ALTERNATIVE FORMS OF ECONOMIC DISPUTE RESOLUTION IN CITY COUNCILS IN THE EU

Abstract

The article defines the main legal principles for providing alternative forms of resolving economic disputes of city councils in EU countries. It is established that the state of regulatory and legal support for alternative forms of resolving economic disputes of city councils in EU countries is at the stage of development. It is determined that at the current stage, the formation of EU legislation and national legislation of the member states in this area is underway. At the level of individual EU member states, adaptation and development of legislation in the context of the creation of municipal law is observed. The latter contributes to the improvement of regulatory and legal support for alternative forms of resolving economic disputes of city councils in EU countries. It is noted that the use of alternative forms of resolving economic disputes of city councils in EU countries has advantages compared to the judicial form. This is especially relevant for small cities, as it allows saving money and time on issues related to solving problems of local communities in the economic sphere. It is proven that despite the rather long history of the formation of alternative forms of dispute resolution in the EU, the regulatory and legal consolidation of the possibility of their implementation (including by city councils) has been carried out since the first decade of the 21st century. This process has accelerated due to the introduction of digitalization, but is still in the development stage. Two stages of regulation of the above process at the EU level have been identified, in particular: the introduction of general regulatory and legal support for the resolution of disputes of various categories in the EU countries (establishment of principles applicable to bodies responsible for the out-of-court settlement of consumer disputes; definition of the principles of the activities of out-of-court bodies participating in the settlement of consumer disputes by consensus; development of legislation on some aspects of mediation in civil and commercial cases; creation of legislation on online resolution of consumer disputes, etc.); formation of legal principles for the regulation of alternative forms of consumer dispute resolution, etc. It has been determined that at the level of EU member states, there is a gradual adaptation of EU legislation in this area. At the same time, the regulatory and legal support for the resolution of economic disputes of city councils in the EU is regulated at a general level, without emphasis on the specifics of the specified process in relation to the specified entities. Only some countries (including, in particular, France) are developing municipal legislation in this area, which contributes to legal certainty and improving the implementation of the specified process.