European Financial Support Research Articles

Forum: Towards a European Nuclear Deterrent

America’s potential strategic disengagement from Europe is leading key European powers – in particular, France, the United Kingdom and Germany – to reconsider the role of nuclear weapons in European security in the absence of extended US nuclear deterrence. Here leading French, British and German analysts offer anticipatory assessments of their countries’ national perceptions, policies and preferences with respect to formulating a common European approach. They discuss, respectively, France’s tentative overture to its European allies, Britain’s willingness against broad constraints, and the tension between Germany’s entrenched caution and its rising threat perceptions. While there are options that could produce a viable European nuclear deterrent, they would require a degree of national flexibility and European financial support that is currently difficult to imagine. This reality check should give European nuclear hawks pause.

To play or not to play the ‘moral hazard card’: Germany and the European Union’s response to the Covid-19 crisis

ABSTRACT Avoiding moral hazard is a recurrent argument of those seeking to limit the development of European financial support mechanisms. Germany has been the traditional leader of this coalition of actors in the European Union (EU). However, in reaction to the Covid-19 pandemic, Germany supported an EU response which included grants and massive debt issuance. What was previously presented as unacceptable – because of moral hazard – became appropriate. This contribution seeks to explain why the German government ceased to emphasise the moral hazard problem in EU economic governance. We argue that the answer is not because of a challenge to the relevance of moral hazard per se, or because the Germans lost interest in the moral hazard problem, but rather because German policymakers were discursively constrained by one of the dominant meanings of moral hazard they had previously imposed – which lost its relevance in the context of a symmetric exogenous shock.

Financial markets and price increases in Europe after the russian-Ukrainian War

The research relevance is predefined by the fact that the European financial market has suffered a direct negative impact due to the russian aggression and violation of the territorial integrity of Ukraine. All these processes are accompanied by several previously formed and unfavourable trends for socio-economic and financial development, which have become even more severe due to the hostilities. In particular, COVID-19, environmental degradation, rising inflation, deglobalization, insufficient social development of individual countries, as well as fuel and food shortages. The research aims to conclude a comparative analysis of financial policy in European countries and individual countries of the Balkan Peninsula, as well as substantiation of the financial risk management features and the formation of a forecast model of economic stabilization. To achieve the set objectives, scientific methods were used, including analysis method, analogy method, and modelling method. The article analyses expert reports and the results of scientific research on the current state of the financial market and monetary policy in Europe as a result of the russian-Ukrainian war, in particular in the Balkans and Kosovo. The analogy of the directions of financial policy in the period before the russian invasion of the territory of Ukraine with the period of direct aggression of the russian federation is conducted. The fundamental reasons for changes in pricing policy, in particular pricing mechanisms, are characterized. The determining factors of financial risks, tools for assessing the consequences, as well as generalization of management methods for their reduction and elimination in the future are substantiated. The directions of European financial support aimed at the defence sector and socio-economic needs are considered. The practical value of the work is that the conceptual model of strategic development of the European financial market in the context of stabilization processes of international financial policy, as well as food and energy security was formed

The Diversification of Agriculture in Italy: Agritourism and Organic Management

During the last 70 years, since the end of WW II, Italian agriculture has increased its productivity but, despite the national and European financial support to the primary sector, millions of farms have closed their operations, millions of hectares have been abandoned, and millions of farmers have emigrated to towns and abroad. Rural desertification has been aggravated by the closures of public offices and private businesses. Against this grim scenario, this paper illustrates, with the most recent available data, the evolution and growth of two sub-sectors, organic farming and agritourism. Both sub-sectors were initially contrasted and the first farmers adopting these strategies have encountered problems and obstacles, they were fined, and sometimes had to close their operations. In both cases, the pioneers resisted, organized themselves, and—thanks also to the support of consumers and some scientists, were able to lobby local, national, and European law makers for appropriate legislation. The first part of the article contains the data about the evolution and distribution of agritourism and organic farms, while the second part compares several aspects of the two sub-sectors.

PERSPECTIVES OF THE SOCIAL ECONOMY IN ROMANIA

For a sector with high development potential, like social economy in Romania, a precisely designed research method was used, focused rather on the future than the past or present status. The Delphi method can produce relevant information about evolution perspectives of any topic observed, mainly emergent facts or domains with uncertain progress. Initially developed in the Cold War context, to anticipate the impact of the technology on warfare, it starts from the premise that individual predictions were better than group ones. This tool aims to reach the best consensus on opinions from a group of experts within the specific domain studied, using questionnaires applied individually and mixed with relevant feedback from the researchers. The present research used the Delphi technique and dedicated experts’ contribution, in order to scrutiny analyze the evolution of the social economy in Romania, the current situation and the encountered problems, the legislative, institutional and fiscal framework and also how the European financial support works for this domain. Not least, a 10-year scenario is tested and advanced, along with some conclusions and questions for the future.

AGRICULTURE OF UKRAINE UNDER THE JOINT POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

The purpose of this article is to study the experience of financial support of agriculture in the European Union in order to adapt it to the agricultural conditions of Ukraine. A decisive feature of European financial support to agriculture is the attitude towards it as one of the factors of development of the financial system of the European Union. Under the conditions when Ukraine tries to become a full member of the European Union, the author has proved that the modern system of financial support of agriculture in Ukraine is on the vector of formation and adaptation, therefore, the substantiation of theoretical and methodological principles and the development of practical recommendations for the improvement of existing and the introduction of progressive, recommended world practice levers and regulatory mechanisms become a determining factor in their further development. Methodology. In Ukraine, 2017 should only be expected to improve traditional forms of financial support. Among the positive points is the reduction of interest rates in UAH up to 15%, but with the preservation of monetary stability, one should not expect an increase in terms of lending, in the top, there will be loans up to one year, that is, within the product cycle. Results. Ukraine is trying to take over the experience of various European countries in relation to agriculture. It relies on the experience of Germany, France, Great Britain. Practical implications. The Government and the Ministry of Agrarian Policy and Food in the Budget for 2017 presented a state support reform that creates conditions for the development of small farms and stimulates the production of value-added products, and the main principles of state support should be targeting and transparency. Value/originality. In 2017, in support of the development of the livestock sector at the expense of the general fund of the state budget under the budget program “State Support of Livestock Sector”, expenditures are provided to ensure stabilization of livestock, increase its number, and stabilize production. In general, support for the agrarian sector is formal and insignificantly affecting the development of the agricultural sector, as a result of the economic and agricultural development vector declared in the 2017 Budget, in the light of economic instability, rising inflation and uncertainty.

Is EU financial support enhancing the economic performance of PPP projects? An empirical analysis on the case of spanish road infrastructure

During the last few decades, the European Union has been promoting the use of PPPs in order to accelerate the development of the TEN-T for ensuring economic, social and territorial cohesion and increasing accessibility within the EU. To that end, several mechanisms have been put at the disposal of the Member States to enhance transport infrastructure of interest for the EU. This paper conducts a review of the main funding programs implemented by the EU authorities in order to evaluate to what extent the European support has been rightly channelled to PPP projects. To that end, a multiple regression model has been applied to road PPP projects in Spain to analyse whether those PPP projects with EU financial backing ultimately have a higher economic performance compared to those projects not receiving such a support. The research concludes that there is a positive correlation between receiving European financial support and the good economic performance of those projects.

EUROPEAN FINANCIAL SUPPORT AND SUCCESFUL ROAD PPP PROJECTS

The EU has been promoting the use of PPPs in order to accelerate the development of the Trans-European Transport Network (TEN-T) for ensuring economic, social and territorial cohesion and increasing accessibility throughout the Union. To encourage the use of PPPs, the European Commission has put several financing mechanisms at the disposal of the Member States, including a series of innovative financial instruments developed along with the European Investment Bank. The Bank has in turn played a major role in the promotion and financing of PPPs across the EU. The paper undertakes a review of the main financial instruments developed by the EU that are available to PPPs so as to determinate to what extent the European financial support has been channelled to road projects under that scheme in Spain. On the basis of the results obtained, a multiple regression model has been developed to analyse whether the PPP projects which enjoyed the financial support of the European Union tend to be significantly more successful from an economic point of view. The paper concludes that there is a positive correlation between receiving European financial support and the success of the PPP road projects. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.4995/CIT2016.2016.3492

La tramitación parlamentaria del decreto-ley 6/2013, de medidas para asegurar el cumplimiento de la función social de la vivienda

Esta norma en lo esencial, viene a modificar la Ley 1/2010, de 8 de marzo, reguladora del derecho a la vivienda en Andalucía, pero que, concebida en una coyuntura bien diferente, parte de una filosofía mucho más ambiciosa que la que inspiró a aquélla. De hecho, el impacto de este Decreto-ley no solo desbordó las fronteras regionales para alcanzar al conjunto del Estado, sino que su incidencia incluso se hizo notar a escala de la Unión Europea, dado el temor de que la misma pudiera tener efectos negativos en un sector bancario cuya supervivencia depende del apoyo financiero europeo.

The potential of the local administration as driving force for the implementation of the National PV systems Strategy in Romania

The National Strategy for PV systems implementation in Romania sets as target 260 MW installed power by 2020. Here, the potential of the local administration to install a total of 200 MW in eighty localities is studied. Plants based on modules consisting of polycristalline PV cells are considered. The modules are mounted at fix tilt angle. Most of the PV plants should have about 6 MW installed power while the country’s capital (Bucharest) should have about 47 MW installed power. The total electric energy produced per year by all PV plants is about 0.45% of the country’s electric energy consumption in 2009. Building the PV plants yields a dimishment of the GHG emission by about 1.5% of the country’s CO 2 emissions in 2007 and the oil saving is about 0.69% of the total yearly consumption in 2009. Governmental or European financial support is needed for successfull implementation. The Simple Payback Period may range between about 43 years (no financial support) and less than 4 years (when the equipment is obtained by using non-reimbursed financial resources).

Further Education Participation, European Expansion and European Erasure

Abstract From within the context of the planned expansion of the European Union (EU) to include the 12 applicant states from central and eastern Europe and the predicted reduction of the European financial support given to the UK, the article draws on empirical data to explore the impact of the European Social Fund (ESF) on the further education sector and the process of widening participation. Despite the significance of the ESF in implementing vocational education and training (VET) policy, it has been consistently erased by both the Conservative and Labour administrations. Whereas this erasure can be traced back to Britain's membership in 1973, the focus of the article is on the period 1997‐2000, for Labour's Welfare to Work policies draw heavily on the financial support given by the EU through the ESF. It is suggested that, whereas the continued erasure of the Fund can be contextualised by the continued (and politically contentious) membership of the EU, its public erasure enables it to play a vital, flexible and unaccountable role in the VET policies of Conservative and Labour administrations.

The effects of European economic integration on tourism: challenges and opportunities for Portuguese tourism development

One of today’s realities is that, as a consequence of the consolidation of the European economic integration process, the economies of the different member countries of the European Union are becoming more inter‐dependent and the physical, technical and tax obstacles to cross‐border trade are being diluted. At the same time, European policies and regulations have affected all areas of economic activity. The tourism sector is no exception due to the economic, social and cultural importance that this sector assumes for countries like Portugal. The overall purpose of this article is to analyse the implications of European economic integration in the tourism sector. In this context, the article builds on earlier research on European economic integration and identifies its effects in the tourism sector, focusing on the following tourism economic indicators: employment, income, investments, and balance of payments. The relationship between European financial support and the Portuguese tourism sector will be analysed with some related trends identified.

US, Europe Reciprocate Scientifically and Financially on LHC, Other Big Science Projects

The reciprocal USA and European financial support and scientific usage of the Large Hadron Collider, Hubble Space Telescope and Space Station facilities are discussed. (AIP) {copyright} {ital 1997 American Institute of Physics.}