Suchergebnisse

International counterfeiting affects adversely producers, consumers and domestic economies. Some attempts have been made in the last years by international organisations (European Union, World Trade Organisation) to deal with this complex problem. Though some success has been achieved, the number of seizures of counterfeited goods detected in the external borders of EU has increased. This study examines the impact of Hofstede's cultural variables (power distance, individualism, masculinity, uncertainty avoidance) on the level of counterfeiting in European ...

We argue that the evolving preferences and power resources of large cross-border banks help explain the crucial political moves to European banking union. As they became larger and more European, these banks benefited from the supranationalization of supervision through reduced compliance costs and the effective opening of European markets. The political divergence in the interests of large international banks and small national ones eventually caused the German and the French governments' change of position in intergovernmental bargaining. Once in place, banking union accelerated balance sheet consolidation to the benefit of large banks that took over their weaker competitors.

Climate change and environmental degradation are the crisis generators today and, in the years, to come as they threaten our social, economic and political order in Europe and worldwide. In this context, European Union committed to reaching climate neutrality by 2050 as the member states have agreed on a European Green Deal, and the European Commission has adopted several proposals for reducing net greenhouse gas emissions by at least 55% by 2030. Nevertheless, achieving no net emissions of greenhouse gases by 2050 requires high investments in the decarbonisation of the economy and in developing ways to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere for the residual emissions that cannot be eliminated. In this paper, I will focus on the EU's strategy for carbon removal, especially on carbon farming, where carbon can be naturally captured in the soil or forests. Since the signing of the Kyoto Protocol in 1997, when an offsetting carbon mechanism was also created for the Voluntary Carbon Market (VCM), many projects based on different carbon crediting schemes were created worldwide. However, there needs to be more presence of European projects on voluntary carbon markets and the EU prepares legislation for its certification scheme. In this context, I will try to figure out the main challenges of VCM in Europe and answer the following research question: "why European Union is trying to boost its voluntary market through specific legislation?". Moreover, my examples will focus on forestry projects as naturebased solutions are the cheapest way to remove and store carbon.

This study investigates the practices and discourses of groups and networks supporting migrants in the context of the construction of the European Union (EU) and the Europeanisation of immigration and border controls. Its main objectives are: (1) to engage in critical examination of the European political project and the discourse of European belonging that has sustained its construction and consolidation; (2) to observe whether novel contentious practices have emerged to respond to multi-scalar developments associated with harmonisation of immigration-related policies; and (3) to investigate narratives of pro-migrant groups and networks. The project mobilises ethnographic research focused on pro-migrant organisations and networks in three European Union member states: France, Italy and the United Kingdom. It analyses testimony from participants involved in solidarity initiatives and assesses their perspectives on Europe and European belonging. This study draws on insights from a range of disciplines including Political Science, International Relations, Security Studies, Historical Sociology and Migration Studies. It embraces an historical approach to European construction and an analysis of global influences upon the development of the EU. It addresses the tensions and conflicts that arise when national, supranational and global processes take their effect upon the European project, and the specific impacts in the area of migration and bordering. This project concludes that a transnational pro-migrant movement is in formation in the EU. It is characterised by intensified cooperation and communication across borders, the development of new crossborder activist tools and tactics, increasingly complex transnational networks and the formulation of a mutually comprehensible analysis of the EU border regime. Yet this movement-in-formation has not been articulated and integrated around alternative visions of Europe and European identity. I argue that this is due to tensions and contradictions generated by the European project and I develop a critical reflection about processes of European construction and the production of ideas about Europe

This paper aims to discuss the role of religion in contemporary European education systems, especially in the realm of social rights. This article has been removed from our publication.

According to the Lisbon Strategy, which was adopted in 2000, the European Union (EU) should become the most competitive region in the World. Goals, defined in the strategy, and instruments for seeking them are identified by structural indicators as well as their systems. It is possible to evaluate specific country's situation and compare it with other countries by using various specific indexes or applying statistical – mathematical methods. The aim of this article is to describe main structural indicators, which identify the implementation of Lisbon Strategy as well as progress in sustainable development and to evaluate Lithuania's and other Baltic States' position in the EU using statistical methods. In order to achieve this aim, the following tasks were raised: 1) to describe and classify structural indicators; 2) to overview main methods of quantitative analysis and to apply them when evaluating Lithuania's and other Baltic States' position in the EU. Lithuania's progress in achieving Lisbon Strategy goals was evaluated using the system of 13 shortlist structural indicators from Eurostat database and applying MULTIMOORA (Multi‐Objective Optimization by Ratio Analysis plus Full Multiplicative Form) method. The analysis showed that Lithuania is among top EU countries by such indicators as employment rate, youth education attainment rate, comparative price level and greenhouse gas emission. Thus there are no serious environmental problems in Lithuania and its production can successfully compete at international markets due to relative low production costs. Lithuania is backward by GDP per capita, labour productivity and employment rate of older workers. In addition, energy intensity of the economy needs to be optimized. Considering all the above, technologic backwardness is characteristic for Lithuania's industry (due to low labour productivity on the one hand and high energy intensity on the other) which can be eradicated by encouraging innovations and R&D activities. Baltic region is quite homogenous in innovation and research as well as in economic reform areas, thus it can become attractive for investors. Lithuania and Estonia could be assigned to medium performance group and Latvia is on the very limit of the low performance group. Article in English. Lietuvos situacijos Europos Sąjungoje įvertinimas: struktūriniai rodikliai ir MULTIMOORA metodas Santrauka.Pagrindinis Lisabonos strategijos, priimtos 2000 m., tikslas – Europos Sąjunga turi tapti konkurencingiausiu regionu pasaulyje. Tikslai, nurodyti šioje strategijoje, ir jiems siekti naudojamos priemones identifikuojamos remiantis struktūriniais rodikliais ir ju sistemomis. Įvertinti tam tikros valstybės situaciją ir palyginti ją su kitomis valstybėmis galima naudojantis specifiniais indeksais arba universaliais matematiniais‐statistiniais metodais. Straipsnio tikslas – nurodyti pagrindinius Lisabonos strategijoje numatytu tikslų įgyvendinimą identifikuojančius struktūrinius rodiklius ir įvertinti Lietuvos padėti Europos Sąjungoje. Tikslui pasiekti keliami šie uždaviniai: 1) apibūdinti ir klasifikuoti struktūrinius rodiklius; 2) apžvelgti pagrindinius struktūriniais rodikliais paremtus kiekybinės analizės metodus ir pritaikyti juos vertinant Lietuvos padėti Europos Sąjungoje. Naudojantis daugiatiksles optimizacijos metodais MOORA ir MULTIMOORA įvertinta Lietuvos pažangą (2008 m.) siekiant Lisabonos strategijoje numatytu tikslų. Tyrimo rezultatai parodė, kad Lietuva yra tarp pirmaujančių ES valstybiu tokiose srityse, kaip užimtumo lygis, jaunimo išsilavinimo lygis, santykinis kainų lygis ir šiltnamio efekta sukeliančių dujų emisiją. Taigi Lietuva neturi didelių aplinkosaugos problemų ir gali sekmingai konkuruoti tarptautineje rinkoje dėl palyginti mažų produkcijos sąnaudu. Labiausiai atsiliekama pagal BVP, tenkanti 1 gyventojui, darbo jėgos našumą ir vyresnių darbuotojų užimtumo lygį. Taip pat reikia mažinti energijos vartojimo intensyvumą (skatinti moderniu energetikos technologijų diegimą). Taigi Lietuvos ūkiui būdingas technologinis atsilikimas (žemas darbo jėgos našumas ir didelis energijos vartojimo intensyvumas), kuri galima panaikinti skatinant inovacijas ir MTEP veikla. Tam tikslui tūretų būti skiriama didžiausia ES struktūrines paramos dalis. Baltijos valstybiu rodikliu, identifikuojančiu inovacijų ir ekonominių reformų procesus, reikšmes yra panašios ir gana dideles tarp ES valstybių, taigi šis regionas gali tapti patraukliu investicijoms. Visas ES valstybes salygiškai galima suskirstyti į tris grupes, atsižvelgiant į jų pažangą siekiant Lisabonos strategijos tikslų. Lietuva ir Estija priskirtinos vidutinės pažangos grupei, o Latvija yra ties žemos pažangos grupės riba. Reikšminiai žodžiai:daugiatiksle optimizacija,MOORA,MULTIMOORA,struktūriniai rodikliai,Lisabonos strategija,strateginis valdymas,darnus vystymas,Europos Sąjunga,tarptautinis palyginimas. First published online: 10 Feb 2011