The impact of the EU general data protection regulation on scientific research.

Science.gov (United States)

Chassang, Gauthier

2017-01-01

The use of personal data is critical to ensure quality and reliability in scientific research. The new Regulation [European Union (EU)] 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data [general data protection regulation (GDPR)], repealing Directive 95/46/EC, strengthens and harmonises the rules for protecting individuals' privacy rights and freedoms within and, under certain conditions, outside the EU territory. This new and historic legal milestone both prolongs and updates the EU acquis of the previous Data Protection Directive 95/46/EC. The GDPR fixes both general rules applying to any kind of personal data processing and specific rules applying to the processing of special categories of personal data such as health data taking place in the context of scientific research, this including clinical and translational research areas. This article aims to provide an overview of the new rules to consider where scientific projects include the processing of personal health data, genetic data or biometric data and other kinds of sensitive information whose use is strictly regulated by the GDPR in order to give the main key facts to researchers to adapt their practices and ensure compliance to the EU law to be enforced in May 2018.

Readiness of Kosovarian forest sector to comply with the regulations of the EU Due Diligence Directive

OpenAIRE

Andersen, Mads Birk

2014-01-01

The aim of this paper is to analyze how illegal logging in Kosovo can be reduced to fulfill the EU (European Union) Due Diligence regulation (EU, 2010). The study is comprised by four main objectives that present reviews of the most important articles and reports on the topic, an overview of the laws and policy instruments and their implementation, interviews with key actors in the forest sector of Kosovo and finally an analysis and conclusion on the challenges and solutions to reduce illegal...

[Analysis of difficult problems on European Union laws and regulations of traditional herbal medicinal products].

Science.gov (United States)

Qu, Li-Ping; Zhang, Xiao-Qun; Xiong, Yan; Wang, Yi-Tao; Zou, Wen-Jun

2017-10-01

Registration of Chinese patent medicine in European Union (EU) is of great significance to the internationalization of traditional Chinese medicine as EU market acts as an important position in the global botanical market. In retrospect, the domestic studies on EU regulations of traditional herbal medicinal products have been conducted for more than 10 years, but there is still some cognitive bias and lack of research. In this paper, a review of the relevant research progress and the main misunderstanding problems about Directive 2004/24/EC, like the centralized and decentralized supervision system of traditional herbal medicinal products in the EU, marketing authorization procedures for traditional herbal medicinal products, Community Herbal Monograph and List Entries, would be systematically analyzed, so as to provide reference for the registration of Chinese patent medicine in EU. Copyright© by the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association.

Underlying Paradox in the European Union's Multilingualism Policies

Science.gov (United States)

Johnson, Fern L.

2013-01-01

The European Union (EU) has developed comprehensive policies in recent years to promote multilingualism. In this article, major EU policy statements on multilingualism are analyzed to demonstrate how their underlying language ideology produces paradox by both encouraging multilingualism and regulating its definition within the EU. The first…

Why (and how) to regulate power exchanges in the EU market integration context?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Meeus, Leonardo

2011-01-01

The European Union (EU) market integration is leading to increasingly monopolistic electricity market infrastructures, which has opened a debate on the regulation of these so-called power exchanges. In this paper, we start by stating that there are two types of power exchanges in Europe, i.e. 'merchant' and 'cost-of-service regulated' power exchanges. We then discuss how regulation can be used to better align their incentives with the main power exchange tasks. We conclude that adopting the cost-of-service regulated model for all power exchanges in Europe could be counterproductive in the current context, but that regulation can help ensure that the benefits of the EU market integration materialize. Promising regulatory actions include tempering the reinforced market power of power exchanges, and quality-of-service regulation for the ongoing cooperation among power exchanges to organize trade across borders. - Research highlights: → Market integration is leading to increasingly monopolistic electricity market infrastructures. → Regulation can help tempering the market power of these so-called power exchanges in Europe. → Cost-of-service regulation for all power exchanges could however be counterproductive. → More promising is to subject cooperation among power exchanges to quality of service regulation.

Towards EU Cybersecurity Law: Regulating a New Policy Field

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wessel, Ramses A.; Tsagourias, Nicholas; Buchan, Russell

2015-01-01

EU cybersecurity forms a prime example of an area in which both internal and external (global as well as bilateral) policies are connected and in which the different legal competences of the Union need to be combined. Over the past decade the European Union started to take its first careful steps in

Trade Union Practices in the EU and Latvia: Experience for Eastern Partnership Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stacenko Sergejs

2014-10-01

Full Text Available The article will show major dimensions in the experience of EU Member States that could be shared with the Eastern Partnership (EaP countries. The framework of the study is the EU concept of trade unions in social dialogue and social partnership in the public sector. This study outlines the concept of social dialogue as a core element of industrial relations and will focus on industrial relations specifically in the public sector.

The Limits of Agencification in the European Union

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Scholten, Mira; van Rijsbergen, Marloes

2014-01-01

Although not explicitly regulated by the EU treaties, EU agencies not only exist but also have increased in number and power. In addition, while EU agencies may exercise very similar functions to those of the Commission, Articles 290 and 291 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union

Comparison of Domestic Safety Review and European Union(EU) Stress Test After Nuclear Accident in Fukushima Daiichi NPPs

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kang, Hwa Sung; Kim, Jin Weon [Chosun University, Gwangju (Korea, Republic of)

2016-05-15

The European Union(EU) nuclear regulators group established stress test criteria and procedures, and utilities performed a self-review in accordance with those criteria and procedures. For Wolsung nuclear unit-1,the stress test was additionally conducted for deciding the continued operation of NPP, even though the safety review had been conducted after Fukushima NPP accident. Thus, this study is to compares the process, criteria, and results of the safety review performed in domestic NPPs and EU stress test performed in Cernavoda NPP. From the comparisons, the effectiveness and necessity of the stress test to decide the continued operation of NPPs is discussed. and the improvement items for safety enhancement are derived. The comparison showed that the process and review criteria of EU stress test was more systematic and specific than those used in domestic NPPs. But it was indicated that the improvement items resulted from the safety review performed in domestic NPPs are more comprehensive and powerful than EU stress tests (Cernavoda NPP) results. EU stress test for Cernavoda NPP evaluated in 3 fieldsand derived 13 design change items. The 50 improvement items derived from domestic safety review were including the contents of these 13 items.

[Plant protection products and their residues : Aspects of consumer safety in context of the new EU regulations].

Science.gov (United States)

Banasiak, U; Michalski, B; Pfeil, R; Solecki, R

2010-06-01

The law regulating plant protection products (PPP) in the European Union (EU) was fundamentally revised through the introduction of Regulation (EC) No. 1107/2009 which is due to enter into force on 14 June 2011. EU-wide harmonized maximum residue levels (MRLs) for the active substances of PPP in foods are laid down in Regulation (EC) No. 396/2005 and apply since entry into force of the regulation on 1 September 2008. The goal of both regulations is to strengthen the level of consumer protection. PPP are subject to a strict assessment of active substances, which is regulated at the EU level as well as an authorization procedure in the EU Member States. Prior to application for authorization of a PPP, the active substance(s) it contains must be included in a positive list. Tests regarding the toxicity and residue behavior of PPP must be conducted by the applicant, and the respective documents must be submitted to the authorities for evaluation. Following review of the required data, toxicological threshold values are derived, consumer exposure is assessed, and the risk to health is evaluated. The goal of this evaluation is to ensure that the use of PPP according to good plant protection practice does not have any harmful effects on human health.

The Regulation Of Electronic Money Institutions In The SADC Region: Some Lessons From The EU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mmaphuti David Tuba

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article analyses the different approaches adopted for the regulation of payment systems in a variety of legislative instruments by the European Union (EU. It looks in particular at how the institutions that issue new electronic money products are regulated and supervised by the relevant authorities in the EU, in comparison with existing institutions such as banks. It analyses some of the lessons that may be learned by the South African Development Corporation (SADC from the regulatory approaches for electronic money institutions adopted by the EU. The article asks if the approach adopted by the EU may be useful for the future regulation of electronic money institutions in the SADC. The proliferation of electronic devices that arrived with the invention of the Internet has sparked some regulatory challenges. This development has become global and involves both developed and developing countries, including regions such as the SADC. It is asked if these technological developments should be addressed by means of a concrete regulatory framework while they continue to develop, instead of the regulators waiting to observe and acquaint themselves with the relevant regulatory challenges that underpin the innovations. The EU has attempted to address the anticipated regulatory challenges that came about with the development of electronic money and to align its regulatory approach with other payment systems. This article discusses the regulatory approaches adopted in the EU and provides an overview that the SADC may use in order to adopt an effective regulatory framework for electronic money and the institutions that issue these methods of payment. It analyses both the achievements and the challenges that the EU faced (and continues to face in developing the regulation of e-money, and recommends some possible approaches derived from the lessons learned.

Why (and how) to regulate power exchanges in the EU market integration context?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Meeus, Leonardo, E-mail: leonardo.meeus@eui.e [Florence School of Regulation, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies, European University Institute, Via Boccaccio 151, Florence (Italy); Electrical Engineering Department (ESAT-ELECTA), KULeuven, Kasteelpark Arenberg 10, Heverlee (Belgium)

2011-03-15

The European Union (EU) market integration is leading to increasingly monopolistic electricity market infrastructures, which has opened a debate on the regulation of these so-called power exchanges. In this paper, we start by stating that there are two types of power exchanges in Europe, i.e. 'merchant' and 'cost-of-service regulated' power exchanges. We then discuss how regulation can be used to better align their incentives with the main power exchange tasks. We conclude that adopting the cost-of-service regulated model for all power exchanges in Europe could be counterproductive in the current context, but that regulation can help ensure that the benefits of the EU market integration materialize. Promising regulatory actions include tempering the reinforced market power of power exchanges, and quality-of-service regulation for the ongoing cooperation among power exchanges to organize trade across borders. - Research highlights: {yields} Market integration is leading to increasingly monopolistic electricity market infrastructures. {yields} Regulation can help tempering the market power of these so-called power exchanges in Europe. {yields} Cost-of-service regulation for all power exchanges could however be counterproductive. {yields} More promising is to subject cooperation among power exchanges to quality of service regulation.

Trade Union Channels for Influencing European Union Policies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bengt Larsson

2015-10-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes what channels trade unions in Europe use when trying to influence European Union (EU policies. It compares and contrasts trade unions in different industrial relations regimes with regard to the degree to which they cooperate with different actors to influence EU policies, while also touching on the importance of sector differences and organizational resources. The study is based on survey data collected in 2010–2011 from unions affiliated with the European Trade Union Confederation and from below peak unions in 14 European countries. Results of the survey show that the ‘national route’ is generally the most important for trade unions in influencing EU policies in the sense that this channel is, on average, used to the highest degree. In addition, the survey delineates some important differences between trade unions in different industrial relations regimes with regard to the balance between the national route and different access points in the ‘Brussels route’.

CONSIDERATIONS REGARDING REGULATIONS ON FINANCIAL MARKETS IN THE CONDITIONS OF ROMANIA AS A EU MEMBER STATE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

ALEXANDRU CRISTIAN DOBRE

2018-02-01

Full Text Available Financial markets are increasingly becoming an area of major interest to the European Union in its efforts to achieve competitive global development levels similar to those of the United States. The Lisbon Agenda is a testimony to this, although the latest assessments are not at all optimistic about the achievement of the target as expected for 2010. To meet its objectives, the EU has generated a comprehensive package of regulatory initiatives, composed of directives and regulations that translate its policies into the field. The paper aims at a careful review of all of them. Approximation of investment and capital markets is made from the two major chapters of Community policies whose freedom of movement within the internal market is a fundamental desideratum of the European Union: the free movement of capital and freedom of movement of services. Financial markets are an integral part of European capital under current conditions, so development regulation helps European Union member states achieve their financial goals. At the same time, by imposing these regulations, we observe the European Union's intention to act as a starter of systems to bring to the development of states and not to leave behind the countries that are in difficulty, through a rigorous and transparent regulation of the financial markets.

EU Regulation of E-Commerce A Commentary

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lodder, A.R.; Murray, A.D.

2017-01-01

For the last twenty years the European Union has been extremely active in the field of e-commerce. This important new book addresses the key pieces of EU legislation in the field of e-commerce, including the E-Commerce Directive, the Services Directive, the Consumer Directive, the General Data

25 years of European Union (EU) quality schemes for agricultural products and foodstuffs across EU Member States.

Science.gov (United States)

Albuquerque, Tânia G; Oliveira, M Beatriz Pp; Costa, Helena S

2018-05-01

Consumers are increasingly turning their attention to the quality and origin of products that they consume. European Union (EU) quality schemes are associated with a label, which was introduced to allow consumers to perform an informed choice and to protect producers from unfair practices. This present study provides an overview of the last 25 years of EU quality schemes [Protected Designations of Origin (PDO), Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) and Traditional Specialities Guaranteed (TSG)] on agricultural products and foodstuffs across the 28 EU Member States. According to the results, it was possible to conclude that Southern European countries have the highest number of registered products. The most used EU quality scheme is PGI, followed by PDO. Concerning the analysis of the evolution in the last 25 years, the number of registered products among EU Member States has increased significantly. The fruit, vegetables and cereals (fresh or processed) category is the one that accounts for the highest percentage (26.8%) of registered products, followed by cheeses and meat products (cooked, salted, smoked) categories, with 17.2% and 13.5%, respectively. Further investigations should address consumer preferences, knowledge and attitudes, especially Northern European countries with a lower number of registered products. Moreover, the investigation and registration of products should be encouraged among all EU Member States to allow the maintenance of important elements of the history, culture and heritage of the local areas, regions and countries. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

MTU locomotive drive systems for EU emissions stage IIIB

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wintruff, Ingo [MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH, Friedrichshafen (Germany)

2011-05-15

Emissions limits for diesel locomotives within the European Union are regulated by EU Non-road Directive 97/68/EC which places restrictions on the pollutants NOx, particulate, CO and HC. MTU has developed suitable diesel engines for EU Emissions stage IIIB. (orig.)

EU Energy Law. Volume 4. The EU Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delbeke, J.; Hartridge, O.; Lefevere, J.; Meadows, D.; Runge-Metzger, A.; Slingenberg, Y.; Vainio, M.; Vis, P.; Zapfel, P.

2006-06-01

Gives valuable insights in the why's, how's, trade-offs, and critical design choices of the Emission Trading System of the European Union (EU ETS). The chapters deal with (1) The EU ETS: the result of a decade of policy action on the economic dimension of EU environmental policy; (2) The international climate policy developments of the 1990s: UNFCCC, the Kyoto Protocol, the Marrakech Agreements and the EU's Kyoto ratification decision; (3) Emissions trading: What is it? Design options and misconceptions; (4) The EU ETS Directive 2003/87/EEC explained; (5) The EU ETS Linking Directive explained; (6) The economic efficiency benefits of the EU ETS; (7) The NAP I experience; (8) The key importance of the Registry Regulation and of solid monitoring and verification; and (9) The potential role of the EU ETS for the elaboration of the post-2012 international climate regime. Conclusions are in chapter 10

The Interdependence of Competition Policy, Consumer Policy and Regulation in Introducing and Safeguarding Effective Competition in the EU Telecommunications Market

OpenAIRE

Bartels, Andreas; Pleșea, Doru Alexandru; Studeny, Michael; Just, Vanessa

2017-01-01

Currently, the European Union finds itself in troubled waters. It has to prove that its benefits outweigh the costs of its endeavour. In this respect, an EU competition policy that focuses on consumer welfare is one way to gain support by the citizens of its member states. The Roaming Regulation that has reduced the mobile communications costs while travelling abroad serves as a good example for this approach. The EU Commission views consumer policy as another important factor to protect and ...

6. Analisis Implementasi Cyber Security Di Uni Eropa: Studi Kasus Carbon Credits Hacking Dalam European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) Tahun 2010-2013

OpenAIRE

Aisya, Naila Sukma; Putranti, Ika Riswanti; Wahyudi, Fendy Eko

2017-01-01

Since the last two decades in the 20th century, the European Union (EU) has presented itself as a leader in climate change issues. The leadership manifested in the formation of the European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) as an effort to fulfill the commitments of the Kyoto Protocol to reduce emissions in the region. But the existence of the EU ETS has been challenged by the emergence of carbon credits hacking case in some national registration systems in the EU ETS. This study discuss...

Epistemic Dependence and the EU Seal Ban Debate

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lars Christian Blichner

2015-03-01

Full Text Available On September 2009 the European Union (EU adopted a regulation banning the import of seal products into the EU or placing seal products on the EU market. The European Parliament was the main driving force behind the regulation and the EU has been criticised by affected countries outside the EU for not basing this decision on the available expert knowledge. The questions asked are how, given epistemic dependence, non-experts may challenge an expert based policy proposal. Can non-experts hold experts accountable, and if so in what way? Three main tests and ten subtests of expert knowledge are proposed and these tests are then used to assess whether the European Parliament did in fact argue in a way consistent with available expert knowledge in amending the Commission proposal for a regulation.

The European Union, Financial Crises and the Regulation of Hedge Funds: A Policy Cul-de-Sac or Policy Window?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David John Lutton

2008-11-01

Full Text Available A series of financial crises involving hedge funds has created a general perception that action needs to be taken. A number of key member states and political actors favour tighter regulation. Traditional bureaucratic theory suggests that the European Commission would seek to maximise this ‘policy window’, and yet there remains no single unified European Union (EU regulatory framework specifically targeting hedge funds. The nature of the regulatory regime, which has generally demanded a ‘light touch’ approach, means there are strict limits the EU’s ability to act. From an EU perspective, hedge fund regulation appears to be a policy cul-de-sac. However, the relationship between hedge funds and financial crisis is complex and less straightforward than is often portrayed. Hedge fund regulation cannot, however, be considered in isolation but should be viewed in the context of a wider programme to integrate European financial services markets. Viewed from this perspective, EU regulation is in fact changing the landscape of the hedge fund industry through a process of negative integration.

IMPORTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN BANKING UNION NEW DIRECTIVES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MEDAR LUCIAN-ION

2014-10-01

Full Text Available European Banking Union has set new rules on monetary market especially for credit institutions and for financial banking groups in general. Economic and monetary union requires accomplishment of political and monetary union and democratic control of the European institutions on a single financial market. In this respect through its management organisms, EU has designed a series of unique mechanisms of financial union and called for a fiscal union. Union of European financial market is possible through a new regulation of the markets. In this project, monetary union of the EU member countries is possible by implementing single mechanism of supervision (Single Supervisory Mechanism and single mechanism of resolution (Single Resolution Mechanism. European Banking Union may be made by monitoring of a single banking supervisor based on a common system for managing and resolving banking crises and a uniform system of protecting people's savings. Romania opted for these unique mechanisms of macro-prudential supervision of the financial system. And by performing the real convergence criteria of integration, Romania will have all conditions of integration in the ,,euro area,,.

Embedding the logic of the Paris Agreement into the new Regulation on Governance of the Energy Union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Voss-Stemping, Judith; Sartor, Oliver; Colombier, Michel

2017-10-01

To safeguard the climate and to keep the temperatures targets of the Paris Agreement within reach, determined climate action of global players, such as the European Union (EU) and its Member States, is needed more than ever. The Paris Agreement sets out a clear process to review and raise ambition embarking on a long-term transformation of the global economy. To ensure that this process and the logic of the Paris Agreement is adequately embedded in the into the new Regulation on Governance of the Energy Union, IDDRI identifies the long-term strategies, iterative process and inherent time-line of the Paris Agreement as points of vigilance

Mortgage market regulation: Europe

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Aalbers, M.B.; Smith, S.J.

2012-01-01

Despite several European Union (EU) initiatives, there is only limited pan-European mortgage market regulation. The EU strategy can be characterised as one of parallel liberalisation and consolidation. This article highlights the key differences in regulation among European mortgage markets.

Abatement of CO2 emissions in the European Union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lesourne, J.; Keppler, J.H.; Jaureguy-Naudin, Maite; Smeers, Yves; Bouttes, Jean-Paul; Trochet, Jean-Michel; Dassa, Francois; Neuhoff, Karsten

2008-01-01

This first monograph of the Ifri program on European Governance and Geopolitics of Energy is devoted to the control of carbon dioxide emissions within the European Union. Since it is almost unanimously accepted that Greenhouse Gas emissions constitute the main cause of the observed increase of the world average temperature, the system implemented by the European Union to limit and decrease the CO 2 emissions is a significant pillar of the EU energy policy, the two others being the acceptance by the Member States of long-term commitments (for instance on the future share of renewable energy sources in their energy balance sheet) and the establishment of an internal market for electricity and gas. Though simple in principle, the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is in fact rather complex, and only experts really understand its merits and its deficiencies. These deficiencies are real and will have to be corrected in the future for the system to be effective. At this moment, when the 2005-2007 trial phase of the EU ETS is ending, the monograph has the purpose to stimulate the discussion between experts and to enable all those interested in the topic to understand the issues and to take part in the public debates on the subject. The monograph contains five papers: - 'An Overview of the CO 2 Emission Control System in the European Union' by Jacques Lesourne and Maite Jaureguy-Naudin. - 'Description and Assessment of EU CO 2 Regulations' by Yves Smeers. - 'Assessment of EU CO 2 Regulations' by Jean-Paul Bouttes, Jean-Michel Trochet and Francois Dassa. - 'Investment in Low Carbon Technologies, Policies for the Power Sector' by Karsten Neuhoff. - 'Lessons Learned from the 2005-2007 Trial Phase of the EU Emission Trading System' by Jan Horst Keppler

Relatedness and diversification in the European Union (EU-27) and European Neighbourhood Policy countries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boschma, Ron; Capone, Gianluca

2016-01-01

This paper analyzes the process of industrial diversification in the countries that were part of the European Union (EU-27) and those that were the target of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) in the period 1995–2010 by means of world trade data derived from the BACI database (elaborated UN

THE IMPACT OF THE NEW EU LEGISLATION ON ENERGY EFFICIENCY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alina Ligia Dumitrescu

2018-01-01

Full Text Available This article addresses the Energy Union from the perspective of energy efficiency. The research has a multidisciplinary character, which implies an economic analysis of an empirical type, but also a theoretical approach to the benefits of energy efficiency. The author analyzes the impact of the new energy regulations on efficiency in the European Union (EU, namely the in-depth review of the Directive on Buildings Energy Performance, the new heating and cooling strategy for the intelligent transformation of this sector, as well as the strategy for protecting vulnerable consumers. The effects of the new energy efficiency regulations are more significant in a number of Member States, but as soon as these will be applied throughout the EU, the beneficial effects of increased energy efficiency are likely to be felt in the entire EU area.

THE STATUS OF INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS CONCLUDED BY THE EUROPEAN UNION IN THE EU LEGAL ORDER

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agoston Mohay

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The European Union is a member of the international community and is a party to numerous international agreements. The status of these international agreements in the EU legal order however is not made expressly clear by the Treaties. The most pertinent question that arises is whether secondary EU law may be reviewed in the light of international agreements in annulment procedures or preliminary ruling procedures before the Court of Justice of the EU. In its jurisprudence the Court of Justice has tied the possibility of review to the question of the direct effect of international treaties, but there are some issues of consistency in this regard. This problem is a part of the broader question of the relationship of international law and EU law, including the question whether this relationship is more akin to a monist or a dualist approach.

Abatement of CO{sub 2} emissions in the European Union

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Lesourne, J.; Keppler, J.H.; Jaureguy-Naudin, Maite; Smeers, Yves; Bouttes, Jean-Paul; Trochet, Jean-Michel; Dassa, Francois; Neuhoff, Karsten

2008-07-01

This first monograph of the Ifri program on European Governance and Geopolitics of Energy is devoted to the control of carbon dioxide emissions within the European Union. Since it is almost unanimously accepted that Greenhouse Gas emissions constitute the main cause of the observed increase of the world average temperature, the system implemented by the European Union to limit and decrease the CO{sub 2} emissions is a significant pillar of the EU energy policy, the two others being the acceptance by the Member States of long-term commitments (for instance on the future share of renewable energy sources in their energy balance sheet) and the establishment of an internal market for electricity and gas. Though simple in principle, the European Union Greenhouse Gas Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) is in fact rather complex, and only experts really understand its merits and its deficiencies. These deficiencies are real and will have to be corrected in the future for the system to be effective. At this moment, when the 2005-2007 trial phase of the EU ETS is ending, the monograph has the purpose to stimulate the discussion between experts and to enable all those interested in the topic to understand the issues and to take part in the public debates on the subject. The monograph contains five papers: - 'An Overview of the CO{sub 2} Emission Control System in the European Union' by Jacques Lesourne and Maite Jaureguy-Naudin. - 'Description and Assessment of EU CO{sub 2} Regulations' by Yves Smeers. - 'Assessment of EU CO{sub 2} Regulations' by Jean-Paul Bouttes, Jean-Michel Trochet and Francois Dassa. - 'Investment in Low Carbon Technologies, Policies for the Power Sector' by Karsten Neuhoff. - 'Lessons Learned from the 2005-2007 Trial Phase of the EU Emission Trading System' by Jan Horst Keppler

The European Union and Crisis Management: Will the Lisbon Treaty Make the EU More Effective?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Wessel, Ramses A.; Blockmans, Steven

2009-01-01

The European Union's security and defence policy (ESDP) was invented 10 years ago and has been operational for more than five years. During this period the EU has launched over 20 ESDP missions allowing the organization to be engaged in international crisis management in various ways. The coming

Functional foods: regulation and innovations in the EU

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Moors, E.H.M.

2012-01-01

Worldwide consumers are becoming more interested in the relation between food and health. In order to harmonize regulation on foods throughout the EU, the Regulation EC1924/2006 on nutrition and health claims came into force, as a first specific set of EU legal rules dealing with nutrition and

EU ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE REFORM: ARE WE AT A TURNING POINT?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Daianu

2011-03-01

Full Text Available The sovereign debt crisis is creating enormous anguish in the European Monetary Union (EMU. Not surprisingly, emergency measures continue to be used at a time when a sort of economic recovery seems to be underway. Against this background the European Council summit of last October considered a Task Force report with a telling name: "Strengthening economic governance in the EU". This document is to be examined in conjunction with the governance reform proposals issued by the European Commission at the end of September and related documents. For the depth of this financial crisis and the "Great Recession" have forced EU governments and EU institutions to take a hard look at the governance structure of the Union. But it would be wrong to say that this demarche is an attempt to explore a terra incognita. From the very beginning of the European Monetary Union (EMU there was some discomfort with its institutional underpinnings and there were misgivings regarding its optimality as a currency area. This explains why a train of thought underlines a political rationale, too, for the creation of the EMU. Likewise, criticism regarding the way regulation and supervision have been established in the Union is not of recent vintage. And insufficiencies of the Stability and Growth Pact (SGP, with almost all member states flouting its rules at various points in time, have been repeatedly pointed out. This said, however, the flaws of financial intermediation have been less tackled by policy-makers and central bankers for reasons which, partially, are to be found in a paradigm which has dominated economic thinking in recent decades. This paper focuses on roots of the huge strain in the EU (EMU and main policy issues ensuing from the current crisis. It also looks at the stake NMSs have in a reformed EU economic governance structure. The challenges for EU economic governance reform are to be seen from a broad perspective: the crisis of the financial intermediation

EU Regulation of E-Commerce A Commentary

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lodder, A.R.; Murray, A.D.

2017-01-01

For the last twenty years the European Union has been extremely active in the field of e-commerce. This important new book addresses the key pieces of EU legislation in the field of e-commerce, including the E-Commerce Directive, the Services Directive, the Consumer Directive, the General Data

The EU Capital Markets Union and Financial Stability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kravchuk Igor S.

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of the article is to study the processes of formation of the EU Capital Markets Union in the context of their influence on stability of the markets and the financial system as a whole. In the course of analyzing the project for the building of a single capital market with respect to financial stability, there determined its positive aspects as well as threats and challenges associated with simplification of information requirements to the prospectus of public offering of securities, low liquidity and higher volatility of the equity markets of small and medium-sized businesses, reduction of the regulatory requirements to investment firms (securities traders, correction of prudential norms for infrastructure investments of banking institutions and insurance companies, introduction of a simple, transparent and standard securitization, a secondary market for distressed banking assets, and a potential spread of financial instability at cross-border investments in securities.

Manager of financial globalization? The European Union in global anti-money laundering and international accounting standard setting

OpenAIRE

Hilgers, Sven

2014-01-01

How does the European Union (EU) perform in international financial regulation? According to various scholars the global financial architecture has been shaped by the USA and the EU. But whereas the USA is without doubt the dominant actor or even described as hegemon in writing the rules for the global political economy and global financial markets, the EU seems to be a special kind of actor. The European Union is not only one of the biggest single financial markets in the world but also has ...

EU SINGLE FINANCIAL MARKET – PROSPECTS FOR CHANGES

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Małgorzata Mikita

2012-04-01

Full Text Available The global financial crisis has revealed the weaknesses of the European financial market, which triggered the European Union (EU work on further integration of this market. The aim of this article is to present the direction of changes concerning the integration of the EU financial market. These changes are mainly related to the issue of supervising the EU financial market, regulating the institutions operating in this market, protecting customers, improving the effectiveness of the market, its transparency and liquidity, as well as improving management in crisis situations.

EUROPEAN UNION POLICIES FOR CLIMATE CHANGE MITIGATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Canter

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Climate change is one of the most important challenges that humanity faces in the 21st century, and for the European Union, combating this phenomenon represents an important element, which is reflected both in the actions carried out in recent years, domestically and internationally, as well as in the EU policy on climate change. Within the EU, regulations were adopted, that demonstrate the importance that the Union confers to the limitation of this phenomenon, stressing at the same time the need for an integrated policy framework to ensure the security for potential investors and a coordinated approach between Member States. This paper will present recent developments for the most important policies to combat and mitigate climate change in the European Union, starting with "20-20-20" objectives, which are to be met through the package "Energy-Climate Change", continuing with 2030 and 2050 timeframes, and finally presenting the main lines of action to combat climate change.

The harmonization of banking legislation in the EU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shkëlqesa Çitaku

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This paper attempts to assess the current legislation of banking in the European Union. The process of unification in Europe is also followed by efforts to harmonize and unify the laws of the member states. In the field of banking industry the precondition for harmonization of laws is the integration of internal market with the free movement of capital. The regulation and supervision of banks in EU still remains fragmented. European member states still have diverse regulations concerning the role of the state. The European Commission has the important function of proposing EU legislation on financial services including banks and ensuring that EU law is properly applied throughout the EU. Banks are considered as a key industry enabling all the economic activities via depositing, crediting and arranging of payments. A number of secondary legislation has been adopted by the EU institutions to harmonize the national banking law of Member States. The principles and objectives set by the European Commission Treaty depend on four EU freedoms with the aim of effective and open market including banks. Therefore it was a continuous process of harmonization of national banking regulation via secondary law since the 70’s.

75 FR 67970 - Notice of Inquiry; An Analysis of the European Union Repeal of the Liner Conference Block Exemption

Science.gov (United States)

2010-11-04

... FEDERAL MARITIME COMMISSION Notice of Inquiry; An Analysis of the European Union Repeal of the... information and comments concerning the effects on international liner shipping of the European Union's (``E.U.... The adoption by the European Union of Regulation 1419/2006 (``Repeal''), on September 25, 2006...

LOBBYING IN THE UNITED STATES AND THE EUROPEAN UNION: NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN LOBBYING REGULATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liliana Mihuţ

2008-12-01

Full Text Available The paper compares lobbying in the United States and in the European Union taking into account the specific environments in the two areas. It is focused on recent developments (2006 – 2008 in lobbying regulation in the US, at the federal level, and in the EU, at the level of the European institutions. The compulsory system typical of the American approach is compared to the lower regulated system specific to the European Parliament, as well as to the self-regulatory approach that is still proper to the European Commission, even though its recent decisions indicate a departure from it. The main conclusions highlight the increasing similarities between the American and European approaches, as well as the differences that still exist, mainly in the framework of the pluralist – corporatist dichotomy. Having in view this background, the concluding remarks also stress the need to intensify the debates on lobbying regulation in Romania.

The development of environmental management system in Serbia and Montenegro as part of the EU accession

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zdravković Dušan S.

2004-01-01

Full Text Available Environmental protection is one of the top priorities of the EU. The EU regulates this area both within the Union and internationally. Also, the regulations concerning environmental protection in the EU to a certain extent exceed the national level. The EU environmental legislation imposes a number of challenges to membership candidates. Legal heritage of the EU is very extensive, complex and costly, and environmental problems are much more important in the EU membership candidates than in the member states. Therefore, it is of great importance for transitional countries such as Serbia and Montenegro to participate in the EU Stabilization and Association Process as well as in the WTO accession process.

AU-EU “Strategic Partnership”

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rodt, Annemarie Peen; Okeke, Jide

2013-01-01

This article appraises strategic partnership between the African Union (AU) and European Union (EU). It examines the context and nature of AU and EU security relations and explores the conditions under which partnership has a positive impact in this regard. This includes an evaluation...... of convergence between the two organizations and its effect or lack thereof on African security. The article concludes that events leading up to and initiatives following the 2007 Joint Africa–European Union Strategy have produced a degree of AU and EU convergence, which has had limited impact on the efficacy...... of the African security regime, the level of which remains mediocre at best....

Living Organ Donation by Minors: An Analysis of the Regulations in European Union Member States.

Science.gov (United States)

Thys, K; Van Assche, K; Nys, H; Sterckx, S; Borry, P

2016-12-01

Living organ donation (LD) is an increasingly established practice. Whereas in the United States and Canada LD by minors has occasionally been reported, LD by minors seems to be largely absent in the European Union (EU). It is currently unclear whether this is the result of a different legal approach. This study is the first to systematically analyze the regulations of EU member states, Norway, and Iceland toward LD by minors. Relevant regulations were identified by searching government websites, translated, compared, and sent for verification to national legal experts. We identified five countries where LD by minors is allowed. In two of these (Belgium and the United Kingdom), some minors may be deemed sufficiently mature to make an autonomous decision regarding LD. In contrast, in the three other countries (Luxembourg, Norway, and Sweden), LD by minors is only allowed subject to parental permission and the assent (or absence of objection) of the donor. Where allowed, regulations differ significantly with regard to the substantive and procedural safeguards in place. In view of the controversial nature of the procedure, as illustrated by recent reports and surveys, we argue for a very cautious approach and greater harmonization in countries where LD by minors is allowed. © Copyright 2016 The American Society of Transplantation and the American Society of Transplant Surgeons.

The EU health claim regulation in international comparison

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Aschemann-Witzel, Jessica

2011-01-01

Nutrition and health claims are voluntary claims on food indicating favourable nutritional content or health benefits of the food. Nutrition and health claims on food are increasingly regulated in the world market. This process is accompanied by intensive stakeholder discussions on the possible...... impact on consumer protection and food marketing effectiveness. This article reviews literature on regulations in the major food markets in comparison with the EU regulation. The focus is on identifying characteristics of regulations that are expected to have an impact on consumer protection and food...... marketing. The EU regulation is regarded as focusing relatively strongly on precaution and consumer understanding. The extent to which this hampers food innovations is in dispute. It is suggested that using marketing measures in favour of scientifically approved claims as well as stakeholder cooperation...

EU Foreign Energy Policy. From Intergovernmentalism to Supranationalism

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ahner, N.

2012-01-01

The European Union's increasing reliance on imports from third countries is reason for unsettling concern. It is anticipated that by 2030, assuming a continuation of the recent trend, more than 70 per cent of the EU's energy consumption has to be imported. Notwithstanding such anticipation, European regulation addressing the external dimension of energy policy remained far and few between. In practise it is the individual countries being leading actors on the foreign energy relations stage exercising their own respective foreign policies. To cope with these threats to the EU foreign energy policy, the European Commission issued its long anticipated Communication on security of energy supply and international cooperation proposing concrete instruments on how energy foreign relations should be addressed in the future. But - does the Union have the power to bring about the crucial rebound?.

Osteoporosis in the European Union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svedbom, A; Hernlund, E; Ivergård, M

2013-01-01

the burden of osteoporosis in each of the EU27 countries in 2010 and beyond. METHODS: The data on fracture incidence and costs of fractures in the EU27 were taken from a concurrent publication in this journal (Osteoporosis in the European Union: Medical Management, Epidemiology and Economic Burden......UNLABELLED: This report describes epidemiology, burden, and treatment of osteoporosis in each of the 27 countries of the European Union (EU27). INTRODUCTION: In 2010, 22 million women and 5.5 million men were estimated to have osteoporosis in the EU; and 3.5 million new fragility fractures were...

Life cycle environmental evaluation of kettles: Recommendations for the development of eco-design regulations in the European Union.

Science.gov (United States)

Gallego-Schmid, Alejandro; Jeswani, Harish Kumar; Mendoza, Joan Manuel F; Azapagic, Adisa

2018-06-01

Between 117 and 200 million kettles are used in the European Union (EU) every year. However, the full environmental impacts of kettles remain largely unknown. This paper presents a comprehensive life cycle assessment of conventional plastic and metallic kettles in comparison with eco-kettles. The results show that the use stage contributes 80% to the impacts. For this reason, the eco-kettle has over 30% lower environmental impacts due to a greater water efficiency and related lower energy consumption. These results have been extrapolated to the EU level to consider the implications for proposed eco-design regulations. For these purposes, the effects on the impacts of durability of kettles and improvements in their energy and water efficiency have been assessed as they have been identified as two key parameters in the proposed regulations. The results suggest that increasing the current average durability from 4.4 to seven years would reduce the impacts by less than 5%. Thus, improving durability is not a key issue for improving the environmental performance of kettles and does not justify the need for an eco-design regulation based exclusively on it. However, improvements in water and energy efficiency through eco-design can bring relevant environmental savings. Boiling the exact amount of water needed would reduce the impacts by around a third and using water temperature control by further 2%-5%. The study has also considered the effects of reducing significantly the number of kettles in use after the UK (large user of kettles) leaves the EU and reducing the excess water typically boiled by the consumer. Even under these circumstances, the environmental savings justify the development of a specific EU eco-design regulation for kettles. However, consumer engagement will be key to the implementation and achievement of the expected environmental benefits. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Banking Union- Present Stage and its Perspectives

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petre Prisecaru

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Banking Union is very important for financial stability of EU, for preventing any future crisis, for improving corporate governance in the banking sector, for completing the single market for financial services and for the strengthening of monetary union, for opening the way to fiscal union and to political union. There is not enough theoretical research in the field of banking union, but there are many recent contributions on behalf of foreign and Romanian experts and analysts, which refer mainly to the three components/pillars of EU banking union: a Single Supervision Mechanism (SSM, a Single Resolution Mechanism (SRM and an harmonized system of deposit guarantee schemes. Some micro studies and surveys carried out by prestigious institutions, like Deutsche Bank, Brookings Institution, CEPS have been run over and analyzed together with the positions and opinions of different European officials, and also with the content of EU secondary legislation. An empirical research was made with the aim to identify all essential aspects relating to EU banking union, which may concern the academics, researchers and business community. The paper is based on a previous research study coordinated by author and contains his own conclusions focused on the main arguments in favour of banking union.

Rebalancing EU Interest Representation? Assocative Democracy and EU funding of Civil Society Organizations

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sanchez Salgado, R.

2014-01-01

European Union (EU) funding of civil society organizations (CSOs) is a substantial and important part of EU governance, but study of such funding is scarce and theoretically underdeveloped. To fill this gap, this article analyzes the main features of EU funding of CSOs and its effects on the EU

The efficiency costs of separating carbon markets under the EU emissions trading scheme: A quantitative assessment for Germany

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boehringer, Christoph; Hoffmann, Tim; Manrique-de-Lara-Penate, Casiano

2006-01-01

From 1 January 2005 onwards the European Union has launched the first large-scale international carbon emissions trading program. As the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) covers only part of domestic carbon emissions, it implies a segmented environmental regulation scheme: Each EU Member State must specify additional domestic abatement policies for the sectors outside the EU-ETS in order to meet its emissions budget under the EU Burden Sharing Agreement. We highlight the generic problems of segmented carbon regulation in terms of information requirements for international carbon prices and domestic abatement costs of sectors outside the EU-ETS. Based on numerical simulations for Germany, we quantify the excess costs of segmented carbon regulation and conclude that inefficiencies can be much better explained by lobbying of influential EU-ETS sectors than by information problems. (Author)

Protecting Animals and Enabling Research in the European Union: An Overview of Development and Implementation of Directive 2010/63/EU.

Science.gov (United States)

Olsson, I Anna S; Silva, Sandra Pinto da; Townend, David; Sandøe, Peter

2016-05-01

In 1986, European Directive 86/609/EEC, regulating the use of animals in research, was one of the first examples of common legislation to set standards for animal protection across the Member States of the former European Economic Community, now the European Union, with the aim of securing a level European playing field. Starting in 2002, a process of revising European animal experimentation legislation was undertaken, with one of its key aims being to ensure high standards of welfare for laboratory animals across Europe. This resulted in Directive 2010/63/EU, which has regulated this activity in Europe since 2013. Since this is a European Union Directive, transposition into national legislation is a necessary and important part of the implementation of the new legislation. This paper gives an overview of the transposition process followed by an analysis of the potential to reach the different objectives of the directive, particularly with a focus on securing the same high standards of animal protection across member countries. The analysis focuses on three separate issues: (1) minimum standards for laboratory animal housing and care, (2) restrictions on the use of certain animal species, and (3) project review and authorization. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Institute for Laboratory Animal Research. All rights reserved. For permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

European single-hull regulation in force

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Rogers, Michael

2004-07-01

The European Union (EU)has decided that from 21 October 2003 no single-hull tanker carrying heavy grades of oil will be permitted to enter or leave ports or offshore installations or anchor in areas under the jurisdiction of the EU member states. Some of the provisions of the EU regulation will not be in force until 2010. The article looks back on what has led up to to the current regulations, beginning with the Titanic disaster of 1914.

Risk regulation and deliberation in EU administrative governance: GMO regulation and its reform

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weimer, M.

2015-01-01

The article analyses the problems of EU risk regulation of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) through the lens of deliberative theories of EU law and governance, such as deliberative supranationalism and experimentalist governance. Previous research had suggested that the GMO issue is not

European Union Legal Methods - Moving Away From Integration

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eckes, C.; Neergaard, U.; Nielsen, R.

2013-01-01

Notwithstanding the permanent state of crises of the European Union (EU or Union) in the past seven years, EU law continues to govern the legal relationships of individuals and Member States in ever more areas. Union law is self-reinforcing in the sense that it is constructed to increase in scope

ANALYSIS OF EUROPEAN UNION LEGISLATION ON TRADE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

GRIBINCEA Lilia;

2016-12-01

Full Text Available On June 27, 2014 there was signed an Association Agreement between the Republic of Moldova, on one hand and the European Union and the European Atomic Energy Community and its Member States, on the other hand (hereinafter - the Association Agreement. The Association Agreement entered into force on 1 July 2016. The signing of the Association Agreement was as a result of the close ties between the parties established by the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement between the European Communities and their Member States, on the one hand, and the Republic of Moldova on the other hand, which develops within the European Neighborhood policy and the Eastern Partnership, as well as recognition of the shared desire of the parties to further develop, strengthen and expand their relationships. The Association Agreement contributes to the development of trade and economic relations between the parties. The Republic of Moldova is obliged to take necessary measures to ensure compliance with the objectives of Union's regulations and to follow the principles and practices set out in the relevant acquis of the Union. The Republic of Moldova will also gradually include relevant acquis of the Union in its legislation, in accordance with the provisions of the Association Agreement. The legislative background regulatory EU trade is subject studies only a small circle of researchers, approaches and sequential episodic in character, without being integrated into a systemic study, complex, integrated. The objectives of the research are to analyze the most important EU regulations on trade.

Some Considerations Regarding the European Banking Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius Eugen Radu

2016-09-01

Full Text Available Union Bank is a surveillance system and an EU bank resolution, which operates on the basis of EU wide rules. It aims to ensure that the banking sector in the euro area and the EU in general is safe and reliable and viable banks benefiting from resolution without recourse to taxpayer funds and with minimal impact on the real economy. Banking union members are all euro-zone countries and EU Member States that have chosen to participate. All countries will adopt the euro in the future will automatically become members of the banking union. Countries that are not part of the euro area can join by establishing a close cooperation agreement.

Organization and regulation of energy markets in the European Union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasconcelos, J.

2002-01-01

The energy regulation policy and the organization of power matters in the European Union as well as the energy markets are discussed in this Keynote Paper. The Council of European Energy Regulators is introduced. The goal of the European Union regarding energy generation and consumption in the future are analyzed. (R.P.)

Point Climat no. 16 'Applying MiFID to the EU ETS: what are the implications?'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Patay, Magali; Alberola, Emilie

2012-01-01

Among the publications of CDC Climat Research, 'Climate Briefs' presents, in a few pages, hot topics in climate change policy. This issue addresses the following points: The European Union is moving ahead with a proposal to regulate trading in carbon assets under the revised Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID). This would mean that all trading in such assets, from the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) to international carbon credits from Kyoto project-based mechanisms eligible for the EU ETS would be covered by the existing EU regulatory framework for financial markets. Allowance spot and derivative markets are set to be supervised by a single oversight authority, and the MiFID and Market Abuse Directive will apply. While this will bring benefits in terms of improved security, transparency and protections for market participants in the carbon market, future challenges for the EU ETS will involve the proper coordination of MiFID with the Auctioning Regulation, and ensuring that the ad hoc treatment of emission allowances is maintained within the MiFID legislation

EU Foreign Energy Policy. From Intergovernmentalism to Supranationalism

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Ahner, N. [European University Institute, Florence (Italy)

2012-01-15

The European Union's increasing reliance on imports from third countries is reason for unsettling concern. It is anticipated that by 2030, assuming a continuation of the recent trend, more than 70 per cent of the EU's energy consumption has to be imported. Notwithstanding such anticipation, European regulation addressing the external dimension of energy policy remained far and few between. In practise it is the individual countries being leading actors on the foreign energy relations stage exercising their own respective foreign policies. To cope with these threats to the EU foreign energy policy, the European Commission issued its long anticipated Communication on security of energy supply and international cooperation proposing concrete instruments on how energy foreign relations should be addressed in the future. But - does the Union have the power to bring about the crucial rebound?.

Which lessons can we learn from the European Union legal framework of medicines for the regulation of direct-to-consumer genetic tests?

Science.gov (United States)

van Hellemondt, Rachèl; Hendriks, Aart; Breuning, Martijn

2012-01-01

The legal framework of the European Union (EU) for regulating access to and supply of direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests is very liberal compared to the legal and regulatory framework for (internet) medicines. Nevertheless, both health related products can cause equally serious damage to the well being of individuals. In this contribution we examine whether the legal framework of the EU for the safety and responsible use of (internet) medicines could be an example for regulating access to and supply of DTC genetic tests. The EU laws governing medicines can, notwithstanding their shortcomings, serve as an example for (central) authorising the marketing of DTC genetic tests on the internal market in accordance with strict criteria regarding predictive value and clinical usefulness. Furthermore, a legal framework controlling DTC genetic tests also should introduce system supervision as well as quality criteria with respect to the information to be provided to consumers in order to enhance health protection. However, DTC genetic tests purchased through online ordering are difficult to supervise by any agency. Adequately protecting individuals against questionable testing kits calls for international vigilance and comprehensive measures by the international community. For Europe, it is important to rank the regulation of DTC genetic tests on the European regulatory agenda.

Creating EU law judges

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mayoral Diaz-Asensio, Juan Antonio; Jaremba, Urszula; Nowak, Tobias

2014-01-01

The judicial protection system in the European Union (EU) is premised on the fact that national judges are supposed to act as decentralized EU judges. This role is exercised through tools enshrined in, inter alia, primacy, direct and indirect effect of EU law, and the preliminary ruling procedure...

Cross-border Mobility of the Companies in EU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Saša Prelič

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The fr eedom of establishment, provided by the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, is a suitable legal basis for effective cross-border corporate restructuring of companies in European Union. There are some possible methods to exercise this freedom, specially regulated with secondary acts, like cross-border mergers and the establishment and economic operation in the legal form of Societas Europaea, whereas the cross-border transfer of the company (its seat shall be in the light of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union admitted on the basis of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Companies therefore in their intention for cross-border mobility do not need to reconstruct by using the general provisions on establishment and liquidation of companies and through the way of singular succession. There are possibilities, regulated on the EU level, through which companies shall emigrate or spread their business activities to other Member States much simpler and with less cost on the basis of universal succession. The regulation of procedures and the advantages of the mentioned reconstruction methods will be analysed in this article.

The Short Selling Regulation in the EU: Assessing the Authorization Granted for ESMA to Prohibit Short Selling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matias Huhtilainen

2017-07-01

Full Text Available The paper discusses the renewed short selling regulation (Regulation (EU No 236/2012 in the European Union. The focus is on the provisions that deal with prohibiting short selling in exceptional market circumstances. The Regulation further enforces certain obligations to report and disclose short positions. It is concluded that banning short selling is not an effective tool to contain extreme price volatility. The difference-in-differences regression and repeated measures GLM were used to test whether short selling bans were successful in containing volatility of those Spanish and Italian stocks that were subject to two back-to-back prohibitions during the years 2011-2013. The results are consistent with the majority of previous research, suggesting that the effectiveness of short sale constraints in reducing volatility is limited at best. Furthermore, there are evidence of counterproductive effects: constraints on short selling may actually increase volatility as well as deteriorate liquidity. However, based on theory and previous studies, reporting and disclosure requirements shall be favored provided they improve market efficiency as well as supervisory work of regulatory bodies.This paper discusses the renewed short selling regulation (Regulation (EU No 236/2012 in the European Union. The focus is on the provisions that deal with prohibiting short selling in exceptional market circumstances. The Regulation further enforces certain obligations to report and disclose short positions. It is concluded that banning short selling is not an effective tool to contain extreme price volatility. The difference-in-differences regression and repeated measures GLM were used to test whether short selling bans were successful in containing volatility of those Spanish and Italian stocks that were subject to two back-to-back prohibitions during the years 2011-2013. The results are consistent with the majority of previous research, suggesting that the

Rawls and the European Union

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kamminga, Menno R.

2014-01-01

Renowned political philosopher John Rawls once expressed skepticism about the moral status of the European Union (EU). Yet generally EU scholars have either ignored Rawls or rather uncritically established positive links between his theory of domestic and international justice and the EU. This

Fossil and renewable energy consumption, GHGs (greenhouse gases) and economic growth: Evidence from a panel of EU (European Union) countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bölük, Gülden; Mert, Mehmet

2014-01-01

Recently a great number of empirical research studies have been conducted on the relationship between certain indicators of environmental degradation and income. The EKC (Environmental Kuznets Curve) hypothesis has been tested for various types of environmental degradation. The EKC hypothesis states that the relationship between environmental degradation and income per capita takes the form of an inverted U shape. In this paper the EKC hypothesis was investigated with regards to the relationship between carbon emissions, income and energy consumption in 16 EU (European Union) countries. We conducted panel data analysis for the period of 1990–2008 by fixing the multicollinearity problem between the explanatory variables using their centered values. The main contribution of this paper is that the EKC hypothesis has been investigated by separating final energy consumption into renewable and fossil fuel energy consumption. Unfortunately, the inverted U-shape relationship (EKC) does not hold for carbon emissions in the 16 EU countries. The other important finding is that renewable energy consumption contributes around 1/2 less per unit of energy consumed than fossil energy consumption in terms of GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions in EU countries. This implies that a shift in energy consumption mix towards alternative renewable energy technologies might decrease the GHG emissions. - Highlights: • We investigate the EKC (Environmental Kuznets Curve) hypothesis for 16 EU (European Union) countries. • We fix the multicollinearity problem between explanatory variables. • We found no evidence to support the EKC hypothesis in EU between 1990 and 2008 periods. • Renewable energy contributes less to GHGs (greenhouse gases) around ½ that of a unit of fossil energy

Alcolocks : factors influencing implementation, participation and compliance : literature review contributed to the EU project Alcolock Implementation in the European Union.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mathijssen, M.P.M.

2007-01-01

In 2004-2005, a series of alcolock field trials were conducted in four European countries, in the framework of the EU research project Alcolock Implementation in the European Union. This project was granted by the European Commission, Directorate-General for Energy and Transport (DG-TREN). As part

European regulation model for herbal medicine: The assessment of the EU monograph and the safety and efficacy evaluation in marketing authorization or registration in Member States.

Science.gov (United States)

Qu, Liping; Zou, Wenjun; Wang, YiTao; Wang, Mei

2018-03-15

The European Union (EU) has created a regulatory framework for herbal medicinal products (HMPs) since the enforcement of Directive 2004/24/EC. Substantial achievements have been made, with 1719 traditional use marketing registrations (TURs) and 859 well-established use marketing authorizations (WEU-MAs) for HMPs granted by the end of 2016. Apparently, the European regulation model has worked out well and in that the essential feature is the use of EU herbal monographs into those granted WEU-MAs and TURs. A systematic analysis of the European regulation model for HMPs and the EU herbal monograph's part of this model are undertaken to assist understanding of the EU legislation particularly for interested parties those from outside EU area, and afterwards, to help in decision-making in the HMPs registration in European market for pharmaceutical companies, as well as in the establishment of legislation in countries with strong traditional use of herbal remedies. A search of PubMed, ScienceDirect, the European Medicines Agency website and the Heads of Medicines Agencies website was conducted (up to December 2017), and the available information on regulation of HMPs in the EU was collected. The evaluation of applications by National Competent Authorities (NCAs) at a national level together with the assessment of EU monographs by the Committee on Herbal Medicinal Products (HMPC) at the European level constitute the European regulation framework for HMPs. As the scientific opinion about the safety and efficacy of HMPs from HMPC, the EU herbal monographs have been given a constitutional-based meaning to the TURs and WEU-MAs of HMPs and play a supportive function in the marketing procedure in Member States. The European framework has provided a powerful regulation model for harmonization of scientific assessment and facilitation of product marketing. For the pharmaceutical industries particularly those outside the EU, optimal use of the EU herbal monograph in their marketing

European [Security] Union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Manners, Ian James

2013-01-01

The past 20 years, since the 1992 Treaty on European Union, have seen the gradual creation of both an “Area of Freedom, Security and Justice” and a “Common Foreign and Security Policy”. More recent is the development of a “European Neighbourhood Policy” over the past 10 years. All three...... of these policies involved the navigation and negotiation of security, borders and governance in and by the European Union (EU). This article analyses these practices of bordering and governance through a five-fold security framework. The article argues that a richer understanding of EU security discourses can...

European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU-ETS) Futures Liquidity Effects: Evidence from the European Energy Exchange (EEX)

OpenAIRE

Ibikunle, Gbenga; Gregoriou, Andros

2011-01-01

We examine liquidity effects after the onset of trading in phase II of the EU-ETS for European Union Allowance (EUA) futures contracts. We obtain evidence of long-term improvement in liquidity of the EEX EUA December 2008 futures contract after the commencement of trading in phase II. Our results suggest the application of a new regime of trading rules in Phase II led to the improvements in liquidity.

Introduction: Company Tax Integration in the European Union – A Necessary Step to Neutralise ‘Excessive’ Behaviour within the EU?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A.C.G.A.C. de Graaf (Arnaud); K. Heine (Klaus)

2014-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ This special issue of the Erasmus Law Review is the result of an interdisciplinary workshop on ‘Company Tax Integration in the European Union – a Necessary Step to Neutralise “Excessive” Behaviour within the EU?’, held at the Erasmus School of Law in June

Regulating Corporate Governance in the EU

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Horn, Laura

In the context of the financial and economic crisis, corporate governance and regulatory supervision failures are at the centre of public debates. Who controls the modern corporation, and why, has become one of the defining social power relations in contemporary capitalism. Regulation Corporate...... transformation of company law and corporate governance regulation. Her findings about the marketization of corporate control are at the core to a better understanding of the broader context of capitalist restructuring in the European Union....

EU Regulation of Nanobiocides: Challenges in Implementing the Biocidal Product Regulation (BPR)

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Brinch, Anna; Hansen, Steffen Foss; Hartmann, Nanna B.

2016-01-01

The Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) contains several provisions for nanomaterials (NMs) and is the first regulation in the European Union to require specific testing and risk assessment for the NM form of a biocidal substance as a part of the information requirements. Ecotoxicological data...

Radiation sources in the EU. A review of steps in the European Union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ciani, V.

1999-01-01

This article reviews the role and activities of the European Union concerning safety of radiation sources. A brief presentation is given of the results from a recent study of the management of radiation sources in EU Member Sates. A Number of legal texts which apply to radiation sources are cited as well. In 1998, the EC co-sponsored together with the IAEA, the International Criminal Police Organization and the World Customs Organization, a Conference on the safety of radiation Sources and the Security of Radioactive Materials in France. Commission supports follow-up actions to that Conference and welcomes the IAEA initiative to develop an action plan that would address the international dimensions of the safety of radiation sources

THE IRONY OF SAMENESS EUROPEAN UNION AND INDIA’S COLD RELATIONSHIP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

MIHAELA PĂDUREANU

2013-05-01

Full Text Available Trying to establish themselves as global actors, both European Union and India pursue their interest through multiliteralism. Although both of them developed intense relationships with the United States, Russian Federation, China and other regional actors, EU and India do not find profoundly attracted to one another. While EU steers Central Asia or China, India in its part sees the European framework as the sum of its parts at best and prefers bilateral proximity with individual nations once at the time: UK, France Italy, Germany or Poland. The irony of this state of affairs is that both EU and India have similar traits if judged by their effort to bridge ethnic, religious and economic diversity into a single body. Apart from that both EU and Indian economies struggle to shape a compromise between social protection and the neoliberal agenda. In this paper we analyze the relationship between European Union and India by focusing on their foreign policies. Our main hypothesis is that EU and India should cooperate due to their attraction to the same values and norms. As future unfolds along with common challenges such as regulating financial flows or tackling terrorism and environmental issues, European Union and India should try to reach a common language. This relation can also be a test for EU’s aim to become a global actor because an established cooperation with an Asian country would provide the necessary framework to work outside the European space and to demonstrated its commitment to become an important player in IR.

76 FR 18198 - European Union-United States Atlantis Program

Science.gov (United States)

2011-04-01

... DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION European Union-United States Atlantis Program AGENCY: Office of...)--Special Focus Competition: European Union-(EU) United States (U.S.) Atlantis Program Notice inviting... and Culture, European Commission for funding under a separate but parallel EU competition. Within this...

EU Budgetary Dynamics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Citi, Manuele

2013-01-01

In this article I study the long-term evolution of the main categories of expenditure of the European Union (EU) budget (1984-2011). The aim is to assess the extent to which the EU is affected by a structural form of policy inertia, and to investigate the general pattern of policy stability...... and change in the EU in light of the two models of policy dynamics currently existing in the literature: the incrementalist model and the punctuated equilibrium model. The analysis of long series of original data extracted from the EU budget shows that EU policies do not evolve following an incrementalist...

The EU and ‘Enlargement Fatigue’: Why Has the European Union Not Been Able to Counter ‘Enlargement Fatigue’?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Szolucha

2010-05-01

Full Text Available This article provides an up-to-date overview of the problems connected with European integration. It focuses on the phenomenon of ‘enlargement fatigue’ and examines its meaning as utilised by the media, EU officials and academics. The article argues that ‘enlargement fatigue’ is not a new concept since the EU has witnessed many 'symptoms' of fatigue at multiple times in its history. The two main arguments that are often presented in order to explain why the EU has not been able to counter ‘enlargement fatigue’, namely the insufficiently tight conditionality applied to prospective members and the EU's crisis of confidence and accountability after the failed attempt to introduce the Constitutional Treaty and prolonged Lisbon Treaty ratification process, are insufficient to explain why fatigue has been so persistent a phenomenon. This article argues that the EU's failure to develop a new vision of the organisation and adjust its structural design accordingly is a reason why the Union has not dealt successfully with fatigue. Such a vision would encompass notions of “variable geometry”, “avant-garde groups” and make European borders flexible and fuzzy.

The banking union and the financial and banking system reform in EU

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alina Ligia Dumitrescu

2013-04-01

Full Text Available Coordination among supervisors in financial and banking system is vital, but the financial crisis has shown that is not enough, and especially in the context of a single currency would require more common actions in EU. Therefore, the European Commission proposed “the creation of a banking union”, in order to place the banking sector on a more solid base and to restore confidence in the single currency, as part of a longer-term vision for the promotion of the economic and fiscal integration. Therefore, the new direction of the reform of the financial sector is "the creation of a banking union", that will help: to strengthen banks supervision, to ensure better deposits security, to recapitalize banks and last but not least to achieve the centralized management of the banking crises.

The New Intergovernmentalism in Financial Regulation and European Banking Union

OpenAIRE

Howarth, David; Quaglia, Lucia

2015-01-01

This contribution asks whether a new type of intergovernmentalism has emerged in financial services regulation and Banking Union. Since financial services are a key area of the single market, the chapter concludes by reflecting on whether the governance trends in the financial sector can be generalised to other areas of the single market. It is argued that the single market for financial services, which encompasses financial regulation and the plan for Banking Union, provides an interesting m...

Exploratory Assessment of a Company’s Due Diligence System against the EU Timber Regulation: A Case Study from Northwestern Russia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maxim Trishkin

2015-04-01

Full Text Available This study uses a company’s due diligence system (DDS as an operational tool to ensure the origin of wood coming from northwestern Russia. The company exports a majority of its wood products to European Union (EU countries, and its DDS consists of a statement of origin, geographical information, and field verification audits. Its DDS is assessed against the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR. Enforcement of the EUTR began in March 2013 and is compulsory for all companies importing wood-based material from outside the EU. The DDS must contain three key components: access to information on operator’s supply of timber or timber products placed on the market, a risk assessment, and a risk mitigation method. The workflow of the conformity assessment must include a literature review, statistical and field data collection, and further analysis of the requirements. Although enforcement of the EUTR began almost two years ago, there is little research on its implementation. This DDS system showed high functionality of its existing components corresponding with the general requirements of the standards developed by the Nature Ecology and People Consult (NepCon, a non-profit organization recognized as the monitoring organization by the European Commission. This wood origin system also meets the requirements of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC certification system, while maintaining full harmonization with the EUTR legislation. However, major obstacles persist in implementation of legislation by EU member states, in terms of interpretation of requirements, prosecutions and fines, and the role of third-party evidence.

Western Balkan States and the European Union Enlargement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gelina Maliqi (Ramolli

2011-07-01

Full Text Available For half a century, European Union-(EU has pursued ever-deeper integration while taking in new members. It’s marked as an important step in relationship deepening between EU and Western Balkans-(WBs where Albania is part of. In 2003, EU declared that the future of WBs is within EU. Initially it adopted a generous strategy that linked the timetable for accession to the pace of reform in WBs. The declaration contained a conditional promise; EU would consider WBs for membership only if they reached EU standards. The EU was motivated by usual economic considerations connected to enlargement and a desire to increase regional stability. The enlargement process regarding Albania will bring several reforms on different fields. Our country will benefit from a share of multibeneficiary funds for competitiveness, SMEs, energy efficiency and banking sector regulation. This presentation handles out these main issues: EU policy and the enlargement process regarding Albania inspecting the way and progress done up to now by our country, the main features of our national EUcoordination system, concluding in a SWOT Analysis of EU-coordination system in Albania. Eventually, I believe that Albania being part of WBs is at one time an opportunity and a challenge for the future of EU.

Energy regulation at EU level. The role of the European Commission and ACER in the context of REMIT

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Konar, Selma

2015-01-01

The regulatory act of promulgating REMIT, the Regulation on Wholesale Market Integrity and Transparency, has highlighted the commanding position of both the European Commission and ACER, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, in the regulation of energy affairs in the European Union. Furthermore it has led to major changes in how surveillance is organized at the national level. The first part of this publication is dedicated to the organization of market surveillance following the promulgation of REMIT. It depicts the tasks of the European Commission and ACER in this context. The Regulation has accorded the authorities a central role in managing the European Union's responsibilities with regard to energy wholesale trade. The act of delegating such far-reaching competence to the authorities deserves careful review however. The article shows how, given ACER's lack of practical experience in market surveillance, as well as its lack of human resources, the task of surveilling the European energy wholesale market confronts the agency with a significant challenge. How successfully the EU energy agency will master this challenge will depend on a number of different factors. Stringent requirements will be needed for the data registration offices in order to ensure optimal data processing. National authorities and supervisory bodies should be made to participate in the data monitoring process. ACER's efficiency in surveilling the market will furthermore depend decisively on its IT infrastructure.

A preliminary assessment of the Normative Framework regulating MAR schemes in Europe: the EU Directives and their Implementation in nine National Legislations

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Matteo E. Bonfanti

2014-09-01

Full Text Available The use of MAR schemes within the European Union is not a new phenomenon, on the contrary it dates back to the beginning of the XIX century. Despite being widely adopted and currently the object of extensive studies, this tool is not soundly regulated and so far very little research has been conducted on the normative framework regulating MAR at the regional and at the national level. This paper draws upon the findings of a Report which represents one of the deliverables identified by MARSOL, a EU FP7 project launched in December 2013 that aims at demonstrating that MAR shall be regarded as a viable approach to address the predicted water shortages over the long term. Through a survey which involved a number of national experts, the researchers involved in the drafting of the Report have collected relevant data concerning the national legal frameworks of nine EU countries that adopt MAR schemes. The results of the questionnaire have been processed using a qualitative and comparative approach and have been duly included in the legal analysis, which covers the implementation at the national level of the two EU Directives relevant for MAR Schemes, i.e. the Water Framework Directive and its “daughter”, the Groundwater Directive. This paper shall be considered as the outcome of a preliminary investigation which covered only a limited number of European countries, it is expected that the research will be carried out as to include a larger number of EU Member States (MSs, alongside the most relevant extra EU countries.

Financial effects of pharmaceutical price regulation on R&D spending by EU versus US firms.

Science.gov (United States)

Golec, Joseph; Vernon, John A

2010-01-01

EU countries closely regulate pharmaceutical prices, whereas the US does not. This paper shows how price constraints affect the profitability, stock returns and R&D spending of EU and US firms. Compared with EU firms, US firms are more profitable, earn higher stock returns and spend more on R&D. We tested the relationship between price regulation and R&D spending, and estimated the costs of tight EU price regulation. Although results show that EU consumers enjoyed much lower pharmaceutical price inflation, we estimated that price controls cost EU firms 46 fewer new medicines and 1680 fewer research jobs during our 19-year sample period. Had the US used controls similar to those used in the EU, we estimate it would have led to 117 fewer new medicines and 4368 fewer research jobs in the US.

Regulation and energy conservation. The case of combined heat and power in the European Union. Situation and prospects

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Hendriks, C.; Worrell, E.; Blok, K.; Velthuijsen, J.W.

1995-02-01

Policy measures to stimulate the proliferation of combined heat and power generation (CHP) have been motivated because of the energy efficiency potential. In this paper we investigate to what extent the penetration of CHP has taken place in the 12 member states of the European Union (EU-12). Also analyzed is the potential heat demand which can be covered by CHP, and the corresponding amount of capacity for each country. A short overview is given of the goals for CHP capacity for some of the EU-12 member states. We distinguish two different kinds of policy instruments: standard settings and economic instruments. Four different types of standard settings are given. We evaluate a specific standard setting which is applied in the Netherlands in the 1970's and early 1980's. The economic instruments are evaluated in terms of payback time. This payback period can be influenced by for instance an investment grant, tax on the emission of carbon dioxide, a raise of selling electricity to the public grid and lower the price for natural gas for CHP applications. Finally, we give some recommendations how EU policy may stimulate the application of CHP. In section 2 we describe the development of CHP from 1974 to 1990 in the EU-12 member states. and the intentions stated by the national governments. In section 3 we give an overview of the potential capacity of CHP. In section 4 we discuss the regulation instruments: standard settings and economical instruments. In section 5 we give some conclusions especially with regard to EU policy options. 23 refs

The share of renewable energy in the EU. Country Profiles. Overview of Renewable Energy Sources in the Enlarged European Union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2004-01-01

The promotion of renewable energy has an important role to play in addressing the growing dependence on energy imports in Europe and in tackling climate change. Since 1997, the Union has been working towards the ambitious target of a 12% share of renewable energy in gross inland consumption by 2010. In 1997, the share of renewable energy was 5.4%; by 2001 it had reached 6%. This Staff Working Document gives an overview of the different situations of renewable energy sources in the European Union. It includes part of the formal report that the Commission is required to make under Article 3 of Directive 2001/77/EC on electricity from renewable energy sources, and it completes the overall picture with information at a country level on the heat produced from renewable energies and biofuels in the transport sector. This Staff Working Document complements the Communication on 'The share of Renewable Energy sources in the EU'. Data is based on different sources. Firstly, on the reports from Member States on national progress in achieving the targets on electricity from renewable energy sources. Secondly, on a study launched by the Commission on the evolution of renewable energy sources. And thirdly, on a variety of sources like the European Barometer of renewable energies, data from the industry, etc. With the enlargement of the European Union, the new Member States are required to adopt the RES-E Directive (renewable energy sources for electricity) by 1 May 2004. In the accession treaty, national indicative targets are set and the overall renewable electricity target for the enlarged Union will therefore be 21% of gross electricity consumption by 2010. The Commission has the legal obligation to report on the degree of achievement of new Member States' targets by 2006. Although it is too early to assess RES-policy in the new Member States due to very recently adopted regulations, this document also includes national information on the States now joining the European Union

Achieving Economic Growth in the EU Through Lobbyism

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svendsen, Gert Tinggaard; Brandt, Urs Steiner

2009-01-01

EU budget. Here, the two main redistribution policies, (1) Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and (2) the Structural Funds, consume more than four fifths of the total annual EU budget. Thus, if the EU is to achieve its strategic goal, a strong cure is needed to reduce redistribution and encourage more......At Lisbon in 2000, the European Union (EU) set itself a new strategic goal, namely to become the world's leading economy and to enhance social cohesion across the union, all within a decade. It is argued in this article that one fundamental barrier to the fulfilment of this dream is the fact...

Welfare migration? Free movement of EU citizens and access to social benefits

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Michael Blauberger

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the political impact of the European Court of Justice’s (ECJ case law concerning the free movement of EU citizens and their cross-border access to social benefits. Public debates about ‘welfare migration’ or ‘social tourism’ often fluctuate between populist hysteria and outright denial, but they obscure the real political and legal issues at stake: that ECJ jurisprudence incrementally broadens EU citizens’ opportunities to claim social benefits abroad while narrowing member states’ scope to regulate and restrict access to national welfare systems. We argue that legal uncertainty challenges national administrations in terms of workload and rule-of-law standards, while domestic legislative reforms increasingly shift the burden of legal uncertainty to EU migrants by raising evidentiary requirements and threatening economically inactive EU citizens with expulsion. We illustrate this argument first with a brief overview of the EU’s legal framework, highlighting the ambiguity of core concepts from the Court’s case law, and then with empirical evidence from the UK, Germany and Austria, analyzing similar domestic responses to the ECJ’s jurisprudence. We conclude that EU citizenship law, while promising to build the union from below on the basis of equal legal entitlements, may, in fact, risk rousing further nationalism and decrease solidarity across the union.

Regulatory landscape for cell therapy--EU view.

Science.gov (United States)

McBlane, James W

2015-09-01

This article addresses regulation of cell therapies in the European Union (EU), covering cell sourcing and applications for clinical trials and marketing authorisation applications. Regulatory oversight of cell sourcing and review of applications for clinical trials with cell therapies are handled at national level, that is, separately with each country making its own decisions. For clinical trials, this can lead to different decisions in different countries for the same trial. A regulation is soon to come into force that will address this and introduce a more efficient clinical trial application process. However, at the marketing authorisation stage, the process is pan-national: the Committee for Human Medicinal Products (CHMP) is responsible for giving the final scientific opinion on all EU marketing authorisation applications for cell therapies: favourable scientific opinions are passed to the European Commission (EC) for further consultation and, if successful, grant of a marketing authorisation valid in all 28 EU countries. In its review of applications for marketing authorisations (MAAs) for cell therapies, the CHMP is obliged to consult the Committee for Advanced Therapies (CAT), who conduct detailed scientific assessments of these applications, with assessment by staff from national regulatory authorities and specialist advisors to the regulators. Copyright © 2015.

The role of the European Union in environmental taxation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Smith, S.

1995-01-01

The role of the European Union (EU) in environmental taxation is examined in this chapter. As is well-known, the EU has proposed a carbon/energy tax to contribute to the stabilization of CO 2 emissions at 1990 levels by the year 2000. The discussion is organized around the 'subsidiarity principle', which involves a presumption in favor of decentralizing policy functions to the member states. Exceptions are allowed only if economies of scale or cross-country spillover effects warrant EU involvement. The author persuasively argues that environmental policy is such an exception. In particular, in a single market such as the EU, the enforcement of taxes and regulations gives rise to important international externalities. Independent policy and administration would either interfere with free trade or lead to widespread evasion. Hence, the EU should have a substantial and legitimate interest in not only environmental targets and objectives, but also in the form of environmental policy (e.g. in the choice between environmental taxes and regulation). Furthermore, it is argued that environmental tax policies should be coordinated both with other environmental tax policies and with other fiscal policies. This implies that the decisions about environmental tax rates should be taken by the level of government responsible for other, related, environmental policies, whilst the revenues from environmental taxes should accrue in general to member states, in preference to the EU. 16 refs

European Union, 2017

OpenAIRE

Malone Margaret Mary

2018-01-01

The year 2017 was eventful for the EU and its member states. Given the widespread Euroscepticism and populism which appeared to be on the rise last year, election results in the Netherlands, France and Germany were greeted with relief and hope for the future. The EU was in an optimistic mood. European Commission President Jean- Claude Juncker used his State of the European Union speech in September to note that the EU had the ‘wind in its sails’ (Juncker, 2017). At the same time, he cautioned...

European Union security policy through strategic culture

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Beriša Hatidža

2014-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, we shall pay attention to the security policy of the European Union, through the strategic culture, starting from the existing various options for cooperation in the field of security and defense. Our goal is to look at the implementation of the Strategic Culture of the European Union (EU SK, research ways to improve the international position of the Union and its impact on policy cooperation and trust with other collectives. Analysis of flexible cooperation between the European Union, as well as access to special procedures in the field of security and defense policy, we will follow the ambition and capacity in implementing the same. Paper aims to introduce the idea of the European Union, which allows its members to rationally consider and check the box of options available to decision makers. In this regard, the EU seeks to build its own armed forces to protect the association of interests-investment terms. Reviewing and understanding the strategic culture of the EU by countries that are not its members can be seen as reasons for strengthening the capacity of the Union for the realization of the impact of the global security as well as predicting its future steps.

Good things do not always come in threes: On the excess cost of overlapping regulation in EU climate policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Böhringer, Christoph; Keller, Andreas; Bortolamedi, Markus; Rahmeier Seyffarth, Anelise

2016-01-01

Since the mid-1990's the European Union (EU) aims at pushing global climate policy. The objective is to promote international cooperation by the adoption of substantial EU-wide greenhouse gas emission reduction targets and their least-cost implementation. Our quantitative impact assessment of the EU Climate and Energy Package shows that the myriad of instruments used in the EU to curb greenhouse gas emissions is doomed to generate substantial excess cost. We conclude that EU climate and energy policy should better disentangle its choices of objectives, targets, and policy instruments on rigorous economic grounds in order to improve the coherence and overall cost-effectiveness of policy initiatives. - Highlights: •EU Climate and Energy Package almost quintuples costs for EU-wide emission abatement. •The main source of excess cost of EU climate policy are energy efficiency mandates.

Direct Tax Applications in Relationship Between European Union and Turkey

OpenAIRE

YAZARKAN, Hakan; MEZARARKALI, Pınar

2015-01-01

European Union (EU) is an economic union that exstipulates common tax policy within the union without interfering the taxes which collected by the members. On the other hand union doesn’t put tax systems of member states to harmonization but has a positive look on efforts convergence. The reason of this is the difference between international tax ratio causes limiting even hindering the capital activities. Turkey which made an application at 31st of July 1959 still can’t become member of EU. ...

Possible Outcomes of Brexit for European Union Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikolay Y. Kaveshnikov

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The article discusses some implications of the Brexit referendum for institutional and political development of the European Union and for relations between the EU and the UK. The most obvious consequence of the referendum is the collapse of ideology of continuous and progressing development of integration. Instead of endless, irreversible, a priori beneficial for everyone integration process, the European Union has become an organization that does not have a Messianic goal and obliged to prove its usefulness in everyday life. EU systemic crisis will inevitably lead to a profound transformation of its institutional and political structure. After the British referendum, only two options are possible. First of all, partial deconstruction of the European Union. The idea that European integration has gone too far lies in the basis of this strategy. According to this logic, the single market is the main EU achievement. Return to the basics - this is a pragmatic approach to integration, which should replace attempts to fix rotten projects (like Euro or to achieve the unattainable (political Union. This option is hardly probable. Second option is transformation of the EU into the "core and periphery" system having the basis flexible integration. Over the past 20 years, flexibility transformed from temporary phenomenon into a permanent and formalized mechanism; its elements exist in many EU politics. Brexit would be able to accelerate significantly the formation of a cohesive core within the Eu. The core will not be homogeneous; it will include as governing structures: the German-French axis and a group of EU founding countries.

EU Directives, national regulations and incentives for photovoltaic solar energy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jager-Waldau, A.; Ossenbrink, H.; Scholz, H.; Bloem, H.; Werring, L.

2004-01-01

The European Union long-term strategy for security of energy supply and its commitment to curb climate change led to the adoption of a series of Strategy Papers and EU Directives. In all these, it is clearly stated that climate change is a long-term challenge for the international community and that the commitments made in the Kyoto Protocol can only be a first step. The promotion of renewable energies is a most important element of this process. It regards industry, jobs and foreign trade balance as well, generating benefit to social sustainability. Photovoltaic is a key technology with the potential not only to serve the needs in energy supply of tomorrow in a sustainable way, but already today, it can improve security and stability of electricity services at peak times, due to its decentralized nature. This paper gives an update on the EU and National legislation in place to promote the implementation of photovoltaic. (authors)

A review of national gas emergency plans in the European Union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zeniewski, Peter; Bolado-Lavin, Ricardo

2012-01-01

The purpose of this paper is to document and review existing national gas emergency plans in the European Union, following the guidelines and requirements set out by the EU's Regulation 994/2010 concerning measures to safeguard security of gas supply. Despite the great deal of attention paid to questions of natural gas security in an increasingly import-dependent European Union, the contingency plans of most of its member states have not been widely published or scrutinized. By reviewing TSO network codes and national legal and regulatory acts, this paper teases out the key similarities and differences between member states' emergency planning frameworks, tools and methods. A gas emergency operational template is subsequently proposed that conforms to EU legislation. This is followed by a discussion of emergency planning in the context of regional cooperation and the liberalizing European gas market. The paper concludes by advocating gas emergency measures which are proportionate to the crisis level, sensitive to the gas demand profile, aware of the regional context, inconsequential to normal market operation, transparent and non-discriminatory during implementation and verifiable during emergencies as well as under normal conditions. - Highlights: ► National gas emergency plans in the EU comprehensively assessed. ► Template for gas emergencies is created to measure conformity to Regulation 994/2010. ► Gas emergency measures are related to regional cooperation and liberal markets.

EU agricultural reform fails on biodiversity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Pe'er, G.; Dicks, L.V.; Visconti, A.; Arlettaz, R.; Baldi, A.; Kleijn, D.; Scott, A.V.

2014-01-01

In December 2013, the European Union (EU) enacted the reformed Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) for 2014–2020, allocating almost 40% of the EU's budget and influencing management of half of its terrestrial area. Many EU politicians are announcing the new CAP as “greener,” but the new environmental

EU External Relations Law and the European Neighbourhood Policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Van Vooren, Bart

-historical context of political Union, this thesis first argues why coherence is an issue at all in EU external relations, and why law is integral to attaining the ever-enigmatic single voice of the European Union. Subsequently, the text examines the role of EU external relations law in attaining a coherent...

Voluntary health insurance in the European Union: a critical assessment.

Science.gov (United States)

Mossialos, Elias; Thomson, Sarah M S

2002-01-01

The authors examine the role and nature of the market for voluntary health insurance in the European Union and review the impact of public policy, at both the national and E.U. levels, on the development of this market in recent years. The conceptual framework, based on a model of industrial analysis, allows a wide range of policy questions regarding market structure, conduct, and performance. By analyzing these three aspects of the market for voluntary health insurance, the authors are also able to raise questions about the equity and efficiency of voluntary health insurance as a means of funding health care in the European Union. The analysis suggests that the market for voluntary health insurance in the European Union suffers from significant information failures that seriously limit its potential for competition or efficiency and also reduce equity. Substantial deregulation of the E.U. market for voluntary health insurance has stripped regulatory bodies of their power to protect consumers and poses interesting challenges for national regulators, particularly if the market is to expand in the future. In a deregulated environment, it is questionable whether this method of funding health care will encourage a more efficient and equitable allocation of resources.

SPECIALIZED COURTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioana Nely Militaru

2013-11-01

Full Text Available Treaty of Lisbon entered into force on 1 December 2009, improved functioning judicial system European Union ( EU. Court of Justice of the EU has been reformed, said Treaty changing the EU courts so very name : Court of Justice of the EU, the Court referred to above, the Court of First Instance, and specialized courts, known previously, judicial panels. The paper shows the first part of his creation, composition and competence of the specialized courts, and as a manifestation of them in the second part examines the Civil Service Tribunal, the same point of view. EU specialized courts may be set up in specific areas, specializing in some technical disputes. These specialized courts have jurisdiction to hear and decide the cases in the first instance with the possibility that their decision subject to appeal to the General Court . In this context, to resolve disputes between the Union and its officials was established Tribunal.

Recommendations for successful substantiation of new health claims in the European Union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pravst, Igor; Kušar, Anita; Žmitek, Katja

2018-01-01

Background While functional foods offer promise for public health and innovation in the food industry, the efficiency of such foods should be assured to protect consumers from misleading claims. Globally, many countries regulate the communication of the health effects of such foods to final...... consumers. Scope and approach In the European Union (EU), the use of health claims was harmonized in 2006. All claims need to be scientifically assessed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) and pre-approved. Implementing the regulation has involved a steep learning curve for stakeholders, resulting...... recommendations should be seen as a starting point for researchers in the area of nutrition and food technology, and for those dealing with functional foods, including the food industry. Keywords Functional foods; Health claims; Food labelling; Substantiation; Regulation; European Union...

International Investment Law and EU Law

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

regional economic integration agreements, International Competition Law, International Investment Regulation, International Monetary Law, International Intellectual Property Protection and International Tax Law. In addition to the regular annual volumes, EYIEL Special Issues routinely address specific...... current topics in International Economic Law. The entry into force of the Lisbon Treaty entails sweeping changes with respect to foreign investment regulation. Most prominently, the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) now contains in its Article 207 an explicit competence...... for the regulation of foreign direct investment as part of the Common Commercial Policy (CCP) chapter. With this new competence, the EU will become an important actor in the field of international investment politics and law. The new empowerment in the field of international investment law prompts a multitude...

Laboratory medicine in the European Union.

Science.gov (United States)

Oosterhuis, Wytze P; Zerah, Simone

2015-01-01

The profession of laboratory medicine differs between countries within the European Union (EU) in many respects. The objective of professional organizations of the promotion of mutual recognition of specialists within the EU is closely related to the free movement of people. This policy translates to equivalence of standards and harmonization of the training curriculum. The aim of the present study is the description of the organization and practice of laboratory medicine within the countries that constitute the EU. A questionnaire covering many aspects of the profession was sent to delegates of the European Federation of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (EFLM) and Union Européenne de Médecins Spécialistes (UEMS) of the 28 EU countries. Results were sent to the delegates for confirmation. Many differences between countries were identified: predominantly medical or scientific professionals; a broad or limited professional field of interest; inclusion of patient treatment; formal or absent recognition; a regulated or absent formal training program; general or minor application of a quality system based on ISO Norms. The harmonization of the postgraduate training of both clinical chemists and of laboratory physicians has been a goal for many years. Differences in the organization of the laboratory professions still exist in the respective countries which all have a long historical development with their own rationality. It is an important challenge to harmonize our profession, and difficult choices will need to be made. Recent developments with respect to the directive on Recognition of Professional Qualifications call for new initiatives to harmonize laboratory medicine both across national borders, and across the borders of scientific and medical professions.

European Union Budget Politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Citi, Manuele

2015-01-01

The marginal involvement of the European Union (EU) in redistributive policies and its limited fiscal resources have led to a notable lack of attention by EU scholars towards the EU budget and its dynamics. Yet the nature of the budgetary data and their high usability for statistical analysis make...... to form winning coalitions in the Council, the ideological positioning of the co-legislators and the inclusion of the cohesion countries have played a significant role in driving budget change....

CSR and Social Entrepreneurship: The Role of the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stefano AMELIO

2017-09-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to analyze the status of non-financial information disclosure in the European Union in order to evaluate the level of acceptance of social responsibility practices. The research is divided into two sections and the approach used is mainly theoretical and qualitative. In the first part the UE financial and non-financial information regulations are analyzed; the European Union launched a process of harmonization then subsequently it moved to the standardization process: the Regulation (EC No. 1606/2002 is part of the standardization process (It must be applied in its entirety across the EU while the Directive 2014/95/EU is part of the harmonization process (it sets out a goal that all EU countries must achieve. The Directive 2014/95/EU states that “large undertakings […] shall include in the management report a non-financial statement […]” thus making mandatory the preparation of non-financial statements. In the second part of the research, not considering the firm only as a system for the production of financial/economic value but also as an economic social actor which operates in a social environment to which it belongs and with which it interacts, the concept of social entrepreneurship is explained. Social entrepreneurship belongs to the entrepreneurs who draw up the social balance, required or permitted by the UE legislation. For this reason, the introduction of obligations in disclosing non-financial information could lead to the increase of entrepreneurship, with positive consequences in the creation of tangible benefits to both the business community and the global community.

Unity in Diversity. The Language Policy of the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

2014-09-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the connections between the law and language in the European Union. The paper concerns the language policy of the European Union (EU and English language priority. The EU faces challenges of finding a common ground for respecting the diversity of its members. So many different states are gathered in one organisation which establishes the law for diversified legal orders. The research question is - which language(s is or should be used in the EU? Does English become lingua franca of the EU?

The “transforming power” of EU Enlargement policy in Serbia. An anthropological reflection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesco Florindi

2012-05-01

Full Text Available The enlargement process of the European Union contributed substantially to the harmonisation of legal systems over the continent. The article provides an anthropological critique to the way harmonisation to EU law is implemented in the Balkans, underlining the general lack of awareness by both Serbian government and the EU of Serbian social and legal systems. While applying the anthropological method to EU law’s effects in Serbia, the author investigates also the inner value of the EU project itself. For instance the State's failure to regulate anti-corruption matters has been experienced even when the State's provision in question were in full compliance with several other international obligations and with a positively hierarchically superior legal system: the Constitution.

European Union concerns with its energy dependence

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Commeau, N.

2001-01-01

European Union (E.U.) produces only half its needs concerning energy. It is expected that by 2030, the energy balance will be 86% for fossil energies, 8% for renewable energies and 6% for nuclear energy. Different scenario show that the dependence of E.U will worsen and reach 70% unless a common strategy is launched to curb the tendency. E.U is elaborating a common policy concerning energy, this policy rests on 4 axis: 1) monitoring the increase of the energy consumption by promoting energy savings in housing and transport, 2) directing the energy demand towards less polluting energy by using taxes, public funding and European regulations as incentive tools, 3) sustaining a constant dialogues with energy exporting countries in order to get a more stable energy market and have a benefiting influence on prices, and 4) developing new routes of importation of energy by for instance contributing to the construction of new oil or gas pipeline networks. (A.C.)

Directive 96/ EC of the European Parliament and the Council of the European Union, as of 25 July 1996, announcing their common regulations for the EU internal electricity market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1996-01-01

The supplement to this issue of the journal, RdE 5/96, presents the German version of the full authentic text of the EU Directive 96/EC. This Directive lays down the regulations applicable within the EU, relating to electric power generation, transmission, and distribution in the EU internal electricity sector, as well as access to the internal market, criteria and procedures for bids and tenders, granting of license, and network operation. The text is also accessible under the following www address: http://www.heymanns.com. (orig./CB) [de

Concurring Regulation in European Forest Law; Forest Certification and the New EU Timber Regulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kistenkas, F.H.

2013-01-01

Newly made EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) may prima facie look like competing regulation and an overlap of the existing forest certification schemes of FSC and PEFC as also EUTR combats illegally harvested timber. The novel EUTR, however, is a public law scheme wheras FSC and PEFC are private law

New GMO regulations for old: Determining a new future for EU crop biotechnology

Science.gov (United States)

2017-01-01

ABSTRACT In this review, current EU GMO regulations are subjected to a point-by point analysis to determine their suitability for agriculture in modern Europe. Our analysis concerns present GMO regulations as well as suggestions for possible new regulations for genome editing and New Breeding Techniques (for which no regulations presently exist). Firstly, the present GMO regulations stem from the early days of recombinant DNA and are not adapted to current scientific understanding on this subject. Scientific understanding of GMOs has changed and these regulations are now, not only unfit for their original purpose, but, the purpose itself is now no longer scientifically valid. Indeed, they defy scientific, economic, and even common, sense. A major EU regulatory preconception is that GM crops are basically different from their parent crops. Thus, the EU regulations are “process based” regulations that discriminate against GMOs simply because they are GMOs. However current scientific evidence shows a blending of classical crops and their GMO counterparts with no clear demarcation line between them. Canada has a “product based” approach and determines the safety of each new crop variety independently of the process used to obtain it. We advise that the EC re-writes it outdated regulations and moves toward such a product based approach.  Secondly, over the last few years new genomic editing techniques (sometimes called New Breeding Techniques) have evolved. These techniques are basically mutagenesis techniques that can generate genomic diversity and have vast potential for crop improvement. They are not GMO based techniques (any more than mutagenesis is a GMO technique), since in many cases no new DNA is introduced. Thus they cannot simply be lumped together with GMOs (as many anti-GMO NGOs would prefer). The EU currently has no regulations to cover these new techniques. In this review, we make suggestions as to how these new gene edited crops may be regulated

New GMO regulations for old: Determining a new future for EU crop biotechnology.

Science.gov (United States)

Davison, John; Ammann, Klaus

2017-01-02

In this review, current EU GMO regulations are subjected to a point-by point analysis to determine their suitability for agriculture in modern Europe. Our analysis concerns present GMO regulations as well as suggestions for possible new regulations for genome editing and New Breeding Techniques (for which no regulations presently exist). Firstly, the present GMO regulations stem from the early days of recombinant DNA and are not adapted to current scientific understanding on this subject. Scientific understanding of GMOs has changed and these regulations are now, not only unfit for their original purpose, but, the purpose itself is now no longer scientifically valid. Indeed, they defy scientific, economic, and even common, sense. A major EU regulatory preconception is that GM crops are basically different from their parent crops. Thus, the EU regulations are "process based" regulations that discriminate against GMOs simply because they are GMOs. However current scientific evidence shows a blending of classical crops and their GMO counterparts with no clear demarcation line between them. Canada has a "product based" approach and determines the safety of each new crop variety independently of the process used to obtain it. We advise that the EC re-writes it outdated regulations and moves toward such a product based approach.  Secondly, over the last few years new genomic editing techniques (sometimes called New Breeding Techniques) have evolved. These techniques are basically mutagenesis techniques that can generate genomic diversity and have vast potential for crop improvement. They are not GMO based techniques (any more than mutagenesis is a GMO technique), since in many cases no new DNA is introduced. Thus they cannot simply be lumped together with GMOs (as many anti-GMO NGOs would prefer). The EU currently has no regulations to cover these new techniques. In this review, we make suggestions as to how these new gene edited crops may be regulated. The EU is at a

Jurisdiction Over Cybertorts in the EU

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Savin, Andrej

2016-01-01

The article analyses EU jurisdiction rules for civil and commercial tort cases involving the use of the Internet (cybertorts). Since cybertorts have multiplied globally, determination of the appropriate forum in which to recover damages is of paramount importance. Brussels I Regulation (Recast......) contains rules on general jurisdiction, which have largely been unproblematic and rules on special jurisdiction, which have been subject to intense interpretation in the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). The CJEU case law on special jurisdiction in cybertorts is divided into two groups: cases...

Designing Supervision under the Preventive Anti-Money Laundering Policy in the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Melissa van den Broek

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Directive 2005/60/EC on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purpose of money laundering and terrorist financing is currently one of the main instruments which regulates efforts to combat money laundering (and terrorist financing in the European Union. Respecting national procedural autonomy, this directive leaves a high degree of freedom for the Member States in designing their own supervisory architectures under the preventive anti-money laundering policy. This contribution adopts a systematic approach to the institutional differences between the EU Member States and presents four models of supervision that are currently present in the European Union. It explains the main characteristics of these models, categorises the EU Member States accordingly and analyses the potential strengths and weaknesses of each model, thereby providing a first indication of their effectiveness.

The Control of the Legality of Administrative Activity through the Court of Justice of the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Goga Gina Livioara

2010-06-01

Full Text Available According to the law of the European Union, in case one of the institutions of the Union or an organ, office or agency belonging to the Union refrains from making a decision, the member states and theother institutions of the Union are entitled to make a notification to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Court has the competence to verify the legality of the legislative acts of the institutions, offices, organs or agencies of the Union that are meant to produce judicial effects towards third parties and iscompetent to pronounce itself, by preliminary decision regarding the interpretation of the treaties, namely the validity and interpretation of acts adopted by the institutions, offices, organs or agencies of the Union. Also, according to the primary treaties, any legal issues related to the non- fulfillment of the treaty’s provisions, non compliance with the community legislation, not executing the decisions of the Court of Justice or non compliance with the terms of an agreement between the EU and a third state, as well as the legal aspects related to the application of penalties based on the regulations of the EU, contractual and extra contractualliability are subordinated to the control of the Unions’ judicial instance.

Unsustainable Public Debt in a European Fiscal Union?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gábor Kutasi

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Some EU members faced years of crisis in the first half of the 2010s with an excessive initial public debt, but several others had broad room for fiscal timulus. However, the prolonged duration of the European economic depression expended public budgets, while exhausting stimulus policies and sovereign solvency. Meanwhile, one of the ways out of depression is a proposed centralization of the EU through fiscal union. Are the eurozone countries readyto participate in a risk pool in public finances? The study seeks to answer this question. The article presents the hypothesis that the sustainability of public finances deteriorated during the global and euro crisis in the majority of the eurozone member countries and in the EU, and this phenomenon is discouragingthe core countries from seeking the fiscal union. The analysis uses the Blanchard indicators of fiscal sustainability and the sovereign risk rating of the EURO-18 and EU-28 countries. The analysis presents as results a theoretical summary of fiscal sustainability, the development of fiscal sustainability in the EU member states, indicators of convergence or divergence of fiscal sustainability in the Community, and conclusions based on the indicators of the likelihood of a fiscal union.

Family Benefits In Member States Of The European Union: A Comparative Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stănescu Simona Maria

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The article intends to be a screening of family benefits in the 28 Member States of the European Union (EU and to contribute to the research of shared trends with respect to family approach in these countries. Four types of family benefits including eight distinctive categories are analysed: child-benefit, child care allowances, child-raising allowances, and other benefits (birth and adoption grants, allowance for single parents, special allowances for children with disabilities, advance payments for maintenance and other allowances. The paper is based on primary and secondary analysis of 28 sets of national data provided through the European Union's Mutual Information System on Social Protection (MISSOC. Three categories of member states are considered: founder member states of the EU, other “old” member states, and the new Central and Eastern ones. Chronological development of national regulations with impact on family benefits is analysed in connection with the moment of becoming a member state. Various forms of family benefits legislation and their main subjects of interest are further researched. The last part of the article looks at the coverage of family benefits. Seven member states operate in this respect based on regulations adopted before EU accession. Belgium, Finland, and Lithuania have the “most preserved” family regulations per category of member states. The first three topics of family regulations are: child, family, and allowance / benefit. The most frequently provided family benefits are: birth and adoption grants, and special allowance for children with disabilities. All eight family benefits are provided in France, Finland, Hungary, and Slovenia. Only two types of family benefits are available in Ireland, Spain, and Cyprus.

EU Criminal Law and the Regulation of Information and Communication Technology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sarah Summers

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The opportunities afforded by the global information space give rise to the potential for the commission of new crimes –crimes such as hacking or denial of service attacks– and for existing crimes, such as speech offences or fraud, to be committed in new ways and with potentially larger consequences. One of the biggest challenges for the regulation of information and communications technology is that the global information space does not respect national boundaries. In order to be successful, any regulatory approach will call for some degree of cooperation between countries. This poses an obvious problem for those seeking to develop a regulatory structure. This challenge is particularly relevant in the criminal law context, as the criminal law has traditionally been considered to be the product and responsibility of national law. This article considers the EU’s regulatory approach in this area. The aim here is not to offer a critique of the EU’s regulatory structure in the context of cybercrime, but rather to use the situation in the EU to illustrate various issues arising in the context of the criminal law regulation of information and communications technology. This article examines some of the issues which have arisen in the context of the regulation of cyber activity at the EU level as a result of this tension between national sovereignty and broader overarching EU regulation and assesses the relevance of these issues in the context of criminal law regulation more broadly. Consideration of the processes of criminalisation and harmonisation provides the basis for an analysis of the manner in which the EU seeks to justify its involvement in criminal law in this field.

Impact of the changing European Union regulations on Estonian accounting policies. Euroopa finantsaruandluse muudatuste sobivus Eestis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maret Güldenkoh

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Financial reporting and audit activities are the areas to ensure the legitimacy of the everyday economic activities of the accounting entities. Financial reporting provides information on the past periods of the accounting entities; the audit activity is used to verify the accuracy of the recorded information and an assessment is given to the financial position of the audited entities. Auditing of financial statements prepared on the basis of historical financial information, results in increased reliability of the economic environment and stability of the financial environment of the state. The objective of this research was to assess the suitability of the European Union reporting principles for the auditing activity in Estonia. This objective was achieved with the following research tasks: 1 to provide an overview of the legal framework of the EU financial reporting and auditing activities; 2 to assess the problems related to the transposition of the legal framework in Estonia. The article consists of two parts, the first part provides an overview of the regulation of financial reporting and auditing activities in the European Union. The second part assess the impact of the European Union legislation on financial reporting and audit activities for the activities of the corresponding areas in Estonia. The research method used was a combined method, in the course of which legal acts were collected and analyzed, analysis of the data obtained from the commercial register was carried out and the impact of the Directive 2013/34 / EC to the accounting area of Estonia was assessed. Upon application of the Directive 2013/34/EU to the Estonia's legal framework, one cannot be sure that the desired administrative burden is reduced, rather it could bring along growth of the administrative burden for the accounting entities, which comprises the obligation of submission of additional reporting to various authorities. The reporting process could become more

Governing EU employment policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Eva; Triantafillou, Peter; Damgaard, Bodil

2015-01-01

In the European Union (EU), employment policy is a prerogative of the member states. Therefore the EU's ability to govern in this area depends on its capability to involve national governments and relevant stakeholders in a collaborative effort to formulate and implement shared policy objectives....... of collaboration, the implementation phase mainly consists in the less demanding forms of cooperation and coordination....

Basic Substances under EU Pesticide Regulation: An Opportunity for Organic Production?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Patrice A. Marchand

2017-02-01

Full Text Available Some of the active substances allowed in organic production are now approved as basic sub- stances under the EU plant protection products regulation. Previously, all organic farming permitted active substances were approved as conventional plant protection products. In accordance with the criteria of Article 23 of the EU regulation (EC No 1107/2009, basic substances are granted without maximum residue limits and have a good prospect for being included in Annex II of organic farming Regulation (EC 889/2008. In fact, most of them are already permitted in organic farming. At this stage, it seems desirable to organize applications in order to avoid duplications and to clarify strategy across Europe. This organization should be planned in order to identify corresponding knowledge and data from field experiments, and to further constitute the most crucial issues related to organic production. A work of this nature was initially supported by IFOAM-EU for lecithin, calcium hydroxide and Quassia extract. The Institut Technique de l’Agriculture Biologique (ITAB was previously engaged in a large-scale approval plan motivated by the continuous demand for the regularization of compounds/substances already in use and has a mandate for testing and approving new compatible substances. Thus, the horsetail extract (Equisetum arvense was the first approved basic substance and ITAB has obtained 11 of the 15 basic substances approved at the EU level.

IMPORTANCE OF THE EUROPEAN BANKING UNION NEW DIRECTIVES

OpenAIRE

MEDAR LUCIAN-ION; Irina-Elena Chirtoc

2014-01-01

European Banking Union has set new rules on monetary market especially for credit institutions and for financial banking groups in general. Economic and monetary union requires accomplishment of political and monetary union and democratic control of the European institutions on a single financial market. In this respect through its management organisms, EU has designed a series of unique mechanisms of financial union and called for a fiscal union. Union of European financial marke...

Guardians of EU law? Analysing roles and behaviour of Dutch legislative drafters involved in EU compliance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mastenbroek, E.

2017-01-01

By drafting statutes and delegated acts, national legislative drafters play a crucial role in European Union (EU) compliance. Given their extensive legal training, they can be expected to operate as ‘guardians of EU law’ and thus correct national non-compliant tendencies. Yet, they also have a role

Guardians of EU law? Analysing roles and behaviour of Dutch legislative drafters involved in EU compliance

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mastenbroek, E.; Thomann, E.; Sager, F.

2018-01-01

By drafting statutes and delegated acts, national legislative drafters play a crucial role in European Union (EU) compliance. Given their extensive legal training, they can be expected to operate as ‘guardians of EU law’ and thus correct national non-compliant tendencies. Yet, they also have a role

European Union's strategy on endocrine disrupting chemicals and the current position of Slovenia.

Science.gov (United States)

Perharič, Lucija; Fatur, Tanja; Drofenik, Jernej

2016-06-01

In view of the European Union regulations 1107/2009 and 528/2012, which say that basic substances in plant protection and biocidal products marketed in the European Union (EU) should not have an inherent capacity to cause endocrine disruption, an initiative was started to define scientific criteria for the identification of endocrine disruptors (EDs). The objectives of the EU strategy on EDs are to protect human health and the environment, to assure the functioning of the market, and to provide clear and coherent criteria for the identification of EDs that could have broad application in the EU legislation. Policy issues were to be addressed by the Ad-hoc group of Commission Services, EU Agencies and Member States established in 2010, whereas the scientific issues were to be addressed by the Endocrine Disruptors Expert Advisory Group (ED EAG), established in 2011. The ED EAG adopted the 2002 World Health Organization (WHO) definition of endocrine disruptor and agreed that for its identification it is necessary to produce convincing evidence of a biologically plausible causal link between an adverse effect and endocrine disrupting mode of action. In 2014, the European Commission proposed four ED identification criteria options and three regulatory options, which are now being assessed for socio-economic, environmental, and health impact. Slovenia supports the establishing of identification criteria and favours option 4, according to which ED identification should be based on the WHO definition with the addition of potency as an element of hazard characterisation. As for regulatory options, Slovenia favours the risk-based rather than hazard-based regulation.

Economic disparities between EU states and regions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ion CIUREA

2010-05-01

Full Text Available EU has 27 Member States representing a community and a market of 493million citizens, which creates further economic and social disparities between thestates and their 271 regions. In a region in four, the GDP (gross domestic product percapita is 75% below the average for the EU-27. Based on the concepts of solidarity andcohesion, regional policy of the European Union favors reducing structural disparitiesbetween EU regions, the balanced development of the community and promoting aneffective equality of opportunity between people. Over the past 50 years, Europeancooperation has helped build highways, sewage plants, bridges, laboratories forbiotechnology. She helped to revive urban areas and neglected activities, throughcountless projects in the poorest regions of the Union.. Two key values: solidarity andcohesion, underlying these projects and the regional policy of the European Union. Theeconomic, social and territorial cohesion will always be at the heart of Europe Strategy2020, a key mechanism for achieving the priorities for a smart growth, sustainable andinclusive in the Member States and regions.

State of the Low-Carbon Energy Union: Assessing the EU's progress towards its 2030 and 2050 climate objectives

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Spencer, Thomas; Pierfederici, Roberta; Sartor, Oliver; Berghmans, Nicolas; Samadi, Sascha; Fischedick, Manfred; Knoop, Katharina; Pye, Steve; Criqui, Patrick; Mathy, Sandrine; Capros, Pantelis; Fragkos, Panagiotis; Bukowski, Maciej; Sniegocki, Aleksander; Virdis, Maria Rosa; Gaeta, Maria; Pollier, Karine; Cassisa, Cyril

2016-11-01

Climate and Energy Framework will have an impact, our study suggests that the ambition of EU and Member State policies is either a continuation of business as usual in terms of rates of progress, or is being dialed down in some cases. The EU and Member State policy should significantly revise their approach to decarbonization by refocusing on the key drivers of emissions in each sector. The EU's new Energy Union Governance Mechanism should be designed based on this principle and current proposals to implement the 2030 package should be adopted in the strongest possible form to put the EU back on track. The EU, in coordination with the Member States, should develop a suite of sectoral policies to complement the overarching emissions caps of the EU ETS and non-ETS sectors

Účetnictví mikropodniků v EU

OpenAIRE

Moudrá, Erika

2011-01-01

Thesis "Micro-businesses in the EU accounting" deals with the definition of microsubjekts and specifics and its regulation in the European Union and in the Czech Republic. It also contains a comparison of Czech and Finnish accounting system, which defines the history of accounting in both countries and different views on the five selected areas of accounting. At the end of the paper is a summary of the pros and cons of both the accounting legislation.

EU Security of Gas Supplies: Solidarity Runs Through the Pipeline

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aoun, Marie-Claire; Rutten, Daan

2016-05-01

The ongoing efforts to lessen the European Union's (EU) vulnerability to gas shortages by adopting internal measures were triggered by the Ukrainian gas disputes of 2006 and 2009. The latter deprived several EU Member States of 20% of their gas supplies (30% of imports) for 14 days in the middle of winter due to tensions with Russia. This prompted Member States in 2010 to adopt a Regulation for the Security of Gas Supply, replacing the skeletal 2004 Directive. Since 2014, tensions have increased significantly between the EU and Russia, the block's main gas supplier. Although this has not led to any gas supply disruptions in Europe, and this time Ukraine has been able to revert to reverse flows, national production and storage withdrawals to replace the Russian gas flows, there remains a perceived elevated risk of gas supply disruptions to the EU, especially by certain Member States. This led the European Commission (EC) to publish its first-ever European Energy Security Strategy in May 2014, which was followed by the Gas Stress Tests of October 2014. In February 2015, the EC published its Energy Union Strategy Framework, which was strongly motivated by energy security concerns. In that context, the EC announced a series of proposals for its gas and electricity markets in 2016 and 2017, among which was the 'Sustainable Energy Security Package' (hereafter: Package). This Package, published in February 2016, consists of four proposals. Two of them have a legislative nature, namely a Regulation for Security of Gas Supply and a Decision on Intergovernmental Agreements on energy. The two non-legislative proposals are strategy papers dealing respectively with LNG and Gas Storage, and Heating and Cooling. The purpose of this paper is to focus on the proposed Regulation and to offer considerations on some of its provisions, in particular on the move from the national to the regional level of cooperation and on the legislative formalization of solidarity. (author)

Vybrané aspekty vzniku "Charty EU: Standardní podmínky svobody sdělovacích prostředků v celé EU"

OpenAIRE

Melíšková, Iva

2015-01-01

The bachelor thesis Selected aspects of "the EU Charter: Standard terms of media freedom in the EU" is about selected influences which shaped the media environment in the European Union's member states. Firstly, it defines the tradition of freedom of speech in Europe as well as the role of certain institutions of the European Union, Council of Europe and international players which supports the freedom of speech. Some parts are dedicated to the media policy of the European Union and certain r...

TOWARDS EFFECTIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LEADERSHIP OF THE UNION. OPTIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR REFORM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wouter Coussens

2003-03-01

Full Text Available The success of the Convention on the future of the EU will to a great extent depend upon its answers to the institutional questions. Among these questions, the issue of EU leadership plays a crucial role. In this paper, three challenges for the re-organisation of leadership in the Union are identified:- Union leadership has to be more effective;- Leadership in the Union should contribute to the democratic character of the Union;- Leadership reform should not fundamentally distort the UnionÕs institutional balance.In view of these three challenges, the authors consider the two main strands of debate that touch upon the issue of leadership in the EU: first, the debate on the election of the Commission President and, secondly, the different proposals for reforming the Council Presidency.

EU Studies in Denmark and Sweden

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Garski, Salla; Jørgensen, Knud Erik; Manners, Ian

2012-01-01

In this brief chapter we take stock of Danish and Swedish scholarship on the European Union (EU). We intend to analyze and evaluate Danish and Swedish scholarship on EU issues, using a mixed methodology integrated into the analysis of this chapter. The method integrates a secondary analysis...

The EU-Russia Energy Dialogue: Competition Versus Monopolies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Milov, V.

2006-01-01

Russia and the European Union have clearly entered a new stage in their energy relations, defined by a growing asymmetry between a strengthened national monopoly on the supply side and a gradual opening of markets in Europe. In this context, a multitude of new approaches to EU Russia energy relations have been voiced recently by a wide variety of experts. Unfortunately, many of them involve 'defensive' solutions, driven by lack of mutual trust on both sides. Is a positive approach nevertheless still possible? The paper argues that competition is a key universal value in the development of a new and sustainable energy relationship between Russia and Europe. It is clear that EU competition regulators should take the lead in setting up a new framework for EU-Russia energy relations in the future. The success of their endeavors will not only determine the security of energy supply for European consumers, but also that of the Russian and Eurasian energy markets. (author)

The European Fiscal Union creation process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oleksandr Sharov

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The paper presents evolution of the European Union fiscal system creation process as well as outlines problems in functioning thereof that have arisen during recent years and the main reforming (modification trends. The analysis is primarily focused on creation of the fiscal union within the EU. In this regard, the idea of two different groups of countries moving to the common goal at different paces is becoming ever increasingly much-talked-about in the EU. The first group comprises donor countries that adhere to all treaties and fiscal discipline, while demonstrating respective positive macroeconomic indicators. The second group implies countries of Euro-periphery, where the above processes take place along with significant complications or do not occur at all. In these countries Eurosceptic positions are also quite strong, which often leads to taking measures contrary to the jointly adopted decisions. Currently, there is no clear understanding within the EU as to which way out of the crisis should be taken. However, profound understanding of the crisis causes and active work on preparation and implementation of measures to overcome the negative effects of this crisis suggest availability of sufficiently favorable prospects for further development of the EU fiscal system (including formal creation of the Fiscal Union. Based on the conducted analysis conclusions have been made as to potential vectors of action aimed at improving EU fiscal system, while specific recommendations on actions to be taken by Ukraine have been developed (particularly, as regards budget forecasting and planning with the purpose of harmonizing Ukrainian financial institutions and mechanisms with the EU fiscal system.

On cooperation of customs administrations in the European Union and Serbia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vranješ Mile

2013-01-01

Full Text Available Cooperation of customs administrations between Member States of the European Union and cooperation of the Customs Administration of the Republic of Serbia with foreign customs administrations, regarding the efficient exchange of information is, most certainly, one of the important conventional measures for suppressing customs evasion and also a significant measure for increasing the efficiency of customs collection. Problems of information exchange regarding customs in the European Union has been regulated with two main instruments: Council Regulation 515/97, on mutual assistance between the administrative authorities of the Member States and cooperation between the latter and the Commission to ensure the correct application of the law on customs and agricultural matters and Council Directive 2010/24/EU concerning mutual assistance for the recovery of claims relating to taxes, duties and other measures. Additionally, the current multi-year program for customs in the European Union (Customs 2013 is contained in the Decision of the European Parliament and Council 624/207. Problems of information exchange regarding customs in the Republic of Serbia are regulated with one main instrument: Agreement on administrative assistance in customs matters of the Republic of Serbia and other countries.

EU-UN partnership in military conflict management: Whither the ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

UN) and the European Union (EU) in African conflict management. Constructing the EU as a security actor, including its validation through the UN, is not a process solely based on the normative claims inherent in the EU as a sui generis actor, ...

Managing Transboundary Crises : The Emergence of European Union Capacity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Boin, Arjen; Rhinard, Mark; Ekengren, Magnus

The European Union (EU) has modest but promising capacities to assist member states overwhelmed by disaster through its Civil Protection Mechanism. The EU also routinely sends civil and military missions to hotspots outside EU territory. But these capacities do not suffice in the face of

EU import restrictions on genetically modified feeds: impacts on Spanish, EU and global livestock sectors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Philippidis, G.

2010-07-01

Over the last decade, much controversy has surrounded the usage of genetically modified organism (GMO) technology in commercial agriculture. More specifically, it is feared that GMOs may introduce new allergens into the food chain or contribute to antibiotic resistance. At the current time, the European Union (EU) adopts a zero tolerance policy toward non-approved GMO imports, whilst the approval process has not kept pace with the proliferation of new GMO varieties. In the EU livestock sectors, this apparent mis-match threatens to interrupt supplies of high protein feed inputs (e.g., soy meal) from countries with more relaxed regulations regarding GMOs. Employing a well known multi-region computable general equilibrium framework, this study quantitatively assesses the impact of a hypothetical EU import ban on unapproved GMO varieties of soybean and maize imports on livestock, meat and dairy sectors. The model code is heavily modified to improve the characterisation of the agricultural sectors and land usage, whilst a realistic baseline is employed to update the global database to 2008, the year the hypothetical ban is implemented. In the worst case scenario, there are significant competitive losses in EU livestock, meat and dairy sectors. In Spain, the negative impacts are particularly pronounced given the importance of pig production in agriculture. In contrast, all non-EU regions trade balances improve, with notable trade gains in the USA and Brazil. To conclude, the EU must urgently find a long term strategy for GMOs if it is to reconcile political expediency with pragmatic economic concerns. (Author) 21 refs.

European union standards for tuberculosis care.

Science.gov (United States)

Migliori, G B; Zellweger, J P; Abubakar, I; Ibraim, E; Caminero, J A; De Vries, G; D'Ambrosio, L; Centis, R; Sotgiu, G; Menegale, O; Kliiman, K; Aksamit, T; Cirillo, D M; Danilovits, M; Dara, M; Dheda, K; Dinh-Xuan, A T; Kluge, H; Lange, C; Leimane, V; Loddenkemper, R; Nicod, L P; Raviglione, M C; Spanevello, A; Thomsen, V Ø; Villar, M; Wanlin, M; Wedzicha, J A; Zumla, A; Blasi, F; Huitric, E; Sandgren, A; Manissero, D

2012-04-01

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the European Respiratory Society (ERS) jointly developed European Union Standards for Tuberculosis Care (ESTC) aimed at providing European Union (EU)-tailored standards for the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of tuberculosis (TB). The International Standards for TB Care (ISTC) were developed in the global context and are not always adapted to the EU setting and practices. The majority of EU countries have the resources and capacity to implement higher standards to further secure quality TB diagnosis, treatment and prevention. On this basis, the ESTC were developed as standards specifically tailored to the EU setting. A panel of 30 international experts, led by a writing group and the ERS and ECDC, identified and developed the 21 ESTC in the areas of diagnosis, treatment, HIV and comorbid conditions, and public health and prevention. The ISTCs formed the basis for the 21 standards, upon which additional EU adaptations and supplements were developed. These patient-centred standards are targeted to clinicians and public health workers, providing an easy-to-use resource, guiding through all required activities to ensure optimal diagnosis, treatment and prevention of TB. These will support EU health programmes to identify and develop optimal procedures for TB care, control and elimination.

Multiple inequalities, intersectionality and the European Union

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Verloo, M.M.T.

2006-01-01

The European Union (EU), a pioneer in gender equality policies, is moving from predominantly attending to gender inequality, towards policies that address multiple inequalities. This article argues that there are tendencies at EU level to assume an unquestioned similarity of inequalities, to fail to

Accession of the Slovak Republic to EU - new legislation, new conditions and new approaches in the area of emergency preparedness

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sladek, V.; Metke, E.

2003-01-01

At present after five years of Urad jadroveho dozoru (UJD) experience of using new Slovak regulations and before entering to European Union (EU), which is foreseen since May 2004 a comprehensive review of Atomic Act and all relevant decrees is being made with the objective to fit them to EU directives. On line with that also necessary organizational and technical arrangements in the area of regulatory activities including emergency preparedness are prepared. UJD participate actively in EU and IAEA projects to achieve the harmonization of its practices with EU and other countries with developed nuclear power and makes efforts to keep on a high level of nuclear safety to be a valuable member of EU

The Euro Zone Crisis and Differentiation in the European Union: a Threat to the Goals of the EU or an Instrument of Managing the Divergence of National Interests?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vilpišauskas Ramūnas

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the institutional evolution of the European Union (EU in reacting to the euro zone crisis and the new forms of differentiation in the EU. It presents and elaborates several arguments. First, despite calls to complete the creation of the “genuine Economic and Monetary Union“ and to make a step towards federal structure of the Union with single currency and single central budget used to react to asymmetric shocks, most decisions actually agreed upon by member states since the start of the crisis can be seen as attempts to avoid exactly such a scenario. Second, although the divide between the “Northern“ and “Southern“ groups of the EU member states seems attractive in its simplicity, it is a gross simplification of the current situation and hides important differences of member state preferences within each of the groupings. Third, it is also too simplistic to see the membership in the euro zone as the main characteristic defining the state of differentiation in the EU. As it is discussed in the text, both euro zone member states and EU countries outside the euro zone participate in different initiatives of integration and show different national preferences. Finally, the text concludes with a formulation of the main policy dilemmas for Lithuania in terms of ongoing process of complex differentiation and taking into account the prospect of joining the euro zone in 2015.

An overview of Compassionate Use Programs in the European Union member states.

Science.gov (United States)

Balasubramanian, Gayathri; Morampudi, Suman; Chhabra, Pankdeep; Gowda, Arun; Zomorodi, Behsad

2016-11-01

The past decade witnessed rapid development of novel drugs and therapeutic biological agents. The marketing authorization for novel therapies is often time consuming and distressing for patients. Earlier clinical trials were the only way to access new drugs under development. However, not every patient meets the enrolment criteria, and participation is difficult for patients with life-threatening, long-lasting or seriously debilitating diseases like rare diseases. Early access programs like "Compassionate Use Program (CUP)" have generated alternative channels for such patients. The European Medical Agency provides regulations and recommendations for compassionate use, upon which every European Union (EU) member state has developed its own rules and regulations. Despite previous reviews and studies, the available information is limited and gaps exist. This literature review explores CUP in 28 EU member states. Data was collected through literature review and use of country-specific search terms from the healthcare domain. Data sources were not limited to databases and articles published in journals, but also included grey literature. The results implied that CUP was present in 20 EU member states (71%). Of 28 EU states, 18 (∼64%) had nationalized regulations and processes were well-defined. Overall, this review identified CUP and its current status and legislation in 28 EU member states. The established legislation for CUP in the EU member states suggest their willingness to adopt processes that facilitate earlier and better access to new medicines. Further research and periodic reviews are warranted to understand the contemporary and future regulatory trends in early access programs.

DNA and Law Enforcement in the European Union: Tools and Human Rights Protection

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Helena Soleto Muñoz

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Since its first successful use in criminal investigations in the 1980s, DNA has become a widely used and valuable tool to identify offenders and to acquit innocent persons. For a more beneficial use of the DNA-related data possessed, the Council of the European Union adopted Council Decisions 2008/615 and 2008/616 establishing a mechanism for a direct automated search in national EU Member States’ DNA databases. The article reveals the complications associated with the regulation on the use of DNA for criminal investigations as it is regulated by both EU and national legislation which results in a great deal of variations. It also analyses possible violations of and limitations to human rights when collecting DNA samples, as well as their analysis, use and storage.

The new architecture of the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Radivojević Zoran

2011-01-01

Full Text Available The Lisbon Treaty has brought significant changes into the architecture of the European Union. The most important novelty, however, is the establishment of a full unity of the Union structure achieved by creating new and strengthening the existing elements. The new elements of this unity are the disappearance of the European Community, the 'independence' of the European Atomic Energy Community, constituting the European Union as a single entity and the introduction of EU values. At the same time, the Lisbon Treaty has strengthened the existing elements of the common institutional mechanisms, rules on amending the founding treaties and EU membership. However, constituting the Union as a single entity which has replaced and succeeded the European Communities has not abolished the EU elements of diversity. In the areas that differed, even before the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, from the community pillar, there remain significant differences in the nature and the scope of competences of the Union institutions. This mainly regards the common foreign and security policy, which now includes the defense policy, where the existing model of inter-state cooperation has been only slightly interfered with. In contrast, in the field of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, which has become part of a larger Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, the inter-state model of cooperation has been abandoned in some of its most important elements. However, the implementation of some of the important elements of the supranational model has been postponed.

Decision-making in the Dark? - Autonomous EU Sanctions and National Classification

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Eckes, C.

2012-01-01

In the past decade, the European Union (EU) has taken an active role in counter-terrorism. Amongst the EU’s counter-terrorist policies, sanctions (asset freezing) remain the cornerstone. The EU runs two different regimes of counter-terrorist sanctions: autonomous EU sanctions and EU sanctions

Role of subsidies in EU fleet capacity management

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindebo, Erik

2005-01-01

Fisheries in the European Union (EU) continue to be overexploited by an overcapitalised fishing fleet, despite the best intentions of two decades of capacity adjustment programmes. This paper considers the progress of fishing capacity under the Multi-annual Guidance Programme and examines the imp...... of vessel decommissioning. The Danish fishing fleet case serves as an empirical example in this regard. Comments on the future capacity management regime and the role of subsidies in EU fisheries are offered.......Fisheries in the European Union (EU) continue to be overexploited by an overcapitalised fishing fleet, despite the best intentions of two decades of capacity adjustment programmes. This paper considers the progress of fishing capacity under the Multi-annual Guidance Programme and examines...

Who wants full membership? Characteristics of Turkish public support for EU membership

OpenAIRE

Çarkoğlu, Ali; Carkoglu, Ali

2003-01-01

Examines the basis of support and resistance to European Union (EU) membership among voters in Turkey. Issues concerning Turkey's candidacy for EU membership; Description of EU support across different constituencies of public opinion; Implications of EU membership support for EU-Turkey relations; Factors that influenced the expressed support for EU membership.

The prioritisation of a short list of alien plants for risk analysis within the framework of the Regulation (EU No. 1143/2014

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rob Tanner

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Thirty-seven alien plant species, pre-identified by horizon scanning exercises were prioritised for pest risk analysis (PRA using a modified version of the EPPO Prioritisation Process designed to be compliant with the EU Regulation 1143/2014. In Stage 1, species were categorised into one of four lists – a Residual List, EU List of Minor Concern, EU Observation List and the EU List of Invasive Alien Plants. Only those species included in the latter proceeded to the risk management stage where their priority for PRA was assessed. Due to medium or high spread potential coupled with high impacts twenty-two species were included in the EU List of Invasive Alien Plants and proceeded to Stage 2. Four species (Ambrosia trifida, Egeria densa, Fallopia baldschuanica and Oxalis pes-caprae were assigned to the EU Observation List due to moderate or low impacts. Albizia lebbeck, Clematis terniflora, Euonymus japonicus, Lonicera morrowii, Prunus campanulata and Rubus rosifolius were assigned to the residual list due to a current lack of information on impacts. Similarly, Cornus sericea and Hydrilla verticillata were assigned to the Residual List due to unclear taxonomy and uncertainty in native status, respectively. Chromolaena odorata, Cryptostegia grandiflora and Sphagneticola trilobata were assigned to the Residual List as it is unlikely they will establish in the Union under current climatic conditions. In the risk management stage, Euonymus fortunei, Ligustrum sinense and Lonicera maackii were considered a low priority for PRA as they do not exhibit invasive tendencies despite being widely cultivated in the EU over several decades. Nineteen species were identified as having a high priority for a PRA (Acacia dealbata, Ambrosia confertiflora, Andropogon virginicus, Cardiospermum grandiflorum, Celastrus orbiculatus, Cinnamomum camphora, Cortaderia jubata, Ehrharta calycina, Gymnocoronis spilanthoides, Hakea sericea, Humulus scandens, Hygrophila polysperma

Transposition of the new European Union audit regulation into the Croatian national law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sanja Sever Mališ

2016-11-01

Full Text Available The audit reform in the EU had as a consequence the adoption of the new regulatory framework. The European Parliament adopted Directive 2014/56/EU amending the Directive 2006/43/EC on statutory audit in the EU and the EU Regulation No. 537/2014 containing requirements that relate specifically to the statutory audit of public interest entities. Each Member State needs to transpose the Directive into its national legislation and also ensure its implementation. Within the framework of transposing the Directive into the national regulation, each Member State had many options that allows them to tailor the provisions of the national law according to their needs and specific aspects of the national audit markets. However, the number of options brings risks that are connected to additional audit procedures and inefficiencies in the process of performing audit with the potential effects on the quality and cost of audits. The aim of this article is to analyse the most important (not used options of the Directive and Regulation according to the Croatian national legislation. In that sense, the article provides information about the definition of statutory audit and the subjects of statutory audit as well as the definition of public interest entities in Croatia. In addition, the audit profession in Croatia is analysed in the context of the “European audit passport”. The results of this research can be a base for future comparisons between Croatia and the other EU Member States. Finally, the implementation of this provisions will answer the question: Does the implementation of different options bring convergence or divergence within the single EU audit services market?

European Union, 2017

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Malone Margaret Mary

2018-02-01

Full Text Available The year 2017 was eventful for the EU and its member states. Given the widespread Euroscepticism and populism which appeared to be on the rise last year, election results in the Netherlands, France and Germany were greeted with relief and hope for the future. The EU was in an optimistic mood. European Commission President Jean- Claude Juncker used his State of the European Union speech in September to note that the EU had the ‘wind in its sails’ (Juncker, 2017. At the same time, he cautioned that the fair weather conditions would not last long - there was no room for complacency. The EU had to act to protect, empower and defend its citizens. The EU moved forward on a number of policy fronts in the wake of the Brexit vote and also concluded high-profile international trade deals in an effort to fill the vacuum left by the protectionist policies of the Trump administration.

Development of EU Environmental Regulation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Klemmensen, Børge

2007-01-01

En tematiseret gennemgang af udviklingstrinene i EU's miljøpolitik fra de allerførste skirdt i 1970-72, der måtte basere sig på EU-traktatens generalklausul i Artikel 235, over declarationen på EU-topmødet i Paris i 1972, der kædede økonomisk udvikling sammen med et krav om hensyntagen til miljøet...

The EU Greenhouse Gas Emissions Trading Scheme

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Woerdman, Edwin; Woerdman, Edwin; Roggenkamp, Martha; Holwerda, Marijn

2015-01-01

This chapter explains how greenhouse gas emissions trading works, provides the essentials of the Directive on the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and summarizes the main implementation problems of the EU ETS. In addition, a law and economics approach is used to discuss the dilemmas

Hospital care for persons with AIDS in the European Union

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Postma, Maarten; Tolley, K; Leidl, R M; Downs, A M; Beck, E J; Tramarin, A M; Flori, Y A; Santin, M; Antoñanzas, F; Kornarou, H; Paparizos, V C; Dijkgraaf, M G; Borleffs, J; Luijben, A J; Jager, J C

This study estimates the current and future hospital resources for AIDS patients in the European Union (EU), using multinational scenario analysis (EU Concerted Action BMH1-CT-941723). In collaboration with another EU-project ('Managing the Costs of HIV Infection'), six national European studies on

The European Union's Africa Policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Gorm Rye

2013-01-01

For a number of years, there has been an international debate on whether and to what extent small member states can influence the common external policies of the European Union. Recent research on the role of small EU states concludes that these states are neither per se political dwarfs nor power...... including North–South and specifically Africa policies. Five separate analyses are carried out addressing the question of Nordicization and Europeanization. Based on the empirical analyses, it is not possible to confirm the hypothesis that a Nordicization of the European Union's Africa policy has taken...... place. Rather, it appears adequate to talk about convergence of policies between the Nordics and the EU and therefore, the Africa policies of both actors are basically the result of Europeanization....

EU Regulatory Risk Management of Marine Biotoxins in the Marine Bivalve Mollusc Food-Chain.

Science.gov (United States)

O'Mahony, Micheál

2018-03-10

Food safety risk assessment in the European Union (EU) recognises consumer illness that arises from marine biotoxins as a risk associated with bivalve mollusc consumption. EU food regulations contain various general food safety obligations, which should contribute significantly to managing this risk. EU food regulations additionally impose various specific obligations on both Food Business Operators and Competent Authorities in order to manage the marine biotoxin food safety risk in the bivalve mollusc food-chain. These have a particular focus on the pre-harvest component of the food-chain. A central component of these specific systems is the requirement for ongoing monitoring of phytoplankton and biotoxin concentrations in water and molluscs, respectively. This monitoring explicitly brings a potential outcome of closing production areas delineated by classification to prohibit the harvest of bivalve molluscs as food from those areas when acceptable biotoxin concentrations are exceeded. This review considers the utility of these systems, at conceptual and practical levels, and explores their contribution to an effective regulatory risk management approach.

Does business regulation matter for banks in the European Union?

OpenAIRE

Kalyvas, Nikolaos Antonios; Mamatzakis, Emmanuel

2014-01-01

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of the impact of business and financial specific regulations on banks in the EU-27 over the 2004–2010 period. We employ a dataset of a wide range of business regulation indices from the “Doing Business” project of the World Bank. Results for the credit regulation indices show that the strength of creditor rights is negatively related to bank performance as measured by cost efficiency, although this effect subdues during the recent crisis period (20...

Medical Device Regulation: A Comparison of the United States and the European Union.

Science.gov (United States)

Maak, Travis G; Wylie, James D

2016-08-01

Medical device regulation is a controversial topic in both the United States and the European Union. Many physicians and innovators in the United States cite a restrictive US FDA regulatory process as the reason for earlier and more rapid clinical advances in Europe. The FDA approval process mandates that a device be proved efficacious compared with a control or be substantially equivalent to a predicate device, whereas the European Union approval process mandates that the device perform its intended function. Stringent, peer-reviewed safety data have not been reported. However, after recent high-profile device failures, political pressure in both the United States and the European Union has favored more restrictive approval processes. Substantial reforms of the European Union process within the next 5 to 10 years will result in a more stringent approach to device regulation, similar to that of the FDA. Changes in the FDA regulatory process have been suggested but are not imminent.

THE JURISDICTION OF THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION TO DELIVER A CANCELLATION JUDGMENT REGARDING THE INTERNATIONAL AGREEMENTS TO WHICH THE EU IS PARTY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roxana-Mariana POPESCU

2016-06-01

Full Text Available In the case where international agreements are treated as legal acts of EU institutions, they may be subject to judicial review exercised by the Court in Luxembourg. Given the fact that we assimilate international agreements to legal acts of the European Union, we would be tempted to ask ourselves the following questions: to what extent declaring an agreement, by a judgment of the Court of Justice of the EU delivered in the action for cancellation, as being inapplicable to the EU legal order, affects the security of international relationships? If these relationships are affected, is it possible to exclude the subsequent verification conducted by the Court? In the study below, our purpose is to find answer to these questions.

Un-National Normative Justification for European Union Foreign Policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Manners, Ian

2011-01-01

The European Union's foreign policy has traditionally been described in terms of national, supranational or transnational interests rather than being justified in terms of normative political theory. As European Commissioner Bonino declared over a decade ago, such differentiation between...... descriptive interests and normative ethics is unsustainable in European Union (EU) foreign policy. What are needed are normative justifications that can help inform political choices about foreign policy in the EU's democratic political order. In other words, what are the un-national normative justifications...

THE BANKING UNION – THE SOLUTION TO REDUCE THE EUROPEAN BANKING SYSTEM RISKS?

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ALINA LIGIA DUMITRESCU

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The banking union has been seen as "a panacea" for solving the system risks of the EU banking system. This paper objectives are to find out if is the banking union, with is strong and week sides, will be right answer to solve the actual issues that EU banking system has as: the fragmentation in the EU single market, the deterioration in asset quality, the need for recapitalization and the quality of banks’ loan portfolios. According with most of the experts the banking union will strength the process of economic integration. On the other side, the non-euro area member states are questioning about "equal rights and obligations for all Member States" inside the banking union. But, with all pros and cons of the banking union, the ECB's making decisions and tasks can be questioned, although its role of supervisor can not be disputed. The most important thing is that the banking union breaks the vicious circle between banks and sovereign debts, and ends "to big to fail"

LEGAL PERSONALITY AND POWERS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

OpenAIRE

Augustin FUEREA

2010-01-01

Based on legal personality, EU won through Treaty of Lisbon, in accordance with the system of division of competences between the Union and the Member States as provided for in the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, competences not conferred upon the Union in the Treaties remain with the Member States. When the Treaties confer on the Union a competence shared with the Member States in a specific area, the Member States shall exercise their compet...

Book Review: Lobbying the European Union: Institutions, Actors and Issues, David Coen and Jeremy Richardson (eds.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Alexandra Pop

2013-03-01

Full Text Available The volume "Lobbying the European Union: Institutions, Actors and Issues", collects 16 articles on interest group politics at EU level, focusing on the main elements of European lobbying - the existing relations between the EU institutions and the special interests, the main differences between NGO and business lobbying, the specific lobbying strategies adopted in EU's main policy sectors or lobbying regulations. The volume captures the main changes that took place on the European lobbying scene in the last two decades, period in which most EU institutions developed new points of access for lobbyists, while the interest groups became more specialized. The success of an EU lobbying campaign seems to be determined by a combination of various factors such as: a good knowledge of the EU environment, a wise usage of both financial resources and expertise, direct lobbying complemented by an efficient usage of domestic routes and the capability of creating smart alliances.

Exchange of information in the EU and counteraction of tax avoiding

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Robert Draba

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This paper presents an assessment of selected European Union legislation of the exchange of information between EU countries in context of preventing tax avoiding. The primary tool to prevent tax avoidance within the EU is information exchanging between EU countries and between EU countires and other countries.

Regulating water pollution in China and the European Union in terms of agricultural pollution

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dai, Liping

2015-01-01

Regulatory instruments, are the most commonly used policy instruments in both China and the EU. This article explores how China and the EU establish their water quality objectives by regulation and how they design implementation strategies, with a particular focus of agricultural water pollution

A Study of the Determinants of Emissions Unit Allowance Price in the European Union Emissions Trading Scheme

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Alina Maydybura

2011-12-01

Full Text Available In 2005 the European Union (EU began the first phase of the largest and most ambitious emissions trading system (EU ETS ever attempted, which then applied to all members of the EU. In its second phase whichbegan in 2008 the EU ETS now applies to all 27 members of the EU together with Norway, Iceland and Lichtenstein, the members of the European Economic Area (EEA which are not members of the Union. Inthe first phase of the EU ETS permits to emit carbon into the atmosphere known as European Union Allowances (EUA were traded in a market where the price rose to €30 and eventually fell to well below 10 Euro cents as the imperfections of the market became obvious. In the second phase which began in 2008 the price has fluctuated between €30 and €8. EUA are traded in a manner which is similar to the trading of financial instruments and a range of derivatives has developed with the total value of the market now above €120b, a growing market dominated by a few large players.This paper reports some results of an empirical investigation into the factors which appear to drive the carbon price and the key determinants of the price of an EUA. Over the last decade a number of environmental products have been developed alongside the EUA, including Certified Emissions Reductions (CERs, Renewable Energy Certificates and White Certificates (energy efficiency credits and markets have developed for a range of these environmental products. A better understanding of the determinants of these markets willhelp regulators manage these new markets and this paper aims to enhance our knowledge of the market.

Has the Action for Failure to Act in the European Union Lost its Purpose?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daukšienė Inga

2014-12-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the purpose of the action for failure to act under article 265 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU. The statements are derived from the analysis of scientific literature, relevant legislation, practice of the European Union Court of Justice (CJEU and the European Union General Court (EUGC. Useful information has also been obtained from the opinions of general advocates of the CJEU. The article of TFEU 265, which governs the action for failure to act, is very abstract. For this reason, a whole procedure under the article 265 TFEU was developed by the EU courts. The original purpose of the action for failure to act was to constitute whether European Union (EU institution properly fulfilled its obligations under the EU legislation. However, in the course of case-law, a mere EU institution’s express refusal to fulfill its duties became sufficient to constitute that the EU institution acted and therefore action for failure to act became devoid of purpose. This article analyzes whether the action for failure to act has lost its purpose and become an ineffective legal remedy in the system of judicial review in the EU. Additionally, the action for failure to act is compared to similar national actions.

Challenges of public procurement in EU funded projects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marko Šostar

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Membership in the European Union implies adjustment of EU projects to the rules of Structural Funds, but also adoption of legal regulations, thus influencing the process of implementation of the public procurement in EU funded projects. Each successful applicant who expressed the need for procurement of goods, services and works of a certain value, must respect the principles of public procurement. Irregularities in the procurement process can lead to the failure of returning the EU funds even several years after the end of the project. Therefore, the knowledge and proper implementation of public procurement is the main precondition for the correct implementation of each project. In order to obtain information about the current absorption capacity of the public procurement liable parties, and to identify key obstacles that stakeholders face in procurement procedures, the research was conducted by surveying 30 entities that are subject of public procurement in Croatia. Research results imply the poor quality of public procurement in the implemented projects, which often results in financial corrections, disapproving project reports, etc.

JURISDICTION, COMPETENT JUDICIAL AUTHORITIES AND PROCEEDINGS UNDER REGULATION (EU NO 650/2012 ON SUCCESSION

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Paula Poretti

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Novelties in the field of matters of succession brought by implementation of Regulation (EU No 650/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 4 July 2012 on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and acceptance and enforcement of authentic instruments in matters of succession and on the creation of a European Certificate of Succession are disscused in the paper. Especial emphasis is on jurisdiction, competent judicial authority and proceedings under Regulation on succession. In this sense, in the first part of the paper detailed analysis of provisions of Commission Implementing Regulation (EU No 1329/2014 of 9 December 2014 establishing the Forms referred to in Regulation (EU No 650/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and acceptance and enforcement of authentic instruments in matters of succession and on the creation of a European Certificate of Succession and provisions of Croatian Law on implementation of Regulation (EU No 650/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council on jurisdiction, applicable law, recognition and enforcement of decisions and acceptance and enforcement of authentic instruments in matters of succession and on the creation of a European Certificate of Succession is provided. In the second part of the paper case C404/14 Matoušková v. Republic of Czech is presented and difficulties in determining whether the case at issue falls within the scope of Regulation (EC No 2201/2003 or Regulation No 650/2012 on succession which could occur in matters of succession with cross-border implications are reffered to.

Institutional Design of Enforcement in the EU: The Case of Financial Markets

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Miroslava Scholten

2014-12-01

Full Text Available Enforcement of EU law has become increasingly ‘Europeanized’. But how is and can it be organized in the integrated legal order of the EU to promote effective enforcement? In light of the recent institutional and substantive changes in the area of EU financial markets regulation, this article identifies four models (S, M, L, and XL models of enforcement of EU law. It discusses the possibilities and challenges to effective enforcement of each of such models and the major trade-offs which policy-makers face at the EU and national levels when designing enforcement frameworks, namely centralization vs. decentralization (an institutional perspective and harmonization vs. differentiation (substantive and procedural perspectives. It argues that at least a minimum degree of institutional centralization is necessary to promote the uniform enforcement and implementation of EU policies in a Union with 28 legal systems. The more specific details, such as specific institutional shape of centralized bodies (should it be a network, an agency or an EU institution? and of the distribution of functions between the national and EU level are better addressed on a case-by-case basis in light of the political, economic, and social characteristics of the sector at stake.

Coordinating the Uncoordinated: The EU Forest Strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Filip Aggestam

2018-03-01

Full Text Available The second European Union (EU Forest Strategy responds to new challenges facing both forests and the forest-based sector which highlights the EU’s need for a policy framework ensuring coordination and coherence of forest-related policies. The objective of the present article is to analyse whether the new Strategy contributes towards horizontal policy coherence of EU forest-related policies, given its shared and exclusive competences. This is achieved by comparing European Commission and forest industry policy priorities as articulated in the Strategy and through research carried out for the recent Cumulative Cost Assessment (CCA of forest-based industries. Results from the comparative analysis demonstrate that the Strategy does not address many EU policies and policy instruments that affect the whole forest value chain and that it clearly omits existing EU policy instrument objectives that entail significant costs for the forest-based industry. It is therefore argued that without coordinating collective EU goals and gathering strong political support, it is at best extremely difficult or at worst impossible, to achieve coherence for EU forest-related policies across the whole forest value chain. Improving coherence of Union forest-related policies will require the Strategy to address more policy areas and instruments, including clearly defined parameters of what constitutes an EU forest-related policy. These pressing needs reach beyond what the Strategy presently sets out to achieve.

Invasive alien species – framework for the identification of invasive alien species of EU concern

OpenAIRE

Roy, Helen; Schonrogge, Karsten; Dean, Hannah; Peyton, Jodey; Branquart, Etienne; Vanderhoeven, Sonia; Copp, Gordon; Stebbing, Paul; Kenis, Marc; Rabitsch, Wolfgang; Essl, Franz; Schindler, Stefan; Brunel, Sarah; Kettunen, Marianne; Mazza, Leonardo

2014-01-01

Invasive alien species (IAS) are considered to be one of the greatest threats to biodiversity, particularly through their interactions with other drivers of change (MEA 2005, GBO 2011). In recent years the European Commission (EC) has intensified their commitment to provide a comprehensive, problem-oriented, well-balanced and manageable solution to IAS in Europe. The text of a European Union (EU) Regulation is expected to be adopted soon. A core component of the Regulation is a list of “IAS o...

EU emissions trading: Distinctive behavior of small companies

OpenAIRE

Naegele, Helene; Zaklan, Aleksandar

2016-01-01

The EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is the cornerstone of the European Union's climate policy and covers just under half of the EU's greenhouse gas emissions. More than ten years since the EU ETS was first introduced, there continues to be substantial research interest regarding its functioning and the behavior of participating companies. DIW Berlin conducted three econometric studies based on microdata at company and/or installation level. The findings suggest that, overall, there are o...

An emerging equilibrium in the EU emissions trading scheme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bredin, Don; Muckley, Cal

2011-01-01

The European Union's Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS) is the key policy instrument of the European Commission's Climate Change Program aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions to eight percent below 1990 levels by 2012. A critically important element of the EU ETS is the establishment of a market determined price for EU allowances. This article examines the extent to which several theoretically founded factors including, economic growth, energy prices and weather conditions determine the expected prices of the European Union CO 2 allowances during the 2005 through to the 2009 period. The novel aspect of our study is that we examine heavily traded futures instruments that have an expiry date in Phase 2 of the EU ETS. Our study adopts both static and recursive versions of the Johansen multivariate cointegration likelihood ratio test as well as a variation on this test with a view to controlling for time varying volatility effects. Our results are indicative of a new pricing regime emerging in Phase 2 and point to a maturing market driven by the fundamentals. These results are valuable both for traders of EU allowances and for those policy makers seeking to improve the design of the European Union ETS.

The concept of family in the EU free movement law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janićijević Dejan

2014-01-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the concepts of spouse, civil partner and partner in European Union (EU law, particularly in regulations referring to the free movement of persons, criticizing the unharmonized approach to defining family in this context. It argues that the narrow interpretation of the term spouse could lead to discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation. Likewise, grounding free movement rights of civil partners on host state recognition of such partnerships could lead to the same result, which is not compatible with the equality principle in the EU law. The position of unmarried or unregistered partners is also considered; in particular, the paper analyses the requirement to duly attest durability of the relationship and its impact on the same-sex partners wishing to immigrate to a Member State. The author holds that it is necessary to reconsider the law in this area and adjust it to the EU's efforts to eliminate discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation.

Regulation of gas infrastructure expansion

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

De Joode, J.

2012-01-01

The topic of this dissertation is the regulation of gas infrastructure expansion in the European Union (EU). While the gas market has been liberalised, the gas infrastructure has largely remained in the regulated domain. However, not necessarily all gas infrastructure facilities - such as gas storage facilities, LNG import terminals and certain gas transmission pipelines - need to be regulated, as there may be scope for competition. In practice, the choice of regulation of gas infrastructure expansion varies among different types of gas infrastructure facilities and across EU Member States. Based on a review of economic literature and on a series of in-depth case studies, this study explains these differences in choices of regulation from differences in policy objectives, differences in local circumstances and differences in the intrinsic characteristics of the infrastructure projects. An important conclusion is that there is potential for a larger role for competition in gas infrastructure expansion.

Handbook of quality management according to the regulation DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025 for the national EU reference laboratory or air quality at the Federal Office for Environmental Protection. State of the art: September 2009; Qualitaetsmanagement-Handbuch nach DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025 fuer das Nationale EU-Referenzlabor fuer Luftqualitaet im Umweltbundesamt. Stand September 2009

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Medem, Anneliese (comp.)

2010-01-15

The past quality management manual of the national EU reference laboratory for air quality completely was revised. The new quality management manual under consideration contains a determination of the following aspects: Organisation of construction processing, fundamental regulations of the management system concerning to quality, statements to the quality politics, paramount goals. The presented quality management system is regarded to all elements of the regulation DIN EN ISO/IEC 17025:2005 with consideration of the special requirements of the national European Union reference laboratory for air quality in the Federal Office for Environment Protection (Dessau-Rosslau, Federal Republic of Germany).

Mass Media Perception of the European Union in Kazakhstan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bakyt Ospanova

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This paper explores the mass media perception of the European Union (EU in Kazakhstan through the content analysis of major mass media outlets. This paper examines news reports and periodical articles from four major national Kazakh newspapers: “Yegemen Kazakhstan”, “Kazakhstanskaya Pravda”, “Zhas Alash” and “Vremya” at three measurement points. The first measurement point covers early 1990s when Kazakhstan became an independent state and started to build its foreign relations. The second measurement point covers years before and after introduction of the EU Strategy for Central Asia, namely years between 2006 and 2008. The third measurement point covers last three years (2011-2013 associated with implementation with the EU Strategy and assessing its results. The research suggests that the mass media generally positively perceives the EU, as most publications emphasize the positive role played by the EU in the region and Kazakhstan. Additionally, the initiation of the EU strategy for Central Asia led to wider coverage and therefore wider public recognition of the EU in Kazakhstan. However, discourse analysis of publications authored by the EU and Kazakhstanian elites indicates substantial variation in depiction of the European Union and its engagement in Central Asia and Kazakhstan in particular.

How EU Economic Integration Advances on the Way of Some Important Unions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

PETRE PRISECARU

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Economic union and monetary union are deeply connected: two dimensions of the third stage of European integration. But achieving monetary union without a complete single market in the field of financial services proved the vulnerability of Eurozone to external shocks and the need to a further economic integration. While banking union has advanced quite fast in the last two years, capital markets union is only a project, also the fiscal union, which is the basic foundation of a true political union. A complete financial union will take a long time to accomplish due to many political, financial and bureaucratic obstacles facing such an ambitious project. Energy Union is another important project meant to remove market fragmentation, to enhance energy security and to reduce environmental impact of energy sector. Finally the political union, the last stage of European integration, the dream of many famous politicians and scholars, will be only possible on the long run as a new type of federation of nation states, provided that all components of economic union will be fully attained.

The new EU approach to sector regulation in the network infrastructure industries

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Cawley, R.A.

2007-01-01

This thesis investigates the effect of linking sector regulation with competition law in the electronic communications sector in the European Union. It examines two questions. The first is whether, on balance, aligning sector regulation with competition law helps or hinders the achievement of

The Political Economy of Joining the European Union : Iceland's Position at the Beginning of the 21st Century

OpenAIRE

Bjarnason, Magnus

2010-01-01

Iceland can consider its participation in the European Economic Area (EEA) as an associate membership of the European Union (EU). Under the EEA agreement, Iceland participates in the EU free movement of capital, persons, services and industrial goods, along with cooperation in social policy and related fields. However, Iceland does not participate in the EU Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), the European Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), or in the EU Cust...

The impact of European Union law on the possibilities of European Union Member States to adapt international tax rules to the business models of multinational enterprises

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Douma, S.; Kardachaki, A.

2016-01-01

European Union (EU) law has played a key role in enforcing the EU BEPS agenda, while also introducing limits to the application thereof. The European Commission (EC) sees a clear link between aggressive tax planning and competition law. Against this background, EU State aid law has been employed to

NATO and EU/European Defense Initiatives: Competitive or Complementary

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Muckel, Hubert

2006-01-01

.... This paper analyzes the current status of NATO and the European Union (EU) defense initiatives examines national objectives and interests of European key-players and the US and evaluates the aspects of competitiveness or complement of NATO and EU defense initiatives.

EU focus on climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2002-01-01

Faced with the mounting evidence of the harmful effects of climate change, the European Union is convinced that the world must take urgent action to tackle the problem. That is why the EU has been at the forefront of international efforts to deal with climate change for well over a decade. The EU is convinced that the status quo is simply not an option. Without urgent, concerted action, the problem will continue to get worse with potentially disastrous consequences. That is why the European Union has consistently taken the lead in international moves to tackle climate change and why it will continue to develop this strategy for as long as it takes to guarantee a world for ourselves and our children where everyone can grow, breathe and live in safety

2002 electricity statistics: EU and EU+

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Anon.

2003-01-01

Electricity generation in the European Union (EU) decreased by 0,7% in the period of 2001 to 2002, reaching 2521,3 billion kWh. Developments varied in different countries. Conventional thermal power plants generated 1340,1 billion kWh, which corresponds to a 53.0% share in the total generation and an increase by 2.7% over the level in the previous year. Generation in nuclear power plants increased by 2.7% to 855.5 billion kWh, which corresponds to a 33,8% share in EU-wide generation. Hydroelectric plants and other plants supplied 15.2% less electricity. Eurostat statistics do not differentiate these data any further. The volume of 332.2 kWh is tantamount to a 13.1% share. In the new EU member countries and the candidate countries, electricity generation showed a moderate increase by 0.4% and 2.1%, respectively. While generation both in conventional power plants and in other plants decreased, a considerable increase is shown for nuclear power generation of +13.5% and +10.6%, respectively [de

The EU as an actor at the WTO: its strengths and weaknesses throughout history

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rosana GARCIANDÍA GARMENDIA

2012-06-01

Full Text Available During the last decade, many reforms took place in the European Union legal and policy framework. Some of those reforms were motivated by the participation of the European Union and its member States in the World Trade Organization. This paper aims to analyze the role of the European Union as an actor in that organization, paying special attention to its mixed legal nature – EU and Member States. With that purpose, the evolution of the relationship between the EU member States and the EU itself as simultaneous actors at the WTO is studied. The division of competences is also reviewed. Finally, the analysis of the EU position in different negotiation rounds (Uruguay, Doha for the agricultural sector is reviewed as an example of the evolution in the protection of European interests. The paper shows that some changes in the Treaty of Lisbon have strengthened the legal framework for the EU to be heard with a unique voice in the WTO

Vaccination of poultry against Campylobacter in the EU

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Hans Grinsted; Jensen, Jørgen Dejgård

2013-01-01

Campylobacter is the most commonly reported gastrointestinal bacterial pathogen in the European Union (EU) since 2005. Reportedly, 212,064 humans have been confirmed ill in 2010 due to a Campylobacter infection in the EU. The major source of infection, among sporadic human cases is to be found in...

Trade With the European Union: Recent Trends and Electronic Commerce Issues

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

1999-01-01

.... trade with the European Union (EU). As major trading partners, the United States and the EU are currently addressing several trade-related issues, including their approach to electronic commerce, or e-commerce...

COMPETITION AND REGULATION IN THE EU ENERGY MARKET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Cristina Havriş

2009-12-01

Full Text Available When prices are high and public service obligations are not properly fulfilled, consumers wonder if they obtain what they need from the market. In electricity and gas markets of the EU Member States, apart from the persistence of high, non-transparent regulated prices, a number of shortcomings have been identified by the European Commission, such as a less than optimal network use for energy transmission, a lack of coordination and cooperation across borders by transmission system operators and national authorities, and a lack of transparent and simple procedures for dealing with consumers’ complaints. These are the main elements of the infringement proceedings that the European Commission decided to launch on 25 June 2009 against 25 Member States for non–compliance with certain Community provisions in the Second Internal Energy Market Package, which entered into force on 1 July 2007. Quite emblematic is the fact that it occurred the same day as the adoption of the Third Internal Energy Market Package aiming to ensure a proper functioning of the EU energy market. We intend to analyse what has happened in the recent years at the EU level in order to liberalise and remove the significant remaining obstacles to competition in the energy market.

Acquisition of the ownership of agricultural lands in Hungary, taking the EU's and other countries' law into consideration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Szilágyi János E.

2016-01-01

Full Text Available The present article concentrates on the acquisition of ownership (and in some respects: use of agricultural and forestry lands, especially as to the cross-border aspects. One of the hypotheses of the article is that the above mentioned issue is a topical question almost all around the world. Nevertheless, the article focuses on a European aspect of the cross-border acquisition, namely the new land law rules of the EU's Member States having joined the European Union in 2004 and 2007. In 2014 and 2015, the European Commission had assessed the land law of these Member States (i.e. Bulgaria, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and initiated infringement procedures against these countries at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Besides the regulation of these new Member States of the EU, the present article deals with the legislation of other Member States as well as the provisions of non-EU states. The article gives substantial consideration to phenomena such as sovereignty, land-hunger or soil degradation which may exercise significant influence on the land law of a state.

Designing the emerging EU pesticide policy: A literature review

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Skevas, T.; Oude Lansink, A.G.J.M.; Stefanou, S.E.

2013-01-01

A European Union (EU) wide pesticide tax scheme is among the future plans of EUpolicy makers. This study examines the information needs for applying an optimal pesticidepolicy framework at the EU level. Damage control specification studies, empirical results from pesticide demand elasticity, issues

The EU regulations after the events in Japan; Die Regelungen der EU nach den Ereignissen in Japan

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Giessing, Reinhart

2011-07-01

On March 27th 2001 after the nuclear accident in Fukushima an EU regulation concerning the import of food and feeding stuff with origin in Japan came into effect. The regulations included radiation limits that had not to be exceeded. The Japanese authorities were supposed to declare the control of the exported food and feeding stuff. The control measurements had to be performed with respect to I-131, Cs-134 and Cs-137. The validity was defined by June 30th, 2011.

TOWARDS EFFECTIVE AND ACCOUNTABLE LEADERSHIP OF THE UNION- OPTIONS AND GUIDELINES FOR REFORM (PART TWO

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wouter Coussens

2003-07-01

Full Text Available The success of the Convention on the future of the EU will to a great extent depend upon on its answers to the institutional questions. Among these questions, the issue of EU leadership plays a crucial role. In this paper, three challenges for the re-organisation of leadership in the Union are identified:- Union leadership has to be more effective;- Leadership in the Union should contribute to the democratic character of the Union;- Leadership reform should not fundamentally distort the Union’s institutional balance.In view of these three challenges, the authors consider the two main strands of debate that touch upon the issue of leadership in the EU: first, the debate on the election of the Commission President and, secondly, the different proposals for reforming the Council Presidency

Barriers to the EU Single Services Market

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ol'ga V. Biryukova

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The EU has the most developed liberalization mechanism in services trade within the framework of an economic bloc. The system of supranational institutions, which decisions are binding upon member states, contributes to a high level of liberalization of trade in services in the EU. However, the creation of a single market for services hasn't completed at all. The reasons are following: not all basic principles for single market are fully applied, and a service is a very specific object for international trade. Financial-economic crisis caused a new wave of protectionism in different countries, which has reflected in the preservation of old and the emergence of new barriers to trade in services within the EU. Integration of services in the Union is accompanied by important trade initiatives at the multilateral level. In the World Trade Organization EU countries negotiate a new agreement on trade in services, and offer provisions which providing transparency, deepening liberalization and investor protection for foreign investors in the market, will also complement and foster the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP EU - USA. Russia is only the fourth among most important partners of the EU in trade in services. At the same time the European Union remains a key Russian partner in trade in services and in goods. There is a considerable potential for growth in this sphere for both partners.

Multilingualism as a Principle of the EU Court of Justice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karina Kh. Rekosh

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Since the jurisprudence reflects relations between the institutions, bodies and organizations of the EU and native speakers, the EU Court of Justice plays a huge role in shaping the legal discourse. Relations between the EU and citizens show the effectiveness of the principle of multilingualism, that is apparent before the Court. The enlargement of the Union to 28 member States and, accordingly, the increase of the number of official languages to 24 complicate the implementation of the principle of multilingualism and create many problems for the EU Court of Justice: legal, linguistic, budget, translation. All documents of the Court are not translated into 24 EU official languages completely and often limited to summaries. All documents are translated only into French and proceeding languages, for the scale of the translation work have a direct impact on the timing of legal proceedings. To provide help in written translations, much work is carried out in the Court on drawing up dictionaries, thesauri, where multilingualism is fully manifested. On the use of languages and language regime, There is an extensive legal practice, however, the term «multilingualism» is not used by the Court, despite the recognition of the principle of equality of all official languages, perhaps, due to the fact that the Court itself not always follows it. The article shows that multilingualism as a legal concept and principle opens up, sometimes adjacent to the already distinguished objects of regulation, new areas of legal research. Comparison of legal solutions to the problems of multilingualism in different states with a variety of languages, law and order, or in international organizations, lays basis of "comparative linguistic law" Now in the doctrine of law of the European Union neither the linguistic law, nor the comparative linguistic law do not exist, but to provide cooperation in the field of justice and mutual recognition of judicial decisions on the

Venue Shifts and Policy Change in EU Fisheries Policy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Princen, S.B.M.

2010-01-01

Over the past two decades profound changes have taken place in the European Union's (EU) fisheries policy. Partly these changes have occurred within the EU's Common Fisheries Policy itself, but partly policy change has been effected by the application of environmental legislation and policy

The World Trade Organization and the European Union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mortensen, Jens Ladefoged

2008-01-01

developments within foreign policy, this volume adopts a novel perspective on the EU as an international player. Seeking to move the focus of study beyond the European Union as itself an international organization, contributors set out to demonstrate EU aspirations to act within international organizations.......Analysing the way in which the EU engages in some of the most important international organizations, this book outlines a framework for analysis within this thriving subject of study. By demonstrating how the EU supports ‘effective multilateralism' and global governance, as well as furthering...

EU Regulatory Risk Management of Marine Biotoxins in the Marine Bivalve Mollusc Food-Chain

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Micheál O’Mahony

2018-03-01

Full Text Available Food safety risk assessment in the European Union (EU recognises consumer illness that arises from marine biotoxins as a risk associated with bivalve mollusc consumption. EU food regulations contain various general food safety obligations, which should contribute significantly to managing this risk. EU food regulations additionally impose various specific obligations on both Food Business Operators and Competent Authorities in order to manage the marine biotoxin food safety risk in the bivalve mollusc food-chain. These have a particular focus on the pre-harvest component of the food-chain. A central component of these specific systems is the requirement for ongoing monitoring of phytoplankton and biotoxin concentrations in water and molluscs, respectively. This monitoring explicitly brings a potential outcome of closing production areas delineated by classification to prohibit the harvest of bivalve molluscs as food from those areas when acceptable biotoxin concentrations are exceeded. This review considers the utility of these systems, at conceptual and practical levels, and explores their contribution to an effective regulatory risk management approach.

Implications of research on endocrine disruption for the environmental risk assessment, regulation and monitoring of chemicals in the European Union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Matthiessen, Peter; Johnson, Ian

2007-01-01

We assess the implications which research on endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) has for the regulation of synthetic substances and for the protection of the environment, particularly under the forthcoming European Union (EU) REACH legislation. EDCs present regulatory problems inter alia because they can act additively at concentrations which are individually harmless, and they may have non-classical dose (concentration)-response relationships at low exposure levels. Furthermore, current in vivo testing routines were not specifically designed to assess the endocrine disrupting properties of chemicals, whilst in silico and in vitro methods have only limited applicability and availability for this purpose. We need to ensure that the assessment approaches specified in the draft REACH legislation and Technical Guidance are able to evaluate EDCs efficiently. However, it must also be recognised that environmental monitoring procedures in Europe will need to be improved to detect EDCs that have evaded identification, and where appropriate, control, under REACH. - The challenges associated with the environmental risk assessment and regulation of endocrine disrupting chemicals are discussed

Tobacco regulations and policies in the Eurasian Economic Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrei Konstantinovich Demin

2017-05-01

Differences between tobacco regulations and policies in the EAEU, EU and other supranational organizations should be further researched in order to promote exchange of best practices in WHO FCTC comprehensive compliance. Implementation of WHO FCTC Article 5.3. and involvement of civil society are among priorities. The practical prospects for the supranational EAEU to become a party to the WHO FCTC should be considered in detail.

U.S.-EU Cooperation Against Terrorism

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Archick, Kristin

2005-01-01

The September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks gave new momentum to European Union (EU) initiatives to improve law enforcement cooperation against terrorism both among its 25 member states and with the United States...

U.S.-EU Cooperation Against Terrorism

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Archick, Kristin

2006-01-01

The September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks gave new momentum to European Union (EU) initiatives to improve law enforcement cooperation against terrorism both among its 25 member states and with the United States...

Economic Cooperation Between The European Union And Japan

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Drzymała Agnieszka

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of the paper is to show the history of economic relations between the European Union and Japan. This economy is very important to the EU and the countries of the EU are interested in further deepening areas of cooperation. Therefore it seems important to indicate the political will to continue mutual economic relations through the signing of contracts and bilateral agreements, as well as meetings at various levels, including SPA and EPA negotiations and summits. The course of the current economic cooperation will be shown through trade volume and foreign direct investment outflows from the European Union to Japan.

Pension reform in the European periphery: the role of EU reform advocacy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Stepan, M.; Anderson, K.A.

2014-01-01

SUMMARY: This paper analyzes the impact of international reform advocacy on national pension reforms. We analyze European Union (EU) reform advocacy in two EU member states: Greece and Hungary. Although the EU has articulated a fairly coherent template for sustainable pensions, its use of soft

Tipping the scale? Social media’s influences on EU attitudes and vote choice in the Danish 2015 EU referendum

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ohme, Jakob

Citizens’ media use can be an important predictor of attitudes towards the European Union; those attitudes, in turn, can affect EU-related vote decisions. Elementary changes in the media environment and the increasing pressure on the EU in recent referendums may therefore be connected (e.g. Denmark...... in a referendum. Using a two-wave survey design (n=675), the study investigates if political social media use reinforces existing attitudes towards the EU. Subsequently, positive and negative polarization tendencies are connected to the ‘yes or no’ vote of Danish citizens in the 2015 EU referendum. The study...

THE COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION AND INTERNATIONAL LEGAL ORDER

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TETYANA KOMAROVA

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The author discusses the relationship between two legal orders: international law and European Union (EU law. The main provisions of this relationship have been established through the precedential practice of the Court of Justice of the European Union – the EU’s main judicial body. This kind of research seems important because of the gap in the theory of international law caused by the immutable dogma of the supremacy of international law. However, modern legal practice demonstrates a certain fragmentation of the international legal order because of the impact of the existence and development of regional supranational legal orders. The EU legal order, with its own special nature (sui generis, is undoubtedly one of the most developed among them. The Court of Justice of the European Union performs a crucial role in the EU legal system concerning application and interpretation of EU law. It provides a uniform interpretation of this law for the purposes of development of supranational integration. In this context the Court of Justice the European Union establishes the status of European law and its relationship with the national legal systems and international law. The Court acts as protector of the EU legal order against the influence of other legal orders. The Court’s precedential practice reveals EU law’s tendency towards its constitutionalization and the development of its autonomy. The latest practice indicates the Court’s powers to review the EU institutions’ acts in relation to the implementation of UN Security Council resolutions. This proves the Court’s ability to establish indirect control even over UN acts.

Supranational Governance in Changing Societies of European Union in the Last Decade

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tulus Warsito

2013-02-01

Full Text Available As a supranational organization The European Union (EU seems to compete the UN’s reputations. UNO has more members since its scope is worldly, but UN does not issue its own currency while EU has Euro. The Euro is the second largest reserve currency as well as the second most traded currency in the world after the United States dollar. The currency is also used in a further many European countries and consequently used daily by some 332 million Europeans. Additionally, over 175 million people worldwide - including 150 million people in Africa - use currencies which are pegged to the Euro. No other transnational organization has such a specific currency. Although not as a unified military conventional power, EU has such a “Battlegroups” initiative, each of which is planned to be able to deploy quickly about 1500 personnel. EU forces have been deployed on peacekeeping missions from Africa to the former Yugoslavia and the Middle East. EU military operations are supported by a number of bodies, including the European Defense Agency, European Union Satellite Centre and the European Union Military Staff. In an EU consisting of 27 members, substantial security and defense cooperation is increasingly relying on great power cooperation.Despite those organizational strengths, only 27 of 57 European states are members of EU. And only 17 of 27 EU state members are using Euro is their official currency. One prominent EU member like British stay tough with their own Pound-sterling.This paper is set to learn more about: why as a Europe continent based organization, EU state members are still less than half of European states? And why only 17 EU state members are using Euro as their official currency?

New Member States of the EU and EMU – Convergence and the Financial Crisis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ines Kersan-Škabić

2010-07-01

Full Text Available The theory of the Optimum Currency Area (OCA clearly accentuates the need for common economic characteristics among states if it is to work well. This paper analyses the extent to which the New Member States of the European Union (NMS satisfy the criteria of nominal and real convergence. Four of these Member States have introduced the Euro, whereas the rest are at different stages of becoming part of the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU. A financial crisis of global proportions implies a number of economic problems in all of the Member States of the EU, especially in the NMS where the new issues have added up to the already grave consequences of the transition period. What is needed is more unity and co-operation within the EU as well as significant financial aid from the IMF and the EU to the New Member States in order to sustain stability in the crisis period. The crisis has again raised the issue of introducing the Euro since membership of the EMU would buffer the effects of the financial crisis provided that the business cycles of the Member States were synchronized. Otherwise an independent monetary policy represents a key instrument in the liquidity regulation of the economy.

Food additives used in meat processing according to the Polish and European Union legislation.

Science.gov (United States)

Uradziński, J; Weiner, M

2003-01-01

This paper presents the legal regulations related to the use of food additives in meat production in Poland and the European Union. The Polish legal definition of food additives is given as well as the classification of permitted food additives added to food and stimulants by their technological function. In addition, a definition of processing aids in the food industry is included. It shows that Polish legislation includes food additives used to ensure or improve food nutritional value, whereas in the EU legislation, these substances are not included in the list of food additives. Moreover, the Council Directives include food additive specific purity criteria, whereas the Polish regulations do not mention the legal regulations of this issue in practice. The European Union use mechanisms and procedures for the introduction of new food additives into internal markets as well as controlling the circulation of additives. The Polish legislation in practice, however, does not determine approval or methods for the introduction of new food additives to the market. Legal regulations on the monitoring of food additives no exist.

Ukraine, Russia and the EU: linked by gas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Furfari, Samuele

2014-01-01

The Ukrainian crisis serves as a reminder just how much Ukraine plays a determining role for the European Union in energy matters, being the funnel through which most of Russian gas has to pass to reach Western Europe. One inevitable conclusion is already obvious: Russia and the EU are intimately linked and Moscow is as dependent on the EU for foreign exchange as is the EU on Russia for its gas. Nevertheless, the absence of stability in Ukraine constitutes a permanent threat to supplies to member states of the EU, especially Germany. (author)

Distance Training in the European Union. ZIFF Papiere 96.

Science.gov (United States)

Keegan, Desmond

A study examined distance training in the European Union (EU) countries. First, recent literature on the following topics was reviewed: technology-supported learning, flexible and distance learning, development of open distance learning, and teleconferencing and distance learning. Next, enrollments and trends in distance learning in the EU as a…

Soft Power and Hard Measures: Large-Scale Assessment, Citizenship and the European Union

Science.gov (United States)

Rutkowski, David; Engel, Laura C.

2010-01-01

This article explores the International Civic and Citizenship Education Study (ICCS) with particular emphasis on the European Union's (EU's) involvement in the regional portion. Using the ICCS, the EU actively combines hard measures with soft power, allowing the EU to define and steer cross-national rankings of values of EU citizenship. The…

Brexit and the European Union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Mads Dagnis; Snaith, Holly

2018-01-01

When on 23 June 2016 a majority voted in favour of the United Kingdom (UK) leaving the European Union (EU), it generated a host of unknowns. Prior to the referendum, scholars had already started to anticipate the implications of a potential Brexit from different perspectives, including considering...... lie and suggesting where Britain’s exit will leave the greatest strategic vacuums. The subsequent analysis centres on the actors that will likely win and lose from the UK’s exit from the Union....

Coordination in the European Union

OpenAIRE

Martin Feldstein

2013-01-01

This paper examines the sources of current conflict within the EU and the EMU. The topics discussed include the recent ECB policy of bond buying (the OMT policy), the attempts to advance the "European Project" of stronger political union (the fiscal compact, the banking union, and the proposals for budget supervision). Contrary to the claims of the European leadership, the progress that has been made has been by individual countries and not by coordinated action. The special problems of Franc...

Regulating interface science healthcare products: myths and uncertainties.

Science.gov (United States)

Bravery, Christopher A

2010-12-06

Whenever new technology emerges it brings with it concerns and uncertainties about whether or how it will need to be regulated, particularly when it is applied to human healthcare. Drawing on the recent history in the European Union (EU) of the regulation of cell-based medicinal products, and in particular tissue-engineered products, this paper explores the myths that persist around their regulation and speculates on whether the existing regulatory landscape in the EU is flexible enough to incorporate nanotechnology and other new technologies into healthcare products. By untangling these myths a number of clear conclusions are revealed that, when considered in the context of risk-benefit, make it clear that what hinders the uptake of new technology is not regulatory process but basic science.

Expert advice and political choice in constructing European banking union

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Donnelly, Shawn

2016-01-01

International actors promoted the transfer of regulatory authority and financial resources from national governments to the European Union (EU) in the context of establishing the prerequisites for financial stability in Europe through banking union. It was supplied, however, by a political process

The political constitution of the EU citizen rights regime

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Olsen, Tore Vincents

2011-01-01

Reactions to decisions by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) demonstrate that the political institutions in the Union should take responsibility for the development of the structure of the European Union's (EU) citizen rights regime. This article analyses different political views on the EU...... communities and institutions to the good life of citizens, both individually and collectively. Taking the contestation between the different views seriously, the article argues in favour of political constitutionalism, according to which the development of the EU citizen rights regime is the responsibility...... citizen rights regime. It argues that the disagreement between them is largely a disagreement between ‘reasonable views’. The disagreement is mainly based on different views about the levels (European, national) at which individuals are to be seen as equals and about the contribution of different...

Selected aspects of proposed new EU general data protection legal framework and the Croatian perspective

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Nina GUMZEJ

2013-12-01

Full Text Available Proposed new EU general data protection legal framework profoundly affects a large number of day-to-day business operations of organizations processing personal data and calls for significant effort on their part toward the necessary legal-regulatory compliance. In this paper the author examines key legislative developments towards this new EU frame and impact for the Republic of Croatia as the youngest EU Member State. Following introductory overview, legal analysis of draft EU General Data Protection Regulation as proposed by the European Commission and recently adopted amendments by the European Parliament mainly focuses on selected solutions impacting national data protection supervisory authorities. This is complemented with examination of relevant sources of EU law, including the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union. Assessment of results of this research is next made with respect to prospects of the data protection legal framework of the Republic of Croatia. The paper is concluded with the author’s critical overview of analyzed EU proposals impacting national data protection supervisory authorities in light of EU pivotal goals, and de lege ferenda proposals to timely address identified obstacles towards more adequate enforcement of data protection legislation in Croatia.

CONVERGENCE BETWEEN A NEW EU ECONOMIC DIPLOMACY AND INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS STRATEGIES

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Nicoleta VASILCOVSCHI

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Economic diplomacy is known as a symbol of the European Union and represents its primary function. With the development of science and new ways of communication, the European Union can organize a new approach for its economic diplomacy. The main advantage of the European Union as a soft power is that its economic and diplomatic interests are represented in a manner that is based not on confrontation but economic collaboration with other states. The disadvantage is that this domain is presently not used enough to represent EU interests. This paper describes economic diplomacy in general and the economic diplomacy of the EU in particular. Divided into three parts, the goal of this study is to outline the importance of economic diplomacy, its evolution, the influence of this domain on the creation of previous economic treaties, and its possible future impact on the development of new agreements between the European Union and its neighbor countries.The main methodology used is descriptive, presenting the evolution of this field and the new business strategies that can be used to improve cooperation at the eastern border of the European Union. Therefore here are presented the historical background of EU Economic diplomacy, its present issues, and future challenges. The quantitative data used in this research paper are based on information from the EU website and on the actual events concerning debates about economic diplomacy and its future. The research questions presented herein follow the general evolution of this domain and its mutual influence with EU’s businesses strategies.

Peter Van Elsuwege and Roman Petrov, eds. Legislative Approximation and Application of EU Law in the Eastern Neighbourhood of the European Union: Towards a Common Regulatory Space?

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Andriy Tyushka

2016-02-01

Full Text Available Peter Van Elsuwege and Roman Petrov, eds. Legislative Approximation and Application of EU Law in the Eastern Neighbourhood of the European Union: Towards a Common Regulatory Space? London and New York: Routledge, 2014. xxx, 268 pp. Notes on Contributors. Preface by Marc Maresceau. Foreward by Kostiantyn Yelisieiev. Illustrations. Informative table and list. Index. $145.00, cloth.

Legal Status of the Catholic Church as an Economic Entity in EU and Croatian Law

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Tomislav Sokol

2018-01-01

Full Text Available Regulation of the Catholic Church’s legal status in the European Union primarily falls within the competences of the Member States. The Croatian legal framework in this respect consists of various types of legal rules, most important of which is the set of international agreements entered into between the Republic of Croatia and the Holy See. Still, EU competition, state aid and free movement rules affect this legal framework to a significant degree. The aim of this paper is to analyse the applicability of the said EU rules to the activities of the Catholic Church in Croatia, that is to determine whether the Catholic Church can be considered an undertaking conducting an economic activity (and to what degree according to the said legal framework, whether the Croatian national legal framework is aligned with the EU rules, and whether there are points of contention in this area which need to be legally rectified. The second part of this paper analyses the European Union state aid and free movement legal framework, primarily trying to determine whether the Catholic Church is an undertaking carrying out an economic activity as prescribed by EU law. In this analysis, several issues emerge which have not been clearly resolved by the Court of Justice. The following part features an outline of the Croatian national legal framework on the legal status of the Catholic Church, focusing on potential points of contention between the national and the EU law. Finally, certain solutions to the mentioned issues are proposed, on the European and the national level, in accordance with legal certainty as the general principle of (EU law.

Operation Atalanta and the Protection of EU Citizens: Civis Europaeus unheeded?

OpenAIRE

LARIK, Joris

2011-01-01

This paper critically assesses the EU’s anti-piracy operation Atalanta in the light of the protection of Union citizens. The main question is to which extent a Union citizen threatened by pirates off the coast of Somalia could rely on the promise of civis europaeus sum. The paper discusses the various legal aspects pertaining to the forceful protection of EU citizens in international law, EU constitutional law and the operational parameters of Atalanta. It argues that within the particular fr...

The impact of new member states on EU environmental policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Andersen, Mikael Skou

1996-01-01

The fourth enlargement of the EU, with Sweden, Finland and Austria, which took effect on 1 January 1995, is by many expected to have a positive impact on the environmental policy dimension of the Union, which has been under strain since the Rio Summit in 1992.......The fourth enlargement of the EU, with Sweden, Finland and Austria, which took effect on 1 January 1995, is by many expected to have a positive impact on the environmental policy dimension of the Union, which has been under strain since the Rio Summit in 1992....

The Brussels I Regulation and Liability for Nuclear Damage

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Handrlica, J.

2010-01-01

Prior to 2004, the map of the European Union seemed to be basically identical to the map of the contracting parties to the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy of 1960 ('the Paris Convention'). The 2004 and 2007 enlargements were mainly composed of the contracting parties to the Vienna Convention on Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage of 1963 ('the Vienna Convention'). In various discussions, the term 'nuclear liability patchwork' is used to describe this existing situation. One of the problems arising from this 'patchwork' is that, while a uniform legal framework was established for matters of jurisdiction and the enforcement of decisions under the authority given to the European Union ('EU') by the Council Regulation on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgements in civil and commercial matters ('Brussels Regulation'), this overall framework does not apply to particular matters governed by the special conventions to which member states may be contracting parties, see Article 71 of the Brussels Regulation. This paper aims to outline the 'patchwork' of these rules that are applicable to nuclear third party liability cases in the EU and to point out the main consequences arising from this legal framework difficult to comprehend.5 Its scope, however, is limited to the legal issues arising from a nuclear incident occurring in a nuclear installation situated within the territory of the European Union

EU Food Law Handbook

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Meulen, van der B.M.J.

2014-01-01

The twenty-first century has witnessed a fundamental reform of food law in the European Union, to the point where modern EU food law has now come of age. This book presents the most significant elements of these legal developments with contributions from a highly qualified team of academics and

Die Rule of Law im Völker- und im Europarecht – aktuelle Probleme. Gegenwärtige Herausforderungen und Chancen für die EU als eine "Union des Rechts"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreas J. Kumin

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Bei diesem für die Schriftfassung geringfügig adaptierten Artikel handelt es sich um die am 5. März 2015 in Graz gehaltene Antrittsvorlesung eines Praxisprofessors, der im Hauptberuf Leiter der Abteilung für Europarecht im Völkerrechtsbüro des österreichischen Außenministeriums ist. Im Anschluss an den Beitrag von Helmut Tichy (in ALJ 1/2015, 176–185, der sich auf das Völkerrecht und die internationalen Beziehungen konzentriert, setzt sich der vorliegende Artikel mit aktuellen Herausforderungen und Chancen der EU als „Union des Rechts“ auseinander. Dabei wird auf die Stärkung der Wahrung der Grundwerte und Rechtsstaatlichkeit in den EU-Mitgliedstaaten, den EU-Beitritt zur Europäischen Menschenrechtskonvention, die Sicherung einer wirksamen und leistungsfähigen EU-Gerichtsbarkeit sowie die Gewährleistung einer angemessenen demokratischen Mitbestimmung auf allen Stufen der Rechtsetzung eingegangen.

EUROPEAN UNION SUPPORT AND TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE PROCESSES IN KOSOVO

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Remzije Istrefi

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The legacy of systematic human rights violations committed during 1999 violent conflict and the previous repressive rule still impact the everyday life of Kosovo citizens. That is why transitional justice processes are a necessary component in Kosovo’s state building efforts. With the end of the 1999 conflict, Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK and also supported by European Union (EU presences: the EU Special Representative in Kosovo, and European Union Rule of Law Mission known as EULEX. In the course of implementation of their mandates transitional justice processes were not a priority for UNMIK and EU presences. With the signing of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (SAA the EU made transitional justice part of the Kosovo accession demands. In December 2015, the Government of Kosovo approved its National Action Plan for the Implementation of the Stabilization and Association Agreement (NAPISAA. The General Principles of the SAA, included within the NAPISAA oblige Kosovo Government to approve a National Transitional Justice Strategy. This paper analyses EU peace and institution-building support and their impact in transitional justice processes in Kosovo. Through analysing the mandate and actions on the ground it draws conclusions if EU is an active participant in transitional justice process in Kosovo or transitional justice policies are promoted by EU only as part of its enlargement strategy. Finally, the paper gives recommendations as a basis for future elaboration of an EU approach to transitional justice.

EU member states' voting for authorizing genetically engineered crops

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Smart, Richard D.; Blum, Matthias; Wesseler, Justus

2015-01-01

Several authors suggest a gridlock of the European Union's (EU's) approval process for genetically engineered (GE) crops. We analyse the voting behaviour of EU Member States (MSs) for voting results from 2003 to 2015 on the approval of GE crops to test for a gridlock; no reliable data are

Composition, labelling, and safety of food supplements based on bee products in the legislative framework of the European Union - Croatian experiences.

Science.gov (United States)

Vujić, Mario; Pollak, Lea

2015-12-01

The European Union market is overflown by food supplements and an increasing number of consumers prefer those where bee products play an important part in their composition. This paper deals with complex European Union legislation concerning food supplements based on bee products, placing a special emphasis on their composition, labelling, and safety. Correct labelling of food supplements also represents a great challenge since, in spite of legal regulations in force, there are still open issues regarding the statements on the amount of propolis, which is not clearly defined by the legal framework. One of the key issues are the labels containing health claims from the EU positive list approved by the European Food Safety Authority. Emphasis will also be placed on informing consumers about food, as statements which imply the healing properties of food supplements and their capacity to cure diseases are forbidden. One of the key elements of product safety is HACCP based on the EU Regulations EC 178/02 and 852/2004. Health safety analyses of food supplements with bee products used as raw materials, which are standardised by legal regulations will also be discussed. In the future, attention should also be paid to establishing the European Union "nutrivigilance" system. Croatian experiences in addressing challenges faced by producers, supervisory entities, and regulatory and inspection bodies may serve as an example to countries aspiring to become part of the large European family.

The Interdependence of Competition Policy, Consumer Policy and Regulation in Introducing and Safeguarding Effective Competition in the EU Telecommunications Market

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Andreas Bartels

2017-05-01

Full Text Available Currently, the European Union finds itself in troubled waters. It has to prove that its benefits outweigh the costs of its endeavour. In this respect, an EU competition policy that focuses on consumer welfare is one way to gain support by the citizens of its member states. The Roaming Regulation that has reduced the mobile communications costs while travelling abroad serves as a good example for this approach. The EU Commission views consumer policy as another important factor to protect and benefit customers. In markets with natural monopolies, the two policies require the support of an effective regulatory policy. The research demonstrates that these three policies – if harmonised – are able to lead to an increase in consumer welfare (primarily by reducing prices and that they protect the rights and interests of consumers. In the case of telecommunications, several initiatives of the European Commission and of national regulatory authorities to falls in prices and forced operators to implement customer friendly rules and to protect customer data and privacy. The authors consider that the European Commission has tried to establish and harmonise rules across all member states in order to protect the interests and rights of consumers on the telecommunication market. The enforcement of competition and consumer policy within institutions from the telecom field certainly could promote the focus on consumers and the possibility to use a large “toolbox”. Harmonising and adjusting the policies across different countries and institutions and minimising any possible side effects is nevertheless a challenging task for the EU Commission in the future.

Scenarios for EU citizenship in 2030 – Repertoires for action in thinkable futures

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bakker, W.E.; van der Kolk, M.

2017-01-01

European Union (EU) citizenship is both about a legal status – a set of civil, social, economic and political rights complementing one’s national citizenship – and about being an active participating member of the EU political community. EU citizenship includes therefore influencing decisionmaking

The role of EU institutions in implementing its monetary policy

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Emilia GEORGIEVA

2011-06-01

Full Text Available The main goal of the current article is to illustrate in detail the powers of the EU institutions to implement its monetary policy. The methods used to explore the topic and to draw the conclusions and interpret the findings are based on deduction and induction. On the grounds of the information presented in the article the following conclusions have been drawn: the relations between the EU institutions responsible for implementing its monetary policy (the European Central Bank, the European Parliament, the Council, the European Commission and others are entirely based on fundamental principles laid down for all its institutions; the commitments of the institutions implementing the EU monetary policy are strictly stipulated in its primary legislation and are mostly related to the establishment of the EU Economic and Monetary Union, the framing, planning and implementing of the common monetary policy, the management of the Monetary Union. In the conditions of world financial and economic crisis the EU has attempted to respond adequately to its monetary policy problems, commensurate with the scope and matching the specific nature of this crisis.

Constructing post-carbon institutions: Assessing EU carbon reduction efforts through an institutional risk governance approach

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

LaBelle, Michael

2012-01-01

This paper examines three different governance approaches the European Union (EU) and Member States (MS) are relying on to reach a low carbon economy by 2050. Current governance literature explains the operational methods of the EU's new governance approach to reduce carbon emissions. However, the literature neglects to account for the perceived risks that inhibit the roll-out of new low carbon technology. This article, through a novel approach, uses a grounded theoretical framework to reframe traditional risk literature and provides a connection to governance literature in order to assess the ability of EU governance mechanisms to reduce carbon emissions. The empirical research is based on responses from European energy stakeholders who participated in a Delphi method discussion and in semi-structured interviews; these identified three essential requirements for carbon emissions to be reduced to near zero by 2050: (1) an integrated European energy network, (2) carbon pricing and (3) demand reduction. These features correspond to institutionalized responses by the EU and MS: the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators (ACER); European Union Emission Trading Scheme (EU ETS) and energy efficiency directives and policies integrated into existing MS institutions. The theoretical and empirical findings suggest that governance by facilitation (energy efficiency) fails to induce significant investment and new policy approaches and cannot be relied on to achieve requisite reductions in demand. Governance by negotiation (ACER) and governance by hierarchy (EU ETS) do reduce risks and may encourage the necessary technological uptake. The term ‘risk governance’ is used to explain the important role governance plays in reducing risks and advancing new technology and thereby lowering carbon emissions in the energy sector. - Highlights: ► This article assesses the role of EU institutions in reducing carbon emissions by 2050. ► Empirical research is based on Delphi

The principle of empowerment in the European Union

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Ioana Nelly MILITARU

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Delimitation of competences in the EU is governed by the principle of conferral. Based on the content of these provisions work in the first three parts of it, defining and classifying skills appropriate attribution Treaties underlying the European Union (Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the Court of Justice. The next three parts of the paper detailing each classification in hand, highlighting, clear delineation of the Union competences of the Member States carried out by the Lisbon Treaty and the amendments made by this treaty.

Low-cost airlines in Europe: Network structures after the enlargement of the European Union

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Dudas Gabor

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The liberalization of the European air opened the strictly regulated European market, and contributed to the appearance and quick spread of the Low-Cost Carriers (LCCs. At the beginning of the 21st century the low cost traffic absolutely concentrated on the Western European market but after the enlargement of the European Union (EU LCCs started their operations in Eastern Europe enlarging and enriching the former evolved network structures. The aim of this paper is to trace the evolution of the route network as a result of EU expansion. During the study we came to the conclusion that in the time period after the EU enlargement the European LCC traffic showed dynamic development, route networks widened and the number of accessible destinations doubled. Comparing the LCCs network structures we defined three main characteristics, which represents the North-South flows, the West-East routes and the mixed network structure.

The Crisis of the European Union and its Reflection in the Romanian Public Sphere. Recent Findings

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Alina Bârgăoanu

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This paper addresses the implications of the euro crisis, which turned from „a Greek mess" to a political, institutional, economic and confidence crisis of the European Union. In our view, the EU public sphere is relevant for the current debate surrounding the crisis because it represents the setting where solidarity among EU citizens and EU states is created. Given our interest in the concept of the EU public sphere and the way the crisis of the European Union influences the debates in the public sphere, the way in which solidarity among EU citizens and EU states is imagined and enacted, we carried out a research project focused on the Romanian public sphere in the context of the crisis. The research project was carried out around a crucial event in the process of crisis resolution: the signing of the Treaty on Stability, Coordination and Governance in the Economic and Monetary Union by 25 EU member states at the beginning of March 2012. The results show that in Romania, for the moment at least, the "EU" has not fallen victim to the crisis. There is a considerable drop in public trust in the EU, but it is our assessment that the descending trend could be reversed, provided a clear vision, accompanied by strong leadership, emerges.

Implications of the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union for Croatian health care system.

Science.gov (United States)

Ostojić, Rajko; Bilas, Vlatka; Franc, Sanja

2012-09-01

The Republic of Croatia's accession to the European Union (EU) will affect all segments of economy and society, including the health care system. The aim of this paper is to establish the potential effects of joining the EU on Croatian health care, as well as to assess its readiness to enter this regional economic integration. The paper identifies potential areas of impact of EU accession on Croatian health care and analyzes the results of the conducted empirical research. In this research, a method of in-depth interviews was applied on a sample of 49 subjects; health professionals from public and private sectors, health insurance companies, pharmaceutical companies, drug wholesalers, and non-governmental organisations (patient associations). Once Croatia joins the EU, it will face: new rules and priorities in line with the current European health strategy; the possibilities of drawing funds from European cohesion funds; labour migrations; new guidelines on patient safety and mobility. From the aspect of harmonising national regulations with EU regulations in the area of health care, Croatian system can be assessed as ready to enter the EU. Croatia's accession to the EU can result in a better information flow, growth of competitiveness of Croatian health care system, enhanced quality, inflow of EU funds, development of health tourism, but also in increased migration of health care professionals, and potential increase in the cost of health care services. Functioning within the EU framework might result in adaptation to the EU standards, but it could also result in the concentration of staff and institutions in larger cities.

Taxing of financial sector as possible own resource of EU budget

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Danuše Nerudová

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The discussion about the possible taxation of the financial sector has started in the European Union as a result of the financial crisis which has spread to the Europe from the United States in 2008. European Commission concluded that EU should lead the efforts to introduce system of levies or taxies on financial institutions. EU member states individually committed to support the financial sector for a total about EUR 4.6 trillion (i.e. 39% of EU-27 GDP in 2009. Those public interventions have significant budgetary consequences (strongly felt in Greece, Spain or Italy and imposes a heavy burden on the present and future generations. Therefore there is a strong consensus not only on the level of the European Union but also internationally, that financial sector should contribute to the public finance more fairly. As a reaction on costs of the financial crisis which was paid out from the public money, some of the countries immediately introduced temporary measures in order to collect back paid out money. The aim of the paper is to research the possibility of financial sector taxation, to discuss the proposal of the European Union on the introduction of financial transaction tax on EU level and through the multi-criteria analysis to research, whether this type of the tax is suitable as an own resource of EU budget.

Influence to the financial situation of hospitals for projects financed from the EU structural funds

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Aleksandra ŁĘGA

2015-05-01

Full Text Available The European Union gives many opportunities for development to member countries, including raising founds for its funds. This money could be sought in many sectors of the economy. One of them is health care. The goal of this study is to assess the impact of the financial situation of hospitals in the Kuyavian-Pomeranian for projects financed by the Structural Funds European Union (EU in programming period 2007-2013. The money from the European Regional Development Fund and European Social Fund provided an opportunity to introduce the latest technology and equipment in medical entities, as well as allowed skilled in the art. Of medicine to acquire knowledge and skills to develop their potential. The paper discusses issues related to the possibilities of support by EU funding to health care. Based on the data contained in the financial statements of an analysis of data from the balance sheet, characterized projects in hospitals as part of financing from the EU and the influence of the material in the therapeutic entities for their implementation through the analyses of correlation. The possibility of providing health services requires appropriate  regulations in law, system and organization. This is necessary in order to achieve the main goal of any entity that is take care of the welfare of the patient. Health and its protection is the highest value for the individual and for society, so Poland and the European Union is committed to the protection of the priority objective through enhanced organizational and legal actions and investments in the health sector.

Time for EU Matters: The Europeanization of Dutch Central Government

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mastenbroek, E.; Princen, S.B.M.

2010-01-01

To what extent does the European Union (EU) affect national governments? This article seeks to answer this question by assessing the Europeanization of Dutch central government. Using data from a large-scale survey among civil servants, we assess to what extent the EU affects the structure and

EU-Russia Cultural Relations

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Elena Sidorova

2014-05-01

Full Text Available This article analyzes the link between culture and diplomacy between Russia and the European Union, and shows the importance of cultural relations. It examines the common space of science, education and culture introduced at the 2003 EU-Russia Summit in St. Petersburg and the application of the principles of this concept that were established at the 2005 EU-Russia Summit in Moscow. It then considers EU-Russia collaboration on humanitarian action and the challenges that both parties face in this sphere. It also explains the formation of EU domestic and foreign cultural policy, and the role of European institutions and states in cultural affairs and diplomacy, as well as key elements and mechanisms of contemporary Russian foreign cultural policy. In addition, the article focuses on the European side of post-Soviet EU-Russia cultural relations. This cultural collaboration is defined as a competitive neighbourhood. EU and Russian interests collide: while Europeans try to promote their values, norms and standards within the framework of the European Neighbourhood Policy, Russia seeks to culturally influence and engage in this region for geostrategic and historical reasons. Finally, the article assesses the prospects for the EU-Russia cultural relations and emphasizes the role of ideology in improving such relations.

The Effectiveness of International Financial Reporting Standard on the European Union

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Sarhad Hamza Khdir

2017-01-01

Full Text Available The objective of mandatory adoption of IFRS is to enhance the quality of accounting information in worldwide. However, this effort made challenged for European Union as a supranational body to achieve similar advantages of converged the IFRS standards. This study examines the effectiveness of IFRS on the European Union as a supranational body and whether the EU has successfully converged to the IFRS standards. The paper will also analyze if there are any difficulties with switching to the IFRS standards versus the traditional local accounting practices in EU. The results obtained show that the first application of IFRS has adopted among EU countries and the results indicate that the adoption of IFRS leads to improvement in value relevance. The results also imply that the IFRS adoption for EU does not ensure better quality of accounting information and standardized IFRS is not effective to implement for all EU because there is a lot of misperception in terms of these guidelines for preparing financial statement. The culture difference among EU shows that IFRS is not fits size standard for all EU that can lead EU to conform at the same time. The conclusion of this report will provide the answer whether it is or not effective for the EU to fully converge to the IFRS standards as a whole.

Energy Relations between the European Union and North Africa

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Sarah Kilpeläinen

2013-06-01

Full Text Available This article discusses European Union (EU-North Africa energy relations with a special focus on renewables in North Africa, arguing that the research so far has not taken due account of North African perceptions of EU external energy policy. It is argued that current research on EU-North African relations has not taken sufficient note of the multidimensionality of energy or addressed the inconsistent nature of EU policy making. However, addressing these issues is vital in approaching EU-North Africa energy relations and EU policy towards North Africa in general. The study of perceptions is introduced as one way to develop research further, to give further impetus on understanding how EU-North African energy relations develop and to understand energy relations in their complexity.

The European Union's Role in the Development of Global Environmental Law

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Basse, Ellen Margrethe

2017-01-01

This article is focused on the role that the European Union (EU) is playing as a global actor when it is using its 'internal' regulatory power as well as its parallel market power 'externally' to strengthen and to fill out gaps in the global environmental law.......This article is focused on the role that the European Union (EU) is playing as a global actor when it is using its 'internal' regulatory power as well as its parallel market power 'externally' to strengthen and to fill out gaps in the global environmental law....

The integration of Poland into the European Union

OpenAIRE

FAUCOMPRET, Erik; KONINGS, Jozef

2001-01-01

Poland was among the first Eastern European countries to apply for membership of the European Union. In view of Poland’s tragic history and the economic liberalisation that has taken place since 1989, we believe that the EU should adopt a generous approach toward its application. Unfortunately it looks as if the EU wants Poland to conform with all its laws before it can join. Our research suggests that the EU should pursue an open trade, labour and investment policy. Poland’s membership will ...

Waste management regulations and approaches in the EU: potential areas for enhancement or harmonization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Salzer, Peter; Butler, Gregg; McGlynn, Grace; Chapman, Neil; McCombie, Charles

2007-01-01

This paper describes the results of a survey and study performed for the European Commission on 'Regulations Governing Radioactive Waste Disposal in EU Countries'. Its main purposes were to provide a survey of the regulations governing the disposal of all forms of radioactive waste in all EU Members States and, based on this study, to consider the potential for harmonization in different regulatory areas. Three key parts of the study are presented and the results discussed: collection and assessment of national data, including its verification by national stakeholders, application of multi-attribute analysis methodology to identify optimal waste classification scheme and a workshop of national authorities regulating disposal of radioactive waste. For five determined regulatory issues, the workshop carried out a 'strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats' (SWOT) analysis of the impacts of harmonization. (authors)

CURRENT TRENDS IN TAX HARMONIZATION AND COMPETITION WITHIN THE EUROPEAN UNION

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Gherman Adela-Teodora

2010-12-01

Full Text Available This article treats on the fiscal harmonization process within the European Union being indispensable for assuring loyalty in the competition on its single market, given the fact that different system of taxation had direct and powerful impact on the prices level and on chosing the location for production and distribution activities. Both direct and indirect taxation distort the four fundamental freedoms of the single market. Most of the European Unions regulations regarding fiscal harmonization resemble to the Directive regarding especially the indirect taxes: VAT, Excises. The fiscal reforms from the member states have to be conceived in such a manner that they take into account the necessity of fiscal harmonization on EU level, creating a reasonable compromise between each country's sovereignty and the desideratum of removing fiscal barriers from the normal functioning of the single market.

e-Business a ICT - nástroje konkurenceschopnosti EU

OpenAIRE

Nechala, Marek

2008-01-01

The thesis identifies the role of e-business and ICT in the economy of the present European Union and their function in increasing EU's competitiveness in the world's economy. It maps and evaluates help of the public sector of the European Union for this important component of modern economy. The thesis also describes current state of e-business and ICT both in the European Union and the world and outlines their probable future development.

Gambling in Finland: problem gambling in the context of a national monopoly in the European Union.

Science.gov (United States)

Tammi, Tuukka; Castrén, Sari; Lintonen, Tomi

2015-05-01

To describe and analyse the Finnish gambling market, regulatory system and the state of gambling research as well as the treatment system in operation for problem gamblers. A review of the literature and official documents relating to gambling in Finland, focusing primarily on the 1990s and 2000s. Only in recent years have gambling problems become a major issue for public debate in Finland. One reason for the increase in activity to address gambling problems is that, after Finland became a member of the European Union in 1995, the Finnish state gambling monopoly and its compatibility with European Union (EU) regulations have been questioned repeatedly. Since 2000, the Finnish government has put significant new resources into the research as well as the prevention and treatment of gambling problems. The resources grew from almost nothing to several million Euros in less than 10 years. This could be seen as an attempt to protect the national gambling monopoly system by showing that the Finnish monopoly system meets EU requirements. Since joining the European Union in 1995, the Finnish government has been able to maintain its gambling monopoly by providing substantial resources to signal a commitment to minimizing problem gambling. © 2015 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Financial Integration into EU: The Romanian Case

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ibrahim Bozkurt

2016-05-01

Full Text Available The aim of this study is to investigate the determinants of integration between stock market of Romania and other stock markets of European Union (EU countries. Correlations between the stock returns represent the level of integration between the stock markets. Empirical analysis are performed with daily stock returns of 24 EU members including Romania for 2002-2012 period using panel data gravity models and correlations are investigated. Findings reveal that the following factors have significant and robust effects on the financial integration process of Romania with other 23 EU members; (i EU membership, (ii bilateral trade, (iii GDP per capita, (iv 2012 sovereign debt crisis and (v East European location. The results emphasize that intensifying economic relations with EU members can contribute the integration of Romanian stock market with other EU members. designed & hoste

Comparing pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement policies in Croatia to the European Union Member States.

Science.gov (United States)

Vogler, Sabine; Habl, Claudia; Bogut, Martina; Voncina, Luka

2011-04-15

To perform a comparative analysis of the pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement systems in Croatia and the 27 European Union (EU) Member States. Knowledge about the pharmaceutical systems in Croatia and the 27 EU Member States was acquired by literature review and primary research with stakeholders. Pharmaceutical prices are controlled at all levels in Croatia, which is also the case in 21 EU Member States. Like many EU countries, Croatia also applies external price referencing, i.e., compares prices with other countries. While the wholesale remuneration by a statutorily regulated linear mark-up is applied in Croatia and in several EU countries, the pharmacy compensation for dispensing reimbursable medicines in the form of a flat rate service fee in Croatia is rare among EU countries, which usually apply a linear or regressive pharmacy mark-up scheme. Like in most EU countries, the Croatian Social Insurance reimburses specific medicines at 100%, whereas patients are charged co-payments for other reimbursable medicines. Criteria for reimbursement include the medicine's importance from the public health perspective, its therapeutic value, and relative effectiveness. In Croatia and in many EU Member States, reimbursement is based on a reference price system. The Croatian pharmaceutical system is similar to those in the EU Member States. Key policies, like external price referencing and reference price systems, which have increasingly been introduced in EU countries are also applied in Croatia and serve the same purpose: to ensure access to medicines while containing public pharmaceutical expenditure.

Cloud accountability : The likely impact of the proposed EU Data Protection Regulation

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hon, W.Kuan; Kosta, E.; Millard, Christopher; Stefanatou, D.

2014-01-01

This Working Paper considers the implications for cloud accountability of current proposals under the draft General Data Protection Regulation to modernise the EU Data Protection Directive. It makes recommendations aimed at improving the technology-neutrality of the proposals and their

Reform of the EU's climate policy. Small step or big hit?; Reform der EU-Klimapolitik. Kleiner Schritt oder grosser Wurf?

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Janssen, Matthias; Peichert, Patrick; Perner, Jens; Riechmann, Christoph [Frontier Economics Ltd., Koeln (Germany)

2015-11-15

Emissions trading listed as a flexible mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol is regarded as a market economy way in climate protection. Since 2005 the European Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) is the central climate policy instrument for reducing the emissions of greenhouse gases, in particular for carbon dioxide (CO{sub 2}). For years, however, the CO{sub 2} price is too low to direct the politically and socially targeted technical innovations in the electricity sector and the industry. The article analyses the temporary and structural causes of this problem, highlights the EU's reform efforts and points to areas of activity, the basis of which the EU ETS may act in the future as a central instrument for climate protection in the European Union. [German] Der im Kyoto-Protokoll als flexibler Mechanismus aufgefuehrte Emissionshandel gilt als marktwirtschaftlicher Weg in den Klimaschutz. Das Europaeische Emissionshandelssystem (EU ETS) ist seit 2005 das zentrale klimapolitische Instrument zur Senkung des Ausstosses von Treibhausgasen, insbesondere fuer Kohlenstoffdioxid (CO{sub 2}). Seit Jahren ist der CO{sub 2}-Preis jedoch zu gering, um die politisch und gesellschaftlich angestrebten technischen Innovationen im Stromsektor und der Industrie zu lenken. Der Artikel untersucht die temporaeren und strukturellen Ursachen dieses Problems, beleuchtet die Reformbestrebungen der EU und zeigt Handlungsfelder auf, anhand derer das EU ETS auch in Zukunft als zentrales Instrument fuer Klimaschutz in der Europaeischen Union fungieren kann.

Administrative Aspects of Alternative Consumer Dispute Resolution in the European Union (EU, Slovenia and Croatia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeretina Urša

2016-06-01

Full Text Available The consumer field is widespread and often encompasses different legal fields on a single market, especially when it comes to the field of consumer protection. In fact, the consumer mostly remains a weaker party in resolving consumer disputes, especially in administrative proceedings. Traditional court proceedings do not always offer the most cost-appropriate way of resolving consumer disputes, because the damage with legal costs is disproportionate, especially in Small Claims (20 EUR. In theory, Alternative Dispute Resolution (hereinafter: ADR is considered more flexible, faster and cheaper for disputes between consumers and businesses. Insofar, Consumer ADR (hereinafter: CADR is seen as a useful tool that helps consumers realize their right of access to justice. It is argued that CADR systems provide valuable information on the needs of disputants, while preserving confidentiality, increasing consumer satisfaction, equality and grater trust. While CADR is praised in theory as an added value, in practice it still remains unrecognizable and therefore is seen as an ineffective formalism in some EU countries. It seems that consumers and businesses lack awareness of the CADR schemes and their benefits, which have effects on the efficient use of CADR in different public and private institutions. The focus of this paper is on the field of Public Administrative Law, which, through different approaches of scientific analysis, combines the main administrative aspects of CADR systems in the EU. Special attention is given to different administrative barriers in the development of various CADR schemes, which cause the formation of administrative dilemmas in some Member states. The new EU legal regulation on Consumer ADR, Online Dispute Resolution (ODR and EU Administrative law have set flexible rules and principles that would assure the quality of dispute resolution between EU entities with private or public interests. Similarities in proposed principles

Implicazioni della regolazione dei mercati dei derivati sulle materie prime negli USA e nell’Unione Europea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jayati Ghosh

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Implicazioni della regolazione dei mercati dei derivati sulle materie prime negli USA e nell’Unione EuropeaAbstract: The argument for effective financial regulation to curb financial activity and associated volatility in primary commodity markets is now more compelling than ever, in the context of the renewed increase in food prices. However, as in much other financial regulation, the devil is in the detail. This paper considers recent patterns in global food markets and discusses some of the implications of recent moves to regulate financial activity in commodity futures markets in the US and the EU. Specific regulatory issues are considered and alternative strategies are considered.

Main Developments and Perspectives of the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prof. Constantin ANGHELACHE PhD

2017-06-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the authors have analyzed the main economic-financial evolutions of the European Union member countries. First, we have performed the study regarding the evolution of the Gross Domestic Product growth in the European Union, by total and by comparison with other countries that play an important role in the global evolution of the economy. There are emphasized comparative data regarding the economic growth of China, which is the highest in the world. The growth rate of China is net superior to the rates recorded by USA, Japan and European Union (28 members. There can be observed a significant decrease of economic growth during the period 2008-2010, with a negative peak in 2009 (-2%-6% in the case of the United States, EU-28 and Japan. Even if China itself has felt the effects of the economic-financial crisis, the growth rate has reduced from 14% in 2007 to 9% in 2008, the decrease continued in the subsequent period, reaching some 8.5% in 2014. Then, we have analyzed the financial evolution, the exchange rate of the main currencies, the evolution of the inflation and the balance of foreign payments and international commercial exchanges. Particular attention was granted to direct foreign investments in and out the EU member states. The study is focused on the comparison of the foreign investments’ evolution during 2009-2014 for the main 10 partners of the European Union. Through this study, the results achieved by the EU during the specified periods were outlined, at each specific item within the internal, but also external relationships with other states in Europe or on wider global plan. The authors have put additional emphasis on the analysis of the period after 2007, since Romania has become member of the European Union.

The Second Look in European Union Competition Law

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Jakob B; Torp, Kristian

2017-01-01

Under European Union (EU) law, arbitrators and national courts are obligated to apply, ex officio, EU competition law. Also according to EU law, any failure by an arbitral tribunal to apply such rules, or any erroneous interpretation or application hereof, constitute grounds for setting aside...... the subsequent award, if and when such measure is dictated by the Member State’s procedural rules. This article examines the relevant procedural rules in Denmark and Sweden based on two recent decisions by the national Supreme Courts. It concludes that under Scandinavian procedural law, courts will generally...... a framework for understanding the interplay between national and EU law, at least in the Scandinavian countries....

Politics and Policies of Promoting Multilingualism in the European Union

Science.gov (United States)

Romaine, Suzanne

2013-01-01

This article examines the politics of policies promoting multilingualism in the European Union (EU), specifically in light of the recently released European Union Civil Society Platform on Multilingualism. As the most far-reaching and ambitious policy document issued by the European Commission, the Platform warrants close scrutiny at a significant…

Energy Policies of IEA Countries: European Union 2008 Review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2008-07-01

For the first time, the IEA has reviewed the energy policies of the European Union which shape the energy use of almost 500 million citizens in 27 EU member countries. A unique entity governed under complex and almost constantly evolving structures, the EU constitutes a challenge for energy policy makers. Its energy policy has a global impact, not only because of its 16% share of world energy demand, but also because of the EU leadership in addressing climate change. Strong policy drives are underway in the EU to achieve the completion of the internal energy market, increase renewable energy supply, reduce CO2 emissions and make the EU more energy-efficient. Concerns about security of supply have also led to a greater focus on improved energy relations with supplier countries, and new institutional structures are being put in place. How much progress has been made in the field of security, internal market and external energy policies? And in which of these areas has the EU already implemented a fully integrated policy? IEA Energy Policies Review: The European Union - 2008 addresses these questions and also analyses the impact of the most recent major EU policy measures, in particular the Energy & Climate Package of January 2008 and the 3rd Liberalisation Package of September 2007. This book finds that both of these proposals are highly ambitious. But implementing them and reviewing both volume and allocation of energy R&D will be necessary to achieve a sustainable energy future in a fully competitive integrated EU energy market.

The mechanism of influence of interest groups in the European Union: political and sociological analysis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

P. S. Kanevsky

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Interaction between interest groups and political institutions is one of the cornerstones of the European Union policy making process. Although majority of Russian and foreign works dedicated to lobbying and decision making in the EU, concentrate on a governmental stadial system and normative procedures that regulate interest groups access to policy making centers. Such institutional approach doesn’t clarify why the EU has concrete policies, why not all interest groups are able to win, who sets the agenda and in whose interests decisions are made. Current article, using contemporary theories and research, analyzes process of interaction between interest groups and governmental structures in the EU. It also proposes explanations of wins and losses in the policy making process, trying to answer how interest groups interacts with each other and what patterns can be identified in the process of interest aggregation by governmental structures.

Specific elements of communication on agri-food products resulting from EU legislation

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Laura Timiras

2012-12-01

Full Text Available In the European Union a significant number of regulations aimed at agricultural and food sector thus creating the legal framework regarding the mode of production, pricing, distribution and communication in relation to agri-food products. Specificity agri-food marketing communication at EU level resulting in most of the measures taken with regard to ensuring consumer protection, food safety and security, some of them, in force in early 2012, referring to the labeling, presentation and advertising of agri-food products, sponsorship and distinctive signs of quality are shown in this paper.

Geographic data as personal data in four EU member states

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Jong, A.-J.; van Loenen, B.; Zevenbergen, J.A.; Halounova, L.; Li, S.; Safár, V.; Tomková, M.; Rapant, P.; Brázdil, K.; Shi, W.; Anton, F.; Liu, Y.; Stein, A.; Cheng, T.; Pettit, C.; Li, Q.-Q.; Sester, M.; Mostafavi, M.A.; Madden, M.; Tong, X.; Brovelli, M.A.; Haekyong, K.; Kawashima, H.; Coltekin, A.

2016-01-01

The EU Directive 95/46/EC on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data aims at harmonising data protection legislation in the European Union. This should promote the free flow of products and services within the EU. This

New institutional assemblages for borderless customs control in the European Union

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Naber, A.C.; Hofman, W.; Enserink, B.; Kotterink, B.

2013-01-01

This article is based on a use case proposing a Single Window implementation for borderless customs control in the European Union (EU). This EU e-Customs initiative proposes to combine trade facilitation from a customs perspective with secure trade based on supply chain risk analysis. To achieve

Strengthening the European Union Climate and Energy Package to build a low carbon, competitive and energy secure european union

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Guerin, Emmanuel; Spencer, Thomas

2011-10-11

Immediate action to strengthen the European Union Climate and Energy Package (EU CEP) is needed to ensure Europe's sustained growth, competitiveness and energy security. Indeed, the current 20% emissions reduction target is too low to reach the European long-term goal of reducing emissions by at least 80% by 2050 at acceptable costs. But the EU CEP is also inefficient to address sustainable potential competitiveness losses and carbon leakages in some carbon intensive industries, and most importantly to boost fully the competitiveness of firms producing low-carbon products and services. Moving to 30% by 2020 could induce significant long-term GDP gains and only marginal GDP short-term costs, increase the competitiveness of European firms producing innovative low-carbon technologies, and reduce both final energy consumption and EU energy dependency. But for these objectives to be met, the contents of policies to reach this 30% target is as important as the target itself. There are three main areas in which the EU CEP needs strengthening: (1) Improvement of the energy efficiency of the existing building stocks, and limitation of the absolute level of energy consumption in the transport sector are needed to reach the 20% energy efficiency target. Binding targets should only be used when absolutely necessary and when helpful. (2) From an economic, environmental and political perspective, setting a stringent European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS) 2030 cap between -45 and -50% from 2005 levels is probably the most relevant, efficient, and realistic option in the short term. It would increase the predictability of the carbon price signal, and therefore the credibility of the regulator. Banking would ensure that this stringent mid-term target translates into a short-term increase of the carbon price. (3) In some cases, direct public financial support is justified and efficient: to overcome market failures and non-market barriers; to support innovation in low

Strengthening the European Union Climate and Energy Package to build a low carbon, competitive and energy secure european union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guerin, Emmanuel; Spencer, Thomas

2011-01-01

Immediate action to strengthen the European Union Climate and Energy Package (EU CEP) is needed to ensure Europe's sustained growth, competitiveness and energy security. Indeed, the current 20% emissions reduction target is too low to reach the European long-term goal of reducing emissions by at least 80% by 2050 at acceptable costs. But the EU CEP is also inefficient to address sustainable potential competitiveness losses and carbon leakages in some carbon intensive industries, and most importantly to boost fully the competitiveness of firms producing low-carbon products and services. Moving to 30% by 2020 could induce significant long-term GDP gains and only marginal GDP short-term costs, increase the competitiveness of European firms producing innovative low-carbon technologies, and reduce both final energy consumption and EU energy dependency. But for these objectives to be met, the contents of policies to reach this 30% target is as important as the target itself. There are three main areas in which the EU CEP needs strengthening: (1) Improvement of the energy efficiency of the existing building stocks, and limitation of the absolute level of energy consumption in the transport sector are needed to reach the 20% energy efficiency target. Binding targets should only be used when absolutely necessary and when helpful. (2) From an economic, environmental and political perspective, setting a stringent European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS) 2030 cap between -45 and -50% from 2005 levels is probably the most relevant, efficient, and realistic option in the short term. It would increase the predictability of the carbon price signal, and therefore the credibility of the regulator. Banking would ensure that this stringent mid-term target translates into a short-term increase of the carbon price. (3) In some cases, direct public financial support is justified and efficient: to overcome market failures and non-market barriers; to support innovation in low

REASSESSING EUROPEAN UNION LIMITS: WHAT ROLE FOR THE NEW REGIONAL PARTNERSHIPS?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adriana Berbec

2010-06-01

Full Text Available As every enlargement brings new neighbours to the European Union, the European Neighbourhood Policy is facing new challenges regarding its policy towards the countries in its proximity. Although the ENP does not offer perspectives for accession, nor does it preclude it, new forms of cooperation between the EU and its neighbours are taken into consideration as an alternative to full membership. This essay will analyze how the latest enlargements have brought new opportunities and challenges to the EU in relation to its new neighbours, the role of the "Eastern Partnership" and the "Union for Mediterranean" initiatives in fostering cooperation with the contiguous countries and whether these community projects, together with the ENP, can have a contribution to the understanding of what the EU limits are.

COURT OF JUSTICE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION - INTERNATIONAL COURT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ioana Nely Militaru

2015-11-01

Full Text Available Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU performs according to its competence, the position of International Justice in solving disputes between two or more subjects of international law. International jurisdiction of the Court of Justice of the EU is - mandatory that each Member State has the opportunity to seize this court if it considers that another state violated an obligation incumbent upon it under Union Treaties; - optional in disputes between Member States in connection with the subject Union Treaties.

Turkey's EU Quest and Political Cleavages under AKP

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rahigh-Aghsan, Ali

2011-01-01

This article analyses the extent to which the rise of political Islam (Note 1) in Turkey has triggered an intense and polarized debate about the principle eligibility of Turkey to be a full European Union (EU) member state. The Justice and Development Party’s (Adalet ve Kalkinma Partisi......) The overall political targets of political Islam in Turkey seems less compatible with the traditional Turkish EU quest than formerly (2) The Turkish political Islamic turnaround is contributing to a climate of increasing scepticism in Europe, and presents significant obstacles to EU accession. As a result...

EU Action against Climate Change. EU emissions trading. An open scheme promoting global innovation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2005-01-01

The European Union is committed to global efforts to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions from human activities that threaten to cause serious disruption to the world's climate. Building on the innovative mechanisms set up under the Kyoto Protocol to the 1992 United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) - joint implementation, the clean development mechanism and international emissions trading - the EU has developed the largest company-level scheme for trading in emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2), making it the world leader in this emerging market. The emissions trading scheme started in the 25 EU Member States on 1 January 2005

MODERN APPROACHES ON DEFINING FOOD QUALITY ON THE EU MARKET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Sebastian Chirimbu

2013-03-01

Full Text Available This paper seeks to prove that, on the EU food market, foodstuff quality presently has a very active complex dynamic dimension determined by the current consumer – agricultural and food industry relationship, apart from its technical dimension as derived from quality standards. This relationship comes as the result of the deep transformation that the food market has undergone in EU member states following the target-oriented action of the European Union aimed at solving the historical food-related issue of its members. Understanding the phenomena characteristic of the current food demand-supply relationship on the EU agricultural and food market and the way this market functions is very important for Romania’s integration in the European Union. This relevance derives both from economic aspects that these phenomena imply and social implications for everyday life.

Procedure of preliminary decision as a supranational judicial keynote of the European Union member states

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Delia Magherescu

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The procedure of preliminary decision has been for a long time agreed unanimously both by doctrine and jurisprudence and considered as a keynote in developing notional law systems of the European Communities. In the national frame, it is similarly with submitting unconstitutional exception, regulated in several national jurisdictions of the EU Member States. The current paper aims at providing some argues based on a jurisprudence frame of the procedure of preliminary decision made by the Court of Justice of the European Union, as being directory for the national EU Member States’ courts of justice. It also focuses on the judicial issues whose solution is needed in order for the national justice to solve the cases they were invested with.

The Rise of a European Healthcare Union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vollaard, Hans; Martinsen, Dorte Sindbjerg

2017-01-01

Healthcare has only slowly appeared on the European Union’s (EU) policy agenda. EU involvement in policies concerning the organization, financing and the provision of diagnosis, care and cures to ill people developed along three fragmented tracks: (a) EU public health policies concerning the well......-being of all people; (b) the application of the free movement principle to national healthcare systems in particular by the EU’s Court of Justice (CJEU); and (c) the austerity packages and the stricter EU surveillance of national budgets since the debt crises. The key questions of this special issue...... are whether this fragmented EU involvement has now developed into a distinct European healthcare union, and if so what its driving forces have been. Thus, it explores how European integration in healthcare has moved forward despite widespread reluctance. It also examines the underexplored political dynamics...

European Union at the end of 1997: who is within the public finance “sustainability” zone?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

L.L. PASINETTI

1998-03-01

Full Text Available The Maastricht Treaty of 1992 contains regulations on the eligibility of European Union (EU member countries to join the single currency. 'Sustainability' of a country's public finance position is one of the four criteria for membership of the single currency. One major finding is the extremely important role to be played by the policies aimed at regulating the level of the medium- and long-term rates of interest within a framework of financial and fiscal stability. Belgium and Italy, which have higher debt/GDP ratios, may achieve convergence sooner through privatisation of public debt enterprises.

Tre proposte per rivitalizzare l’Unione Europea (Three proposals for revitalising the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mario Tonveronachi

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Within the EU, the perception that the convergence on the current set of rules is not capable of producing convergence on results, or generally better results, has increased socio-political fragmentation. The result has been an increasing demand for re-nationalisation of sovereign powers. Focusing on the euro area, the paper proposes to revise the monetary operations of the European Central Bank, current fiscal rules and the financial regulatory approach in order to tackle some of the main inconsistencies, rigidities and fragilities in the current design. The new design is thought out to require no changes in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, but at least a minimum political convergence. If successfully implemented, it would contribute to give a viable perspective to the design of the Economic and Monetary Union, capable of attracting those EU non-euro area countries that consider the mismanagement of the recent crisis and of its after-effects reason enough for resisting further losses of sovereignty.JEL codes: E52, E62, F33, F36, F45, G28

EUROPEAN UNION IN GLOBAL CLIMATE GOVERNANCE: TO PARIS AND BEYOND

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. V. Savorskaya

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Since the 1990s, the European Union is aspiring global leadership in the area of climate change, which is refl ected in its active participation in the negotiations on the international climate change regime. However, those ambitions have not always turned out to be appropriate or justifi ed. Despite the fact that the European Union was able to achieve certain results during the Kyoto Protocol negotiations and even more signifi cant results in the process of its ratifi cation, for the most part EU negotiation strategy based on normative considerations, had not been successful, it was especially evident during the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen. Partly the disappointing results of EU performance during the Copenhagen negotiations are to be blamed on some of the key features of EU functioning logic, for example, the overall tendency to rely on scientifi c evidence in policy-making, which did not allow the EU to assess other parties’ interests adequately. As the results of the negotiations of parties to the UNFCCC in December 2015 in Paris have shown, the European Union did manage to work out its previous mistakes and build a broad informal international coalition. Contrary to the pessimistic expectations, the agreement was adopted and it took into account quite a few of the EU proposals. However, the Paris Treaty has a number of fl aws and inaccuracies, so the ability to eliminate them in a timely manner by the international community and the EU in particular, will determine the future of the new international climate change regime.

STRATEGIC PARTNERSHIP BETWEEN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

NICOLETA GEORGETA PANAIT

2014-11-01

Full Text Available European Union is one of the largest markets in the world for the import of goods and services, especially those with high added value, is the area with the biggest investment of foreign companies and one of area with the largest number of foreign investments abroad. The European Union is still a market with a huge attractiveness for investors. EU and US seek to strengthen mutually beneficial economic partnership and have the ability to consolidate the two economies. Through strategic partnerships, EU seeks to create alliances to achieve its foreign policy objectives globally.

Going forward with the EU Exhibition Science Bringing Nations Together

CERN Multimedia

2000-01-01

INTAS, the EU-backed International Association for the promotion of co-operation with scientists of the former Soviet Union, has, since 1993, awarded funds to provide scientists of the States of the former Soviet Union with opportunities to apply their talents to research and to promote collaboration between themselves and Western scientists.

Regulatory Regionalism and Education: The European Union in Central Asia

Science.gov (United States)

Jones, Peter

2010-01-01

This paper investigates the purchase which Jayasuriya's regulatory regionalism approach offers for an analysis of the European Union's engagement in Central Asia. The European Union has a clearly articulated strategy through which to pursue what it sees as its interests in Central Asia and the development of a range of EU-Central Asia education…

Contribution of the EU Budget to the Implementation of the Social Cohesion Policy of the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Katarzyna Stabryła-Chudzio

2016-04-01

Full Text Available Objective: The aim of the present study is to examine whether the European Union budget comprises significant resources for financing measures relating to social cohesion. The analysis is based on the contents of the Europe 2020 Strategy. Given the constraints of space and for the sake of clarity of the argument, the author focuses on the role of the EU budget rather than all measures aimed at social cohesion undertaken by EU institutions or targeted by policies of individual Member States.Methodology: Documents, studies and reports published by the European Commission constitute the main source of information. In addition, the author has taken into account macroeconomic data demonstrating the deterioration of the social situation since 2009, as well as the instruments that the European Commission has deployed since 2013 in order to respond to post-crisis challenges.Conclusions: It can be roughly estimated that more than 40 percent of total resources within the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014–2020 shall be allocated to the social cohesion policy. Opportunities afforded by the implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy include primarily the definition of objectives whose priority is indisputable and the introduction of the hitherto neglected analysis of certain socio-economic indicators, classified by country or region and, in certain cases, examined in more detail than required by the European Commission. The monitoring of objectives is conducive to the introduction of new solutions and implementation tools, as exemplified by the new instruments within the Multiannual Financial Framework 2014–2020, as well as the adjustment of available funds in light of the most pressing challenges. The European Semester has facilitated the task of comparing progress in strategy implementation by individual Member States, as well as the provision of recommendations for each of them and an individualized approach.Research implications: This article

Redistributive Politics in a Political Union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Citi, Manuele; Justesen, Mogens Kamp

One of the main functions of centralized budgets in federal and political unions is to act as an equalizing mechanism to support economic cohesion. This is also the case with the European Union’s budget, which operates as a redistributive mechanism that counteracts the cross-national and cross...... remarkably over the last decades. In this paper, we investigate how and why the net fiscal position of each member state towards the rest of the EU changes over time. Using a novel panel dataset (1979-2014), we study how some key national and EU-level political and economic variables affect the EU...... find that the political orientation of national governments does not per se influence redistributive politics with in the EU. However, when the unemployment rate is rising, right-wing governments are able to extract significantly larger budgetary benefits....

European social model and the harmonization of Macedonian labour legislation with the European Union community labour law

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Kalamatiev Todor

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The European integration process accompanied by the harmonization of the EU member states' legislation will inevitably lead to the establishment of a European social model which has a 'sui generis' legal nature. European social model forms a part of the common legal heritage of the European countries and it can be defined as a system of values that include democracy and individual rights, free collective bargaining, market economy, equal opportunities for all, and social protection and solidarity. Subject of analysis in this paper are both, the essential components of the European social model such as: the social 'acquis communautaire' and the European industrial relations. The social 'acquis communautaire' is an integral part of the general 'acquis communautaire' and it encompasses the regulations arising from the primary and secondary labour law legislation of the EU, decisions of the European Court of Justice and other legal measures of the European Union with a binding or non-binding legal nature. European industrial relations encompass the key features of the European trade union models as well as the types of social dialogue in different EU member states. This paper pays attention to a profound elaboration of the harmonization of two EU labour law directives with the Macedonian employment legislation. The first Directive (Directive 91/533/EEC of 14 October 1991 on an employers' obligation to inform employees of the conditions applicable to the contract or employment relationship may be classified in the field of individual employment relations, while the second one (Directive 2002/14/EC of 11 March 2002 establishing a general framework for informing and consulting employees in the European Community can be subsumed within the field of collective employment relations. Finally, the authors illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of the Macedonian labour legislation in the process of harmonization with the relevant EU directives

Towards an Administrative Procedure of the European Union: Issues and Prospects

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihaela V. Cărăuşan

2016-12-01

Full Text Available This article aims at identifying European administrative law principles by mapping the proposal of the European Parliament and assessing the existing principles in the European Union’s rules and jurisprudence. The first section analyses the difficulties to pass from the well-known sectoral procedures to a common procedural framework. It shows, on the one hand, how fragmented is the administrative EU law, and on the other hand, that European Commission tends to support it by derailing the Parliament’s proposal. The second section, is mapping the administrative law principles through an inventory of the Treaties, the Charter, the soft law and the jurisprudence. The last section proposes an assessment of the draft Regulation on the administrative procedure of European Union. The main outcome is that, without the Commission’s involvement the process of making a common administrative procedure for European Union cannot take place.

Kazakh Initiatives on Cooperation with European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Rustem S. Kurmanguzhin

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The author of this article presents initiatives of the Republic of Kazakhstan to develop cooperation with the European Union that was initiated through 2000 - 2009. In 2000 the Republic of Kazakhstan proposed to EU Comment cooperation doctrine in Central Asia. The purpose of the doctrine lied in expanding cooperation in the areas of trade, economy and investment; in granting access to commodities and services from European markets; in developing collaboration in the areas of energy, transport, communication, finance and banking. In 2006 Kazakhstan introduced a new set of prepossess to the new European Union Strategy for Central Asian 2007-2013 that was developed under the chairmanship of Germany of the EU in the first half of 2007. The Strategy covered areas of cooperation such as regional integration, economic development, democratization, energy and security. In 2008 under the instructions of the President of Kazakhstan Ministry of Foreign Affairs in cooperation with other ministries developed a state programme "Path to Europe" for 2009 - 2011, which aided the priorities of cooperation between Kazakhstan and the European Union. "Path to Europe" has become a key initiative of the Kazakh foreign policy that was successfully implemented, as well as the most important document aimed at modernization of the national economy and the Kazakh society. In the beginning of2009 using the accumulated positive experience of cooperation with the EU and experience of a number of countries in Europe and Asia, Kazakhstan devised and submitted a concept of a new treaty which was supposed to replace the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement of 1995. The Republic of Kazakhstan's influence eventually persuaded the European Union to agree on the necessity of devising the Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement.

A Sustainable NATO/EU Partnership for the Future

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Pfrengle, Franz X

2008-01-01

A major question dealing with future security challenges of the United States and Europe will be about the relationship between both, especially through two major organizations, NATO and the European Union (EU...

Denmark and the European Union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Manners, Ian

2011-01-01

Over the past two decades Morten Kelstrup’s work has been at the centre of three important intellectual innovations in political science – the study of the EU as a regional political system; European security studies; and small states in European integration. Kelstrup’s best known books (Buzan, K...... of this book, two of Kelstrup’s most important intellectual contributions come from his work on Denmark’s relations with the European Union, and his use of systems theory to understand the EU.......Over the past two decades Morten Kelstrup’s work has been at the centre of three important intellectual innovations in political science – the study of the EU as a regional political system; European security studies; and small states in European integration. Kelstrup’s best known books (Buzan...

Learning from the EU Constitutional Treaty

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Crum, B.J.J.

2012-01-01

The negative results of referenda on the European Union (EU) Constitutional Treaty in France and the Netherlands, and subsequent low-key adoption of the Treaty of Lisbon raise complex questions about the possible democratization of international organisations. This book provides a full analysis of

The EU's cybercrime and cyber-security rulemaking: mapping the internal and external dimensions of EU security

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Fahey, E.

2014-01-01

By taking the EU Cyber Strategy as a case in point, this contribution examines how the distinction between external and internal security in contemporary EU law manifests itself in large-scale risk regulation and in particular, how the EU relies upon external norms to regulate risk. This article

Policy-making in the European Union

CERN Document Server

Pollack, Mark A; Young, Alasadair R

2015-01-01

Constantly evolving, and with far-reaching implications, European Union policy-making is of central importance to the politics of the European Union. From defining the processes, institutions and modes through which policy-making operates, the text moves on to situate individual policies within these modes, detail their content, and analyse how they are implemented, navigating policy in all its complexities. The first part of the text examines processes, institutions, and the theoretical and analytical underpinnings of policy-making, while the second part considers a wide range of policy areas, from economics to the environment, and security to the single market. Throughout the text, theoretical approaches sit side by side with the reality of key events in the EU, including enlargement, the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty, and the financial crisis and resulting euro area crisis, exploring what determines how policies are made and implemented. In the final part, the editors consider trends in EU policy-makin...

Europe at the frontline: analysing street-level motivations for the use of European Union migration law

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dörrenbächer, N.

2017-01-01

This contribution investigates what motivates the use of European Union (EU) law at the street level of migration law implementation. The street level is a crucial venue for EU implementation because lower-level implementers critically influence the level of EU compliance eventually achieved.

Federal and European Union Policy Making

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dosenrode, Søren

By using the policy cycle approach, this paper compares the policy-process in a number of Anglo-Saxon type federations with the policy-process in continental-European style federations from within the European Union (EU) area.  The comparison would reveal: a) distinct different styles of policy...... making in European style federations in relation with the Anglo-Saxon ones. b) that the policy-process in the EU resembles that of the European style federations, and c) the Constitutional Treaty (CT) or a possible CT-light would strengthen the federal policy-making characteristics already present...

EU nuclear policy towards countries in Central and Eastern Europe

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gunter, L.

1998-01-01

The European Union has undergone many changes over the last decade as a result of both internal and external pressures. Two successive enlargements have raised the number of Member States to fifteen. Two major Treaty reforms the Single Act and the Treaty on European Union have radically modified the EU's institutional and political framework.(author)

EASTERN EUROPE, A REGION OF INSECURITY IN THE EUROPEAN UNION'S VICINITY

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bogdan – Lucian Cumpanasu

2014-08-01

Full Text Available During Cold War, the region of Eastern Europe was formed by European states that were behind the Iron Curtain.Once the communism has fallen and former Warsaw's Pact members have joined EU in 2004 and 2007 along with the Baltic republics, a New Eastern Europe comprising Ukraine, Republic of Moldova and the Caucasian Republics emerged at the border of EU. The north, west and south maritime frontiers of European Union are opposite with Eastern territorial one that are more difficult to control and defend against asymmetrical threats as: organized crime, drugs traffic, arms proliferation and illegal immigration. this paper aims to demonstrate that EU's policies initiated in the framework of Eastern Partnership (EaP that wanted to bring peace in the Eastern neighborhood did not succeed to fulfill the desired goals. One explanation is that EU did not take in consideration the Russian dream of redesigning its sphere of influence in Eastern Europe. Another one is that the cultural, political and social differences between EU and its EaP partners led to the failure of the project. Thus, European Union's actions toward Eastern vicinity led to a clash between two civilizations: East and West as well as to a geopolitical competition between Russian Federation and EU over their shared neighborhood.

Ukraine, EU and Russia: soft power versus Realpolitik?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pedro Barata

2014-05-01

Full Text Available The relationship between the European Union (EU and Ukraine began in 1998 with the signature of the Partnership and Cooperation Agreement. Afterwards, in 2003 Ukraine joined the European Neighbourhood Policy and in 2004 EU was already the major trade partner with Ukraine, bigger than Russia. Anticipating the approach of former soviet republics towards Euro Atlantic structures and the foreseen loss of influence in its near abroad, Putin’s Russia launched in 2011 the Eurasian Economic Union, an economic bloc formed by some of the Russia’s former satellite States - Belarus and Kazakhstan – and through a carrot and stick policy tried to attract also Ukraine and Kyrgyzstan, in order to thwart the Chinese economic development and to impose itself in the regional and global markets. In November 2013, during the 3rd EU’s Eastern Partnership Summit, in Vilnius, Lithuania, Ukraine’s President, Viktor Yanukovych surprised the world refusing to sign the Commercial Agreement with EU, turning back to a EU possible integration. On the other hand, Russia offered to reduce the natural gas rates plus a fifteen billion dollars loan, throwing Ukraine in a quasi civil war, and leaving EU and Russia on opposite sides. Considering this situation what to expect from Ukraine? To continue being a Russian satellite or head towards the Euro Atlantic geopolitical space? This paper intents to analyse the actual situation in Ukraine following Barry Buzan’s approach of multidimensional security, focusing on the different postures assumed by each one of the actors - EU and Russia - which have been between complementarity and division. The scope of the analysis is to contribute to the academic debate about security dynamics between EU, Russia and Ukraine during the post-USSR period, arguing that in the geopolitical dispute for the post-soviet space where Ukraine is integrated, the Russian Realpolitik prevails the EU soft power.

Sustainable development and energy in the european union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Roth, A.

2013-01-01

Sustainable development represents a core objective of the European Union, being embodied through out its major polices. In the field of energy, the EU objectives, commonly known as ä20-20-20ö initiative, aim at ensuring a competitive, secure and sustainable energy for European households and industries by reducing the emissions of green house gases, an efficient use on energy and increasing the use of renewable energy. The present paper draws a review on the most important aspects of EU energy policy, its measures, results and costs from the perspective of security of supply, competitiveness of price and green house gases emissions. The aim is to highlight the trade offs which are involved in the orientation towards a sustainable path of the energetic sector of the European Union. (authors)

How online sales and promotion of snus contravenes current European Union legislation.

Science.gov (United States)

Peeters, Silvy; Gilmore, Anna B

2013-07-01

The European Union (EU) Tobacco Products Directive that bans sales of snus (a form of oral tobacco) in EU countries other than Sweden is currently under review. Major tobacco companies favour the ban being overturned. This study aims to explore compliance with the current ban on snus sales and examines the conduct of online snus vendors, including their compliance with two other EU Directives on excise and tobacco advertising and Swedish legislation banning sales of snus outside Sweden. To determine who is currently distributing snus via the internet in the EU, searches were carried out in Google, followed by searches in the WHOIS and Amadeus databases. Five online test purchases of snus were made in each of 10 EU Member States using a standardised protocol. Feedback from the test purchases and further analysis of the websites accessed for test purchases were used to critically examine snus retailers' conduct. The majority of online vendors operate from Sweden and target non-Swedish EU citizens. Test purchases were successfully made in all 10 EU Member States; of 43 orders placed, only two failed. Age verification relied only on self-report. The majority of sales applied Swedish taxes, contrary to EU requirements. Copious sales promotion activities, many price based, are incorporated in these websites contravening the EU regulation, and three test purchases were delivered with gifts. Snus is currently being sold on the single market via the internet in contravention of Swedish legislation and three EU Directives. The apparent willingness of the tobacco industry to contravene EU and Swedish legislation and profit from unlawful sales raises questions about their status as stakeholders in consultations on future policy developments. The findings highlight how national and regional tobacco control legislation can be undermined in an increasingly globalised world.

Comparing pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement policies in Croatia to the European Union Member States

Science.gov (United States)

Vogler, Sabine; Habl, Claudia; Bogut, Martina; Vončina, Luka

2011-01-01

Aim To perform a comparative analysis of the pharmaceutical pricing and reimbursement systems in Croatia and the 27 European Union (EU) Member States. Methods Knowledge about the pharmaceutical systems in Croatia and the 27 EU Member States was acquired by literature review and primary research with stakeholders. Results Pharmaceutical prices are controlled at all levels in Croatia, which is also the case in 21 EU Member States. Like many EU countries, Croatia also applies external price referencing, ie, compares prices with other countries. While the wholesale remuneration by a statutorily regulated linear mark-up is applied in Croatia and in several EU countries, the pharmacy compensation for dispensing reimbursable medicines in the form of a flat rate service fee in Croatia is rare among EU countries, which usually apply a linear or regressive pharmacy mark-up scheme. Like in most EU countries, the Croatian Social Insurance reimburses specific medicines at 100%, whereas patients are charged co-payments for other reimbursable medicines. Criteria for reimbursement include the medicine’s importance from the public health perspective, its therapeutic value, and relative effectiveness. In Croatia and in many EU Member States, reimbursement is based on a reference price system. Conclusion The Croatian pharmaceutical system is similar to those in the EU Member States. Key policies, like external price referencing and reference price systems, which have increasingly been introduced in EU countries are also applied in Croatia and serve the same purpose: to ensure access to medicines while containing public pharmaceutical expenditure. PMID:21495202

Project Management Methods in Projects Co-financed by EU Funds

OpenAIRE

Kostalova, Jana; Tetrevova, Libena; Patak, Michal

2017-01-01

This paper deals with the management of projects co-financed by European Union funds (structural funds and the Cohesion Fund) in the Czech Republic (EU projects). The authors aimed to analyze and assess the scope of familiarity with basic project management methods and their application within the implementation of EU projects in the Czech Republic in the Programming Period 2007–2013. Based on a questionnaire survey of EU project organisers, the authors evaluate their attitudes to project man...

Accounting Standards and Legal Capital in EU Law

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Loukas Panetsos

2016-09-01

Full Text Available This paper examines the interaction between accounting standards and legal capital in the European Union legal framework. More in particular, it attempts to compare on a parallel basis the distributional and behavioural function of both concepts and to address whether the current legal status quo in the European Union fulfils these functions. First, this paper makes a short reference to the various accounting families which are encountered today, with a strong emphasis on the distinction between Anglo-American and Continental systems. Then, it describes the EU accounting regulation and the introduction of IFRS in domestic legislation. Further, it discusses the concept of legal capital as it has been established in European jurisdictions and it points to the relevance of the Continental accounting standards. It is argued that both are characterized by paternalism, contrasting with Anglo-American standards and American distributional methods, which are outlined by contractariansm. The final argument is that the combination of legal capital rules and Anglo-American standards, like the IFRS, neither achieves the protective role prescribed to the former, nor guarantees the aims of the latter.

By 2050 the Mitigation Effects of EU Forests Could Nearly Double through Climate Smart Forestry

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Gert-Jan Nabuurs

2017-12-01

Full Text Available In July 2016, the European Commission (EC published a legislative proposal for incorporating greenhouse gas emissions and removals due to Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (LULUCF into its 2030 Climate and Energy Framework. The Climate and Energy Framework aims at a total emission reduction of 40% by 2030 for all sectors together as part of the Paris Agreement. The LULUCF proposal regulates a “no debit” target for LULUCF (Forests and Agricultural soils, and regulates the accounting of any additional mitigation potential that might be expected of it. We find that the forest share of the LULUCF sector can achieve much more than what is in the regulation now. We elaborate a strategy for unlocking European Union (EU forests and forest sector potential based on the concept of “climate smart forestry” (CSF. We find that to-date, European policy has not firmly integrated forest potential into the EU climate policy framework. Nor have climate objectives been firmly integrated into those of the forest and forest sector at either the EU or national level. Yet a wide range of measures can be applied to provide positive incentives for more firmly integrating these climate objectives into the forest and forest sector framework. With the right set of incentives in place at EU and Member States levels, we find the current literature supports the view that the EU has the potential to achieve an additional combined mitigation impact through CSF of 441 Mt CO2/year by 2050. In addition, CSF, through reducing and/or removing greenhouse gas emissions, adapting and building forest resilience, and sustainably increasing forest productivity and incomes, tackles multiple policy goals.

The future of energy in the European Union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robles, C.

1997-01-01

Two of the three European Union founding treaties have a marked energy nature but, however, at the present time, the EU lacks a Common Energy Policy, Starting with this paradox, the European Parliament Member Robles Piquer uses this article, which reproduces the lecture he gave at the CSN, to proffer his view of the future of energy which the EU will have and that which it should have, in this opinion. (Author)

CHALLENGES AND DILLEMAS WITHIN THE RELATIONS BETWEEN RUSSIA AND THE EUROPEAN UNION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Loredana Maria Simionov

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Every EU enlargement signified a step towards Central and Eastern Europe, therefore, the 2004 „big bang enlargement”, followed by the one in 2007, modified the geopolitical context within the „old continent” and also increased the importance of the European Union regionally, as well as globally. Integrating the ex-soviet countries into the EU meant taking them out of the Russian sphere of influence, as well as attempting to super size the EU territory in order to increase the European power on a long term. Despite the weakening of Russia after the Cold War, the federation still represents a challenge regarding „pax europea”, as Russia still has an amazing military capacity, as well as important natural resources. The entrance into the Russian sphere of influence, the European energetic dependency on Russia, the conflicts within the separatist regions situated at the EU eastern borders are just few of the many challenges regarding the relations between the European Union and Russia.

Smart Specialization and EU Eastern Innovation Cooperation: A Conceptual Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prause Gunnar

2014-06-01

Full Text Available The concept of smart specialization as a policy approach for regional development through increased regional productivity and competitiveness in the European context is actively discussed (European Union, 2009; OECD, 2014. Meanwhile, smart specialization has found its way into EU cohesion policy as well as into the European Commission’s Innovation Union flagship programme.

Eu Enlargement and Migration: Scenarios of Croatian Accession

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wadim Strielkowski

2013-09-01

Full Text Available This paper analyzes possible incidence of pending Croatian EU accession that is to take place on the 1st of July 2013, on the labour migration from Croatia to the European Union. We apply panel data estimators using the data on emigration from 18 EU countries into Germany (which is the EU country with the largest share of ex-Yugoslav and Croatian migrants in order to construct possible scenarios of Croatian migration to the EU.Three scenarios of migration - pessimistic, realistic and optimistic - are drawn and the sensitivity of estimated coefficients on migration from Croatia into Germany during next 25 years is further discussed in detail. We conclude that, similarly to hypothetical Turkish accession, Croatian EU accession is not going to cause massive migration inflows.

The political economy of a tradable GHG permit market in the European Union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Markussen, P.; Svendsen, Gert Tinggaard; Vesterdal, Morten

2002-01-01

The EU has committed itself to meet an 8% greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction target level following the Kyoto agreement. Therefore, the EU Commission has just proposed a new directive establishing a framework for GHG emissions trading within the European Union. This proposal is the outcome of a policy...... that the dominant interest groups indeed influenced the final design of an EU GHG market....

The European Union and sub-Saharan Africa

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kluth, Michael Friederich

2013-01-01

This article argues that aspirations of maintaining a dominant influence over sub-Saharan security issues has spurred the French and British leadership of European Union (EU) foreign and security policy integration, just as it has informed military capability expansions by the armed forces...

Corporate Social Responsibility Reporting: Differences among Selected EU Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vukic Nikolina Markota

2015-09-01

Full Text Available Background: Greater transparency has become a relevant topic for companies around the world. Information and communication technologies revolution (ICT revolution has forced companies to become more transparent. With the intention of increasing companies’ transparency, the European Union (hereinafter: the EU has presented a new Accounting Directive 2013/34/EU which makes Corporate Social Reporting (hereinafter: CSR reporting mandatory for certain companies.

THE CITIZENS’ PUBLIC PARTICIPATION UNDER EUROPEAN UNION LAW AND ENVIRONMENTAL LAW

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Valentine Charlotte ENE

2014-06-01

Full Text Available Convention on Access to Information, Public Participation in Decision-Making and Access to Justice in Environmental Matters, June 25, 1998 (entered into force Oct. 30, 2001 [hereinafter Aarhus Convention], negotiated under the auspices of the UN/ECE (United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, is the result of the efforts to establish international legal standards in the field of citizens’ environmental rights to date. Also, it is the first international document about public participation in environmental matters, developing the principle 10 of the Rio Declaration, which stresses the need for citizen's participation in environmental issues and for access to information on the environment held by public authorities. Public participation, one of the three main pillars provided by Aarhus Convention, could be one of the key factors in involving the citizens in the protection of the environment and strengthening compliance and enforcement of national and European environmental law. Under European Union regulations, the right to participate in environmental decision-making process could be exercise more effectively based on European Citizens’ Initiative (ECI procedure. Therefore, the European Citizens' Initiative (ECI, as introduced by the Lisbon Treaty, allows citizens to request new EU legislation once a million signatures from seven member states have been collected asking the European Commission to do so. This paper explores environmental citizenship within the framework of European Union (EU environmental law.

Risk regulation, GMOs, and the challenges to deliberation in EU governance: politicisation and scientification as co-producing trends

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weimer, M.; Joerges, C.; Glinski, C.

2014-01-01

This paper analyzes the problems of EU risk regulation of agricultural biotechnology through the lens of deliberative theories of EU law and governance, such as deliberative supranationalism and experimentalist governance. Previous research had suggested that the GMO issue is not conductive to

Risk regulation, GMOs, and the challenges to deliberation in EU governance - politicization and scientification as co-producing trends

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weimer, M.

2014-01-01

This paper analyzes the problems of EU risk regulation of agricultural biotechnology through the lens of deliberative theories of EU law and governance, such as deliberative supranationalism and experimentalist governance. Previous research had suggested that the GMO issue is not conductive to

Electric energy restructuring in the European Union: Integration, subsidiarity and the challenge of harmonization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serralles, Roberto J.

2006-01-01

In 1996, the European Union (EU) instituted Directive 96/92/EC that aims to establish a competitive, secure and transparent EU-wide internal electric energy market. The process of electricity market restructuring in the EU is being guided primarily by the principle of subsidiarity. As an organizational concept, the principle of subsidiarity allows Member States to establish their own implementation strategies and methods as a means of achieving the EU-mandated goal of electric energy restructuring. Historically, the structure of the electric energy industry in place among the Member States exhibited widely disparate organizational and functional characteristics with regard to ownership, control and regulation. Under these varied and contrasting political and economic conditions, the goal of a EU-wide harmonized electric energy market becomes very challenging. In this paper, I describe the policy mechanisms and the market conditions mandated by the EU directive aimed at liberalizing the electric energy market. I then assess the role of political culture, historical resource endowment and geographical conditions in the utility restructuring strategies of some key Member States and its effects on the overall goals of a harmonized internal electric energy market. Finally, I argue that European electric energy restructuring must be understood within the context of the political and economic milieu that spawned the individual Member States' electric energy industry

Electric energy restructuring in the European Union: integration, subsidiarity and the challenge of harmonization

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Serralles, R.J.

2006-01-01

In 1996, the European Union (EU) instituted Directive 96/92/EC that aims to establish a competitive, secure and transparent EU-wide internal electric energy market. The process of electricity market restructuring in the EU is being guided primarily by the principle of subsidiarity. As an organizational concept, the principle of subsidiarity allows Member States to establish their own implementation strategies and methods as a means of achieving the EU-mandated goal of electric energy restructuring. Historically, the structure of the electric energy industry in place among the Member States exhibited widely disparate organizational and functional characteristics with regard to ownership, control and regulation. Under these varied and contrasting political and economic conditions, the goal of a EU-wide harmonized electric energy market becomes very challenging. In this paper, I describe the policy mechanisms and the market conditions mandated by the EU directive aimed at liberalizing the electric energy market. I then assess the role of political culture, historical resource endowment and geographical conditions in the utility restructuring strategies of some key Member States and its effects on the overall goals of a harmonized internal electric energy market. Finally, I argue that European electric energy restructuring must be understood within the context of the political and economic milieu that spawned the individual Member States' electric energy industry. (author)

Risk, regulation and biotechnology: the case of GM crops.

Science.gov (United States)

Smyth, Stuart J; Phillips, Peter W B

2014-07-03

The global regulation of products of biotechnology is increasingly divided. Regulatory decisions for genetically modified (GM) crops in North America are predictable and efficient, with numerous countries in Latin and South America, Australia and Asia following this lead. While it might have been possible to argue that Europe's regulations were at one time based on real concerns about minimizing risks and ensuring health and safety, it is increasingly apparent that the entire European Union (EU) regulatory system for GM crops and foods is now driven by political agendas. Countries within the EU are at odds with each other as some have commercial production of GM crops, while others refuse to even develop regulations that could provide for the commercial release of GM crops. This divide in regulatory decision-making is affecting international grain trade, creating challenges for feeding an increasing global population.

Values, identities and social constructions of the European Union among Turkish university youth

NARCIS (Netherlands)

N. Hortacsu; N. Cem-Ersoy (Nevra)

2004-01-01

textabstractThe present study aimed to investigate Turkish university youth’s constructions concerning the European Union (EU) and their reactions to the EU’s December 2002 Copenhagen summit decision to delay discussion of Turkey’s entry to the EU. Specifically it aimed to show that

European Union Climate Change Policy: in the nexus of internal policy-making and itnernational negotiations

OpenAIRE

Cao, Hui

2012-01-01

The aim of the dissertation is to examine the European Union s climate policy in the nexus of domestic policy-making and international negotiations. I firstly test the EU s internal climate policy-making by applying the rational choice institutionalism on the model of institution and preference affect EU s policy outcomes and conclude that: as the EU has a convergent preference, the EU s unique decision-making procedure, the entrepreneurship and EU s membership had been driving EU s climate...

Compatibility of the IFRS for Small and Medium-sized Entities and the new EU-Accounting Directive

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gerrit Kaufhold

2015-01-01

Full Text Available The new EU-Accounting Directive of 26 June 2013 (DIRECTIVE 2013/34/EU has the intention to harmonize the accounting and financial reporting of enterprises in the European Union. “Think small first” is the central principle in the new EU-Accounting Directive and the new regulations have to be adopted in the laws of European member states by 20 July 2015. The International Financial Reporting Standard for Small and Medium-sized Entities (IFRS for SMEs was published in 2009 by the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB. The IASB intended to create simplified international financial reporting standards for the special needs of smaller and medium-sized enterprise. The IASB completed in May 2015 a comprehensive review of the IFRS for SMEs and made amendments to the Standard. The revised version of the IFRS for SMEs will be issued in the last quarter of 2015. The aim of the paper is to analyze the compatibility of the IFRS for SMEs and the new EU- Accounting Directive and the problems in connection with the harmonization of the European accounting legislation especially in Germany. Based on the results of the research most of the former incompatibilities could be removed, but the remaining complexity of the IFRS for SMEs and the lack of an option for the member states to adopt the IFRS for SMEs as an accounting and reporting standard besides or instead their local accounting principles will prevent the wide use of the IFRS for SMEs in Germany and in other member states of the European Union.

Differences and similarities between the EU and non-EU citizens

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Iris Dhamo

2017-03-01

Full Text Available Initially, the European Union had a purely economic connotation, as his intent was the free movement of factors of production, in order to create a competitive internal market and achieving a rational distribution of resources. For this reason, the individual was seen simply as a worker and for this purpose the first aspects that are disciplined within the EU are those contained in this sphere. In the Treaty of Rome, which established the European Economic Community (EEC, the freedom of free movement was reserved for only a few special categories of workers, who were active subjects economically, since what resulted essential at the time was the creation of an internal market. Later the Maastricht Treaty, on one side marks the transition from the EEC to the EU, on the other presents for the first time the "European citizenship", making the free movement an autonomous right of every citizen belonging to a Member State. In this way the free movement is exercised not only for the economic purposes of the Treaties. In December 2000 the Charter of Fundamental Rights or the Charter of Nice was compiled and signed, which defines that the EU seeks to promote a balanced development and ensures free movement of persons, goods, services and capital, and also the freedom of residence. Main objective of this manuscript is an analysis of the differences and similarities between the EU and non-EU citizens.

Toward Post-Sovereign Environmental Governance? Politics, Scale, and EU Water Framework Directive

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corey Johnson

2012-02-01

Full Text Available The EU Water Framework Directive (EUWFD of 2000 requires that all EU member states "protect, enhance and restore" rivers to attain good surface water quality by 2015. To achieve this mandate, member states divide themselves into watershed basins (River Basin Districts for the purposes of monitoring and remediation, even if those districts cross international borders. This paper examines three key elements of the rescaling of governance along watershed lines. First, I draw on a cross section of literatures on territoriality of the state and the changing regulation of nature to argue that analyses of the EU tend to privilege the nation-state as an ontological starting point. Second, the EUWFD as a rescaling of environmental gCorey Johnsonvernance is explored. The third element of the paper considers the relationship between the de- and re-territorialisation of environmental governance on the one hand, and the changing character of sovereignty in the EU on the other. On this basis, the paper argues that the EUWFD represents a hybrid form of territoriality that is changing the political geography of the European Union and that the redrawing of political-administrative scales along physical geographical lines provides evidence of the emergence of a new, non-nested scalar politics of governance in Europe.

Impact of a gradual increase in milk quotas on the EU dairy sector

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bouamra-Mechemache, Z.; Jongeneel, R.; Requillart, V.

2008-01-01

The European Union (EU) dairy sector is facing significant changes due to EU enlargement, the Luxembourg reform and ongoing World Trade Organisation (WTO) negotiations. This paper explores the impact of alternative dairy policies in the context of a WTO agreement and further dairy policy

EU issue voting: asset or liability? How European integration affects parties' electoral fortunes

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Vries, C.E.

2010-01-01

This study develops and tests arguments about how political parties’ electoral fortunes in national elections are influenced by voters’ preferences regarding the European Union (EU). To date, there is increasing evidence demonstrating the impact of EU issues on vote choice in national elections — a

EU trade in the time of financial crisis

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fojtíková, L.

2010-12-01

Full Text Available The paper is focused on the European Union (EU trade and trade policy in the time of global financial and economic crisis. The analysis of the EU exports and imports points out that the financial crisis has had a negative impact on the intra as well as on the extra-EU trade in the period 2007-2009, but differences among the EU member states have existed. Although the EU tries to support trade development in the world and remove barriers to trade, some protectionist tendencies were recorded in the time of the economic crisis. The last part of the paper gives emphasis to the EU trade policy and some trade measures which have been taken in the EU and its member states to support trade development or vice versa, to protect domestic industries. The results of the analysis show that, although some protectionist tendencies have been recorded both in extra and intra-EU trade, trade relations which are provided among member states are of significant importance all the time.

The Role of the OECD and the EU in the Development of Labour Market Policy in the Czech Republic

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Porte, Caroline de la

2009-01-01

This article analyses the role of the OECD through its "Jobs Strategy" and the European Union (EU) through the "European Employment Strategy" in the development of macro-economic, employment and labour market policy in the Czech Republic. As a full member of the two organisations, the Czech...... Republic has been subject to their soft non-binding policy advice in the area of labour market reform. The OECD and EU policy models are similar, both insisting on growth-oriented macro-economic policy, supported by active labour market policies, an active and effective public employment service (PES......) and the de-regulation of labour markets. However, the OECD actively advocates private actor involvement in labour markets, while the EU insists on the role of the public sector. The inquisitive styles of the two organisations differ: the OECD has a decontextualised and quantified analysis of performance...

State Authorities’ Powers to Determine the Budget Deficit and Public Debt in the Light of the Articles of the Constitution and the Law of the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andrzej Borodo

2013-10-01

Full Text Available The issues of public debt and budget deficit are regulated by constitutions (e.g. of Poland, Germany, Spain as well as by the law of the European Union. The constitutional regulations concerning public debt and deficit are norms primarily directed at governments and parliaments. However, these regulations mainly have a preventive and auxiliary character and cannot by themselves stop the debt level of the state from increasing. Financial aims concerning debt and deficit can be achieved by non-financial methods, i.e. through the appropriate social and economic policies implemented by the authorities enjoying considerable social respect. The EU regulations regarding public debt and deficit can only be implemented with the instruments of the national law. The set of the EU regulations limiting the budgetary powers of member states, including the budgetary powers of governments and national parliaments, are questionable and undermine the authority of the state.

Negotiations in the EU Council of Ministers

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Smeets, Sandrino

Insiders and outsiders agree; there is something particular about negotiating in Brussels. This book analyses ten years of continuous negotiations about EU enlargement to the Western Balkans, answering questions such as When and how are decisions typically reached in the European Union? What is t...

E-commerce Analysis in selected European Union Countries: Position of Croatia

OpenAIRE

Kurnoga, Nataša; Slišković, Ana

2017-01-01

Computer and mobile technology, Internet use and e-commerce have grown enormously in recent years. The main aim of this paper was to analyse the e-commerce of Croatia, the European Union (EU) countries and the post-transition EU countries. Due to technological progress, the paper among other things, analyses the trend of online purchase at the Croatian and the EU level. The analysis revealed the presence of a linear trend. Furthermore, hierarchical and non-hierarchical cluster analyses were u...

Certain requirements to surface water quality and monitoring of water bodies in the EU

OpenAIRE

Storchak T. V.; Pogonysheva I. A.; Ryabukha A. V.; Arishev A. I.

2018-01-01

Water pollution has become a pressing issues in the European Union. EU Water protection legislature plays major role in the development of national policies in many of the EU countries. EU is currently implementing Water Framework Directive. The Directive demonstrates an innovative approach to water resources management based on river basins. According to the Directive, EU countries take a responsibility to prevent further deterioration and make effort to restore and improve the state of wate...

New prospects in the development of nuclear energy in Romania, in the context of accession to EU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorea, Valica; Popescu, Dan; Bilegan, Iosif C.

2007-01-01

Full text: Including about half a billion inhabitants, the European Union is the second largest primary energy consumer in the world after United States. The most recent expansion of the EU towards East added diversity to the EU, challenging the member states to find and implement a joint energy policy. As an expression of increased regionalization, the economic integration implies the elimination of the economic boundaries among countries and the merger of the states into an economic entity that functions more efficiently than the individual economies separately do. The economic integration aims to foster the wealth of the countries involved and, as a natural consequence, to increase the stability of the region. Nuclear energy plays a crucial role in the European energy mix. In the nuclear power sector, the main concern for the new coming countries in the European Union, remains the nuclear safety. New standards and regulation will be issued for improving the general quality of life in a sound environment. For the candidate countries entering the European Union, this situation represents a real challenge. Their national legislation must be improved to meet the European standards. Public acceptance remains an essential issue for the European nuclear industry. In this context, the paper presents the main prospects and priorities in the development of nuclear field in Romania. (authors)

Guide to the economic regulation of the energy industries in the European Union

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1998-12-01

This new addition to the series of OXERA Guides to Regulation provides an analysis of the electricity and gas sectors of each of the 15 EU member states, against the backdrop of the liberalisation of the electricity market and the anticipated liberalisation of the gas market. For each country, the guide provides details of: the industry and institutional structure; privatisation status; government policy; level of competition; licensing regimes; price and non-price regulation and; environmental policies. (Author)

The European Union as a Comprehensive Police Actor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stephen Anthony Rozée

2011-12-01

Full Text Available The European Union (EU has responded to changing security threats by seeking to increase cooperation between the law enforcement agencies of the Member States, granting further powers to Europol and other intelligence-sharing institutions, and by undertaking police missions beyond EU borders. The literature relating to EU policing is generally focused on the ‘internal’ and ‘external’ dimensions, or on specific aspects of police activity. This tendency to concentrate on narrow or isolated areas of policing has led to a significant gap regarding the broader analysis of the EU as a comprehensive police actor. Important questions about the nature of EU policing as a whole, as well as the contribution of policing activities to the EU’s security agenda, remain unexplored in the literature. This article aims to define what is meant by ‘comprehensive policing’ and to indentify criteria by which the comprehensiveness of EU-level policing may be measured. In addition to this, an integrated actorness/police comprehensiveness framework will be presented as a tool for assessing the EU as a comprehensive police actor.

Turkish-Greek relations within the European Union framework

OpenAIRE

Kılıç, Özlem; Kilic, Ozlem

2009-01-01

Turko-Greek relations have been strained by a number of conflicting issues such as Cyprus, Continental Shelf, Territorial Waters, the Öcalan affair, and the S-300 Missiles crisis on Cyprus. Until the December 1999 Helsinki Summit, Greece was one of the strong opponents of Turkey's membership in the European Union (EU). However, at the Helsinki Summit of 1999, Greece dropped her negative position permitting Turkey to be declared by the EU as a candidate country. This shift in foreign policy ha...

EU pharmaceutical expenditure forecast

OpenAIRE

Urbinati, Duccio; Rémuzat, Cécile; Kornfeld, Åsa; Vataire, Anne-Lise; Cetinsoy, Laurent; Aballéa, Samuel; Mzoughi, Olfa; Toumi, Mondher

2014-01-01

Background and Objectives: With constant incentives for healthcare payers to contain their pharmaceutical budgets, forecasting has become critically important. Some countries have, for instance, developed pharmaceutical horizon scanning units. The objective of this project was to build a model to assess the net effect of the entrance of new patented medicinal products versus medicinal products going off-patent, with a defined forecast horizon, on selected European Union (EU) Member States’ ph...

EU-Russia Relations Regarding Water Resources in Central Asia

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anastasia Likhacheva

2014-05-01

Full Text Available In Central Asia, the water deficit and water-energy problem have been one of among the most acute and conflict-ridden challenges for the sustainable development of the region and for regional security. Key trade and investment partners, including Russia and the European Union, could play a considerable role in influencing this issue, due to the long-lasting status quo, the inability to find a solution through intra-regional dialogue and the region’s rising dependence on foreign trade. Indeed, water-related interactions between Russia and the EU have been developing in a complementary manner. The EU possesses new technologies and its members have access to long-term capital markets, while Russia carries influence through providing security, regulating migration and holding a favourable political position for offering mediation services to the republics of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. This article examines EU-Russia relations regarding water issues in Central Asia over the medium term. By analyzing cooperative and non-cooperative strategies used by the major stakeholders in the water conflict (the five republics and the third parties of Russia and the EU, it confirms the continuous complementary character of EU and Russian activities in this context. Russia will take responsibility for moderating the principal questions (as with the construction of big dams such as Rogunor Kambarata, as they relate to the provision of security guarantees. The EU will act through providing support for water companies from small and medium-sized enterprises, and promoting the European Water Initiative principles and by developing its investment policy. The intersection of interests is possible when if Russia will attracts an independent arbiter, such as an actor available to provide guarantees related to the values of professional objectivism, human rights support and environment protection. These issues inevitably arise with

The making of a European healthcare union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Vollaard, Hans; van de Bovenkamp, Hester M.; Martinsen, Dorte Sindbjerg

2016-01-01

that federalism offers the most fruitful way to do so because of its sensitivity to the EU’s institutional settings and to the territorial dimension of politics. The division of competences and national diversity of healthcare systems have been major obstacles for the formation of a healthcare union. However......, the EU obtained a role in healthcare through the impact of non-healthcare legislation, voluntary co-operation, court rulings, governments’ joint-decision traps, and fiscal stress of member states. The emerging European healthcare union is a system of cooperative federalism without much cost-sharing...

EU Regulation of Nanobiocides: Challenges in Implementing the Biocidal Product Regulation (BPR

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anna Brinch

2016-02-01

Full Text Available The Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR contains several provisions for nanomaterials (NMs and is the first regulation in the European Union to require specific testing and risk assessment for the NM form of a biocidal substance as a part of the information requirements. Ecotoxicological data are one of the pillars of the information requirements in the BPR, but there are currently no standard test guidelines for the ecotoxicity testing of NMs. The overall objective of this work was to investigate the implications of the introduction of nano-specific testing requirements in the BPR and to explore how these might be fulfilled in the case of copper oxide nanoparticles. While there is information and data available in the open literature that could be used to fulfill the BPR information requirements, most of the studies do not take the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s nanospecific test guidelines into consideration. This makes it difficult for companies as well as regulators to fulfill the BPR information requirements for nanomaterials. In order to enable a nanospecific risk assessment, best practices need to be developed regarding stock suspension preparation and characterization, exposure suspensions preparation, and for conducting ecotoxicological test.

EU Regulation of Nanobiocides: Challenges in Implementing the Biocidal Product Regulation (BPR).

Science.gov (United States)

Brinch, Anna; Hansen, Steffen Foss; Hartmann, Nanna B; Baun, Anders

2016-02-16

The Biocidal Products Regulation (BPR) contains several provisions for nanomaterials (NMs) and is the first regulation in the European Union to require specific testing and risk assessment for the NM form of a biocidal substance as a part of the information requirements. Ecotoxicological data are one of the pillars of the information requirements in the BPR, but there are currently no standard test guidelines for the ecotoxicity testing of NMs. The overall objective of this work was to investigate the implications of the introduction of nano-specific testing requirements in the BPR and to explore how these might be fulfilled in the case of copper oxide nanoparticles. While there is information and data available in the open literature that could be used to fulfill the BPR information requirements, most of the studies do not take the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development's nanospecific test guidelines into consideration. This makes it difficult for companies as well as regulators to fulfill the BPR information requirements for nanomaterials. In order to enable a nanospecific risk assessment, best practices need to be developed regarding stock suspension preparation and characterization, exposure suspensions preparation, and for conducting ecotoxicological test.

European Union response to Fukushima. European stress tests and peer review

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Jamet, Philippe [Autorite de Surete Nucleaire (ASN), Paris (France)

2012-07-01

Following the severe accidents which started in the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP on 11 March 2011, the European Council requested that a comprehensive safety and risk assessment, in light of preliminary lessons learned, be performed on all EU nuclear plants. Therefore, stress tests and peer review assessing natural initiating events, the loss of safety systems and severe accident management have been performed in the 15 European Union countries with nuclear power plants as well as Switzerland and Ukraine. The final peer review report of the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) highlights four main areas for improvement to be explored across Europe: 1. Development by the Western European Nuclear Regulators' Association (WENRA), with the contribution of the best available EU expertise, of a European guidance on assessment of natural hazards and margins; 2. Importance of Periodic Safety Review to be underlined by ENSREG; 3. Expeditious implementation of the recognised measures to protect containment integrity; 4. Prevention of accidents resulting from natural hazards and limitation of their consequences. The peer review of the European stress tests was completed in April 2012. In their conclusive statement issued 26 April 2012, the national European regulators and the European Commission as European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) required that follow-up would occur by way of an ENSREG action plan. Country specific action plans will be developed and peer review workshop will be organised to share lessons learned on the implementation of post-Fukushima safety improvements.

European Union response to Fukushima. European stress tests and peer review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jamet, Philippe

2012-01-01

Following the severe accidents which started in the Fukushima Dai-ichi NPP on 11 March 2011, the European Council requested that a comprehensive safety and risk assessment, in light of preliminary lessons learned, be performed on all EU nuclear plants. Therefore, stress tests and peer review assessing natural initiating events, the loss of safety systems and severe accident management have been performed in the 15 European Union countries with nuclear power plants as well as Switzerland and Ukraine. The final peer review report of the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) highlights four main areas for improvement to be explored across Europe: 1. Development by the Western European Nuclear Regulators' Association (WENRA), with the contribution of the best available EU expertise, of a European guidance on assessment of natural hazards and margins; 2. Importance of Periodic Safety Review to be underlined by ENSREG; 3. Expeditious implementation of the recognised measures to protect containment integrity; 4. Prevention of accidents resulting from natural hazards and limitation of their consequences. The peer review of the European stress tests was completed in April 2012. In their conclusive statement issued 26 April 2012, the national European regulators and the European Commission as European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) required that follow-up would occur by way of an ENSREG action plan. Country specific action plans will be developed and peer review workshop will be organised to share lessons learned on the implementation of post-Fukushima safety improvements.

Communication of 19 May 2004 from the Council of the European Union concerning EU strategy for the fight against proliferation of weapons of mass destruction

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2004-07-27

The Director General has received a letter from Mr. Javier Solana, Secretary General/High Representative of the Council of the European Union, dated 19 May 2004, attaching a copy of the 'Council Joint Action on support for IAEA activities under its Nuclear Security Programme and in the framework of the implementation of the EU Strategy against Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction' of 12 May 2004, which was adopted by the Council on 17 May 2004. The Council document is attached herewith for the information of Member States.

Progress of Fulfillment of the Kyoto Objectives by the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Paul Calanter

2014-05-01

Full Text Available Climate change is one of the most important challenges that humanity faces in the 21st century, which is seriously considered by the European Union. In this context, the objective of this paper is to analyze the extent to which the EU has fulfilled its obligations in the first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol, and also to expose the obligations stipulated for the second period (2013-2020. The approach is to display in the first part of the work the fulfillment by the European Union of the Kyoto objectives, and in the second part, to analyze the successful implementation in the EU of the flexible mechanisms provided through the Protocol.

Involving the citizens. Radioactive waste management and the EU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferraro, Gianluca

2014-01-01

The European Union (EU) has been often criticized for its democratic deficit, which has been studied in the academic literature at multiple levels: in the polity (macro-level), the institutions (meso-level) and the policies (micro-level) of the EU. The paper presents counterarguments in favour of the democratic nature of the EU and focuses on the micro-level, particularly the process of implementation of EU policies. Policy implementation and the democratic involvement of citizens are discussed with regard to radioactive waste management and the Directive 2011/70/EURATOM. The Directive's clause on transparency and the recent development of a centre of knowledge for public participation in energy policy implementation by the European Commission (EC) are expression of the democratic nature of the EU and provide further counterarguments to the claim of democratic deficit.

Municipal solid waste development phases: Evidence from EU27.

Science.gov (United States)

Vujić, Goran; Gonzalez-Roof, Alvaro; Stanisavljević, Nemanja; Ragossnig, Arne M

2015-12-01

Many countries in the European Union (EU) have very developed waste management systems. Some of its members have managed to reduce their landfilled waste to values close to zero during the last decade. Thus, European Union legislation is very stringent regarding waste management for their members and candidate countries, too. This raises the following questions: Is it possible for developing and developed countries to comply with the European Union waste legislation, and under what conditions? How did waste management develop in relation to the economic development in the countries of the European Union? The correlation between waste management practices and economic development was analysed for 27 of the European Union Member States for the time period between 1995 and 2007. In addition, a regression analysis was performed to estimate landfilling of waste in relation to gross domestic product for every country. The results showed a strong correlation between the waste management variables and the gross domestic product of the EU27 members. The definition of the municipal solid waste management development phases followed a closer analysis of the relation between gross domestic product and landfilled waste. The municipal solid waste management phases are characterised by high landfilling rates at low gross domestic product levels, and landfilling rates near zero at high gross domestic product levels. Hence the results emphasize the importance of wider understanding of what is required for developing countries to comply with the European Union initiatives, and highlight the importance of allowing developing countries to make their own paths of waste management development. © The Author(s) 2015.

The innovation of EU environmental policy

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

actors involved. The seven case-study chapters, written from a variety of perspectives, focus on such topics as the impact of formal and informal institutional factors on policy innovation, the potential influence of new members on EU environmental policy-making, the role of cross-national networks...... and alliances, the shifting balance between leader and laggard members, and the ongoing problem integrating the environment into other policy fields. The book also draws on theoretical approaches ranging from institutional to policy network analyses and examines such pertinent contemporary issues as packaging......Inspired by the recent accession of three environmentally progressive member states to the European Union (EU), this book explores the process of environmental policy innovation in the EU, the forces behind the introduction of new issues and policy approaches, and the roles played by the major...

Radionuclide monitoring in foodstuff: overview of the current implementation in the EU countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Borbala Mate; Katarzyna Sobiech-Matura; Timotheos Altzitzoglou

2015-01-01

The Member States (MS) of the European Union (EU) are obliged to monitor the radioactivity in the environment since the signature of the Euratom Treaty (Treaty establishing the European Atomic Energy Community). Numerous secondary legislations derived from the Treaty can be found stating restrictions and maximum permitted levels of radionuclides in foodstuff. But to that purpose, no common integrated measurement methods are used with well-defined measurands. The present work consists of two parts. First, the current European regulations in force were collected, and then the food monitoring results, provided by the MS, were analysed. (author)

Will MyBank lead to more cross-border e-commerce in the EU?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Weltevreden, Jesse

2013-01-01

The launch of MyBank – the EU wide online payment system that provides consumers the possibility to make payments for goods and services in other EU countries via their own online banking environment – may give a boost to cross-border e-commerce within the European Union.

EU Failing FAO Challenge to Improve Global Food Security.

Science.gov (United States)

Smyth, Stuart J; Phillips, Peter W B; Kerr, William A

2016-07-01

The announcement that the European Union (EU) had reached an agreement allowing Member States (MS) to ban genetically modified (GM) crops confirms that the EU has chosen to ignore the food security challenge issued to the world by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in 2009. The FAO suggests that agricultural biotechnology has a central role in meeting the food security challenge. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Economic Burden of Bladder Cancer Across the European Union.

Science.gov (United States)

Leal, Jose; Luengo-Fernandez, Ramon; Sullivan, Richard; Witjes, J Alfred

2016-03-01

More than 120,000 people are diagnosed annually with bladder cancer in the 28 countries of the European Union (EU). With >40,000 people dying of it each year, it is the sixth leading cause of cancer. However, to date, no systematic cost-of-illness study has assessed the economic impact of bladder cancer in the EU. To estimate the annual economic costs of bladder cancer in the EU for 2012. Country-specific cancer cost data were estimated using aggregate data on morbidity, mortality, and health care resource use, obtained from numerous international and national sources. Health care costs were estimated from expenditures on primary, outpatient, emergency, and inpatient care, as well as medications. Costs of unpaid care and lost earnings due to morbidity and early death were estimated. Bladder cancer cost the EU €4.9 billion in 2012, with health care accounting for €2.9 billion (59%) and representing 5% of total health care cancer costs. Bladder cancer accounted for 3% of all cancer costs in the EU (€143 billion) in 2012 and represented an annual health care cost of €57 per 10 EU citizens, with costs varying >10 times between the country with the lowest cost, Bulgaria (€8 for every 10 citizens), and highest cost, Luxembourg (€93). Productivity losses and informal care represented 23% and 18% of bladder cancer costs, respectively. The quality and availability of comparable cancer-related data across the EU need further improvement. Our results add to essential public health and policy intelligence for delivering affordable bladder cancer care systems and prioritising the allocation of public research funds. We looked at the economic costs of bladder cancer across the European Union (EU). We found bladder cancer to cost €4.9 billion in 2012, with health care accounting for €2.9 billion. Our study provides data that can be used to inform affordable cancer care in the EU. Copyright © 2015 European Association of Urology. Published by Elsevier B.V. All

Encountering Challenges with the EU Regulation on Advance Therapy Medical Products.

Science.gov (United States)

Mansnérus, Juli

2015-12-01

This article aims at analysing how well the Advanced Therapy Medical Product Regulation (EC) No. 1394/2007 (ATMP Regulation) meets the needs of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMES), academia and public tissue establishments developing advanced therapy medical products (ATMPS). Benefits and shortcomings of the ATMP Regulation are identified, and possible amendments are proposed to accelerate the translation of research into advanced therapies and to facilitate the commercialisation of ATMPS whilst ensuring safety. It was set up as a lex specialis to ensure the free movement of ATMPS within the EU in order to facilitate their access to the internal market and to foster the competitiveness of European pharmaceutical companies, while guaranteeing the highest level protection of public health. Since the adoption of the ATMP Regulation in late 2008, only 5 ATMPS have been granted marketing authorisations thus far. Hence, there is a need to analyse whether the ATMP Regulation meets its objectives.

The Role of the OECD and the EU in the Development of Labour Market Policy in the Czech Republic

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Caroline Anne de la Porte

2009-12-01

Full Text Available This article analyses the role of the OECD through its “Jobs Strategy” and the European Union (EU through the “European Employment Strategy” in the development of macro-economic, employment and labour market policy in the Czech Republic. As a full member of the two organisations, the Czech Republic has been subject to their soft non-binding policy advice in the area of labour market reform. The OECD and EU policy models are similar, both insisting on growth-oriented macro-economic policy, supported by active labour market policies, an active and effective public employment service (PES and the de-regulation of labour markets. However, the OECD actively advocates private actor involvement in labour markets, while the EU insists on the role of the public sector. The inquisitive styles of the two organisations differ: the OECD has a decontextualised and quantified analysis of performance accompanied by a supportive in-depth qualitative analysis, while the EU has a more contextualised analysis, which is also more politicised. However, the EU’s policy is partially supported by European structural funds, while the OECD has no comparable instrument. Despite some differences in policy model and inquisitive style, both the OECD and the EU have given the same major policy recommendations over time to the Czech Republic, although the OECD has insisted more on de-regulation, whereas the EU has also emphasised worker security and anti-discrimination. In macro-economic policy, de-regulation and increasing flexibility on the labour market, the Czech Republic conforms with OECD and EU policy models and recommendations. The PES has been developed institutionally to fit both models. However, activation, shifts in expenditure from passive to active labour market policy, training and placement of the PES have not changed substantially since the Czech Republic became member of the EU, suggesting that the real impact of the OECD and the EU has been weak.

SOME CRITICAL ASPECTS CONCERNING THE INSTITUTIONAL SYSTEM OF EUROPEAN UNION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Timofte Claudia Simona

2013-07-01

Full Text Available In this paper we want to clarify and understand the decisional process in European which is related to the determination of the identity of the Union, answering to several questions concerning the implementation of the European Union into an organization, the different relations with other organizations and with the international law. In the family of the international organizations, the European Union has its own place because it realizes an economic integration project and a political one, a supranational but refusing the traditional categories of constitution and the international law. Qualifying as an international organization sui generis, EU developed a new legal order, deciding to create a supranational organization, formed by Member States and their citizens. The integration process is a permanent challenge opened to a new and developing process for solving all the internal and external problems of the EU. The States have an international "sensitivity" when the application of EU rules exceeds their obligations laid down in the Treaties to third countries and international organizations to which they have not exempted obligations. It was argued that the concept of "demos" or acting people is intrinsically linked to that of the nation-State. The issue of democratic deficit of the European Union is bound to four basic problems: the construction as a whole and therefore of the institutional system, under the principle of conferral, the Union shall act only within the limits that Member States have been conferred in the Treaties to attain the objectives that they set, The Treaty of Lisbon reinforces the legitimacy of the operation of the Union based on free and democratic will expressed by Member States. European construction is achieved through a democratic transfer of competences of the democratic States to a Commission subject to a weak democratic control, while the European Central Bank preserves absolute dominion over its monetary policy

The Theory of EU Constitutional Pluralism: A Crisis in a Crisis?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pierdominici Leonardo

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The paper deals with the validity of constitutional pluralism as a constitutional theory for the European Union and a paradigm for the understanding of EU law in the current times of crisis. It reconstructs the way in which constitutional pluralism came to the fore, the different ways in which the theory was presented, and considers historical criticism it has faced. It then looks at the anomalies that, allegedly, cannot be explained today by constitutional pluralism as a paradigm, linked to the current economic and political crises in the Union. The reconstruction of the debate is complemented with reflections on both the descriptive and normative validity of EU constitutional pluralism’s claims.

In the shadow of the Cosmetic Directive--inconsistencies in EU environmental hazard classification requirements for UV-filters.

Science.gov (United States)

Sobek, A; Bejgarn, S; Rudén, C; Molander, L; Breitholtz, M

2013-09-01

UV-filters are chemicals with potentially environmental hazardous properties. In the European Union (EU), UV-filters contained in sunscreen products are currently regulated by the Cosmetic Directive (from July 2013 by the Cosmetic Products Regulation). Environmental hazard classifications according to the regulation on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (CLP) must be determined for UV-filters contained in industrial chemical products, whereas UV-filters contained in sunscreens are exempted from CLP. In this study we determined the potential environmental hazard classifications of UV-filters and sunscreen products if the CLP regulation was to be required for cosmetic products. Two sunscreen products were evaluated in accordance with the aquatic environmental hazard criteria for mixtures. The results highlight that the inconsistencies in the current EU regulation of UV filters hamper the risk management of environmental hazards of UV filters used in cosmetic products. Almost 50% of the investigated UV-filters approved for use in cosmetic products on the European market according to the current Cosmetic Directive were identified to meet the CLP classification as being hazardous to the aquatic environment. Assuming a worst-case scenario, the two examined sunscreens could both be classified as hazardous to the aquatic environment with long-lasting effects according to CLP classification criteria. Hence, if the CLP regulation was applicable to sunscreen products, both brands could potentially be labelled with the environmental hazard pictogram and associated hazard and precautionary statements. Including cosmetic products, and thereby sunscreens, in the CLP regulation would contribute to a more harmonized and transparent regulation of potentially hazardous substances on the EU market. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Fostering regional democracy through civic organisations: comparing EU mechanisms in Europe and Central America

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Sanchez Salgado, R.; Parthenay, K.

2013-01-01

This article compares the effects of the mechanisms of the European Union (EU) on the promotion of regional civic organisations, especially funding opportunities, in two regional settings (Central America and Europe). It is argued that the EU is exporting a specific model of relationships between

The potential role of Life Cycle Assessment in regulation of chemicals in the European Union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Christensen, Frans Møller; Olsen, Stig Irving

2003-01-01

The regulation of chemicals in EU is undergoing substantial changes these years with implementation of the “REACH” system. Simultaneously, the concepts of LCA and Integrated Product Policy (IPP) are becoming increasingly integrated in European standardisation and regulatory activities. As a logical...... consequence, the European Chemicals Bureau (ECB) has enrolled in the OMNIITOX project with the clear aim of investigating possible applications of LCA in future EU regulation of chemicals. Implementation of REACH will expand and change the activities and services currently delivered by ECB as the focal point...... uses of LCA could be in overall priority setting (including non-chemical products) of environmental product policy and in standardisation work related to products/processes releasing chemicals to the environment. A number of methodological interactions between regulatory risk assessment and LCA as well...

Intelligence Reform in Albania: Its Relation to Democratization and Integration into the EU and NATO

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Bala, Eduart

2008-01-01

...) that are now part of the European Union (EU) and NATO. For most of the CEECs, the need to satisfy the challenging conditions for membership in the EU and NATO has acted as an "anchor" of democratization and other reforms...

Company Tax Integration in the European Union During Economic Crisis – Why and How?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

A. Sting (Anna)

2014-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ Company tax integration in the EU is yet to be realised. This article first outlines the main benefits of company tax integration for the Economic and Monetary Union, and also discusses the main legal obstacles the EU Treaties pose for harmonisation of company tax.

Energy policy as the bridge in Croatia's approach to the European Union

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zuvela, I.

2000-01-01

The introduction of the paper brings elements of the EU energy policy through three development phases. in order to decrease deficit in energy resources, the Union required from the member-countries to adjust their national energy policies to the common strategic interests of the Union and to exploit the synergic effects' advantages brought by the energy sector integration and common energy market. In continuation the energy policy development and the newest reform of energy sector in Croatia are analysed, which will introduce market relations and the rationalisation of energy production and consumption into the sector. The comparative analysis of energy policies and long-term tendencies of energy development reveals some substantial similarities in the development of energy sector and energy policy of the EU and Croatia. Therefore, it can be presumed the energy reform implementation would bring croatia close to the energy standards of the EU. (author)

EU Development Policy in a Changing World

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mold, Andrew

2007-01-01

On many fronts, EU development policy is at a critical juncture. In the face of major new challenges, such as the current impasse in the Doha Round of multilateral trade negotiations, and increasing concerns over security threats, the European Union is having to rethink much of its development

European Union's public fishing access agreements in developing countries

OpenAIRE

Le Manach, F.; Chaboud, Christian; Copeland, D.; Cury, Philippe; Gascuel, D.; Kleisner, K.M.; Standing, A.; Sumaila, U.R.; Zeller, D.; Pauly, D.

2013-01-01

The imperative to increase seafood supply while dealing with its overfished local stocks has pushed the European Union (EU) and its Member States to fish in the Exclusive Economic Zones of other countries through various types of fishing agreements for decades. Although European public fishing agreements are commented on regularly and considered to be transparent, this is the first global and historical study on the fee regime that governs them. We find that the EU has subsidized these agreem...

EUROPEAN UNION SUPPORT AND TRANSITIONAL JUSTICE PROCESSES IN KOSOVO

OpenAIRE

Remzije Istrefi

2017-01-01

The legacy of systematic human rights violations committed during 1999 violent conflict and the previous repressive rule still impact the everyday life of Kosovo citizens. That is why transitional justice processes are a necessary component in Kosovo’s state building efforts. With the end of the 1999 conflict, Kosovo has been administered by the United Nations Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) and also supported by European Union (EU) presences: the EU Special Representative in Kosovo, and European U...

An Assessment of Coherence Between Early Warning and Response Systems and Serious Cross-Border Health Threats in the European Union and Turkey.

Science.gov (United States)

Ekmekci, Perihan Elif

2016-12-01

Disease outbreaks have attracted the attention of the public health community to early warning and response systems (EWRS) for communicable diseases and other cross-border threats to health. The European Union (EU) and the World Health Organization (WHO) have published regulations in this area. Decision 1082/2013/EU brought a new approach the management of public health threats in EU member states. Decision 1082/2013/EU brought several innovations, which included establishing a Health Security Committee; preparedness and response planning; joint procurement of medical countermeasures; ad hoc monitoring for biological, chemical, and environmental threats; EWRS; and recognition of an emergency situation and interoperability between various sectors. Turkey, as an acceding country to the EU and a member of the WHO, has been improving its national public health system to meet EU legislations and WHO standards. This article first explains EWRS as defined in Decision 1082/2013/EU and Turkey's obligations to align its public health laws to the EU acquis. EWRS in Turkey are addressed, particularly their coherence with EU policies regarding preparedness and response, alert notification, and interoperability between health and other sectors. Finally, the challenges and limitations of the current Turkish system are discussed and further improvements are suggested. (Disaster Med Public Health Preparedness. 2016;10:883-892).

New prospects in the development of nuclear energy in Romania in the context of the accession to EU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gorea, Valica; Popescu, Dan; Bilegan, Iosif C.

2007-01-01

Full text: Including about half a billion inhabitants, the European Union is the second largest primary energy consumer in the world after the United States. The most recent expansion of the EU to the East added diversity to the EU challenging states to find and implement a joint energy policy. As the expression of increased regionalization, the economic integration pertains to the elimination of the economic boundaries between countries and the merger of the states into an economic entity that functions more efficiently than the individual economies separately do. The economic integration aims to foster the wealth of the countries involved and, as a natural consequence, to increase the stability of the region. Nuclear power will play a crucial role in the European energy balance. In the nuclear power sector, the main concern for the new coming countries in the European Union, remains the nuclear safety. New standards and regulation will be issued for improving the general quality of life in a sound environment. For the candidate countries entering the European Union, this situation represents a real challenge. Their national legislation must be improved to meet the European standards. Public acceptance remains an essential issue for the European nuclear industry. In this context, the paper presents the main prospects and priorities in the development of nuclear field in Romania. (authors)

From Representation to Participation: A More Democratic European Union?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marcela Monica Stoica

2012-05-01

Full Text Available The present paper analyzes the evolution and characteristics of the democratic process in theEuropean Union from the perspective of political science using the recent theories in this field. Following theentry into force, the Treaty of Lisbon establishes the principle of participatory democracy that puts the focusof the European citizen, a citizen who is actively involved in European Union life, strengthening EU - citizenrelationship. The essence of participatory democracy is the destruction of political apathy and the maximizingof active participation of citizens in the democratic tasks. So, the basic principle of the participatorydemocracy is solidarity. The results of this analysis show that although participatory democracy is establishedin the European law, citizens are less involved in the decision-making in EU and are more and moreindividual, contradicting thus the very foundations of this type of democracy.

Should the EU climate policy framework be reformed?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David ELLISON

2011-12-01

Full Text Available Though to-date the European Union (EU has played the most significant leadership role in international negotiations to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG emissions, the emission-reducing performance of individual EU Member states has for many been less than stellar. Several EU15 Member states continue to raise rather than lower emissions. Analysing the most successful policy instruments, this paper argues EU policy efforts could benefit from three important innovations. The following strategies – the adoption of an EU-wide FIT (feed-in tariff, an EU-wide carbon tax and more flexibility in the trading of carbon credits – could significantly improve emission reductions, their relative cost-efficiency and spread burden-sharing more evenly across technologies and Member states. This raises important questions, both about the effectiveness of EU and Kyoto-style commitments, as well as the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS. The commitment strategy, and in particular the EU ETS mechanism, have had the smallest impact on emission reductions. The proposed set of strategies could make a far greater contribution to future EU efforts and potentially lock in the impressive progress already made. Such a policy shift, if successful, would also greatly enhance the EU’s already significant credibility and bargaining power in international climate negotiations.

Member State Foreign Policy towards EU Military Operations

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Rodt, Annemarie Peen

2017-01-01

Over the past decade the European Union has undertaken military operations in Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, twice in the Democratic Republic of Congo, jointly in the Central African Republic and Chad, both in and off the coast of Somalia and most recently in Mali. Ongoing discussions in Brussels...... suggest that another operation in CAR may be underway shortly. The EU’s military endeavours are particularly interesting to this enquiry, as they suggest a radical change in the cohort of member states’ foreign policy towards the Union, which until the turn of the Millennium had been considered by its MS......, amongst others, as a predominantly ‘civilian power’. The significance of such a change merits a chapter that delves deeper into MS foreign policy specifically related to EU military operations.The rationale for this research is to further unpack intra-EU foreign policy and its effect on the external...

Exploring central governments' coordination of European Union affairs

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Mads Christian Dagnis

2017-01-01

This study explores the coordination mechanisms managed by the central governments of the European Union (EU) in order to develop negotiation positions for their plenipotentiaries in the Council. Utilizing novel data from an expert survey, the first part examines the relationships within and betw...

The European Union's Mediterranean Policy in the Context of the "Arab Spring"

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Victoria A. Latkina

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The article discusses the policy of the European Union aimed at the export of its democratic values, acquis communautaire and governance models to the neighbour countries in the Southern Mediterranean. The process of Europeanization reflects a particular case of global megatrend -democratization which in its turn positioned as democracy promotion through soft power instruments. From the EU point of view the goal of the Barcelona process launched in 1995 was to construct Euro-Mediterranean Partnership and common identity in order to promote democratic transitions in Southern Mediterranean. While the EU Foreign Policy in the Mediterranean region was historically conditioned by the security interests of the European Union, it suffered from securitization/democratization dilemma. The article analyses the process of external Europeanization in the Southern Mediterranean as a regional dimension of global democratization process in the context of Union for the Mediterranean development before and after the Arab Spring and new approach in the framework of the ENP Partnership for Democracy and Shared Prosperity with the Southern Mediterranean. The article proposes that the lack of political strategic vision in the EU toward the Arab democratic transition during 2011-2013 narrows its role as a transformative democratic power, hinders Europeanization/ democratization process in the macro-region of North Africa and Middle East and presents the EU with a new dilemma - to continue its traditional democratization policy or to shift towards a more pragmatic approach to cooperating with new Arab regimes.

Unions and NGOs positions on the risks and regulation of nanotechnology

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Noela Invernizzi

2013-11-01

Full Text Available This article discusses the perspectives of a number of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs and trade unions on the risks and regulation of nanotechnology. In the context of large public and private investments in nanotechnology, and its rapid incorporation into processes and products, these groups have sought to advance their interests through diverse strategies. Their positions are centered in the application of the precautionary principle and include demands for moratoria, more investigation on environmental, health and occupational risks, specific and mandatory regulation, transparent information and broad public participation in the governance of nanotechnology. We show that these civil society organizations are constructing collaborations and alliances and have had some degree of success in placing the issues of risks and regulation into the government´s agendas.

Tackling Dependency: The EU and its Energy Security Challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Larsson, Robert L

2007-10-15

Europe is facing a future of augmenting energy demands, domestic depletion, high prices and other energy-political challenges. Climate change, infrastructure resilience, producers' coercive energy policy and the EU's internal market failures have put stress on the EU's emerging energy policy and inspired the union to address its challenges with greater enthusiasm than before. Some of the EU's challenges call for strategic choices of a magnitude that EU is not used to handle. The aim of this report is therefore to identify, analyse and assess the political side of Europe's energy predicament and import dependency. Against the background of increasing dependence on energy imports, the report tries to answer questions: what are the key dimensions of Europe's energy security and what are their consequences?

Tackling Dependency: The EU and its Energy Security Challenges

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Larsson, Robert L.

2007-10-01

Europe is facing a future of augmenting energy demands, domestic depletion, high prices and other energy-political challenges. Climate change, infrastructure resilience, producers' coercive energy policy and the EU's internal market failures have put stress on the EU's emerging energy policy and inspired the union to address its challenges with greater enthusiasm than before. Some of the EU's challenges call for strategic choices of a magnitude that EU is not used to handle. The aim of this report is therefore to identify, analyse and assess the political side of Europe's energy predicament and import dependency. Against the background of increasing dependence on energy imports, the report tries to answer questions: what are the key dimensions of Europe's energy security and what are their consequences?

Conference on EU Capital Markets Union: Contents and Discontents

NARCIS (Netherlands)

N. Dorn (Nicholas)

2015-01-01

markdownabstract__Abstract__ In February 2015 the Commission published its Green Paper on Capital Markets Union (CMU) and an Action Plan will follow later in 2015. The consultation period ends in May, so June/July is a good time to take stock. In terms of its intentions for market structure, CMU

Involving the citizens. Radioactive waste management and the EU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ferraro, G.

2014-01-01

The European Union (EU) has been often criticized for its democratic deficit, which has been studied in the academic literature at multiple levels: in the polity (macro-level), the institutions (meso-level) and the policies (micro-level) of the EU. The paper presents counter-arguments in favour of the democratic nature of the EU and focuses on the micro-level, particularly the process of implementation of EU policies. Policy implementation and the democratic involvement of citizens are discussed with regard to radioactive waste management and the Directive 2011/70/EURATOM. The Directive's clause on transparency and the recent development of a centre of knowledge for public participation in energy policy implementation by the European Commission (EC) are expression of the democratic nature of the EU and provide further counter-arguments to the claim of democratic deficit. (authors)

Overview FLEGT related stakeholder processes and initiatives in the European Union and The Netherlands

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Bodegom, van A.J.; Hijweege, W.L.

2006-01-01

This review gives an overview of FLEGT related stakeholder processes and initiatives in the European Union and The Netherlands. The EU and Malaysia are in a process of preparing a Voluntary Partnership Agreement within the FLEGT process that is aimed at guarantied supply to the EU of legal timber.

Final report of coordination and cooperation with the European Union on embankment failure analysis

Science.gov (United States)

There has been an emphasis in the European Union (EU) community on the investigation of extreme flood processes and the uncertainties related to these processes. Over a 3-year period, the EU and the U.S. dam safety community (1) coordinated their efforts and collected information needed to integrate...

Leaving an emissions trading scheme : Implications for the United Kingdom and the European Union

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Tol, Richard S.J.

2018-01-01

The United Kingdom (UK) may opt to leave the European Union (EU) emissions trading system (ETS) for greenhouse gases. This policy brief examines the implications. The UK is a large importer of emission permits. Thus, meeting its climate policy targets would be much more difficult without the EU ETS,

FP 6 EU - COVERS. Coordination action - VVER safety research

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Vasa, I.

2008-01-01

In this work research program of the European Union FP 6 - COVERS coordinated by the NRI Rez is presented. COVERS is designed to improve professional and communication environment in the specific area covering all aspects of safe and reliable operation of nuclear power plants with VVER-440 and VVER-1000 reactors. Project Consortium is composed of 26 research and development, engineering and technical support organisations of European VVER-operating and other EU and non-EU countries.

Energy regulation at EU level. The role of the European Commission and ACER in the context of REMIT; Energieregulierung auf Unionsebene. Die Rolle der Europaeischen Kommission und der ACER nach der REMIT-VO

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Konar, Selma [Sozietaet Becker Buettner Held, Muenchen (Germany). Energie- und Infrastrukturrecht

2015-03-15

The regulatory act of promulgating REMIT, the Regulation on Wholesale Market Integrity and Transparency, has highlighted the commanding position of both the European Commission and ACER, the Agency for the Cooperation of Energy Regulators, in the regulation of energy affairs in the European Union. Furthermore it has led to major changes in how surveillance is organized at the national level. The first part of this publication is dedicated to the organization of market surveillance following the promulgation of REMIT. It depicts the tasks of the European Commission and ACER in this context. The Regulation has accorded the authorities a central role in managing the European Union's responsibilities with regard to energy wholesale trade. The act of delegating such far-reaching competence to the authorities deserves careful review however. The article shows how, given ACER's lack of practical experience in market surveillance, as well as its lack of human resources, the task of surveilling the European energy wholesale market confronts the agency with a significant challenge. How successfully the EU energy agency will master this challenge will depend on a number of different factors. Stringent requirements will be needed for the data registration offices in order to ensure optimal data processing. National authorities and supervisory bodies should be made to participate in the data monitoring process. ACER's efficiency in surveilling the market will furthermore depend decisively on its IT infrastructure.

MTU engines for locomotives satisfying the EU stage IIIB emission standard; MTU-Lokomotivantriebe fuer die Emissionsstufe EU IIIB

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wintruff, Ingo; Reich, Christian; Geiselmann, Wolfgang; Gottschalch, Harald; Jansen, Eddy [MTU Friedrichshafen GmbH, Friedrichshafen (Germany)

2011-07-01

The emission limits for diesel locomotives inside the European Union are included within the scope of Directive 97/68/EC, which is sometimes referred to as the ''non-road directive''. The pollutants limited by it are NO{sub x}, particulates, CO and HCs. The aim, through the directive, is to reduce railway emissions by a factor of ten by the year 2020. The EU stage IIIB standard is due to take effect on 1 January 2012. This envisages a further drastic reduction in limit values compared with EU stage IIIA, which is applicable today. For diesel locomotives, EU stage IIIA only came into force as recently as 2009. The manufacturers of engines and locomotives are thus having to face up to the huge challenge of getting the technologies needed for EU stage IIIB ready for the production line within a period of only three years. MTU has succeeded in developing engines for diesel locomotives that comply with the EU stage IIIB emission standard, which appreciably lower emissions compared with engines satisfying EU stage IIIA, thanks to the incorporation of the most modern technologies available, and has even gone as far as preparing them for the EU stage IV, the next one to come into force. (orig.)

Scenarios for EU citizenship in 2030 – Repertoires for action in thinkable futures

OpenAIRE

Bakker, W.E.; van der Kolk, M.

2017-01-01

European Union (EU) citizenship is both about a legal status – a set of civil, social, economic and political rights complementing one’s national citizenship – and about being an active participating member of the EU political community. EU citizenship includes therefore influencing decisionmaking on rules, policies and practices that effect one’s own national and local societies. The opportunities and capacities to exercise these rights and to participate differ between countries, between gr...

US - European Union Relations: Economic Change and Political Transition

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Kramer, Steven

1999-01-01

.... ̂ The introduction of the euro as the currency of the EMU will aid participating European Union (EU) member states by eliminating transaction costs, exchange rate risks, and interest rate spreads across the 11 European currencies early in the coming century...

In the shadow of the Cosmetic Directive — Inconsistencies in EU environmental hazard classification requirements for UV-filters

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sobek, A.; Bejgarn, S.; Rudén, C.; Molander, L.; Breitholtz, M.

2013-01-01

UV-filters are chemicals with potentially environmental hazardous properties. In the European Union (EU), UV-filters contained in sunscreen products are currently regulated by the Cosmetic Directive (from July 2013 by the Cosmetic Products Regulation). Environmental hazard classifications according to the regulation on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures (CLP) must be determined for UV-filters contained in industrial chemical products, whereas UV-filters contained in sunscreens are exempted from CLP. In this study we determined the potential environmental hazard classifications of UV-filters and sunscreen products if the CLP regulation was to be required for cosmetic products. Two sunscreen products were evaluated in accordance with the aquatic environmental hazard criteria for mixtures. The results highlight that the inconsistencies in the current EU regulation of UV filters hamper the risk management of environmental hazards of UV filters used in cosmetic products. Almost 50% of the investigated UV-filters approved for use in cosmetic products on the European market according to the current Cosmetic Directive were identified to meet the CLP classification as being hazardous to the aquatic environment. Assuming a worst-case scenario, the two examined sunscreens could both be classified as hazardous to the aquatic environment with long-lasting effects according to CLP classification criteria. Hence, if the CLP regulation was applicable to sunscreen products, both brands could potentially be labelled with the environmental hazard pictogram and associated hazard and precautionary statements. Including cosmetic products, and thereby sunscreens, in the CLP regulation would contribute to a more harmonized and transparent regulation of potentially hazardous substances on the EU market. - Highlights: • UV-filters are used in both cosmetic and industrial products/applications • UV-filters in cosmetic products are excluded from CLP • We

New EU legislation for risk assessment of GM food: no scientific justification for mandatory animal feeding trials.

Science.gov (United States)

Kuiper, Harry A; Kok, Esther J; Davies, Howard V

2013-09-01

This commentary focuses on the potential added value of and need for (sub)-chronic testing of whole genetically modified (GM) foods in rodents to assess their safety. Such routine testing should not be required since, due to apparent weaknesses in the approach, it does not add to current risk assessment of GM foods. Moreover, the demand for routine testing using animals is in conflict with the European Union (EU) Commission's efforts to reduce animal experimentation. Regulating agencies in the EU are invited to respect the sound scientific principles applied to the risk assessment of foods derived from GM plants and not to interfere in the risk assessment by introducing extra requirements based on pseudo-scientific or political considerations. © 2013 Society for Experimental Biology, Association of Applied Biologists and John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Future Perspectives of the Implementation of EU Urban Agenda

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Olejnik Aleksandra

2017-06-01

Full Text Available This article is an overview of opinions and recommendations adopted in the European Union vis-à-vis urban policy. The author analyses the Pact of Amsterdam and future perspectives of the implementation of EU Urban Agenda.

Families and the European Union : law, politics and pluralism.

OpenAIRE

McGlynn, C.M.S.

2006-01-01

In the first book to offer a comprehensive analysis of family law in the European Union, McGlynn argues that a traditional concept of 'family' which has many adverse effects - on individuals, on families (in all their diverse forms), and indeed on the economic ambitions of the EU is forming the basis for the little-recognised and under-researched field of EU family law. This book examines three different aspects of family life - childhood, parenthood and partnerships - and critically analyses...

Zoonoses in the European Union: origin, distribution and dynamics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lahuerta, A.; Westrell, T.; Takkinen, J.

2011-01-01

We present a summary of the main findings of the latest report of the European Food Safety Authority and European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control on zoonoses, zoonotic agents and food-borne outbreaks in the European Union (EU), based on data from 2009. Zoonoses are prevalent and widely...... distributed across several countries in the EU. The most important highlight of this report was the continuous decrease of human salmonellosis since 2005, probably due to effective control programmes in livestock....

THE NEW ARCHITECTURE OF ECONOMIC GOVERNANCE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Coroiu Sorina Ioana

2015-07-01

Full Text Available The economic crisis that began in 2007-2008 has highlighted the need for a stronger economic coordination at EU level, to ensure financial stability. The new architecture of economic governance in the European Union is based on Fiscal Pact, on Macroeconomic Imbalances Identification Mechanism, on European Stability Mechanism and on Banking Union. Since the banking system is the most significant component of the financial system, we will give more importance to the analysis of Banking Union, which is based on three pillars: The Single Supervisory Mechanism, The Single Resolution Mechanism and The Deposit Guarantee Schemes.

How to design greenhouse gas trading in the EU?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svendsen, Gert Tinggaard; Vesterdal, Morten

2001-01-01

A new and remarkable Green Paper about how to trade Greenhouse gases (GHG) in the EU has recently been published by the Commission of the European Union. This to achieve the stated 8% reduction target level. The Green Paper raises ten questions about how greenhouse gas permit trading should...... be designed in the EU before year 2005. These ten questions can be compressed into four main issues, namely target group, allocation of emission allowances, how to mix emission trading with other instruments and fourth enforcement. In the literature, there is a strong need to guide decision...... concerning the future design of GHG permit trading in the EU....

How to Design Greenhouse Gas Trading in the EU?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Svendsen, Gert Tinggaard; Vesterdal, Morten

2003-01-01

A new and remarkable Green Paper about how to trade Greenhouse gases (GHG) in the EU has recently been published by the Commission of the European Union. This to achieve the stated 8% reduction target level. The Green Paper raises ten questions about how greenhouse gas permit trading should...... be designed in the EU before year 2005. These ten questions can be compressed into four main issues, namely target group, allocation of emission allowances, how to mix emission trading with other instruments and fourth enforcement. In the literature, there is a strong need to guide decision...... concerning the future design of GHG permit trading in the EU. Udgivelsesdato: NOV...

Legislative Co-decision in the European Union

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

This volume takes stock of twenty years of practising and studying codecision in the European Union (EU) and examines the procedure’s long-term implications for the EU’s institutions, politics and policies. The introduction of co-legislation between the Council of Ministers and the European...... the extent to which codecision has delivered the expected gains and to review the unexpected effects that have followed from its introduction, such as the growing informalisation of EU decision-making. Using a combination of in-depth qualitative case studies, wider quantitative analyses, practitioners......’ insights and a review of the procedure’s democratic legitimacy the contributions offer a holistic assessment of the effect of co-decision on the political system of the EU. This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of European Public Policy....

Energy corridors European Union and Neighbouring countries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Van Oostvoorn, F.; Hafner, Manfred; Vailati, Ricardo; Wietschel, Martin

2007-08-01

The ENCOURAGED (Energy corridor optimisation for European markets of gas, electricity and hydrogen) project has been launched in beginning 2005 to identify and assess the economically optimal energy corridors between European Union (EU) and neighbouring countries. The objectives of the project are to: Assess the economic optimal energy (electricity, gas and hydrogen) corridors and related network infrastructure for connecting the EU with its neighbouring countries and regions; Identify, quantify and evaluate the barriers to and potential benefits of building optimal energy corridors connecting the EU with its neighbours; Propose necessary policy measures to implement the recommended energy corridors with a focus on investment and the geopolitical framework; Organise stakeholder workshops and seminars to discuss the results and findings and reach consensus among scientists, stakeholders and non-governmental organizations and validate project results

Svobodná povolání v právu EU

OpenAIRE

Veverová, Jana

2011-01-01

Free-lance professions under the law of the EU The free-lance professions under the law of the EU serve for the topic of the present thesis. They represent a special category of occupations playing though a significant role in the daily life of the society and in the economic events of both the state and the European Union. They distinguish from other forms of businesses by the "liberty" of carrying out, i.e. the independence on the direct state supervision. It is impossible to find among EU ...

ROMANIAN SME-S AFTER INTEGRATION IN EUROPEAN UNION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Corina Ana BORCOŞI

2010-03-01

Full Text Available According with the White Charter of Romanian SME-s 2007, Romanian integration in European Union was considered a great opportunity for the 46,67% of SME-s, just 9,18% of SME-s consider it like a major threatening. Romanian integration in European Union gave us much benefits and big responsibilities for all participants to this complex and long action, which is integration. The influence of integration in EU for SME-s was manifested in some special directions like: human resource, quality and competitiveness, ethics in business.

All EU hands to the EU pumps: the Science Academies of Europe (EASAC) recommend strong support of research to tackle antibacterial resistance.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Gyssens, I.C.J.

2008-01-01

Despite many European Union (EU) conferences on fighting microbial resistance, rates of resistance in Europe continue to increase. Although research is catching up with discovery, the development of new antimicrobials is threatened by economic factors, in particular the need for a return of

INNOVATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

VLADIMIR-CODRIN IONESCU

2014-11-01

Full Text Available In the contemporary knowledge-based society, innovation, as a vector used for the application and promotion of inventions and innovations, is one of the main sources used for obtaining a sustainable competitive advantage. The present paper points out the main directions which the European Commission aims to develop in the sphere of innovation, within the context of the Initiative: “A Union of Innovation”, which is part of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The paper analyses the performances accomplished by the EU states in the area of innovation while developing an international perspective that may represent the starting point in identifying solutions whereby the EU could reduce the gaps that exist in relation to the main international competitors, i.e. South Korea, USA and Japan.

INNOVATION IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vladimir-Codrin IONESCU

2014-05-01

Full Text Available In the contemporary knowledge-based society, innovation, as a vector used for the application and promotion of inventions and innovations, is one of the main sources used for obtaining a sustainable competitive advantage. The present paper points out the main directions which the European Commission aims to develop in the sphere of innovation, within the context of the Initiative: “A Union of Innovation”, which is part of the Europe 2020 Strategy. The paper analyses the performances accomplished by the EU states in the area of innovation while developing an international perspective that may represent the starting point in identifying solutions whereby the EU could reduce the gaps that exist in relation to the main international competitors, i.e. South Korea, USA and Japan.

THE EU „ RIGHT TO BE FORGOTTEN”

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Andreea Seucan

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The scientific paper aims at presenting the relevant legal aspects related to data protection in the EU (Directive 95/46/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 24 October 1995 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data in view of the ruling of the Court of justice of the European Union (C131/12, the content of the judgement of the court, how it has been enforced so far by Google and its impact on EU citizen and future legislation.

Introduction. National Courts vis-à-vis EU Law

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mayoral, Juan A.; Wind, Marlene

2016-01-01

National Courts and EU Law examines both how and why national courts and judges are involved in the process of legal integration within the European Union. As well as reviewing conventional thinking, the book presents new legal and empirical insights into the issue of judicial behaviour...

Financial integration in the European Union. Measurement and determination

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Lemmen, J.J.G.

1996-01-01

The first part of this study addresses the measurement of financial integration in the European Union (EU). First, we present empirical evidence on the degree of financial integration as measured with interest parity conditions. Second, the study applies an error-correction model of

76 FR 15279 - Importation of Garlic From the European Union and Other Countries Into the Continental United States

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-21

...] Importation of Garlic From the European Union and Other Countries Into the Continental United States AGENCY... measures under which garlic may be imported into the continental United States from the European Union and..., Ukraine, and Uzbekistan. In this document, we refer to them as the European Union (EU) and other countries...

Occurrence and removal of organic micropollutants: An overview of the watch list of EU Decision 2015/495.

Science.gov (United States)

Barbosa, Marta O; Moreira, Nuno F F; Ribeiro, Ana R; Pereira, Manuel F R; Silva, Adrián M T

2016-05-01

Although there are no legal discharge limits for micropollutants into the environment, some regulations have been published in the last few years. Recently, a watch list of substances for European Union-wide monitoring was reported in the Decision 2015/495/EU of 20 March 2015. Besides the substances previously recommended to be included by the Directive 39/2013/EU, namely two pharmaceuticals (diclofenac and the synthetic hormone 17-alpha-ethinylestradiol (EE2)) and a natural hormone (17-beta-estradiol (E2)), the first watch list of 10 substances/groups of substances also refers three macrolide antibiotics (azithromycin, clarithromycin and erythromycin), other natural hormone (estrone (E1)), some pesticides (methiocarb, oxadiazon, imidacloprid, thiacloprid, thiamethoxam, clothianidin, acetamiprid and triallate), a UV filter (2-ethylhexyl-4-methoxycinnamate) and an antioxidant (2,6-di-tert-butyl-4-methylphenol) commonly used as food additive. Since little is known about the removal of most of the substances included in the Decision 2015/495/EU, particularly regarding realistic concentrations in aqueous environmental samples, this review aims to: (i) overview the European policy in the water field; (ii) briefly describe the most commonly used conventional and advanced treatment processes to remove micropollutants; (iii) summarize the relevant data published in the last decade, regarding occurrence and removal in aqueous matrices of the 10 substances/groups of substances that were recently included in the first watch list for European Union monitoring (Decision 2015/495/EU); and (iv) highlight the lack of reports concerning some substances of the watch list, the study of un-spiked aquatic matrices and the assessment of transformation by-products. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The Economic Effects of Croatia's Accession to the EU

OpenAIRE

Lejour, Arjan Marcel; Mervar, Andrea; Verweij, Gerard

2008-01-01

We explore the economic implications of Croatia's possible accession to the European Union. We focus on two main changes associated with the EU-membership: accession to the internal European Market and institutional reforms in Croatia triggered by the EU-membership. GDP per capita in Croatia is estimated to rise by about 1.1 percent as a result of accession to the internal market. In particular the textile and wearing apparel sectors expand. If Croatia succeeds in reforming its domestic insti...

Civil Society Participation in EU Gender Policy-Making

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Agustin, Lise Rolandsen

2008-01-01

The participation of transnational advocacy networks (TANs) in the policy processes of the European Union (EU) is a potential site of substantial representation of women (SRW). In the article, it is argued that the institutional context can both enable and constrain civil society actors’ claims......-making. TANs employ framing strategies to make their claims resonate with or challenge the dominant discourse of the EU policies. The institutions use contested frames to constitute legitimate claims-makers, by recognising certain claims as more valid than others. The possibilities of SRW are delimited, since...

INTERMEDIATE RESULTS AND LIMITS OF HARMONIZATION OF DIRECT TAXES IN THE EUROPEAN UNION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Karina Ponomareva

2017-01-01

Full Text Available УДК 347.9The article is devoted to analysis of tax harmonization in the area of direct taxation in the European Union. Questions of positive and negative integration, common market and tax harmonization are analyzed.The author mentions the following benchmarks of the European tax integration: these are tax harmonization in the area of direct taxation, prohibition of discrimination and of unfair competition, leading role of fundamental freedoms in field of European integration.The direct effect of EU law is brought into light. The international treaty is a special source of law of Member States and it used in cases which can't be regulated by national legislation or by acts of integration law.Directives and regulations as sources of EU secondary law are described in the article. Their special features are also brought into light.International EU agreements and acts of cooperation in the area of taxation are also brought into light. The special role of soft law is also mentioned in the article.The special role of the European Court of Justice in forming of EU tax law is emphasized.The conclusion of the article is in the statement of importance of taxation in the forming of internal market in integration community.The expected results are important both from theoretical and practical points of view and include:working out the legal framework of direct taxation and finding out actual problems of integration tax law mentioning modern trends of cross-border taxation;recommendations of improving of harmonization mechanisms in the EAEU and improving of the Russian Tax Code.

Migration from the new EU member countries

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Louise Møller; Lund Thomsen, Trine

2012-01-01

investigates the potentials, limitations and conflicts of interests that are connected with temporary employment of Eastern European migrant workers within the unskilled labour sectors seen from the perspective of Danish labour market actors; politicians, labour marked unions, Danish employers, Danish......During the past four years more than 52.500 Eastern European EU citizens have worked and lived in Denmark. Migrant workers from the new EU countries are characterized by a high degree of mobility, flexibility and eagerness in terms of working and adapting to working conditions. Poorer socioeconomic...... and working conditions in their home countries as well as being of another cultural background than their Danish colleagues brings with it many challenges. This article examines the consequences of low-skilled labour migration to Denmark from the new EU member countries in Eastern Europe. The article...

Discussing the democratic deficit: effects of media and interpersonal communication on satisfaction with EU democracy

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Desmet, P.; van Spanje, J.; de Vreese, C.H.

2015-01-01

The perception of a democratic deficit in the European Union (EU) is widespread. In which circumstances is this perception affected by mass media and interpersonal communication? To answer this question, we analyze data from representative samples of citizens in 21 EU member states (N = 22,806) and

Extended Challenges for the EU's Climate and Energy Policy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haslauer, F.

2015-01-01

Market-driven climate and energy policies are far more effective than regulation-driven policies. It is time for the EU to rethink its energy strategy. The world is in the throes of a global energy transition as countries seek to meet rising demand by fundamentally changing their energy sectors. Global energy demand is expected to increase by 1.4 percent through 2030, with demand for electricity (a renewable) rising by more than 2 percent during this time period. The European Union has been front and center in this energy transition, seeking to meet three climate and energy targets by 2020: (1) reduce CO2 emissions, (2) increase renewables, and (3) become more energy efficient. Most countries are on track to meet the first two targets but meeting the third one has proved to be more difficult. This is largely because there is no single European power market. Energy policies and regulations are still driven by individual nations. If this continues, the EU energy transition will be costly - prices will shoot up and global competitiveness will suffer. It's time for the EU to work as one large entity and adopt market-driven policies. The advantages include a smoother energy transition in a growing economy, ability to leverage size for more competitive energy costs, and lower prices for consumers. In an ideal scenario, there is one overriding EU target for reducing CO2 emissions, and then the other two - renewables and energy efficiency - act as levers to meet that target. Essentially, the market decides which solutions are the most efficient. A market-driven energy strategy is funded from a CO2-emissions certificate market - to send the right price signals - or a CO2 tax to allocate costs to CO2 emissions. Rather than concentrating funds on feed in tariffs, funds are geared toward improving energy efficiency, research and development of renewables and running pilot programs. In this way, the EU 'incentivizes' innovation and funding is far less than what

Tackling Dependency: The EU and its Energy Security Challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Larsson, Robert L.

2007-10-15

Europe is facing a future of augmenting energy demands, domestic depletion, high prices and other energy-political challenges. Climate change, infrastructure resilience, producers' coercive energy policy and the EU's internal market failures have put stress on the EU's emerging energy policy and inspired the union to address its challenges with greater enthusiasm than before. Some of the EU's challenges call for strategic choices of a magnitude that EU is not used to handle. The aim of this report is therefore to identify, analyse and assess the political side of Europe's energy predicament and import dependency. Against the background of increasing dependence on energy imports, the report tries to answer questions: what are the key dimensions of Europe's energy security and what are their consequences?

Providers’ Liabilities in the New EU Data Protection Regulation: A threat to internet freedoms?

OpenAIRE

SARTOR, Giovanni

2012-01-01

In this paper I shall consider certain aspects of the Proposal for a Data Protection Regulation recently advanced by the EU Commission, which is meant to substitute the existing Data Protection Directive as well as the national laws implementing it. In particular I shall examine how the Regulation addresses host providers’ liabilities and duties with regard to user-generated content. For this purpose, I shall first highlight some developments in web and cloud services, then I shall consider h...

Meat export competitiveness of European Union countries on global markets

OpenAIRE

Štefan Bojnec; Imre Fertő

2014-01-01

The purpose of this research is to provide insight into the export competitiveness of meat products of the European Union (EU-27) member states on global markets. The revealed comparative advantage index is used to analyze the levels, compositions, and evolutions in patterns of development in the export competitiveness of meat products and their levels of stability at the product level. Except for some niche meat products, a larger number of the EU-27 member states have experienced comparativ...

Carbon pricing in the EU: Evaluation of different EU ETS reform options

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brink, Corjan; Vollebergh, Herman R.J.; Werf, Edwin van der

2016-01-01

This paper studies various options to support allowance prices in the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), such as adjusting the cap, an auction reserve price, and fixed and variable carbon taxes in addition to the EU ETS. We use a dynamic computable general equilibrium model that explicitly allows for allowance banking and for a detailed cost-effectiveness analysis at the EU Member State level. We find that tightening the cap provides an ad hoc solution to the fundamental issue of the robustness of the effective carbon price, while introducing a price component to the ETS brings structural carbon price support in times of negative demand shocks for emission allowances. These price-based policies still benefit from the intertemporal flexibility through the banking provision in the EU ETS by re-allocating emissions over time with stronger emission reductions in early years and emission increases in later years. A higher emission price has a larger negative impact on the new Member States' economies than on other Member States. Furthermore, introducing a carbon tax in addition to the EU ETS decreases the price of allowances, resulting in welfare gains for net buyers of allowances while net sellers are worse off. - Highlights: • We analyse reform options for European Union Emission Trading System (EU ETS) with a CGE model. • Variable carbon tax and auction reserve price support carbon price at least cost. • Price-based reforms decrease early emissions but increase later emissions through banking. • New Member States' economies are affected more than others by higher CO_2 prices. • Lower allowance prices due to a carbon tax are unfavourable to net sellers of allowances.

A COMPARARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE LABOUR MARKET BEHAVIOR IN THE EUROPEAN UNION AND THE REPUBLIC OF MOLDOVA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

BÎRCĂ ALIC

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This paper is dedicated to the analysis of the the labor market in the European Union compared with the Republic of Moldova. Therefore, the author presents the characteristics of a number of labor market indicators such as the employment rate, the rate of partipation in training programs, the share of inactive people, the unemployment rate etc. These indicators are calculated both at EU level and each member state level.They are also calculated for different categories of people: citizens of the country concerned; citizens of EU member countries, with the exception of the country concerned; citizens of the non-EU countries etc. In the endevor of joining the European Union, this work presents several indicators which describe the development of the labor market. The analysis has found that the indicators that characterize the labor market in the Republic of Moldova are lower than those registered in the European Union. . Although it is difficult to make a comparison between the inactive population in the Republic of Moldova and the EU, as it targets different age groups, we can see that its share is much higher than that recorded in the EU countries. In 2014, excluding people at the retirement age, the inactive population aged 15 years and more is close to the active population with the same age.

The European Union Solidarity Fund: An Important Tool in the Recovery After Large-Scale Natural Disasters

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maria IONCICĂ

2016-03-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the situation of the European Union Solidarity Fund, as an important tool in the recovery after large-scale natural disasters. In the last millennium, the European Union countries have faced climate change, which lead to events with disastrous consequences. There are several ex-post financial ways to respond to the challenges posed by large-scale natural disasters, among which EU Solidarity Fund, government funds, budget reallocation, donor assistance, domestic and/or external credit. The EU Solidarity Fund was created in 2002 after the massive floods from the Central Europe as the expression of the solidarity of EU countries. Romania has received financial assistance from the EU Solidarity Fund after the occurrence of major natural disasters, regional and neighbouring country disasters. The assessment of large-scale natural disasters in EU is very important and in order to analyse if there is a concentration of large-scale natural disasters in EU we used the Gini coefficient. In the paper, the method of the statistical analysis and the correlation between several indicators were used to study the financial impacts of large-scale natural disasters in Europe, and especially in Romania.

Strategies of Environmental Policy in the European Union

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Georgeta Modiga

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Strategies for achieving environmental policy reinforce the principle of subsidiary ( delegation ofresponsibilities of Member States, while European Union outlines only the general objectives to be taken intoaccount and try replacing the traditional vertical approach, command and control type, by promoting analternative model for achieving the EU average. One can say that these strategies are a kind of “aids”, whichcomplement standard tools and acting as incentives for the adoption of measures for environmental protectionthat emphasizes the trend towards an approach based on the principle of volunteering. In the early '70s, wasrecognized the need and legitimacy of a common environment. In time, will develop a progressiveenvironmental Community law, which includes over 200 directives and regulations. They concern mainlywater protection, air quality, protection of flora and fauna, noise, waste disposal. Environmental legislationhas a particular characteristic; it takes into account economic aspects.

Post-accession migration in construction and trade union responses in Denmark, Norway and the UK

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Eldring, Line; Fitzgerald, Ian; Arnholtz, Jens

2012-01-01

The article compares trade union responses in Denmark, Norway and the UK to the arrival of construction workers from the new EU member states. Organizing has been seen as a crucial means to avoid low-wage competition and social dumping. We analyse how the unions developed strategies for recruiting...

Sustainability Begets Unsustainability?: The European Union's Drive ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The mandatory target for the European Union (EU) for the use of renewable energy in transport by the year 2020 has created a situation where the African continent has witnessed a number of European agricultural firms gaining access to large tracts of land in order to grow crops for the production of agrofuels. This article ...

Evaluation of EU legislation on blood: a bioethical point of view

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petrini C

2017-11-01

Full Text Available Carlo Petrini Bioethics Unit, Office of the President, National Institute of Health, Rome, Italy Abstract: A review of the European Union (EU regulations concerning blood, tissues, and cells of human origin is under way in the EU. From the ethical point of view, the non-remuneration of donations and the ban on deriving gain from human biological materials are of particular significance. While the basic ethical principles involved in the procurement, preservation, and use of these materials are the same, their practical application should be adapted to the specific context of each material. In the case of donation and use of blood, in particular, the issue of legitimate reimbursements to donors and for transfusion centers has to be managed in accordance with the principle of non-commercialization. There is also a need for strict rules to avoid possible commercial spillover effects from blood-derived products. The author proposes ethical criteria regarding reimbursements to donors, costs associated with processing, and the development (and possible marketing of products. Keywords: bioethics, blood, legislation, Europe, transfusion

United States natural gas markets, contracts and risks: What lessons for the European Union and Asia-Pacific natural gas markets?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Talus, Kim

2014-01-01

The article examines the natural gas markets of the United States, the European Union and the Asia-Pacific region and their regulation and contractual structures. The article's main focus is on the United States natural gas markets. The European Union and Asia-Pacific markets are compared to this more developed market. By comparing the physical and ideological characteristics of, and differences between, the three main international gas markets, the article exposes the limits of regulatory and contractual transplants in this area of law and policy. Each of these markets is unique, which limits the opportunities for modelling certain market institutions on the basis of the more developed markets in the United States. This applies for both the EU and the Asia-Pacific region. - Highlights: • Differences in the physical markets impact regulation. • Regulatory transplants have risks. • The approach in energy policy should be based on “Law-in-Context” approach

The Determinants of European Union (EU Foreign Direct Investments in the EU Countries from Central and Eastern Europe During 1994–2012

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Tang Donny

2017-03-01

Full Text Available This study examines whether the CEECs’ financial market development can explain the EU FDI in the CEECs during 1994–2012. The higher bank credit flows had a positive effect on the FDI in 2005–2012. This can be attributed to the major banking sector reforms undertaken before the CEECs’ EU accession. Second, the stock market size had a positive effect in 1997–2004. This is due to the fact that the EU membership announcement facilitated deeper stock market integration. Third, the higher country income, in interaction with a higher bank credit flow, had only a small positive effect in 2005–2012. The higher income CEECs have pursued much deeper bank liberalization through large-scale privatization of state-owned banks. Finally, the higher country income, in interaction with a larger stock market size, had a negative effect in 2005–2012. A possible reason for this is that the EU countries have started to divert their new FDI to the non-EU countries.

The Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership – A Challenge for the European Union?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Oana–Antonia Colibășanu

2015-06-01

Full Text Available Since the early 2000s, the United States and European Union have discussed the development of bilateral and regional trade agreements. The TTIP – Trans-Atlantic Trade and Investment Partnership was announced in February 2013 and is currently under negotiation. The initiative aims at establishing a trade agreement between the two blocs, removing all trade barriers, including the non-tariff ones, in a wide range of economic sectors. The paper looks at several key elements that the bilateral negotiations are set to challenge from the European Union perspective. We focus on the main causes for resistance within the EU towards establishing the agreement, seeking to understand the future framework for international trade for the European states. While the EU continues integration to establish a functioning internal market, still continuing the process of diminishing and eliminating non-tariff barriers among the member states, we examine whether liberalisation of trade and investment between the US and the EU will benefit the EU as a whole, considering the current socio-economic trends at the Union’s level.

The meta-governance of organic seed regulation in the USA, European Union and Mexico

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Renaud, Erica; Lammerts van Bueren, Edith; Jiggins, Janice

2016-01-01

Seed governance in agriculture is a challenging global issue. This paper analyses the evolution of organic seed regulation in the USA, the European Union and Mexico as model cases of how these challenges are being addressed, based on a study conducted between 2007 and 2014. It highlights how

THE EUROPEAN BANKING UNION AND ROMANIA. THE IMPACT OF THE NEW EUROPEANLEGAL FRAME ON THE ROMANIAN FINANCIAL AND BANKING SYSTEM

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dan-Adrian Cărămidariu

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The paper studies from a legal and economical perspective the European Banking Union, the latest set of measures adopted by the European Union in order to assure the stability of Europe’s financial and banking system and to prevent future crises. At the same time, the paper analyzes the influence this new institutional and legal mechanism could have on the Romanian financial and banking system, if our country is to take part in the European Banking Union. The paper will discuss the four European legal texts, namely the EU Regulation No 575/2013 and the three directives concerning the capital requirements for the banking system, the recovery and resolution of credit institutions and the deposit guarantee schemes, which, together, set up the European Banking Union’s legal frame. Further, the paper will study the implementation and the transposition of these European provisions into national law. The study’s conclusions will take into consideration the advantages and disadvantages connected to Romania’s participation to the European Banking Union, by showing that, in the context of the introduction of the single currency, the participation to the Banking Union is a necessary exercise.

Determinants of Foreign Direct Investment in South East European Countries and New Member States of European Union Countries

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bardhyl Dauti

2015-03-01

Full Text Available This paper accounts for the main determinants of Foreign Direct Investment flows to 5-SEEC and the 10-New Member States of the EU countries by using an augmented Gravity Model. The study takes into account country specific institutional factors that determine foreign investors’ decisions from 14 core European Union countries to invest into SEE-5 and EU-NMS-10 countries. From the results of the study we find that gravity factors and institutional related determinants like control of corruption, political stability, bilateral FDI agreement, WTO membership and transition progress appear to significantly determine inward FDI flows from core EU countries to host economies of South East European region and new European Union member states.