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The present paper analyses one of the most important and discussed economic topics, namely foreign direct investments, from the point of view of their possible theoretical contingency with the gross domestic product per capita, which up to a certain extent stand for the welfare of a nation. Out of the 28 belonging to the European Union, six countries, the lowest ranked in respect to this indicator, namely: Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Latvia, Hungary and Poland, are analysed from the perspective of net FDI inflows and FDI inflow share in GDP. The results are construed in comparison with one another. The paper reveals that there is indeed a connection between the level of GDP per capita, the level of net FDI inflows and the living standard of the population, although sometimes such results are not strongly confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Although the debates about access to services of general interest have been at the core of the EU territorial cohesion discourse since the late 1990s, the impact of unequal accessibility to living conditions has yet be the subject of close inspection. The paper examines the relationship between the accessibility of services of general interest and demographic and socio‐economic conditions in a specific Czech region. The analysis reveals inter‐municipal disparities and identifies spatially excluded areas. Despite the negative association of insufficient access with education and depopulation characteristics, the results suggest that demographic and socio‐economic development stems from a more complex set of factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of the Great Recession (2008-2014) on the labor market profiles and integration process in the European Union (EU26) and in the 12 historical Eurozone countries.Design/methodology/approach This study assesses the impact of the crisis, and applies multivariate statistical methods containing a principal component analysis and an agglomerative hierarchical clustering. Two non-overlapping sub-periods are established: a pre-crisis (1999-2007) period and a crisis (2008-2014) period, and eight European indicators are considered.Findings The results are threefold. First, they bring strong evidence of a significant impact of the crisis on the process of integration. Second, they interestingly reveal more heterogeneity in the aftermath of the crisis across the EU countries, while more homogeneity across the Eurozone countries. Third, this apparent homogenization is accompanied by a polarization process into two main groups of countries including Spain, Portugal, Finland and the Netherlands in one group while the rest of the Eurozone in the other.Originality/value This study is unique as it does not only present a snapshot of the challenges posed by the Great Recession to the European Union and Eurozone labor market profiles, but it also assesses its impact on their integration process. In addition, using the, suitable yet ignored, multivariate statistical methods on the latest data to study such an impact is another contribution of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over time, people have focused their attention not only on faith and atheism, but also on the concept of religious tolerance. With the founding and expansion of the Islamic State, with the establishment of terrorist groups, formed and based on religious ideologies, the above-mentioned discussion has extended considerably. The information presented in this paper is meant to strengthen intercultural religious tolerance and provide support for debates on tolerance and acceptance of the diversity of faith and human security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is an in-depth analysis of the results of the Republic of Moldova within the Eastern Partnership in the light of the ―Eastern Partnership Index‖ study. For ten years, the Republic of Moldova has had different results in the Eastern Partnership, being considered even the ―success story‖ in a certain period of time, and then giving way to Ukraine and Georgia in certain areas of development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Between the end of 90s and the beginning of the new century, a political framework at European Union level has been established. This framework fosters the achievement of a common understanding of migrant integration and promotes mechanisms of coordination, funding, information exchange and "best practices" through the affected institutional levels, by means of soft law. In this paper I will analyse and discuss some of the most important consequences derived from the most important actors' understanding of "integration". I will use the case of "best practices" as an example, since they are considered as a fundamental tool within EU multi-level governance mechanisms. I will show that in the EU context, the very notion of integration has been constructed through an exercise of (apparent) depoliticization and technification, whose results are contradictory -since the political element often "returns" and manifests itself "at the bottom", "at the border" and "within" the technical element- and at the same time effective -since this exercise has been able to foster and shape certain ways of knowing, speaking and acting on migrant integration, naturalizing unequal power relations in society itself-. This paper is based on the empirical materials proceeding from the fieldwork done in Brussels between 2011 and 2012. It is made up of interviews done to the most important social and political actors within the EU integration framework, observations of various meetings and the reading of numerous sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and objective: Adherence to treatment in patients with psoriasis is often poor. An investigation of patient preferences and satisfaction with treatment may be important, based on the expected correlation with therapy compliance. This paper aims to examine and describe the current literature on patient preferences, satisfaction and adherence to treatment for psoriasis in the European Union (EU). Methods: Electronic searches were conducted using PubMed, ISI Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Spanish databases and Google Scholar. European studies published in English or Spanish between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2014 regarding patient-reported outcomes in psoriatic patients were included. Studies conducted in non-EU countries, letters to the editor, editorials, experts' opinions, case studies, congress proceedings, publications that did not differentiate between patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis or studies related to specific treatment were excluded. Results: A total of 1,769 titles were identified, of which 1,636 were excluded as they were duplicates or did not provide any relevant information. After a full-text reading and application of the inclusion/exclusion criteria, 46 publications were included. This paper will describe publications on adherence (n=4), preferences (n=5) and satisfaction with treatment (n=7). Results related to health-related quality of life articles (n=30) have been published elsewhere. Adherence rates are generally low in psoriasis patients regardless of the type of treatment, severity of disease or methods used to measure adherence. Biologic therapy is associated with greater clinical improvement. There is a direct association between physician recommendations, patient preferences and several domains of treatment satisfaction. Conclusion: The results of this review support the conclusion that adherence rates in patients with psoriasis are suboptimal and highlight the need to improve patient compliance and satisfaction with treatment. Patients' preferences should be taken into account in the treatment decision-making process in order to improve patients' clinical outcomes by ensuring satisfaction and adherence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The border can no longer be understood as a line demarcating a State's sovereignty. On the contrary, border production, that is, border deployment via multiple spaces that are internal and external to the State itself, brings about a recomposition of sovereign power. Taking the EU framework as a case study, this paper examines this recomposition based on its interweaving with the security ethos. The border emerges as a shifting geography of imprecise limits through which processes of capturing spaces and subjectivities are activated. This capture, which combines increasingly extensive and invasive surveillance with militarised control rationales, is one of the most notorious manifestations of a securitarian act that is legitimised in the bio-necro-political management of a migrant subjectivity that is seen, largely, in terms of risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The use of sludge in agriculture within the European Union (EU) is currently regulated only by the limits of heavy metals (Cd, Cu, Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn) listed in Council Directive 86/278/EEC. This document is now more than 30 years old. Several European countries have introduced more stringent requirements in comparison with the directive, and have adopted limits for concentrations of other heavy metals, synthetic organic compounds and microbial contamination. The paper provides an overview of the current limits of these substances in sewage sludge and concentration limits of heavy metals in soil intended for sludge application, together with applicable laws and regulations in European Union countries. There is a need to update these regulations taking into account the current risks associated with the application of sludge to agricultural land, with the possibility of using ecotoxicological tests to assess the risks. A wide range of technologies for sewage sludge processing is used in EU countries. The predominant choice is a direct application in agriculture followed by composting. The use of sewage sludge in agriculture in 2014 and 2015 in 13 EU countries that provided data amounted to 22.6% (2014) and 22.1% (2015) of produced sludge and 23.3% (2014) and 23.1% (2015) of sludge disposed. It is also highly variable within EU countries ranging between zero (Malta, Slovenia, Slovakia) and 80% (Ireland). Over 50% of sewage sludge is used in agriculture in Bulgaria according to 2015 data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remittances or money transfers set by migrants to the country of origin are considered to be one of the welfare channels with a potential to influence macroeconomics indicators. The aim of our paper is to analyse migration and remittance behaviour of Ukrainian migrants in the context of the EU. Our study is based on the questionnaire survey inspired by similar projects in Latin America and Mexico. The paper's main contribution and value-added is in the detailed analysis of the topic that distinguishes different forms of remittances using the statistical summary of the data. According to our findings, the probability and amount remitted are determined by demographic factors and the direction of effects differs in the case of regular and one-time payments. Altruism and business financing come through as the primary motives to remit. Ukrainian remittances appear to be transferred by informal channels into the productive forms of consumption. A procurement of skilled position is positively influenced by human capital factors but is also reflected in the labour market situation in the destination country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Trust" is a versatile instrument which is suitable for a great variety of purposes. Many scholars believe, that the original form of this institution appeared in common law, while in the 20th century the process of globalization stipulated the "internationalization" of the trust mechanism. The starting point of this process was the conclusion of the Hague Convention on the Law Applicable to Trusts and on their Recognition. Initially, the civil law jurisdictions were unable to adopt "trust" structure in which common-law power and equity power belonged to separate entities. Despite this fact, in the recent years, trust-like devices have been introduced in certain economic-juridical systems of Europe. Their rapid implementation raised the question of the establishment of innovative policies. This paper will discuss the latest achievements and existing challenges based on the example of the German juridical-economic system. The aim is to make useful proposals for the successful planning of the European entrusting processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the role of the European Union in the human rights protection, implementation and promotion in Serbia. It is clear that the EU demands on democratization in the region of Western Balkans are crucial to achieve the respect for human rights. The human rights standards as part of the conditionality criteria of the EU is a clear message towards the countries aspiring membership. However, Serbia progress in the field has been difficult due to several internal constraints. This paper aims to uncover the democratisation process of Serbia on its path towards the EU, and its progress (or not) regarding human rights protection and implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The European Union (EU) and its European neighbourhood are mutually dependent. In the next decades, the EU will need to import foreign labour in response to different challenges. The geographical proximity, economic, cultural and historical links with EU Neighbouring countries make them an important potential source of labour force and, moreover, they are the main countries of origin and transit of legal and illegal migration towards Europe. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of different EU policies on future migration flows, and to evaluate the current effect of immigration from neighbouring countries on EU labour markets. Design/methodology/approach – The papers in this Special Issue combine different macro and micro approaches, and have been produced in the context of the seventhth Framework Programme EU-funded SEARCH project. The main objective of this project is to strengthen the integration process by analysing current and future trends in several areas covering trade, migration or institutional reforms among others. The first three papers focus on the analysis of the determinants of migration flows, the next four are related to immigrants’ integration and the last one explores the trade-migration link. Findings – The evidence gathered in this Special Issue is of interest to academics and policy makers. For instance, at the aggregate level there is a need to coordinate EU migration policies with reforms in other areas such as labour market institutions or welfare systems, but also to take into account developments in immigrants’ countries of origin. Policy should focus on assessing the skills levels of immigrants and providing assistance in transferring their skills, but also on providing better information of the current needs in the EU labour markets. Originality/value – The Special Issue adds to the literature on the determinants of migration and on the integration of immigrants into EU labour markets. These papers contribute to a better understanding of the complex link between the EU and the Neighbouring countries. They also leave open many questions that should clearly stimulate future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the determinants of immigration from European Neighborhood (EN) and new member states to the EU core countries over the period 2000-2010. Apart from income differentials, unemployment rates and other standard variables hypothesized to determine immigration, the paper focusses attention on welfare-chasing as well as measures to enforce immigration policy. Using a variant of the gravity model, the paper investigates whether tests of these hypotheses are robust with respect to spatial misspecification. Design/methodology/approach – The determinants of migration from the European Neighborhood and new member states to the EU core countries is estimated using a spatial variant of the gravity model. The methodology is used for both multilateral and spatial flows. Gravity model estimations are presented for immigration into the EU core destinations using standard, non-spatial econometrics, as well as spatial econometrics for single and double-spatial dynamics. Findings – Immigration to EU core countries varies directly with the change in social spending per head in the destination. This result stands out in all the models, both OLS and spatial. Immigrants are attracted by economic inequality as measured by the Gini coefficient. However, in this case it is the level that matters rather than its change. No evidence is found that the threat of apprehension at the destination deters migrants from the European Neighborhood and other countries. Research limitations/implications – The authors assume multilateralism is spatial. This means that everything else given, destinations are closer substitutes the nearer they are, and that immigration shocks are likely to be more correlated among origins the closer they are. This implicit assumption is restrictive because multilateralism is just spatial. Social implications – While immigration to EU core countries varies directly with the change in (not level of) social spending per head. If a given country becomes more benevolent it attracts more immigration. The results suggest that if during 2000-2010 social spending per capita grew by 1 percent, the immigration rate increased by between 1 and 2 percentage points relative to the number of foreign-born in 2000. This is a large demographic effect. Originality/value – Uniquely, this paper does not assume immigration flows are independent and stresses their spatial and multilateral nature. A series of new non-spatial and spatial (single and double-spatial lag) models are used to empirically test hypotheses about the determinants of immigration to the EU core countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union has been attaching great importance to the values of democracy and human rights in its external policy, including to its relationship with candidate countries seeking membership in the Union. In accordance with the significance of the values stipulated by the Copenhagen political criteria, as well, it urges the countries in question, for example, to build or strengthen national oversight mechanisms that are tasked to promote the democratic governance of the state and protect human rights. This paper examines one of those oversight mechanisms - ombudsman institutions - in the candidate states conducting accession negotiations with the EU. It specifically scrutinises a fundamental characteristic for the effective functioning of these institutions - the jurisdiction and powers granted by their statutes. Relying on the findings to be noted, the paper also seeks an answer to the question of which ombudsman institution(s) score(s) better in terms of effectiveness and thus play(s) a more significant role in the improvement and consolidation of democracy and protection of human rights in its or their countries, and as a result, contribute(s) more to the fulfilment of Copenhagen political criteria during the EU accession processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

“The greatest improvement in the productive powers of labor, and the greater part of the skill, dexterity, and judgment with which it is anywhere directed, or applied, seem to have been the effects of the division of labor” is the opening sentence of Adam Smith's Wealth of Nations. According to Smith market dimension determines the level of specialization. Specialization implies more knowledge. The final result is higher growth. After Smith economists did not pay any more attention to human capital. Their attention was kept by population (Malthus) or by physical capital stock (neoclassic school). At the beginning of the sixties of the XX century Gary Backer published his fundamental contribution to the theory of human capital. This paper examines the basic features of Backer's model. The focus is on how a country can generate a competitive advantage in the production of human capital. Human capital has grown rapidly in both US and EU where represents a wide fraction of total capital. Investment in education is thus more and more the core engine of long run growth. Subsequently on the base of Backer's theory the paper examines the case of EU and “Europe 2020” strategy. Final considerations will deal with Turkey's economic development and the need for a quality education policy, based on investments and on market incentives, bound to guarantee growth sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper aims to analyze the impact the economic crisis bursted out in the United States at the end of 2007 and quasi spreaded all over the world had on the (re) orientation of trade flows (exports) among European Union member states in general, and Romania in particular. As observation and analysis data tool we chose groupings, tabular and graphical representation. The analysis will be conducted at individual and group of countries levels. The main findings will show that although the geographic network of member states trade has been seriously shaken by the crisis, export flows orientatio remained quite similar to the period previous to economic decline. As for Romania, its exports prove to be influenced by the economic situation of the main European partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The complexity of the monetary phenomenon as well as the effects that it induces in the social and economic life of the countries around the world have represented and still represent the subject of much controversy and dispute. The current forms of the monetary circulation organization in different countries, internationally as well, represent the result of a continuous process of changes and innovations in the monetary area. The purpose of this article is to present aspects of the monetary policy and its instruments which have evolved according to the historical conditions of each period. The paper is also a presentation of effectiveness and limits of the monetary policy instruments and their role in solving the current economic problems for which the governments seek solutions. As a consequence to the analysis, it can be seen that in most cases it uses a mixture of monetary policy instruments because, when acting in a complementary way, they have a higher efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health represents both a personal and social asset different valued by individuals and populations. Personal education, previous experience, sex, income or housing variables contribute to a higher or lower prioritization of health care. Different actors interfere their forces and interests in this area: industry is interested in profit, administration is interested in a healthier and productive population, politicians are interested in accomplishing their agenda, patients want to pay less and receive more benefits etc. As European Union is still very inhomogeneous in terms of wealth, education or previous experience with health sector is clear that a large pool of differences could observed among EU28 countries. Objectives. In this paper we are analyzing EU official statistical data to understand these differences and find practical conclusions for what Romanian health system intend to be. Methods. Analyses of EU statistics public available in Eurostat directory. Results. We analyzed how developed and what are the outcomes of EU health sector with a focus on Romania and rheumatology field. Discussions and conclusions. There is no a clear link between different components of health sector and the way these are financed and the outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concepts of sustainability and sustainable development (SD) are often used by policy-makers, stakeholders and the private sector, as a ‘selling point’ for their agendas and goals. Thanks to the wide, but also self-interpretive definition, the concepts allow various actors to make related pledges without necessarily undertaking any significant changes to their existing policies, strategies and actions. The purpose of this paper is to critically analyse the meaning of and approaches to sustainability and SD, which are being adopted and/or reformulated in the newly emerging bioeconomy policy debate of the European Union (EU). Understanding these concepts is crucially important given the growing importance of and adherence to bioeconomy-based policies and strategies by both individual EU Member States and the EU as a whole. The way bioeconomy policies perceive sustainability and SD as concepts will have profound implications not only on a practical level for policy implementation, but also on a conceptual level and for theoretical discourses surrounding sustainability and SD. The policy and narrative analyses illustrate that the current EU bioeconomy policy leans strongly towards prudentially conservationist, utilitarian and instrumental approaches to SD, as well as towards weak sustainability. We argue that a balance between environmental, social and economic dimensions – as introduced in the Brundtland report – is missing within the EU bioeconomy policy framework, since economic dimensions and concerns prevail over environmental and social dimensions. In the light of possible negative consequences of biomass production, we foresee an urgent need to define and broaden the scope of bioeconomy, as well as to include environmental and social concerns and safeguards. To tackle the shared challenges and constraints modern societies face today, a broader definition of sustainability needs to be adopted within the EU bioeconomy policy framework. Issues such as social justice, fairness and equity, social and environmental safeguards and local traditional knowledge in various concerned sectors should be taken into consideration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU produces and exports various types of cheese to all over the world. French, Dutch and Italian cheeses are very special and famous worldwide. By contrast, to date, the analysis of the competitiveness of EU cheese trade is understudied in the literature. Therefore, our paper is focusing on the evaluation of trade competitiveness in European cheese sector. First, our study analyses the revealed comparative advantages among the major European cheese producers by Balassa indices between 1990 and 2013. Second, we aim to explore the duration and stability of indices by the help of lagged indices and calculating Kaplan-Meier survival functions. Our results suggest that European cheese export is mainly internal in nature and highly concentrated. Regarding comparative advantages, indicators suggest that the Netherlands, Denmark, and Cyprus were the most competitive cheese traders in the EU. However, the survivor analysis revealed that the comparative advantages were very stable for the countries selected the overall stability of EU cheese trade had a declining tendency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we propose to evaluate the impact of intermodal connectivity of transport infrastructure on net exports in the European Union. In this context, we will test the hypothesis that the intermodal capacity development has the effect of increasing net exports. The impact assessment pursues two objectives: quantifying the extent to which intermodal connections help the balancing of net exports of European states and identifying the areas where infrastructural deficit has an impact on trade deficit in order to prioritize the infrastructure development interconnections. The volume of net exports is influenced by the degree of interconnection of transport infrastructure, which gives the intermodal nodes the role of cohesion agents at the community level. On the other hand, the integration into the global economy fosters improvements in net trade, fact revealed by the correlation between the KOF Index of globalization and the values of net exports. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the deep causes of the crisis the European Union is going through. The main argument is that the current decision-making mechanism of the EU dominated by the member states is unsustainable and needs to be revised. The ability of member states to block decisions in the crucial EU institutions - the European Council and Council - is a major weakness which makes the decisionmaking process extremely slow and ineffective during crises and external pressures. Three different alternatives for reforms of the EU decision-making are presented which include a transition towards a parliamentarian or a presidential system. These alternatives are evaluated according to their potential to overcome the weaknesses the current system is suffering. The main weakness of a parliamentary system at EU level consists in the risk of instability of the Commission due to the fragmentation in the European parliament. The adoption of a presidential system with a directly elected European President might solve most of the present problems of the EU. This solution however lacks the support of the member states who will take the final decision and only a strong public support may increase the chances for such reforms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nutritional values of different foodstuffs have been examined in various studies on a number of occasions. However, so far, little attention has been paid to the legal aspects of introducing edible insects in the European Union. Yet, the rearing of this mini-livestock for food and feed has a potential of developing into a new agricultural sector, which is sustainable, unlike the breeding of the traditional livestock. The aim of this paper is to provide a comprehensive overview of the legal background of authorizing edible insects in the European Union, taking into account the environmental impacts thereof. At present, the Member States are free to regulate this field, however, only until the transitional period established by the European Union (EU) rules has expired, since the EU wide regulation for authorizing edible insects is to be introduced as of 1st January 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes links between eco-innovation performance and selected competitiveness issues perceived by managers in the 26 EU member states. Different dimensions of eco-innovation performance in individual EU member states were examined based on the Eco-Innovation Scoreboard. The country-specific data on selected competitiveness issues were obtained from the survey of business leaders carried out by the IMD World Competitiveness Center. The data on the Summary Innovation Index applied in the European Innovation Scoreboard were also used. The results of the cross-country analysis indicated that overall eco-innovation performance is strongly correlated with ethical practices, social responsibility of business leaders, health, safety and environmental concerns, as well as with corporate values. Moreover, it was found that the lack of pollution problems affecting economy, credibility of managers in society, environmental laws that do not hinder competitiveness of businesses, positive attitudes toward globalization in society, sustainable development being a priority in companies, and need for economic and social reforms are of particular importance in achieving better eco-innovation performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The way a government should intervene in a market economy is and has always been, a most fierce debate addressing the core hypotheses of economics. Sometimes crisis emerge from lack of intervention from governments and other times they emerge from over intervention. Any economic crisis should be a strong indication for authorities that something went wrong with the regulating framework or with their economic decisions and operations that temporarily confused the markets and cripple their natural abilities to allocate resources in an optimum manner. In the last decade, many things have changed in EU and around the world because of the global economic and financial crisis that started in 2007 in US. This paper proposes a critical analysis of some of the main changes in the European Union macroeconomic framework driven by the recent crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the idea of analyzing the impact of the economic freedom on national economic development. In order to realize this, the analysis is focused on three steps. For the beginning, we determined the place of the EU28 in the global economic freedom approach using the Index of economic freedom and the comparative analysis. The second step of the analysis consists of a TwoStep cluster analysis, supported by SPSS19 software, which is realized in order to support the idea that the economic freedom, connected to the economic development, created three clusters from the Member States. The clustering criterion is BIC (Schwarz's Bayesian Criterion). Finally, the analysis is focused on a forecast of the index of economic freedom till the end of 2020, in order to observe if the disparities across the world economy. The dependent variables in this forecast are the economic freedom rates and the independent variable is time. The forecast method is ARIMA. Whole analysis process and all conclusions of the paper are supported by the latest official statistic data, pertinent tables and diagrams. The main conclusion of the paper is that the economic freedom supports the economic development. Its global trend was positive in 2013-2014. There is not global economic actor in world top 10 according index of the economic freedom. Only two Member States are ranked on the global top 10. Moreover, there are great disparities across the EU28 related to the economic freedom. As a result, the Member States can be grouped into three different clusters. Romania will have a positive trend of the economic freedom score until 2020, better than the global trend of this index. The disparities between EU Member States will not be fixed on short and medium term and the solutions seem to be found at national level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Southern European countries have come to constitute the most vulnerable external border of the European Union (EU) over the last decade. Irregular migration pressures have been acutely felt on the EU's southern sea borders, and particularly on four sets of islands: Canary Islands (Spain), Lampedusa and Linosa (Italy), Malta, and Aegean Islands (Greece). This quartet is, to a large extent, used as stepping stones by irregular migrants and asylum seekers to reach the European continent. This paper studies the role of these islands as 'outposts' of a framework of externalization. It starts by discussing the notion of externalization and its different facets. It considers how externalization is linked to both fencing and gate-keeping strategies of migration and asylum control. The second part of the paper focuses on the special role of the island quartet with respect to the externalization web cast by national and EU-wide migration policies. It concludes with a critical reflection on the multi-level character of externalization policies and practices that occur both within the EU and between the EU and third countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of economic energy policy is more relevant to International Relations today because of the increase in energy interdependence and its interaction with other issues on the international agenda, climate change in particular. This paper will analyze the progress made and the obstacles that lie ahead for energy policy in the European Union (EU). The objective is to identify the factors that have led the European Commission, especially after 2005, to unleash an remarkable degree of activism in the energy area, despite the lack of an official forum for the establishment of a common energy policy. This resulted in an innovative and ambitious European legislative program, which is examined in this paper and evaluated on the basis of official documents, the recent literature and qualitative interviews with around twenty policymakers and analysts, carried out in Brussels in September 2012. It was clear that the discussion of climate change changed the view of energy issues. The fact that the EU as a whole has a growing energy deficit increased the relevance of the issue of security and also stimulated the search for alternative sources, at the same time that it placed conditions on its external relations, especially with Russia. Important progress was made, in particular with regard to the establishment of strict mandatory standards for the countries that were members of the Energy-Climate Agreement, that justified the leadership role that the EU began to assume in international climate discussions. The search for community responses and convergence among the objectives related to climate change, energy security and economic competitive position suffered enormous pressure with the impact of the global crisis after September 2008. The crisis revealed an institutional framework that was still fragile and, in the context of a recession, ended up reinforcing centrifugal trends around national interests and strategies. At the same time, this made the realization of the investments necessary to move forward with the implementation of policies in the energy and climate area more complicated. On the other hand, there is an undeniable and strong interdependence among the economies in the block, and the European Commission has insisted on defending the gains that could be achieved with community actions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is a large literature regarding the measurement of competitiveness, the more recent ones focusing on the external sustainable competitiveness. This is done in the context of major changes registered in the human society due to climate changes, the limits of resources, the globalization of the economy and the economic-financial crisis. The measurement of the external competitiveness is a process intrinsically connected with the concept of competitiveness, a concept which proves to be difficult to formulate in a unitary perspective due to its complexity and the large array of factors which influence it. In this context, the paper focuses on the methodology of the European Union and of the World Economic Forum regarding the sustainable competitiveness underlying the advantages and limits of using a composed index versus a price measurement using the real exchange rate. The composed indexes offer a picture of the past competitiveness and the price measurement facilitate the long term projection of competitiveness. In this context, the paper suggests an answer regarding the possibility of using both of the techniques to connect the information regarding the past competitiveness with the future competitiveness reflected by the price evolution. The connection is reflected by the coherency between the two measurements but also by the structure of the indicators constructed. The paper suggests a hypothesis that this structure offers valuable information on how the connection between the two measurements can be done in a coherent way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The„ays of the sea”pt was formed with the aim of reducing road congestion through modal shift on environmental friendly and cost effective seaways and should be of great importance for Member States of the European Union. The mentioned concept, through development project Adriatic Motorways of the Sea (AdriaticMoS) within defined corridors of East Mediterranean Motorways of the Sea, also represents an important segment of the Croatian transport integration in the European transport system. In addition to the already mentioned concept, project „ays of the sea”alyzed in this paper as a project whose implementation would significantly contribute to the optimization of the cargo flows structure. In this context, this paper highlights all the objective advantages and importance of short sea shipping and the „ays of the sea”nalyzes these corridors in the European Union, in particular those in Southwestern and Southeastern Europe, which are important for The Republic of Croatia traffic prosperity. The results, which come from a comparative analysis of the geotraffic structure of cargo flows to The European Union and The Republic of Croatia, indicate significant conclusions about optimisation possibilities of the cargo flows structure towards territorial orientation, transport modes and types. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aimed to analyze the major trade flows in the E.U. textile and clothing industry in close connection with the future development of sericiculture using the data provided by EU Market Access Data Base for the period 2007-2011.The world market of textile and clothing is divided into two parts: raw material providers mainly situated in Asia, but also in South America and large processors situated in the E.U. such as Italy, France, United Kingdom and Spain, whose contribution to the EU production is 75 %. The main E.U. supplier of raw material for textile and clothing industry is China, followed by India, Bangladesh, Turkey and Brazil. About 33 % of the E.U. production of textile and garments is successfully exported as long as demand/offer ratio is unbalanced at world level. Import and export price have substantially increased. At present, the EU is the 2nd silk products exporter in the world. The new E.U. policy strategy regarding sericiculture is focused on the stimulation of silk worm rearing for producing cocoons mainly in Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Spain, France and Romania where climate conditions are favorable, it is a long tradition in the field and rural population needs jobs. At the same time, the E.U. is focused on technology improvement and silk product design in order to create more value added and increase export and sales. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aimed to analyze the dynamics of the EU-27 tourism in the period 2006-2011, based on Euro Stat data, processed by usual quantitative methods. The EU-27 is a top tourism destination in Europe and at global level. In 2011, it recorded 1,054 million holiday trips made by its citizen, of which 76 % domestic trips, with an average trip length of 5.4 nights and tourism intensity 4.8 night per resident. The EU citizens spent abroad 2,263,239 thousand nights. The top 10 EU tourism destinations are France, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom, Germany, Greece and Austria. The EU-27 earned Euro 252,032 Millions from tourism and spent Euro 252,032 million for tourism. As a conclusion, the EU-27 will remain a top destination in the world and will have a significant contribution to the development of international tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adequate performance assessment benefits from the use of disaggregated data to allow a proper evaluation of health systems. Since routinely collected data are usually not disaggregated enough to allow stratified analyses of healthcare needs, utilisation, cost and quality across different sectors, international research projects could fill this gap by exploring means to data collection or even providing individual-level data. The aim of this paper is therefore to (1) study the availability and accessibility of relevant European-funded health projects, and (2) to analyse their contents and methodologies.Methods: The European Commission Public Health Projects Database and CORDIS were searched for eligible projects, which were then analysed by information openly available online.Results: Overall, only a few of the 39 identified projects produced data useful for proper performance assessment, due to, for example, lacking available or accessible data, or poor linkage of health status to costs and patient experiences. Other problems were insufficient databases to identify projects and poor communication of project contents and results.Conclusions: A new approach is necessary to improve accessibility to and coverage of data on outcomes, quality and costs of health systems enabling decision-makers and health professionals to properly assess performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzed some of the reasons why Britain participated only half-way in the European Union and ended up voting for Bremen on 23 June 2016. It also examines the options open to the European Union and Great Britain. Europe must show that it can work by showing results. In Britain it is necessary to break the established molds of thought and reshape the structure of political parties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the use of enhanced cooperation in the creation of a European Union patent system. It assesses whether the legal requirements for the application of enhanced cooperation are fulfilled, and it does so in the light of the arguments raised by Italy and Spain in their actions for annulment brought before the European Court of Justice. The paper goes on to analyse whether the proposed patent system complies with the invoked legal basis, which requires the introduction of a new intellectual property right. If the answer is negative, possible ways to correct this mistake will be assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper undertakes a textual and documentary analysis of the Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products Regulation, which was passed into law in the European Union (EU) in 2007. This law is significant for the development of regenerative medicine in the EU and globally. Regulatory texts such as this one provide significant material for addressing key concerns in recent theorising about innovative technologies in socio-legal studies, innovation studies, and science and technology studies. These concerns include expectations about future technologies and economic sector-building. By revisiting philosopher J.L. Austin’s well-known work on How to Do Things with Words, this paper deploys his concepts of performative utterances to inform its analysis. Pursuing Austin’s and later commentators’ analysis of performatives in language use, and drawing on Lindsay Prior’s application of actor-network theory to documents, the analysis shows two different types of performativity at work in and through the document. These are termed ‘generative’ and ‘enactive’ performativity. The ‘enactive’ type includes ‘legislative’ and ‘social’ forms. In addition, a more conventional content analysis reveals a range of actions, both legislative and discursive, in the regulatory document. The analysis shows a tension between standardisation and imprecision in the conceptual detailing of the document. Legislative texts produced through established politico-legal conventions are a special class of document that should be accorded a more prominent place in understanding the role of political governance processes in shaping emergent technoscientific fields and sectors. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Transport infrastructure has represented one of the cornerstones of development and cohesion strategies in the European Union (EU) and elsewhere in the world. However, despite the considerable funds devoted to it, its impact remains controversial. This paper revisits the question of to what extent transport infrastructure endowment - proxied by regional motorways - has contributed to regional growth in the EU between 1990 and 2004. It analyses infrastructure in relationship to other factors which may condition economic growth, such as innovation, migration, and the local 'social filter', taking also into account the geographical component of intervention in transport infrastructure and innovation. The results of the two-way fixed-effect (static) and difference GMM (dynamic) panel data regressions indicate that infrastructure endowment is a relatively poor predictor of economic growth and that regional growth in the EU results from a combination of an adequate 'social filter', good innovation capacity, both in the region and in neighbouring areas, and a region's capacity to attract migrants. The meagre returns of infrastructure endowment on economic growth raise interesting questions about the opportunity costs of further infrastructure investments across most of Western Europe. Resumen La infraestructura de transporte ha venido siendo una de las piedras angulares de las estrategias de desarrollo y cohesión en la Unión Europea ( UE) y el resto del mundo. Sin embargo, y a pesar de los considerables recursos que se le ha dedicado, su impacto es un tema controvertido. Este artículo revisa el interrogante de hasta que punto ha contribuido la dotación de infraestructura de transporte - representada por las autopistas regionales - al crecimiento regional en la UE entre 1990 y 2004. Se analiza la infraestructura en relación a otros factores que podrían condicionar el crecimiento económico, como la innovación, la migración, y el 'filtro social' local, teniendo en cuenta asimismo el componente geográfico de la intervención en la infraestructura de transporte y la innovación. Los resultados de las regresiones de datos de panel de efectos fijos (método estático) de doble vía y MGM por diferencias (método dinámico) indican que la dotación de infraestructura es un pobre indicador del crecimiento económico y que el crecimiento regional en la UE tiene su origen en una combinación de un 'filtro social' adecuado, en una buena capacidad innovadora tanto en la región como en áreas vecinas, y en la capacidad de la región de atraer migración. Los escasos retornos para el crecimiento económico de la dotación de infraestructura suscitan cuestiones interesantes sobre los costos de oportunidad de futuras inversiones en infraestructura para la mayoría de Europa Occidental. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the causal relation between the stock markets development and economic growth in the EU countries. In particular, the nature and causality direction is investigated. Panel data techniques including cointegration tests, vector error correction models and Granger causality tests were applied to indicate the nature and direction of causality. Long-run effects of the economic growth upon stock market development was detected in the sample of the Euro area member countries. In addition, the short-run mutual relations between growth and stock markets were indicated in that country-sample. In the non-Euro area countries, only short-run impact of the stock market development upon economic growth was found. The empirical findings bring up implications for macroeconomic stabilization and development policies. The indicated relations also play a role in predicting economic growth and stock markets' development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of grants received by companies on the formation of a business model. The study covered micro, small and medium-sized enterprises based in rural areas, which received support in the form of investment grants within the Regional Operational Programmes 2007-2013 for northern Poland. The research was done using a direct survey method, and covered a total of 155 companies. The results of the study indicate that the grant obtained affected implicitly the modification of the business model elements that are placed on the left side of the template of the Business Model Canvas. However, the tendency of enterprises to undertake an innovative activity usually means changes in their business model both on the left and right side. The greatest strength of the dependence was observed in the case of relationship between the size of the company and changes in the model elements. Mediumsized enterprises were the most active in this respect, when compared to comparison to micro and small businesses, and changed the largest number of elements of the business model due to the obtained grant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aimed to evaluate the level of development of agriculture in 25 member states of the European Union (EU) in 2010-2013. The analysis was carried out using the development model proposed by Hellwig, which enabled the calculation of a single synthetic aggregate measure based on the characteristics of agriculture in respective countries. This made it possible to compare the analysed member states, thus providing the basis for allocating them to uniform groups characterised by a similar level of agricultural development. The results indicate that the Netherlands and Denmark are the countries with the highest level of agricultural development. The studies also show that the worst level of development in the ranking is presented primarily by the member states that acceded to the EU in 2004 and later, with agriculture in Slovakia and the Czech Republic being an exception. The diversification of the values of synthetic measure in respective member states points to a considerable diversification of agricultural development within the EU, which is determined both by the production potential and the effectiveness of its utilisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with EU policies towards its eastern periphery, focusing on the Western Balkans and South Caucasus. Departing from a comparative approach, the paper argues that the establishment of a regional normative order, with clear goals of stabilization through variable geometry integration, has found clear limits. The paper flashes out these dynamics and establishes important lessons to be learned from the European approach to the Balkans and the Caucasus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to give an insight into the link between corruption and the implementation of structural and cohesion funds in Romania and the other Central and Eastern European states (CEE). Although there is a great interest within the mass-media and the civil society for this topic, very few in-depth analyses have been carried out on this subject by independent researchers. This article starts with an evaluation on the various indicators and indexes that quantify corruption, continuing with a comparison at a regional level. Afterwards, the analysis continues with a brief assessment on the implementation of structural funds in Romania and the other CEE states. What we have found by analysing the corruption indices and absorption rates for 7 European Union member states is that there is a strong link between the two phenomena: states with high levels of corruption benefit less from structural and cohesion funds having lower absorption rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Islamic banking is a relative young industry, with a high rate of growth, which in the last years became a highly discussed subject, due to the challenges and opportunities that it brings. Due to the fact, that in the last decade, the Islamic banking made its presence in the European Union market, too, in this paper we try to describe the main features of the Islamic banking transactions and to identify the challenges and opportunities that its brings [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the distributional implications of environmental tax reform (ETR) for households, and presents new results from modelling the impacts of a major ETR for the European Union. The distributional effects arise from the new environmental taxes, any tax reductions made as part of the ETR, the wider macroeconomic impacts from the ETR, any special provisions in the ETR, and the environmental benefits from the ETR. The paper's literature review makes clear that while the impacts from taxes on the household use of energy are very often regressive, transport taxes tend not to be, although the impacts differ between urban and rural households. Moreover, the net distributional impact is often less regressive, or not at all, once the wider distributional effects are taken into account. Residual regressive effects can in principle be removed by further adjustments in the tax or benefits system. The modelling results suggest that an ETR in Europe will actually increase real incomes across the EU as a whole, and will not be generally regressive, although the results differ by country and for different socio-economic groups. The political acceptability of ETR may depend on the worst effects on these groups being mitigated in some way. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

In the context of the growing importance of the cooperation for development in the European Union and the appearance of a common growing public opinion agreement supporting this kind of initiatives, it is necessary to understand if we can talk today about a true common European policy. Still covered on intergovernmental level and considered to be a part of the national foreign policies, EU development aid is still far from reaching the maximum of its efficiency. In this paper we try to introduce a new evaluation method of the cooperation for development policies and interpretation of the degree of Europeanization of the national policies, starting from the case studies of France, the Czech Republic and Romania, that will enable us to appreciate the stages that have to be completed by the member countries but also by the EU to realize a completely uniform European foreign assistance strategy. The understanding of the European development aid environment is also necessary for the elaboration and the implementation of the Romanian development cooperation policy which is just taking its first steps as an international donor [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically analyses EU law on patient mobility, which has developed in the last decade. It covers the European Court of Justice case law applying internal market rules to social security coverage of foreign health treatment, its relationship with the EU rules on the co-ordination of social security systems, and the recent attempts at codifying the case law. The most recent EFTA Court judgment in the Rindal case, and its potential effects on EU law if the Court of Justice adopts the same reasoning in the pending Elchinov case, are investigated. The aim of this paper is to demonstrate the implications of EU law on patient mobility on national social security systems, namely their autonomy to define the scope of their coverage of health care treatment, and the consequences, within the framework of EU law, of applying certain legal techniques to define their social packages. Special emphasis is put on the new EU Member States and Croatia. It is argued that these states are in a particularly delicate position in relation to EU law in terms of maintaining the financial stability and the social (in terms of solidarity) character of their social security systems. The paper proposes certain solutions to accomplish a twofold objective: improving legal certainty at the European level (thus facilitating the free movement of patients), while, at the same time, respecting the Member States' freedom to organise their social systems, in order to protect the solidarity on which those systems are based. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon and the Charter of Fundamental Rights was accompanied by scepticism on the part of some Member States regarding the widening of the Union's competences on the basis of the Charter. Although certain safeguards were provided within the Treaties and the Charter, the United Kingdom and Poland signed the Protocol on the application of the Charter that was often referred to as an opt-out. This paper will try to define its legal character, show the reasons that motivated the State to sign it (and discuss the justification) and give an answer to what the consequences of the Protocol will be for the protection of fundamental rights -- all from the Polish perspective. Since it will be shown that the Protocol will not play a significant role in practice, the paper will also focus on other issues that arose within the 'Protocol context', particularly the question of the effectiveness of EU law within the diversity that exists among Member States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of positive conditionality has been seen as 'the golden carrot' of the EU's external relations, enlargement and neighbourhood policies. Regarded as a mutually important and valuable method of partnership between the EU and its partner countries to develop social, political and economic progress with an effective motivation system, positive conditionality is nowadays used in areas ranging from development cooperation to neighbourhood policy, and most successfully in the enlargement agenda. The EU and its member states have characterised conditionality as a functional cooperation or pre-accession method of integration, where guidance and strict rules are needed to provide effective convergence with the EU and to support transitional societies in the modernisation process. The motivation of conditionality has been characterised as functional and in the mutual interests of both the target states and the EU. This paper will study the driving force behind the pre-accession conditionality from the first to fifth enlargements: has it been a neo-functional motive to support the fulfilment of accession criteria by candidates, or a neo-imperial motive to use the accession conditionality mainly in the interests of the existing member states to fix their advantages in economic and political affairs? This paper will offer a comparative analysis on the pre-accession situation, conditionality levels and argumentation of motivation for the first five EU enlargements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]