Suchergebnisse

We report a study of final states containing a W boson and hadronic jets, produced in proton-proton collisions at a center-of-mass energy of 7 TeV. The data were collected with the ATLAS detector at the CERN LHC and comprise the full 2010 data sample of 36 pb−1. Cross sections are determined using both the electron and muon decay modes of the W boson and are presented as a function of inclusive jet multiplicity, Njet, for up to five jets. At each multiplicity, cross sections are presented as a function of jet transverse momentum, the scalar sum of the transverse momenta of the charged lepton, missing transverse momentum, and all jets, the invariant mass spectra of jets, and the rapidity distributions of various combinations of leptons and final-state jets. The results, corrected for all detector effects and for all backgrounds such as diboson and top quark pair production, are compared with particle-level predictions from perturbative QCD. Leading-order multiparton event generators, normalized to the next-to-next-to-leading-order total cross section for inclusive W-boson production, describe the data reasonably well for all measured inclusive jet multiplicities. Next-to-leading-order calculations from MCFM, studied here for Njet≤2, and BlackHat-Sherpa, studied here for Njet≤4, are found to be mostly in good agreement with the data. ; We are grateful to the BLACKHAT-SHERPA Collaboration and Daniel Maitre for all their help. We thank CERN for the very successful operation of the LHC, as well as the support staff from our institutions without whom ATLAS could not be operated efficiently. We acknowledge the support of ANPCyT, Argentina; YerPhI, Armenia; ARC, Australia; BMWF, Austria; ANAS, Azerbaijan; SSTC, Belarus; CNPq and FAPESP, Brazil; NSERC, NRC, and CFI, Canada; CERN; CONICYT, Chile; CAS, MOST, and NSFC, China; COLCIENCIAS, Colombia; MSMT CR, MPO CR, and VSC CR, Czech Republic; DNRF, DNSRC, and Lundbeck Foundation, Denmark; ARTEMIS, European Union; IN2P3-CNRS, CEA-DSM/IRFU, France; GNAS, Georgia; BMBF, DFG, ...

Hydrothermal and metamorphic processes could have abiotically produced organo-mineral associations displaying morphological and isotopic characteristics similar to those of fossilized microorganisms in ancient rocks, thereby leaving false-positive evidence for early life in the geological record. Recent studies revealed that geologically-induced alteration processes do not always completely obliterate all molecular information about the original organic precursors of ancient microfossils. Here, we report the molecular, geochemical, and mineralogical composition of organo-mineral associations in a chert sample from the ca. 3.47 billion-year-old (Ga) Mount Ada Basalt, in the Pilbara Craton, Western Australia. Our observations indicate that the molecular characteristics of carbonaceous matter are consistent with hydrothermally altered biological organics, although significantly distinct from that of organic microfossils discovered in a chert sample from the ca. 3.43 Ga Strelley Pool Formation in the same area. Alternatively, the presence of native metal alloys in the chert, previously believed to be unstable in such hydrothermally influenced environments, indicates strongly reducing conditions that were favorable for the abiotic formation of organic matter. Drawing definitive conclusions about the origin of most Paleoarchean organo-mineral associations therefore requires further characterization of a range of natural samples together with experimental simulations to constrain the molecular composition and geological fate of hydrothermally-generated condensed organics. ; Simons Foundation. Simons Collaboration on the Origins of Life (award #290361) ; European Union. Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Programme (STROMATA, grant agreement 759289) ; National Science Foundation (U.S.) (award number DMR-14-19807)

This paper depicts the dynamics of the EU-Turkey relations beginning
from the signing of the association agreement, i.e. the Ankara contract,
to date. In addition, it aims to specify the factors preventing the bilateral
collaboration and achievement of EU membership as aspired to by
Ankara. The paper focuses on both the internal and international problems arising on Turkey's path to EU membership, namely, the westernisation trend originating from Kemal Ataturk times, recent developments in Turkey, the democratisation of political institutions, the rule of law and protection of human rights, regional security, Turkey's part in the refugee crisis, visafree travel, Greek-Turkey relationships, Ankara's stance towards Cyprus, the Kurdish problem, and the Turkey-US and Turkey-Russia relationships. The authors discuss the EU Member States' attitude towards the political and socio-economic developments in Turkey and the way Ankara looks at the requirements put forward by those Member States. We suggest several methods of rapprochement and brighter bilateral prospects.

The article provides a critical analysis of the state of development of participatory democracy instruments in Ukraine in particular of access to information relevant to the decision-making and public participation in environmental matters. The piece explores the major regulatory shifts in these areas brought by implementation of the EU-Ukraine Association Agreement and associated adoption of legal frameworks on access to public information and on environmental impact assessment. Current legislative proposals on industrial emissions soon to be considered by the Parliament of Ukraine are analysed in detail to demonstrate the continuation of the trend. This leads to a conclusion that access to information and public participation in decisions on specific activities in Ukraine are developing in conformity with the European standards and will continue to develop both in terms of further digitalisation, automatization and customisation for the needs of a specific decision-making, and in terms of covering more environmental permits and other decisions on specific activities.

Undermining the foundational pillars of the post-Cold War security order, Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine is a watershed event for Europe and the wider world, Tur­key included. While Ankara is trying to protect its economy and security interests, anti-Western narratives dominate the public debate. The war has indeed accentuated anti-Westernism as one of the main fault lines of political competition. Given the geo­political imperatives that February 24 brought to the fore, it is highly likely that, in the short-term, Turkey's NATO membership and its Association Agreement with the EU will - geopolitically and economically - continue to anchor it to the West. Whether or not a full strategic alignment with the EU will accompany such an anchoring is far from cer­tain, however, mainly due to Turkey's domestic political dynamics, but also due to the unclarity about how far the EU is willing to move beyond a transactional approach. (auhtor's abstract)

The EU project is at an inflection point. Intra-EU alliances are altering following the UK's departure, the EU's financial markets remain segmented, and there is limited appetite for completing the Banking Union. The second stage of Brexit negotiations also collided with the Covid-19 pandemic, which has strained economies around the world. These issues amount to a 'polycrisis' for the EU, raising existential questions about its future. This article focuses on one strand of the debates generated within this polycrisis: future UK/EU policy cooperation with respect to financial governance. The article discusses the importance of the financial services sector to the UK and the EU, and examines potential institutional options for future cooperation. In particular, it advocates harnessing dexterous aspects evident within precedents, including existing EU/third country association agreements, to develop a functional arrangement for future financial governance cooperation, which could also lead to closer UK/EU cooperation than currently appears likely.

The EU project is at an inflection point. Intra‐EU alliances are altering following the UK's departure, the EU's financial markets remain segmented, and there is limited appetite for completing the Banking Union. The second stage of Brexit negotiations also collided with the Covid‐19 pandemic, which has strained economies around the world. These issues amount to a 'polycrisis' for the EU, raising existential questions about its future. This article focuses on one strand of the debates generated within this polycrisis: future UK/EU policy cooperation with respect to financial governance. The article discusses the importance of the financial services sector to the UK and the EU, and examines potential institutional options for future cooperation. In particular, it advocates harnessing dexterous aspects evident within precedents, including existing EU/third country association agreements, to develop a functional arrangement for future financial governance cooperation, which could also lead to closer UK/EU cooperation than currently appears likely.

Nowadays in Ukraine there is no single view on understanding of the strategy of development of energy safety, which profoundly and negatively affected the general state of national safety of the country. The purpose of the article is to analyze the current state of legal security of energy safety in Ukraine, check it for compliance with its obligations under the Association Agreement with the EU and other EU acts that proclaim the standards in the field of energy safety. This paper refers to the experience of the EU energy safety legislation. Furthemore, this study provides analysis of Ukrainian legislation in this field, draws attention to the existing conflicts and gaps, emphasizing the need to optimize legislation of Ukraine's energy safety according to the EU standards. Keywords: energy safety, energy law, the EU energy safety, energy safety of Ukraine, legislation of energy safety, adaptation of Ukrainian energy legislation to the EU standards.

Since 2013, Russia has put forward a socially conservative norms and values paradigm that challenges the European Union's (EU's) normative pull in Eastern Partnership countries like Ukraine – especially when it comes to Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex (LGBTI) policies. The adoption of legislation on 'propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations to minors' that same year and the homophobic discourse relating to the situation reinforced the link between state violence and homosexuality as a tool for geopolitical othering in Russia. Notwithstanding Ukraine's normative isomorphism towards the EU, the difficulties surrounding LGBTI activism since the signing of the Association Agreement illustrate that also in Ukraine the risk of extra-judicial violence and geopolitical othering remains. Yet at the same time, Ukraine's normative isomorphism towards the EU prevents policymakers from state violence towards and geopolitical othering, thereby effectively setting their state policies apart in an ever divergent path from their Russian neighbour.

The literature dealing with the international dimensions of authoritarianism suggests that regional hegemons may exploit linkage and leverage to counter democracy and diffuse authoritarian ideas and practices. However, there is a need for more research on whether authoritarian diffusion is actually happening, including the circumstances under which linkage and leverage are translated (or not) into policy convergence. This article addresses these shortcomings by examining the high-value case of Armenia – a country with growing levels of dependence on Russia following its rejection of the EU's Association Agreement in 2013 and accession to the Russian-led Eurasian Economic Union in 2015. Drawing on a combination of original elite and expert interviews this article argues that although there is evidence of Russian authoritarian diffusion, there is limited evidence of policy convergence. Instead, material incentives and concerns over legitimacy continue to privilege democratic norms and make the costs of Russian-style restrictive legislation prohibitive for incumbents.

AbstractIn 2013–2014, Ukraine experienced an extraordinary episode of contentious politics, later called Maidan, Euromaidan, or the Revolution of Dignity. It was triggered by the government's refusal to sign the Association Agreement with the European Union, and grew into a nation‐wide social movement that demanded respect for human rights, a change of the political regime, and an end to endemic corruption. Protesters both in the capital and in the regions demanded deeper democracy and justice over the perceived harmful actions of the government. Following the unprecedented use of violence, leaving nearly a hundred dead, Euromaidan resulted in a change in the political regime, a return to pro‐European foreign policy, and an Antimaidan counter‐movement. Reacting to Kyiv events, Russia annexed Ukrainian Crimea and fueled a military conflict in eastern Ukraine. This article presents a short history of Euromaidan and a survey of the growing literature that has examined its conditions, dynamics, and outcomes.

The Energy Union Strategy, launched in February 2015, is a vast project aiming at identifying a set of common responses to a series of present and future challenges in the field of energy. The question of energy security occupies a central position in EU's relationships with its neighbours. In this context, economic and political ties with the Russian Federation in its role of major supplier of energy resources to EU member states are of crucial importance. Acquiring a higher degree of independence from the Russian supply of natural gas has been proclaimed as a national priority by several ex-Soviet republics. Moldova, Ukraine and Georgia have recently signed Association Agreements with the EU. We look into the early stages of the implementation of AA's and analyse their consequences on the EU – Russia relations in the energy field. A series of common characteristics and possible developments in the field of energy are analysed.

В статье проведен сравнительный анализ геополитического выбора государств Евразийского экономического союза и ряда стран СНГ, которые под давлением США и Европейского Союза предпочли евро-атлантическое направление интеграции. Определены ключевые отличия в организации и принципах деятельности евразийской и евроатлантической экономической интеграций. Выявлены первоочередные проблемы и стратегические перспективы евразийской интеграции, связанные с возможностью многовекторного развития ; The article provides a comparative analysis of the geopolitical choice of States of the Eurasian Economic Union and a number of CIS states, which have preferred the Euro-Atlantic integration under the influence of the United States and the European Union, despite the obvious national economic harm. It identifies key differences in the organization and principles of activities of the Eurasian and Euro-Atlantic economic integration; objectively destructive role of anti-Russian sanctions for countries of the EU and, above all, their catastrophic impact for CIS countries, that have signed the Association agreement with the EU

Whilst the political aspects of Cyprus's membership to the European Union have become the main focus of academic analysis over the years, its trade relations with the Member States have raised issues just as interesting from a legal point of view. This has been illustrated quite recently by the Anastasiou II judgment delivered by the European Court of Justice in 2000. The article aims at highlighting some of these issues. It is structured in three parts: the first part outlines the provisions of the EC–Cyprus Association Agreement governing trade between the parties; the second part analyses the Court's first ruling on imports of certain produce from the northern part of Cyprus;1 the third part examines the recent judgment of the Court on imports of produce which, whilst originating in the northern part of Cyprus, are being accompanied by phytosanitary certificates issued by the Turkish authorities.

France has obtained from its partners the inclusion of the overseas territories in the Treaty of Rome which established the EEC. The goal was to maintain relations between the mainlands and the former colonies in a new context during the decolonisation.Between 1958 and 1963, the Six experienced a partnership system with third countries, particularly the African and Malgach Associated States (AMAS) which allowed to maintain particular economic ties with these sovereign states on behalf of development aid. The July 1963 Convention of Yaounde marked the will of the Six to institutionalise and coordinate their relations with African and Malgache third countries and laying the foundations of cooperation policy, consolidated by the renewal of this convention. On the commercial level, These agreements were based on mutual preferencial tariffs and quotas and financial and technical assistance.At the end of a decade of association, the development aid assessement was very poor, except for the field of education and training where an increase in schooling was witnessed in most of the AMAS, but in terms of economy, results were insignificant: the preferences they benefited from gradually decreased into little, They still remained very dependent and heavily indebted. Their economy was still based on the export of tropical products and mining and the very unbalanced terms of trade. ; La France a obtenu de ses partenaires l'inclusion des territoires d'outre-mer dans le traité de Rome instituant la CEE. L'objectif était, en période de décolonisation, de maintenir des liens entre les métropoles et les anciennes colonies dans un contexte nouveau. Entre 1958 et 1963, les Six expérimentent un système d'association avec les pays tiers, en particulier les états africains et malgache associés (EAMA) qui permet de maintenir des liens économiques particuliers avec ces états souverains, sous couvert d'une aide au développement. La Convention de Yaoundé de juillet 1963 marque la volonté des Six d'institutionnaliser et de coordonner leurs relations avec les pays tiers africains et malgache et jette les bases d'une politique de coopération, consolidée par des renouvellements de cette Convention. Celles-ci furent basées au niveau commercial, sur des préférences tarifaires et contingentaires réciproques et une assistance financière et technique. Aux termes d'une décennie d'association, le bilan du soutien au développement fut très maigre. Excepté la coopération dans le domaine de l'enseignement et de la formation où il y a eu une hausse de la scolarisation dans la plupart des EAMA, les résultats au niveau économique furent dérisoires : les préférences dont ils bénéficièrent se réduisirent progressivement à peu de chose, ils restèrent encore très dépendants et fortement endettés. Leur économie était toujours basée sur l'exportation des produits tropicaux et l'extraction des minerais et les termes de l'échange très déséquilibrés.