Commission's Mandate Research Articles

The European Commission and the migration-development nexus: accessing resources and increasing the mandate

ABSTRACT The migration-development nexus (MDN) denotes interdependencies between international migration and development. The article identifies six different causal relations between migration and development in the scientific literature and applies them to understand EU policy on the nexus. At EU level, the nexus often serves the central policy objective of limiting irregular migration to Europe, the so-called root causes approach. Yet, contrary to prior research, this article finds that an opposing nexus conceptualization that calls for enabling migration is actually the dominant causality promoted by the European Commission. Unlike studies that explain the dominance of the root causes approach as a lowest-common-denominator choice, this article argues that the Commission’s DGs also use the nexus strategically. They promote contradictory approaches, which however all call for an increased Commission mandate and financial resources, selectively omitting those nexus frames that would decrease their role. The migration literature often relegates the MDN to a sub-theme of migration policy. This study shows that MDN is central to the entire EU migration policy area and transpires much of its migration discourse. The nexus and its conceptualizations are thus instrumental for broader migration policy debates beyond the EU as they touch upon demographics, social security, and welfare questions.

THE PARABLE OF THE GREAT BANQUET: MINISTRY CHALLENGES IN LUKE 14

The parables of Jesus encapsulate the theology of the Kingdom of God. Since Jesus used to teach many things in parables it is impossible to define a theology of ministry outside this framework that compresses a thorough understanding of this concept. There are several narratives as the sending of the twelve and the great commission mandate in the Gospels, however The Parable of the Great Banquet in Luke 14, rooted in the Isaianic divine feast, is a parable that reflects not only a grace-based universal invitation but also some ministry challenges that arise with the refusal of such an offer.

Role of Voter Education and Performance of Electoral Management Body: A Case of Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission Kenya

This paper focuses on the role of voter education on performance of electoral management body. The study is undertaken at Independent Electoral and Boundary Commission (IEBC) Kenya. The study was grounded on civic engagement theory. The study was a descriptive research design investigation. The target population involved 772 commission officers with a sample size of 264 based on the Cochran formula. The IEBC officers were selected through use of stratified random sampling technique. The data collection tools were the questionnaire and interview schedule. Data collected from the field was analysed using qualitative and inferential statistics. Qualitative data analysis involved categorising responses from interviews and open-ended questions into themes and sub themes while inferential statistics was analysed using the Regression Model to test the hypothesis. The study found out that one of the pre-electoral strategies that IEBC focused on was voter education to the members of the public on regular occasion. The respondents indicated that the EMB conducted regular mobilisation campaigns jointly with other stakeholders to inform members of the public on matters relating to commission mandate in elections and boundary delimitations. Correlation statistics revealed existence of significant positive effect of pre-electoral voter education strategy and IEBC Kenya performance. It was concluded that voter education strategy played a significant role in predicting IEBC performance in Kenya. The study recommends that voter education needs to be done on continuous basis rather than waiting one year to the general election by regularly seeking funds support from government and non-government sources to support voter education

Israel’s priority in Old Testament missiology

The present article challenges Walter C. Kaiser, Jr’s influential proposal for evangelical Old Testament missiology. Out of concern to avoid an understanding of “Israel as God’s favored or pet nation,” Kaiser argues that God’s promise to Abraham in Gen 12:3 is for the sake of all nations, and as such, “the first Great Commission mandate of the Bible.” In its three exegetical sections, the article seeks to overturn Kaiser’s Gentile-centric interpretation of the apostle Paul; his reading of the Primeval History in Genesis as a story of universal curse; and his understanding of the blessing of Abraham as remedial. More basically, it asserts the priority of Israel within God’s ways and works.

Welfare of dairy cows.

This Scientific Opinion addresses a European Commission's mandate on the welfare of dairy cows as part of the Farm to Fork strategy. It includes three assessments carried out based on literature reviews and complemented by expert opinion. Assessment 1 describes the most prevalent housing systems for dairy cows in Europe: tie-stalls, cubicle housing, open-bedded systems and systems with access to an outdoor area. Per each system, the scientific opinion describes the distribution in the EU and assesses the main strengths, weaknesses and hazards potentially reducing the welfare of dairy cows. Assessment 2 addresses five welfare consequences as requested in the mandate: locomotory disorders (including lameness), mastitis, restriction of movement and resting problems, inability to perform comfort behaviour and metabolic disorders. Per each welfare consequence, a set of animal-based measures is suggested, a detailed analysis of the prevalence in different housing systems is provided, and subsequently, a comparison of the housing systems is given. Common and specific system-related hazards as well as management-related hazards and respective preventive measures are investigated. Assessment 3 includes an analysis of farm characteristics (e.g. milk yield, herd size) that could be used to classify the level of on-farm welfare. From the available scientific literature, it was not possible to derive relevant associations between available farm data and cow welfare. Therefore, an approach based on expert knowledge elicitation (EKE) was developed. The EKE resulted in the identification of five farm characteristics (more than one cow per cubicle at maximum stocking density, limited space for cows, inappropriate cubicle size, high on-farm mortality and farms with less than 2 months access to pasture). If one or more of these farm characteristics are present, it is recommended to conduct an assessment of cow welfare on the farm in question using animal-based measures for specified welfare consequences.

Mentoring as an Effective Strategy for Leadership Development in Contemporary African Pentecostalism

The formation and advancement of indigenous Pentecostal movements was a significant reason for Africa’s impact on global Christianity. Notwithstanding, a critical concern is the sustenance of such a feat for future global missions. Since leadership development is key to both organizational growth and continual relevance, the African Pentecostal movement that will continue to serve the purpose of fulfilling the Great Commission mandate must ensure adequate leadership succession to keep the vision. This paper examined mentoring as an effective approach for leadership development in contemporary African Pentecostalism. Drawing heavily from the Nigerian examples, it argued that mentoring is suitable for preserving and enhancing African Pentecostal theological heritage, core values and practices for effective global missions. By the use of various pieces of literature and observation methods, the article explains the impact of mentoring on the sustenance of the African Pentecostal phenomenon. The author identified three dynamics that had sustained African Pentecostalism and made it impactful: aggressive incorporation programmes, continuous contextualized Christian education, and extensive use of media tools. Consequently, the article argues that these dynamics, amongst other factors, must be intentionally pursued, sustained, and strengthened to form future African Pentecostal leaders who will sustain and enhance the missionary impact of the African Church on the rest of the world. Keywords: The Church, African Pentecostalism, Mentoring, Leadership Development

Observing The Judicial Commission’s Role In Enhancing Judicial Capacity And Integrity

The purpose of this study is to examine the Judicial Commission's urgency in developing the capacity and integrity of judges in Makassar, as well as the mechanism for carrying out the Judicial Commission's duties in developing the capacity and integrity of judges from a siyasa syar'iyyah perspective. The research method used is descriptive qualitative field research. By adopting a syar'i normative perspective. The study's findings underscore the Judicial Commission's urgency in building the capacity and integrity of Makassar's judges through a training program on the Code of Ethics and Code of Conduct for Judges. The mechanism for carrying out the judicial commission's mandate of enhancing judges' capacity and integrity includes conducting training to improve KEPPH for judges with a tenure of 0–8 years, as well as the meaning of KEPPH for judges with a tenure of 8–15 years. In an Islamic state, the Judicial Commission serves as a supervisory agency for judges. It is headed by Qadhi al-Qudhat. This such, the Judicial Commission adheres to Islam's principle of being a supervisory entity in order to promote good behaviors and avert evil ones. The implication of this research is to strengthen the capacity and integrity of judges through the Judicial Commission's frequent implementation of judge training programs.
 Keywords: Judicial Commission; Judges; Siyasah Syar’iyyah

Poland\u2019s stance on CAI: no need for haste

Poland was among vocal critics of the acceleration and finalization of CAI talks by the end of 2020. Among the reasons were doubts about the timing and political circumstances in the EU such as the role of Germany as a driving force for CAI due to its economic dependence on China, and Commission mandate for talks that was granted several years ago in a very different situation both in China and Europe. Poland was also critical about bypassing the USA, in a sense of bringing CAI talks up to speed during the transition period, before Biden sworn. However, after finalization of the agreement, Polish government (as well as the biggest opposition party) presents a rather positive assessment of CAI and opts for ratification. Notwithstanding, all Polish MEPs have endorsed the European Parliament resolution to freeze ratification process.

Structural member stability verification in the new Part 1‐1 of the second generation of Eurocode 3

AbstractThis two‐part article gives an overview of the developments of the structural member verification in prEN 1993‐1‐1:2020 “Eurocode 3: Design of steel structures – part 1‐1: General rules and rules for buildings”, one of the second generation of Eurocodes. These developments were undertaken by Working Group 1 (WG1) of Subcommittee CEN/TC250/SC3 and by Project Team 1 (SC3.PT1) responsible for drafting the new version of EN 1993‐1‐1. In the past, WG1 collected many topics needing improvement, and the systematic review conducted every five years also yielded topics needing further development. Based on this, the current version of EN 1993‐1‐1 has been developed into a new draft version prEN 1993‐1‐1:2020 enhancing “ease of use”. The technical content of this new draft was laid down at the end of 2019. Many improvements to design rules have been established with respect to structural analysis, resistance of cross‐sections and stability of members. This two‐part article focuses on member stability design rules and deals with the basis for the calibration of partial factors, the introduction of more economic design rules for semi‐compact sections, methods for structural analysis in relation to the appropriate member stability design rules, new design rules for lateral torsional buckling plus other developments and innovations. This first part of the article primarily serves to explain the general background to the European Commission Mandate M/515 that led to the further evolution of the Eurocodes and to illustrate the developments in prEN1993‐1‐1:2020 that pertain to new material grades, partial factors, cross‐sectional classification and structural analysis. These form the necessary background to the changes to member buckling design rules, which are treated more specifically in the second part.

Stunning methods and slaughter of rabbits for human consumption.

This opinion on the killing of rabbits for human consumption (‘slaughtering’) responds to two mandates: one from the European Parliament (EP) and the other from the European Commission. The opinion describes stunning methods for rabbits known to the experts in the EFSA working group, which can be used in commercial practice, and which are sufficiently described in scientific and technical literature for the development of an opinion. These are electrical stunning, mechanical stunning with a penetrative and non‐penetrative captive bolt and gas stunning. The latter method is not allowed in the EU anymore following Council Regulation (EC) No 1099/2009, but may still be practiced elsewhere in the world. Related hazards and welfare consequences are also evaluated. To monitor stunning effectiveness as requested by the EP mandate, the opinion suggests the use of indicators for the state of consciousness, selected on the basis of their sensitivity, specificity and ease of use. Similarly, it suggests indicators to confirm animals are dead before dressing. For the European Commission mandate, slaughter processes were assessed from the arrival of rabbits in containers until their death, and grouped in three main phases: pre‐stunning (including arrival, unloading of containers from the truck, lairage, handling/removing of rabbits from containers), stunning (including restraint) and bleeding (including bleeding following stunning and bleeding during slaughter without stunning). Ten welfare consequences resulting from the hazards that rabbits can be exposed to during slaughter are identified: consciousness, animal not dead, thermal stress (heat or cold stress), prolonged thirst, prolonged hunger, restriction of movements, pain, fear, distress and respiratory distress. Welfare consequences and relevant animal‐based measures (indicators) are described. Outcome tables linking hazards, welfare consequences, indicators, origins, preventive and corrective measures are developed for each process. Mitigation measures to minimise welfare consequences are also proposed.

2097. Antimicrobial Stewardship Programs in Missouri Hospitals: Facilitators, Barriers, and Complexity of Implementation

BackgroundAntibiotic stewardship programs (ASPs) in acute care hospitals reduce unnecessary antibiotic use and attendant complications. In the state of Missouri, all hospitals are required to have an ASP. Additionally, the Joint Commission mandates ASP implementation for accreditation based on core elements defined by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). No studies have evaluated the uptake of ASP since the Missouri state law and Joint Commission mandate. Furthermore, data are limited examining barriers to implementation across hospitals with variable resources. We evaluated ASP uptake across Missouri hospitals, assessed differences in program complexity, and identified facilitators and barriers to implementation.MethodsA 94-question survey was administered electronically in the spring of 2019 to 130 Missouri hospitals. Information was collected regarding implementation details of CDC-defined ASP core elements and tools used to overcome implementation barriers. Results were self-reported by the stewardship pharmacist, the director of pharmacy, or the person most familiar with antimicrobial stewardship if the former were not available.ResultsPreliminary results have been collected from 37 hospitals ranging in size from 15 to 1303 beds (IQR: 54, 274). 16% were critical access hospitals. 54% of hospitals had ASPs adherent to all 7 CDC core elements. Another 27% had implemented 6 of the core elements, with all of those reporting that they lacked a single pharmacist leader. All facilities had implemented at least some measures to improve antibiotic use, ranging from 4 to 13 measures. 45% of programs used state-based antimicrobial stewardship collaboratives, and 52% of those found such programs to be “very” or “extremely” useful.ConclusionAll hospitals surveyed are performing ASP activities in concordance with Missouri state law. However, only half contain the 7 core elements required by the Joint Commission. Furthermore, ASP implementation and activities vary widely. While physician leadership was commonly defined, appropriate pharmacist support was frequently lacking. State-based collaboratives are the most widely used resource, and at least half who use them find them to be helpful.Disclosures All authors: No reported disclosures.

Toward zero suicide in health care: Reflections from meeting the Joint Commission mandate for evidence‐based suicide screening

Despite growth in the research and development of interventions that target suicidal behavior, this behavior has reached epidemic proportions of late. Among youth, suicide is the second‐leading cause of death, and visits to the emergency department for suicide attempts or ideation over the years from 2005 to 2015 doubled.

Uncertainty requirements of the European Union’s Industrial Emissions Directive for monitoring sulfur dioxide emissions: Implications from a blind comparison of sulfate measurements by accredited laboratories

ABSTRACTWe report results from a blind comparison of five analytical laboratories ISO/IEC 17025 (International Organization for Standardization/International Electrotechnical Commission) accredited for the analysis of sulfate collected in H2O2(aq) from industrial stacks in accordance with the European Standard Reference Method (SRM) for sulfur dioxide (SO2) (EN 14791): the method produced under European Commission mandate to support the enforcement of the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED). Both “synthetic” (sodium sulfate dissolved in aqueous hydrogen peroxide [H2O2(aq)]) and “real” (extracted and collected from a stack simulator facility in accordance with EN 14791) samples were prepared across 2–10 and 10–290 mg·m0−3 emission equivalent concentration ranges, respectively. From the measurements returned by the laboratories, it was found that in 35% of the former and 28% of the latter the stated expanded uncertainty limits did not intersect with the mean. It was also found with the real samples that in 30% of the 46 different concentration test levels the stated expanded uncertainty of at least two of the laboratories did not intersect. With respect to compliance monitoring, it was found that EN 14791 was capable of enforcing emission limits under the IED associated with waste incinerators (i.e., 50 mg·m0−3), as only 3% of the deviations were in excess of the required uncertainty (commensurate with a 95% level of confidence). However, with respect to the use of EN 14791 for calibration of automated measuring systems (AMSs), it was found that 38.5% of the deviations were in excess of the uncertainty recommended by at least one national regulator as being necessary for EN 14791 to be an “effective tool” for the calibration of AMSs. With emission limits under the IED and the Best Available Technique Reference (BREF) documents it adopts becoming increasingly stringent, it is clear that more work is needed to determine the capability of the SRM and also alternative methods based on portable instruments.Implications: The deviations observed between laboratories ISO/IEC 17025 accredited for sulfate analysis bring into question the monitoring communities’ ability to routinely meet the uncertainty requirements associated with increasingly stringent SO2 emission limits under the European Union’s Industrial Emissions Directive. Furthermore, with even further reductions in the near future due to legislative adoption of BREF documents, such issues are only likely to be exacerbated. If the European monitoring community is to have confidence in the capability of the existing Standard Reference Method described in EN 14791 for enforcing increasingly stringent limits, work is needed to validate this method at these lower emission levels.

Explaining the European commission’s strategies in times of crisis

Despite the growing debate over the European Commission’s (hereafter, Commission) role in crises, there are few systematic explanations for the variety of actions undertaken by the Commission in times of crisis. This article outlines a heuristic device to explain the Commission’s actions during crises, based on the variables ‘Commission mandate’ and ‘member state engagement’. To this end, it examines two crisis events that affected two strategically important policy areas for European Union integration: the early stages of the financial crisis that began in 2008 and the migration following the 2011 Arab Spring. Based on analysis of these cases, this study identifies four strategies applied by the Commission: doer, follower, cooperator and recycler. Our study concludes that member state engagement and Commission mandate are important variables in explaining under which circumstances these strategies are used by the Commission.

Information‐Processing Costs and Breadth of Ownership

ABSTRACTUsing the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's mandate of eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL) as a natural experiment, this study investigates whether and how the decreased information‐processing costs brought about by XBRL influence firms’ breadth of share ownership. We find that the XBRL mandate is associated with an increase in the total number of a firm's shareholders. This finding is consistent with the notion that XBRL facilitates a more transparent environment and decreases information‐processing costs, thereby attracting more shareholders in general. More interestingly, we find that while XBRL adoption is associated with an increase in share ownership of individual and non‐U.S. foreign institutional investors, it is associated with a decrease in share ownership of U.S. domestic institutional investors. Further evidence shows that this asymmetric shift in share ownership is more pronounced for more complex firms. Our findings, taken together, suggest that the decreased information‐processing costs brought about by XBRL help firms establish a level playing field by reducing the information disadvantages of individual and foreign institutional investors over domestic institutional investors. Our results are robust to potential endogeneity concerns and alternative research designs.

Abstract 141: Establishing Sensitivity and Specificity of the Maxwell Swallow Screen

Introduction: Presence of dysphagia often results in heightened risk of aspiration, pneumonia, and prolonged hospitalization. Dysphagia may contribute to increased disability or death, and contributes to pneumonia, the most frequent medical complication. Thus, valid and reliable diagnostic tools to screen for dysphagia are critical to the well-being of a patient in the acute stage of stroke. The purpose of this research is to establish sensitivity and specificity of the Swallow Screen under investigation (MSS), a screening tool developed by a Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP) for use by nurses in the acute care setting. Hypothesis: The MSS is a valid and reliable nursing tool to screen for dysphagia in the stroke population. Methods: Retrospective chart reviews were completed over one calendar year on 356 consecutive adult patients with suspected or confirmed diagnosis of stroke. Based on specific inclusion and exclusion criteria, the final sample size was 178. The chart reviews were used to evaluate concurrent validity between the MSS performed by the RN and the Clinical Dysphagia Evaluation (CDE) performed by a SLP. Data were analyzed using SAS version 9.4 based on Clopper-Pearson exact intervals. Results: Sensitivity of the MSS (probability that the MSS result is positive given that the SLP result is positive) was calculated as 21/29 = 0.724 (95% confidence interval 0.528 to 0.873). Specificity of the MSS (probability that the MSS result is negative given that the SLP result is negative) was calculated as 144/149 = 0.966 (95% confidence interval 0.923 to 0.989). The positive predictive value for the MSS (21 MSS positive/26 true positive) is 81% and the negative predictive value (144 MSS negatives/152 true negatives) is 95%. Since the implementation of the MSS in 2015, there has been a decrease of HAP in stroke patients with none in 2016 and 2017. Conclusions: Despite the Joint Commission mandate for use of swallow screens in the stroke population, there remains no universal standard. In conclusion, based on the sensitivity and specificity identified in the data, the MSS can be deemed a valid and reliable nursing tool to screen stroke patients for risk of aspiration. Secondary analysis revealed a drastic reduction in HAP in stroke patients who were evaluated using the MSS.

The Effect of Risk Factor Disclosures on the Pricing of Credit Default Swaps

ABSTRACTThis study examines the relation between narrative risk disclosures in mandatory reports and the pricing of credit risk. In particular, we investigate whether and how the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) mandate of risk factor disclosures (RFDs) affects credit default swap (CDS) spreads. Based on the theory of Duffie and Lando (2001), we predict and find that CDS spreads decrease significantly after RFDs are made available in 10‐K/10‐Q filings. These results suggest that RFDs improve information transparency about the firm's underlying risk, thereby reducing the information risk premium in CDS spreads. The content analysis further reveals that disclosures pertinent to financial and idiosyncratic risk are especially relevant to credit investors. In cross‐sectional analyses, we document that RFDs are more useful for evaluating the business prospects and default risk of firms with greater information uncertainty/asymmetry. Overall, our findings imply that the SEC requirement for adding a risk factor section to periodic reports enhances the transparency of firm risk and facilitates credit investors in evaluating the credit quality of the firm.

Validation of standard method EN ISO 22964:2017 — Microbiology of the food chain — Horizontal method for the detection of Cronobacter spp.

The new version of the ISO standard method for detection of Cronobacter spp. (EN ISO 22964:2017) was validated in the frame of the European Commission Mandate M381 to CEN. Seventeen laboratories from nine countries participated in the interlaboratory studies to determine the performance characteristics of the method. The performance of the method was evaluated using matrices for which the presence of Cronobacter spp. is considered to be of serious concern, such as infant formula and its ingredients and representatives of categories cited in the EC Regulation 2073/2005 on microbiological criteria for foodstuffs for Cronobacter spp. The five matrices included in the validation were: two types of powdered infant food formulas (with and without probiotics); lactose; starch and environmental samples (swabs). The samples were each tested at two different levels of contamination, plus a negative control. Inoculation levels ranged from 4 to 95 CFU/sample. Each participant examined eight replicates of each level of inoculation, a total of 24 samples per matrix type.Specificity was calculated for each matrix used in the validation, with results ranging between 99 and 100%. Sensitivity of the method was calculated for samples in which no fractional recovery was expected and the values that were obtained ranged between 65 and 100%, depending on the matrix, the inoculation level and the interfering microbiota present in the samples. LOD50 value was calculated for three food items (the two powdered infant formulas and the starch) with values between 0.8 and 1.1 CFU/sample.

Effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network in protecting Iberian endemic fauna

AbstractThe Iberian Peninsula is a major European region of biodiversity, as it harbours more than 30% of European endemic species. Despite a number of studies having evaluated the ability of nature reserves to protect certain taxa, there is still a lack of knowledge on how Iberian endemic fauna are represented in these reserves. We detected biodiversity hotspots of Iberian endemicity and evaluated the effectiveness of the Natura 2000 network (N2000) in representing 249 endemic species from eight animal taxonomic groups (amphibians, mammals, freshwater fishes, reptiles, water beetles, butterflies, lacewings and dung beetles). We found that only the 10% of these Iberian endemic species are considered species of community interest (i.e. species included in the Annexes of the Habitats Directive). We conducted gap analyses and null models of representativeness in N2000. Generally, N2000 is effective in its representation of Iberian endemic fauna, although we detected species and few hotspots of endemism that were still not represented. It is necessary to declare a few new protected areas, thus enhancing N2000's effectiveness in the conservation of the Iberian endemic fauna. Although the aim of N2000 is to protect species listed in the Birds and Habitats Directives, the conservation status of endemic species from one of the most important areas of Europe in terms of biodiversity, could be also a concern for the European Union. Our results are useful in the context of the recent European Commission mandate calling for a ‘fitness check’ of the Birds and Habitats Directives. This approach could be also applicable to other regions with high value of endemicity.

The Inter-American Commission of Human Rights 2001-2009: Between Representing Victims and the Inter-American Public Order

This paper revises qualitative and quantitative data regarding the role of the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights between 2001 and 2011. Starting from a definition of the Commission's mandate, the paper first revises the Commission's practice of litigation before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in comparison to the role victims' representatives have played in the same proceedings. Contrasting different litigation strategies, the paper aims at determining whether the Commission simply duplicated the role of representatives or whether it made its own contribution to the proceedings. Second, the paper looks at new quantitative data compiled for this research, which manages to describe and to analyse the Commission's referral policy of cases to the Court. The paper concludes that the Commission has stood in for representatives when victims did not count with expert litigants; it proves empirically that the Commission has chosen priority issues for referral of cases from each country (apart from Argentina), which determine whether a case has actually chances to end up before the Inter-American Court. The research is part of a larger project submitted as the author's PhD thesis to the University of Essex, which is published in the British Library's archives.