Development Of European Policy Research Articles

Multiculturalism and welfare state integration: Swedish model path dependency

The present article offers an account of Swedish integration policies in the post-war period. The theoretical purpose is to assess Christian Joppke’s hypothesis that recent trends of integration policy convergence have rendered the national model approach analytically useless. The analysis shows that Sweden deviates, in some important respects, from the European trend by not formulating demands that link integration achievements to immigrants’ access to fundamental rights. The conclusion is that the Swedish case does not support Joppke’s hypothesis, but rather indicates that path dependency of national models is a valid explanation to ongoing developments. It is argued that the Swedish exception should be understood as an expression of the persistent impact of a policy logic according to which integration requires that all citizens have equal and universal access to certain fundamental rights. The article builds on general comparisons with European policy developments and uses Denmark as a more specific reference point.

Trading in development: norms and institutions in the making/unmaking of European Union–African, Caribbean and Pacific trade and development cooperation

This paper offers a contribution to recent debates on European Union (EU) external trade and development policy, with a specific focus on the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) group of countries. The question asked is why the EU encountered such difficulties in the attempt to translate its normative preferences for freer trade and closer economic integration into a series of binding agreements? Drawing on both economic constructivist and historical institutionalist insights, it is argued that the case for reform initially rested on a strong convergence between institutions and ideas, enabling the EU to discursively present desired policy reforms as necessary to satisfy World Trade Organisation trade rules. However, in due course, the institutional dynamics behind the latter began to diverge from the EU's policy preferences and blunt its norm-based argument – thus creating the space for transnational coalitions to, first, question and, ultimately, undermine aspects the EU's trade and development prospectus for the ACP.

The value of pointillism? Integrating trade and development and the European Union as a global actor

As the contributions to this volume make clear, the intersection between the European Union's (EU) trade and development policies is populated by a diverse array of policies. The EU's selection of policies reflects, in part, the level of development of the developing country and competing understandings of how to best foster development. The contributions also hint at significant contributions to wider debates about the EU as a global actor, particularly the extent to which it is motivated by normative considerations and how affective it is in achieving its objectives. This article reviews the main findings of the contributions to this volume and advances some suggestions so as to enable a clearer picture to emerge that could more readily inform wider debates.

Generation IV Reactor Safety and Materials Research by the Institute for Energy and Transport at the European Commission's Joint Research Centre

To support the drafting, development, implementation and monitoring of European energy and transport policy, the Institute for Energy and Transport of the European Commissions’ Joint Research Centre conducts pre-competitive research in the areas of experimental qualification of advanced fuels and materials as well as simulation and modelling of reactor safety and material performance. The work covers assessments, design optimisation and improvements to the safety and performance of new, innovative reactor systems, materials and instrumentation, in order to meet the EU's long-term energy needs while respecting enhanced safety, sustainability, and economic aspects.The research is linked, and contributes, to related EURATOM Framework Programme projects, Generation IV International Forum (GIF), International Atomic Energy Agency as well as OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD NEA) activities. The current paper gives an overview and examples of past, current, and upcoming activities in the areas of reactor safety assessments, advanced fuel irradiation and materials research.

Ultrafine particles and their impact on health

Although air pollution is a common topic in research, knowledge about ultrafine particles is still limited and appropriate measurement instrumentation is needed. The aim of the UFIREG project (Ultrafine Particles – an evidence based contribution to the development of regional and European environmental and health policy) is to investigate short-term effects of different size classes of (ultra)fine particles (UFP) on mortality and morbidity and to develop a cost-efficient UFP measurement strategy applicable in all European regions. Additionally …

UFIREG project: Ultrafine Particles – an evidence based contribution to the development of regional and European environmental and health policy

UFIREG project: Ultrafine Particles – an evidence based contribution to the development of regional and European environmental and health policy

EU corporate action as a driver for global emissions abatement: A structural analysis of EU international supply chain carbon dioxide emissions

Global greenhouse gas emissions driven by European consumption increasingly occur outside European borders. These non-European sources of emissions remain linked to Europe via the international supply chains of European companies. Leading companies are now measuring their supply chain emissions and taking tentative steps to reduce them. If such activities were to become widespread, then an opportunity may exist for European industry to drive significant emissions abatement beyond European borders. This paper provides the first analysis into the maximum potential influence European industry has over its non-European supply chain emissions. The analysis is performed at the level of aggregate industry sectors using a global Multi-Regional Input–Output model. The Total Consumption Attribution method is used to estimate the potential influence of different European industries with detailed decompositions carried out using Structural Path Analysis techniques. The potential influence of European industry over non-European supply chain emissions is found to be greater than one gigatonne of carbon dioxide. The European manufacturing sector is found to have the greatest potential influence over non-European emissions via relatively short supply chains that entail few international border crossings. The results presented in this paper provide initial evidence in support of the development of European climate policies aimed at stimulating supply chain emissions reductions activities within European companies

Student Assessment in Portugal: Academic Practice and Bologna Policy

This paper investigates institutional policies and academic practices of student assessment in four Portuguese higher education institutions (HEIs) in the wake of European policy developments driven by the Bologna Process. Specifically, it examines the correspondence between European policy recommendations related to student assessment (promotion of student-centred learning by the Bologna Process and the European quality assurance standard and guidelines on student assessment) and actual assessment procedures in the investigated Portuguese HEIs. It concludes that despite student-centred methodologies having started to make inroads, it does not emerge clearly how far changes (and practices) have been driven by recent European policy. Another notable aspect is that despite apparent institutional compliance with national or European orientations meant to improve the student experience of assessment (as reflected in policy documents), academic practices and students’ experiences sometimes tell a story of resistance and enduring academic beliefs and traditions.

Neither Bandwagoning nor Balancing: Explaining Europe's Security Policy

Realists continue to bend their analytical concepts and vocabulary in an attempt to subsume recent developments in European security policy under their traditional nomenclature. Yet neither balancing (preceded by some diminutive adjunct) nor bandwagoning captures what is happening in Europe. The balancing proposition fails to explain the overwhelming incidence of European Union member states supporting rather than constraining American foreign policy. Yet that does not automatically entail bandwagoning, a concept which implies that they gave in to American threats or sought opportunistic gains through an alliance of convenience. Instead, European security policy is driven partly by a shared liberal consensus, and partly by diverging national preferences and priorities rooted in idiosyncratic political cultures. This article examines these diverging approaches by looking at how British, French, and German governments acted in the context of the European Union's Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP). Examining the drivers behind key operations undertaken in this framework, it focuses on CSDP's intended impact on the transatlantic relationship. EU foreign policy has generally furthered rather than countered American foreign policy preferences. But it is conceptually misleading to subsume this behaviour under bandwagoning. In contemporary EU-Europe (or Europe), the relevant arena for the struggle for power is the domestic stage. Beyond Europe, this perspective also challenges realists to reconsider the importance of domestic calculations in foreign policy.

Intercultural education in Europe: policies, practices and trends

European societies have become increasingly diverse as a result of legal and illegal migration flows, and educationists are facing the challenge of how to address the presence of migrant students. In recent years, there has been increasing activity at European level in the field of intercultural education despite the principle of subsidiarity. This article draws on 30 European level policy documents published within the last decade to analyse the dynamics influencing intercultural education in Europe. These include European Union institutions (such as European Commission, European Council, and Council of Ministers) and Council of Europe documents. Our discussions are situated within historical and contemporary European immigration policy developments. We argue that the main emphasis of recent European level policies and directives is on fostering social cohesion through incorporating migrant students. In so doing, European organisations have had to deal with arguments surrounding the legitimacy of European policy initiatives in the field of intercultural education.

The EU as a Geopolitical and Development Actor: Views from East Africa

The EU frequently prides itself with being the largest donor of official development assistance (ODA) in the world and consequently claims a lead role as a major global actor in international development. This paper examines how this role of the EU is exercised and perceived by the EU’s development partners in East Africa through a qualitative research approach centered around semi-structured interviews and participant observation. The paper thereby does not evaluate perceptions or judge their reality value, it rather emphasises the existence of different perceptions and how they vary depending on the eye of the beholder and the policy field under consideration. It further argues that conceiving of one coherent international role of the EU reveals limited insight; instead a more diversified view of the EU as both an appealing geopolitical model and a resented geoeconomic power is presented. Moreover, it suggests that conception and implementation of European development policy should be more consultative and perceptive in order to dispel perceptions of the EU as a neo-imperial power.

Aid Donor Meets Strategic Partner? The European Union's and China's Relations with Ethiopia

The motives, instruments and effects of China's Africa policy have spurred a lively debate in European development policy circles. This paper assesses the “competitive pressure” that China's growing presence in Africa exerts on the European development policy regime. Drawing on interviews conducted in China, Ethiopia and Europe between 2008 and 2011, the paper analyses Ethiopia as a case study. Ethiopia has emerged as one of the most important countries in Chinese as well as European cooperation with Africa. Yet, Chinese and European policies toward Ethiopia differ greatly. The EU mainly engages Ethiopia as an aid recipient, whereas China has developed a comprehensive political and economic partnership with the East African state. China has thereby become an alternative partner to the Ethiopian government, a development that both sheds light on the gap between European rhetoric and policy practice and puts pressure on the EU to make more efforts to reform its development policy system.

BENIMPACT Suite: A Tool for ZEB Performance Assessment

In the last years, there has been a big development of European policies and regulations on energy saving topics. This is due to the will to reach the targets of 20-20-20. Buildings consume a lot of energy, so the legal framework related to the reduction of energy consumption in this sector has had a huge evolution. The NZEB (nearly zero energy building) concept was introduced in 2010, eight years after the release of the original EPBD (energy performance of buildings directive). By 2020, all new buildings and buildings that are subject to renovation should have very low energy consumption, covered for the major part by renewable sources. Designing and realizing this kind of building is a very ambitious task, which needs to be supported by appropriate tools and software. This paper presents a new tool for assessing building performance, named BENIMPACT Suite (building's environmental impact evaluator and optimizer), which is developed by EnginSoft (Italy). The suite is organized in different core modules that allow to verify how the building performance level is influenced by different design choices, such as envelope shape and materials, plant systems, renewable sources use, etc.. One of the test cases used to validate the BENIMPACT Suite energy performance is the evaluation of an interesting Italian ZEB, finished in 2010 and called CasaZeroEnergy. It is located in Felettano (Udine), a small town in northeastern Italy. This building is an experimental house designed and monitored by the Laboratory of Building Design of the University of Trento (Italy) and built by Polo Le Ville Plus Group (Cassacco-Italy). The energy performance of this building was modelled and evaluated using BENIMPACT Suite, and simulation results were compared with monitored data.

Italy and the development of European energy policy: from the dawn of the integration process to the 1973 oil crisis

This article analyses the history of Italian energy policy as well as that of Europe from the beginnings of co-operation until the bust of the first oil crisis. The difficulties in realising a united policy as well as the energy status of Italy and Europe until the eve of the 1973 oil shock are underlined. Then, the answers to the crisis as well as the attempts to address the energy difficulties in a united way are analysed.

European Union energy policy integration: A case of European Commission policy entrepreneurship and increasing supranationalism

Focusing on gas, this article explores the role of the European Commission in the process of European Union energy security policy development, and the extent to which the policy area is becoming increasingly supranational. Situating the article within the literature on agenda-setting and framing, it is argued that a policy window was opened as a result of: enlargement to include more energy import dependent states, a trend of increasing energy imports and prices, and gas supply disruptions. From the mid-2000s, the Commission contributed to a shift in political norms, successfully framing import dependency as a problem requiring an EU-level solution, based on the institution’s pre-existing preferences for a diversified energy supply and internal energy market. Whilst Member States retain significant sovereignty, the Commission has achieved since 2006 creeping competencies in the internal, and to a lesser extent external, dimensions of EU energy policy.

Nearshore substrate and marine habitat mapping to inform marine policy and coastal management

Colenutt, A., Mason, T., Cocuccio, A., Kinnear, R. and Parker, D., 2013. Nearshore high resolution substrate and marine habitat mapping to inform marine policy and coastal management.The Defra-funded National Network of Regional Coastal Monitoring Programmes of England, through collaboration with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency's Civil Hydrography Programme, are increasingly utilising cost-effective technology to achieve 100% seafloor coverage to International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) Order 1a standard, of the nearshore zone from about Mean Low Water Springs to approximately 1km offshore. Detailed specifications have been developed to ensure efficient acquisition of swath bathymetric data that are accurate, repeatable, maximise interoperability and are made freely available. Analysis of seabed substrate and habitat maps, which identify zones of exposed bedrock and surficial deposits of coarse, fine and mixed sediments, provide spatial detail of seabed features, such as sand waves, rock outcrops, pinnacles and scour and provide baseline conditions for monitoring of marine ecosystems. Interpretation and production of marine geology maps may also provide important information about seafloor composition and structure, physical properties and sedimentological and geological processes such as natural hazards. The methodology developed for data processing and interpretation combined with examples from a suite of detailed indicative substrate and marine habitat maps is presented. Interpretation of the full coverage swath bathymetry and acoustic backscatter information and ground-truthing data enables high resolution marine-related spatial and temporal substrate whilst habitat maps provide a sound multi-disciplinary scientific evidence base to inform development of European and UK marine environmental policy and planning, and are valuable tools for managing the sustainable use and conservation of coastal and marine resources, thus aiding the integration of terrestrial and marine planning regimes.

Cross-Border Mobility, Unfamiliarity and Development Policy in Europe

In this special issue, we seek to explore experiences, performances and effects of both “unfamiliarity” and “familiarity” across a diversity of inner and outer borders of the European Union. In EU integration discourse, cross-border unfamiliarity is usually considered to obstruct international mobility and diminish opportunities for cross-border cohesion and communities to develop. European development policy, therefore, often focuses on creating mutual understanding in border regions, especially through diminishing the barrier effect of borders. One of the consequences is that more cross-border familiarity is created. However, too much familiarity may also have undermining implications for cross-border mobility, integration and community-building. This special issue, therefore, scrutinizes what “being” and “feeling” (un)familiar imply in cross-border contexts and what consequences both have for spatial practices in and representations of borderlanders in several Euroregions—as well as for European regional development policies aiming for cross-border mobility, integration and community-building.

The Development of Municipal European Policy – The City Network ‘Eurocities’

The Development of Municipal European Policy – The City Network ‘Eurocities’

Oceans of opportunity or rough seas? What does the future hold for developments in European marine policy?

The management of European seas is undergoing a process of major reform. In the past, oceans and coastal policy has traditionally evolved in a fragmented and uncoordinated manner, developed by different sector-based agencies and arms of government with competing aims and objectives. Recently, the call for integrated and ecosystem-based approaches has driven the conceptualization of a new approach. At the scale of Europe through the Integrated Maritime Policy and Marine Strategy Framework Directive and in national jurisdictions such as the Marine and Coastal Access Act in the United Kingdom, ecosystem-based planning is becoming the norm. There are major challenges to this process and this paper explores, in particular, the opportunities inherent in building truly integrated approaches that cross different sectors of activity, integrate across scales, incorporate public involvement and build a sense of oceans citizenship.

A critical evaluation of the European drug strategy: Has it brought added value to drug policy making at the national level?

BackgroundThe current European Drug Strategy (EDS) and attendant Action Plan come to an end this year signalling a period of evaluation of and reflection on whether they have achieved their aims and objectives. MethodologyThis opinion based article seeks to add a critical and academic evaluation to the mix, which is focused on determining the extent to which the European drug policy has brought added value to drug policy that is formulated at the national level, in accordance with the principle of subsidiarity. The analysis presented here examines the five key areas defined by the EDS: coordination, demand reduction, supply reduction, international cooperation and information, research and evaluation. ResultsIt suggests that, while clear benefits have been brought in the realm of information, research and evaluation and the development of harm reduction measures, there is still significant progress yet to be made. ConclusionIt finds that neither the Commission's dedication to increasing focus on law-enforcement methods, nor the Council's prescription for ‘more of the same’ are particularly beneficial to the development of European drug policy. Instead, the priorities should be building on areas where added value has been engendered and on allowing diversity in policy to flourish.