4liberty.eu N E W S L E T T E R [AUGUST 2020]

The August issue of the 4liberty.eu Newsletter provides an overview of the articles published on the 4liberty.eu website, serving as a starting point for further exploration.

Piotr Olinski (FOR):
EU Justice Scoreboard: Failed “Reforms” in Poland
In mid-July, the European Commission published this year’s edition of the EU Justice Scoreboard 2020. It is a comparative and non-arbitrary source of data about the functioning, efficiency, and independence of the justice systems within the EU. The EU Justice Scoreboard enables assessment of the Law and Justice’s “reforms” of the judiciary and comparisons of Poland with the rest of the Member States.

Marton Gera (Republikon Institute):
What Will Universities Lose If New ”Normal” Stays with Us?
In the last few months, life at the universities has changed dramatically and involuntarily. Lectures and tutorials have shifted online, Zoom became the new lecture hall and seminar room, and students had a taste of what it is like to have their exams or finals take place online.

Milosz Hodun (Projekt: Polska):
Polish Minister of Justice and “Gender Gibberish”
Zbigniew Ziobro, the Polish Minister of Justice, has vowed to submit a motion aimed at withdrawing Poland from the Istanbul Convention, the Council of Europe´s Convention on preventing and combating violence against women and domestic violence. He said the Convention contains harmful, ideological elements.

FNF:
Czech Seeders of Disinformation: Addressing Knowledge Gaps and Drawing Policy Implications
In the spring of 2020, the STEM institute, supported by the Prague office of the Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Freedom, carried out an extensive investigation of Czech seeders of disinformation. They are currently estimated to make up approximately 5% of the Czech society.

Kaja Kallas (Academy of Liberalism):
Estonian Taxpayers Must Pay for Stupid Decisions Made by Government
Speaking on the “Otse Postimehest” (“Live from Postimees”) webcast of the daily Postimees, Estonian opposition Reform Party leader Kaja Kallas said that Minister of Rural Affairs Arvo Aller’s promise to consider compensating strawberry farmers for their loss is covering up the government’s bad choices for taxpayers’ money.

Sabine Leutheusser-Schnarrenberger (Liberales Institut):
“Privacy Shield”: Thunderbolt from Luxembourg
“Not good enough!” In its latest judgment, the European Court of Justice (ECJ) came to the same conclusion as it did in 2015: the transfer of data from the EU to the US violates the right to privacy as well as European data protection laws because data are not sufficiently protected against interception by US agencies such as the National Security Agency (NSA) or the FBI. The court also found that legal protections were insufficient.