EU Values Research Articles

Slovenia as a Stress Test of the EU’s External Dimension of Energy Policy. Case Studies of Russian and American Influence

The article focuses on Slovenia’s unique historical and geopolitical position, which makes the country a highly unusual EU (Central East European – CEE) member state and determines its stance on the EU’s energy policy with respect to the USA and Russia. It pursues the research question: how does Slovenia balance between the EU energy policy framework and its particular national energy interests related to Russia and the USA? Conceptually, the article builds on the Europeanization of foreign policy applying the downloading path to Slovenian external energy policy via three indicators: the increasing salience of the European political agenda, adherence to common (EU) objectives, and internalization of EU membership and its integration process. It employs a method of statistical data and content analysis of documents and secondary sources within two case studies of energy projects, namely the South Stream involving Russia, and long-term use of nuclear energy for electricity production involving the USA. The results substantiate that Slovenia has managed to balance between its energy-related national interests and the EU energy framework by formulating and legitimizing the former within the EU policy framework. However, the second case reveals that the open EU legal framework on the member states’ choice of nuclear energy cooperatives is a notable limitation to Europeanization due to the tendency for interests in national foreign policy and domestic politics – both performed by the government – to drift away from general EU values. In the conclusion, the article identifies two important implications arising from the case of Slovenia as a stress test of the EU’s external dimension of energy policy.

Analysis of the China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment from Perspectives of EU Competences and Decision-Making Procedures

The China-EU Comprehensive Agreement on Investment (CAI) based on the current world economic situation and demands of economic development of both sides, lasted for 7 years of negotiation with 35 rounds of reports, finally reached an agreement in principle on the CAI. The analysis of the competences and legislative procedure of CAI reveals the EU values and the exclusive European competences in the field of common commercial policy. Also, by analyzing the legislative process of the agreement, it is possible to see the division of power within the EU institutions, the rigor of the EU decision-making and the future of the agreement.

Structure-Property-Function Relationships of Iron Oxide Multicore Nanoflowers in Magnetic Hyperthermia and Photothermia.

Magnetite and maghemite multicore nanoflowers (NFs) synthesized using the modified polyol-mediated routes are to date among the most effective nanoheaters in magnetic hyperthermia (MHT). Recently, magnetite NFs have also shown high photothermal (PT) performances in the most desired second near-infrared (NIR-II) biological window, making them attractive in the field of nanoparticle-activated thermal therapies. However, what makes magnetic NFs efficient heating agents in both modalities still remains an open question. In this work, we investigate the role of many parameters of the polyol synthesis on the final NFs' size, shape, chemical composition, number of cores, and crystallinity. These nanofeatures are later correlated to the magnetic, optical, and electronic properties of the NFs as well as their collective macroscopic thermal properties in MHT and PT to find relationships between their structure, properties, and function. We evidence the critical role of iron(III) and heating ramps on the elaboration of well-defined NFs with a high number of multicores. While MHT efficiency is found to be proportional to the average number of magnetic cores within the assemblies, the optical responses of the NFs and their collective photothermal properties depend directly on the mean volume of the NFs (as supported by optical cross sections numerical simulations) and strongly on the structural disorder in the NFs, rather than the stoichiometry. The concentration of defects in the nanostructures, evaluated by photoluminescence and Urbach energy (EU), evidence a switch in the optical behavior for a limit value of EU = 0.4 eV where a discontinuous transition from high to poor PT efficiency is also observed.

Effect of GZO cap-layer thickness and post-annealing treatment on GZO/HGZO bi-layer films

Hydrogen and Ga-codoped ZnO (HGZO) films caped with different thickness of Ga-doped ZnO (GZO) films (0–80 nm) were prepared by RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature, and the influences of GZO layer thickness and post-annealing treatment on structural, electrical and optical properties of the GZO/HGZO bi-layer films were investigated. The results show that increasing GZO layer thickness weakens the (002) preferred orientation, decreases the crystallize size and increases compressive stress of the films. The electrically conductive properties of the films first enhance and then degrade with increase of GZO layer thickness, and the best conductive properties can be obtained at GZO layer thickness of 20 nm. As GZO layer thickness increases, transmittance in visible range (TVis) and bandgap (Eg) of the films show a decreased trend, but their Urbach energy (Eu) increases. The crystallite size of the films first greatly and then slightly increases with increasing annealing temperatures to 400 °C, and annealing atmosphere (air or vacuum) and time (10 min or 2 h) have little effect on the crystallite size at the same annealing temperature. With increasing annealing temperature, compressive stress greatly decreases firstly and then slightly decreases under vacuum annealing or converts to tensile stress under air annealing. The conductive properties of the films degrade after vacuum annealing for 2 h, but they degrade significantly even after air annealing for 10 min. Increasing GZO layer thickness can retard the decline of conductive properties of the films under vacuum annealing of 200–400 °C for 2 h or air annealing of 200–300 °C for 10 min. With increasing annealing temperature, the TVis of the films basically shows a trend of first increase and then decrease, and the Eg and Eu of the films basically decrease. After annealing at 400 °C, the decreased Eg and Eu values of films under air annealing are close for different annealing time, but they are larger than those under vacuum annealing. Basically, thicker GZO layer is more likely to restrain the decrease of Eg, but leads to obvious decrease of Eu. In addition, effect of hydrogen doping and out-diffusion, crystallize growth and stress relaxation mechanism under annealing, and carrier transport and Eg shift mechanisms are also discussed.

Study of optical and structural properties of GO and MnO2-GO hybrid fabricated by spray pyrolysis technique

In this project, the graphene oxide (GO) and MnO2-GO hybrid thin films were prepared by spray pyrolysis technique. The obtained samples were studied via Uv–visible spectroscopy. As a result, the absorption, the extinction coefficient, the refractive index, real and imaginary parts of dielectric constant, dissipation factor and complex optical conductivity were improved in the visible area by MnO2 dopant on GO nanosheets. Furthermore, the results have also indicated that the MnO2 dopant reduces the band gap of GO nanosheets from 2.15 to 1.79 eV, which is conducive to improving the conductivity of the GO nanosheets. On the contrary, the dopant treatment caused to enhance the value of Eu, from 0.1 to 0.45 eV. Moreover, the structural and morphological properties of the sample were investigated by XRD and TEM. TEM confirmed that MnO2 nanoparticles were successfully deposited on GO nanosheets.

EU – Central Asia Partnership for Conducive Business Environment and Decent Work

Summary EU-Central Asia (CA) relations have developed significantly over recent years. Nowadays, both regions are gong through of a unique global hybrid crisis with major challenges for business and social environment. An international partnership under the follow up on fundamental principles and trends of a global development framework is of prime importance. The article aims to address some of the issues outlined in the Decent Work Agenda which is a core doctrine of the 2030 Agenda’s concept and that are relevant to the CA countries. At first the article looks at a brief conceptual overview of the economic transformation of CA economies and role of sustainable business environment in achieving sustainable development goals. The authors discuss the promotion of EU values in employment relations and social dialogue in CA as a precondition for productive and decent employment. Finally, the article article concludes that the theoretical approach to the EU support programmes and instruments followed by their practical implications should be multi- dimensional in nature and benefit from direct in-situ exposure. Furthermore, a comparative assessment approach by experts on benefits of the EU external programmes is badly needed for EU and CA.

EFFECT OF DIFFERENT TYPES OF EMITTERS AND IRRIGATION INTERVALS ON THE PRODUCTIVITY AND QUALITY OF SQUASH UNDER THE NILE DELTA CONDITIONS

Drip considered as one of modern systems which used to reduce water losses and increase water use efficiency. The present work was conducted in the experimental farm of faculty of agriculture, Tanta University, during summer 2019. The work amid to study the response of squash to three different intervals irrigation day after day; every three and every five days using D5000, PCND and PC2 emitters. The coefficient of variation C.V, emission uniformity statistical uniformity coefficient and Christiansen uniformity were calculated for all tested emitters. The results revealed that a significant effect of the intervals on the flow rate of all emitters under study. D5000 showed the highest C.V followed by PCND type. The largest C.V was shown in D5000 under every 5 while the lowest one was presented in PC2 under day after day. EU, CU and Us values for the tested emitters were larger than 90%. PC2 had the highest EU, CU and Us followed by PCND. Emission uniformity, CU and Us negatively associated with intervals. Squash plants under PC2 emitter gave the highest fruit yield and fruit quality. The results revealed that a significant decrease in fruit yield and most related traits with the increase of intervals. Irrigated squash plants every three resulted in high significant increase in fruit yield and fruit quality. Irrigated squash plants every three using PC2 was recommended to increase the yield under the Nile Delta conditions

Reframing the language of human rights? Political group contestations on women’s and LGBTQI rights in European Parliament debates

ABSTRACT European integration is challenged on numerous grounds today with democracy and fundamental values at the center of the debates. The article analyses the role of the European Parliament’s political groups in shaping human rights as a core democratic value and the ways in which religion and gender equality are utilized. The research material consists of plenary debates and 130 MEP and staff interviews in the 8th and 9th legislatures. We discern three clusters in the ways in which the political groups frame human rights and gender equality: (i) ‘the defenders’, (ii) ‘the reframers’, and those (iii) ‘sitting on the fence’. Our analysis illustrates that core EU values such as human rights and equality are defended, challenged, and reframed by the political groups to an extent that they constitute key lines of division not only in between but also within the political groups.

Deformation modulus of reconstituted and naturally sedimented clays

The undrained secant deformation modulus Eu is an important parameter to quantitatively estimate the undrained settlement of soft clays. A series of isotropically consolidated undrained triaxial compression shear tests were carried out on four reconstituted clays and two naturally sedimented clays to evaluate the effects of the initial water content w0, liquid limit wL, and soil structure on Eu. The test results showed that the variation in Eu with deviator stress was significantly affected by w0 and wL for reconstituted clays. The normalized modulus Eu/(p′)0.9 linearly decreased with increasing w0/wL. This linear relation at a lower wL lies above that at a higher wL. These observations suggest that the soil with lower plasticity and lower initial water content possessed higher values of Eu. As the deviator stress increased, the effect of w0 and wL on Eu gradually vanished. It is also evidenced that the value of Eu for naturally sedimented clays depended on the soil structure. The soil structure clearly enhanced the Eu in the preyield regime in comparison with the corresponding reconstituted clay. Once the soil structure was damaged with increasing consolidation stress in the postyield regime, a significant reduction in Eu was observed with a lower value than that of reconstituted clays. The difference in Eu/Su between naturally sedimented and reconstituted clays gradually decreased with increasing deviator stress. This implies that the effect of the soil structure on Eu diminished at higher deviator stress levels.

Genesis of ferromanganese deposits from the Central Anatolian province, Yozgat-Aşağı Eğerci village, Turkey: Geochemical properties and fluid inclusions

Eğerci village is located 16 km southwest of Yerköy (Yozgat) area which has a ferromanganese deposit that formed at the contact between basalt and limestone and shows that a banded stockwork structure occurs occasionally within the limestone. The mineralization consists of pyrolusite, goethite, and ramsdellite, together with a lesser quantity of magnetite. Gangue minerals are determined as calcite and quartz. REE data from the mineral samples demonstrate a range from 2.70 - 63.70 ppm and the average value is 28.00. These results permit a comparison to be made with mineralization in hydrothermal deposits. Moreover, mineral samples show a positive Eu anomaly 0.88-48.10 ppm (ave. 9.94 ppm). The Ce anomaly values vary between 0.02 and 0.88 ppm (ave. 0.58 ppm). It is possible that the mineralization may be affected by the mixing of seawater and hydrothermal fluids. The value of the positive Eu anomaly is evidence of modern oceanic hydrothermal manganese deposits. Insight of previous fluid inclusion, studies can be easily inferred that mineralization can occur at three different stages. The temperature of the first stage ranged from 338 oC to 428 oC and other stages vary from 269 oC - 317 oC and 143 oC - 236 oC, respectively. As a comparison, calculated salinity is higher in Type I fluid inclusions (1.9-14.7 wt.% NaCl equiv.) than Type II and III fluid inclusions (1.9-5.1 wt.%NaCl (equiv.) It is possible that the mineralization was formed by the mixing of magmatic and meteoric waters.

Socio-Economic and Political Challenges of EU Member Countries: Grasping the Policy Direction of the European Semester

The European Semester (ES) and the country-specific recommendations (CSRs) have been introduced with the purpose to promote flexibility and adaptation to national circumstances in the governance of fiscal policies. To assess whether the ES has contributed to reconcile economic and social objectives, we measured, through the distance to frontier (DTF) score methodology, the distance of each member country from a benchmark based on EU aims and values defined in the EU treaties. Results show that EU member countries are far from the benchmark and CSRs have not prevented a progressive deterioration of stability and cohesion from an economic, political and social perspective. A content analysis of the CSRs issued from 2011 to 2018 and a comparison with the DTF scores reveal a weak connection between member countries’ performance and CSRs. Despite the social content of many CSRs, we actually observe a “commodification” of their goals. CSRs promote a society functional to flexible and competitive markets, and compatible with the requirements of fiscal discipline and sustainability. This neoliberal approach apparently played a role in the EU deterioration and makes the “socialization” of the ES a process with ambiguous implications for European citizens.

Cybersecurity post-COVID-19: Lessons learned and policy recommendations

This article looks at the impact of the novel coronavirus crisis and increased remote work on cybersecurity and the priorities for EU action. Actions should include improving the cybersecurity of businesses, critical infrastructure and users, and creating an EU cybersecurity industry. As more and more aspects of our lives happen online, we are becoming more vulnerable to malicious attacks. This was demonstrated in 2020 when cyber-attacks increasingly disrupted the work of hospitals, service providers, government services and businesses across the globe. The frequency and scale of the attacks created a sense of urgency to improve our cybersecurity resilience. This article argues that the EU should reap the benefits of cybersecurity by pursuing a more ambitious cybersecurity agenda and putting EU values at the core of its approach. It also calls for cybersecurity to be included in all EU pillars, including the EU industrial research and innovation policy, as well as in EU investment plans and diplomatic strategy.

FROM THE BARCELONA PROCESS TO THE ARAB DEPRESSION: THE EUROPEAN UNION'S CONCERNS AND HESITATIONS IN MEDITERRANEAN POLICY

The Barcelona Process has been reorganized by undergoing some changes especially after the September 11 events in the USA. By conducting its relations with the countries in the region through authoritarian regimes of secular origin, security, terrorism and immigration have come to the fore in relations. The aim of the study is to show these relationships and their causes and results. The scope of the research has been mainly analyzed for the period called "Arab Spring" from the Barcelona Process, which is the turning point. The failure of this process to a great extent, on the contrary, the instability of the region and its transformation into depression and its effects on the EU have been the main theme of the study. The reasons for the policies of the EU on its anxious and hesitant approach in regional relations from this period until today have been emphasized.Terrorism, immigration and energy, which are seen as originating from the region, have been the most determinant in the EU's policies, only the order of these elements has changed from time to time. By determining its relations with the region on these points, it has made the countries of the region implement its own priorities as policy makers to a large extent. It has produced policies that conflict with EU values, especially on migration. Moreover, in these policies of the EU, although the member states in the Union followed very fragmented policies at the beginning of the process, these elements have become the common policy of the Union over time.

Prohibition of Discrimination on Grounds of Nationality in the Freedom of Movement of Persons within the EU in the Light of Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union

Prohibition of Discrimination on Grounds of Nationality in the Freedom of Movement of Persons within the EU in the Light of Case Law of the Court of Justice of the European Union

External Border Control Techniques in the EU as a Challenge to the Principle of Non-Refoulement

Principle of non-refoulement protected by EU law – National practices – Deterrence – Pushbacks – Border police deterrence – Reaction of EU institutions – Legal uncertainties – ‘Safe country of origin’ – ‘First country of asylum’ – ‘Safe third country’ – EU values – New Pact on Migration and Asylum

Intensive and extensive impacts of EU subsidies on pesticide expenditures at the farm level

ABSTRACT This paper studies the intensive and extensive effects of European subsidies on pesticide expenditures at the farm level. Intensive effects refer to the relative value of pesticide expenditures to sales, while extensive effects consider acreage effects. Our approach is original insofar as we consider the consequences of EU policies at the farm level. The analysis relies on the French Farm Accountancy Data Network database from 2007 to 2015 which provides detailed information on farm structure and accounting. The influence of subsidies on pesticide expenditures is measured through a simultaneous equation model using panel data. Even if the aggregate value of EU subsidies does not seem to influence pesticide expenditures, each of the pillars has for its part a significant influence: the 1st pillar contributes to increasing pesticide expenditures, while the 2nd pillar leads to decreasing pesticide expenditures, except for subsidies to crop insurance policies. Overall subsidies and subsidies from the 1st pillar have also a significant and positive impact on farm acreage. The very contrasting effect of European subsidies on pesticide expenditures thus questions the effectiveness of public policies towards the issue of environmentally friendly practices.

Implementation of the principles and values of EU law in the national legal systems of the states parties

The article considers the goals and process of formation of the European Union as a regional intergovernmental organization. The general concept of the values of the European Union in the light of the Lisbon Treaty is given. The role and place of the EU normative documents - the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Convention on Human Rights, in the formation of the fundamental values of the union are analyzed. The author notes that the basis of the values of the European Union is a set of fundamental human rights.The significance of the Copenhagen criteria for promoting the implementation of EU values by the state is analyzed. The Copenhagen Declaration identifies three sectors of requirements for a country aspiring to join the Community: the political sector, which requires the establishment and observance of the principles of democracy and the rule of human rights, and the economic sector, which requires fair competition. The third set of requirements is purely procedural and concerns the state’s obligation to adhere to the EU accession procedure.The author examines the state of implementation of the fundamental principles of the Union in the founding states on the example of the Federal Republic of Germany and the French Republic, as well as the implementation of Union values in countries that have recently become full members of the European Community. Thus, in Germa-ny and France today there is a fairly high level of implementation and compliance with the basic principles of the
 European Union, while in Poland recently there are some problems with this. Thus, for the last 7 years, this state has violated the values of the EU in two categories at once - in the category of personal and political rights. In 2020, the number of legal grounds for abortion in the Republic of Poland was limited, violating the right to the integrity of the person and his or her inviolability, which is one of the core values of the European Union.Іn 2017, the European Commission filed a lawsuit against Poland in the European Court of Justice for violating the requirements of the EU Treaty regarding the principle of judicial independence.

Asylum in the EU: One of the Many Faces of Rule of Law Backsliding?

EU values – Rule of law backsliding – Rule of law and fundamental rights interrelation – Refugee protection – Common European Asylum System – Implementation gap in asylum – Lack of fair responsibility sharing in asylum – Structural deficiencies in national asylum systems – Defiance of asylum obligations and the duty of sincere cooperation – Systemic fundamental rights violations – Upholding the rule of law – European Asylum System redesign – Systemic infringement actions – Rule of law monitoring

Cooperation with Non-Cooperative Jurisdictions

As of December 2017, the European Union has a common list of non-cooperative jurisdictions for tax purposes (the “EU List”). The EU List functions as a tool to improve tax good governance globally and to promote the EU standards and values vis-à-vis third countries. This article examines the development of the EU List and the role it plays in the various Member States in terms of their (future) national legislation, including national legislative defensive tax measures taken by the Member States in respect of the listed non-cooperative jurisdictions.

Apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronometric constraints on the northern extent of the Deccan large igneous province

The volcanic emplacement and subsequent weathering of the Deccan Traps of India is believed to have had a significant influence in driving global climatic shifts from the Late Cretaceous and through the Cenozoic. The magnitude of the Deccan Traps' impact on Earth's surface environment is largely dependent on the speculated original footprint of the large igneous province. To test established estimates for the pre-erosive northern extent of the Deccan Traps, we applied low-temperature apatite (U-Th)/He thermochronology (AHe) on rocks from the Bundelkhand craton and overlying Proterozoic Vindhyan successions of central India ∼150–200 km northeast of the northernmost preservation of Deccan basalts. New AHe data reveal young ∼5–85 Ma AHe dates with low effective uranium concentrations (eU) between 5–22 ppm, with a steep positive date-eU correlation that plateaus at ∼350 Ma in grains with eU values >50 ppm. Inverse thermal history modeling—utilizing AHe diffusion parameters of the Radiation Damage Accumulation and Annealing Model (RDAAM)—indicate that observed AHe date-eU correlations are most consistent with thermal histories that require the craton and Vindhyan strata to be at or near surface temperatures by ∼66 Ma, followed by a discrete reheating event associated with Deccan volcanism. These results establish new minimal areal constraints for the northern extent of Deccan volcanism which thermally perturbed much of the Vindhyan succession. Thermal alteration of organic rich Vindhyan sediment may have provided an additional source of volatile emissions that facilitated late Maastrichtian warming at the onset of Deccan volcanism. New minimal northern constraints on Deccan volcanism additionally confirm that large volumes of Deccan basalts have been stripped away since the time of their emplacement, which poses considerable implications for unraveling their role in Cenozoic cooling.