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For the past 25 years in Greece, welfare-state reforms have been the result of the interplay between domestic politics and European influences. While pension reform has been aborted, some targeted and small-scale reforms have proven more successful. Wholesale changes of the welfare system have met with strong resistance from private interests and bureaucratic mechanisms. The EU's impact has mostly been felt in the policies of employment, vocational training, regional development and, less so, social assistance. Other welfare-state reforms have remained mostly on paper. However, the Greek welfare regime is gradually undergoing a cognitive change, manifested in the diffusion of social rights, and has adopted EU-driven policy tools for consultation and decision making. Throughout, path dependence has interacted with reform dynamics, flowing from the country's integration into the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global populist backlash is considered threatening to the multilateral order, but its impact on individual attitudes toward international organizations, like the International Monetary Fund (IMF), is understudied. We bridge insights from research on the IMF and populism to develop a theoretical framework centered on three propositions. We argue that populist individuals should be more prone to blame the IMF for economic problems than non-populists, but that this effect is highly conditional on sovereignty intrusion, escalating when an IMF program exists and as the program becomes more onerous. In contrast, IMF scapegoating by populist politicians should be largely ineffective. Analyzing survey data from across the European Union and an original survey experiment in Greece, we find support for each contention. The paper advances understanding of the partisan politics of the IMF and shows that the implications of the populist wave for international order are more complex than often assumed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to attempt to provide an overview of the copyright legal framework for audiovisual resources in Europe and Greece, how Audiovisual (AV) content is currently licensed by Greek providers and how licenses or copyright exceptions enable its reuse. The motivation for this work was the development of an aggregation service for audiovisual resources in Greece, the Open AudioVisual Archives (OAVA) platform. Design/methodology/approach: Copyright licenses and exceptions in the European Union and in Greek Legislation have been thoroughly reviewed along with the reuse of content, based on the terms of Fair Use, Rights Statements and Creative Commons. Licensing issues for the most well-known aggregation services, such as Europeana, Digital Public Library of America, Trove, Digital New Zealand and the National Digital Library of India, have also been studied and considered. Audiovisual content providers in Greece have been recorded, and their licensing preferences have been analyzed. Pearson's chi-square test was applied to test the relationship between the provider's type, resources' genre and licenses used. Findings: Despite the abundance of copyright legislation in the European Union and in Greece, audiovisual content providers in Greece seem to ignore it or find it difficult to choose the right license. More than half of them choose to publish their resources on popular audiovisual platforms using the default licensing option provided. Creative Commons licenses are preferred for audiovisual content that falls into the following categories: open courses (almost exclusively) and interviews and digital collection/research projects (about half of the content). Originality/value: This paper examines audiovisual content aggregation, in the EU and Greece, from a legal point of view. To the best of the authors' knowledge, it is the first attempt to record and analyze the licensing preferences of Greek AV content providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents Greek primary education stakeholders' views regarding their quality of life and EU-related issues before and during the euro crisis. The study took place in 2016, and the population was primary education teachers and parents of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace region. Respondents answered sets of questions for two different years: 2009, before austerity measures were applied, and 2016, during the crisis. Responses denote dissatisfaction with their quality of life and the EU in 2016. The findings show significant shifts of views between 2009 and 2016 regarding the institution of the EU, the euro, the relationship of Greece with the EU and European citizenship. 2016 statements reveal increased euroscepticism in teachers and parents' views and a large proportion of undecided respondents. However, it seems that more respondents adopt a pro-European attitude regarding the common future of Greece and the EU in 2016. All in all, findings show that, in 2016, respondents are divided into pro-European and eurosceptic, which denotes diffuse attitudes towards the European construct and weak identification with European citizenship. Change during crisis can serve as an opportunity for social innovations and education initiatives that will restore trust on the institution of the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current paper presents the first effort to organize a comprehensive review of the Invasive Alien Species (IAS) of Greece. For this purpose, a database was developed with fields of information on the taxonomy, origin, ecology and pathways of introduction of terrestrial, freshwater and marine species. Our database includes a) taxa in the Union's list that are present in Greece, b) taxa already present in Greece and considered to be invasive, and c) taxa highly likely to enter Greece in the next 10 years and become invasive. The Database served as the starting point for the compilation of the National List of Alien Invasive Species (HELLAS-ALIENS) in compliance with the EU Regulation 1143/2014. Overall, the HELLAS-ALIENS comprises 126 species, i.e. 32 terrestrial and freshwater plant species, 14 terrestrial invertebrates, 28 terrestrial vertebrates, 30 freshwater fishes and invertebrates and 22 marine species. Terrestrial invertebrates, birds and mammals are mainly of Asiatic origin. Most of the terrestrial plants have their native geographical distribution in the Americas (North and South). Most of the freshwater invertebrates and fishes are of North American origin, while the majority of the marine species are of Indo-Pacific origin. The first records of IAS concern terrestrial plant species, and date back to the 19th century, while those in freshwater and marine ecosystems seem to have been systematically recorded some decades later. Regarding the pathways of introduction, most of the taxa arrived in Greece or are expected to arrive through escape from confinement and unaided. The majority of the terrestrial, freshwater and marine species have been evaluated as of High-risk for the indigenous biodiversity and only 3% of the species listed have been evaluated of Low-risk. Our results provide an important baseline for management and action plans, as required by the priorities set by the European Union through the Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the creation, in realistic terms, of an offshore wind farm between the Greek islands of Karpathos and Kassos in the Dodecanese complex. In this context, the terms and conditions for the possible existence of an offshore wind park in Greece are analyzed; the technical components of such a project are described; the offshore wind farm, which was designed by the authors, is presented in detail; and the location selected for its installation is assessed. Moreover, the benefits for the islands of Karpathos and Kassos and for the Greek State, as well as financial data adapted to this specific offshore wind farm and SWOT analysis for the two phases of the project, are presented. The authors conclude that an investment in this project would be viable in economic terms and feasible, despite it being a small-scale project. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Manufacturing productivity in CEE has converged driven by large investments and the catch–up effect. • The Visegrad group converged by investing hugely, mainly in advanced industries. • Other, CEE countries have converged largely due to catch–up effect. • Lately, improving institutions have been an important driver of convergence in CEE. • Low investment and deteriorating institutions hindered convergence in the southern EU countries. This paper shows that CEE countries converge in manufacturing productivity to more developed EU countries, while southern EU countries have failed to converge. Large investments in CEE manufacturing sectors, particularly in the Visegrad group, and the related catch–up effect are the main convergence drivers. We also found that the relative importance of growth drivers varies across the CEE countries and over the time, revealing some regularity and explaining the recent slowdown in convergence pace. In contrast, low manufacturing investments in Portugal, Greece, and Spain, and weak institutions in Italy and Greece caused their lagging behind in productivity growth. The findings stem from robustly estimated growth regressions for a panel of EU countries over the period 1995–2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aimed to analyze the dynamics of livestock and milk and meat production in the top five EU countries growing sheep and goats: Spain, Romania, Greece, France and Italy. The empirical data from Eurostat and Faostat for the period 2012-2021 were processed using usual methods and procedures like fixed basis and structural indices, trend regression equation, determination coefficient and points method. The comparison between these five countries pointed out the decline of sheep number in four countries, except Romania and the decrease in goats number in Greece and Spain, but an increase in Romania, France and Italy. Ewe milk production increased in three countries, except Spain where it remained relatively constant and Romania where it declined. Goat milk production raised in three countries, except Greece and Romania. Sheep meat output increased in France and Spain, but in the other countries went down, while goat meat output increased only in Spain, the other four states recording a decline. In the year 2021, these five countries all together counted 46.1 million sheep, representing 76.% of the EU sheep livestock, and also they had 9.4 million goats, meaning 82.1% of the EU goats livestock. In 2020, all these countries produced 2.73 million tonnes sheep milk and 1.87 million tonnes goat milk, accounting for 1.7% and respectively 1.16% in the EU milk output. These counties also contributed by 85% to the EU sheep and goat meat production. This reflects the importance of small ruminants in the EU animal livestock and production. These species have to help the EU for greening agriculture, as they could valorize natural resources from the mountains and less favored areas and also could be grown in organic farming system, assuring jobs and income to the local population, food security and at the same time contributing to the biodiversity preservation and production of renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper evaluates the impact of the European Structural Funds on the performance of employment policy in Greece. The employment policy in Greece, is a policy funded by EU and characterized by centralization, increased red tape, administrative overlaps and fragmentation pitfalls, factors' contributing to policy's ineffectiveness. Based on the comparative analysis of the implementation and performance of ESIF Operational Programs in Greece and by focusing on the case of the Greek Public Employment Service (OAED), this article evaluates European Union Policies actual impact on employment policy effectiveness and new jobs creation in Greece during the 2012–2020 period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agricultural land extent and change information is needed to assess food security, the effectiveness of land use policy, and both environmental and societal impacts. This information is especially valuable in biodiversity hotspots such as the Mediterranean region, where agricultural land expansion can result in detrimental effects such as soil erosion and the loss of native species. There has also been a growing concern that changing agricultural extent in fire-prone regions of the Mediterranean may increase fire risk due to accumulation of fuel in abandoned areas. In this study, we assessed the extent and change of agricultural land in Southern Greece from 1986 to 2020 using a combined European Land Use/Cover Area frame Survey (LUCAS) and Landsat time series approach. The LUCAS data and Landsat spectral-temporal metrics were used to train a random forest classifier, which was used to classify arable land and permanent agriculture (e.g., olive orchards, vineyards) at annual time steps. A post-processing step was taken to reduce spurious landcover class transitions using transition likelihoods and annual class membership likelihoods. A validation dataset consisting of 2666 samples, identified via a stratified random sampling approach and high-resolution imagery and time series analysis, were used to evaluate stable and change strata accuracies. Overall accuracies were greater than 70% and strata-specific accuracies were highly variable between stable and change strata. The results show that southern Greece has experienced a recent gain in arable land (~12,000 ha from ~2009–2020) and a much larger gain in permanent agriculture (>115,000 ha from ~1993–2020). Arable land loss mainly occurred from 1987 to ~2002 when extent decreased by 15,000 ha, of which 66% was abandoned. The semi-automated approach described in this paper provides a promising approach for monitoring agricultural land change and enabling assessments of agriculture policy effectiveness and environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the first part of the paper the author gives an overview of the terminology, definition and theory of hybrid warfare, a concept simultaneously disputed in the academic community and firmly established among the decision-making elites of NATO and the EU. The second part is dedicated to a specific aspect or tool of hybrid warfare – coercive engineered migrations. Through a binary comparison of different cases with a similar outcome on the EU’s external border – Greece-Turkey in 2020 and Poland-Belarus in 2021 – the author determines the internal and external requirements for a successful defense against migrations weaponized by a hostile neighboring state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In biogeopolitics, the key state stakeholders develop and aim to accomplish their geopolitical goals by (mis)management and biopolitical governance of vulnerable population. In this paper, this population refers to asylum‐related migrants who use or aim to use an asylum request as their entry mechanism to the European Union. This paper explores the emergence of biogeopolitics at the EU borderland between Turkey and Greece during the COVID‐19 pandemic in 2020. Statistics about irregular migration from Turkey to Greece, field observations in Lesvos (Greece) as well as media and social media discussions about COVID‐19 in Lesvos are analysed. In the biogeopolitics of COVID‐19, the governance and (mis)management of asylum‐related migrants include policies and practices to let these migrants to live or die, including regulating illegal border‐crossings, everyday living conditions at the reception centres, and actions regarding the pandemic. The COVID‐19 pandemic was used as an additional tool to foster biogeopolitics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyzed the trends and relationships in the EU ewes and goats livestock and milk output in the period 2010-2018 based on Eurostat Data using the fixed basis index, descriptive statistics, average yearly growth rate, Bravais- Pearson correlation coefficients, determination coefficient and regression models. The results attested the important contribution given by the two species to the EU milk sector in order to diversify cheese varieties and stimulate consumption and export. While sheep livestock declined in general, and the goats population increased, ewes and goats' milk delivered to dairy industry increased. In the decreasing order, the main EU countries raising sheep are Spain, Romania, Greece, Italy and France, and the main countries growing goats are Greece, Spain, Romania, France, Italy and Netherlands. Raw milk production increased in case of the both species in many countries. Ewe milk is mainly produced in Greece, Spain, Italy and France, while goat milk is especially produced in France, Spain, Netherlands and Greece. The diverse policies, management and marketing and production performance from a country to another pointed out the need to improve farmers skills in resources, livestock and production management, to encourage them to join in associations to benefit of low-price inputs and a direct access to market. The coupled aids financed by the EU are incentives to sustain sheep and goat farming and dairy sector, farmers' income, the valorization of the natural resources, the development of the disadvantaged rural and peri-urban areas, animal health and welfare, environment quality and biodiversity, and the offer of organic dairy products to consumers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementation of environmental policies, is one of the European Commission's key priorities, as confirmed by its proposal for the 7th Environment Action Programme and the Roadmap to a resource-efficient Europe. Subsequently, the European Union revised its waste legislation to address these challenges more adequately. As a result, the EU's Waste Framework Directive and Landfill Directive set binding targets for recycling municipal waste and diverting biodegradable municipal waste from landfills. This paper deals with the monitoring of municipal waste management operations in Greece, in terms of technical content and ability to reach the targets of the initiatives. In addition, a more detailed report on waste indicators published by Eurostat will be based on an Exploratory Data Analysis and on a Univariate time-series prediction model. Finally, the overall aim of this study is to gain maximum insight into the data and understand its underlying structure through graphical representation, to achieve the most accurate forecast for the landfilling operation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maritime transportation constitutes a dynamic Greek economic sector. Greece accounted for 25% of the Maritime Passenger Traffic (MPT) in the European Union in 2007. However, due to the economic recession since 2009, maritime passenger transportation has been facing increasing fuel prices along with declining demand. In this paper, we develop transfer function models, including macroeconomic indicators, for forecasting the coastal and the Adriatic MPT in Greek ports. The majority of the MPT models include the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as an explanatory variable, reflecting the financial impact on maritime flows. Although the employment and the economic crisis dummy are also used as explanatory variables, the unemployment and the oil price do not affect MPT. The coastal traffic models are generally more consistent when the seasonality trend is eliminated, while the international traffic models perform better when the inherent seasonality is considered. This first effort contributes toward filling the gap of MPT forecasting models for supporting policy-making on maritime transportation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being transdisciplinary, the work associates an economic and a moral purpose. Economically, the paper analyzes the following indicators specific to the tobacco market in the European Union, such as: areas cultivated with tobacco; total tobacco production; average production per hectare of tobacco; the number of tobacco growers; tobacco consumption per person (for people over 15 years old); the price of tobacco in the main cultivating countries; the value of gross production for the unprocessed tobacco; quantitative imports and exports. This analysis is focused on the period 2011-2017. The results show that in 2017, Italy, Poland, Spain and Greece were the main tobacco growers in the European Union. Bulgaria recorded the largest number of tobacco growers in 2014, and the highest price reached was reached in Greece, Germany, in 2016, ranking third among the world's leading registered tobacco importers. To the economic analysis we associate information about the current and potential uses of the Nicotiana tabacum plant as well as a reflexive moral mark on the impact that smokers (contagious victims) have especially on members of age groups where discernment is not formed (children, pubescent, adolescents) - obtained on the basis of documentation, analysis, synthesis, reflection on the afferent material. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses the issue of integrated care services as a current challenge for primary health care in Europe. It is focused on an operational definition of integrated care and documents its relevance to the recent declaration of the World Health Organization regarding primary health care. The paper also reports on experiences gained and lessons learned in Greece, a country where initial attempts towards integration of public health into primary care are currently unfolding. Additionally, it discusses the limited involvement of patients, families, and communities in health care, as well as relative absence of advocacy and care coordination at a policy level. The need for training stakeholders to define and promote integrated care is highlighted as an essential component of translating new concepts into concrete health care actions. Finally, when discussing development and implementation of a well-coordinated and integrated primary health care system, the paper provides ideas for further consideration. The present report is anticipated to open the dialogue between health care professionals, stakeholders, policy makers, and the public towards the integration of health services in contemporary Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greece, as well as other developed countries, is facing the growing problem of road traffic noise. It stands for a severe problem in the urban areas of the country, including the city of Larissa. The root cause is the huge increase in traffic volume and the lack of adequate urban infrastructure planning. Estimation of the level of road traffic noise is usually conducted using acoustic meters. It is widely accepted that most of the cities' population is exposed to high noise levels due to controversial traffic capacity. Moreover, high noise levels are strongly related to phycological and neurological diseases. Thus, it is of utmost importance, the road noise levels to be lower than dictated by relevant specification limits. To develop better noise-environment policies, relative research should focus on the measurement of in-situ noise levels, so as appropriate for each case corrective measures to be taken. The present paper examines the noise levels of a center road of the 5th Greek city, in terms of population, compared to worldwide adopted noise specification limits. The clear aim stands for finding the percentage of road noise that exceeds commonly accepted threshold values, namely limit values of European Union and World Health Organization. The results of this research strongly indicate that measured noise values override upper limit values in a certain extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to investigate Turkey's longstanding problematic relations with Greece regarding the Aegean dispute and the impact of this dispute on the EU-Turkey relations and vice-versa. It argues that, first, the Aegean Sea issue is one of the main problems between Greece and Turkey as well as the European Union (EU) and Turkey. Due to the increasing debates over the sources and statues of Aegean Sea and East Mediterranean, the struggle between the Turks and Greeks to establish and extend their zones of jurisdiction over the Aegean and Mediterranean Seas maintain to be a fundamental issue between Greece and Turkey and the EU and Turkey. Second, the problematic relationship between the EU and Turkey prevents the EU from having a positive impact on the Turkish-Greek conflict as well as Turkey's policy toward the Aegean issue. The quality and peace of EU-Turkey relations are and will be, therefore, determinant in the solution of this longstanding dispute between sides as well as the transformation of Turkey's policy toward the Aegean issue. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of intercultural and citizenship learning has concerned scholars for a long time while subjects such as history, geography, civic and citizenship have been shaping young peoples' identity. Under migration pressures and the European Union's integration these subjects have been often challenged and transformed. In the case of Greece, subject's textbook topics on immigration and diversity have been promoting more ethnocentrism and eurocentrism. This paper presents those findings, and in so doing it explores the ways in which the Greek state's and the EU's intercultural education policy have impacted the specific school subject. It focuses on the Greek nation's identity formation, while discussing the country's response to the EU's calls for common policies in the area of intercultural and citizenship education. The last section of this essay provides new insights into the educators' tools to implement less ethnocentric and more inclusive curriculums and programs by exploring an extracurricular, online peer mentoring program that was initiated and implemented in Australia to foster intercultural awareness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that Syriza has remained faithful to its distinct form of left Europeanism in the post-crisis era. It aims at testing the relative importance of four factors: the party’s Eurocommunist heritage, its ideological pillars, its internal balance and party factionalism, and its transnational affiliations. In order to assess their importance, the present paper draws from on-going research applying a theoretical framework that combines the work of Johansson and Raunio (2001) with Charalambous’ (2013) communist dilemma. While the former framework provides us with the required areas of investigation, the latter focuses on the party’s mechanisms of altering salience levels in respect to its transnational affiliations. It thus pinpoints an additional level of analysis that highlights the importance of the Party of the European Left for Syriza’s unaltered stance towards the European edifice, at least for the party’s Unitary Platform that witnessed the Left Platform’s withdrawal from Syriza following Syriza’s ‘capitulation’ in July 2015. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Is the EU becoming more united or more fragmented while implementing the hotspot approach? To answer this question this paper tries to analyse the hotspot model, which was introduced with the European Agenda on Migration as an immediate response to manage irregular migration and provide operational support to the frontline countries in a spirit of solidarity. After referring to the context within which it was created and the framework within which it functions, this paper explores its implementation in Italy and Greece. Drawing from these hotspot operations, various political, legal, organisational, ethical and practical considerations emerge that question not only the efficiency of this ad hoc measure but also its actual ability to strengthen EU solidarity. In this context, this paper argues that the hotspot approach as a policy measure provokes fragmentation and therefore disunity among the EU Member States, signalising a policy paradox. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Greece has suffered the worst from the late 2000s global financial crisis. Despite the completion of the economic adjustment program the rate of recovery in Greece is still weak. The liquidity constraints in the Greek economy imply that the investment shock, which will accelerate its recovery rate, will be an outcome of investment inflows by privatizations and/or other opportunities arising to foreign investors (inward FDI) due to the devaluation of the assets in Greece caused by the crisis. However, the level of attracted by the Greek economy has always been well below the European Union average. This paper investigates the factors favoring inward FDI in Greece after the crisis. A survey is made by the use of a questionnaire for the collection of primary data on the activity of multinationals in Greece and non-parametric methods are used for investigating the attractiveness of the Greek market and the decision to invest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The expansion of urban ecosystems and climate change, both outcomes of massive lifestyle changes, contribute to a series of side effects such as environmental deterioration, spread of diseases, increased greenhouse gas emissions and introduction of invasive species. In the case of the Athens metropolitan area, an invasive mosquito species—the Asian tiger mosquito (Aedes albopictus)–has spread widely in the last decade. This spread is favoured within urban environments and is also affected by changing climatic trends. The Asian tiger mosquito is accompanied by risks of mosquito-borne diseases, greater nuisance levels, and increased expenses incurring for its confrontation. The main aims of this paper are (i) to estimate the various costs associated with their control of this invasive species, as well as its health and nuisance impacts, (ii) to evaluate the level of citizens’ well-being from averting these impacts and (iii) to record citizens’ and experts’ perceptions regarding alternative control measures. Evidence shows that experts tend to place a high value on mosquito control when associated with serious health risks, while citizens are more sensitive and concerned about the environmental impacts of control methods. The synthesis of results produced by the current study could act as a preliminary guide for the estimation of societal welfare from the confrontation of similar problems in the context of a complex ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The present paper aims to investigate the environmental and economic impacts of co-processing petroleum fractions with bio-based feedstocks for direct refinery integration versus the conventional drop-in integration of biofuels with compatible transportation fuels. Three different pathways of market diesel (commercial diesel fuel from a typical fuel station in Greece) production with 10% v/v biocontent (biomass feed) were explored by variant biomass utilization with fossil counter parts (diesel fuel). The first case study depicts the current market diesel production process via blending petroleum fractions with FAME (Fatty Acids Methyl Esters) biodiesel. The second case study involves the production of market diesel from blending petroleum fractions with hydrotreated residual lipids (Waste Cooking Oil, WCO), while the third case study explores the alternative approach of co-processing petroleum fractions with WCO. In all cases, the market diesel production chain was based on the hydrotreating process simulated using Aspen Plus. The results have shown that the most beneficial case, by environmental and economic viewpoint, for market diesel production with 10% v/v biocontent in the Greek market is co-processing of petroleum fractions with WCO. This approach accounts for a reduced production cost (751 €/m3) and environmentally friendly profile (243 kgCO 2 -eq/m3) compared with the other two case studies. Additionally co-processing of residual biomass with petroleum fractions utilizes existing infrastructure towards the production of sustainable fuels, rendering this pathway more attractive form a CAPEX point of view. Graphical abstract Image 1 Highlights • Three production technologies of 10% bio-content diesel are evaluated. • Hybrid diesel reduces GHG emissions by ∼24% compared to current market diesel. • Renewable fuels are economically attractive for waste oil prices below 725 €/m3. • Co-processing reduces the production cost of current market diesel by 6%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The deployment of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) is a strategic decision for the European Union (EU). Through the integration of ITS in their transportation national strategy, the EU Member States can move decisively towards the achievement of the targets that have been set for a cleaner, safer and more efficient transport system. Moreover, the adoption of systems and services, that have been developed in other countries, and their induction in the national ITS frameworks can facilitate the interoperable and coordinated deployment of ITS and ensure the effort for the targets' achievement. This paper examines the possibilities of transferring in Greece the knowledge gained by three systems which have been developed in other three South East Europe (SEE) countries and defines guidelines for their future deployment in Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union is often conceptualised as an entity that is profoundly different from that of the modern state. Through a reading of the recent humanitarian crisis precipitated by large-scale migration into Greece, the paper challenges the understanding that the crafting of the European Union (‘Euro-crafting’) is qualitatively different from the crafting of the modern state. Conceptually, the paper proposes that Euro-crafting should be thought through in relation to practices of statecraft, instead of a priori postulated as qualitatively different from such practices. Putting such an understanding of Euro-crafting to work, the paper explores the recent humanitarian crisis precipitated by large-scale migration into Greece and demonstrates how practices of Euro-crafting mirror the major desire-driven practices of modern statecraft; practices of ordering, bordering, and identification. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

There is a growing interest in island economies within Europe. In the European Union (EU) this has led to enhanced Cohesion Policy support for islands, along with a number of other regions facing geographical challenges. Because of major problems with data, comparative research on islands across different EU member states has been of limited extent. This paper explores the use of national data sets to undertake comparative cross-country analysis of islands. The paper concentrates on two member states, Greece and Britain, which have large numbers of offshore islands. Data from national population censuses are drawn upon to allow typologies of the islands to be developed. These typologies are utilised to identify similarities and differences between British and Greek islands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Energy policy affects the functioning of the economic and financial systems of countries worldwide. This paper provides a theoretical overview of the economy–energy nexus and discusses the particular cases of the energy policy dynamics amid the sustainability goals. This paper integrates multiple perspectives on the energy–economy nexus, with a particular focus on the energy trilemma, 4As of energy security and PESTEL approach. This allows the development of a comprehensive framework for the analysis of energy security and the sustainability interaction. A review of manifestations of the different dimensions of energy security and sustainability is carried out to identify the most topical facets of the issue. Then, the cases of the selected European Union countries (Ireland, Greece, Denmark and Lithuania) are presented to highlight the effects and features of the recent energy policy changes there. Indeed, these countries apply a PSO levy mechanism on electricity tariffs and are diverse in their geopolitical situation, economic development, geographical situation and energy dependency level. The analysis of the situations of such different countries applying the PSO levy mechanism makes it possible to perform a broader and more in-depth assessment and comparison of electricity tariff regulations. Thus, the developed theoretical model is applied to identify the major outcomes of the energy policy regimes (with a focus on tariff regulation) in the selected countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The process of approving a Greek drawing on funds provided by the international community is now familiar. There is concern about the prospect of securing an agreement between the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the European Union (EU), the European Central Bank (ECB), and Greece, which satisfies all parties. This paper suggests that all parties to the agreement have interests in an orderly resolution of the Greek crisis that keeps Greece in the Eurozone. Furthermore, it argues that disagreements and delay before eleventh-hour agreements can best be explained politically. The paper first demonstrates how Greece, the IMF, and the EU each have a clear interest in finding an orderly solution to the Greek crisis that allows it to remain in the Eurozone. It then outlines the incremental nature of the package and its strategic benefit both for the European banking sector, and governments in Greece and the Eurozone more broadly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses rescaling trajectories in the European Union (EU), focusing on Greece. Two consecutive state spatial restructuring waves are noted in Greece the 1980s and the 1990s, both resting upon, but failing to mobilize, local socio-political responses. The limited success of these endeavours, it is argued, reflects path dependency in scalar arrangements and the arrested state of local relational dynamics. During the past decade, a third and comprehensive attempt at rearticulating established formations of state spatial organization has been launched, marked by the construction of new state intervention scales at the subnational and EU levels. The perception of cities and regions as ‘action spaces’ and the promotion of ‘place-based’ and ‘networking governance’ initiatives suggest rescaling intentionality. In light of the narrow involvement of localities in the process, rescaling reflects centralist steering and the markings of EU policy prioritizations, aimed at triggering a competitiveness-oriented locational policy. This paper explores the path-dependent evolution of state spatial forms in Greece, commenting on the context-specific risks associated with the competitiveness shift. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper examines the policy implemented when it comes to establishing regional universities in a developed, yet semi-peripheral, EU country (i.e. Greece) and focuses on two central issues: whether regional universities contribute to local development and whether their location in the periphery harnessed their academic performance. The establishment of regional universities has become a widely used practice for facilitating regional development throughout the developed world, and the university's third role is quite widely accepted. The paper does not intend to question the policy of establishing regional universities itself, but rather the way these universities were established in Greece (as a case of a semi-peripheral regime) and possibly in other countries that are not in the forefront of international research. Regional universities in Greece were often established for clientelistic reasons; however, they do contribute in advancing local economic growth. These positive effects on the locality are often accompanied by a high cost for the Greek university and society itself, in the sense that regional universities have often been forced to operate under difficult conditions, thus undermining their fundamental mission (educational but primarily research). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to define the meaning of corporate social responsibility (CSR) in the context of the European framework and examine three different European countries. The main elements which encompass the meaning of CSR focus on activities with social and environmental sensitiveness, on a voluntary basis. The paper analyses the dimensions of CSR and presents its benefits. Furthermore, the paper provides a brief description of the recent CSR activities in the European Union, and attempts a comparative analysis of CSR activities and their respective impacts on three European countries: Greece; Denmark; and Hungary. Finally, the paper concludes that the effective implementation of CSR strategy cannot follow strict rules and should be adjusted to the culture, needs and particularities of each country. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By most accounts, Greece's foreign policy choices since becoming a member of the European Union have been viewed as largely ineffective. Our paper seeks to account for the complexities, inconsistencies and changes in Greek foreign policy by looking at both domestic and international factors that impact foreign policy, within the framework of a two-level game. In other words, this paper argues that Greek foreign policy should be viewed as a multi-dimensional and complex two-level game that involves the interaction of Greece's international and domestic contexts. At the level of domestic politics, the paper will look at three elements in particular. These are the domestic Greek leadership preferences, coalition building strategies within the Greek political system, and the degree of issue polarization. We conclude that it is clear that an understanding of domestic politics helps us to better understand the motives behind foreign policy choices. This is true for large and small states alike. While small states like Greece may be seen to have less room to maneuver, given their greater vulnerability to the international environment, our cases illustrate that domestic politics indeed do play a significant role in shaping foreign policy decisions of Greece. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural development has, in recent years, become a major area of EU policy, to the extent that the term has even begun to be overused in signifying a new shift in EU rural policy. The result has been a great deal of misunderstanding and numerous divergent interpretations of both the concept and the practice. Although rural development existed as a policy domain before the arrival of the accentuated 'Second Pillar' of the reformed Common Agricultural Policy, the fact is that an increasingly Europeanized approach to rural development funding, programming, and administration has developed in the post-1999 period. In this paper we argue that the study of rural development policy will gain a great deal from using a policy network approach to interpret the dynamics of evolving rural development policy within member states. Our main aim is to analyze and interpret the newly emerging Rural Development Policy Network in Greece, which aspires to separate itself from a strong and resistant Agricultural Policy Network. The example of Greece suits the purpose of the paper not only because of Greece's continuing reliance on agriculture and the centrality of the latter in sustaining rural livelihoods, but most importantly due to the institutional arrangements developed around it, which are characterized by a prevalence of agricultural interests at the expense of wider rural concerns. The concern of this paper is with the mechanisms of transition, and to a lesser extent with its outcome. One major finding is that the policy network approach to the study of rural development policy in Greece brings to light a certain transformation in policy structures, mechanisms, and administration. This transformation is not so evident at the level of policy style and/or policy outcome. Due to it having been labeled a 'laggard' member state, Greece has been affected by the Europeanization of rural development policy and has to some extent transformed its policymaking procedures accordingly. At the same time, the process of Europeanization has acted to empower civil society mechanisms and actors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the results of an assessment made as a part of the research project, Applied Multi-Risk Mapping of Natural Hazards for Impact Assessment (ARMONIA). The aim was to identify which aspects in the so-called disaster management cycle are covered by spatial planning in planning practice in the European Union's member states of Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK. In contrast to the initial hypothesis, the analysis of planning practice has shown that the role of spatial planning in risk assessment and management in many ways has been overestimated. The results have shown that spatial planning is only one of many actors in risk management and that it is, in general, not involved in risk assessment. Further, multi-risk assessment approaches are not used in planning practice, risk indicators are hardly used and vulnerability indicators are not at all used. The paper will interpret these surprising results and will answer the question of the role of spatial planning in natural risk assessment and management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses a recent practice applied by the Greek asylum authorities in the case of many asylum applicants who are returned to Greece by another European Union Member State by virtue of the 'Dublin-II' Regulation. This practice consists in interrupting the examination of their asylum claim on the grounds that the applicants have arbitrarily abandoned their place of residence. Greek legislation provides for this action in similar cases but was not used, up till recently, on cases of 'Dublin' returnees. The paper examines the reasons that led the Greek authorities to adopt this policy and its foundation in Greek asylum law and procedures, and challenges the practice legally and politically. It argues that, in adopting such a stance, Greece seems not only to go against the main objective of the Dublin-II Regulation (that an asylum application is examined once, and once only in the EU) but to contradict and undermine European Union policies on asylum, breaking the principle of good faith in its relations with its EU partners. In addition, it considers the possibility of similar problems being repeated in other national legal orders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A comprehensive review of the inland maritime transport system of Greece before the application of full liberalization in the provision of transport services and the lifting of cabotage restrictions that existed until 2002 is presented. The review is made both in terms of the quantity of the demand and supply sides as well as in terms of the quality of the offered services. The paper also examines all the elements that affect the operation of the system in a way that lends itself to a comparison of the 'before' situation (presented here) with an 'after' situation, which will be evaluated in Part 2 of the paper after the relevant data are available once the new system has been in operation for a few years. The paper begins with a description of the fully liberalized system that was put in operation in November 2002, and the elements that have changed. It then gives a picture of the whole system (based on data for 1999-2001) in terms of: (1) passenger and freight flows and their temporal variations; (2) the characteristics of the fleet; (3) the characteristics of the port infrastructure; and (4) the levels of services offered (frequencies, travel times, reliability of travel times, congestion at ports, form of the network). Interviews were undertaken with experts working on the Greek inland maritime transport systems at either the operation of the services (shipping companies) or on its administration (ministries and supervising organizations), and the interviews were supplemented by past experience from other countries and the brief experience gained from the new system. The paper first gives an overview of the expected impacts and changes that will be realized with the new system. A brief description is given of a decision support tool created as part of a consultancy study to help the Ministry of Merchant Marine in the management and monitoring of the new liberalized system and taking decisions based on European Union legislation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to contribute to our understanding of the overlapping fields of smuggling and asylum, and address the less studied condition of 'transit migration'. Based on a case study of Kurds in Greece, the paper describes the organization of the journey and the process of temporary and permanent settlement. Greece is currently one of the main entry points to Europe for migrants coming from the Middle East. In the absence of legal entry paths, almost all migrants arrive in Greece illegally. Many see Greece as the passage to Western Europe, and therefore do not apply for asylum but remain undocumented in the country for a couple of years. Some eventually leave the country, while others end up staying permanently. The paper explores the reasons behind the phenomenon of transit migration and its consequences for the migrants, the country and the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduces a paper about the role of the European Union (EU) in Turkish-Greek disputes. Reason for conducting such research; Oft-repeated argument that Europeanization processes in EU candidate and member states will lead to the resolution of territorial disputes among them in a win-win framework; Argument that both the EU as an institution and the EU accession process as a mechanism have fallen short of becoming conducive to the resolution of the Turkish-Greek disputes, particularly over Cyprus.

Presents notes on information resources and materials used in a paper on the role of the European Union (EU) in Turkish-Greek relations.

This paper seeks to interpret the demands and forms of organization of the big farmer union protests through an analysis of agricultural policy. Here, it is assumed that the current crisis in relations between farmers and the government is not fortuitous, but it is rather related to the way in which agricultural policy has been implemented since Greece joined the European Union. Therefore, this study focuses on two issues. The first refers to the relationship between farmers and the state following the construction of an all-powerful system of state corporatism, via the ‘pro-agricultural’ policy adopted from 1981 until 1989. This system went through a crisis between 1993 and 1996, when application of the ‘pro-agricultural’ policy became increasingly difficult. The second part of this paper, attempts to approach the ideological content of the ‘pro-agricultural’ policy, an issue closely linked with the populist phenomenon which dominated Greece after 1981 and began to lose ground in 1993. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents preliminary findings of an extensive socio-legal research project, currently in progress, concerning the implementation of the European Union and the Greek institutional framework on lifelong learning (LLL) and exploring the social effectiveness of LLL policy. The main outcomes, based on testing two research hypotheses through quantitative and qualitative content analysis, are presented. Firstly, there are significant differences in the ranking of four LLL objectives (employability/adaptability takes priority over social inclusion, personal fulfilment and active citizenship) as between legal documents of different origin (EU or national) and binding force (hard or soft law). Secondly, the key role of the global recession of 2008 in reinforcing the economic dimension of EU policy in the field is revealed. These data, considered from a socio-legal perspective, provide a basis for further discussion regarding national alignment to the EU’s LLL policy and argue for new ‘policy syntheses’ informed by the views of social actors concerned with policy implementation, in line with a broad humanistic notion of LLL. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper highlights some of the distinguished episodes in the history of survey sampling in Greece. There are many themes common to other National Statistics Offices (NSOs). Survey sampling in Greece basically started in the 1960s when Raj and Pearl introduced probability sampling into the practice of the Greek statistical agency (NSO) and the education of its senior staff. It is due to this work that the national statistical service is the only institution, conducting on a regular basis, probability sample surveys in Greece. As will be seen, these efforts are in line with those of many government agencies in the European Union (EU). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europeanization has been a fashionable term over the last decade. However, when it comes to foreign policy, extant work has produced inconsistent findings and few theoretical insights. This paper aims to fill this gap by constructing a synthetic theory which integrates into a ‘thick rationalist’ approach four mechanisms of Europeanization identified in the literature (policy adaptation, normative framing, differential empowerment, diplomatic coordination), and specifies a set of mediating conditions that can explain variations in the scope and direction of Europeanization. This theory is used in order to explain why Greece has become, since 1999, an active and solid supporter of Turkey’s European Union (EU) membership prospect. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Abstract: The primary goal of managing MSW incineration residues is to avoid any impact on human health or the environment. Incineration residues consist of bottom ash, which is generally considered as rather harmless and fly ash which usually contains compounds which are potentially harmful for public health. Small quantities of ash (both bottom and fly) are produced currently in Greece, mainly from the healthcare waste incineration facility in Attica region. Once incineration plants for MSW (currently under planning) are constructed in Greece, the produced ash quantities will increase highly. Thus, it is necessary to organize, already at this stage, a roadmap towards disposal/recovery methods of these ash quantities expected. Certain methods, related to the treatment of the future generated ash which are more appropriate to be implemented in Greece are highlighted in the present paper. The performed analysis offers a waste management approach, having 2016 as a reference year for two different incineration rates; 30% and 100% of the remaining MSW after recycling process. The results focus on the two greater regions of Greece: Attica and Central Macedonia. The quantity of potential future ash generation ranges from 137 to 459kt for Attica region and from 62 to 207kt for central Macedonia region depending on the incineration rate applied. Three alternative scenarios for the treatment of each kind of ash are compiled and analysed. Metal recovery and reuse as an aggregate in concrete construction proved to be the most advantageous -in terms of economy-bottom ash management scenario. Concerning management of the fly ash, chemical treatment with phosphoric solution addition results to be the lowest total treatment cost and is considered as the most profitable solution. The proposed methodology constitutes a safe calculation model for operators of MSW incineration plants regardless of the region or country they are located in. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Following a radical political economy, this paper offers a distinctive account of the crisis of the Greek economy. The public debt crisis of Greece is better understood when positioned within the neoliberal turn of global capitalism, which has shaped the prevailing European Monetary Union (EMU), and under the severe negative impacts of the current international crisis on weaker economies. However, the Greek debt crisis is deeply rooted in the unsettled capitalist development of the Greek economy and in its troubled integration in the European Union and global markets, manifest in the country's declining competitiveness. The austerity program currently implemented will lock the country into a deadly spiral of debt deflation. Greece needs a radical break from uneven and combined capitalist development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why do farmers choose to participate in agri-environmental programmes and how do they choose the amount of land they allocate to such programmes? This paper examines the determinant factors influencing farmers' adoption of the EU-financed agri-environmental Nitrate Reduction Programme (NRP) in Greece and the extent of the programme's adoption, in terms of land allocation. The decision to adopt the NRP is modeled as a two-step procedure. First, farmers decide whether to participate in the agri-environmental programme and second, the extent of participation is determined. We employ Heckman's self-selection bias correction model to derive unbiased estimates. Based on farm level data, we develop the profile of farmers who choose to adopt the agri-environmental programme and the characteristics of their farms. The results of the analysis provide valuable policy insights decomposed into the main factors determining first, the adoption of the agri-environmental programme and second, the extent of adoption. By decomposing the determining factors, policy makers can employ this information to design effective agri-environmental programmes, desirable to farmers and more targeted towards specific environmental and agricultural development goals. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Each year refugees transit southern EU Member States where in theory they should claim asylum but where in reality they have little chance of being able to make a claim, and almost no chance of having it examined properly, much less being actually granted asylum. This paper argues that the current EU regime turns some refugees into undocumented migrants - 'illegal migrants' in political and public discourse - and shields EU Member States from their international legal obligations. The article illustrates the effect of EU asylum policy through a case study of a group of young Afghan men in Paris. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to extent internationalization theories by investigating the potential moderating impact of three common foreign direct investment (FDI) characteristics (years of operation, size and role) on the market orientation of MNE subsidiaries located in Greece. By developing hypotheses based on existing literature, our findings indicate that market-seeking FDI and import substitution strategies correlate with an increased importance for the focal, and those markets which are characterized by geographical proximity and similar structural elements (Balkan countries). Strategic-seeking FDI and subsidiaries' mandate to extent MNEs' original product line mainly targets at supplying integrated economic areas (EU) and global markets. Subsidiaries which are relatively smaller and more recently established tend to focus on more geographically dispersed markets. In the main, the results meet our expectations for a middle-income peripheral European economy, where foreign operations show strong elements of static and immediate competitiveness, but also emerging potentials to upgrade their roles into more sophisticated regional representatives of their respective network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]