Suchergebnisse

Flood risk will increase in many areas around the world due to climate change and increase in economic exposure. This implies that adequate flood insurance schemes are needed to adapt to increasing flood risk and to minimise welfare losses for households in flood-prone areas. Flood insurance markets may need reform to offer sufficient and affordable financial protection and incentives for risk reduction. Here, we present the results of a study that aims to evaluate the ability of flood insurance arrangements in Europe to cope with trends in flood risk, using criteria that encompass common elements of the policy debate on flood insurance reform. We show that the average risk-based flood insurance premium could double between 2015 and 2055 in the absence of more risk reduction by households exposed to flooding. We show that part of the expected future increase in flood risk could be limited by flood insurance mechanisms that better incentivise risk reduction by policyholders, which lowers vulnerability. The affordability of flood insurance can be improved by introducing the key features of public-private partnerships (PPPs), which include public reinsurance, limited premium cross-subsidisation between low- and high-risk households, and incentives for policyholder-level risk reduction. These findings were evaluated in a comprehensive sensitivity analysis and support ongoing reforms in Europe and abroad that move towards risk-based premiums and link insurance with risk reduction, strengthen purchase requirements, and engage in multi-stakeholder partnerships.

"Russia's use of its vast energy resources for leverage against post-Soviet states such as Ukraine is widely recognized as a threat. Yet we cannot understand this danger without also understanding the opportunity that Russian energy represents. From corruption-related profits to transportation-fee income to subsidized prices, many within these states have benefited by participating in Russian energy exports. To understand Russian energy power in the region, it is necessary to look at the entire value chain-including production, processing, transportation, and marketing-and at the full spectrum of domestic and external actors involved, from Gazprom to regional oligarchs to European Union regulators. This book follows Russia's three largest fossil-fuel exports-natural gas, oil, and coal-from production in Siberia through transportation via Ukraine to final use in Germany in order to understand the tension between energy as threat and as opportunity. Margarita M. Balmaceda reveals how this dynamic has been a key driver of political development in post-Soviet states in the period between independence in 1991 and Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. She analyzes how the physical characteristics of different types of energy, by shaping how they can be transported, distributed, and even stolen, affect how each is used-not only technically but also politically. Both a geopolitical travelogue of the journey of three fossil fuels across continents and an incisive analysis of technology's role in fossil-fuel politics and economics, this book offers new ways of thinking about energy in Eurasia and beyond."

Abstract
In 2017 an article was published on the unwillingness of the WHO to acknowledge the health effects associated with the use of wireless phones. It was thus stated that the WHO is 'A Hard Nut to Crack'. Since then, there has been no progress, and history seems to be repeating in that the European Union (EU) is following in the blind man's footsteps created by the WHO. Despite increasing evidence of serious negative effects from radiofrequency radiation on human health and the environment, the EU has not acknowledged that there are any risks. Since September 2017, seven appeals by scientists and medical doctors have been sent to the EU requesting a halt to the roll-out of the fifth generation of wireless communication (5G). The millimeter waves (MMW) and complex waveforms of 5G contribute massively harmful additions to existing planetary electromagnetic pollution. Fundamental rights and EU primary law make it mandatory for the EU to protect the population, especially children, from all kinds of harmful health effects of wireless technology. However, several experts associated with the WHO and the EU have conflicts of interest due to their ties to industry. The subsequent prioritizing of economic interests is resulting in human and planetary health being compromised. Experts must make an unbiased evaluation with no conflicts of interest. The seven appeals to the EU have included requests for immediate protective action, which have been ignored. On the issue of wireless radiation and the health of citizens, the EU seems to be another hard nut to crack.

The present study aims to extend research on the role of values for the perceived legitimacy of legal authorities by focusing on (1) supranational legal authorities and (2) a broad range of values. We examine how (alignment between) people's personal values and their perception of the values of the European Union (EU) are related to perceived legitimacy of the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) and the EU more broadly. Inspired by moral foundations theory, we distinguish between individualizing (i.e., "democracy", "liberty", and "fairness") and binding values (i.e., "rule of law", "respect for national authority", and "respect for tradition"). An online survey was conducted in six EU member states (N = 1,136). A factor analysis confirmed a two-factor model (individualizing vs. binding values) for both personal values and perceived EU values. Four regression models were run for each of the value factors, including personal values, perceived EU values, and their interaction, on each of the outcomes (i.e., perceived CJEU and EU legitimacy). Perceived endorsement by the EU of both individualizing and binding values predicted higher legitimacy perceptions of the CJEU and EU. Furthermore, personal binding values had a negative effect on perceived EU legitimacy when participants perceived the EU to weakly support binding values, but a positive effect when the EU was perceived to strongly support binding values. The results suggest that value alignment plays an important role in perceived legitimacy of the CJEU and EU, and that better representing binding values might be a strategy to improve perceived EU legitimacy.

The article analyzes the current crisis in relations between Russia and the European Union (EU) which is part of a more global crisis in the relations between Russia and the Western community that can be analyzed in terms of the Russian-Western "cool war" concept. Firstly, the main trends in relations between Russia and the EU since the early 1990s are analyzed within three main dimensions of their interactions (economic interdependence; political values and institutions; foreign policy dimension) in the context of relations between Russia and the Western community. The article then examines how the current crisis and its key factors (relations between Russia and the EU in their common neighborhood; mutual sanctions regimes established by Moscow and Brussels against each other; transformation of the relations between Russia, the EU and its member states as a result of the crisis) are analyzed and discussed by the Western and Russian academic and expert communities. Specific attention is paid to the issues and problems that are prioritized by Russian and Western scholars, how they have been studied, how the scholars and experts reveal the causes and consequences of the relevant aspects of the current crisis in the EU-Russia relations in the context of a more global confrontational stagnation in the relations between Russia and the Western community. Conclusions are made regarding prospects for any changes in the current crisis of EU-Russia relations, and the factors that could stimulate or limit these changes are outlined.

During the current enlargement process, the issues surrounding the Third Pillar of the European Union, with the exception of elements of the asylum & immigration acquis (which were subsequently transferred to the European Community pillar at Amsterdam), have been relatively marginalized. At one stage, it was even suggested that a partial accession could take place, with entrance to Pillars Two & Three considered of little difficulty to the applicant states from Central & Eastern Europe, while the more complex elements of the Community acquis would be postponed to a later date. This paper, by critically examining the likely solutions offered by two of the original 'first wave' candidates, Poland & Estonia, will suggest that accession to the internal security agenda of the European Union will be a far greater obstacle than originally imagined. Through a detailed empirical assessment of the administrative & logistic capacities required for full implementation of the 'Tampere agenda' -- the latest development to the internal security acquis, agreed at the Tampere European Council of Oct 1999 -- it will be demonstrated that neither of them is within reach of successfully completing the Justice & Home Affairs acquis within the timetable currently being suggested. Adapted from the source document.

The development of the Trans-European Networks (TENs) in the EU is one of the first attempts at achieving a top-down approach to the development of a genuine European network in the interests of greater competitiveness and cohesion in the European economy. This implies the need for consistency with both national transport policies and with other EU policies, such as those on the environment, regional development and stability and growth. This paper explores the interaction between these policy areas to assess the extent of horizontal co-ordination between different sectoral policies and vertical co-ordination between different policy levels. The analysis of horizontal co-ordination has three main elements: the identification of horizontal spillovers between policy areas; the analysis of how policy responds to the evidence of horizontal spillovers; and the organisational structures put in place to implement policy. A key to this is the distinction between identifying spillovers between policy areas or establishing co-ordination between them as an aim of policy and the implementation of detailed policy objectives and measures to address such matters. This is achieved by examining the extent to which spillovers are recognised in key policy documents and the way this has shaped the policy design and its implementation. As well as the horizontal links between different EU policy areas, the analysis of vertical co-ordination involves enquiring into the relationships between different levels of government and decision making. This addresses the question as to how higher levels of government establish a policy environment within which lower levels operate. This has three main dimensions: the way in which policy is framed to establish the goals which need to be addressed by the lower levels of decision making (top-down policy formation); the extent to which the formation of policy by higher level bodies is informed by and takes cognisance of the views and needs of lower level bodies (bottom-up policy formation); and the way in which high levels of government monitor and police decisions by lower level bodies. The paper provides a schematic framework for analysing policy interaction developed from research as part of the ESPON programme of the EU which identifies opportunities for greater coherence and the risks of conflict. The paper suggests that ignoring these conflicts places the opportunity for further cohesion in regional development in the EU at risk.

Why do trade unions organize antigovernment strikes in some countries but not in others? This article argues that there is a curvilinear relationship between union density and political strike activity. Political strikes are rare in countries with low union density, since effective protests require a basic level of organizational capacity. They are also rare in countries with high union density, since a government that faces a strong union movement has powerful incentives to adjust its policies in order to avoid open confrontation. But political strikes are relatively common in countries with moderate levels of union density, since it is difficult for governments and unions to find viable compromises when the strength of the unions is not secure. The empirical part of the article estimates the relationship between union density and the likelihood of political strikes in two samples of advanced democracies. (World Politics / SWP)

The fourth Yearbook of the Central and Eastern European Forum of Young Legal, Political and Social Theorists reassesses central concepts of modern constitutionalism between the poles of law and politics: separation of powers, constitutional review, and constitutional rights and obligations. Fourteen legal scholars and political scientists from the region contribute to interrelated debates in both disciplines. Two questions are particularly raised: How can the aforementioned concepts be understood? And: Which role do they play in current national and supra-national institutions? With regard to the second question, an essential part of the chapters focuses on current developments within the European Union and in post-socialist states of Central and Eastern Europe

The subject of the study – methodical approaches to the feasibility study of the choice of lighting system with the use of different types of lamps. The purpose of the article is to analyze the use of lighting lamps of different types for EU countries, as well as to develop proposals for improving the energy efficiency of indoor lighting systems. Research methodology – methods of graphic analysis (graphical interpretation of work results), the method of economic modeling (during the development of feasibility study of the feasibility of using different types of lamps). Results – analyzed the most common options for indoor lighting systems using different types of lamps on the example of EU countries (Germany, Denmark, and Poland). The advantages and disadvantages of the main lighting systems available on the market are presented, as well as a comparison of prices for the main types of lamps for different EU countries. The economic effect of the use of each type of lamps for indoor lighting is determined and the results of the analysis of the prospects of their use are presented. Application of results. Economic branch: economy of the enterprise, city, branch. Conclusions. The calculations show that although in Germany, Denmark and Poland electricity tariffs and lamp prices are different, but LED lamps are the most cost–effective, because their discounted costs for operation and acquisition are the lowest.

Abstract Bread represents a staple food in many parts of the world including Europe. Depending on the region of origin and the respective cultural heritage bread is made with different ingredients and is consumed in various forms. This work consists of an environmental sustainability assessment of 21 different types of bread, representing a wide spectrum of typologies of such food consumed across the European Union, via a Life Cycle Assessment approach. The embedded energy and equivalent greenhouse gas emissions of each type of bread were estimated, from cradle to bakery gate, by considering a mass, a nutritional value and a price based functional unit. Overall, the results have highlighted the variability of the embedded energy and the equivalent GHG (greenhouse gas) emissions associated to the consumption of the 21 kinds of bread rooted in the cultural environment of 21 EU countries. When considering a functional unit of 1 kg of bread, the Cumulative Energy Demand results range from 9 MJ/kg to 32.9 MJ/kg. The Global Warming Potential indicator has a minimum value of 0.5 kgCO 2eq /kg and a maximum of 6.6 kgCO 2eq /kg. For a functional unit amounting to a 100 kcal provided by the consumption of bread, the Cumulative Energy Demand results vary from 0.33 MJ/100 kcal to 0.93 MJ/100 kcal whilst the Global Warming Potential indicator varies from 0.019 kgCO 2eq /100 kcal to 0.135 kgCO 2eq /100 kcal. For a functional unit amounting to the quantity of bread purchased with 1€ (weighted according to the purchasing price of each nation in the European Union), the Cumulative Energy Demand results vary from 1.197 MJ/€ to 3.708 MJ/€ whilst the Global Warming Potential indicator varies from 0.15 kgCO2 eq /€ to 0.376 kgCO2 eq /€. The study has pinpointed the importance of evaluating food, in terms of environmental sustainability, with more than one type of functional unit in order to account not only for the bread's nutritional purposes but also the need to satisfy social, cultural, hedonistic and other qualitative functions. Specifically, when using a mass based functional unit, the less impactful results involve bread types with simple recipes, based essentially on flour, yeast and water. By assessing the breads with an energy based functional unit, bread types which also contain vegetable oils and small amounts of animal based ingredients result as more carbon and energy friendly. The use of a price based functional unit indicates that the higher priced bread types, manufactured with more expensive ingredients that are produced in an environmentally efficient manner, are the more sustainable ones. Overall, for many types of bread, the energy consumption during the production phase, in particular the baking process, represents a hot spot and is dependent on the size and shape of the bread. Furthermore, the efficiency of ingredient production (in terms of material and energy use and in terms of the respective yields of each nation in the European Union), such as that of milk and flour, also influences the sustainability of the bread types.

The global economic crisis has brought about the need for States' involvement to rescue many business entities from bankruptcy, initially in the financial sector, and at a later stage of the crisis in the real economy. In the countries of the European Union, these measures take the form of state aid, which is specifically regulated as it bestows benefits on its beneficiaries and therefore violates the rules of market competition. Thus, the provision of state aid is controversial, since it potentially adversely affects the competition policy pursued in the EU. This paper aims to analyse and evaluate the volume of state aid granted in the EU countries during the economic crisis and its potential impact on the health of the economy and the public finance sector. ; Globalny kryzys gospodarczy spowodował konieczność zaangażowania państwa w ratowanie przed bankructwem wielu podmiotów gospodarczych, początkowo w sektorze finansowym, a następnie, w późniejszej fazie kryzysu, także w realnej sferze gospodarki. W krajach Unii Europejskiej działania te przyjmują formę pomocy publicznej, która jest szczegółowo uregulowana, ponieważ oznacza korzyści dla jej beneficjentów, a więc narusza reguły konkurencji rynkowej. W związku z tym udzielanie pomocy publicznej jest kontrowersyjne, gdyż potencjalnie wpływa ona niekorzystnie na politykę konkurencji prowadzoną w UE. Celem artykułu jest analiza i ocena rozmiarów pomocy publicznej udzielanej w krajach UE w dobie kryzysu gospodarczego oraz jej potencjalnego wpływu na kondycję ekonomiczną gospodarek i stan sektora finansów publicznych.

In 2010, after several years of being stalled, negotiations between MERCOSUR (the Common Market of the Southern Cone) and the European Union (EU) to build a free-trade agreement (FTA) were resumed. This FTA is expected to have an important impact on MERCOSUR economies, especially if both blocs reach an agreement regarding the agricultural sector. This paper analyzes the impact of an FTA between MERCOSUR and EU, with a special focus on distributional impacts on Uruguay. For this we apply an improved version of MIRAGE (Modeling International Relationships in Applied General Equilibrium) with household heterogeneity. The representative agent in the standard version of the MIRAGE model is decomposed into a private and a public agent for all regions, and into a high number of households for Uruguay. Results show that a trade agreement between MERCOSUR and EU would have a significant impact on trade flows between both blocs. MERCOSUR economies would increase agriculture exports to EU and industrial imports from EU. Welfare increases in all countries participating in the agreement but is more pronounced for the two small countries of MERCOSUR: Paraguay and Uruguay. In Uruguay, welfare increases for different categories of households, but the richest households benefit the most. In spite of this, inequality decreases as a consequence of the agreement, and poverty rates decrease throughout the country. ; Non-PR ; IFPRI1; Theme 2; Subtheme 2.1; GRP2 ; MTID

In the reporting period July-October 2018, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) delivered three rulings ( Alpenrind, Walltopia, and Commission v Belgium) concerning the conflict rule for posted workers as contained in Article 12 of Regulation 883/2004. The CJEU clarified the meaning of the `non-replacement condition', the legal status of workers who are recruited for the sole purpose of being posted to another Member State as well as procedural aspects relating to A1 certificates. In addition, the CJEU delivered judgments on the portability of personal care benefits (A), the application of the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of disability to social security provisions contained in collective agreements ( Bedi) and the protection of supplementary pension claims in the event of insolvency of the employer ( Grenville Hampshire).