Month: October 2023

EU’s policies to AI: are there blindspots regarding accountability and democratic governance?

On By officialblogunioIn EssaysLeave a comment 

Maria Inês Costa (PhD Candidate at the School of Law of the University of Minho. FCT research scholarship holder – UI/BD/154522/2023)
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In her recent State of the Union (SOTEU) 2023 speech, the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen addressed several pressing issues, including artificial intelligence (AI). In this regard, the President of the European Commission highlighted that leading AI creators, academics and experts have issued a warning about AI, stressing that “mitigating the risk of extinction from AI should be a global priority alongside other societal-scale risks such as pandemics and nuclear war”, adding that AI is advancing at a faster pace than its creators predicted.[1]

The President of the European Commission also argued that of the three pillars of the global framework for AI – guardrails, governance, and guiding innovation – guardrails is the most important, and in this sense, AI must be developed in a way that is human-centred, transparent, and accountable. Indeed, in Europe we have witnessed such an approach to the development of AI, as evidenced by various official documents and reports from different scientific communities, [2] also emphasising the need to build trust in this type of technology.

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Why is the demarcation of indigenous peoples’ territories in Brazil important to achieve European and global climate goals?

On By officialblogunioIn EssaysLeave a comment 

Cecília Bojarski Pires  (PhD Candidate at the School of Law of the University of Minho)
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Indigenous and tribal peoples’[1] ancestral territories are essential for climate stability and resilience.[2] “Their territories contain about one-third of all the carbon stored in Latin America and the Caribbean forests and 14 percent of the carbon stored in tropical forests worldwide”.[3] It is indisputable that the role played by indigenous peoples is vital in terms of global climate action, but that is not all. This article aims to demonstrate the importance of preserving indigenous peoples’ lands to achieve European and global climate goals, protect the forests and other ecosystems, conserve biodiversity, and prevent climate change. Furthermore, it is a matter of respect for human rights, a European value.

According to Villares,[4] indigenous peoples are united to the land and all its elements. Moreover, the land is not just a tangible material element but a subjective element that takes on a transcendental character. Thus, the territory is occupied and developed by everyone in that community. For that reason, indigenous peoples’ production system is, in general, much less predatory. The consequence of this special way of dealing with the land means that indigenous peoples can use natural resources without putting ecosystems at risk. It makes them indispensable for guaranteeing environmental conservation and contributing to the fight against poverty, hunger, and malnutrition.[5]

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Editorial of October 2023

On By officialblogunioIn Editorials1 Comment 
By the Editorial Team
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“Answering the call of history” – on the 2023 “State of the Union” speech (SOTEU) by President Ursula von der Leyen

On 13 September 2023, the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, gave a speech summing up her term in office – perhaps even anticipating re-election. To this end, she presented results, arguing that her Commission had managed to implement more than 90 per cent of the political guidelines it presented in 2019.

The motto of the “State of the Union” (SOTEU) 2023 speech was “Answering the call of history”. In what sense? In the sense that history is happening while Russia is waging a full-scale war against the founding principles of the United Nations (UN) Charter. The President of the Commission tried to explain to what extent the European Union (EU) is up to this challenge. But Ursula von de Leyen also demonstrated the extent to which history demands the deepening of the integration process, its “becoming”.

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New UNIO issue now online

On By officialblogunioIn NewsLeave a comment 
By the Editorial Team
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The Editorial Board is happy to announce that a new issue of the UNIO – EU Law Journal is now fully online. The 9(1) issue of UNIO includes contributions from various highly respected scholars and young academics and addresses issues such as a) peacekeeping and crisis management in the current context of international relations, b) discrimination in the digital era, c) algorithmic discrimination, d) personal data and children’s rights, e) the Brussels Effect in the context of data protection in Latin America, and f) and the relationship between sustainability and procedural law.

We hope this new issue pleases both our readers and authors and would like to remind you that we are accepting submissions at UNIO and also at our blog.

You may find UNIO’s 9(1) issue here.