European Council Directive Research Articles

A holistic approach to different regulations for acoustic improvements in industrial facilities

With the developing technology and mechanization, the number of industrial facilities has increased. It is important for the worker’s physical and mental health to be in suitable working conditions. This paper analyses the regulations applied in the examination and evaluation of the acoustic environment in industrial facilities. The European Parliament and Council Directive, the United States, Singapore, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Japan, and WHO principles were analysed in detail. Simultaneously, analyses were conducted on the auditory perception of the workers in industrial facilities. As a result of the study, 85, 87, and 90 dBA noise exposure levels were determined for 8 h in different regulations examined. It has been determined that the regulative systems for the auditory perception of the workers in industrial facilities are insufficient. It was found necessary to develop regulation systems for evaluating noise exposure levels and the auditory perception of the workers together. It is important for the occupational health and safety of workers to develop a holistic approach in the update and revision of international regulation and to evaluate the control mechanisms within this scope. The protection of mental and physical health of the workers is presented as the most fundamental requirement. Moreover, it should be ensured that the noise control measures that can be taken (at the source, at the transmission path, and at the receiver) are formed by reducing the noise exposure and increasing the auditory perception of the workers in a positive view.

Obtaining and Characterization of Experimental Diagnostic Brucellosis Rabbit Sera for the Development of a National Standard for Brucellosis Serum

Relevance. The production of brucellosis diagnosticums is currently being established in the medical and veterinary practice of the Republic of Uzbekistan. However, due to the lack of a national standard serum in the country and the high cost of analog standard serums on the market, problems may arise in the production of diagnostic tools. In addition, the lack of national standard serums causes problems in quality control of commercial and local antigens, hinders the development of local drugs – brucellosis diagnostics, which reduces the effectiveness of serological diagnosis of brucellosis in humans and animals. Given the above, it becomes necessary to develop and produce a standard serum with a high level of safety, which will improve the methods of laboratory diagnosis of various forms of brucellosis in patients and animals to identify hidden foci of infection in Uzbekistan. The aim of the study is to obtain and characterize experimental standard diagnostic brucellosis rabbit sera for the development of national and industry standard serum with appropriate titers. Materials and Methods. The experiments were carried out in full compliance with the European Council Directive 2010/63/EU on compliance with ethical principles in working with laboratory animals and the experiments were carried out on the basis of the methodological manual «Methods and rules of work» approved by the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Uzbekistan in 2016 with laboratory animals in experimental microbiological and immunological studies. To obtain positive standard sera against brucellosis pathogens, 12 rabbits weighing from 2.2 kg to 4.6 kg, aged 6 to 12 months, were used. The animals were kept under identical conditions on a standard vivarium diet. For the experiment, animals adapted to the conditions of the study were selected and kept in quarantine for 21 days. The maintenance and conduct of the studies followed international rules for the humane treatment of animals. Results and Discussion. During the evaluation of the heterologic specificity of the obtained sera for 23 collection and hospital strains, a weakly positive response (+) was observed in 16.7% of cases. Rabbit sera positive for heterologic specificity were adsorbed on suspensions of inactivated microorganisms (Citrobacter spp. and Enterobacteriaceae spp.) - no significant drop in titer was observed, and cross-agglutination was eliminated. A significant increase in the total protein level was noted after the first and fourth immunizations. Before the first immunization, the total protein level was 59.57 g/l, and after the fourth immunization, it increased threefold to 157.17 g/l. There was also an increase in albumin and globulin (33.2 g/L and 26.37 g/L, respectively) to 79.37 g/L and 77.43 g/L, respectively. IgM levels remained almost unchanged, increasing 3.5-fold after the second immunization and decreasing to 0.24 mg/ml after the fourth immunization. An increase in the level of IgG after the second and third immunizations was revealed, followed by a decrease after the fourth immunization. Conclusion. The obtained national and industry standard diagnostic polyvalent brucellosis sera, as well as the developed methods of laboratory control of its quality and efficiency testing will make it possible to produce candidate standard serum samples for agglutination reaction test and detection of Brucella strains. The obtained standard serum samples will be further used for control of the produced immunobiological diagnostic preparations and provision of unified requirements to their quality. The goal was achieved – improving the serological diagnosis of brucellosis, laying the foundation for further study and standardization of serum.

Vaginal irritation testing-prospects of human organotypic vaginal tissue culture models.

Personal lubricants intended for local or systemic delivery via the vaginal route can induce vaginal irritation, damage the vaginal epithelial barrier which can enhance microbial entry, induce inflammation, and alter the microbiome of the vaginal ecosystem. Therefore, manufacturers of personal lubricants and medical devices are required to show biocompatibility and safety assessment data to support regulatory decision-making within a specified context of use. Furthermore, due to ethical concerns and the introduction of the 7th amendment of the European Council Directive which bans animal testing for cosmetic ingredients and products coupled with the Food and Drug Administration modernization Act 2.0 guidelines, there is a wave of drive to develop alternative test methods to predict human responses to chemical or formulation exposure. In this framework, there is a potential to use three-dimensional organotypic human vaginal-ectocervical tissue models as a screening tool to predict the vaginal irritation potential of personal lubricants and medicaments. To be physiologically relevant, the in vitro tissue models need to be reconstructed using primary epithelial cells of the specific organ or tissue and produce organ-like structure and functionality that recapitulate the in vivo-like responses. Through the years, progress has been made and vaginal tissue models are manufactured under controlled conditions with a specified performance criterion, which leads to a high level of reproducibility and reliability. The utility of vaginal tissue models has been accelerated in the last 20years with an expanded portfolio of applications ranging from toxicity, inflammation, infection to drug safety, and efficacy studies. This article provides an overview of the state of the art of diversified applications of reconstructed vaginal tissue models and highlights their utility as a tool to predict vaginal irritation potential of feminine care products.

Comparison of Different Methods for Determining 5-hydroxymethylfurfural in Assessing the Quality of Honey from Greater Poland

This paper presents the results of testing the content of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) in honey from Greater Poland. The production of honey from this area of Poland, its processing, and its consumption are closely related to the sustainable development of this region. It is created in the process of the production, storage, and transport of honey, especially during its thermal processing. Therefore, it can be an indicator in the analysis of sustainable development throughout the life cycle of honey and its products. The aim of this research was to determine the HMF content in Greater Poland’s honey available on the Polish market using three different methods and to compare the obtained results. The methodology used was as follows: two spectrophotometric methods (White and Winkler) and an HMF determination method based on the LC-MS/MS technique developed especially for this study. The determined HMF content in all tested honey samples did not exceed the applicable standard. The determined HMF values in all honey samples ranged from 0 to 28.5 mg HMF/kg honey. All results fell within the scope of European Council Directive 2001/110/EC of 20 December 2001, i.e., they did not exceed the HMF content in honey, which is 40 mg/kg. The results will encourage modifications to the universal honey testing procedures to be developed for the agri-food sector. In the study, seven honeys of different origins and types were selected; three HMF detection methods were selected; a comparative procedure was developed; and the content of the reference ingredient in honey was determined.

The sensitivity of innovative techniques for measuring low levels of radon in the environment using passive detectors

In recent years, there has been a significant surge in interest in measuring low radon levels in the environment. These measurements are valuable, particularly for identifying radon priority areas as required by the European Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM and for research related to climate change. Due to the limited sensitivity of existing radon detectors/monitors in addressing these challenges, substantial efforts have been devoted to developing new designs. This report compares the sensitivity of several innovative designs with that of existing passive radon monitors. These novel designs incorporate alpha track detectors, including large area low background detectors, with activated carbon fabric used as an efficient radon adsorber/radiator. Recent innovative solutions to mitigate the impact of temperature and humidity on detectors using adsorbers are also discussed. The background signal of detectors intended for use in these novel designs is examined, and their sensitivity is evaluated. The findings demonstrate that these novel designs have the potential to significantly enhance the sensitivity of long-term radon measurements, surpassing the detectors currently in widespread use by more than an order of magnitude.

Metrology supporting the European regulation for radiation protection.

The European Association of National Metrology Institutes (EURAMET) within its research programme European Metrology Programme for Innovation and Research (EMPIR) funded project EMPIR 19NET03 supportBSS that contributes to the establishment of a European Metrology Network (EMN) for Radiation Protection (RP). The EMN-RP was established in September 2021 with the intent to work as a meeting point for the metrology community and all stakeholders in the field of ionising radiation regulation, thus providing quality assurance for measurements in each of the exposure situations contemplated in the European Legislation. Within project EMPIR 19NET03, work package 3 aims at the preparation of a Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) by identifying the metrology needs to support the European legislation and regulation in Radiation Protection and of two Roadmaps for metrology services, one under the European Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM and the other under the EURATOM Treaty. Following a Gaps Workshop held in September 2020 and a second internal workshop that took place in April 2022, a questionnaire was prepared for distribution to the stakeholders, e.g. RP platforms and authorities, academia, industry, among other, together with an accompanying paper. In this paper, the authors present the state of the art of European legislation in RP, address the importance of metrology, the practices and activities that need metrology to meet the requirements set in the regulations, emphasise the need for quality assured measurements in all fields, highlight the stakeholders contributions in their specific area and show their vision of the EMN-RP.

Ecological assessment of combined sewer overflow management practices through the analysis of benthic and hyporheic sediment bacterial assemblages from an intermittent stream

Combined sewer overflows (CSO) are used to avoid overloading unitary sewers and wastewater treatment plants. Following the European Council Directive on Urban Wastewater Treatment (UWT), CSO discharges are regulated using guidelines that aim to reduce their ecological impact on aquatic systems. A model CSO, which is part of a long-term experimental field observatory, was modified according to these guidelines and used to evaluate the benefits of compliance through analyses of the bacteriological and chemical states of the receiving intermittent stream. The benthic and hyporheic sediments of similar geomorphic units located upstream and downstream of a monitored CSO outlet were compared before and after changes in CSO regimes. Hydrological, pollutants (Metal Trace Elements, MTE; Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, PAH; fecal indicator bacteria, FIB), and tpm-based DNA meta-barcoding datasets resolving the occurrences of >700 bacterial species of nearly 200 genera were studied. The frequency of overflow was confirmed to have significantly decreased following the application of the UWT guidelines. Overflows became almost limited to periods of heavy summer thunderstorm events. These changes were not associated with a significant decrease in most of the surveyed MTE, PAH, and FIB among stream sediments, except for chromium. Ecological benefits were highlighted by significant changes in tpm-based meta-barcoding community patterns between the UWT compliant sampling period and the previous one. Bacterial community change point analyses confirmed this segregation in the meta-barcoding dataset according to hydrological indices such as the number of CSO events and discharged volumes. A significant decline in CSO bacterial taxa in the benthic and hyporheic sediments was observed. Thirty-four CSO indicator species were identified, including Aeromonas caviae, Aeromonas media, and Pseudomonas oleovorans. These indicators, often documented as opportunistic pathogens (to humans, animals or plants) and/or pollutant degraders, were proposed as ecological sentinels for the assessment of CSO impacts.

Natural radionuclides behaviour in drinking groundwaters from Castilla y León (Spain); radiological implications

Since the coming into force of the European Council Directive 51/2013 EURATOM and its transposition into the Spanish legislation, the presence of radioactive substances in drinking waters must be kept under surveillance to ensure that the health protection requirements are met. Driven by this regulatory framework, in an attempt to know the starting point from which to design surveillance plans, the groundwaters intended for human consumption of Castilla y León (Spain) have been radiologically characterised by using both low-level γ-ray and α-particle spectrometry to determine the activity concentration of the natural radionuclides needed to account for the indicative dose estimation. This extensive research has comprised the radiological characterisation of more than 400 drinking water samples from one of the European Union's largest regions. Furthermore, the gross α and gross β activities have been analysed. Results showed a high geographical variability that can be related to the hydrogeological formations where the groundwaters come from. The uranium isotopes, 234U and 238U, are the main radionuclides present in the analysed drinking waters reaching values up to 2000 mBq/L, in the southwestern and western of Castilla y León, where U-rich minerals are part of the host rock. High 210Pb and 226,228Ra occurrences are found in the low permeability igneous and metasedimentary hydrogeological formations of Salamanca province. From a public health protection point of view, 4.4% of the total drinking water samples from intakes exceeded the Indicative Dose parametric value of 0.1 mSv, which is a not negligible number of samples, being very likely related to granitic and metamorphosed host rock under specific local conditions. This fact highlights the need for research and consideration of special surveillance of the groundwaters from these areas.

THE IMPACT OF THE EUROPEAN COUNCIL DIRECTIVE 86/653/EEC ON THE ROMANIAN LEGISLATION REGARDING THE TERMINATION OF THE AGENCY CONTRACT, AS A MANDATE IN COMMON INTEREST

This article aims to highlight a contract that has proven its great importance in commerce, namely the agency, as a legal mechanism that provides an extremely flexible juridical framework for many professional activities. In 1986, the agency contract received its own rules at a European Community level, by the adoption of the European Council Directive no. 86/653, regarding the harmonization of the Member States legislations concerning the independent commercial agents. This directive was intended to eliminate the existing regulatory differences in the laws of the Member States relating to commercial representation, which affected competition and the smooth running of trade relations within the Community. Legal doctrine and jurisprudence have revealed the complexity of this type of conventional relations, especially in the case of unilateral termination of contract, since agency is generally considered a type of mandate in common interest and the revocability of such an agreement is questionable, given the mutual and common interest of the contracting parties in the execution of the contract. In this context of uncertainty, the European Council Directive no. 86/653 brought important clarifications, which were later taken over in the national legislation, namely the Law no. 509/2002 and later the Civil Code, regarding the right to unilateral revocation, the limits of its exercise, as well as the indemnity for contractual termination.

Physico-chemical and rheological properties of meat pates with corn starch suspensions prepared on electrochemically activated water

Introduction. The aim of the study was to determine the influence of electrochemically activated water application on the rheological properties of corn starch suspensions and pates prepared with them. Materials and methods. Corn starch suspensions were prepared on artesian water, which was activated by electrochemical treatment on a diaphragm electrolyzer. Physico-chemical characteristics of electrochemically activated water were determined using a Palintest 7500 photometer. Morphological studies of starch granules were carried out by scanning electron microscopy, and granulometric composition was determined by laser diffraction method. The rheological indicatorss of starch suspensions and pates were studied using a Kinexus Pro+ rheometer. Results and discussion. The physico-chemical characteristics of electrochemically activated water except pH met the requirements of the European Parliament and Council Directive on the quality of water intended for human consumption. The water absorption capacity of starch when preparing its suspensions on a catholyte (obtained by passing a direct electric current through water in the cathode chamber of an electrolyzer) decreased by 26%, and when prepared on an anolyte (obtained in the process of water oxidation reactions on the anode) increased by 18%. The moisture holding capacity of hydrated starch decreased by 10% when using catholyte, and increased by 36% when using anolyte. Electrochemically activated water had a significant effect on the rheological characteristics of starch suspensions: with an increase in the percentage of complex shear strain, the shear stress increased proportionally for samples of suspensions made on electrochemically activated water. The viscoelastic properties of starch suspensions prepared using electrochemically activated water both at 25 ℃ and at 68 ℃ tended towards an ideally elastic gel, that is, they had more elastic structure than the control samples. Under the action of shear deformation, the elastic properties were lost, while the suspensions acquired viscosity (phase angle values increased). The maximum value of the moisture binding capacity of pates was observed when using a starch suspension prepared on anolyte. The best values of rheological characteristics of pates were obtained when using starch suspension with 2% starch prepared on anolyte. Conclusions. Electrochemically activated water had a significant effect on the physicochemical and rheological properties of semi-finished products, in particular corn starch suspensions, and pates prepared with them, and contributed to better structuring of the studied food systems.

Radiological Protection in Industries Involving NORM: A (Graded) Methodological Approach to Characterize the Exposure Situations

The interest in radiation protection in industrial sectors involving Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM) is increasingly growing. This is due also to the recent implementation of the European Council Directive 59/2013/Euratom which in Italy and in the other European Union Member States extends the field of application to industrial sectors never involved before. This paper reports main results of a research project on radiation protection in industries involving NORM carried out in Italy aimed to provide useful tools for stakeholders to comply new legal obligations. The project activities were mainly focused on different aspects relevant to the NORM involving industries, accounting for the positive list reported in the Italian law. Firstly, the inventory of the industries currently operating in Italy in order to identify the industrial sectors with an important radiological impact on population and workers was updated. Based on this information, a general methodology was elaborated taking into account a graded approach. The first phase consists in the identification and characterization of the most critical exposure scenarios and of the radiological content of NORMs involved in the different phases of the industrial processes. In the second phase calculation methods were developed for dose estimation for workers and members of public. These tools require the use of existing and well tested calculation codes, and the development of a dedicated user-friendly software.

Revisiting methods for the assessment of naturally-occurring radioactivity in drinking water

A comprehensive radioactivity characterisation of Castilla y León (Spain) groundwater intakes intended for human consumption is addressed between 2017 and 2021. This study responds to the radiological requirements stated in the European Council Directive 51/2013/EURATOM concerning drinking water for public health. Given that the gross α- and gross β-activity determination is used as a screening strategy for water radioactivity monitoring, the reliability of the thin-source deposit method (ISO 10704, 2019) has been improved to achieve representative values of the total activity coming from α- and β-particle emitters in the samples. More than 400 groundwater samples have been considered for this purpose, analysing their 238,235,234U, 228,226Ra, 210Pb, and 210Po activity concentrations, which are needed for the indicative dose assessment. These results, considered reference activity values, are compared with the gross α- and gross β-activities determined by the different procedure approaches. Ultimately, the results of the liquid scintillation counting method (ISO 11704, 2018) are also used to validate the optimised method.

Research summary of the EMPIR MetroRADON project

In this paper, a comprehensive overview on the achievements and generated research results beyond the state-of-the-art is given based on the working structure of the joint metrology research project MetroRADON.The results of the project have been targeted at the implementation of the European Council Directive 2013/59/EURATOM on radiation protection (EU BSS) and benefit European and international standards on radon monitoring, radon measurement and calibration, geographical radon mapping, and guidelines on radiological protection, construction products, radiation instrumentation and nuclear data.

EFFECTS OF ENHANCER DIESEL FUEL AND VIBRATING WINGS SUBSOILER PLOW ON THE PERFORMANCE OF AN AGRICULTURAL TRACTOR

The aim of the study was to investigate the fuel consumption, depth stability ratio, noise, driver seat vibration of agricultural tractors (DSV), and slippage during tractor operation by using a kind of fuel (enhancer and non-enhancer fuel), vibration and non-vibration wings of subsoiler and engine speeds. Three engine speeds that include 1000, 1500 and 2000 rpm were considered. The results indicated significant positive data for all traits under enhancer fuel compared with non-enhancer and studies treatments. The experiment was analyzed as a three-factor factorial experiment using a split-split plot- Randomized Complete Block Design. Duncan's multiple range test used to test for significance. The results showed positive superiority of enhancer fuel in the fuel consumption, depth stability ratio, noise, DSV, and slippage, while achieving a negative increase in DSV, noise, and slippage with wing vibration of subsoiler. However, the DSV for wing vibration of subsoiler remained within European Parliament and Council Directive 2002/44/EC (OJ, 2002) and the measurements previously approved from ISO 2631-5 (2004). Besides, increasing the engine speeds leads to an increase in noise, DSV, and slippage, while at 2000 rpm speed of the engine was recorded as the lowest value of 11.905 L. ha-1 for fuel consumption, respectively. Finally, the results indicate the superiority of enhancer fuel and vibration wings at all engine tractor speeds to register less fuel consumption, DSV and slipping lead to the conclusion that adding enhancer fuel improved the performance of the agricultural tractor.

From Spatial Characterisation to Prediction Maps of the Naturally Occurring Radioactivity in Groundwaters Intended for Human Consumption of Duero Basin, Castilla y León (Spain)

According to the European Council Directive 51/2013 EURATOM, the radionuclide content in human consumption waters must comply with the stated recommendations to ensure the protection of public health. The radiological characterisation assessed in Laboratorio de Radiaciones Ionizantes y Datación of Universidad de Salamanca, in more than 400 groundwater samples gathered from intakes intended for human consumption from the Castilla y León region (Spain), has provided worthwhile data for evaluating the spatial distribution of the radioactivity content in the Duero basin. For this purpose, geostatistical exploration and interpolation analysis, using the inverse distance weighting (IDW) method, was performed. The IDW prediction maps showed higher radioactivity occurrence in western and southern areas of the study region, mainly related to the mineralogical influence of the igneous and metamorphosed outcroppings in the Cenozoic sediments that formed the porous detritic aquifers of the Duero basin edges. The hydraulic characteristics promote the distribution of these radioactivity levels towards the centre of the basin as a consequence of the unconfined nature of the aquifers. Prediction maps provide a worthwhile tool that can be used for better planning and managing of groundwater monitoring programmes.

National Radon Action Plans in Europe and Need of Effectiveness Indicators: An Overview of HERCA Activities.

Protection of the population and of workers from exposure to radon is a unique challenge in radiation protection. Many coordinated actions and a variety of expertise are needed. Initially, a National Radon Action Plan (NRAP) has been developed and implemented by some countries, while it is currently recommended by international organizations (e.g., World Health Organization) and required by international regulations, such as the European Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom and the International Basic Safety Standards on Radiation Protection and Safety of Radiation Sources, cosponsored by eight international organizations. Within this framework, the Heads of the European Radiological Protection Competent Authorities (HERCA) have organized activities aimed at sharing experiences to contribute toward the development and implementation of effective NRAPs. Two workshops were held in 2014 and 2015, the latter on radon in workplaces. As a follow-up to these, an online event took place in March 2021, and a second specific workshop on NRAP is planned for June 2022. These workshops were attended by experts from the competent authorities of European countries, relevant national and international organizations. The experience of several countries and the outcomes from these workshops have highlighted the need for adequate indicators of the effectiveness and progress of the actions of NRAPs, which could also be useful to implement the principle of optimization and the graded approach in NRAPs. In this paper, the activities of HERCA to support the development and implementation of effective NRAPs are described and some examples of effectiveness indicators are reported, including those already included in the NRAP of some European countries.

Recent Progress in Radon Metrology at IFIN-HH, Romania

The practical implementation of the European Council Directive no. 2013/59/EURATOM in Romania requires reliable indoor measurements of the radon (222Rn) activity concentration in air. In Romania, several Testing Laboratories were designated for radon activity and/or radon activity concentration in air measurements by the Romanian National Commission for Nuclear Activities Control (CNCAN). The calibration of the instruments used for indoor radon activity concentration measurements is very important. IFIN-HH, through its Ionizing Radiation Metrology Laboratory (LMRI), performed advanced research in the field of radon metrology, using radon standard sources prepared by LMRI, its radon chamber facility and a new reference radon monitor. The most recent results are described in this article. The radon chamber facility from IFIN-HH was technically improved, and new equipment and methods were set up and tested in order to provide new calibration services for customers. Additionally, calibration of the radon monitors was performed, as well as of the systems with solid-state nuclear track detectors, used for radon in air activity concentration measurements. IFIN-HH/LMRI obtained the CNCAN designation as Calibration Laboratory for installations measuring the radon activity concentration in air.

Personalized Dosimetry in Targeted Radiation Therapy: A Look to Methods, Tools and Critical Aspects.

Targeted radiation therapy (TRT) is a strategy increasingly adopted for the treatment of different types of cancer. The urge for optimization, as stated by the European Council Directive (2013/59/EURATOM), requires the implementation of a personalized dosimetric approach, similar to what already happens in external beam radiation therapy (EBRT). The purpose of this paper is to provide a thorough introduction to the field of personalized dosimetry in TRT, explaining its rationale in the context of optimization and describing the currently available methodologies. After listing the main therapies currently employed, the clinical workflow for the absorbed dose calculation is described, based on works of the most experienced authors in the literature and recent guidelines. Moreover, the widespread software packages for internal dosimetry are presented and critical aspects discussed. Overall, a selection of the most important and recent articles about this topic is provided.

The impact of securities regulation in the European Union on M&A: does it compensate to go beyond borders?

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the transposition of the EU directive that regulates M&As on cross-border deals. Acquirers of targets located in the European Union (EU) must comply not only with takeover rules set individually by member states but also with European Council Directives. The most significant of these Directives in the context of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) is the Takeover Bids Directive (TBD). The intent of the Directive is to ensure equal treatment for all companies launching takeover bids or that are subject to a change in control, providing minimum harmonization rules in view of creating a transparent environment for cross-border takeovers.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses the event-study and difference-in-differences approaches.FindingsUsing a sample of 2,129 M&As conducted between 2000 and 2015, this paper finds positive acquisition synergy for acquirers targeting firms from countries with stronger investor protection rules compared to the average of the EU, but no evidence regarding cross-border deals. The results support the prediction that regulation makes countries diverge more depending on their ex ante level of investor protection.Originality/valueThis study examines the impact of the enactment of the TBD on announcement returns of M&As in the EU.

Formation selection methodology for deep geological repository in Lithuania

A special program and action plan have been developed in Lithuania for the purpose of implementing the European Council Directive 2011/70/Euratom of 19 July 2011, establishing the Community framework for the responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. An important part of this plan is related to geological investigations for the site selection, design and construction of deep geological repository (DGR) for spent nuclear fuel and high-level long-lived radioactive wastes. The main task of geological investigations is to select a suitable geological environment for DGR, which is closely related to that of the DGR site. There are several alternative geological formations potentially suitable for DGR in Lithuania. Selection of the most suitable DGR site should be made and the DGR concept should be developed applying clear methodology. The proposed methodology is based on the safety requirements established by International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), systematic approach and criteria that are widely used worldwide. The suitability evaluation criteria are divided into 4 groups according to the factors responsible for the stability and safety of the DGR system. The highest rank of significance is assigned to the group of criteria that are associated with the factors responsible for the loss of the long-term stability of the system. The criteria associated with the DGR system confinement are assigned to the second group and are ranked second in significance. The third group of evaluation criteria could be characterized as a data availability group. It consists of the evaluation criteria associated with the emergence of uncertainties. Features or processes responsible for the improvement of formation properties over time are assigned to the fourth group and have the lowest rank of significance. The application of this methodology allows calculating the suitability score of each potentially suitable geological formation depending on the level of data detail at any stage of the investigation.