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Objective: The study aims to highlight opportunities for educational and non-governmental institutions in European Union member states to undertake initiatives that enhance and certify the digital skills of citizens and workers. Methods: The article is based on an exploratory research approach and presents mixed research methods and techniques. The first part presents a descriptive analysis of digital competencies in EU policy based on a review of literature and EU legislation. This was followed by a qualitative analysis based on data from Eurostat’s online database to diagnose the current level of digital competencies in the EU and trends in this area in recent years. Finally, a case study of an international educational project aimed at contributing to the achievement of the Union’s goals for improving the digital competencies of citizens and workers is presented. Results: The results obtained and their analysis indicate an urgent need to intensify educational efforts to improve digital competence in Europe. The case study can be used to raise and certify the level of digital competence for different target groups. Conclusions: From the point of view of the priorities set by the European Union, the digital competence of its citizens is unsatisfactory, and large discrepancies between countries in this area have been identified, which requires the implementation of more educational initiatives to develop digital resilience. Project-based learning initiatives generating open and free online tools for certifying existing and acquired digital skills in the EU are recommended. Developing a unified system of EU standards to prove the digital competence of citizens and workers can help on the way to achieving better competitiveness and sustainability of the European market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While Artificial Intelligence (AI) is becoming a key element in supporting the migration and border management policies of the European Union and its Member States, so far, AI‐based migration technologies have been tested and implemented with limited public scrutiny. In this context, the EU AI Act holds the promise of a regulation in line with the protection of fundamental rights and the rule of law. While Member States are bound by existing EU legislation when deploying AI, the Act represents the first attempt to regulate this technology in migration and border management. This paper examines the evolution of the Act throughout the negotiation process and its potential to hold actors involved in AI‐driven migration technology accountable, thereby promoting the rule of law. It argues that while the regulation offers promising and important elements, a closer examination brings to light important concerns about its ability to ensure accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Luridica is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: The research aimed to identify practices applied by European companies regarding corporate social responsibility reporting and their relationship with the membership of companies in the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) international organization. Research Design & Methods: In total, the research sample consisted of 935 companies from 34 European countries. To evaluate the statistical significance of the relationship between the selected variables, we used quantitative methods, including the Pearson chi-square test. Findings: On a large research sample, our research confirmed the impact of membership in the UNGC on non-financial reporting practices, such as: preparing integrated reports, reporting on sustainable development goals (SDGs), using the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) guidelines for multinational enterprises, International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 26000 corporate social responsibility guidelines, and decisions on external assurance of sustainability reporting. Implications & Recommendations: Conducted research has practical implications. Because the UNGC is an important factor in regard to social change towards corporate social responsibility (CSR) reporting practices, it requires further promotion in European Union (EU) member states. New company membership in UNGC can contribute to the development of CSR reporting. Contribution & Value Added: The article contributes to the literature on sustainability reporting because it provides new insights into the CSR reporting practices by public interest entities located in the EU countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Bosnian War witnessed horrifying humanitarian crimes, particularly systematic rapes perpetrated by Serbs against Bosnian women. More than 35,000 women and children were subjected to such atrocities in Serb-run "rape/death camps". Additionally, the fall of Srebrenica resulted in the loss of thousands of civilian lives. International intervention to halt the Bosnian War faced challenges and complexities. Various countries involved in the matter held differing interpretations of the conflict, leading to diverse views on potential solutions. The lack of consensus and political will hindered the effectiveness of the European Union's intervention efforts. This paper critically examines the international intervention in the Bosnian War, focusing on the approaches of key EU countries: France, Germany, and the UK. These countries' divergent policies and objectives impacted the EU's ability to adopt a coherent stance towards the conflict. The study employs Nuttall and Duke's theoretical approach to consistency in decision-making within the EU to explain why a consistent approach was not achieved during the intervention. By analysing the complexities of the EU's intervention in the Bosnian War, this study seeks to answer the question of what went wrong and provides insights into the challenges of decision-making and consensus-building within the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We examine patterns of migration and far-right voting in London following the eastern enlargement of the European Union in 2004 and 2007. To address immigrant sorting, we draw on transport and geography scholarship about migration to develop an instrumental variable approach. Our data set combines ward-level election and census information with georeferenced data on preexisting bus stops providing access to low-cost flight connections with the new European Union states. We estimate a large positive effect of Eastern European migration on changes in support for anti-immigrant parties between the 2004 and 2012 London Assembly elections. Our analysis suggests that concerns about affordable housing were a channel through which this migration affected support for the populist right but not the main fascist party. Our study highlights the utility of distinguishing different migrants and far-right parties, contributes evidence from Britain on how migration affects local elections, and offers a methodological alternative to the shift-share instrument. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we examine how State aid policy in the European Union (EU) affects the level of economic growth. By applying several panel data econometric techniques, to a sample of 27 EU countries over the period 2007–2019, we investigate how state support and government interventions affect the level of economic growth in the EU member states. Based on the empirical findings, we document a positive impact of state aid programmes on fostering economic growth leaving significant room for the implementation of a new pan-European industrial policy. Lastly, we provide policy implications to government officials and policymakers on the effectiveness of the State Aid Modernization programme and the future of State aid control in the aftermath of the pandemic crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses lessons from French and European Union (EU) wine laws that can be applied in American wine regulatory development. It provides a general background on wine and wine production, then compares the American Viticulture Area (AVA) regulatory scheme with French and EU wine regulation. It recommends changes to the AVA that could advance U.S. wine in global markets while avoiding global warming-related challenges facing other regulatory regimes.

By providing financial resources, conditional to the implementation of the (social) recommendations in the Semester and the principles of the European Pillar of Social Rights, the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF) has opened new political and institutional opportunity windows for the multi‐level co‐production of social policies. The article first dives into how the RRF has been translated into national social policies choices, by assessing the alignment of reforms and investments with the Semester social recommendations and their capacity to address the social vulnerabilities identified in the Pillar's Social Scoreboard. Second, it sheds light on the interaction between the European Commission, in charge of assessing and monitoring the RRF, and the national governments, the key actors in setting‐up and implementing the plans. Comparing six case studies (Italy, Germany, Spain, Croatia, Belgium and Austria), the article shows that the RRF has only partially contributed to reinforcing member states' compliance with social Country Specific Recommendations and the role of the Social Pillar in the drafting of National Recovery and Resilience Plans has been very limited. This notwithstanding, the RRF has contributed to fasten‐forward the implementation of welfare reforms and initiatives which would have been remained on the paper, especially for whose countries with limited fiscal capacity. Furthermore, it provides empirical evidence of the collaborative approach between the Commission and the national government, substantiating the claim of the emergence of a new mode of coordinative Europeanization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the European Social Fund (ESF) and the Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD), the European Union (EU) acts as a 'material supporter' of national welfare states. Remarkably, the European Social Fund Plus, integrating ESF and FEAD, is presented as the main financial instrument to implement the European Pillar of Social Rights (EPSR). This raises the question of what these levers can do in terms of financial support, especially for Member States with greater social needs. By using the Social Scoreboard indicators that monitor the implementation of the EPSR, we analyse the size and distribution of ESF and FEAD according to Member States' economic capacity, social needs and efforts required to meet the European social goals. We find that the funds benefit relatively more the poorer Member States who also tend to have greater social needs. However, especially for ESF, there are significant deviations from this general pattern. Some countries consistently receive less funding than others with similar levels of social needs, and vice versa. Moreover, if, from the perspective of upward convergence, the budgets are expressed as a percentage of the efforts required to lift all income‐poor citizens to the EU‐wide at‐risk‐of‐poverty threshold, countries who need to make the greatest efforts receive less funding. These outcomes are partly driven by the funds' allocation rules, which give only little importance to the great social discrepancies between countries. This raises the question whether social needs should be taken more into account in the distribution of the funds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Acta Universitatis Lodziensis. Folia Oeconomica is the property of Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Lodzkiego and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article argues against the idea that European Union (EU) member states (MSs) that have turned autocratic should be ejected from the EU to ensure that the latter does not itself violate the principle of democracy identified with the all subjected principle (ASP). First, the ASP requires that MSs be democratic before a decision to eject them would be acceptable and at that point, there is no reason to eject them. Second, if EU membership is voluntary as the protagonist of the above idea presupposes, any MS can decide to leave at any point in time and other MSs can decide to leave any MS behind and create a new European organization without it. Taken together, this means that the ASP, which pertains to permanent subjection (to EU law), is irrelevant already from the outset and cannot be used as the main premise for the argument for ejection. Finally, the very disagreement about what kind of organization the EU is and should become, implies that the democratic rights of citizens be given priority over the rights of states. This speaks against the legitimacy of ejecting MSs for democracy protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Access to justice in the EU is to be assured via both the CJEU and national courts through direct and indirect action procedures. Following this, the main argument developed throughout this analysis is that the CJEU differentiates the revision standard when interpreting the obligations of EU institutions and those of Member States. It is concluded that this kind of interpretation maintains the limitations to access to justice for individuals in the EU (the 'incurable'), even when faced with the attempt to overcome this restrictive interpretation in the specific case of strategic climate litigation ('curing the incurable'). The specific case of strategic climate litigation is used as an example to illustrate the negative consequences of limitations to access to justice for individuals in the EU. In conclusion, it is assessed whether there are any other 'real cures' for this deadlocked situation and what the rationale is behind these double standards. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, forced marriage as a manifestation of violence against women has entered the public agenda in European Union countries. This is partly due to higher numbers of migrants from regions where it is a regular practice. This paper aims to show the different ways violence manifests itself in forced marriage, both symbolically and practically - in terms of experiences - based on a qualitative sample of women with a range of migration backgrounds residing in Catalonia. The intersectional gender approach of the analysis enables the interaction to be considered of various factors when it comes to understanding contexts of risk and violence, as well as exit strategies from forced marriage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article informs about core aspect of the European Pillar of Social Rights as well as presenting the articles in this special issue of social rights in Europe. Overall, the articles points towards the role of the EU, while also showing continously strong variation across EU welfare states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the article is to fill a gap in the literature on the externalisation of immigration control by focusing not on practices of extraterritorial immigration control but on the externalisation of immigration control at the EU external border. The article will examine four parallel and inter‐related trends of preventive injustice on the border: the denial of law and pushbacks, and their handling by judicial authorities and EU institutions and agencies; the emerging framework of the instrumentalisation of migration; the normalisation of border procedures based on the fiction of 'non‐entry'; and detention of third‐country nationals at the border, to back up non‐entry policies. The article will highlight the rule of law deficit such externalisation entails. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) and Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM) form the Banking Union, which comprises EU authorities (ECB and SRB) and national authorities (NCAs and NRAs) with vast powers. Although crucial for its legitimacy, the Banking Union's accountability is flawed, and not for the (stereo)typical reasons: accountability is a visible concept in SSM and SRM regulations, and political, administrative and judicial bodies are knowledgeable, engaged and thorough. Rather, this article posits that the SSM and SRM work very well because the legislature focused on practical details such as information flows, planning and continuity and coordination, while there has been no comparable effort to ensure the functioning of accountability tools. The result is a "system" characterised by limited access to crucial information, lack of continuity, and uncoordinated functioning. Changing this should not be hard but requires replacing blanket criticism and stereotypical views with greater attention to detail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Improved legal status has been found to be associated with better labour market outcomes for immigrants, although causal effects remain difficult to ascertain. This article contributes to the debate on the 'citizenship/legal status premium' by providing quasi-experimental evidence based on the 2007 EU Eastern Enlargement, following which immigrants from Romania and Bulgaria, the new EU Member States, acquired the EU citizen status. The article also contributes to the literature on legal status effects, mainly focused on single-country studies, by comparing 'older' destination countries of Western Europe with 'newer' ones of Southern Europe. Results show that while EU citizenship acquisition is associated with higher employment rates in Western European countries, the association is null or negative in Southern European countries, where immigrants are more strongly urged to be employed. On the other hand, EU citizenship acquisition is more strongly associated with improvements in skill levels in Southern Europe, where immigrants are usually segregated in unskilled jobs, but only among men. In these countries, EU citizenship acquisition positively affects male self-employment chances as well. The article concludes that possible effects of improved legal status should be interpreted in light of different institutional contexts and models of immigrants' labour market incorporation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

INTRODUCTION Under the European Union (EU) Tobacco Products Directive (2014/40/EU) (TPD), manufacturers and importers of tobacco products are required to report information to the European Commission (EC) and Member States (MS) on products intended to be placed on the market. We describe the distribution of notifications to the EU Common Entry Gate (EU-CEG) and identify key fields for improvement on reporting cigarettes or roll-your-own (RYO) tobacco. METHODS A cross-sectional analysis of secondary data reported in the EU-CEG was conducted for tobacco products notified within EU-CEG between June 2016 and October 2019 for 12 EU MS. Analysis of compliance to specific regulations for priority additives that refer to cigarettes and RYO was conducted for 10 EU countries. RESULTS Overall, 39170 tobacco products were notified. This included 16762 (42.8%) notifications of cigars, followed by cigarettes 11242 (28.7 %), waterpipes 3291 (8.4%), cigarillos (n=1783), pipe (n=1715), RYO (n=1635), chewing tobacco (n=1021), novel tobacco products (n=839), herbal products for smoking (n=535), other (n=258), nasal (n=74) and oral tobacco (n=15). In cigarettes and RYO tobacco products, the proportion of ingredients notified in all countries that contained an unknown Chemical Abstract Services (CAS) number was 3.8% and 2.1%, respectively. The proportion of underreporting flagging of priority additives ranged from 15.9% in Malta to 41.3% in Lithuania, the mean proportion of underreporting of the variable 'priority additive' for the 10 countries together was 24.7%. CONCLUSIONS In the EU-CEG data base, for the period of analysis, a significant number of product notifications took place while large variations in the number of types of tobacco products notified across EU countries was noted. The timely monitoring of these data is needed so that products non-compliant within the EU-CEG system are assessed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annals of the Polish Association of Agricultural & Agribusiness Economists is the property of Polish Association of Agricultural & Agribusiness Economists and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Annals of the Polish Association of Agricultural & Agribusiness Economists is the property of Polish Association of Agricultural & Agribusiness Economists and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

While the harmonisation of insolvency law in the European Union (EU) has been a top priority on the European institutions' agenda in the last decade, it is well known that this endeavour has been slow and has often met resistance from the Member States. The COVID‐19 pandemic revealed that top‐down harmonisation of insolvency (i.e., introduced at EU level) has been temporarily halted. The urgency to control or mitigate the economically and financially destructive effects of the pandemic has, nevertheless, forced European governments to adopt domestic strategies and laws in the area of insolvency. Interestingly, however, such measures show that insolvency and restructuring law responses to the COVID‐19 pandemic, albeit largely uncoordinated, reflect a phenomenon of bottom‐up harmonisation (i.e., introduced by Member States) indicating a convergence towards common approaches. This paper interrogates the insolvency law responses to the COVID‐19 pandemic in six European countries (Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom). It uncovers the inadequacy of the EU's harmonisation language, and the limits of harmonisation strategies in insolvency and restructuring law. Finally, it promotes the formulation of a wider‐encompassing definition of "legal harmonisation". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution intends to show that normative foundations, in the sense of foundations prescribing norms or expressing prescriptions, have been rather limited in determining or defining the legal bases, legal provisions and their evolution in EU criminal law. EU primary and secondary law in penal matters has indeed been adopted mainly in reaction to the need to adjust to reality, to face challenges, react to facts, incidents and threats and to implement overwhelmingly political objectives, which themselves follow most of the time from the said factual or operational needs resulting from practice. This thus calls for an assessment of the advantages and risks of the relatively decisive role of external factors on the development of criminal justice in the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ever since the establishment of EU competence to legislate in criminal matters, legal scholarship has been devoting a fair amount of attention to the scope of these powers as well as to their proper exercise. The many scholarly contributions this has led to make a commendable and laudable body of knowledge with respect to the matter at hand. Yet, as will be argued, its capacities to shape the normative foundations of EU criminal law remain limited, with the main reason being that normative limits of EU‐level criminalisation have so far predominantly been articulated in terms of principles. For the reasons set out below, this article proposes to supplement the ongoing debate with another conceptual lens, i.e., the lens of legal interests (Rechtsgüter). The purpose of this article is to substantiate the point of view that the concept of legal interests offers essential opportunities to further shape the normative foundations of EU criminal law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although the place of EU criminal law in the European construction has become incontestable today, it has historically been a far from obvious one. In its origins and development, two different rationales can be distinguished: a functional one aimed at using criminal law instruments to address specific cross‐border crime challenges generated or enhanced by the progress of EU integration in other fields, and a constitutional one implying the use of criminal law also to further enhance the respect and promotion of EU common values. While the first rationale has been dominant from the outset, the second has emerged only gradually. For the sake of effectiveness, legitimacy and mutual trust, both rationales should equally drive the further development of EU criminal law. Yet prospects for a stronger affirmation of the constitutional rationale are weakened by current EU rule of law and democratic leadership challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article looks at how and why the EU has been/can be endowed with powers over criminal matters, within the framework of the theory of jurisdiction. It examines the extent to which the specific responsibility of the EU for the protection of certain legal interests justifies the establishment of a (peripheral) jurisdiction. Member States (MS) can confer such powers upon the EU, but this attribution must be consistent with their domestic obligations and limitations on state action. A crucial distinction is established between exclusive and shared responsibility: the former concerns the protection of 'institutional legal interests' exclusive to the EU, whereas the latter relates to 'functional legal interests', which also fall within the remit of Member States but are moulded or significantly affected by EU policies. It is argued that this differentiation should translate into the type of acts adopted, which may require some adaptations to traditional guarantees such as the legality principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is widely acknowledged that policies for a more sustainable society require narratives outside the status quo. This contribution studies the EU's environmental policy narrative of a circular economy (CE), which many consider promising in this respect. The results demonstrate that the CE narrative was created to transform EU policy discourses 'from within' but eventually perpetuated the established discourse of ecological modernization. This perpetuation resulted from specific strategic practices used to create the CE narrative, which (1) concealed conflict, (2) strengthened the agency of incumbents, and (3) excluded alternative voices. The analysis uses empirical evidence from 28 interviews with key stakeholders, 84 policy documents and participant observation data at the European Union (EU) level. The results suggest that the development of narratives outside the status quo depends on strategic practices that address (future) conflicts and offer new agency to change agents as well as transition strategies to incumbents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The policy of free movement—one of the core principles of the European Union—has become increasingly politicized. This makes it more important to understand how attitudes toward free movement are shaped, and the role of the media. The purpose of this study is therefore to investigate how news frames affect attitudes toward free movement, and whether education moderates framing effects. The findings from a survey experiment conducted in seven European countries show that the effects are few and inconsistent across countries. This suggest that these attitudes are not easily shifted by exposure to a single news frame. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Swiss Political Science Review is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Swiss Political Science Review is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

There is a growing perception that arguments favouring security are gaining ground in the aid narrative and that aid allocation is changing accordingly. This work explores the extent and features of such shifts in the particular case of the EU. We observe the evolution of development paradigms (social development, sustainable development and security) and aid motives (solidarity, common interests and self-interest) in the aid discourse. This is done by means of content analysis of strategic aid documents of a selection of European donors (the EU institutions, the Netherlands, the UK, Germany, France, Sweden and Spain). We then explore the eventual shift in the aid budgets of those same donors. In line with previous work on EU aid securitisation, we find evidence of securitisation in both narratives and aid flows. However, this trend is far from homogeneous, showing the complexity and diversity within the Union. There is practically no evidence of securitisation in the EU institutions, Spain or Sweden. We find mixed evidence for the Netherlands, Germany and France (where narratives and flow changes towards securitisation do not necessarily match) and, finally, a significant shift in the UK, where aid narratives and aid flows have been significantly securitised. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Government contracting is crucial for defining the quality of government and public services because it amounts to about 29% of government spending. However, regional quality of government indicators, especially for public spending, are largely missing. We assess the quality of public spending by transparency, competition, efficiency and corruption using a novel database of 4 million contracts from the EU-28 between 2006 and 2015. We find that public spending quality is associated with gross domestic product (GDP)/capita, the European quality of government index (EQI) and public sector meritocracy. We confirm large within-country regional variations, but also find considerable change over time: the steady deterioration of performance in old European Union member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a consequence of the European Economic Crisis, the European Union (EU) has implanted mechanisms to assist fellow member states facing economic difficulties. Despite an increasing academic interest in public preferences for such intra-EU solidarity measures, research has so far largely ignored individual characteristics that could possibly influence politicians' views. In this paper, we look at politicians' preferences for transnational solidarity and argue that these preferences depend on attitudes regarding socioeconomic issues as well as attitudes related to the EU. Moreover, we hypothesize that the relationship is moderated by responsibility attribution and the economic situation in a country. Using survey data of about 4000 politicians running for office in nine EU countries, we find that transnational solidarity is more common for socioeconomically left-wing and pro-EU politicians. Yet, attitudinal differences only cease to matter when the beneficiary state is perceived responsible for the crisis and economic problems at home are low. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Social Sciences & Humanities Studies / Društvene i Humanističke Studije (DHS) is the property of Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, University of Tuzla and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Italy's status as Europe's 'unguarded door' in terms of arriving migrants and refugees has both altered and intensified long-standing divisions – within Italy, as well as between Italy and the rest of Europe. This paper examines the cultural reverberations of the migration crisis in two films: Con il sole negli occhi (Sun in His Eyes, 2015), and Cose dell'altro mondo (Things from Another World, 2011). In different ways, both these films reveal Italy's anxieties about cultural re-negotiation as it responds to the migration phenomenon, and to its own inferiority complex as Europe's internal Other. At the same time, these films highlight how the influx of refugees and migrants into Europe has forced the European Union to examine its foundational aspirations of 'unity in diversity' and universal equality, because migration inherently poses the problem of inside v. outside. Reading these films against the ideals of inclusion and egalitarianism suggests that the Enlightenment idea of 'united in diversity' that informs the European cultural project is only ethical and egalitarian if it is universal, extending from Europeans to non-Europeans as well, and that it can succeed only if it is supported economically as well as rhetorically. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This cross-cultural descriptive empirical research observes the relationship of 937 high-school students from eight countries of the European Union with cinema. A survey was applied in 37 schools and 28 cities for individuals participating in a course on film literacy that was offered free of charge and as an extracurricular opportunity in their educational centres. The statistical analysis of the responses shows patterns perhaps tied to the respondents' culture (country) in their motivation for going to the cinema, their film-choice preferences, the media they watch the films on, the ways they select and obtain the films they watch, the frequency with which they download films and their preferred genres. However, there are also common patterns of use and consumption across the European adolescents in the sample. The results of this research are useful for understanding the place that cinema occupies in the life of youngsters today and particularly relevant for audiovisual regulators, who, they, should take into account the cultural characteristics of young audiences if their actions are to bear fruit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, there have been numerous academic and policy debates on the delivery mechanisms of European Union (EU) funds in member states. Studies focused on issues arising, for instance, during the management and implementation of EU aid at the local level but devoted less attention to the economic and institutional impact of EU funds. To what extent do EU funds act as drivers of socio-economic development and institutional change? Theoretically, this paper contributes to debates about economic convergence and the institutional spillover effects generated by EU aid across national and local settings. Empirically, the paper evaluates the impact of EU aid in Bulgaria and Romania after a decade of EU membership. Firstly, the paper examines a mix of quantitative indicators and secondary sources on the socio-economic impact of EU funds in the two countries. Secondly, using original qualitative evidence, the paper assesses the spillover effects of EU aid on domestic institutions and stakeholders, policies and practices. Finally, the paper provides an analysis of the unintended domestic consequences triggered by EU funds. It contributes to growing debates on the impact of European aid and suggests potential avenues for policy development and for further academic research in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The extent to which official development assistance (ODA) conforms to internationally agreed goals and principles of aid effectiveness may be influenced by donors' national interests. Disentangling the extent to which national ODA is motivated by development goals vs. commercial self-interest is difficult. European Union (EU) member states provide external aid through EU-level institutions and independently through national aid programs. Theory suggests pooled EU-level aid facilitates satisfying development effectiveness principles while bilateral ODA is more likely to reflect national interests. We investigate this hypothesis for a subset of ODA, aid for trade (AfT), provided by donors to recipient countries between 2002 and 2018. We find a strong, statistically significant positive relationship between AfT provided by EU donors and their exports to recipient countries. In contrast, AfT provided by EU institutions and non-European states enhances merchandise imports from recipient countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rule‐of‐law‐backsliding in some Member States has subverted not only one of the EU fundamental values but also trust among national authorities when implementing European Arrest Warrants (EAW). However, when evaluating the execution of EAWs issued by countries experiencing rule‐of‐law crises, the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) sought to preserve judicial cooperation and imposed a rather "top‐down" view on mutual trust among Member States. This approach seemingly disregards the (dis)trust which has emerged in the EU due to rule‐of‐law‐backsliding and fails to acknowledge the psycho‐sociological nature of trust. Drawing on the trust literature, the paper offers novel conceptual elements to rethink mutual trust in the EAW framework. Notably, it critically assesses some of the gaps in the CJEU's interpretation of mutual trust and advances suggestions to embed empirical considerations in the conceptualisation of this principle to bridge the gap between trust in practice and in principle. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]