Lessinger decision involving section 357(c) has not clearly identified the tax logic issues that are at stake in the case. He agrees that the controlling shareholder's obligation is not section 351 "property" and should not be accorded basis in the shareholder's hands. Instead, the obligation should be treated as a purchase money obligation that affords basis in the shareholder's stock unless it is properly viewed as contingent. In any event, proper structuring of section 351 exchanges of property subject to debt in excess of the property's basis for stock in order to reflect an actual retention of liability on that debt by the shareholder should prevent shareholder gain recognition under section 357(c).

Jan Papajanovský

Records of book-entry securities Abstract The topic of this thesis is the registration of book-entry securities, especially with re- gard to new technologies for keeping such records, such as distributed ledger technology (DLT). The first chapter briefly describes how this technology works and how it has helped to overcome the long intractable problem of decentralised databases, the so-called double- spending issue. The following chapter then deals with the characteristics of the products (fi- nancial and otherwise) embedded in DLT technology, collectively usually referred to as cryp- to-assets. These are generally divided into cryptocurrencies, property or investment tokens, which may correspond in their characteristics to certain types of securities, and utility tokens. In the third part of the thesis, the existing legal regulation of book-entry securities in Czech and European law is analysed in detail, and the regulations of private and public law are discussed with regard to possible interpretative ambiguities and potential disputes. The key point is the assessment of the legal consequences of issuing a book-entry security in vio- lation of the public law requirements for registration with a central depository and the ques- tion of the autonomy of the concept of a security in European financial market...

Samuel D. Brunson

No abstract is available for this record.

Marc Veenbrink

Judgment of 28 January 2021, Qualcomm v Commission, C-466/19P, EU:C:2021:76, and Judgment of 2 February 2021, DB v Commissione Nazionale per le Società e la Borsa (Consob), C-481/19, E EU:C:2021:84 The Court of Justice of the European Union conformed and clarified in Qualcomm, the well-established scope and application of the freedom from self-incrimination; in DB v Consob, it ruled that this principle is applied in conformity with case law of the European Court of Human Rights and made a distinction between undertakings and natural persons. On 28 January 2021 and 2 February 2021, the Court of Justice (CoJ) of the European Union (EU) ruled in two cases on the freedom from self-incrimination. The first case, Qualcomm, was an appeal case brought before the CoJ by the undertaking at stake, whereas the second case, DB v Consob, concerns a preliminary reference procedure. The Qualcomm case also touches upon other aspects, such as the right of the Commission to request additional information after the statement of objections has been issued (see in particular paras 66–70). The focus of this contribution will be on the implications of the two cases on the freedom from self-incrimination in EU competition law proceedings. In 2010, the Commission started an investigation into an alleged predatory pricing practice of Qualcomm. The Commission issued an infringement decision in this case in 2019 (Qualcomm (Case AT.39711) Commission Decision of 18 July 2019). The case at hand relates to a decision taken on 31 March 2017 ordering Qualcomm to provide certain information, after Qualcomm refused to comply with a request for information on the basis of Article 18(2) Regulation 1/2003. Qualcomm challenged the decision of the Commission before the Union Courts. In DB v Consob, the CoJ had to rule on the scope of the freedom from self-incrimination in proceedings relating to insider dealing and market manipulation. The Italian Companies and Stock Exchange Commission, Consob, started an investigation against a natural person for insider trading and fined the person concerned €50.000 for delaying to come to a hearing and for failure to provide certain information when he was present at the hearing. Since the investigation is based on national law implementing a Directive, the national court decided to refer questions to the CoJ on the scope of the freedom from self-incrimination. Both the General Court and the CoJ dismissed the arguments of Qualcomm relating to the freedom from self-incrimination by referring to the ruling in the (perhaps infamous) Orkem case. In Orkem, the CoJ ruled that the Commission may ‘compel an undertaking to provide all necessary information concerning such facts as may be known to it and to disclose to it, if necessary, such documents relating thereto as are in its possession, even if the latter may be used to establish, against it or another undertaking, the existence of anti-competitive conduct’ (Case 374/87 Orkem v Commission, EU:C:1989:387, para 34). By contrast, the Commission cannot order an undertaking to provide answers that may involve an admission of guilt (Orkem, para 35). The information that Qualcomm had to provide was merely of a factual nature (para 145; and General Court in: Case T-371/17 Qualcomm v Commission, EU:T:2019:232, paras 187–189). Qualcomm also had to produce documents containing some of the information requested by the Commission. According to the undertaking at stake, this would infringe the freedom from self-incrimination, since the Commission can only compel an undertaking to provide pre-existing documents and thus, a contrario, cannot compel an undertaking to create new documents. Both Union Courts rejected this argument (CoJ, paras 146–147 and GC, paras 192–193). It may be necessary for an undertaking to put factual information into writing and to send that document to the Commission in order to comply with the obligation to cooperate. The freedom from self-incrimination will only be infringed in those circumstances when an undertaking has to produce documents containing an admission of guilt. Qualcomm confirms and clarifies established case law of the Union Courts and is in that regard nothing new under the sun. However, the established application of the freedom from self-incrimination in competition law does become interesting in light of the possible consequences following from the DB v Consob ruling. In DB v Consob, the CoJ had to rule for the first time on the scope of the freedom from self-incrimination for natural persons. The CoJ referred to ample case law of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in order to explain the scope and application of the freedom from self-incrimination. This is a logical approach due to the requirement in Article 52(3) of the Charter to provide at least the same level of protection as the ECHR rights when those rights correspond with Charter rights. Even though the freedom from self-incrimination is not explicitly referred to in Article 6 ECHR, the ECtHR has regarded this freedom to be part of the right to a fair trial (ECtHR, Funke v France, CE:ECHR:1993:0225JUD001082884, para 44). This also means that the freedom from self-incrimination is part of the right of a fair trial under the Charter (para 37). The CoJ ruled that, with reference to case law of the ECtHR, the ‘right to silence cannot reasonably be confined to statements of admission of wrongdoing or to remarks which directly incriminate the person questioned, but rather also covers information on questions of fact which may subsequently be used in support of the prosecution and may thus have a bearing on the conviction or the penalty imposed on that person’ (para 40). This is a notable distinction with the approach taken in competition law proceedings initiated by the Commission. According to the CoJ, this statement does not necessarily conflict with that approach, since (1) the Commission cannot oblige an undertaking to provide an admission of guilt (para 47) and (2) the Orkem ruling is applicable to (associations of) undertakings and not natural persons (para 48). Both reasons are discussed below. It is not uncommon in EU law to make a distinction between natural and legal persons with regard to the scope and application of certain fundamental rights. In the 2003 Volkswagen case, AG Colomer made a distinction between safeguards in criminal law and in competition law by reference to the nature of the accused in both procedures. Applying the same safeguards for individuals in criminal law proceedings to ‘powerful corporations with significant resources’ in competition law proceedings would, amongst others, be a ‘mockery’ to individuals (Opinion of AG Colomer in Case C-338/00 P Volkswagen v Commission, EU:C:2002:591, para 66). Directive 2016/343 also makes a distinction between natural and legal persons when it comes to the scope and application of the freedom from self-incrimination (Directive (EU) 2016/343 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 9 March 2016 on the strengthening of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence and of the right to be present at the trial in criminal proceedings [2016] OJ L65/1). The Union legislator decided to limit this directive to natural persons, since there are ‘different needs and levels of protection of certain aspects of the presumption of innocence as regards natural and legal persons’ (Directive 2016/343, Preamble, Recital 13; the freedom from self-incrimination is regarded to be part of the presumption of innocence, see Preamble, Recital 25). Reference is also made to case law of the CoJ that ‘recognised that the rights flowing from the presumption of innocence do not accrue to legal persons in the same way as they do to natural persons’ (Directive 2016/343, Preamble, Recital 13). In legal literature, however, different views exist as to whether the scope and application of freedom from self-incrimination can differ depending on the nature of the accused (see, for a short overview, Marc Veenbrink, Criminal Law Principles and the Enforcement of EU and National Competition Law: A Silent Takeover? (Wolters Kluwer 2020), 22–23). In DB v Consob, the AG made a distinction between the natural person in the case at hand and legal persons in competition law proceedings (DB v Consob, AG Pikmäe, para 96), whereas the CoJ correctly points to the difference between natural persons on one hand and (associations of) undertakings on the other (DB v Consob, para 48). It is clear that an undertaking can be a natural person as well. The ruling in DB v Consob, therefore, leads to the question whether a natural person, acting as an undertaking, should be treated differently from a natural person acting in a different capacity. Should the Commission then apply ECtHR case law or Orkem when it orders a natural person, being the undertaking, to provide information in a competition law procedure? It is, furthermore, not clear as of yet whether the ECtHR would actually make a distinction between the scope and application of the freedom from self-incrimination in light of the nature of the accused. Although, the ECtHR did rule in Sa-Capital Oy that it is ‘mindful’ that in competition law proceedings, fines are generally imposed upon ‘corporate entities’ and not on natural persons and took this into account as a factor to determine whether the rights of defence were compatible with Article 6 ECHR (see ECtHR, Sa-Capital Oy v Finland, CE:ECHR:2019:0214JUD000555610, para 78). The practical solution of the CoJ in DB v Consob to distinguish between natural persons and undertakings is perhaps a bit short-sighted. Nevertheless, the CoJ also mentioned that Orkem, on its substance, does not necessarily conflict with ECtHR case law, since undertakings cannot be compelled to provide answers that might involve an admission of guilt (DB v Consob, para 47). This seems to be in contrast with the statement of the CoJ that the ‘right to silence cannot reasonably be confined to statements of admission of wrongdoing or to remarks which directly incriminate the person questioned, but rather also covers information on questions of fact which may subsequently be used in support of the prosecution and may thus have a bearing on the conviction or the penalty imposed on that person’ (DB v Consob, para 40). In order to determine whether the freedom from self-incrimination is infringed, and thus, whether there is improper compulsion, the ECtHR will examine four criteria, namely ‘the nature and degree of compulsion used to obtain the evidence, the existence of any relevant safeguards in the procedure, and the use to which any material so obtained was put’ and the public interest (ECtHR, O’Halloran and Francis v United Kingdom, CE:ECHR:2007:0629JUD001580902, para 55; for a discussion of these factors, see Veenbrink, cited above, p. 24–31). The nature of the evidence requested can be a factor that should be taken into account to determine the degree of compulsion that may be used against a person. There are some cases in which the ECtHR allowed authorities to obtain factual information from a person (see e.g. ECtHR, Weh v Austria, CE:ECHR:2004:0408JUD003854497, paras 52–56; and O’Halloran and Francis v United Kingdom, para 62). These are cases concerning traffic violations in which the owner of the car was obliged to inform the authorities who drove the car. The owner of the car could, obviously, also be the driver of that particular car. Answering the question could therefore lead to the driver’s conviction. The ECtHR used, amongst others, the nature of the evidence obtained and the general interest at stake as relevant factors to conclude that the obligation to state this simple fact did not infringe the freedom from self-incrimination. On the basis of these cases, it could be argued that a request for factual information in competition law proceedings does not necessarily infringe the freedom from self-incrimination. On the other hand, the obligation on undertakings to provide factual information goes further than merely stating a simple fact. Therefore, it cannot be ruled out that the ECtHR will find this obligation to be an infringement of the right to silence and thus an infringement of a core aspect of the freedom from self-incrimination. Still, the Strasbourg Court has shown that it takes into account the particularities of competition law proceedings when it determines whether there is an infringement of Article 6 ECHR (Sa-Capital Oy v Finland, cited above, paras 78 and 85). The ECtHR is probably more lenient when it comes to an obligation to provide documents that are already in existence, as long as the Commission does not engage in fishing expeditions and as long as the request is sufficiently specific for the undertaking to determine which documents it needs to hand over (see, respectively, ECtHR, J.B. v Switzerland, CE:ECHR:2001:0503JUD003182796, para 69 and Funke v France, cited above, para 44). It is clear from the Qualcomm case that the Orkem approach is still alive and kicking. This begs the question whether that approach is indeed, as the CoJ held in DB v Consbob, Strasbourg-proof. The answer to that question remains in a similar state as Schrödinger’s cat. Hopefully, the ECtHR will be presented a possibility in the near future to finally open this box.

Confédération Fiscale Européenne Tax Technology Committee

This Opinion Statement, submitted to the EU Commission Platform for Tax Good Governance on 11 January 2021, provides the CFE’s input on the questions of the EU Platform for Good Governance on Extending the EU Mutual Assistance Directive (2011/16) (DAC) Council Directive 2011/16/EU of 15 February 2011 on Administrative Cooperation in the Field of Taxation and Repealing Directive 77/799/EEC, OJ L 64 (2011), Primary Sources IBFD. to include cryptoassets and e-money.

Dirk Andreas Zetzsche, Ross P. Buckley, Douglas W. Arner, Maria Lucia Passador

No abstract is available for this record.

Antonín Paseka

Financial Aspects of Alternative Payment Systems from the Point of View of Money Laundering Abstract The aim of this thesis is to provide a general overview of the current state of alternative payment systems with regard to their inclusion in the financial market, their properties and potentials for wider use, and to evaluate their possibilities to more effectively combat money laundering, terrorist financing and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. In the first chapter, the thesis explains the broader context with regard to financial systems, especially within the money market systems focusing on retail, while providing a deeper explanation of the context of European law and Czech law. The second chapter is focused on closer analysis of alternative payment systems with regard to their use. Alternative payment systems are divided into two basic categories for centralized alternative payment systems and decentralized alternative payment systems. The category of centralized alternative payment systems corresponds to the current conventional financial market, taking into account the innovations that have emerged in recent years. Decentralized alternative payment systems are based on the DLT Blockchain technology and the Islamic Hawala payment system is analyzed as a purely informal, decentralized...

Petr Jüptner, Ilona Masopustová, Petr Jüptner

There isn´t general consensus concerning the tools for evaluating of decentralization and public administration reforms. Comparison of impacts and tools for the evaluation of decentralization process is complicated mainly by a different arrangement of public administration, researching only partial aspects of decentralization or lack of key data. The aim of this paper is to legitimize the innovative approach of evaluation of the decentralization reforms through an analysis of subnational units´ staff. This consideration is based on correlation which suggests that countries with a higher degree of autonomy of subnational units usually have a wider bureaucratic apparatus of self-governments. In this context we answer whether the evaluation of Czech decentralization is relevant through an analysis of self-governmental staff and under which methodological preconditions. We worked with fragmented statistical unique and unpublished primary data about the self-governmental staff obtained from registers of the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Finance and the Czech Statistical Office.

Peter Lösche

The alleged undue influence of interest groups used to be and is one of the most critical problems in campaign and party financing in the United States and the Federal Republic. This chapter focuses on some issues which are debated vigorously in the United States and Germany. The party finance scandals in Germany have been about tax evasion, fraud, and in a very few instances corruption; they were not about illegally high amounts of donations. Corporate as well as union contributions are much more decentralized in the US than in Germany, paralleling the decentralized structure of American interest groups. In Germany public funding has been largely a reaction to increasing campaign costs. The party leadership in Germany should be made more accountable to the membership in financial matters. In both countries there is considerable suspicion that both candidates and parties depend financially on interest groups.

Jan Fišer

European regulation of virtual currencies, its shortcomings and future development Abstract This thesis is focused on the European regulation of virtual currencies, meaning the current Union legal regulation of this phenomenon including further European Union institutions' activities in the area. The aim of the thesis is to introduce the existing approach towards virtual currencies as well as to find some of the shortcomings and to outline the future development of European regulation of virtual currencies. As a part of this thesis, relevant activities associated with distributed ledger technology as a technology related to virtual currencies will be introduced. To achieve the mentioned, the thesis analyzes mainly legislative and non-legislative sources issued by competent institutions of the European Union, equally important are the jurisprudential texts from the area of virtual currencies and related fields. The thesis is divided into five chapters which are further divided into topical subchapters. Each of the chapters includes partial identification of shortcomings and presents the future development in the area. The introductory chapter addresses the introduction of virtual currencies as such and in the context of financial law. Further, technological bases of virtual currencies are described, namely...

Jakub Čech

Title: Tax aspects of disposal of cryptocurrencies This thesis aims to answer the selected questions from the legal and, above all, the tax- law framework. Cryptocurrencies are a fairly young phenomenon, which is still developing. They are mainly used as an alternative to state-recognized currencies or a specific investment instrument. Because of the significant profits that transactions can bring with them, the issue of determining related tax obligations is important. The work is divided into 4 basic parts. The first part deals with the general definition of the cryptocurrencies and other relevant institutes. The second part deals with personal income tax and the third part deals with value added tax. The final fourth part deals with the issue of the future development of cryptocurrencies regulation. In the first part, focus is placed on the general definition of cryptocurrencies within the rule of law, with emphasis on comparison with selected traditional institutes of financial law. Attention is also paid to the specific features of cryptocurrencies that are relevant in terms of tax administration and related tax duties. Considerable attention is also paid to the criminal law consequences that might arise in the event of non-compliance with tax obligations. At the end of this section, the...

문병효

No abstract is available for this record.

Christian Beckmann

No abstract is available for this record.

Венелин Терзиев, Stefcho Bankov, Мarin Georgiev

In its jurisprudence the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has changed its approach towards the purely internal situation rule applicable in the context of the market freedoms. From the 1990s onwards the Court has showed a greater leniency in accepting that certain cases fall within the scope of Union law, as compared to in the years before. This has been done in various ways, depending on the specific fundamental freedom at stake in the case, but always resulted in a relaxing of the fulfilment of the test used for determining whether a case falls within the scope of a market freedom - the linking factor test. More specifically, the Court seems to be accepting that hypothetical future scenarios are sufficient to bring a case within the scope of EU law even though the underlying facts of the case do not satisfy the test, or even to rule in cases which clearly do not fulfil some of the conditions of the test. The overall change of approach towards the purely internal rule can also be seen in an issue of jurisdiction, and not scope, which is still however relevant. This is the fact that the Court has begun issuing preliminary reference rulings in purely internal cases whereby the question referred is in reality hypothetical. It will be claimed that the CJEU does so without requiring sufficient proof by the domestic court that an EU law interpretation is required.

Ryta Dziemianowicz, Marzanna Poniatowicz

In the Polish legal system, shares of local government units in state Personal Income Tax (PIT) falls into the category of the local government’s own revenues. Such assignment does not meet the basic attribute of the so-called decentralized taxes, which is the taxing power. The local authorities cannot affect the income tax revenue in this case, while at the same time they suffer financial consequences of amendments in the construction of this tax. In Poland, this issue, among other things, fueled a discussion on the need to reduce the dependence of local government units’ revenues on central tax decisions in the form of “local-governmentalization” of the Personal Income Tax and introduction of the so-called municipal (local) PIT. Not only does the article aim to present this concept, but also to identify potential advantages and risks connected with the possible introduction of municipal PIT in the Polish system of local finance.

Abhinayan Basu Bal

The author examines the current treatment of Bitcoin in numerous EU and non-EU countries, and analyses the opinion of the Advocate General in a Bitcoin case that is currently pending before the European Court of Justice.

Tania Scarabel

This paper aims to analyze the principle of differentiation which, under the processes of federalism, identifies a relation of “adaequatio rei et iuris” chosen to allow policies linked on specific local situations. It is worth examining this perspective because the method used to differentiate autonomy, which dates back to the times when Italian Constitution was born, already including special status regions, is currently achieving a growing popularity. In particular, the discussion analyzes the broad doctrinal debate, in both its classical and recent forms, concerning regionalism and federalism, and the theoretical debate on the great principles of equality and autonomy; of uniformity and differentiation. Furthermore, it analyzes in-depth the laws enacted at both state and regional level, the identification of the Best Practices and the constitutional law steps taken in this regard (first part). In the following, the recent experiences of several European countries are taken into account, using the same comparative method: the German, Spanish and Scottish systems of differentiation are analyzed for their many analogies, which can be presented as a step needed for the development of the orientation of the Italian system (second part). The paper then examines the peculiar specialties which have always been in the Italian Constitution in order to verify if, even following the European integration process, the reasons and justifications of the historical specialties still exist (third part). We will show which legislative actions were made with regard to this, as well as the interpretation of the Constitutional Court and the main doctrinal acquisitions achieved during the scientific debate. More specifically, the first part aims to assess, in the first chapter, the constitutional principle of differentiation within the Italian legal system, by considering the theoretical and doctrinal development that accompanied Italian regionalism, and by improving this principle, starting from the of Law no. 142 of the year 1990, up to Bassanini reform. In this context, it is possible to perform an assessment of the third decentralization, which dates over fifteen years ago, by analyzing the tangible situations that have been implemented in the Italian Regions. The discussion then focuses on the origin of Article 116, paragraph III, of the Constitution as changed by Article 2 of the Constitutional Law of October 18, 2001, no. 3, which amended the whole Title V. Methodologically, we decided to illustrate the procedures and limitations with regard to the creation of the differentiation law, as well as the reasons why Article 116, paragraph III, of the Constitution was not implemented, to then analyze the possible areas in which the principle of differentiation could be developed, even in the light of the draft of the Constitutional Law A.C. 2613. The Second part, which is divided into four chapters, depicts the principle of regional differentiation in the European framework. Chapter one specifically focuses on the German federal system, or the so-called Föderalismusreform I – II, which was approved between 2006 and 2009, as a model that is able to effectively combine the flexibility required for continuous development with the rigidity needed to ensure gradual changes in the system. Chapter two covers the evolution of the territorial organization system included in the Spanish Constitution, from 1978 to date, with particular attention to the final result of the differentiated regionalism process by evaluating it both in terms of the doctrinal comments and tangible results. Chapter three focuses on the latest developments concerning Spanish Law and especially on the so-called "Catalan issue" and its statutory events. About this, the research started with an in-depth analysis of the organic law of July 19, 2006, no. 6, before later highlighting the effects of the Constitutional Court ruling (STC 31/2010) of June 28, 2010. Therefore, the composite events that then led to the suspension of the referendum for the independence of Catalonia, as a result of the appeal of the Constitutional Court requested by the Spanish Government, were analyzed. In order to complete the analysis of the differentiation processes, chapter four covers the most recent developments of the nation-building process that occurred in Scotland, whose legislative development and doctrinal issues were studied in-depth. The third part of our research is divided into six chapters and specifically analyzes the only structural differentiation in our country: the one affecting the special status Regions, in order to highlight the main elements of differentiation, both amongst themselves and by comparing them to the other ordinary autonomies. In particular, chapter one contains an in-depth analysis of differentiation within the special status Italian regions. The beginning of the dissertation consists of preparatory works within the Constituent Assembly. After describing the main positions developed in the Italian doctrinal context, some remarks are made on the current status of existence of the special autonomy, even by considering to what extent the financial privileges of some of these special regions can be justified. Chapter two concerns the specialty given to Valle d’Aosta region since a changing process of incremental nature characterizes it. The historical grounds of the specialty are specified by focusing on autonomy in terms of legislation and administration and by describing the structure of the financial autonomy that exists in the region. Chapter three focuses on the autonomy of Friuli Venezia Giulia region by analyzing the specific powers, the exclusive and concurrent regional areas of competence with regard to the different sectors. Chapter four focuses on the specialty of Trentino Alto Adige region, or rather on the autonomous provinces of Trento and Bolzano. With regard to this, an analysis was performed both on the implementation of the legislative decrees of the Statute and on the provincial and regional legislation. In particular, the financial structure, after the Milan Agreement, is discussed in-depth. Chapter five examines the special Statute of Sardegna region at a legislative, administrative and financial level. Furthermore, the constitutional laws that modified the Statute over time (Constitutional Law 1/1972; Law 122/1983; Constitutional Law 1/1986; Constitutional Law 3/1989; Constitutional Law 2/1993; Constitutional Law 2/2001) were carefully analyzed, as well as the actions of the Constitutional Court. Chapter six covers the specialty recognized to region of Sicily by the legislator in terms of exclusive, integrative – concurrent legislations and within the administrative and financial organization. The recent decision no. 255/2014 of the Constitutional Court is also highlighted. The final chapter focuses, even in the light of the comparative analysis carried out, on an overall evaluation of the principle of differentiation by providing observations on the outlook of Italian regionalism.

Clemens Thiele

Ein schwedisches Finanzgericht hat dem EuGH ein Vorabentscheidungsersuchen zur Mehrwertsteuerpflicht beim Handel von Bitcoins vorgelegt. Die Fachwelt sowie Online-Händler erwarten sich davon eine unionsweit verbindliche Klärung der Frage, ob für eine virtuelle Währung wie Bitcoins Umsatzsteuer entrichtet werden muss. Der folgende Beitrag versucht eine erste Standortbestimmung aus ertrag- und umsatzsteuerrechtlicher Sicht.

Ulrich Karpen

EnglishThis paper looks at the Federal Republic of Germany in comparison with other federations in view of the basic federal idea and the distribution of competences and powers between federation and Lander. It sheds light on the tensions of decentralization and unitarization. Furthermore, the constitutional arrangements for financing federal and Lander levels are explained more in detail. And finally the paper raises a current issue: the German Finance Constitution in need of reform. francaisCet article se penche sur la Republique federale d'Allemagne, comparee a d'autres federations pour ce qui est de l'idee federale de base et de la repartition des competences et des pouvoirs entre la federation et les Lander. Il met en lumiere les tensions de la decentralisation et de l'unitarisation. En outre, il explique plus en detail les dispositions constitutionnelles relatives au financement au niveau federal et des Lander. Enfin, il souleve une question actuelle: la Constitution allemande des finances doit etre reformee.

Thomas W. Slattery

No abstract is available for this record.