Suchergebnisse

Climate change isone ofthe most pressing challenges ofour time and several policies trying tomitigate this negative phenomenon have been implemented. The reduction ofGHG emissions along with the improvement inenergy efficiency and the increase inthe share ofenergy consumption from renewable sources also constitute the Euro-pean Union policy priority. Inthis context, the aim ofthis article isto explore factors that affect changes inCO2 emissions inthe four EU member states that form the Visegrad Group, during the period 1993-2016. The analysis was conducted using the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) decomposition method and the Kaya iden-tity, which enables the factors contributing most tothe CO2 emissions changes tobe identified. Italso allows the results tobe discussed inrelation tothe European Union's climate policy.According tothe decomposition analysis results, energy intensity and economic growth measured interms ofGDP per capita were the main factors driving chang-es inCO2 emissions across all countries considered. The emissions decrease result-ed mainly from animprovement inenergy efficiency and toalesser extent from the change inthe energy mix towards renewables.

Context There is growing interest in monitoring palliative care (PC) development internationally. One aspect of this is the ranking of such development for comparative purposes. Objectives To generate a ranking classification and to compare scores for PC development in the countries of the European Union (EU), 2007 and 2013. PC "development" in this study is understood as a combination of the existence of relevant services in a country ("resources") plus the capacity to develop further resources in the future ("vitality"). Methods "Resources" comprise indicators of three types of PC services per population (inpatient palliative care units and inpatient hospices [IPCU], hospital support teams [HST] and home care teams [HCT]). "Vitality" of PC is estimated by numerical scores for the existence of a national association, a directory of services, physician accreditation, attendances at a key European conference and volume of publications on PC development. The leading country (by raw score) is then considered as the reference point against which all other countries are measured. Different weightings are applied to resources (75%) and vitality (25%). From this, an overall ranking is constructed. Results The U.K. achieved the highest level of development (86% of the maximum possible score), followed by Belgium and The Netherlands (81%), and Sweden (80%). In the domain resources, Luxembourg, the U.K. and Belgium were leading. The top countries in vitality were Germany and the U.K. In comparison to 2007, The Netherlands, Malta and Portugal showed the biggest improvements, whereas the positions of Spain, France and Greece deteriorated. Conclusion The ranking method permitted a comparison of palliative care development between countries and shows changes over time. Recommendations for improving the ranking include improvements to the methodology and greater explanation of the levels and changes it reveals.

[Abstract] Cancer mortality rates and trends over the period 1980-2000 for accession countries to the European Union (EU) in May 2004, which include a total of 75 million inhabitants, were abstracted from the World Health Organization (WHO) database, together with, for comparative purposes, those of the current EU. Total cancer mortality for men was 166/100 000 in the EU, but ranged between 195 (Lithuania) and 269/100 000 (Hungary) in central and eastern European accession countries. This excess related to most cancer sites, including lung and other tobacco-related neoplasms, but also stomach, intestines and liver, and a few neoplasms amenable to treatment, such as testis, Hodgkin's disease and leukaemias. Overall cancer mortality for women was 95/100 000 in the EU, and ranged between 100 and 110/100 000 in several central and eastern European countries, and up to 120/100 000 in the Czech Republic and 138/100 000 in Hungary. The latter two countries had a substantial excess in female mortality for lung cancer, but also for several other sites. Furthermore, for stomach and especially (cervix) uteri, female rates were substantially higher in central and eastern European accession countries. Over the last two decades, trends in mortality were systematically less favourable in accession countries than in the EU. Most of the unfavourable patterns and trends in cancer mortality in accession countries are due to recognised, and hence potentially avoidable, causes of cancer, including tobacco, alcohol, dietary habits, pollution and hepatitis B, plus inadequate screening, diagnosis and treatment. Consequently, the application of available knowledge on cancer prevention, diagnosis and treatment may substantially reduce the disadvantage now registered in the cancer mortality of central and eastern European accession countries. [authors]

The paper deals with illegal employment in the Czech Republic, both foreigners and citizens of the Czech Republic in comparison with other European Union countries. Illegal employment threatens the whole economy, weakening labor market and reducing the number of jobs for those who are unemployed and the job they are applying to the Labour Office. These negative phenomena in recent years is still widening, in connection with the liberalization of the economy and the influx of foreign capital. Definition of illegal work (the so-called undeclared work) in the Czech law only appeared in the Employment Act No. 435/2004 Coll., Effective 1 October 2004. Sometimes the term is narrowed only to the employment of foreigners without a residence permit, or without permission to work, but in its context includes the illegal employment of Czech citizens.

The 1997 Kyoto Conference introduced emissions trading as a policy instrument for climate protection. Bringing together scholars in the fields of economics, political science and law, this book, which was originally published in 2005, provides a description, analysis and evaluation of different aspects of emissions trading as an instrument to control greenhouse gases. The authors analyse theoretical aspects of regulatory instruments for climate policy, provide an overview of US experience with market-based instruments, draw lessons from trading schemes for the control of greenhouse gases, and discuss options for emissions trading in climate policy. They also highlight the background of climate policy and instrument choice in the US and Europe and the foundation of systems in Europe, particularly the EU's directive for a CO2 emissions trading system

An institutionalist perspective on conflict in EU budgetary politics -- A rational choice-institutionalist explanation of conflict in EU budgetary politics -- Obstructing decision-making -- Facilitating decision-making -- Blocking intergovernmental relations -- Accepting intergovernmental burden sharing -- Summary of the findings and update of the theoretical explanation -- A rational choice-institutionalist explanation of institutional change in EU budgetary politics -- Resisting reform -- Initiating a new institutional path.

This chapter presents a critical analysis of that interface between older adult learning and lifelong learning in a EU context. It includes four parts. Whilst the first introduces the key dynamics of older adult learning, the second focuses on EU policy on lifelong and late-life learning. The third part provides a constructive critique of EU policy on older adult learning by uncovering a range of social, economic, and ageist biases. The final part forwards proposes a future agenda for late-life learning policy for the EU. ; peer-reviewed

Defence date: 22 April 2005 ; Examining Board: Prof. Martin Rhodes (EUI, supervisor) ; Prof. Yves Mény (EUI, co-supervisor) ; Prof. John Loughlin (University of Cardiff) ; Prof. Simona Piattoni (University of Trento) ; First made available online on 31 January 2017.

Decades of co-rule have left EU citizens with attachments more complex than labels like 'European' or 'national identity' would suggest. But what kind of ties should we be looking for? How can they be studied, and where does their democratic significance lie? This book combines a conceptual elaboration of the political bond with a sociological study of commonsense suppositions, based on interviews with groups of taxi-drivers in Germany, Britain and the Czech Republic. The author investigates allegiance not in directly-solicited views on European matters but in the expectations and reference-points evoked spontaneously in political discussion. A willingness to take the transnational view on many issues is clear. But how those issues are understood raises doubts about their European dimensions and scepticism about the possibilities for addressing them. Without changes in the way politics is conceived, arguments for the European polity are likely to ring hollow, and with them the formal ties of EU citizenship.