Search

The Chernobyl events of 26 April 1986 and of Fukushima, on March 2011, reinforced the nuclear dimension of the EU energy policy by conducting a comprehensive exercise of resistance tests on nuclear installations in the European Union (and neighboring countries) during the period 2011 and subsequently with the adoption of the Council Directive 2014/87/EURATOM (2014) amending Council Directive 2009/71/ EURATOM (2009) establishing a Community framework for the safety of nuclear installations. This paper addresses some aspects specific to the Seismic Qualification Standards of the Electro-Energetic Command and Control Equipment for the Cernavoda Nuclear Power Plant, the main aspects of which include: a) Defining the seismic class of the equipment, b) Preliminary investigations, c) Seismic qualification, d) Final investigations, e) Conditions of seismic acceptance and qualification. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of trust is key to effectively enforcing the EU antitrust prohibitions in the ECN multi-level administration context. The manifestation of this concept is identified at different stages of the public enforcement system, where the Commission and the NCAs share the enforcement workload and assist each other's actions. Various EU legislative, soft-law and case-law landmarks have progressively contributed to developing this idea of trust, culminating with the adoption of Directive 2019/1, which aims to render NCAs as more effective enforcers of Articles 101 and 102 TFEU. In this paper, we intend to determine whether the Directive furthers the trust already established in the last fifteen years of enforcement experience. We first track the development of the trust in the NCAs' EU antitrust enforcement work and assesses the building-blocks on which trust is shaped. Next, we evaluate the Directive's core elements (dealing with institutional design, enforcement and sanctioning powers, leniency, mutual assistance, etc.), in order to gauge their trust-enhancing potential, and to test whether the Directive correctly follows through the EU hard-, soft-, and case-law. We also look into any remaining enforcement gaps, which may undermine the trust between the European antitrust enforcers, and consequently the Directive's core objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine who drives attention to the European Union (EU) in member nations—the media or the parties—and how cross-national variations in these media-party interactions can be explained by focusing on issue salience in campaign communications, party polarization, and media system characteristics. To answer these questions, we rely on a quantitative content analysis of newspaper articles and party press releases in seven countries (Austria, France, Germany, Greece, the Netherlands, Portugal, and the United Kingdom) during the twelve weeks prior to the 2014 European Parliament (EP) election. Our results from a daily-level vector autoregression (VAR) analysis show that parties are the main driver. However, our findings also indicate that single approaches in comparative research, namely, issue salience, party polarization, and media characteristics, cannot fully explain cross-national variations, which stem from combinations of different determinants, such as low (high) EU issue salience interacting with high (low) party polarization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For a more harmonized application of EPPO Standard PP 1/278 Principles of zonal data production and evaluation, it would be useful to have an agreed list of major uses that can be evaluated at zonal level. This paper proposes a methodology for developing such a list and shows possible results from following such a methodology. It represents the views of the author on an approach which could be considered for inclusion in future EPPO guidance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities and financial constraints. Our panel dataset consists of 397 European companies listed in the STOXX Europe 600 during 2009-2014. The findings reveal that firms with higher CSR performance exhibit lower degree of financial constraints. In addition, the link between CSR performance and financial constraints is a fully mediated relationship. The negative effect of CSR performance on financial constraints follows the path through mitigating agency conflicts of free cash flow and information asymmetry. The findings suggest that one mechanism linking CSR performance and financial constraints is a reduction of capital-market imperfections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are a growing phenomenon in the USA and Europe. A few big American platforms lead the field in terms of numbers of learners, institutions and courses on board. These platforms act as transnational platforms, and attract many European institutions because of the opportunities for visibility and branding they offer. Similarly in Europe, many platforms have emerged but no single pan-European initiative has found its own space. This is probably because of the complexity involved inaccommodatingdiverse languages, cultures and teaching approaches within the rigid structure of a Learning Management System (LMS). This paper looks at one possible response to the challenge of creating a single learning space via a multilingual and multicultural MOOC platform called EMMA, European Multiple MOOC Aggregator. It presents the results of two learner surveys with qualitative and quantitative data analysis collected within the EMMA project which aimed to assess user satisfaction with the learning experience on the platform, and whether it addressed the issue of "cultural diversity." Initial indications suggest that learners appreciated and used the inbuilt translation systems in a multilingual approach, and that learners perceived the features and tools offered by the EMMA platform as European in feel. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

organized into five main parts, this paper examines some controversial claims and arguments put forth in the debate about one's "Right to be Forgotten" (RTbF), sometimes referred to as the "Right to Erasure" in the digital world. Part 1 provides a brief introduction to the historical background and events in the European union (Eu) leading to the controversial may 2014 court ruling on RTbF, which affects citizens of Eu countries. Whereas Part 2 includes an analysis of typical arguments that have been used to oppose RTbF, which I categorize into five distinct argument- types, Part 3 analyzes some typical "categories" of arguments (organized into three main argumenttypes) that have been put forth to defend RTbF. I show why some key assumptions underlying the arguments on both sides of this debate are questionable, and more importantly, I also show why each argument is (logically) fallacious. Also, I note that even if the arguments examined in Parts 2 and 3 are not exhaustive, they clearly represent the main kinds of arguments that have been advanced thus far, both for and against RTbF. While Part 4 critically assesses some current proposals for implementing RTbF (in Eu nations), Part 5 concludes with a brief discussion of some important aspects of RTbF that have not yet been fully addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper deals with the issue of taxes and charges in road freight transport in the Slovak Republic and the selected European countries. The aim is to compare and evaluate the position of the Slovak carriers towards foreign ones when doing business in the common European market. The selected kinds of taxes and charges (or costs items) relate to different production factors of road transport undertakings (vehicles, drivers, road infrastructure). Also, the legislation on taxes and charges differs among individual countries and differences can be observed in the principles of taxation. The objective is to make a comprehensive objectified comparison when taking into account several selected taxes, charges and costs in road transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the relationship between economic crises and social policy change for 13 European countries. Based on the degree of policy expansion and dismantling, we identify three potential crisis-coping strategies, namely ‘Muddling Through’, ‘Social Protectionism’ and ‘Austerity’. By means of multinomial logistic regression analysis, we test the effect of various factors on governments’ choice of crisis-coping strategies for 45 economic crises between 1980 and 2013. Our analysis reveals that Austerity becomes a more likely scenario in crisis times. Moreover, we demonstrate that governments in consensual systems do not deviate from their true policy preferences when facing economic hardship. In majoritarian systems, by contrast, this pattern is strikingly reversed. Here, left-wing governments resort to Austerity, while right-wing parties opt for Social Protectionism. This indicates that both blame avoidance and the capabilities to mediate unpopular reform decisions can convert political parties from ‘Saul to Paul’ and vice versa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The economic developments experienced within the countries of European Union (EU) in the recent years have reported impacts on road safety levels, especially in serious injuries and traffic fatalities. In order to support the road safety strategies of the EU countries, it is essential to investigate the association of road safety levels with economic, social and demographic factors and finally comparatively evaluate the performance of each country. This paper aims at analyzing the road safety performance of EU-23 countries over a decade (2005–2014) considering their socio-economic and demographic background. For doing so, two distinctive models were applied, in particular, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and DEA-Cross Efficiency Model (DEA-CEM), both suitably adapted to the road safety particularities. Moreover, the concept of road safety evaluation is performed by using comparable road safety indicators, namely, mortality rate and fatality risk. The results of this study contribute to the decision/policy making agenda from the perspective of evaluating road safety performance levels by using short-term and long-term road safety targets. Additionally, an unbiased ‘picture’ of the countries’ road safety performance over a period of 10 years is provided, accompanied with information on the intra-period countries’ efficiency of their road safety targets. The proposed intra-period analysis has useful practical and methodological implications since it is able to expose the evolution of road safety levels among the countries, besides a static overall picture. Finally, this study offers valuable insights on the cross-evaluation of road safety levels among the EU countries by considering a target-setting approach for each of them before and during a turbulent financial period for Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

EU airline deregulation in 2004 resulted in numerous merger proposals. The European Commission has a crucial role in deciding on mergers with a Community dimension. An overview of 21 merger proposals is followed by the assessment of the EC's attitude towards definition of relevant market and applied remedies. In this paper, we argue that the EC should apply EU competition law in a more consistent manner in order not to slip into arbitrariness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the publication is an attempt to assess the impact of the level of education and innovation on a synthetic measure of living standards of European Union countries residents based on the estimation of the model in which the synthetic measure will be a dependent variable. The implementation of the objective required the use of descriptive-statistical methods, in particular, linear regression method. The Pearson's linear correlation coefficient was also used to study the relationship between quantitative variables - the synthetic measure and particular analysed determinant. The publication describes the essence of education and the level of innovation in the European Union countries and also reviews the theoretical concept of quality and standard of living in an objective approach. On the basis of Eurostat data from years 2006-2016, an attempt was made to assess the impact of higher education on the standard of living of the inhabitants of the European Community. The standard of the living measure will be calculated on the basis of five determinants: Economy and Finance, Science and Technology, Health, Education and Living Conditions. One of the authors of this paper enriched the dimensions of HDI indicator and proposed the modified index of the level of living. On the basis of the values of synthetic measures for each determinant of the standard of living, the final synthetic measure will be calculated as an arithmetic mean. The necessity of finding a new measurement of the standard of living in societies is emphasized by international organizations and especially scientists. That is why the author decided to modify the standard measure. Nowadays important factors are also science and technology and the standard of human living. The conducted research allowed to determine the relationship between the synthetic measure and important determinants characterizing the level of life. Finally estimated parameters of the linear regression models allowed to get the positive effects of education and innovation on the lives of individuals in the European Community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The European Virus Archive (EVA) was created in 2008 with funding from the FP7-EU Infrastructure Programme, in response to the need for a coordinated and readily accessible collection of viruses that could be made available to academia, public health organisations and industry. Within three years, it developed from a consortium of nine European laboratories to encompass associated partners in Africa, Russia, China, Turkey, Germany and Italy. In 2014, the H2020 Research and Innovation Framework Programme (INFRAS projects) provided support for the transformation of the EVA from a European to a global organization (EVAg). The EVAg now operates as a non-profit consortium, with 26 partners and 20 associated partners from 21 EU and non-EU countries. In this paper, we outline the structure, management and goals of the EVAg, to bring to the attention of researchers the wealth of products it can provide and to illustrate how end-users can gain access to these resources. Organisations or individuals who would like to be considered as contributors are invited to contact the EVAg coordinator, Jean-Louis Romette, at jean-louis.romette@univmed.fr. Highlights • The EVAg was created as an international organization aiming to provide a gold standard resource to the scientific community. • The EVAg operates as a non-profit consortium of 26 partners and 20 associated partners from EU and non-EU countries. • Members and associated members retain ownership of the viruses that they disseminate via the EVAg infrastructure. • The EVAg approach to quality management is directed by the project's own quality standard, based upon OECD guidelines. • The ultimate objective is to make the EVAg a permanent archive that can provide access to viruses and reagents globally. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to investigate citizen views on the free movement of workers within the European Union (EU). We are interested in how situational and relational factors affect labour market chauvinist attitudes. Drawing on the threat theory, we advance new hypotheses on the role of intertemporal relative deprivation in amplifying chauvinist inclinations. From the intergroup contact theory and transnational approaches, we borrow insights on the role played by cross-border experiences and inclusion in discursive and associational networks in containing chauvinism. The analysis uses the original ‘Reconciling Economic and Social Europe’ (REScEU) survey conducted in six EU countries (i.e., France, Germany, Italy, Poland, Spain and Sweden) in the fall of 2016. The article shows that - though rooted in class and status positions - chauvinist attitudes are clearly sensitive to contingent situations and lifeworld experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents an analysis of the current European legislation on the implementation of the copyright, which is one of the major characteristics for the creative business companies. The role of the legislation is significant in order to provide needed base and framework for the appropriate functioning and in the same time - to be a guarantor for the results of their work as authors and creators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within the Climate and Energy Directive, the European Commission has set three main targets: reduction of GHG emissions, increase a share of renewable resources, and improvements in energy efficiency. This paper introduces needs and solutions for capacity building in cross-border regions of Slovenia-Croatia-Hungary in order to better implement energy efficiency and renewable resources potentials. It was identified that a lack of knowledge by the stakeholders represents a main obstacle for implementing more environmental and economic acceptable energy solutions on a local and regional levels. To address the competences gaps by the stakeholders, online training modules were designed and implemented. The results of trainings revealed the best evaluation scores, and consequently improved knowledge and competencies in Hungary, followed by Croatia and Slovenia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are we defined by the choices we make or the duties we owe? This paper argues that there is a conflict between the fundamental conception of the individual as possessing the capacity to choose how to live, which has been held to be the foundation of the European Convention on Human Rights, and the understanding of the individual as a bearer of duties which has long underpinned the UK Constitution. Through case law analysis, it is shown that the tension between these two understandings of the individual underlies the troubled acceptance of the Human Rights Act 1998, and influences the UK judiciary's substantive interpretations of the Convention rights. It is ultimately argued that for the Convention rights to be fully accepted in the UK, the evolution from a duty to a choice-based understanding of the individual, which was artificially accelerated by the Human Rights Act, must be more widely accepted by society and the courts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract When the European Union was founded, it was assumed that all Member States admitted as consolidated democracies would maintain their constitutional commitments. In recent years, Hungary and Poland have challenged this premise as elected autocratic governments in those countries have captured independent institutions and threatened long-term democracy. The judiciaries of these countries have been hard hit. In this paper, we trace what has happened to the judiciaries in Hungary and Poland, showing how first the constitutional courts and then the ordinary judiciary have been brought under the control of political forces so that there is no longer a separation of law and politics. We also explore why the European Union has so far not been able to stop this process. In the end, the European judiciary, particularly the Court of Justice, is attempting a rescue of national judiciaries, but the results are so far unclear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate change has encouraged international and regional adoption of environmental policies aiming at reducing the generation of greenhouse gas emissions. Europe has taken the leadership in environmental regulations by introducing the European-Union Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS) in 2005 and other policies to mitigate carbon emissions and increase the efficiency of production processes. These environmental policies have significantly affected the production choices of the European energy and industrial sectors. In this paper, we consider a market where a set of players (firms) produce different commodities under a common environmental regulation that limits their emissions. Due to these environmental restrictions, the problem is treated as a generalized non-cooperative game where players have joint (environmental) constraints caused by the common and compulsory emission regulation. The problem is to find a natural mechanism for attaining the corresponding generalized equilibrium state. We suggest a share allocation method, which yields a suitable decomposition type procedure and replaces the initial problem with a sequence of non-cooperative games on Cartesian product sets. We also show that its implementation can be simplified essentially after the application of a regularized penalty method. In the case study, we take inspiration from the EU-ETS and we introduce an environmental regulation that restricts the carbon emissions of firms representing the energy, cement, and steel sectors respectively in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain. Our results confirm the important role played by energy sector in reducing carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effect of composition may be strong in systems where students are systematically sorted based on their socio-economic background. This paper aims to model the differential effect of class composition on pupils’ achievement in Belgium (French-speaking Community), France, Spain and Portugal. Multilevel models are consequently tested on the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study 2011 data (20,830 pupils in 1139 classes). Our results suggest that socio-economic composition does not have an equivalent effect on pupil achievement in the four countries included in our analysis: its effect is strong in the French-speaking Community of Belgium and France but smaller in Spain and Portugal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Environmental pollution has become a major threat to the survival and health of human beings, and has attracted the worldwide attention. With the implementation of low-carbon policies, how to change marketing strategy is a realistic and serious problem of enterprises. This paper examines the manufacturer's channel selection and emission reduction decisions when considering carbon emission constraints. A two-echelon supply chain consisting of one manufacturer and one retailer under the cap-and-trade regulation is explored. Non-perishable products' and perishable products' carbon emissions are distinguished according to their sales channels. The results provide useful insights for supply chain members. Firstly, the results show that products' properties and consumers' channel preference are key factors affecting manufacturer's channel selection. When consumers prefer online shopping, the manufacturer, who produces perishable/non-perishable products, should choose single online channel structure to maximize his profit. But, this choice cannot make as same contributions to the environment if the manufacturer produces perishable product as that under retail channel. Secondly, the results demonstrated that under cap-and-trade regulation, the channel conflict appears to have abated somewhat. The retailer can accommodate the additional online channel under certain conditions. Additionally, numerical results further illustrate the following insights from the respective of the government: It is more effective to set larger carbon quotas and encourage the manufacturer to develop a dual-channel mode when not too many consumers prefer to online channel. With more and more consumers preferring to online shopping, it can formulate more stringent emission control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an estimation of the contribution of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) to economic growth and the Gross Domestic Product per capita of the European (EU) countries over the period 2000-2015. For this purpose, we analyse the universities' effects on the supply side of their national economies, especially the contribution of the R&D of HEIs to technological capital of the European (EU) countries. We proposed a methodology of counterfactual scenarios, which assume a hypothetical situation in which HEIs do not exist, to estimating the effects of HEIs, applying techniques of growth accounting. The results obtained indicate that these effects are a significant source of growth in European (EU) countries, contributing to mitigating the adverse effects of the periods of crisis. The estimates show that GDP per capita would currently be more than 11% higher than that corresponding to a scenario without HEIs. The results obtained also show significate differences in GDP per capita between European (EU) countries associated with the activity of HEIs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of the paper is to identify factors which determine energy policy in the EU countries in the middle of 1990s. This objective is achieved in three stages. First, the changes in the distribution of RES in 26 EU countries in the period between 1995 and 2014 are investigated. The analysis demonstrates that over the last 20 years the EU countries diversify the RES they use, which results in substantial changes in their distribution. Second, the distribution of energy sources in 1995 is described, as it is assumed that the distribution might be a crucial factor influencing energy policy in each country. Third, several other factors related to energy security, environmental concerns, economy and politics are considered as potential determinants of renewable energy development. Two statistical methods of variable selection, namely, the best subset regression and the LARS method, reveal that the present (in 2014) share of RES in the energy mix significantly depends on the condition of the EU countries in the middle of 1990s. The distribution of energy sources in 1995 is the crucial determinant of renewable energy development. Countries without their own fossil fuel sources are the ones which develop renewable energy to the greatest extent. Other important factors boosting RE development include: GDP per capita, concentration of energy supply (SWI), and the costs of consumption of energy obtained from fossil fuels in relation to GDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studies the gender gap in sport event attendance -- characterized by higher male and lower female participation -- using a macro-sociological and cross-national comparative approach. We argue that because gender is produced and justified in the realm of sport, gender gaps in sport event attendance may be more pronounced in some societies than others, depending on the position women and men have in the particular context in which someone 'does' his/her gender. So, in addition to individual attributes, one has to consider the societal, macro-level gender equality in order to understand the individual-level gender inequalities in sport event attendance. Using multilevel analyses on Eurobarometer data (2007), we evaluate whether the size of the gender gap in sport event attendance varies across European Union (EU) countries and how this variation relates to societal gender equality, as measured by the Gender Equality Index of the European Institute for Gender Equality. We find higher male than female attendance in all EU countries, but also conclude that higher levels of macro-level gender equality are associated with smaller gender gaps in sport event attendance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the causality dynamics between happiness and per capita GDP growth and the impact of the recent financial crisis using a VAR-GARCH model for 10 European EMU countries divided in peripheral and non-peripheral members. The rationale of the analysis is to look at the two different dimensions (mean and variance) of economic growth and happiness within a time-series framework. The results show that GDP growth has significant positive effects on happiness in all countries considered, particularly in the PIIGS countries; happiness volatility is responsive to economic uncertainty. The size of this effect is bigger following the most recent crisis period, especially for the PIIGS countries. Our findings confirm the important role played by economic growth in determining population happiness and, most importantly, provides new evidence on the existence of causality linkages between economic uncertainty and happiness volatility. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper we examine the effect of the current economic crisis on the environmental performance of the EU countries. By employing Hierarchical Linear Multilevel (HLM) modeling we find that, for the period 2000–2015, a drop in the national GDP (a “recession effect”) as well as endorsing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for receiving a IMF/EU/ECB financial “rescue-package” (a “Troika effect”) have non-significant to positive impacts on a number of national environmental quality and policy indicators, over and above other (economic, political and governance) predictors, for Eurozone and non-Eurozone countries alike. Nevertheless, this changes drastically if we examine these two factors' interaction: experiencing a ‘recession’ while being a recipient of a Troika-sponsored ‘rescue package’ has detrimental effects on an EU country's national environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Are European Union countries converging towards a similar model of public spending for environmental protection? National spending policies for environmental protection might be the result of country specific circumstances and priorities, but also of a shared vision towards the achievement of environmental goals as member of the European Union, in compliance with European Directives. This paper aims to empirically investigate models of environmental expenditures at European level, looking at the composition of public expenditure for environmental protection. It also contributes to the debate on the efficacy of public spending in the environmental domain. Results reject the existence of a homogeneous model of expenditure for environmental protection at European level. Furthermore, higher level of environmental performance seem to be positively correlated with the public expenditures in the environmental domain and partially with the different composition of the expenditure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents the fundamental and highest ideal of a fair society - the principle of the rule of law and the concept of constitutional rule. It depicts the concept of constitutional law as a system based on the ideas of the rule of law and constitutionalism, defining it as a law-abiding system. The paper attempts to separate the formal from the substantive rule of law and therein the rule of law is regarded as the fundamental value in the legal systems of international organizations such as the United Nations, the European Union and the Council of Europe. The conclusion shows the viewpoints of the Croatian Constitutional Court on the principle of the rule of law in concrete judgements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates whether two popular poverty indicators, namely income poverty and material deprivation, reach similar conclusions about the poverty reduction effects of income transfers. Such evaluations generally use income poverty. It is well-known, however, that poverty indicators regularly disagree about a person's poverty status. What is less known is whether such disagreement also confounds estimates of a program's poverty reduction effects. This paper compares the targeting performance of social assistance, housing and family transfers in countries with different welfare states namely Germany, France, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom. It finds that a transfer's targeting performance does not differ much when defining the transfer's target group either as the poorest income quintile or the poorest material deprivation quintile. Yet, when combining the information from both indicators, transfers appear much more effective in reaching those groups that both poverty indicators identify as part of the target group. Transfers also appear much more efficient in excluding non-target populations. For the groups on which the poverty indicators disagree, more analysis is needed. Triangulation between poverty indicators thus improves the validity of program evaluations as it enables a better separation between (potential) poverty measurement issues and the measurement of a program's (potential) effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All over Europe, EGTCs (European Grouping for Territorial Cooperation) are mushrooming. Between 2006, when the EU regulation entered into force, and 2014, 51 EGTCs have been established. Conceived as a legal tool to facilitate cross-border, interregional or transnational cooperation, the EGTC was established after years of lobbying from cross-border organisations. Apart from practical guidelines mostly dedicated to the legal possibilities and limitations of this tool, few academic studies examine the significance of this tool for cross-border governance as such. This paper develops such a perspective, using the case study of the Greater Region SaarLorLux, (Lorraine, Luxembourg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Saarland and Wallonia), where two existing EGTCs are operating. The EGTC INTERREG IV A Greater Region is the only EGTC managing an EU programme; the EGTC Secretariat of the Summit supports the main political organisation in this area. This contribution argues that the EGTC tool can facilitate the emergence of a supraregional scale of governance. This paper examines how this instrument allows the institutionalisation of a cross-border entity in terms of its capacity to embody and perpetuate the cross-border region, and to implement its strategy. It then applies this conceptualisation to the specific context of the Greater Region. The empirical analysis shows that although the two EGTCs institutionalise the cooperation, they are rather conceived as administrative and operational tools. The paper concludes with possible explanations of such a mismatch between the potential of this tool and the effective use of it. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

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]

The increasing dominance of neoliberalism as the key steering mechanism of the European Union (EU) since the early 1990s has implied the competitiveness-oriented reshaping of cohesion policy. The aim of this paper is to initiate a debate from a critical political economic perspective on the implications of this shift for Central Eastern European (CEE) member states. To this end, the paper discusses the formation of EU centre-periphery relations from a CEE point of view and formulates some preliminary suggestions as to how cohesion policy would need to be rethought in order to ensure the better integration of lagging CEE regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the influence of online news consumption on attitudes toward the European Union in a context of protracted economic crisis. Using data from the 2011 Irish National Election Study, we combine location-specific information on broadband availability with respondent geo-location data, which facilitates causal inference about the effects of online news consumption via instrumental variable models. Results show that Irish citizens who source political information online are more prone to blame the EU for the poor state of the economy than those who do not. There is evidence of preference reinforcement among those with negative predispositions toward the EU, but not among pro-EU citizens. We complement this analysis with a study of voting behavior in the European Fiscal Compact Referendum, employing a similar methodological approach. The results from this second survey confirm the anti-EU influence of online news consumption among Irish citizens, although evidence suggests a pro-EU effect among voters who browsed the website of the politically neutral Irish Referendum Commission. Our paper contributes to the literature on public opinion, the EU, and political attitudes in times of crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A wave of privatisation is unfolding in Europe in the wake of the financial crisis, but it has yet to receive serious scholarly attention. This paper examines the case of Ireland, where an austerity strategy and European Union International Monetary Fund bailout conditionality have given impetus to the transfer of public assets to the private sector. Theoretically, the paper explains the roots of the phenomenon with reference to a reformulated concept of 'accumulation by dispossession' whose usefulness lies in emphasising the politico-economic drivers of privatisation, which have been neglected in the mainstream literature. A typology is presented that argues that accumulation by dispossession manifests itself, in practice, through four main processes: (1) private repossession of assets nationalised during the financial crisis; (2) restructuring of state-owned enterprises; (3) commodification of assets and services hitherto located outside the market; and (4) privatised stimulus through public-private partnerships. The paper's framework should be useful to conceptualise ongoing privatisation processes in other European countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors' goal with this paper is to give insight into the complex world of European Union's State aid and public procurement rules which have an ever-increasing importance in EU law, in the EU, and consequently, in Croatia as well. The paper will first explain the four conditions that have to be cumulatively fulfilled in order for a certain measure to constitute an illegal State aid and after that, the authors will give an overview of the most relevant rules and conditions of the public procurement procedures. In their elaboration the authors will cover the EU State aid and public procurement rules from the perspective of: a) the primary legislation of the EU, that is, the Treaties; b) the secondary legislation; c) case-law of the Court of Justice of the European Union; d) European Commission's documents and e) current academic legal reasoning. Moreover, the authors will pass their own judgement and give their opinion on the relevant rules and issues of EU State aid and public procurement rules. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the possibilities, contents and modes of risk regulation methods within the European Food and Feed Sector, and evaluates standardised approaches to deal with the unique risks of nanotechnologies. Thereby a general view on the risk management approach following ISO 31000:2009 with special emphasis on the limitations of regulations on nanotechnologies in the European Union is given. The paper considers all possible risk management practices with the choice of evasion of a threat, tolerating it in exchange for an opportunity, eliminating its source; otherwise, modification its likelihood or consequences. Supplementary, risks can be controlled by sharing (involving other parties), and finally, also be retained by an informed decision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an overview of the regulatory framework for wind energy in European Union Member States. The analysis covers three main aspects of regulatory framework: support schemes, electrical grid issues and potential barriers for wind power deployment. The aim is not just to provide an updated picture of current (early-2015) regulatory framework, but also to analyse the past evolution and trends (in order to achieve the targets of renewable energy share set for 2020). Each country implements a specific regulatory framework driven by several factors: their own renewable energy targets, local availability of renewable resources, energy mix structure, existing infrastructures as well as other factors such as public perception or geographical distribution of electricity generation and consumption points. The results presented in this paper show a trend for increasing the market exposure of wind generators; feed-in premiums and competitive bidding procedures to establish the support level are gaining prominence in the last few years. In relation to grid issues, it is a common practice that new wind generators only bear the grid extension costs to the closest connection point; priority or guaranteed access is granted in most Member States and wind generators are usually not demanded to meet balancing requirements (this is expected to change in the next few years following the new guidelines provided by the European Commission). The analysis of potential barriers for wind energy deployment shows that the stability of regulatory framework is one of the most important concerns for investors. Finally, actual deployment over the last few years has been linked with evolution of regulatory frameworks. This analysis shows that some Member States have shown a strong commitment supporting wind energy; however, in other countries the support has not been enough to stimulate the desired level of investment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Prices and factors which influence them are measurable thus it is appropriate to apply in this case a method of time series analysis for predicting the pig meat prices in the purchasing centre. In this paper adaptive models, which adjust to the changeable conditions, have been analysed including the changes in the trend level, accidental variations and seasonal variation. On the basis of estimated models the forecast of pig meat prices has been calculated. The ex post measurement of forecasts were used to asses a quality of models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to our understanding of post-crisis financial regulation by reasserting the centrality of domestic politics in defining government preferences and explaining regulatory outcomes. It draws on Robert Putnam's two-level game approach and Foreign Policy Analysis to develop a model of a three-level informal ratification game. This adds value to existing approaches by capturing the contested nature of government preferences and delineating the causal mechanisms through which domestic groups shape international negotiations. The model is used to explain the UK's pivotal role in the reform of bank capital requirements in the European Union (EU). It demonstrates that governments are able to take advantage of a narrowing domestic ‘win-set’ by marginalising the influence of industry and building political momentum for regulatory reform. In particular, the paper shows how UK negotiators were able to exploit the increased domestic costs of agreement and synergistic strategies between negotiations to successfully oppose the maximum harmonisation of capital rules across the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration is comparatively weakly regulated at the international level. States are reluctant to cede sovereignty over international migration and negotiations between rich destination countries in the north and sending countries in the south must overcome asymmetries of interests. For this reason, issue-linkage is typically required to achieve north–south cooperation. This paper examines the European Union's (EU) Global Approach to Migration and Mobility as a framework for international migration cooperation. The paper argues that institutional complexity and political dynamics internal to the EU limit its capacity to reach agreement with third countries. Three internal factors are examined: contrasting approaches of the Commission and Council to the external dimension; diversity of member states’ interests in migration policy; and the different policy agendas of the European agencies. These factors result in an approach to external migration relations that is limited in scope and characterised by variable participation. Despite its apparent potential to leverage agreements from third countries, the EU emerges as an unpromising vehicle for international migration cooperation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the scope, causes, flourishing, and decline of squatting in Lithuanian society during the period of 1990-2002. Drawing on 16 in-depth interviews conducted with squatters in Vilnius, newspaper articles and legal documents, this paper shows that squatters made contributions to the city with their cultural capital, creating local subcultures and making the urban space more attractive. Squatters promoted an alternative way of life, contributed to the preservation of the city and fostered counter-cultural activities. They offered spaces for performances, exhibits, and concerts. These activities are still present up to this day in the Užupis neighborhood that hosted the most long-lived squat, which in turn was transformed into Art Incubator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper sheds light on the development of the Irish alcohol industry and its regulation since the 1980s by situating it within the politico-economic context of neoliberalism at the national, European and global scales. First, a conceptualisation of neoliberalism is presented and the alcohol industry is related to it. Second, the connections between neoliberalism, the drinks industry and alcohol legislation are explained and illustrated at the three spatial scales mentioned above, emphasising the following components of neoliberalism: deregulation, liberalisation, commodification, free trade agreements and transnational capital flows. The paper provides a theoretical template for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since the beginning of the integration process into the European Union a continuous discourse has evolved about what characterizes 'Europe' and whether there is a common 'European identity'. Most recently, this discourse has tended to define the European 'Self' in contrast to a 'foreign' Muslim 'Other'. The debate is taking place against the background of new Muslim arrivals in Europe. However, the presence of Muslim citizens in Europe is not a recent phenomenon. This empirical research paper explores the effects this discourse has had on the perspective of Muslim youths in Kosovo on European identity. Kosovo is seen as a European country with a centuries-old Muslim presence. It seeks to further 'Europeanize' itself in order to connect with the EU. By means of qualitative in-depth interviews with young practicing Muslims in Prishtina the paper reveals that the participants have not started to view 'Europe' in any negative way. Instead, they use their positive understanding of European identity which they associate with diversity and freedom of religion for Muslims. The respondents heavily criticize their own government for misunderstanding the concept as denoting 'un-Muslim', which leads to an oppression of practicing Muslims in Kosovo in light of the country's attempt to 'be European'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we focus on a rare scholarly theme of highly productive academics, statistically confirming their pivotal role in knowledge production across 11 systems studied. The upper 10 % of highly productive academics in 11 European countries studied ( N = 17,211) provide on average almost half of all academic knowledge production. In contrast to dominating bibliometric studies of research productivity, we focus on academic attitudes, behaviors, and perceptions as predictors of becoming research top performers across European systems. Our paper provides a (large-scale and cross-country) corroboration of the systematic inequality in knowledge production, for the first time argued for by Lotka (J Wash Acad Sci 16:317-323, ) and de Solla Price (Little science, big science. Columbia University Press, New York, ). We corroborate the deep academic inequality in science and explore this segment of the academic profession. The European research elite is a highly homogeneous group of academics whose high research performance is driven by structurally similar factors, mostly individual rather than institutional. Highly productive academics are similar from a cross-national perspective, and they substantially differ intra-nationally from their lower-performing colleagues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores and problematizes the exclusion of workfare participants from the scope of employment legislation, offering an opportunity to revisit the scope of the labour protection. As the UK and the Netherlands have been at the forefront of the European activation turn that catalysed the introduction of workfare programmes in European welfare states, the first part of the paper maps the employment protection of workfare participants in these two countries. In the second part of the paper we critically assess the reasons why employment status or, at least, employment protection regardless of status, is not granted to workfare participants and to other persons who are fulfilling financial non-rewarding (at least for the worker herself) 'work', such as volunteer workers or persons who have been found guilty of an offence and are sentenced to community service. On the basis of our analysis we suggest to expand labour protection to workfare participants, with or without granting them worker status. [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]

The EU and Canada represent the largest market in the world for the sale of ecological products attracting exports from many third countries and recording a total sale of 95% of the worldwide total market. The European market for ecological products - also known as "bio" / "eco" - in absolute figures - is somewhere around 20 billiards euro/year, and in the case of Romania, the market for those products varies around 200 million euro/year. According to European legislation, there are harmonized provisions and procedures for the import of ecological products which can be implemented in two ways: either by complying with the EU legislation on ecologic products, or based on the equivalence between the existent standards and control systems. In many European countries, the operators on such a market obey the rules established by Legislation for ecologic productions strictly. In Romania, a sanctioning system against those economic operators who fraudulently use product labels suggesting they are organic products has just recently been considered. Taking into consideration all these aspects, the present paper relies on the most recent bibliographic and statistical references in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dynamical development of technologies is a result of man's desire to achieve higher living standard. The modern technologies are becoming still more complicated and may lead to industrial accidents. Slovak republic has its own history of industrial accidents. Risk management activities and spending of funds to prevent major industrial accidents is far from being popular among public and government unless some crisis event occurs. Safety in industrial plants is being improved and modified as a result of growing number of industrial accidents. Implementation of SEVESO II directive in EU member countries is fundamental for serious industrial accidents prevention. The need for risk assessment and management is supported also by the investigations on the European but also on national level. In this paper the selected conclusions which affect the adoption and adaptation of the legal environment in the Slovak Republic are based on a statistical research realized during 2012–2013 in the framework of the MOPORI project. Based on the results achieved in the framework of the statistical survey, the results were implemented in the Comprehensive Model for the Risk Assessment and Management of the Industrial Processes. The issue was to insert the methods to individual steps of the comprehensive model which were implemented into the model on the basis of the legal requirements and results of the survey. The analysis of the questionnaire yielded some interesting conclusions which have not been included in this paper, not only due to its extent, but also due to the need to bring the results the attention of as wide a group of readers as possible and maintain its consistency and clarity. These unpublished results will be used as the base for achieving further goals of the MOPORI project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine Okun’s Law in European countries by distinguishing between the transitory and the permanent effects of output changes upon unemployment and by examining the effect of labor market protection policies upon Okun’s coefficients. Design/methodology/approach – Quarterly data for 13 European Union countries, from the second quarter of 1993 until the first quarter of 2014, are used. Panel data techniques and Mundlak decomposition models are estimated. Findings – Okun’s Law is robust to alternative specifications. The effect of output changes to unemployment rates is weaker for countries with increased labor market protection expenditures and it is more persistent for countries with low labor market protection. Originality/value – The paper provides evidence that the permanent effect of output changes upon unemployment rates is quantitatively larger than the transitory impact. In addition, it provides evidence that increased labor market protection mitigates the adverse effects of a decrease in output growth rate upon unemployment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is concerned with the problem of “society” and in particular with the notion of “European society”. Rather than reject the possibility of society, it draws on theories of the social as networks. The thesis proposed is that the concept of society should rather be understood as a relational field of interconnections. It is argued that this is highly relevant to the analysis of Europe conceived of in terms of a society. This approach can be seen as an alternative to methodological nationalism. The paper applies a network conception of society to Europe with the emphasis on the nineteenth century. In this account, European society is not something that was produced by European integration. Rather than see European society as a recent development, it is argued that the field of tensions between capitalism and democracy constituted the major elements that shaped a European model of society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]