EU Neighbours Research Articles

Which Conditions Favour the Emergence of Transnational Public Private Partnerships in the CEE and CIS Countries?

Which Conditions Favour the Emergence of Transnational Public Private Partnerships in the CEE and CIS Countries?

Macro-Economic Policy Reactions to Soaring Food Prices in Mediterranean Countries, Russia, the CIS and the GCC

The aim of this study is to analyse the price developments and to compare national macroeconomic policies in response to the consumer prices that started to soar in 2007 across the European Neighbourhood Policy countries, the other arcelona countries2, Russia, the Gulf Cooperation Council countries and the euro area. The analyses focus primarily on ag-flation, but we analyse also the capital inflows in view of income levels in the EU's neighbour countries. The analyses unambiguously show that food inflation was pushing up total inflation, even despite the provision of food subsidies by national authorities.

Process of the Implementation of Knowledge Triangle in Estonia

The aim of the article is to highlight a recent development related to the knowledge triangle concept and the effectiveness of actors in education, research, and innovation concerning the Estonian situation of financial and economic crisis. The author of the article analyses the implementation of the Lisbon agenda in Estonia (in 2000-2009) and tries to evaluate Estonia’s perspectives in post-Lisbon strategy (in 2010-2020). The research problem in this article is: implementation of Lisbon strategy (EU-Strategy 2020) in changed financial and economic circumstances.Since 2000, the European Commission has been measuring the innovation performance of countries with the help of the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) which is the instrument developed by the European Commission, under the Lisbon strategy, to provide a comparative assessment of the innovation performance of EU Member States annually. Estonia’s innovation performance has been increasing over the past five years in relation to the EU average, taking the lead in the moderate innovators’ group in 2008 and in the Innovation followers’ group in 2009 Estonia is reaching the EU mean level according to summary innovation index and has a relatively high growth rate for its level. However, elaborated analysis shows some relevant problems. According to the prognosis made in the strategy of Knowledge Based Estonia, employment in 2007-2013 in the high technology sector will grow about 19,800 employees, diminishing at the same time employment by the same amount in other sectors. This means that actually there is an acute need for highly qualified specialists (with doctorate degrees) for the Estonian high technology sector. First of all this indicates a need for additional investments in higher educational institutions. In Knowledge Triangle conception two main tendencies of the development are related: innovative rearrangements in economy and in higher educational sphere and, second, the increase of Estonian economic competitiveness. Today in Estonia modernisation of universities is a key element for enhancing competitiveness. At the same time there is some backwardness in higher educational sphere compared with EU neighbour countries. Other aspects of the knowledge triangle concern the creation of new economic mechanisms (concrete business solutions) and a new structure of institutions to carry out a new comprehensive and dynamic innovation model.In the process of globalisation, where Europe will need a new understanding of financial and economic integration concerning all EU member states and their own mission, Estonia must focus on the challenge of small country being more flexible economically and taking a chance in quick rearrangements of the higher education system.

Institutional Harmonization and Its Costs and Benefits in the Context of EU Cooperation with Its Neighbors: An Overview

Institutional harmonization is an important part of European integration, and its effects are more far reaching than the effects of trade liberalization. In its policy towards neighbors (the European Neighborhood Policy, ENP), the EU puts a lot of stress on the desirability of institutional harmonization, at least in certain areas. In particular, the free trade agreements that the EU envisages concluding with its Eastern neighbors will involve substantial harmonization of product standards, competition policy and a range of other policies and processes. At the very least, the harmonization will have to focus on the areas that relate to improvement of market access, i.e. removing restrictions to trade, harmonizing product standards and the systems of quality control etc. But in order to implement the new standards and rules, the EU neighbors will have to reform many related areas, so that the harmonization will encompass the whole system of economic governance. Not only will such a revamp help attaining better access to the EU markets, but also (and probably more importantly) it will stimulate modernization of the neighbors’ economies and bring much needed efficiency gains. In measurement of benefits of harmonization we refer to two methods: one based on the computable general equilibrium (CGE) modeling of welfare effects of better market access, and the other employing a growth model to estimate the wider effects of European institutions on growth. The estimation of costs of harmonization bases on extrapolation of the analogous costs in other countries, in particular CEE. These costs include expenses by a public sector on introduction of harmonization measures, as well as private sector expenses and investments related to their implementation.

Ferromagnetism and Magnetocaloric Effect around 95 K in the Laves Phase EuRh1.2Zn0.8

Samples of the solid solution EuRh2−xZnx with x ≈ 1 were synthesized by high-frequency melting of the elements in sealed tantalum tubes. They crystallize with the structure of the cubic Laves phase MgCu2. The structure of one crystal was refined from single-crystal X-ray diffractometer data: space group Fd3m, a = 768.58(6) pm, wR2 = 0.0121, 99 F2 values, 6 variables. The rhodium and zinc atoms statistically occupy the 16d site of the three-dimensional tetrahedral network. The europium atoms have coordination number 16 by 12 Rh/Zn and 4 Eu neighbors. The sample with nominal composition EuRh1.2Zn0.8 was studied with respect to its physical properties. EuRh1.2Zn0.8 shows stable divalent europium (8.00 μB/Eu atom) and orders ferromagnetically at TC = 95 K. Magnetization isotherms characterize EuRh1.2Zn0.8 as a soft ferromagnet. 151Eu Mossbauer spectroscopic data confirm the europium valence state (δ = −7.44 mm/s at 77 K) and the magnetic ordering. According to magnetocaloric investigations, EuRh1.2Zn0.8 has ...

The EU's Regional Policy and external aid policy

This paper aims to analyze the effect of the EU's regional policy and the external aid policy toward the neighbour nations in terms of the development of the trade and direct investment between the Euro area and neighbour nations. One of the conditions to be an international currency is that the nation plays a central part of the economic area in the trade and investment. The UK was the central part of the world economy in the gold standard era when the starling pound used to be an international currency, and so has been the USA when the ES dollar is the international currency. Thus, the Euro area also would be a pivotal part of the international economy in order for the Euro to grow as an international currency.As the EU continues to enlarge not only toward the central and eastern Europe and south eastern Europe but also toward Mediterranean nations, the EU has been expanding its trade and foreign direct investment with its new EU members and neighbour nations. Several factors contribute to the development of its international transactions, such as the EU's higher productivity than the neighghbour nations, the non-Euro area nation's open door policy and the free trade policy between the two. This paper focuses the EU's regional policy and foreign neighbour policy as the means to promote trade and FID between the Euro area and its neighbour nations. These EU's policies contribute to funding of social infrastructure, the development of the human capital and to promoting the structure policies to liberalize the goods and service market, capital market and labour market. This paper argues that these economic effects would enhance inflow of FDI from the Euro area, which shapes the intra and extra trade between the Euro area and neighbour nations.In this paper, section 2 examines the 2004 regional policy reform on the structural funds and Cohesion fund to find out the characteristics of the EU's regional policy toward the southeastern European nations. Section 3 reviews the EU's foreign neighbour policy with the Western Balkan Peninsula and analyzes the international division of labour between the Euro area and the neighbour nations. Finally, section 4 concludes the prospect of the role of the Euro as an international currency.

Do Ut Des? The Need for True Reciprocity in the European Neighbourhood Policy

The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) seeks to answer difficult questions of EU foreign policy after the Eastern enlargement: how to deal with the next ring of diverse EU neighbours bonded only by their proximity to the EU. The ENP attempts to do so through a methodology successfully tested during enlargement: political conditionality. In the case of enlargement, it is about a system of unilateral commitments of partner countries to EU political values in exchange for delayed EU benefits, in particular, a membership perspective. However, the ENP offers no membership perspective, but only access to EU instruments already available to partner countries. It is argued that this difference undermines ENP effectiveness. In a case study of EU–Ukraine relations in 2004–2007, this paper demonstrates that the mechanical transfer of political conditionality to the ENP without an EU membership perspective makes the methodology futile as it loses legitimacy in the eyes of the partner countries. At the same time, available ENP instruments cannot provide a reliable substitute as they favour vested EU interests and depend on cooperation with partner countries, and therefore do little to achieve ENP political objectives.

Border management in the Mediterranean: internal, external and ethical challenges

Framed in the Justice and Home Affairs external dimension (JHAE) literature that argues that the European Union's (EU) internal security has become an objective of European foreign policy, this article offers an analysis of the institutionalization of border management in the Mediterranean. Investigating the role of Frontex, the European border management agency, this article reveals that border management in the Mediterranean is a fragmented policy that presents internal and external challenges. First, at an internal level, border management remains a sensitive issue where the principles of burden sharing and solidarity between EU member states are difficult to operationalize. Second, at an external level, effective border management is dependent on cooperation with EU's neighbours, as the Spanish-Moroccan case demonstrates. Lastly, along with these internal and external challenges, border management raises some crucial issues about the opportunity of externalizing surveillance technologies to authoritarian regimes.

Paying for cancer care—a new dilemma

NHS spending is now at unprecedented levels. Over £90 billion is being spent this year alone and by 2008 this will reach £105 billion. Yet the quality of service provision and access to technology still does not match that of our European neighbours. Increasing the total budget spent on health is one solution. This can either come from increased taxation or by direct payment at the point of care: a co-payment. Another is a radical reform of the entire system from its insurance function through to its delivery system. Stripping away bureaucracy to reduce costs is an essential component of the reform process. A recent report1 suggests that we are heading for a £7 billion deficit in the NHS by 2011—and that's not allowing for step changes in technology. That represents an income tax increase of two pence in the pound for all those at work unless we use some other payment mechanism. Cancer care costs are spiralling out of control in every healthcare environment. Aging populations with a wide range of medical problems are consuming vastly increasing amounts of care. New technology—drugs, devices and procedures—are powerful inflationary drivers in an information rich, consumer-oriented world.2 Different healthcare systems are using a variety of approaches to dampen demand. Rationing, both overt and covert, inevitably leads to inequity. Britain's NHS is undergoing a slow reform process, but huge variations exist in the way patients access its services, depending on their location, education and socio-economic background. There are also major differences in prioritizing services by those responsible for their payment (the Primary Care Trusts, often advised by the local Cancer Networks). A study in 2006 showed clearly that new cancer drug use in Britain was consistently and significantly well below that of our EU neighbours.3 Similarly, another comparative EU study on the availability of radiotherapy last year ranked the UK near the bottom, on the level with the accession countries of Central Europe, even after the recent purchase of over 100 machines using lottery money.4 An alliance of British cancer charities have successfully lobbied for a second cancer plan to improve services. Whilst this would be beneficial, there is no evidence that any additional tax-based NHS funding will be available for this laudable concept. Cancer is seen as a ticked box in Britain. There is now evidence of a growing use of co-payments to break through the access barriers in the NHS. This applies to areas as diverse as implanted hearing aid devices, access to diagnostics such as MRI scans and home nursing care services. Politicians of all persuasions seem to be in denial about their existence and are reluctant to get involved in debate. Meanwhile cancer patients are beginning to develop sophisticated approaches to buying extra clinical services either from the NHS directly or through the selective use of the private sector to purchase upgrades to their basic NHS care. With drugs the economics are relatively straightforward, but with precision radiotherapy the issues are more complex and so far hidden from the political media limelight. There are 61 radiotherapy centres in the UK. Of these, 28 now have equipment to provide intensity modulated radiotherapy, which is now standard in the US and most of Western Europe. Only three British centres, however, provide intensity modulated radiotherapy routinely to significant numbers of patients: Clatterbridge (Liverpool), Ipswich and the Royal Marsden (London). Staff and funding shortages are blamed. Savvy patients are beginning to travel long distances for more precise radical radiotherapy in order to suffer fewer long-term side effects. The imminent publication of the National Radiotherapy Advisory Group report, which shows wide variation in radiotherapy utilization across the country, is clearly going stimulate new models for radiotherapy provision. Furthermore, delays abound, with a three-month waiting time for radiotherapy being common in the UK. In contrast, a centre in Zurich, Switzerland, currently has a working group engaged in re-engineering the time from first contact to radiotherapy delivery from five to three working days.

Paying for cancer care--a new dilemma

NHS spending is now at unprecedented levels. Over £90 billion is being spent this year alone and by 2008 this will reach £105 billion. Yet the quality of service provision and access to technology still does not match that of our European neighbours. Increasing the total budget spent on health is one solution. This can either come from increased taxation or by direct payment at the point of care: a co-payment. Another is a radical reform of the entire system from its insurance function through to its delivery system. Stripping away bureaucracy to reduce costs is an essential component of the reform process. A recent report1 suggests that we are heading for a £7 billion deficit in the NHS by 2011—and that's not allowing for step changes in technology. That represents an income tax increase of two pence in the pound for all those at work unless we use some other payment mechanism. Cancer care costs are spiralling out of control in every healthcare environment. Aging populations with a wide range of medical problems are consuming vastly increasing amounts of care. New technology—drugs, devices and procedures—are powerful inflationary drivers in an information rich, consumer-oriented world.2 Different healthcare systems are using a variety of approaches to dampen demand. Rationing, both overt and covert, inevitably leads to inequity. Britain's NHS is undergoing a slow reform process, but huge variations exist in the way patients access its services, depending on their location, education and socio-economic background. There are also major differences in prioritizing services by those responsible for their payment (the Primary Care Trusts, often advised by the local Cancer Networks). A study in 2006 showed clearly that new cancer drug use in Britain was consistently and significantly well below that of our EU neighbours.3 Similarly, another comparative EU study on the availability of radiotherapy last year ranked the UK near the bottom, on the level with the accession countries of Central Europe, even after the recent purchase of over 100 machines using lottery money.4 An alliance of British cancer charities have successfully lobbied for a second cancer plan to improve services. Whilst this would be beneficial, there is no evidence that any additional tax-based NHS funding will be available for this laudable concept. Cancer is seen as a ticked box in Britain. There is now evidence of a growing use of co-payments to break through the access barriers in the NHS. This applies to areas as diverse as implanted hearing aid devices, access to diagnostics such as MRI scans and home nursing care services. Politicians of all persuasions seem to be in denial about their existence and are reluctant to get involved in debate. Meanwhile cancer patients are beginning to develop sophisticated approaches to buying extra clinical services either from the NHS directly or through the selective use of the private sector to purchase upgrades to their basic NHS care. With drugs the economics are relatively straightforward, but with precision radiotherapy the issues are more complex and so far hidden from the political media limelight. There are 61 radiotherapy centres in the UK. Of these, 28 now have equipment to provide intensity modulated radiotherapy, which is now standard in the US and most of Western Europe. Only three British centres, however, provide intensity modulated radiotherapy routinely to significant numbers of patients: Clatterbridge (Liverpool), Ipswich and the Royal Marsden (London). Staff and funding shortages are blamed. Savvy patients are beginning to travel long distances for more precise radical radiotherapy in order to suffer fewer long-term side effects. The imminent publication of the National Radiotherapy Advisory Group report, which shows wide variation in radiotherapy utilization across the country, is clearly going stimulate new models for radiotherapy provision. Furthermore, delays abound, with a three-month waiting time for radiotherapy being common in the UK. In contrast, a centre in Zurich, Switzerland, currently has a working group engaged in re-engineering the time from first contact to radiotherapy delivery from five to three working days.

The New EU Frontier: Perspectives on Enhanced Economic Integration

The central objective of this report is to identify the best forms of enhanced economic integration that could be pursued over the next 5-10 years between the EU and five of its important neighbour countries: Ukraine, Russia, Egypt, Morocco and Algeria. The report starts from reviewing existing forms of economic integration and time dependencies between them. It then discusses in more detail institutional requirements for alternative options of deepening co-operation with the EU neighbour countries. Subsequently, likely effects of economic integration are discussed. Special sections are devoted to the energy cooperation with Russia, Algeria and Ukraine and to the EU financial assistance to its neighbourhood. The report concludes with policy recommendations that could be relevant for the development of the European Neighbourhood Policy and also for pursuing business opportunities in the EU neighbourhood.

Free prescriptions in Wales extended to EU neighbours

Free prescriptions in Wales extended to EU neighbours

The European Economic Area: a Model for the EU's Neighbourhood Policy?

Abstract Looking beyond the enlargement process, the European Union is developing a new policy framework for neighbouring countries that are either currently excluded from, or ineligible for; a perspective on accession. This policy debate focused initially on the new neighbours to the east, that is, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. It was subsequently extended to include Russia, with whom the EU has shared a border since 1995, and also to the countries of the southern Mediterranean. These countries present a common set of policy challenges to the Union, and instability in this area due to poor governance or economic failure will have direct consequences for the security of the EU itself. The centrepiece of the EU's strategy is an offer to neighbours, in return for concrete progress with economic and political reform, and alignment to EU rules, of a stake in the EU's Internal Market. According to the European Commission, this could result in an arrangement for the EU's neighbours similar to the existing European Economic Area (EEA). The paper tests the credibility of this vision by identifying some key characteristics of the existing EEA, and then considering them with reference to the EU's neighbouring countries.

The European economic area: A model for the EU's neighbourhood policy?1

Looking beyond the enlargement process, the European Union is developing a new policy framework for neighbouring countries that are either currently excluded from, or ineligible for; a perspective on accession. This policy debate focused initially on the new neighbours to the east, that is, Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova. It was subsequently extended to include Russia, with whom the EU has shared a border since 1995, and also to the countries of the southern Mediterranean. These countries present a common set of policy challenges to the Union, and instability in this area due to poor governance or economic failure will have direct consequences for the security of the EU itself. The centrepiece of the EU's strategy is an offer to neighbours, in return for concrete progress with economic and political reform, and alignment to EU rules, of a stake in the EU's Internal Market. According to the European Commission, this could result in an arrangement for the EU's neighbours similar to the existing European Economic Area (EEA). The paper tests the credibility of this vision by identifying some key characteristics of the existing EEA, and then considering them with reference to the EU's neighbouring countries.

Spin Polarised XAFS of EuS in Ferromagnetic and Paramagnetic Phases

Near edge X-MCD and spin polarised EXAFS spectra have been recorded at the L 2,3 -edges of Eu in EUS. Only the intensity but not the shape of the X-MCD spectrum is altered when EuS evolves from the ferromagnetic to the paramagnetic phase, i.e. above 20 K. Spin polarised EXAFS spectra confirm that the sulfur 3p valence band electrons are the mediators of the antiferromagnetic coupling between next-nearest Eu neighbours.

NMR study of prssure-induced magnetic transition in EuSe

The zero-field 153Eu NMR in EuSe has been observed as a function of the pressure up to 14 kbar in the temperature range between 1.7 and 4.2 K. A sequent magnetic phase transition of NSNS-NNS-NNSS-NNN occurs with pressure at 1.7 K. In the NNSS state (2.0 ≲ P ≲ 4.8 kbar) the NMR frequency v is insensitive to the pressure. In the ferromagnetic state ( P ≳ 4.8 kbar) v depends remarkably on the pressure, and the exchange interaction between the nearest Eu neighbours J 1 is shown to increase rapidly with decreasing the Eu-Eu distance. The pressure dependences of the Eu hyperfine field suggest that the magnetic moment of a Eu 2+ ion in the ferromagnetic state under pressure is smaller than the ideal saturation value at 0 K.

A 45 ns 8+ isomer in the doubly odd150Eu nucleus

In the doubly odd 63 150 Eu87 nucleus a 45 ns 8+ isomer at 589 keV excitation has been identified through (p, 3n) in beamγ ande − measurements. The low lying negative parity levels populated in its decay show great similarity to analogous states in the lighter odd-odd Eu neighbours suggesting a spherical shape for150Eu. A spherical shape is also proposed for the isomer which is assigned as (πh 11/2 vf 7 2/−3 )8+ state analogous to the 9+ isomers known in148Eu and146Eu. The spin change is attributed to the crossing of the half-filledf 7/2 neutron shell atN=86.

High pressure-high field Mössbauer effect study on Eu xSr 1− xS and EuTe

Applying simultaneously pressures up to 19.6 kbar and magnetic fields up to 13 T the magnetic hyperfine (hf) fields of Eu x Sr 1− x S, EuSe and EuTe were studied using the 151Eu Mössbauer effect. The core polarization field and the transferred hf (thf) field to the next nearest Eu neighbours was found to be nearly pressure independent for EuS, EuSe, and EuTe, whereas the nearest neighbour thf field was found to be most sensitive to pressure.

ChemInform Abstract: THE CRYSTAL STRUCTURE AND MAGNETIC PROPERTY OF EUROPIUM(II) ORTHOBORATE

AbstractEu3°C (BO3)2 kristallisiert in der Raumgruppe R30 mit Z=6.

The Crystal Structure and Magnetic Property of Europium(II) Orthoborate

Abstract The europium(II) orthoborate Eu3(BO3)2 is trigonal, space group R\bar3c, with a=9.069(1), c=12.542(2) Å and Z=6. The structure has been refined to R=0.082 for 259 observed reflections with isotropic thermal parameters. The borate contains isolated and planar triangle BO33− ions, the anions and Eu atoms being hexagonally packed along c. Each Eu atom is surrounded by 8 oxygens with Eu–O distances varying from 2.36 to 2.95 Å. The interatomic distances between Eu atoms are 3.509–4.200 Å for 8 nearest Eu neighbors and 4.831–5.450 Å for 6 second-nearest Eu neighbors. The 6 nearest Eu neighbors with the interatomic distances of 3.509 and 3.778 Å and the 4 second-nearest Eu neighbors with the Eu–O–Eu angle of 166.0° are effective for the magnetic exchange and superexchange interactions between Eu2+ ions, giving rise to ferromagnetism at low temperature.