The Use of Legislative and Socio-Economic Mechanisms for Business Development in the Third and Fourth Industrial Revolutions: The EU Experience

Abstract

The EU experience shows the best legislative and socio-economic mechanisms to ensure the Third (T.i.r.) and Fourth Industrial Revolutions (F.i.r.). There are three major groups of instruments used to ensure the T.i.r. and F.i.r. goals in the EU countries: hard law - orders and directives, prohibitions, restrictions or licensing procedures; economic instruments (market-oriented laws) - green taxation, environmental payments, certificates (trade permits) or liability, green subsidies and promotion schemes, as well as disclosure of subsidies that are harmful to the environment (for example, subsidizing fossil fuel prices); soft law - information, management systems, exchanges of experience or binding agreements between government agencies and private business associations (“green" agreements or unions).