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Since the end of the Cold War, the EU aims to advance to a relevant and autonomous actor in international politics—especially concerning security and defense politics. Scholars interested in whether the EU member states actually converge in their security and defense preferences often analyze strategy papers qualitatively, focusing on selected countries at specific points in time. In this article, we propose a dictionary approach for analyzing the development of security and defense preferences within the EU over the last three decades using quantitative text analysis. We make use of 163 strategy papers, published by all EU member states and the EU itself since 1994. The findings show that EU member states react similarly to international events, but do not converge substantially in their preferences. Furthermore, there is no substantial convergence to the position of the EU itself. We finally discuss usefulness and validity of quantitative text analysis in comparative research more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The British paper and board industry opposed plans to establish the Western European free trade area and the more modest EFTA, arguing that British producers would be unable to compete successfully against their Nordic rivals. The paper industry did support British entry to the EEC, but only because this was considered to be a less bad option than continued membership of EFTA. It is argued that while the British government could not fundamentally change its European policy solely because it harmed the interests of one particular industry, pressure from business and fears that increased competition would lead to increased unemployment gradually persuaded it to find ways to reduce competition. However, this policy probably encouraged many companies to delay efforts to modernise production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2019 outbreak of coronavirus disease (COVID‐19) in Wuhan (Hubei province of China) has given rise to a pandemic spread of virus, more than 240 million incidences and a death toll larger than 5 million people. COVID‐19 has set off large efforts in research, therapy and patient care, as well as public and private debates in every imaginable form. A number of scientists used the publication platforms provided by the Federation of the European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) to present their research data, reviews, opinions and other contributions relating to COVID‐19 and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‐CoV‐2). Here, I highlight the recent COVID‐19 papers which have been published and collected in a Virtual Issue in FEBS Letters, and discuss their implications towards understanding the molecular, biochemical and cellular mechanisms of SARS‐CoV‐2 infections, vaccine development and antiviral discovery strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The fundamental professional roles of radiographers and radiologists are focused on providing benefit to patients with our skills, while maintaining their safety at all times. There are numerous patient safety issues in radiology which must be considered. These encompass: protection from direct harm arising from the techniques and technologies we use; ensuring physical and psychological well-being of patients while under our care; maintaining the highest possible quality of service provision; and protecting the staff to ensure they can deliver safe services. This paper summarises the key categories of safety issues in the provision of radiology services, from the joint perspectives of radiographers and radiologists, and provides references for further reading in all major relevant areas. This is a joint statement of the European Society of Radiology (ESR) and the European Federation of Radiographer Societies (EFRS), published simultaneously in Insights into Imaging [DOI:10.1186/s13244-019-0721-y] and Radiography (DOI: 10.1016/j.radi.2019.01.009). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drug–drug interaction (DDI) assessments are well defined in health authority guidelines for small molecule drugs, and US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) draft guidance is now available for therapeutic proteins. However, there are currently no regulatory guidelines outlining DDI assessments for therapeutic peptides, which poses significant uncertainty and challenges during drug development for this heterogenous class of molecules. A cross‐industry peptide DDI working group consisting of experts from 10 leading companies was formed under the sponsorship of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations. We aimed to capture the range of DDI studies undertaken for peptide drugs by (i) anonymously surveying relevant companies involved in peptide drug development to better understand DDI study type/timing currently performed and (ii) compiling a database containing in vitro / clinical DDI data from submission packages for recently approved peptide drugs. Our analyses highlight significant gaps and uncertainty in the field. For example, the reported timing of in vitro peptide DDI studies, if performed, vary substantially across responding companies from early research to phase III. Nearly all in vitro cytochrome P450 / transporter inhibition studies reported in the survey were negative. For the few positive hits reported, no clinical follow‐up studies were performed, questioning the clinical relevance of these findings. Furthermore, available submission packages reveal DDI likelihood is low for peptides >2 kDa, making it reasonable to adopt a risk‐based approach during drug development for larger peptides. By benchmarking the landscape of peptide DDI activities across the industry, we set the stage for future discussions with health authorities on harmonizing peptide DDI approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The enlargement of the European Union (EU) towards the Western Balkans contains challenges. Although the EU's goal is its enlargement, some EU countries present skepticism. The Western Balkans have not yet reached the appropriate stage of economic development. The rule of law has been among the main barriers that have hindered their EU integration advancement. This paper is based on the work of Osmani et al. (2022a), Leka et al. (2022), and Qorraj and Jusufi (2018). The aim and objective of this paper are to analyze the enlargement policy of the EU towards the countries of the Western Balkans, focusing on Kosovo. Historical research methods were used to collect facts and chronological data. The main finding of this paper is that the rule of law is the main factor that positively affects the integration of the countries of the Western Balkans into the EU, as well as the increase in the level of economic development. Therefore, as a conclusion, it can be affirmed that integration in the EU is essential for the existence of this region. The relevance of this paper lies in the fact that it deals with an important topic from the field of European integration for small countries like Kosovo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Thus, the design of the manuscript was given as this paper was part of a requested review consortium for a consensus paper of the European Organisation for Caries Research and the European Federation of Conservative Dentistry regarding caries management with a short deadline. Reply to Letter: Comment on the Paper: How to Intervene in the Caries Process: Early Childhood Caries - A Systematic Review After screening and reading the retrieved papers, we found different levels of evidence regarding different caries (ECC) management methods (e.g., several systematic reviews regarding NOCM with silver fluoride). [Extracted from the article]

Corruption represents one of the most widespread phenomena worldwide, which has devastating effects on state institutions and society. As such, this phenomenon represents a real challenge to deal with it. This paper explores the importance of anti-corruption efforts of Republic of North Macedonia as a prerequisite for EU integration and the challenges this country faces in this process. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the recent events in the judicial and the political scene which greatly affect the country's efforts in the fight against corruption. In this study, a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods are used. In the quantitative phase, data will be collected from various sources, including official reports and surveys Additionally, a legal analysis is conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of anticorruption measures enacted by the legislator. The findings reveal a concerning interference of politics in the functioning of the judiciary, which negatively affects the country's path towards EU membership. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the pandemic, the EU has responded to the threat of a euro crisis flare-up by deactivating its fiscal framework and establishing the Recovery and Resilience Facility, drawing on joint European bonds to finance national investments. This paper seeks to explain these modifications to fiscal governance and asks whether they are an indication of European austerity making way for an alternative fiscal paradigm. Based on a neo-Gramscian approach, it discusses the policies as parts of competing political projects that are promoted or hindered by certain framework conditions. The paper undertakes a structured comparison of these framework conditions during the euro crisis and the current crisis. It finds that geoeconomic competition increases the demand for a more active fiscal policy, while political preferences and structural relations remained remarkably stable. As the current crisis is marked by high inflation, economic conditions are adverse to a fiscally expansive agenda. The findings do not suggest a lasting reorientation of European fiscal governance. Instead, the measures taken during the pandemic are interpreted as expressions of 'passive revolution' in which the EMU adapts elements of a fiscal integrative agenda to provide necessary fixes to its economic order while keeping its underlying fiscally restrictive features intact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

European and global economies are committed to accelerating their sustainable transition. An important goal in realising this transition is to get robust corporate sustainability reporting. In this way, this paper focuses on the recent European developments setting new legislation and standards. Specifically, a survey questionnaire from a focus group of accounting experts examines the future role of small- and medium-sized accountancy practices (SMPs) in enabling this transition. The experts are all members of the European Federation of Accountants and Auditors for Small- and Medium-sized Enterprises (EFAA). With its focus on SMPs, this paper performs a qualitative and quantitative analysis of the responses obtained. Finally, it explores the influence of years of experience on the practices´ opinions. The findings indicate that SMPs are ready to fulfil this emerging role, which will demand significant reskilling. Also, the more experienced the SMPs, the more likely small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are to seek their advice, are more conscious about sustainability practices, and advise their SME clients accordingly. As a theoretical contribution, this manuscript fills a noticeable gap in the research literature. The background mainly focuses on large companies and lacks a study of the essential role SMPs can play in the European sustainability landscape. As a practical contribution, the need for the support of professional accountancy organisations to help SMPs in this significant reskilling can be highlighted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflecting on twenty years of Cyprus's EU membership, this paper aims to provide an account of the rationale for its accession to the EU and the euro area, and an assessment of their benefits. The argument made in the paper is that although it was security rather than economic considerations that accounted for Cyprus's EU accession, the latter also came with certain financial benefits. Moreover, while Cyprus's accession to the single currency was motivated by its desire to be part of the hard core of the European unification project, its euro area participation was to stand Cyprus in good stead in its hour of need, during the Cypriot sovereign debt crisis of 2012-2013. The paper also explores whether the unprecedented accession of a divided country to the EU may provide a source of inspiration for future enlargements, where sui generis circumstances prevail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the Bologna process emerged in the framework of European integration, its objectives are closely linked to the process of voluntary convergence of public policies of members of the European Union. In this context, it can be challenging to understand possible convergence or divergence trends in Bologna member countries that are outside the European Union. In this paper, I develop a theoretical framework based on Acharya's (2004) norm localization theory to analyze the historical and present factors of borrowing and adoption of the Bologna standards in Kazakhstan. While the findings suggest that convergence to the Bologna model will be limited, the identified short-term outcomes of the Bologna process include adopting the Bologna-driven competence-based approach. In the long term, the competence-based approach could replace knowledge-based education in Kazakhstan. The analysis reveals the importance of domestic factors for educational policy borrowing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The history of the institutionalised cooperation in Europe now looks back to more than seven decades. What differentiates this cooperation from other international organisations is the common heritage and destiny the European countries share and the community they have found in a high level of integration. However, since the very beginning of this cooperation, there have been debates about the best method and way to express common European positions. Part of this debate is the question of the democratic legitimacy of the Union institutions. As it is set out in Article 2 of the Treaty of the European Union, democracy is not only a fundamental value of the Member States, but also an expectation towards the European Union. Even though the institutional setting of the European democracy has gone a long way in the past seven decades, the question of democratic legitimacy is still being one of the key subjects and future challenges within the framework of the currently ongoing discussions on the future of Europe. There is no shortage of reform proposals, nevertheless, the main debate has been rather one-sided as it envisions only one avenue to decrease the so-called “democratic deficit” and strengthen the European policy space. What is the function of democracy in the context of the European integration and how can it represent a European position or serve as a check over the Union institutions? What institutions could be able to create a bridge between the peoples of the Member States and the European institutions? This paper seeks to outline the different responses to these questions. To this end, it outlines the theoretical background and institutional evolution of democratic legitimacy in the European integration while seeks to evaluate the current proposals and envision the alternative ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper introduces two emerging concepts of European Studies - Superstate Europe and Europe of nations. The two interpret the future of Europe in very different perspectives. While Superstate Europe envisions a political unification in which the supranational entity is becoming the main source of power, Europe of nations, on the contrary, tries to restore the member states' sovereignties over the EU. Thus, both framings have explicit political contents, and neither of them can be considered exclusively academic. Of course, in the field of European Studies this is not unprecedented. Nonetheless, the emergence of two such rival ideas is symbolizing the political polarization of the EU, as well as the politicization of European Studies. In its first section, the paper describes the general logic, main points, and basic inner-linkages of Superstate Europe and Europe of nations, and then in the second part it identifies their positions in the conceptual space of European Studies. This latter effort tries to reveal the relatedness of these framings to other European integration theories. The main finding of this meta-analysis is that Superstate Europe is more embedded conceptually, and this helps to better explain or criticize certain aspects of the idea, while Europe of nations can be considered more original in the sense of reflecting on the previously unaddressed challenge of proposing a disintegration theory among many European integration theories. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the efforts to enhance regional cooperation in the Western Balkans and how this has increased engagement between the EU and the Western Balkans.1 The regional initiatives are more present when the European Union (EU) shows little interest in the Western Balkans region. However, these efforts have yet to address all the concerns adequately and have not brought to life tangible results despite many political declarations. One of the most commented initiatives, like the Open Balkans, has caused concern in the region and caused tension between Kosovo and Albania over the past few years. The paper enlightens the challenges of regional cooperation during the last years, the contribution of this process in the integration process, and the role played by Albania. Also, the paper tries to analyze the success and failures of the "Open Balkan" initiative and the Regional Common Market. Furthermore, the paper framework examined the progress of regional cooperation initiatives and the region's attention to the European integration process. Additionally, the paper seeks to determine whether regional cooperation is a viable alternative for the region or merely an external-driven initiative and the role of the EU in promoting regional cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at revisiting the empirical evidence on the recent trends of countries' integration in global value chains (GVCs) in Europe. It investigates two potential sources of unbalances that these processes might relate to (i) the sectoral specialization of the patterns of international fragmentation, whether high-technology manufacturing or knowledge-intensive business services (KIBS), and (ii) the occupational categories that have benefited or been penalized by these trends. A rich empirical mapping of these trends in the European countries is provided, based on World Input–Output Database and European Union Labour Force Survey (EU LFS) data. The results on the overall and sectoral-specific trends of integration in GVCs and the associated changes in the shares of managers and manual workers show dual-speed and qualitatively different integration patterns in Europe, with Eastern European (EE) countries rapidly integrating in high-tech manufacturing and the core of Western countries strengthening their mutual integration in the KIBS area. Despite the relatively "good quality" integration of EE countries, the evidence does not seem to reveal a mirroring upgrading of employment structures. While this empirical contribution does not attempt to identify causal relationships, the picture provided in the paper shows that, overall, integration in GVCs seems to reproduce and perhaps exacerbate the initial asymmetries in the sectoral and employment structure, with employment shares of manual workers reducing on the whole and knowledge-intensive occupations concentrating in Western Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Security: Theory & Practice / Bezpieczeństwo.Teoria i Praktyka is the property of Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski Krakow University, AFM Publishing Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The paper analyses the impact of European Union (EU) funds on corruption in the EU ex-communist countries by following a panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach. The panel includes 10 former EU communist countries, over 2007–2019. The key findings reveal that an improvement in the EU funds paid and their rate of absorption can reduce the level of corruption in the long-run in the recipient EU ex-communist countries. This is due to better monitoring of EU funds paid compared with national resources, and a more efficient and fairer channel of EU funds absorption. In parallel with the EU funds, corruption can be controlled in certain conditions by the degree of economic development, size of government, level of democratisation and religiosity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on Euroscepticism tends to portray parties opposing European integration or criticising the European Union (EU) as a family of Eurosceptic parties (either hard or soft). Recent literature, however, offers empirical evidence on the ambivalence and diversity of the EU critique. What is still unclear are the reasons behind the chameleonic nature of Euroscepticism and the implications that this may have for the EU critique and the changes proposed about EU policy or institutions. The present article addresses this question exploring the role of EU crises to capture the changing nature of Euroscepticism and suggests that it is related to contextual pressures on the political debate around the EU. The paper develops this argument and illustrates it through the analysis of the Alternative für Deutschland in Germany, covering the EU crises of the last decade, including the recent period of the COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine invasion. Drawing on a corpus of party manifestos and speeches between 2013 and 2022, this study shows that there are three main frames used by the party to criticise the EU. It also concludes that these frames involve distinct political implications for the EU critique and the alternative proposals presented by the party. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of a country's entry into the monetary union on its economic variables growth rate of real GDP as well as on GDP per capita growth for the period from 2010 to 2020. The clustering method and the ANFIS method were used in the data analysis. A total of two cluster analyses were performed. The first cluster includes countries that joined the EU in 2004 and became EZ members by 2010. The second cluster refers to those countries that joined the EU in 2004 but are not yet members of the EZ. For the first individual cluster analysis two models were analysed and for the second individual cluster three models were analysed using the ANFIS method. As expected, the results showed that GDP growth is connected with trade, inflation and gross investments in fixed capital in the observed countries, while GDP per capita is connected with unemployment, interest rates and public debt. With regard to GDP growth, the difference between countries that are in the eurozone and those that are not is not significant, which is in line with other studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to sketch a brief history of complex digital transformation of media and journalism in the context of Serbia, a European country which has undergone politically turbulent transition from authoritarian to democratic rule over the past 20 years. Despite the long process of the EU integration, the country has been recently downgraded to a partly free hybrid regime with rapid decline of press freedom, high political and media polarization and raising political and economic instrumentalization of media. Against this background, the paper problematizes how the main structural transformations of the media environment, such as the transition from state to public broadcasting, the introduction of new media laws and the lengthy process of media privatization intersected and influenced different phases and outcomes of the digital transformation of journalism and news media in the country. Unlike the digital journalism development in established democracies of the West, the real systemic change and adaptation of Serbia's media market to easy-to-use technologies, newsrooms convergence, profitable content and participatory journalism has been largely limited and overpowered by the interplay between the state and the media over the past two decades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: CLSI EP26; lot-to-lot variation; measurement procedures; reagent-lot EN CLSI EP26 lot-to-lot variation measurement procedures reagent-lot e215 e217 3 10/03/23 20231001 NES 231001 To the Editor, In the May 2022 issue of I CCLM i , a European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) paper was published on behalf of the Working Group Accreditation, ISO/CEN standards (WG-A/ISO) [[1]]. (2) EP26 and the EFLM approach recommend the use of commutable materials for reagent lot verification studies. [Extracted from the article]

Sunflower is the most important oil crop practiced in Romania, in terms of the constituent indicators of the primary supply, but also by the fact that sunflower seeds have a surplus trade balance at national level. Culture has a high productive potential, it comes to exploit the existing opportunities on the market, in terms of existing opportunities nationally and internationally. Over time, Romania has been a dynamizing factor of scientific research in the field, highlighting the concerns of researchers from National Institute of Agricultural Research and Development (INCDA) Fundulea for the creation of a quality genetic material. It should be noted that the favorability of sunflower cultivation is quite pronounced at EU level, both due to the pedoclimatic conditions and due to the existing traditions in certain areas (less tradition in the extreme Southern part of the EU), for the practice of other crops providing raw materials for obtaining oil or consumption habits of the population (olive - in the Mediterranean area). The topic of this paper was approachd based on the existing global and continental context for the period 2007-2019. The results showed that in this period 2007-2019, Romania cultivated (on average) 3.81 and 5.39 of the world and European area respectively (966.84 thousand ha compared to 25,325.47 and 16,298.01 thousand ha respectively), achieved 4.62 and 6.79% of the total production (1,919.96 thousand tons compared to 41,548.57 and 28,296.81 thousand tons). The importance on the international market is highlighted by the fact that Romania held 22.52 and 26.97% of the world and continental volume of exports (1,070.99 thousand tons compared to 4,755.42 and 3,971.52 thousand tons), and for imports, the shares were 3.96 and 6.05% (183.47 thousand tons compared to 4,629.84 and 3,220.90 thousand tons respectively). Romania is not an important player in the market of this product at European and global level, especially since sunflower seeds can reduce the deficit of the external trade balance, given the appropriate use of the specific national potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There has been a dramatic increase in the number of papers written on the concept Europeanization in the last two decades. However, there is noprevailing conception of Europeanization. Nor, there has been any discussion about the mosaic of the concept Europeanization. By introducing the mosaic of the concept Europeanization, the aim of this paper was to bring more practicality, concreteness and clarification to the literature on Europeanization. In a result, the mosaic of the concept of Europeanization with six aspects was constructed. These aspects were drawn from among the entities of the variants of the concept Europeanization discussed above. Furthermore, distinctions between on the one hand, Europeanization and on the other hand, European integration and EU external governance were identified. Taken together, these results suggest that that the mosaic of the concept Europeanization has brought more practicality, more concrete aspects with high applicability and clarification to the relationships between itself and other two concepts -- European integration and EU external governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid development of Ukraine towards European integration implies the existence of a high-quality and effective legal framework that guarantees the safeguarding of fundamental rights and liberties. Given this, it is necessary to clarify the essence of building a social state and the principles underlying it. The objective of the study was to investigate the main postulates of building a social state and their normative consolidation in national legislation. The following methods were used in the study of the issue: historical, system, modelling, analysis, and synthesis, comparative, statistical. The study’s findings were intended to ascertain how the idea of creating a social state developed on the territory of Ukraine and other states, and how this concept was reflected in modern countries. The paper examines the basic principles underlying the construction of a social state and their constitutional consolidation; which essential liberties and rights of an individual or citizen are protected by the way the idea of a social state operates, etc. Statistical data on life satisfaction indicators of people in different countries are also provided in light of different methods of social policy implementation. Various models and options for further building a social state on the territory of Ukraine are presented, considering the current situation associated with a full-scale war. The paper describes the experience of European countries in successfully reforming the social sphere, in particular, Denmark, Switzerland, etc. The authors also present a model of the social state of the future, taking into account the changing needs of society, digitalisation, well-being, etc. The outcomes can be applied to further enhance Ukraine’s social policy legislation by lawyers, sociologists, and scientists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to propose an analysis of financial regulation practices, identified thanks to an extensive benchmark carried out in eight European professional sports leagues. Design/methodology/approach: Between 1970 and 2018, 81 French football clubs went bankrupt. The paper proposes an analysis of financial regulation practices in eight European professional sports leagues to enhance the prevention of bankruptcy of French football clubs. Three research questions are addressed: What are the financial and accounting disclosure practices in the main professional leagues? What assessment tools are employed to evaluate the financial risk and budgetary feasibility? What financial support measures exist for clubs and how are insolvency proceedings initiated by clubs? To identify financial regulation practices in professional sport, a selection of leagues was made based on their economic importance, specific regulatory tools used, and their approach to financial difficulties and the handling of insolvency proceedings. Findings: Through an examination of financial regulation practices in other leagues, three main findings are highlighted: The significance of required financial documents and deadlines varies depending on the competition organizer; some leagues utilize ratio-based assessments rather than relying solely on opinions from financial oversight bodies; certain leagues have established assistance processes for troubled clubs as opposed to punitive measures resulting in administrative regulations. Practical implications: This study proposes new financial regulation modalities to prevent the bankruptcy of French football clubs. Firstly, a reform management control is suggested. Secondly, the engagement of stakeholders in bankruptcy prevention is recommended. Lastly, the implementation of a dedicated policy to support clubs facing difficulties is proposed. Originality/value: The French football federation and the professional league are important actors in the European football. Many bankruptcies are noted in these championships and since the COVID crisis, the financial situation of the clubs has deteriorated, pointing to a strong risk of bankruptcy in the coming years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Germany's excessive current account surpluses mirror domestic problems. They are rooted in inequality and a weak home market, creating an overdependence on exports. Why, then, are policymakers so reluctant to reduce them? This paper argues that a contributing factor is the public misrepresentation of surpluses' domestic costs. Imbalances are narrated as distributional conflicts between countries, not within them; and bilateral trade is framed as a competition, where surplus countries win. The analysis reconstructs stakeholders' positions and discursive strategies through media narratives and Bundestag debates, using an original dataset of public statements. It finds evidence for a systematic bias disregarding the domestic losers of surpluses. Whenever imbalances are discussed, the triggering event is outside criticism, mainly from the European Commission and the US. The ensuing debate follows an 'us versus them' logic, where foreign critics clash with domestic defenders—mainly the government and export-sector organisations. The success narrative and identitarian discourse about an 'export nation' limits left-wing actors' room to move beyond incremental criticism. The analysis finds an effect of European integration exacerbating imbalances. Germans fend off critics by an arena-shifting strategy: pointing out that exchange rates and trade are European-level prerogatives, disregarding internal policy levers for rebalancing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the constitutional adjustments Kosovo should make in the EU accession process. Because European integration may necessitate fundamental changes in the constitutional principles, the paper will address them by offering concrete solutions to issues such as the primacy of EU law and the transfer of sovereignty. Issues related to human rights, such as the right to vote and to stand as a candidate at municipal elections and the right to freedom of movement. The path followed by other countries in the process of adapting their constitutions to EU law represents a very rich constitutional experience; therefore, this article clarifies concrete issues presented by the Kosovo Constitution. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]