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This Policy Report focuses on the overland routes that connect China to Europe via Central Asia and it aims to answer the question whether the European Union (EU) should engage China in the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative. The expansion of the OBOR initiative is forcing China's economic diplomacy to embrace a broader political and security engagement. While Russia and the United States are revising their roles in South and Central Asia, the EU has lost momentum.

This Policy Report focuses on the overland routes that connect China to Europe via Central Asia and it aims to answer the question whether the European Union (EU) should engage China in the One Belt One Road (OBOR) initiative. The expansion of the OBOR initiative is forcing China's economic diplomacy to embrace a broader political and security engagement. While Russia and the United States are revising their roles in South and Central Asia, the EU has lost momentum.

English
Borders and borderlands are traditionally seen as barriers. The enlargement of the European Union has changed the nature of borders with some internal borders becoming 'softer' and new external borders 'harder'. This article is a study of the contextual background of transnational collaboration across such changing borders in South East Europe. It identifies trends such as transnational funding programmes and the role of minority ethnic groups, which may change the nature of borders from barriers to bridges.

Forms of Russian and EU Power in the 'New Eastern Europe' /Toms Rostoks --Germany, the European Union, and their gentle force in the European neighbourhood : a comparison of two soft power engines /Kai-Olaf Lang --Poland's soft power in Eastern Europe /Rafal Sadowski --Russia's 'soft' policies towards the Baltic States /Victoria V. Panova --Will Russia ever be soft? /Jakub Korejba --Ukraine: bread with, or without, freedom? /Leonid Polyakov --Moldova still at a crossroads: Is the European path irreversible? /Victoria Bucataru --Russia's soft power in Georgia : a carnivorous plant in action /Sergi Kapanadze --Russia's soft power in Lithuania: the impact of conflict in Ukraine /Linas Kojala, Aivaras Zukauskas --Estonia: fearing 'decoding by Russia' /Ahto Lobjakas --Diverging faces of 'soft power' in Latvia between the EU and Russia /Andis Kudors, Gatis Pelnens --Soft power of the EU and Russia in Eastern Europe: soft power vs (not so) soft manipulation? /Toms Rostoks, Diana Potjomkina.

The sense of identity across the European Union (EU) has become an increasingly controversial and often discussed issue over the past decade. Nowadays, growing number of analysts argue that the progress of the European integration project will be impeded by the lack of such an identity. Questions regarding the nature of European identity, especially the search for a new European identity, its relations with other identities, and a possible loss of national identities, are frequently asked in the context of the EU enlargement. These questions are discussed and different views exist in EU member states. Although initiated especially by opponents of EU integration, they are also becoming burning issues in the candidate countries. Often, public opinion in these countries fears that their national identities will be lost or, at least, substantially weakened with their full integration into the EU. There are many debates on the notion of the unity of the European civilization. In this context, Turkish integration with the European Union is the most challenging issue. Its Muslim population could change the concept of European identity. In this paper, we would like to analyze the concept of European identity, the perspective of the integration of Turkey into the EU, and its ideological dimension. It is also important to analyze the phenomenon of the Euroskepticism in Turkey in this context. ; Kwestia tożsamości kulturowo-cywilizacyjnej Unii Europejskiej staje się problemem dyskusyjnym, zwłaszcza w kontekście procesu rozszerzenia tej struktury. Zjawisko to analizowane jest często w kontekście rozwoju integracji i konieczności poszukiwania nowej tożsamości europejskiej. Występują też obawy, czy w procesie integracji nie dojdzie do osłabienia, a nawet zatracenia tożsamości narodowych. Wydaje się, że w tym kontekście problem integracji Turcji z Unią Europejską będzie największym wyzwaniem. Nawet jeśli państwo to spełni wszystkie merytoryczne kryteria członkostwa, nie zmieni to faktu, iż należy ono do odmiennego kręgu kulturowo-cywilizacyjnego. Nasuwa się więc pytanie, jaki będzie wkład muzułmańskiej Turcji w kreowanie wspólnej europejskiej tożsamości? Celem niniejszego opracowania jest przedstawienie koncepcji tożsamości europejskiej w obliczu perspektywy rozszerzenia o Turcję. Chcemy również w tym kontekście uwzględnić analizę stosunku społeczeństwa Turcji do kwestii integracji europejskiej.

Der Verfasser untersucht die – im Verhältnis zu Aktualität und Praxisrelevanz – wenig erforschte Frage, ob die Euroeinführung für alte und neue Mitgliedstaaten mit dem EU-Beitritt verpflichtend wird. Er analysiert hierzu zunächst, ob die Euroeinführung im Prinzip – zunächst unter bewusster Ausblendung des problematischen Wechselkurskonvergenzkriteriums – einen verpflichtenden Charakter hat. Nach Bejahung dieser Frage wendet er sich dem Wechselkurskonvergenzkriterium zu und stellt fest, dass die formelle WKM II-Teilnahme ein notwendiges, aber nicht hinreichendes Kriterium zur Erfüllung dieses Konvergenzkriteriums ist. Da die WKM II-Teilnahme aber ihrerseits freiwillig ausgestaltet ist, macht dies im Ergebnis auch die Euroeinführung insgesamt freiwillig. Ein Mitgliedstaat kann die Euroeinführung daher wie Schweden einfach umgehen, indem er dem WKM II nicht beitritt. Der Autor zeigt immer wieder auf, wie verschiedene Gruppen von EU-Mitgliedstaaten hinsichtlich der Euro-Einführung in der Vergangenheit behandelt wurden.

This review constitutes a part of the Core Organic project 'ProYoungStock' – Promoting young stock and cow health and welfare by natural feeding systems. The overarching aim of the project is to improve young stock rearing systems concerning animal welfare-friendly husbandry, feeding and disease prevention by identifying approaches on different levels. More natural rearing systems are one approach to solve welfare problems in current calf rearing. Previous studies have shown considerable variations in herd characteristics and management strategies between organic dairy farms in Europe. The differences have been associated with regional and national conditions for organic farming. However, it is possible that differences in national legislation also play a part in these variations. Relevant EU and national rules on organic production and animal welfare were compiled in the following seven European countries: Sweden (SE), France (FR), Poland (PL), Germany (DE), Italy (IT), Austria (AT), and Switzerland (CH). The purpose was to provide information on drivers and barriers for cow-calf contact systems in organic dairy production and to identify possible areas for improvement and/or harmonization. Our results did not identify any major barriers in national rules for the use of rearing systems allowing cow-calf contact. Instead, cow-calf contact is promoted by the requirement to feed organic calves preferably maternal milk during the first three months of their life. Specifications regarding calf rearing derives from animal protection legislation rather than regulations of organic farming but milk hygiene regulations can also have an influence on practicability of cow-calf contact. Variations in national legislation can affect details of design and implementation of cow-calf systems, however, other factors (e.g. overall conditions for organic dairy farming, traditions, economics and disease prevention strategies) rather than regulations likely play more important roles.

This article proposes developing the public bioethics aspect of stewardship and applying it to the EU as 'supra-stewardship', a tool for opening a discursive space for citizen participation in EU preparedness planning. With this in mind the article highlights some of the contours for engagement on the boundaries of responsibility and the production of governance distortions and failures brought out by attention to framing, distribution, vulnerability and learning. This should help citizens to tackle the complementary expert and public rationalities that undermine their involvement, contribute supplementary knowledge towards governance, and help promote institutional learning by the EU and resilience.

This article centres on the intersection of the dimensions of class and gender Its main goal is to present an overview of the kinds of constraints and opportunities provided by the combinations of different policy tools for various income profiles in Denmark, Finland, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Adopting a focus on single parents, differences within this group are identified by using disposable income micro-simulations for different household profiles in applying the capabilities approach, giving special attention to the level of agency over choices in work-life balance. In order to measure the class effects of policy mixes, this article proposes an alternative approach to the comparative analysis of family support. It adopts a particular focus on single-parent families. (1) for four different income profiles: at levels of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 2.0 times the average wage; (2) for in-work and out-of-work situations; and (3) by using a tax-benefit model, which analyses gross income from work along with social benefits (unemployment insurance benefits, housing benefits, child benefits, and child care subsidies) minus tax, mandatory social contributions, housing costs and childcare fees. The adopted unit of stylised comparison is a single-parent family with a child aged three, with the assumption that the family uses formal childcare.

"This book explores key elements of EU engagement with the Belt Road Initiative (BRI), drawing on the expertise of leading practitioners and scholars of EU-China relations. Under the theme of discerning the BRI and its nexus with the EU, chapters examine the nature of the BRI as China's approach to global governance and consider how BRI intersects with the EU as a very different regional integration project. Under the theme of BRI factors in EU law and policy, chapters examine the BRI as a factor in specific domains of EU law and policy, including investment, finance, the environment and the COVID-19 pandemic, and consider EU responses. Under the theme of EU Member State experiences, chapters present a series of case studies of individual Member States, their engagement with the BRI and ongoing policy debates. This book will be of key interest to scholars and students of International Relations, EU external relations, Chinese public policy and foreign relations, European studies and security studies as well as policymakers dealing with China in EU and Member State institutions"--

UID/CPO/04627/2013 PD/BD/106023/2014 ; Skilled immigration has been playing an increasingly central role in the European policies. One of the purposes is to solve the shortage of skilled human resources as well as cope with the demographic challenges. However, several observations in the European context, including third country nationals and individuals born in Eastern Europe, continue to signal obstacles in the recognition of professional qualifications and skills of migrant workers, their underutilization in the labour market and the existence of wage differentials. The professional qualifications and skills attained by migrants, in the country of origin, are simultaneously an element of economic empowerment and distinction. Their formal and informal recognition, or non-recognition, can influence the results obtained not only in accessing the labour market, but also within the market itself. In this sense, recognition, acts as a mechanism that guides immigrants to the different segments of the labour market. In this research we focus on the Portuguese case, since scarcer scientific attention has been given to skilled migrants from peripheral pre-enlargement countries. Recently conducted studies about Portuguese skilled emigrants, particularly on nursing professionals, suggest disparities in status and wages when compared to natives. How to explain these differences? What are the underlying factors and mechanisms? How do they interact? What's the degree of influence of institutional, organizational and social contexts? To answer these questions we adopt an interdisciplinary and a multilevel approach, thus contributing to highlight the articulations of the various factors and mechanisms that produce inequality, between migrants and natives, in the labour market. ; publishersversion ; published