European Community Countries Research Articles

Book Reviews

Book review in this ArticleIntegrated Pollution Control ‐ The First Three YearsCost‐Benefit Analysis and the Environment, N. Hanley and C. SpashEnvironmental Economies, C. TisdellThe International Law Commission's Draft Articles on State Responsibility. Part 1, Articles 1–35, Shabtai Rosenne (Ed.)Environmental Condition of the Mediterranean Sea ‐ European Community Countries, de Walle, Nikolopoulou‐Tamvakli and Heinen (Eds.)Environmental Law, 2nd edn., Simon Ball and Stuart BellTransboundary Movements and Disposal of Hazardous Wastes in International Law, Basic Documents, Barbara Kwaitkowska and Alfred H.A. Soons, (Eds.)

Software management practice and metrics in the European community and Japan: Some results of a survey

This project was designed to find out what environmental and managerial factors are effective in the management of software production and maintenance and determine the differences between Japanese and European management of software production. Information was obtained from a questionnaire circulated to software managers in Japan and various European Community (EC) countries in the autumn of 1992. The analysis is based on 102 replies from EC countries and 326 from Japan. There were two main differences between the respondents in Japan and the EC. In Japan, the respondents companies were larger and a much larger fraction of software staff were trained as engineers. Japanese managers used more indicators and metrics in their management of software production. Respondents were in remarkably close agreement about most of the main factors that affect the management of the software production process.

Tillage and crop residue management effects on losses of chemicals from soils

Tillage and crop residue management both influence the losses of nutrients and crop-protection chemicals from the soil to the aqueous environment. Tillage is performed to control weeds, to modify the soil structure and often to incorporate straw, which can no longer be burnt in European Community countries. The resulting changes in the soil alter both the pathways for water flow and the activities of microbes. This paper reviews their effects on water movement and the microbial and physico-chemical processes that influence the vulnerabilities of nutrients and crop-protection chemicals to leaching. It also suggests some possible options for limiting losses of these substances from the soil. There remains considerable scope for cooperation between tillage specialists and those with an interest in the management of nutrients and crop-protection chemicals.

L'Avenir de l'exercice de l'ophtalmologie en Europe

Building the single European market as part of the process that started with the Treaty of Rome and continues with the Treaty of Maastricht, creates several dangers in the short or long term for European ophthalmologists in the twelve European community countries, and also in neighboring EFTA countries and probable candidates to the European community. Free movement of people, goods, services and capital, mutual recognition of diplomas and freedom to practice will create problems that will sometimes be very difficult to solve for the regulation of our demography, the definition and defense of our field of activity, our quality control, changes in regulations, and to balance the financial, industrial and political groups that build our professional environment. The only way our specialty will be able to control its future is if there is coordination between professional ophthalmologist organizations in each of our countries capable of common studies and concerted actions.

The Real Exchange Rate under Various Systems of International Capital Taxation

International organizations, such as the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) and the European Community (EC), have promoted, to varying degrees, the liberalization of capital movements among their member countries.' The Code of Liberalization of Capital Movements, an agreement drawn in 1982 by the OECD, sets different degrees of capital liberalization among its member countries, depending on the nature of capital transactions (e.g., direct or portfolio investment). The Treaty of Rome (1957) recommended, among other things, the liberalization of capital movements among the EC countries (Chapter IV, articles 67-72). By and large, capital movements in the EC have been liberalized since 1990. The remaining restrictions in the capital markets of some member countries, such as Greece, Ireland, Portugal, and Spain, were to be eliminated by the end of 1992.2 These developments in the world capital markets have prompted a renewed interest among trade theorists regarding the response of key economic variables (e.g., national income, employment and welfare) to the liberalization of capital movements. With capital becoming more mobile internationally, capital flows in a country depend, among other things, on the domestic and the foreign capital tax rate, and on the prevailing system of taxing net repatriated capital earnings in the capital-exporting countries. Frequently, capitalexporting countries tax the net repatriated capital earnings according to a system (i) of tax credits, under which tax payments by foreign capital invested in a capital-importing country are credited toward its tax liability to the source capital-exporting country,3 (ii) of tax deductions, under which

Local Economic Development Partnerships: An Analysis of Policy Networks in EC-LEDA Local Employment Development Strategies

BENNETT R. J. and KREBS G. (1994) Local economic development partnerships: an analysis of policy networks in EC-LEDA local employment development strategies, Reg. Studies 28, 119–140. This paper assesses the agents and networks involved in local employment development in thirty-three localities from the twelve European Community (EC) countries. The sample is that used in the EC Local Employment Development Action (LEDA) programme. The analysis concentrates on which activities are pursued by which agents, and how the agents work together in partnerships. It demonstrates the importance of government leadership at all levels, and the significance of co-finance and collaboration with other agents, particularly the private sector and Chambers of Commerce. There is a major contrast between less and more developed regions. In Southern Europe central government and agency leadership is generally the most crucial structure of networks. In declining industrial areas in Northern Europe more complex networks usually ...

Recent developments in public financial management in the european community: a symposium

This symposium examines recent developments in public financial management in the European Community (EC). Prior to 1994, this community had twelve country members. It is almost impossible to cover all aspects of the public financial management development of all EC country members. Moreover, the sympo-sium does not cover the most recent changes made by each EC member in order to reach a fiscal unification set for 1992. Five of the six articles for the symposium cover Denmark, Great Britain, Germany, the Netherlands, and Spain. The sixth article examines common features of public financial management developments as well as revenue and outlay trends in all EC countries.

Innovation diffusion in a borderless global market: Will the 1992 unification of the European Community accelerate diffusion of new ideas, products, and technologies?

One of the more challenging aspects of the economic unification of the 12 nations of the European Community, initiated on January 1, 1993, is its effects on the diffusion of new ideas, technologies, and products. By becoming “borderless” the European Community should expect to create a global market in which innovation diffusion is faster than if its member countries were not united. Will unification lead to faster diffusion of new ideas, products, and technologies? To fully answer this question, a diffusion study that compares preunification and postunification diffusion rates is required. Since the unification process is still in progress, the challenge is whether or not we can shed some light on this question based on what we know about the diffusion processes in the European Community countries prior to their unification. Using a diffusion modeling approach, this article, derives conditions under which unification leads to faster market penetration. In particular, we show that if the innovation diffusion processes in the member nations of the European Community prior to unification were similar to one another, no apparent change will be observed in the diffusion of new ideas, technologies, and products in the unified European Community. We evaluate the above conditions among the member and nonmember nations of the European Community by examining the data on the diffusion of videocassette recorders. The empirical evidence suggests that the diffusion processes to differ among the member and nonmember nations of the European Community and thus the unification should result in faster diffusion of new ideas, technologies, and products.

Why Economic and Monetary Union Is an Important Objective for Europe

Many American-and some European-observers of the changing fortunes of the efforts to achieve an advanced degree of integration in the European Community (EC) are puzzled by the ambition to create an Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) in the EC, extending all the way to the introduction of a common currency and a European Central Bank (ECB) to run a joint monetary policy. 1 Some focus on what they regard as questionable economic benefits of such a move, while others, e.g., Feldstein (1992), suggest that EMU can only be justified in political terms. But, in the latter case, the strategy is seen as very risky because monetary unification would then run well ahead of political union, reversing the order of integration in existing large federal states. Recently this type of criticism has become more widespread in Europe as well. The Maastricht Treaty, signed in February 1992, with EMU as its central and most elaborately stated objective, ran into major difficulties at the ratification stage. Danish voters narrowly rejected the Treaty in a referendum in June 1992, though this result was reversed in a second referendum in May 1993. French voters only passed the Treaty very narrowly in September 1992, while ratification in the United Kingdom nearly brought down the government before it was finally completed in late July 1993. Germany, the largest EC country and traditionally a motor of integration, had visible misgivings about Maastricht, including the requirement to give up the deutsche mark (DM), a source and a symptom of Germany’s strength. Though voter misgivings about Maastricht were probably motivated more by other aspects of the Treaty than by EMU and the common currency, many Europeans clearly had grave doubts about the feasibility of achieving the objectives in this area within the tight time schedule foreseen in the Treaty.*

Assessing HIV prevention among injecting drug users in European Community countries: a review.

By September 30th 1991, 19,579 cases of AIDS among injecting drug users had been reported in Europe. HIV seroprevalence rates among drug injectors vary from less than 5% in some cities, to over 50% in others. Since the estimated number of drug injectors in Europe is between 750,000 and 1,000,000, HIV is a considerable threat to drug injectors, their sex partners and their off-spring, affecting large numbers of citizens in the European region. This paper gives an overview of the magnitude of the drugs/AIDS problem in the European region, and the concrete measures that have been taken to prevent HIV infection among drug users. Data from the evaluation of methadone programmes, needle and syringe exchange schemes and data on sexual behaviour change of drug users are critically reviewed. Limitations of the methods used for the evaluation of prevention activities are also discussed. Based on all the material reviewed, the main conclusions are the following: AIDS is a greater threat to public health than problem drug use, more accurate and reliable evaluation methods need to be utilized at European Community level, a combination of prevention measures should be used in order to reduce the further spread of HIV infection among injecting drug users.

Some digital receivers for the GSM pan-European cellular communication system

The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) provides the European Community countries with a common digital mobile radio structure for overland communications. The authors describe some new digital receivers that utilise coherent detection for the GSM system. Of the receivers described, that with the classical Viterbi processor, while notably robust, has high implementation complexity for a mobile environment. Some simplified receiver structures have been devised whose algorithms reduce implementation complexity, albeit at the expense of the error probability. With a channel simulator suitable for mobile communications, the performance of the simplified receivers has been evaluated. Through suitable parameter choices, the bit error probability increase can be maintained sufficiently low, while a marked reduction in the computation complexity is achieved.

Specialist training in gastroenterology in the European Community: the case for European boards. European Board of Gastroenterology.

Gastroenterological training differs so greatly from country to country in Europe it is impossible to believe that training is equally good in each one. This in turn, provides a barrier to the free migration of doctors with the European Community. These differences also create confusion for migrating patients, and call into question the validity of the European Commission directives, which pronounce all qualifications obtained in European Community countries to be equally acceptable within the community. The European Commission does not have the power to unify medical training, but the medical profession itself acting in concert as a European body could harmonise the differences to ensure acceptable standards of training across the community. The Union of European Medical Specialists (UEMS) is the representative body of national medical specialists bodies, which reports to the European Commission. The European Board of Gastroenterology, a working party of the Gastroenterology Section of the UEMS has agreed acceptable and fair standards of training for gastroenterologists, and has developed a system for external assessment of training centres and faculty. All three, candidates, faculty, and centre would, in the event of a successful application, be awarded the European Diploma of Gastroenterology or, in full, the Diploma of Recognition of Quality of Training in Gastroenterology. This paper discusses these problems, some of their origins, and the proposals of the European Board.

World patent information : Byrne, N. patents for human genes ownership of biological materials and other issues in patent law pp. 199–202

It has been suggested that with the success of the European Patent Office (EPO), and in the context of a European Community (EC) which now has a single market, that national patenting in European countries is an anachronism. However, although national filing figures in EC countries have decreased in the past decade, whilst those in non-EC countries increased, this decline has apparently now levelled off. There is a continued demand for national patenting which should be met so that no company or individual is forced to use the European regional system where that is inappropriate.

World patent information : Needle, J, Is national patenting outmoded in Europe? 15 (4), pp. 193–198

It has been suggested that with the success of the European Patent Office (EPO), and in the context of a European Community (EC) which now has a single market, that national patenting in European countries is an anachronism. However, although national filing figures in EC countries have decreased in the past decade, whilst those in non-EC countries increased, this decline has apparently now levelled off. There is a continued demand for national patenting which should be met so that no company or individual is forced to use the European regional system where that is inappropriate.

Is national patenting outmoded in Europe?

It has been suggested that with the success of the European Patent Office (EPO), and in the context of a European Community (EC) which now has a single market, that national patenting in European countries is an anachronism. However, although national filing figures in EC countries have decreased in the past decade, whilst those in non-EC countries increased, this decline has apparently now levelled off. There is a continued demand for national patenting which should be met so that no company or individual is forced to use the European regional system where that is inappropriate.

Editorial: Women in Politics

A recent headline in the Guardian newspaper stated 'Britain holds poor record for women in public life' and the author went on to demonstrate that, in terms of the percentage of women in national parliamentary assemblies, Britain ranks 10th out of the 12 European Community countries. This is hardly news to most women in Scotland who arc only too aware of their exclusion from formal arenas of power. If the reporter had pursued his investigations he would have discovered that women in Scotland fare even worse than women in England in terms of political representation. For example, although the representation level of women in the House of Commons stands at just under 9 per cent for the UK as a whole, this rate falls to only 7 per cent for Scotland where just 5 women were elected to represent Scottish parliamentary constituencies from a total of 72 seats at the general election in 1992. A brief examination of the position of women in other public arenas mirrors this poor representation in Parliament. A Gender Audit published by Engender, the new campaign and research organisation for women in Scotland, draws attention to the fact that Scotland's first woman judge was appointed in 1992 (on a temporary basis), 30 years after the first woman judge in England and Wales; a pilot survey of twelve top Scottish businesses revealed only one company with a woman on the Board of Directors; excluding Children's Panels women have less than 20% representation on public bodies; only 3% of headtcachers in Scottish secondary schools are women; and there arc no women editors or depute editors in the Scottish national press. By way of contrast women are grossly over-represented in low grade, low paid, insecure jobs, and many more women than men live in poverty in Scotland. This is a dismal record for a country which often prides itself on its egalitarian and democratic culture and values, and reflects another example of the cultural contradictions referred to in Lindsay Paterson's editorial in the last issue of Scottish Affairs.

The work prospects of older employees: An international comparison

The labour markets in the European Community countries are faced with a massive change in the structural composition of employee age groups. This article examines the employment prospects for older persons in selected European countries. The first, introductory section gives a quantitative comparison of existing levels of employment of older persons. This group is defined on the basis of the Eurostat labour force statistics; it comprises those aged over 50 but under 65. The second section aims to give an overall picture of the different types of early pension and the different methods by which older employees were taken off the labour market in the past. In the 1970s and 1980s the countries of Europe took numerous measures to bring about early cessation of work and early pensions for older persons, in order to reduce the labour surplus at a time when unemployment was increasing. In future, however, employee age structures will develop on opposite lines (third section): demographic change will affect pensions policy financially (extending working life rather than pensioning workers off). The change in company employee age structures will begin in the 1990s. This new impending trend calls for longer‐term adjustments in employment policies: these will be considered in the fourth, concluding section of the article.

The Scottish Economy and European integration

With the upheavals that have taken place on the European currency markets since last autumn and the uncertainty which still hangs over the implementation of the Maastricht Treaty it is less easy to predict the implications for the Scottish economy of closer European integration than might have been expected even a year ago. But this paper aims to compare Scotland's economic performance, both in the past and as it appears now, with other European Community (EC) countries and with the UK as a whole. It then attempts to consider how Scotland may be affected by further economic integration in Europe, notably the implementation of the Single Euro­ pean Act and economic and monetary union. The general characteristics of the Scottish economy are well known and can be passed over quickly. Scotland is sparsely populated and peripheral to the main European economy. The country has a population density of 65 persons per square kilometre, which compares with 23S for the United Kingdom as a whole, 103 for France, 250 for West Germany and 360 for the Netherlands. Only Ireland with SI per sq.kilometre has a lower overall density than Scotland (Eurostat 1991). The small population of five million and its peripherality means that Scotland alone cannot provide an adequate market for the majority of modern industries and the economy must therefore be heavily dependent upon exporting. Scotland has for many years exported a higher proportion of its output per head than the United

CEFIC weighs European industry's woes

Halfway through 1993, the picture for the Western European chemical industry remains clear—and gloomy: 1992 was not a good year, and the prospects for 1993 remain poor. That was one of the primary messages at the recent annual meeting in London of CEFIC, the European Chemical Industry Council. Another message: The only way for the industry to come out of its slump is to improve its international competitiveness by a variety of what will be difficult and complex measures. The geography covered by CEFIC was widened at its meeting. CEFIC has long been a pan-European organization, with member federations and companies from both European Community and non-EC countries. Central Europe is rapidly becoming part of its area, as well. This year, CEFIC accepted as associate members the chemical industry associations of the Czech and Slovak republics, to be effective as soon as the two countries have become members of the Council of Europe later this ...

The Europeanisation of Local Government

The year 1992 provides an excellent occasion to review trends in intergovernmental relations in Western Europe and particularly within the European Community. This review is designed to highlight some of the main changes taking place in the relationships between central governments and lower-level tiers of government in the main Western European countries and to focus upon the impact which the European Community (EC) has had on the behaviour of local governments at the regional and sub-regional levels . The essence of the argument is that changes at the supranational level, and especially at the EC level, are bringing and will continue to bring about an increasing focus by sub-national governments on Brussels. Additionally, these changes are leading local governments to form partnerships with their counterparts in other EC countries, creating an increasing number of general and specific networks able to lobby Brussels directly, leading their members to by-pass national governments. The subsidiarity principle at the heart of the Maastricht Treaty reinforces these trends-one reason for its unpopularity in certain parts of the EC . Throughout Europe, and indeed throughout the world, there are a series of changes taking place which impact on regional and local governments, forcing them to adapt their behaviour and to change their relationship with other levels of government, vertically and horizontally. Academic identification of these changes dates almost uniformally from the early 1970s . Analysis