European Citizens Research Articles

Exploring expert perceptions about microplastics: from sources to potential solutions

Concern about plastic pollution, including microplastics, is high amongst European citizens, and effective actions are needed to reduce microplastic pollution. However, there is still uncertainty and debate about the major sources, impacts, and in particular the solutions. The aim of the current study was to gather expert perceptions about the risks of different microplastic sources to the natural environment and human health (measured as the likelihood and severity of negative impacts resulting from exposure), as well as the feasibility and effectiveness of different solutions. Experts were identified as scientists working on plastic. Usable responses were received from 73 experts with an average of 5 years’ experience in plastic research. Experts thought that there was currently stronger evidence for microplastic impacts on the natural environment than on human health, that, accordingly, the risks were higher, and they were more worried about impacts on the natural environment than on human health. Experts perceived tyre particles and textile fibres to be the main sources of microplastics presenting risk for both natural environment and human health. Various solutions were rated as relatively effective and feasible overall. Solutions that were rated as above-average in terms of effectiveness and feasibility included education and awareness programmes, washing machine filters, bans of plastic items, simplified design of products, and circular economy approaches. However, experts were uncertain about the effectiveness and feasibility of recovery and clean-up solutions, with overall ratings for these being below-average in comparison to other solutions earlier in the plastic life cycle. An improved understanding of expert views on these matters could inform the distribution of limited research resources and help prioritise research questions, especially with regard to potential solutions and interventions which will be critical for the success of the UN Plastics Treaty.

The impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on world trade

Following on from the Covid global pandemic, the world shared a common hope that international trade would soon get back on track. However, the events of February 2022 created a new reality as the Russian-Ukrainian war impacted on all the aspects of world trade. It is now predicted that world trade will decrease by 1%, which may significantly deepen the impending recession. This article is an attempt at answering the question about the effect that the Russian/Ukranian war has on world trade. The changes that have occurred in the global coal, oil, gas and grain markets are enormous. The war has disrupted global and in particular European supply chains and Russia which was one of the main suppliers of coal to Europe before the introduction of embargos has meant that the countries of the European Union must now find new sources of supply for these essentials .,Some countries, such as Germany, have, in retrospect, made strategic mistakes by closing some of their coal fired nuclear power plants and now they have to reopen these power plants, which will in turn increase their demand for coal. In addition, most Western European countries have closed their coal mines, which means that they too are now forced to import coal and while coal producers will be able to increase production it will certainly not happen before the winter of 2022 which will clearly make things hard for most European citizens . Additionally, over 50% of gas imported to the EU comes from Russia which can cut supplies off at any moment and Europe is caught in a bind of its own making and does not know how to get out of this clinch. Russia has already cut off gas to some countries, such as Bulgaria, Poland, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Denmark, Latvia and Finland demonstrating the vulnerability of the dependent nations on their main source of supply. Moreover, European countries must find new sources of oil and petroleum-based products because starting at the end of December 2022 there will be an additional embargo imposed on the import of these products from Russia. The war has also disrupted the global grain market because Ukraine is one of largest grain producers in the world. Is Europe in danger of going hungry? Maybe not, but such a disruption to the supply chain can have a devastating effect on Africa. A famine in Africa may destabilize local governments and cause a new wave of immigrants into Europe. Additionally, if there is a real recession combined with high inflation and an increase in unemployment in Europe, the public mood may become radicalized, and it can thus affect the policy of the European Union. Of course, nobody knows for sure what the future will bring. Three years ago, no one thought about a pandemic and hardly anyone thought that Russia would attack Ukraine in 2022. In the face of these changes and many other unknowns, it is difficult to unequivocally predict how these events will affect the world trade of goods.

Implementing GDPR-Compliant Surveys Using Blockchain

The immutability of data stored in a blockchain is a crucial pillar of trust in this technology, which has led to its increasing adoption in various use cases. However, there are situations where the inability to change or delete data may be illegal. European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)—applying to any company processing personal data from European citizens—explicitly entitles individuals to the right to rectification and the right to be forgotten. In this paper, we describe the design of a system to deploy and process survey data in a GDPR-compliant manner. It combines an Hyperledger Fabric blockchain to ensure that data cannot be tampered with and InterPlanetary File Systems (IPFS) for storage. With the proposed arrangement, we reap several security benefits enabled by blockchain’s immutability without running afoul of the regulations. Furthermore, the proof-of-concept is generic and can easily be adapted to various domains.

Concern about the human health implications of marine biodiversity loss is higher among less educated and poorer citizens: Results from a 14-country study in Europe

IntroductionMarine biodiversity loss has direct and indirect effects on human health and wellbeing. Recent European data suggest that the public is aware of this, identifying marine biodiversity protection as its top research priority in terms of oceans and human health, rated higher than issues such as plastic, chemical, and microbial pollution.MethodsThe current study aimed to better understand key sociodemographic and personality predictors of concern about marine biodiversity loss and the desire for more research into marine biodiversity protection, in an attempt to support communication efforts targeting specific sectors in society. Data were drawn from nationally representative samples of 14 European countries (n = 14,167).ResultsResults show greater concern about marine biodiversity loss and support for more research into marine biodiversity protection by older adults, females, and individuals: (i) without (vs. with) a university degree; (ii) with lower (vs. middle) incomes; (iii) who identified as politically left-wing; (iv) who visited the coast more often; and (v) those with more open, agreeable and conscientious personalities.DiscussionThese results suggest that, although concern and research support are generally high among European citizens, policy makers and communicators need to take into consideration individual-level variation.

Crises and opportunities in the Western Balkans

The 2020s have got off to quite a rocky start globally, and especially for Europeans. The ongoing crises, beginning with the Covid-19 pandemic, and followed by the Russian aggression against Ukraine, rising inflation and the energy crisis, have created an atmosphere of continual instability and uncertainty for European citizens. The Western Balkans region, in the EU’s immediate neighbourhood and geographically close to Ukraine, has also been affected by all these challenges. This article examines the current most pressing issues in the region and the possible outcomes of them. As the countries in the region (i.e. Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Kosovo,1 North Macedonia and Serbia) are all aspiring EU members, this piece seeks to explore the possibility of addressing the current challenges and the role of the EU as a catalyst in this process.

EU의 공동외교안보정책과 우크라이나 전쟁

This paper seeks to anlayze whether the Capability-Expectations Gap (CEG) of the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy has been narrowed after the War in Ukraine broke out on 24th February 2022. It compares in the components of the CEGs before and after the war. Christopher Hill defines the capability as being composed of the resources (economic and diplomatic), policy instruments and policy cohesiveness.
 Before the war, Brexit left the EU’s economic power dwindled by 2.17% point from 15.7% to 13.62% in world output. Policy instruments have seen some changes, as the EU could manage to give military as well as economic aid to Ukraine for the first time. Although the EU is not a military alliance, EU leaders could reach agreements on sending military equipments in the face of Russian aggression. Policy cohesiveness refers to the ability to reach agreements and implement such ones among differing national policy preferences. Hungary remained opposed to banning Russian oil and gas imports to the last moment, thus gaining exemption from the EU’s sanction until the end of 2023, at least a year later after such sanction entered into force.
 With regard to expectations from within and without of the EU, citizens in Europe have wanted the bloc to play a more active role in major international affairs such as in the Ukraine War. The EU also could follow through many sanctions in close consultation with the United States, which has led Western efforts in giving aid to Ukraine.
 EU’s international role is likely to grow in the process of mediating the war, as the war is probably to last another a year or two. It will also shoulder significant burden to help Ukraine reconstruct after the War.

상위가치로서 ‘전략적 자율성’과 통상정책을 통한 구현

This paper seeks to anlayze whether the Capability-Expectations Gap (CEG) of the European Union’s Common Foreign and Security Policy has been narrowed after the War in Ukraine broke out on 24th February 2022. It compares in the components of the CEGs before and after the war. Christopher Hill defines the capability as being composed of the resources (economic and diplomatic), policy instruments and policy cohesiveness.
 Before the war, Brexit left the EU’s economic power dwindled by 2.17% point from 15.7% to 13.62% in world output. Policy instruments have seen some changes, as the EU could manage to give military as well as economic aid to Ukraine for the first time. Although the EU is not a military alliance, EU leaders could reach agreements on sending military equipments in the face of Russian aggression. Policy cohesiveness refers to the ability to reach agreements and implement such ones among differing national policy preferences. Hungary remained opposed to banning Russian oil and gas imports to the last moment, thus gaining exemption from the EU’s sanction until the end of 2023, at least a year later after such sanction entered into force.
 With regard to expectations from within and without of the EU, citizens in Europe have wanted the bloc to play a more active role in major international affairs such as in the Ukraine War. The EU also could follow through many sanctions in close consultation with the United States, which has led Western efforts in giving aid to Ukraine.
 EU’s international role is likely to grow in the process of mediating the war, as the war is probably to last another a year or two. It will also shoulder significant burden to help Ukraine reconstruct after the War.

The Jean Monnet Chair Freiburg for European Education (JMC-FrEE)

This paper presents the teaching, research and other activities realized from 2020 to 2023 within the EU-funded Jean Monnet Chair Freiburg for European Education (JMC-FrEE) at the University of Education in Freiburg (Pädagogische Hochschule Freiburg). The main objectives of the JMC-FrEE-project are first of all to provide expert guidance to future educators and teachers about European matters, and to prepare them to organize learning and teaching processes in a European context for the education of the next generation of active European citizens. Secondly, more public awareness for the topic European Education in and outside of the academic world shall be raised on a national and international level in cooperation with scientists, teachers, civil society actors, policy makers, journalists and school pupils. To achieve these two goals there are multidisciplinary teaching activities, research projects and special events in these areas: Europeanization of Education, Intercultural Education (esp. Multilingual Education) in Europe and Education for disadvantaged children (esp. from the Roma-minority) in Europe.

Self-reported behaviours and measures related to plastic waste reduction: European citizens' perspective.

Consumer attitudes and behaviour regarding consumption of plastic goods and proper waste management are of importance for reducing plastic and microplastic (MP) pollution. Therefore, based on Eurobarometer survey, this study aims to analyse European attitudes and behaviour related to plastic pollution reduction. Europeans acknowledge marine and river pollution as important environmental problems and are worried about plastics and MP environmental impacts. However, this does not translate into related plastic reduction behaviours. Regression analysis show that analysed behaviours are likely to be undertaken by women, younger, with higher incomes respondents and by those who express higher worry about plastic and MP environmental impacts. Industry and big companies are seen as having the main role in reducing plastic waste and littering, chargers for single use plastics being less important. Respondents also stress the role of education. Hence, focus on concrete steps to reduce plastic waste, highlighting the interaction of individual actions and environment should be given.

Facing the challenges of air quality and health in a future climate: The Aveiro Region case study

Air pollution and climate change are the most important environmental issues for European citizens. Despite the air quality improvements achieved in recent years, with most pollutants' concentrations below the European Union legislated values, it is necessary to understand whether this will continue in the future due to expected climate changes impacts. In this context, this work tries to answer two main questions: (i) What is the relative contribution of emission source regions/activities to air quality, now and in the future, considering a climate change scenario?; and (ii) What additional policies are needed to support win-win strategies for air quality and climate mitigation and/or adaptation, at urban scale? For that, a climate and air quality modelling system, with source apportionment tools, was applied to the Aveiro Region, in Portugal. Main results show that in the future, due to the implementation of carbon neutrality measures, air quality in the Aveiro Region may improve, with reduction up to 4 μg.m−3 for particulate matter (PM) concentrations and 22 μg.m−3 for nitrogen dioxide (NO2), and consequently, the premature deaths due to air pollution exposure will also decrease. The expected air quality improvement will ensure that, in the future, the limit values of the European Union (EU) Air Quality Directive will not be exceeded, but the same will not happen if the proposed revision of the EU Air Quality Directive is approved. Results also shown that, in the future, industrial sector will be the one with higher relative contribution for PM concentrations and the second one for NO2. For that sector, additional emission abatement measures were tested, showing that, in the future, it is possible to comply with all the new limit values proposed by the EU.

Electricity Prices in the European Union Region: The Role of Renewable Energy Sources, Key Economic Factors and Market Liberalization

Electricity is by far the most valuable energy commodity for households; hence, it is of the utmost importance for national regulatory authorities and the European Commission (EC) to guarantee affordable and unimpeded access for European citizens to this vital social good. The existing academic literature mainly focuses on the effect of specific renewable energy resources (RES), such as solar, wind, etc., on electricity prices, thus neglecting the crucial impact of the electricity market structure. In an effort to fill this gap, the present paper attempts to clarify whether the real effect of the share of total renewable energy production in the generation scheme and certain electricity market liberalization indices constitute key determinants of household electricity prices. The study is further innovative on the grounds that the empirical analysis utilizes both static and dynamic panel methodologies for a dataset including several variables introduced for the first time in academia. The dataset consists of yearly observations regarding 26 EU countries for a time horizon from 2003 until 2019. The econometric outcomes revealed the complex relationship between RES deployment and generation concentration with the level of household electricity prices. In contrast, the deregulation of the retail market and especially the presence of many retailers with a market share exceeding 5% can benefit European consumers by reducing electricity prices. Additionally, the relative costs concerning the outward-orientation of the economy and the power system’s upgrade were found to be transferred to the final electricity price. The opposite applies to environmental taxes, allowing European governments to accumulate considerable funds for ecological and environmental protection actions. Lastly, due to the estimated slow adjustment rate of electricity prices, policymakers are advised to develop long-term strategic energy planning.

A “lifeline out of the COVID‐19 crisis”? An ecofeminist critique of the European Green Deal

A “lifeline out of the <scp>COVID</scp>‐19 crisis”? An ecofeminist critique of the European Green Deal

How supranational institutions benefit from crises: Member states’ solidarity and the EU's image during the COVID-19 pandemic

In this article, we demonstrate how solidarity between member states can have a positive effect on the image of the EU, even if the latter's actions in handling a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic are deemed unsatisfactory. Employing data from a special Eurobarometer survey enriched with data from the Oxford's COVID-19 government response tracker, we show that European citizens who are more satisfied with interstate solidarity have to a greater extent a positive image of the EU compared to citizens who are less satisfied. We also show that this effect is further pronounced in the case of EU citizens who are less satisfied with institutional solidarity, which is the solidarity going from EU institutions to the member states.

Effect of Strong Passport on Economic Growth: How African Politics Have Incapacitated Their Passports

African states and few Asian nations accepted an inferior position by allowing their citizens to seek visas when they want to travel to western countries, while their peers from western nations can enter the said nations at a will. The problem is that Africans did not reciprocate the demands of visa requirement by westerners. The article will disseminate how African passports became useless at the expenses of western countries and how they mint billions of dollars from the wealthy citizens of the world who seek these strong passports to enable them travel for leisure and business purposes without deterrent. Thus sabotaging the economy of African countries. The study found that top 40 African countries in terms of their population have an average passport rank of 90, which means that these 40 most populous countries can access only 58 countries without visa. These 40 African countries have an average population of 32.7 million, and average land area of 726,801km². On the same note, forty top European countries in terms of population have an average population of 14.8 million, and land area mean of 147,085. But these European countries have average passport rank of 16, and average access without visa of 172 countries. This means that African countries do not reciprocate visa conditions in the European countries meaning that they allow European citizens to enter visa free in their countries, while African citizens have to struggle in order to get European visas.

Processing personal health data in the context of the European online pharmacy market: lawful bases under the GDPR and Swedish law.

Over the past three years, the European online pharmacy market has grown significantly and is expected to continue to grow at a rapid pace. One of the key factors that may further catalyse this growth is the personal health data that online pharmacies can collect. If online pharmacies use these data lawfully and with the public interest in mind, this may provide the opportunity to positively transform not only the online pharmacy market but also the entire healthcare industry. In order to maximise the benefits of these personal health data for improving public health but at the same time protect European citizens’ privacy, further analysis of the data protection laws and their applicability in the context of the online pharmacy market is necessary. Currently, there still lacks clarity, for example, regarding the lawful bases under the GDPR for processing personal health data for scientific research purposes. Therefore, this article identifies the main purposes for which online pharmacies may choose to process personal health data and which lawful bases under the GDPR may be suitable to address them. This article will additionally address Swedish law in order to provide an example of the interaction between national laws and the GDPR when processing personal health data in the online pharmacy market.

In search of an appropriate channel for voicing political concerns: political participation among radicalised youth in Europe

ABSTRACT This research aims to identify values related to political and civic participation methods among the two groups of radicalised youngsters: native youth who support movements labelled as far-right (N= 122) and migrant-origin self-identified Muslim youth with strong organisational ties with religious communities (N=109) in Germany, Belgium, France, and the Netherlands. The study posits that these these radically aligned youngsters position themselves against politically moderate European citizens, who are less intuitive when making judgements on political affairs comparing to them. Diverging from the unifying European values and hypersensitivities, these youngsters’ political reactions are often radical and loud in their safe-to-speak, segregated movements. By using the narrations of the range of mainstream modes of political participation, the current qualitative research asks what appears valuable for the two groups of young people to express their political discontent. Findings revealed that both groups highlighted similar values regarding voting. Self-identified Muslim youth stressed the importance of volunteering and street protests (despite not having participated in one). Many native youths, on the other hand, stressed the function of unlawful behaviour in street protests to pursue political objectives. The findings such as these are discussed considering the group differences.

Good results come to those who weight: on the importance of sampling weights in empirical research using survey data

ABSTRACT Many empirical studies in tourism research use primary or secondary survey data. Generally, non-response is not random in the target population, so sampling weights are required to adjust for endogenous sampling. However, it is yet unclear in which situations survey weights should be applied. This paper proposes two simple tests to detect whether weights are truly needed. The relevance of weighting for correct inference and how to perform the tests are illustrated using two case studies that employ large-scale survey microdata on travel habits by European residents from the Flash Eurobarometer. First, we investigate the correlates of travel frequency paying attention to the role of age. Second, we study cross-country heterogeneity in the factors that motivate European citizens to consume peer-to-peer accommodation services. Our findings have important implications for research practice, and the proposed tests can be easily applied in case studies to detect the need for sampling weighs.

SOCIAL HOUSING OF 1950S IN TLEMCEN (ALGERIA): AN ARCHITECTURAL VIEW

The French administration had manifested its interest for social housing since the centenary of the French invasion in Algeria, in 1930, this period was characterized by the strong demographic growth and the rural exodus towards urban centers, and it intensified in the 1950s. It aimed to house both European and Muslim citizens, adopting different housing […]

Health insurance for the good European citizen? Migrant sex workers' quests for health insurance and the moral economy of health care.

European health insurance systems have become increasingly fragmented due to neoliberal health care reforms and the privatization of health care. Attempts to enable transnational access to public health care services throughout the European Union (EU) have contributed to this process by spreading ideas of EU citizens as consumers having to make informed choices about health insurance. However, marginalized populations such as EU migrant sex workers are presented with only limited choices within these systems. This article highlights how these limitations in access to health insurance are not only related to financial precarities, but are also caused by underlying racialized, classist, and sexualized assumptions about citizenship and belonging which influence the legal framework of both national and EU-wide health insurance provision. Based on ethnographic research with migrants from eastern EU countries involved in sex work in Berlin, the article discusses their attempts to gain access to health insurance as a salient example of the moral economy of health insurance provision in a supposedly universal health care system. Following how migrant sex workers from eastern European countries experience and negotiate exclusions from health insurance systems, the article addresses how meanings and interpretations of health insurance change towards an understanding of health insurance not as a right, but as a privilege for those conforming to narrow ideas of European citizenship. This indicates that current restructurings of health insurance systems are not only characterized by increasing privatization. Equally, the (re-)emergence of links between access to health insurance and restrictive ideas of belonging and citizenship rights are undermining aspirations for transnationally available universal health care.

The Privacy Flag Observatory: A Crowdsourcing Tool for Real Time Privacy Threats Evaluation

Instilling good privacy practices to developers and users appears to be a difficult and daunting task. The World Wide Web encompasses a panspermia of different technologies, commercial and open source apis, evolving security standards and protocols that can be deployed towards the implementation of complex, powerful, web applications. At the same time, the proliferation of applications and services on all types of devices has also increased the attack surface for privacy threats. In this paper, we present the Privacy Flag Observatory, a platform which is one of the main tools produced by the Privacy Flag eu funded research project. The goal of this initiative is to raise awareness among European citizens of the potential privacy threats that beset the software and services they trust and use every day, including websites and smartphone applications. The Privacy Flag Observatory is one of the components that contributed to a large extent, to the success of the project’s goals. It is a real-time security and privacy threat monitoring platform whose aim is to collect, archive, analyze and present security and privacy-related information to the broader public as well as experts. Although the platform relies on crowdsourcing information gathering strategies and interacts with several other components installed on users’ devices or remote servers and databases, in this paper, we focus on the observatory platform referring only cursorily to other components such as the mobile phone add-on.