Suchergebnisse

International audience ; We extend the literature on Cohesion Policy effectiveness by considering how the cohesion policy affects both within regional disparities and economic growth. For that purpose, a panel database of 205 NUTS2 regions of the UE-25 for 2000-2014 is used. We estimate panel data regressions with fixed effects and a spatial autoregressive term in order to control for unobservable characteristics and spatial dependence. Our results emphasize a trade-off between within and between regional disparities for EU-25 regions over the 2000-2014 period.

International audience ; We extend the literature on Cohesion Policy effectiveness by considering how the cohesion policy affects both within regional disparities and economic growth. For that purpose, a panel database of 205 NUTS2 regions of the UE-25 for 2000-2014 is used. We estimate panel data regressions with fixed effects and a spatial autoregressive term in order to control for unobservable characteristics and spatial dependence. Our results emphasize a trade-off between within and between regional disparities for EU-25 regions over the 2000-2014 period.

The Open Access version of this book, available at http://www.tandfebooks.com/doi/view/10.4324/9781315401867, has been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives 3.0 license. This book brings together academics, members of European institutions, and regional and national level policymakers in order to assess the performance and direction of EU Cohesion policy against the background of the most significant reforms to the policy in a generation. Responding to past criticisms of the effectiveness of the policy, the policy changes introduced in 2013 have aligned European Structural and Investment Funds with the Europe 2020 strategy and introduced measures to improve strategic coherence, performance and integrated development. EU Cohesion Policy: Reassessing performance and direction argues that policy can only be successfully developed and implemented if there is input from both academics and practitioners. The chapters in the book address four important issues: the effectiveness and impact of Cohesion policy at European, national and regional levels; the contribution of Cohesion policy to the Europe 2020 strategy of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth; the importance of quality of government and administrative capacity for the effective management of the Funds; and the inter-relationships between institutions, territory and place-based policies. The volume will be an invaluable resource to students, academics and policymakers across economics, regional studies, European studies and international relations.

In this paper, we will endeavour to explain why EU trade politics is neither coherent with its development policy nor development-friendly. This becomes even more obvious when one looks at the numerous bilateral trade agreements already signed and still in the process of negotiation. While the EU views itself as a true believer in multilateral policy, it succeeded to negotiate more Preferential Trade Agreements than the US. Against this background it is to be shown in the following that Preferential Trade Agreements (PTA) including Bilateral Investment Treaties (BIT) deserves more attention, and that the new trade strategy of the European Community is mimicking the prevalent US approach to trade politics, and thus should come under attack from trade unions and civil society movements. Finally, this paper argues that although in principle PTAs can include labour-friendly provisions more easily than at the WTO level, trade unions' more ambivalent attitude towards PTAs is justified. However, from a development point of view, trade unions from the industrialized countries need to change their reluctance towards a fundamental criticism of ongoing trade policy, be it US or European type.

The development of the EU asylum and migration policy is often explained as the result of 'venue-shopping', that is, the move by policy-makers to an EU policy venue in order to avoid national constraints. This article demonstrates that, contrary to what would have been expected on the basis of this widespread view, EU co-operation on asylum matters has actually led to a rise in the legal standards applicable to asylum-seekers and refugees. This outcome can be mainly explained by broader changes that have gradually affected the EU 'system of venues' and have thereby decreased the likelihood of more restrictive measures being adopted in the EU asylum policy venue. This has important implications for the EU governance of asylum and migration in general.

Lack of economic development, unemployment and lack of work-life balance between woman and men has been one of the main challenges of Western Balkan countries. Their fragile internal political and economic structure has made external actors be very powerful in shaping national policies. In the last fifteen years, European Union has been the main promoter of reforms that can bring the countries of the region closer in line with the EU. The main goal of this paper was to firstly look at the EU gender equality policy in the Western Balkans that applies to Albania as well, and assess its compatibility with the real concerns of Albanian woman. Secondly, the study measured the impact of the first policy, i.e. women inclusion in the labor market, on the economic growth of Albania. This research employed a quantitative methodology based on surveys and a regression analysis. Surveys were conducted with 537 female in Albania clustered mainly according to age and geographical location. Regression analysis was based on official statistical data of the women employment and annual real growth of GDP of Albania in a range of ten years. The results showed that Albanian women are mostly concerned with the lack of economic development and their expectation is that the EU accession policies should primarily address that. In addition to that, the study found out that there exist a direct and positive relationship between women inclusion in the labor market and economic growth. Therefore, EU gender equality agenda covers the main needs of Albanian women as women employment means higher economic growth and less inequality that are factors of economic development. DOI:10.5901/ajis.2014.v3n3p146

The EU is currently working at defining a comprehensive approach linking development and other instruments in external action. The Lisbon Treaty has contributed to a reorganisation of the institutions in Brussels, affecting crisis management structures and the organisation of external relations. Comprehensive approaches are not new in the EU system, in particular an integrated approach for conflict prevention and a concept for civil-military coordination were developed in the 2000s. However, a forthcoming communication on a comprehensive approach in external action constitutes an occasion to clarify and operationalise the approach in a new, post-Lisbon, institutional setting as well as consolidating the formal EU commitment to working comprehensively. The study argues that building a comprehensive approach is a long-term process with changing objectives and focus over time in response to an evolving context. An essential building block of a comprehensive approach is cross-sector collaboration involving different units and agencies of the EU at headquarters and field level. .

Presentation ; A financial support (Measure 222) was introduced in the EU Rural Development Programmes (RDPs) 2007-2013 aimed at promoting the establishment of agroforestry systems on arable lands. The objectives of the paper are to: i) assess the implementation rate of the Measure 222 in EU27 during the period 2007-2013; ii) identify the main reasons and constraints that affected the farmers' interest in the Measure 222, iii) highlight the perspectives in the next RDPs 2014-2020. The data on RDPs monitoring were obtained from the European Network for Rural Development (http://enrd.ec.europa.eu) and analyzed. The study compared the financial resources allocated to implement the Measure 222 with: i) the resources allocated to implement other forestry Measures; ii) the effective expenditures invested in establishing new agroforestry systems. The output indicators (number of beneficiaries and hectares under new agroforestry systems) were also analyzed in relation to their expected target. The Measure 222 was poorly applied across EU27: only few EU Regions have allocated resources to the Measure 222 and only 3.4% of these resources has been effectively invested to create new agroforestry systems on arable lands. Moreover, only 2.3% of the expected beneficiaries has been targeted and 2.1% of the expected hectares has been realized. The main constraints that have hampered the success of the Measure 222 in EU27 are reported. The new Regulation (EU Reg. 1305/2013) in support of rural development 2014-2020 states that: i) agroforestry systems comprise the combination between forestry plantations and agriculture on the same land; ii) grants should cover the establishment costs (up to 80% of the expenses) and the maintenance costs with an annual premium for 5 years; iii) beneficiaries should be not limited to farmers but may include also Municipalities and Associations. This new grant scheme should raise farmers and land owners interest in agroforestry systems.

EU strategy currently promotes science and research as they are considered key facilitators of Europe's advance towards smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, jobs and competitiveness (Europa 2020). Job skills and vocational education and training (VET) have therefore been integrated into Europe's public agenda as issues influencing employment and social inclusion in the EU (Copenhagen Declaration 2000, Educa2020, Skills Agenda for Europe, etc.). Given the topic's scientific interest and political relevance, this paper analyses the state of research into VET in the EU. Addressing the issue from the perspective of the formation of public policy and R&D and innovation systems, it will analyse the current state of VET research using a qualitative methodology based on bibliographical and documentary. It begins by contextualising research within Europe's political and institutional framework before analysing the main ideas and conceptualisations that underlie the mode adopted as Community policy. It will then look at how vocational education and training are integrated into Research and Innovation policy at both strategy and programme level (Horizon 2020; H2020). Finally, it sets out the conclusions reached.

The European Union (EU) has committed itself to take account of objectives of development cooperation - such as poverty reduction - in policies which are likely to affect developing countries. This thesis investigates how and to what extent the EU promotes this aim for Policy Coherence for Development (PCD) in different governance areas. The study focusses on the under-researched process dimension of PCD by analysing the degree to which opinions of development actors are systematically taken into account during EU policy formulation. It follows a historical institutionalist approach that emphasises the independent role of institutions and their significance for policy output. Assessing the influence of formal and informal coherence procedures on policy development, the analytical framework examines how development actors use 'points of entry' to give input during day-to-day governance activities. It traces the planning process of six selected initiatives in three policy fields with PCD relevance: fisheries, environment, and security. The study finds that the effectiveness in promoting PCD does not necessarily depend on the particular policy field and its competence category but more on the policy instrument used and especially on the EU institution which conducts the policy formulation. While the European Parliament and the new European External Action Service promote process PCD rather effectively, the picture for the European Commission is mixed and the EU member states refrain from dealing with the issue in the Council. The study concludes that increased abilities for development actors to give meaningful input especially in Commission policy-making and the expansion of inter-departmental coordination in all EU institutions would improve the EU's effectiveness in promoting PCD.