Suchergebnisse

The paper's main objective is to analyze the collective bargaining response in terms of internal flexibility during the Great Recession (GR) in five EU countries (Spain, Germany, France, Italy, United Kingdom), and three economic sectors (industry, commerce and hospitality, and financial services and real estate), at the establishment level (ECS2013 database). The theoretical framework used is linked to the varieties of unionism and to the debate on the tendency towards the international homogenization or heterogenization of collective bargaining between the European Union countries. Using a descriptive statistical analysis and a probit model, this paper presents new evidences. However, the responses were heterogeneous between countries and sectors, the use of internal functional flexibility has been more intense than the numerical and salary internal flexibility. Moreover, it is related to the intensity of GR. These results, in general, while requiring a more detailed analysis of the effects of the GR on internal flexibility in the EU countries, contribute to introducing a new perspective in the socioeconomic literature about the collective bargaining and internal flexibility

Following the disintegration of the Soviet bloc, many Central and Eastern European Countries launched a vigorous "return to Europe" campaign, which primarily focused on accession to NATO and the European Union. By 2007, ten countries became members of the Euro-Atlantic community, personifying the long-awaited reunification and reconciliation of Europe. The book argues that the EU and NATO eastern enlargements represent a settlement of historical-psychological accounts for countries affected by the "black trinity": the Munich Agreement, the Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact, and the Yalta-Potsdam Conferences

Far-reaching transformations in the nature of contemporary governance can be observed, within and beyond the nation-state. At the heart of these transformations, Jonathan Zeitlin argues, is the emergence of new forms of 'experimentalist' governance, based on framework rule-making and revision through comparative review of alternative approaches to advancing common objectives in different local contexts. The proliferation of these new organizational forms can best be understood as a response to increased environmental volatility and complexity, which have overwhelmed in many settings the capacities of conventional hierarchical governance and 'command-and-control' regulation. Although robust examples can be found in many jurisdictions, including the United States, the epicenter of these developments is the European Union, where experimentalist governance arrangements have been institutionalized across a wide range of policy domains over the past 15 years.These have not only facilitated the extension of European integration into new, politically sensitive policy fields, but also enabled the EU in many areas to produce high-quality, revisable rules capable of broad application across a diverse polity of 500 million inhabitants and 27 member states. In this inaugural lecture,Zeitlin analyzes the properties of these experimentalist arrangements, examines their development within the EU, and opens up new research questions about their influence on governance processes within the member states and beyond the Union's borders.

Reproduced from a Position Paper published by the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations, February 2014 ; The research-based pharmaceutical industry considers that price differentiation between EU Member States could greatly improve affordable patient access to innovative medicines in those markets where there is a significant access problem. Adapting prices of pharmaceuticals to reflect the ability to pay in different geographical or even socio-economic segments can offer a win-win situation in terms of generating dynamic efficiencies that contribute to both the sustainability of healthcare systems and the pace of innovation. Yet today's pricing and reimbursement practices have the effect of discouraging price differentiation. Member State action and support from the European Union are required to create a framework to enable and encourage voluntary recourse to differentiated pricing. ; peer-reviewed

European Community legislation requires EU Member States to implement representative procedures for enforcement of consumer protection, intellectual property, and late payment laws, but not yet for compensation claims. The possible introduction of damages claims for competition law infringements and electronic privacy, and examination of collective redress in the consumer protection field, is being considered. [Reprinted by permission of Sage Publications Inc., copyright The American Academy of Political and Social Science.]