EU Citizens Research Articles

PROTECTION OF CONSUMERS UNDER THE GDPR

The GDPR reforms existing data protection policy by imposing more stringent obligations on not only data controllers but also on data processors relating to obtaining a valid consent, ensuring transparency of automated decision-making and security of data processing, and by providing new rights for data subjects. Data subjects are entitled to withdraw their consent, request their data to be transferred to another data controller or to be deleted. Also, the GDPR includes certain principles aimed at regulating its cross border transfers of the EU citizens’ personal data to ensure a high level of protection outside the EU.

Individual Adaptability to Work: Scale Validation on the Romanian Population

Abstract This study aimed to validate the I-ADAPT scale to assess the individual adaptability to work within the Romanian population. Both a pilot study and a main study were conducted on a total sample of 966 Romanians. Following the application of standard scale validation procedures, the results of our study indicated that the I-ADAPT measure of work adaptability has good psychometric properties on the Romanian population. Our findings provide evidence that I-ADAPT continues to explain the unique variance in adaptability to work even if work patterns in the Covid-19 pandemic context moved more and more from a traditional to a virtual work environment. ROa I-ADAPT measure has excellent properties concerning convergent, discriminant, and criterion-related validity. One main finding was that the “Physical” dimension of adaptability to work had no empirical support in the Romanian population. Moreover, our results indicate that the “interpersonal adaptability” and the “cultural adaptability” dimensions cannot be empirically separated in the Romanian population. To our knowledge, this is the first validated instrument that can be used to assess the individual adaptability of Romanians in the context of work. Our study is relevant for decision-makers in Romania and such actors in other EU-member countries where Romanians represent the largest group of working-age EU citizens.

Vaccination coverage among laboratory personnel - health safety imperative for all

AimThe objective of the study was to evaluate disparities in vaccination coverage among laboratory personnel in health care facilities and to identify risk factors for nonvaccination. Materials and methodsA multicenter, quantitative, cross-sectional study was conducted between November 2020 and February 2021. The validated bilingual questionnaire was distributed online through professional association networks. Descriptive and inferential statistics were included in the analysis. ResultsOf the 640 respondents, approximately one-third (30.9%) had received an annual influenza vaccination. Significantly higher vaccination coverage rates were reported for measles, tuberculosis, and hepatitis B (82.8%, 78.3%, and 72.5%, respectively). Influenza vaccination coverage was higher among LPs with higher education (p < 0.001), in microbiology laboratories (p = 0.009), in the private sector (p = 0.012), and twice as high in EU countries (p < 0.001). Measles vaccination coverage was lower among LPs older than 45 years (p < 0.001), had a college degree (p = 0.015), and were EU citizens (p = 0.002). Better tuberculosis vaccination coverage was found among LPs older than 45 years (p < 0.001), with higher educational degrees (p = 0.003), employed in microbiology laboratories (p = 0.004), and working in the private sector (p = 0.025). Hepatitis B vaccination coverage was higher among LPs under 45 years (p = 0.020), with higher levels of education (p = 0.003), and with respect to territorial affiliation (p < 0.001). ConclusionThe present study showed that the vaccination coverage rate was satisfactory for most LPs against hepatitis B, tuberculosis, and measles, while the coverage rate against influenza was low.

Conceptualising politicisation as activity: the politics of the 2019 EP elections

ABSTRACT The article makes an innovative contribution to concept formation in the study of politicisation. It proposes a novel approach to analysing politicisation and applies it to the EU: It develops a theoretical and conceptual framework that regards politics as an activity and politicisation as the action that marks an issue as political. It is argued that such an approach can grasp facets of politicisation that most other existing approaches do not manage to tackle, since they rely on a system-based concept of politics, which leads to blind spots in their analytical outreach. Based on a discussion of classical and contemporary literature on politics and politicisation, a taxonomy of four scenarios of EU politicisation and its impact on EU citizen involvement and EU integration is then developed. The final part of the article illustrates these scenarios with Eurobarometer data that highlight that the 2019 EP elections were marked by complex and partially opposing dynamics of politicisation: voter preferences and outcomes indicate an increased impact of EU-related claims alongside growing generalised polity contestation. Power constellations in the EP have changed, but the 2019 EP elections also had a clear impact on the formation of political leadership in the EU.

Homeless immigrants ineligible for social welfare benefits: identification of sub-groups and their characteristics

ABSTRACT Although the number of immigrants stemming from EU countries increased within the last decade, they are widely excluded from social welfare benefits, also from the relevant support systems in case of homelessness. As a result, the daily concerns of homeless immigrants are largely unknown and studies understanding their situation are very scarce. The present study analysed data of homeless immigrants who turned to the only Upper Austrian donation-funded NGO that serves them within a period of one year. In total, 135 different persons visited this NGO and 88 persons agreed that their data can be used for further analyses. The vast majority of these 88 persons were EU citizens (97%), male (65%) and Romanian citizens (64%). They came to this NGO to ask for basic support, followed by support in finding regular work, and the storage of their personal belongings. Subgroup analyses showed that homeless immigrants are a heterogeneous group which need different services in the professional support processes of social work. Based on the empirical findings, this paper gives structured recommendations for social work practice with homeless immigrants.

Russia in public discourse and public opinion of citizens of the Italian Republic

The authors examine the social grounds for the formation of a positive image of Russia in the public opinion of Italy. The purpose of the study is to measure how the attitude of the Italians towards Russia has changed after 2022. The research is based on a secondary analysis of the representative results of sociological surveys of EU citizens and also on the authors’ analysis of political public discourse, where the source was the Italian media and the statements of political actors. The stability of the positive image of Russia in Italian public opinion is determined by the stable economic, political and cultural ties between Italy and Russia. The results of the discourse analysis of an extensive database of documents - election programs, materials from the leading social and political media in Italy and statements by Italian politicians - demonstrated a high level of interest of members of the Italian political elite in maintaining stable relations with Russia in various fields. They are representatives of the Italian populist parties among opinion makers and leaders, who influence the formation of a positive image of Russia. The attitude towards the Russian Federation in Italian public opinion has remained positive for a long period of time. The special military operation has significantly changed the perception of Russia, but the Italians still remain its sympathizers compared to citizens of other EU countries.

Tracing Jewish family history in a post-Holocaust world

ABSTRACT The growth in online platforms and documentary aggregator sites has revolutionised the process of Jewish family history research. This article records how the loss of EU citizenship rights following Britain’s departure from the European Union encouraged the author to investigate their own family history. Drawing upon the author’s findings, it describes how communal record books left on the shelves of town halls across Romania for over a century have been given new life thanks to the efforts of community archivists. This article chronicles their efforts to identify, preserve and digitise these documents which help to shed light on the history of the Jewish community of Dorna Watra, now Vatra Dornei, a small town in the former Austrian crownland of Bukovina. This article provides a detailed evaluation of the opportunities facing Jewish family researchers and the strengths and weaknesses of online aggregator sites such as Ancestry.Com and JewishGen.

NextGEM: Next-Generation Integrated Sensing and Analytical System for Monitoring and Assessing Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Field Exposure and Health.

The evolution of emerging technologies that use Radio Frequency Electromagnetic Field (RF-EMF) has increased the interest of the scientific community and society regarding the possible adverse effects on human health and the environment. This article provides NextGEM's vision to assure safety for EU citizens when employing existing and future EMF-based telecommunication technologies. This is accomplished by generating relevant knowledge that ascertains appropriate prevention and control/actuation actions regarding RF-EMF exposure in residential, public, and occupational settings. Fulfilling this vision, NextGEM commits to the need for a healthy living and working environment under safe RF-EMF exposure conditions that can be trusted by people and be in line with the regulations and laws developed by public authorities. NextGEM provides a framework for generating health-relevant scientific knowledge and data on new scenarios of exposure to RF-EMF in multiple frequency bands and developing and validating tools for evidence-based risk assessment. Finally, NextGEM's Innovation and Knowledge Hub (NIKH) will offer a standardized way for European regulatory authorities and the scientific community to store and assess project outcomes and provide access to findable, accessible, interoperable, and reusable (FAIR) data.

How the West Can Help Ukraine: Three Strategies for Achieving a Ukrainian Victory and Rebirth | Como pode o Ocidente ajudar a Ucrânia: Três estratégias para alcançar a vitória e o renascimento da Ucrânia

&#x0D; The geopolitical salience of the Russia–Ukraine War and the remoteness of Ukraine’s accession to the European Union or NATO call for intensification and modification of and innovation in current Western approaches. While some existing instruments can be strengthened and adapted, new tools are needed, accompanied by better explanations of the rationale for long-term Western aid to Ukraine. Such support is not just about international solidarity, but Western states’ national security, as well as winning not only the war but also the peace afterward and renewing rather than merely rebuilding Ukraine. Ukraine’s defence, security, transport, communications and energy infrastructures are priority areas for support. Reconstruction should be closely linked to Ukraine’s staged accession to the EU as well as further decentralization. More direct contacts between Ukrainian and Western communities and companies could be promoted through simplified residence rules for EU and other citizens and insuring foreign investors and trading partners against political risk, among other things. Central to conditions for continuing Western help will be Kyiv’s ongoing strengthening of the rule of law and fight against corruption. Even after the current war, strong armament of Ukraine as a European frontier state will be unavoidable before the country’s full accession to NATO and beyond.

A different logic of polity building? The Russian invasion of Ukraine and EU citizens’ demand for social security

ABSTRACT The present study considers whether the Russian invasion of Ukraine constitutes an opportunity for EU policy centralisation and polity-building in non-military domains, according to a social security logic. It argues that the war and growing concerns about energy security and prices have presented EU policymakers with a transboundary policy puzzle on how to ensure autonomy in energy supply, fight climate change and protect household disposable income. Then, it examines public preferences on energy and social policy options, evaluating whether the war contributed to increasing demand for supra-national capacity building and investigating the priorities (and divides) across and within EU countries in these policy areas. The findings show that social security concerns related to the war in Ukraine have been translated into greater support for policy centralisation, but they have not helped to overcome divides over conflicting policy goals, leaving policymakers with some difficult decisions.

Languages coexistence models in the multicultural environment of Ukraine and the EU

The aim the article is to study the model of coexistence of different languages in the multicultural environment of Ukraine and EU countries (the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and Italy). Methods. Testing was conducted using the Communicative Attitudes Technique. The degree of satisfaction with the environment was studied. Statistical analysis was performed using t-test, the Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Reliability analysis was performed using Cronbach’s alpha. Results. The adaptability of EU citizens was found to be significantly higher than that of the residents of Ukraine (t=13.24; p &lt; 0.001). The indicators of EU citizens are higher than those of Ukrainians (p&lt;0.001) on a number of qualitative characteristics of adaptability: self-acceptance (t=21.84), acceptance of others (t=4.01), emotional comfort (t=4.49), internal control (t=33.74), external control (t=8.12); consciousness (t=2.58 at p&lt;0.05). Conclusions. The obtained results give grounds to state a high level of communicative tolerance in the multicultural environment. This indicates the existence of effective models of multilingualism both in Ukraine and in the EU countries. Prospects. Further research may focus on identifying universal languages as communicative tools both in Ukraine and in EU countries.

Not the mode of allocation but refugees’ right to work drives European citizens’ preferences on refugee policy

Europe remains a destination of an ongoing influx of asylum seekers. The attempts to build an EU-wide political consensus around refugee policy have so far failed. This article provides a perspective on EU citizens’ preferred policy towards refugees and asylum seekers at both the EU and domestic levels. A hidden policy consensus is identified in which European citizens across all social and ideological backgrounds prefer refugees to have the right to work but their freedom of movement to be restricted while their application for asylum is being processed. At the same time, the mode of refugee allocation between countries, which has been prominent in political debates across Europe, is relatively unimportant to respondents, as they focus on the domestic level rather than EU-level policy. The widespread consensus on support for refugees’ participation in the labour market may unite EU citizens around cautious hospitality by deemphasising allocation principles, and stressing country-level solutions.

ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКИЙ СОЮЗ: ІСТОРІЯ СТАНОВЛЕННЯ ТА ЙОГО ЗНАЧЕННЯ ДЛЯ УКРАЇНИ

ЄВРОПЕЙСЬКИЙ СОЮЗ: ІСТОРІЯ СТАНОВЛЕННЯ ТА ЙОГО ЗНАЧЕННЯ ДЛЯ УКРАЇНИ

Towards Evidence-Based Legitimacy Interventions in EU Law: Challenges and Directions for Empirical Research

As EU institutions are increasingly being asked to address societal challenges, the legitimacy need of the EU becomes more evident. With the aim of complementing the already rich literature on normative EU legitimacy and ultimately enabling evidence-based legitimation strategies, this contribution identifies and addresses gaps in empirical research on perceived EU legitimacy, which pertain to conceptualization, operationalization and explanatory factors. To that end, we first of all define perceived EU legitimacy as the perception among EU citizens that the EU&rsquo;s exercise of authority is appropriate. Drawing on the relational approach to legitimacy, these perceptions arise from socially held norms about how the EU should rightfully exercise authority, which are in turn influenced by the socio-political context. We then propose ways in which such a conception of legitimacy can be operationalized in empirical research. Finally, we lay the foundation for a theoretical model on the sources of EU legitimacy perceptions, arguing that such a model should consider social psychological processes related to identity and morality, because these factors influence how people process information about the EU, and are increasingly part of the environment in which norms about rightful rule arise. Once empirical research is better equipped to understand these processes underlying citizens&rsquo; legitimacy perceptions of the EU, opportunities arise to develop evidence-based interventions and inform legal practices in the EU with extra-legal insights. As EU legitimation through policies, legal reform and institutional design requires knowledge of legal feasibility, social scientists and lawyers should collaborate to embed empirical insights in EU law. Bridging the norm-fact divide in this manner is both normatively desirable and empirically necessary for the EU to strengthen its legitimacy and face societal challenges.

Beyond trade: The European Union - New Zealand Free Trade Agreement

The 2022 announcement of the European Union- New Zealand Free Trade Agreement was seminal for both sides. For New Zealand, the deal is projected to be worth up to an extra NZ$1.8 billion per annum by 2035. What is less evident is the motivation for securing the deal for Europe – New Zealand is only the EU’s 50th most important trading partner and accounts for 0.2% of its total trade. This article outlines three major benefits for the EU. Firstly, it symbolises that the EU’s neoliberal trading agenda is continuing in the face of perceived increased protectionism. Second, the deal includes a seminal clause of holding each partner to account in climate change responsibilities – a detail that should garner support from EU citizens. Finally, closer EU cooperation with New Zealand may add to the EU’s legitimacy in the Indo-Pacific.

The Right to an Effective Remedy In International Data Transfers of Electronic Evidence: Past Lessons and Future Outlook

Cross-border and international collaboration of authorities is often a necessity, involving inter alia the exchange of good practices, tools, human resources, but also information, including personal data. Cross-border access to data is essential in the context of electronic evidence in criminal investigations and proceedings, as more than half of all criminal investigations involve a cross-border request to obtain e-evidence. From a fundamental rights perspective, a common denominator in transborder exchanges of data -irrespective of whether they take place for commercial or for criminal purposes- is that the right to effective remedy of the individuals concerned shall be safeguarded, a right protected under Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights and Freedoms of the European Union. Taking into account this context, this paper provides a comprehensive analysis and assessment of the right on effective remedies for EU citizens in international data transfers of electronic evidence and discusses the future of the right to effective remedies in transatlantic transfers of data in this context. The main argument of the paper is that the effective remedies for sharing electronic evidence outside the EU territory are not sufficiently guaranteed by the existing applicable rules, due to the piecemeal approach followed in the EU.

Breaking the Ancestral Silence: Recognition of Citizenship by Descent Despite the Great Brazilian Naturalization

Abstract This case note recounts and critically analyzes a judgment with which the Italian Corte di Cassazione has pronounced itself on the acquisition of Italian citizenship jure sanguinis by descendants of Italian ancestors who had allegedly renounced their citizenship upon tacit acceptance of mass naturalization in Brazil. The case note argues that the judgment has effectively resorted to the preclusion of inferences from silence to protect the fundamental status of citizenship from loss. Nonetheless, it claims that the relationship between national rules on modes of acquisition of citizenship and EU citizenship should have been better framed.

COMMUNICATING IN MULTI-CULTURAL EUROPE

The article is part of a research on the management of communication in the EU programs. It analyzes the way in which EU communicates with its citizens and it studies the EU strategy for communication. The findings show that from 2001 to 2007, the Commission has made a lot of efforts to improve communication. The EU citizens have access to legislation, procedures and information in their national tongue and the possibility to communicate with all the institutions in 23 official languages. Nevertheless, the surveys indicate a general lack of interest of the public opinion in the European problems and the EU policy. Improving the way in which EU communicates with its citizens remains an ongoing process. The author suggests that the Romanian people should also be informed about the communication problems faced by the founding member states, so that adequate measures can be taken.

To be Mobile to Stabilize and to Return to Enjoy: Safety, Cultural Familiarity and Inner-self in the Context of Mobility vs. Migration

Return is discussed mostly in the context of migration, not in regard to mobility. When it comes to return of the EU citizens, it is not seen as much of a return but retro-mobility. However, there are also great differences between member-states regarding return patterns. These patterns are influenced by socialization, work cultures, and concepts such as safety, family and the self. These differences, which do not seem very crucial at first, can result in return, rather than permanent migration. In order to understand the dynamics of return, I focus hereby in two women’s lives where I conducted two interviews with each: one during mobility and another before their return to their home countries, namely to Iceland and Spain. I argue, in this paper, that the motivations for return are complex and cannot be easily categorized as one specific factor. Rather, they are a combination of multiple factors which vary during diverse periods of mobility. These factors can be examined in the context of macro, meso and micro which are the themes that emerged from the interviews as safety, cultural familiarity and inner-self. The inner-self makes the last decision to return whilst ideas on safety and cultural familiarity are facilitating factors for return. Hence, every return is a biographical story and one has to consider the biographies of each migrant and/or mobile person before they examine the reasons to understand return in its full complexity.

Ageing, Leisure Time Physical Activity and Health in Europe.

The goal of this article is to analyse leisure time physical activity (LTPA) and health-driven motivations to engage in such activity among elderly people in the European Union. We use as a base the recommendations of the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the theory of the correlation between physical activity according to individual factors (age, gender, socio-economic status) and contextual factors (habitat, community infrastructures, the model of the welfare state of the country of residence). Data are taken from Eurobarometer 88.4. The Generalized Structural Equation Model (GSEM) methodology was used, with the STATA program. The results show that 65.3% of EU citizens over the age of 60 engage in some form of LTPA, that 40.4% do so for health reasons, and that only 32.3% engage in LTPA that meets the minimum guidelines set by the WHO. In addition, there are large differences based on individual and contextual characteristics. The following group was found to be those who practice the most: men, with high socio-economic status, belonging to the middle and upper social classes, living in rural areas where there is infrastructure for physical activity, and above all, in the countries of the Nordic model of social welfare.