Suchergebnisse

1. Climate change : from science to policy -- 2. The development of Europe's climate policy (1986-92) -- 3. Momentum gathers : from Rio to Geneva -- 4. The Kyoto Protocol and beyond -- 5. From collapse to revival -- 6. Waiting for Russia -- 7. The Protocol enters into force -- 8. Heading towards success -- 9. The demise of the top-down approach -- 10. The EU as a negotiator in the climate regime.

Using real-time data, we examine whether fiscal policy has been counter- or procyclical in a panel of 27 European Union (EU) member states over the period 2000–2015. We also investigate whether fiscal rules and government efficiency improve the cyclical reaction of fiscal policy. Our results suggest that even though fiscal plans in EU countries have an acyclical stance, budgetary outcomes are procyclical. Government efficiency and fiscal rules seem to reduce fiscal procyclicality. Further analysis also reveals that fiscal policy seems to be more procyclical in non-euro area countries and in times of economic prosperity.

Intro -- EMISSIONS TRADING: LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE EUROPEANUNION AND KYOTO PROTOCOL CLIMATE CHANGE PROGRAMS -- CONTENTS -- PREFACE -- CLIMATE CHANGE AND THE EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME (ETS):KYOTO AND BEYOND -- ABSTRACT -- OVERVIEW -- NATIONAL ALLOCATION PLANS AND THE ETS -- Need for Further Emissions Reductions -- Need to Adjust ETS Allocations -- ISSUES ARISING IN PHASE 2 NAPS FOR THE ETS -- Supplementarity -- Auction Policy -- New Entrant Reserves -- Auction Policy -- New Entrant Reserves -- Closure Policy -- Benchmarking -- Allocation and Energy Policy -- LOOKING TO PHASE III -- Eliminating NAPs -- Expanding Coverage -- Auctions -- SUMMARY AND CONSIDERATIONS FOR U.S.CAP-AND-TRADE PROPOSALS -- Emission Inventories and Target Setting -- Coverage -- Allocation Schemes -- Flexibility and Price Volatility -- REFERENCES -- CLIMATE CHANGE: THE EUROPEAN UNION'S EMISSIONS TRADING SYSTEM(EU-ETS) -- ABSTRACT -- OVERVIEW -- IMPLEMENTING THE ETS:NATIONAL ALLOCATION PLANS -- RESULTS FROM THE FIRST YEAR -- Emissions Levels -- Market Activity, Prices, and Impact -- Use of Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)and Joint Implementation (JI) -- ISSUES -- Tightening of Emissions Caps -- Harmonizing NAPs -- New Entrants -- Definition of Affected Units -- Expansion of Coverage -- CONCLUSION -- APPENDIX: NORWAY'S TRADING SYSTEM -- REFERENCES -- INTERNATIONAL CLIMATE CHANGE PROGRAMS: LESSONS LEARNED FROM THE EUROPEAN UNION'S EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME AND THE KYOTO PROTOCOL'S CLEAN DEVELOPMENT MECHANISM* -- WHAT GAO FOUND -- WHY GAO DID THIS STUDY -- WHAT GAO RECOMMENDS -- ABBREVIATIONS -- RESULTS IN BRIEF -- BACKGROUND -- EU EMISSIONS TRADING SCHEME ESTABLISHED A CARBONMARKET AND PROVIDES LESSONS THAT COULD INFORMU.S. DECISION MAKING ON CLIMATE CHANGE POLICY -- Creation of the ETS Established a Market for Carbon Allowances.

Front -- Table of Contents -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- The EU's Internal and External Climate Policies: an Historical Overview -- The EU Emissions Trading System Revised (Directive 2009/29/EC) -- From Sharing the Burden to Sharing the Effort: Decision 406/2009/EC on Member State Emission Targets for non-ETS Sectors -- The EU's New Renewable Energy Directive (2009/28/EC) -- The Legal Framework for Carbon Capture and Storage in the EU (Directive 2009/31/EC) -- Mitigating CO2 Emissions from Cars in the EU(Regulation (EC) No 443/2009) -- The German Paradox: Climate Leader and Green Car Laggard -- Assessing EU Assistance for Adaptation to Climate Change in Developing Countries: a Southern Perspective -- The Sustainability of the EU's Model for Climate Diplomacy -- Russia and the International Climate Change Regime -- Public Perceptions of Climate Change and Energy Issues in the EU and the United States -- List of Contributors.

Social expenditure plays an important role in European Union (EU) countries. It improves the lives of citizens whose welfare is endangered due to poverty or illness. However, social expenditure represents a considerable share of the budgets of EU member states. Despite evident similarities in their levels of development, EU countries show apparent differences in social expenditure levels. Therefore, this work aims to determine the similarities and differences between EU countries in this regard. The analysis uses clustering methods, such as hierarchical cluster analysis and the k-means, to divide countries into homogeneous groups. The research demonstrates significant differences between EU countries in the years 2008-2018, which resulted in a low number of objects (countries) in the identified groups. In the case of 6 out of 28 countries, it was not possible to assign them to any group. The research proves that EU countries should take more care when organising their social policy, taking into consideration cultural and social factors.

The aim of the article is to confirm a well-known thesis presented by Carmen Reinhard and Kenneth Rogoff, stating as follows: after it has exceeded the level of 90% of GDP, general government debt negatively affects the rate of economic growth. The analysis refers to 28 countries of the European Union. The applied research methodology includes: comparative descriptive analysis, statistical data analysis and the Author's own calculations. ; Celem artykułu jest znalezienie potwierdzenia dla znanej tezy autorstwa Carmen Reinhard i Kenneth Rogoffa, głoszącej iż dług publiczny po przekroczeniu poziomu 90% GDP wpływa negatywnie na tempo wzrostu gospodarczego. Badania zostały przeprowadzone na grupie 28 krajów należących do Unii Europejskiej. Zastosowane metody badawcze to komparatywna analiza opisowa, analiza danych statystycznych oraz obliczenia własne.

This article analyzes the impacts of ENGOs with respect to Maltese climate change policy in an EU context. In particular, focus is made on the politics of climate change in Malta and the EU in the first five years following the country's EU accession, which led to the setting of energy emissions targets by 2020. The main conclusion of this article is that ENGOs formed part of an EU-wide hegemonic formation on climate change, wherein a common position with binding emissions targets was reached. The common position was signified around the discourse of ecological modernization. EU multi-level governance provided an opportunity for ENGOs to put forward discourses for climate-change adaptation. ; peer-reviewed

The process of demographic changes in European countries is characterized by greater and greater ageing of the population, as a result of the decline in the rate of natural increase and the rise in life expectancy. Europeans have less and less children, they live longer and face the problems how to ensure a safe old age. Noticed trends of change will be intensified till the middle of the new millennium (2050), when the following situation is expected: the decline in the number of children (0-14 years) for almost 20% and the active-working population (15-64), while there will be more "old persons" (65-79) for more than 44%, and "the oldest" persons (80 or more) for even 180%. Ageing of the population characterizes all regions, but is specially pronounced in the countries in the south and countries in transition. Faced with the challenges of the disturbances in the demographic structure, the members of the European Union (25) developed an entire spectrum of measures and activities to prevent the negative social-economic consequences. Creation of "the policy of ageing" at the Union level develops within the co-ordination (OMC) of the process of modernization of the social security system (old-age pension insurance, health insurance, social and child protection); it also implies the creation of conditions for "the active old age" (increase in employment and staying as long as possible on the job market), the development of "the new forms of solidarity" between generations (as a consequence of the increase of the coefficient of dependency between active working and supported population), preventing poverty and social exclusion, etc. Strategic documents, directions and national action-plans determined the concrete measures needed to face the demographic challenges.

The influence of the Nordic countries on the European Union's (EU's) policy processes has been researched from various angles, but there is a lack of research that comprehensively examines all policy positions advanced by Nordic actors within a given policy context. This article introduces a new design for studying policy positions and influence in the EU and examines the phenomenon from a multilevel perspective using an original data set compiled in connection to three directives: the Floods Directive on the assessment and management of flood risks, the Environmental Liability Directive, and the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive. The analysis reveals that the Nordic countries follow a certain pattern of influencing EU policy that deviates from other states participating in the consultations. Nordic governmental actors exert a strong technical but weak directional influence in the chosen context but are, overall, more successful than Nordic organizational actors at influencing the policy process. ; Peer reviewed

The influence of the Nordic countries on the European Union's (EU's) policy processes has been researched from various angles, but there is a lack of research that comprehensively examines all policy positions advanced by Nordic actors within a given policy context. This article introduces a new design for studying policy positions and influence in the EU and examines the phenomenon from a multilevel perspective using an original data set compiled in connection to three directives: the Floods Directive on the assessment and management of flood risks, the Environmental Liability Directive, and the Restriction of Hazardous Substances Directive. The analysis reveals that the Nordic countries follow a certain pattern of influencing EU policy that deviates from other states participating in the consultations. Nordic governmental actors exert a strong technical but weak directional influence in the chosen context but are, overall, more successful than Nordic organizational actors at influencing the policy process.

The aim of this article is to investigate the fiscal policy changes in six Central and Eastern European countries outside the Eurozone: Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Croatia, Hungary, Poland and Romania. The analysis covers the period from 2004 to 2017. The study uses changes in the cyclically-adjusted primary balance as a main indicator to assess the fiscal policy stance. The results indicate that, in general, over the period from 2004 to 2017, the fiscal stance in these countries was somewhat contractionary.

chapter Introduction: EU and China: Alliance for the Anthropocene -- chapter 1 The US: Still reluctant and unreliable -- chapter 2 The European Union: A hopeful paradigm -- chapter 3 China: Lessons from an unsustainable growth model spur change -- chapter 4 US–China: Rivalry trumps partnership in the Anthropocene -- chapter 5 What makes EU–China collaboration a better fit for the Anthropocene -- chapter 6 Networks of states to spur hope and change.

This volume examines case studies on EU countries' policy to combat climate change, examining the constraints of and opportunities for the implementation of climate change strategies in these countries. The introductory section provides an overview of the climate change problem and its potential effects, examining the roles of different greenhouse gases, the main emission sources, the likely consequences of climate change and the scope for abatement and adapation. The second part consists of six detailed case studies on diverse national strategies. The book concludes with a comparative analysi.