One of the important areas of the energy transformation is the citizens involvement in the energy production process. This is a prerequisite for maintaining the security of supply and price stabilization. In order for all citizens to have equal opportunities to use green energy, regardless of financial and housing opportunities, energy cooperatives are established in many countries. In Poland, the first renewable energy cooperatives emerged in 2021 but, unfortunately, their role in the energy transformation process will be rather limited in the near future. This is mainly due to the numerous legal, economic and social barriers that hinder their creation. This article adopts the hypothesis that there are too many barriers in Poland that discourage the creation of energy cooperatives or other forms of collective prosumption. The main obstacle is the limitations of installed power, coerced by the poor condition of the network infrastructure. The aim of the article is to answer the question of whether, given the current legal and economic conditions, a large-scale development of energy cooperatives is possible in Poland, or will the existing barriers make this development limited and not contribute to the country’s energy transformation? To answer this question, primary and secondary sources were used. Primary research relied on interviews in all cooperatives operating in Poland. Based on the literature on the subject, reference was made to the experiences of other EU countries. The research shows that there are strong economic, legal and mental barriers to the development of cooperatives in Poland. Overcoming them requires changes in the law, in the energy policy including decentralization of the energy market and increased public confidence in collective forms of prosumption.

In recent years, negative phenomena of an external and internal nature have been observed that threaten the security of Polish municipalities. The increase in energy prices had a negative impact on the situations of consumers and companies. Strengthening energy security can be achieved through the development of an energy community based on renewable energy. The aim of the article is to demonstrate that energy cooperatives have a negligible impact on the energy and economic security of Polish municipalities. The article is based on literature studies and analysis of data obtained from the National Center for Agricultural Support and the Central Statistical Office, as well as our own qualitative research. Based on the research, three hypotheses were formulated: Firstly, energy cooperatives participate to a limited extent in building local energy security. Secondly, cooperatives should be treated as a complement to coal power plants. Thirdly, only the involvement of municipal authorities in the energy cooperatives can strengthen local energy security. The research shows that there has been a quantitative development of energy cooperatives, but this has not significantly improved local energy security. Only the active participation of local authorities is a condition for strengthening the role of energy cooperatives in ensuring economic and energy security.

This article focuses on the role of local government in energy transition. The aim of this article is to answer the question of whether local government authorities undertake actions aimed at the energy transformation of the region. This article is based on both literature studies and independent research. The empirical research was carried out in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, located in Southwestern Poland. This region was chosen because it experienced the negative effects of economic transformation (liquidation of the Lower Silesian Coal Basin). Two hypotheses (H1 and H2) were adopted in the article. H1 assumes that in Polish conditions, bottom-up energy transformation requires the involvement of local authorities, and they should act as both initiators and shareholders of energy cooperatives. According to H2, local authorities participate in the energy transition to a limited extent. According to the conducted surveys, there has been no investment in wind farms, hydroelectric power plants or biogas plants. Communes are not interested in large, capital-intensive investments, limiting themselves to local actions with a small spatial range and small economic significance, although they are aware of the advantages of RES.

Tying on the mobile apps market and competition rulesThe dynamic growth of digital markets is conducive to the use of anti-competitive practices by companies in order to maintain or strengthen their market position. One example of such practices is the abuse of the dominant position occupied by Google, including by tying Android with applications available on Google Play. This tying means that Google imposes on the smartphone manufacturers a “set of applications” necessary to be installed, even if they were not interested in pre-installing some of them. The study analyzes the anti-competitive practices that the European Commission accuses Google of in the decision of 18 August 2018. The purpose of the article is to examine whether tying a specific set of applications with the Android system meets the conditions for abuse of Art. 102 TFEU. This requires, first of all, an examination of whether Android is a binding product for applications available in Google Play and, if so, of whether the conditions of abuse in the form of sales binding are met. As a result, it has been shown that on digital markets, where there is dynamic competition, it is difficult to make an unambiguous assessment of anti-competitive behavior and one of the important arguments that may prejudge the abuse is the harm to end users.

The transition to a zero-emission economy and sustainable development requires us to reduce our use of fossil fuels and implement legal and reporting mechanisms that oblige businesses to comply with environmental and social standards. One of the key challenges has become the reporting of non-financial information, including environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG) aspects. Initially, this data was reported in accordance with the 2014 NFRD Directive, which was replaced in 2024 by the CSRD Directive, and further legislative changes regarding non-financial reporting are currently being implemented and planned. This paper presents the evolution of the legal framework for ESG reporting in the European Union, identify differences in reporting obligations under the aforementioned directives; it also highlights problems related to the lack of consistent, uniform, and mandatory ESG reporting standards. Despite the implementation of the CSRD Directive, the paper emphasises that companies still have too much discretion in selecting the information to be reported, which hinders comparability and verification. The analysis confirms that the abundance of data and the qualitative nature of ESG indicators increase interpretative risks and may undermine the objectives of non-financial reporting.