European Strategy Research Articles

Contribution of the European Bioeconomy Strategy to the Green Deal Policy: Challenges and Opportunities in Implementing These Policies

The Green Deal is an ambitious European development strategy that aims to create a carbon-neutral and environmentally friendly economy. This strategy encompasses key environmental policies such as climate change, circular economy, and sustainable development. Due to its broad and comprehensive definition and sectoral coverage, the European Union’s Bioeconomy Strategy, which is linked to the supply and demand of natural resources, is also crucial to the implementation of the Green Deal. However, there has been very little evaluation of the role of bioeconomy development in the European Green Deal. Therefore, by comparing the documents of these policies, the aim of this paper is to identify the main roles of the bioeconomy in the European Green Deal and overlaps, highlighting the opportunities and challenges of the implementation of these policies. The bioeconomy goals overlap with the European Green Deal targets. Looking at the eight main goals of the European Green Deal, all of them are related to the implementation of the bioeconomy. Preserving biodiversity and Farm to Fork actions are directly linked to the development of the bioeconomy, while the residual actions are partly linked to this development. In order to implement the Bioeconomy Strategy and the European Green Deal policy, it is essential to evaluate the vulnerability of biomass to the effects of climate change and the growing food crisis caused by the war in Ukraine. Furthermore, the sustainable use of biomass and the promotion of biomass consumption in the energy, building, and transport sectors need to be examined.

Transitioning towards a circular economy under a multicriteria and the new institutional theory perspective: A comparison between Italy and Brazil

The obligations arising from legislation and other instruments affect the macro-level decision-making related to the transition toward a circular economy (CE), which is a multifaceted topic since it tries to aggregate the interests of different stakeholders. In this context, this paper aims to analyse the current policies, strategies and initiatives related to the CE transition from a multicriteria perspective and under the lens of NIT (New Institutional Theory). This is the first approach that analyses which CE strategies and related practices boost the transition from a macro-level perspective, using a multicriteria method and considering developed and emerging economies. For this reason, this paper can be helpful for researchers and practitioners involved in implementing strategy and policymaking aimed at the transition toward a CE. It also contributes to the discussion on the global transition to the CE by identifying differences and similarities between countries. The proposed methodology has been applied to compare the realities in Italy and Brazil. The perceptions of several stakeholders from the two countries have been gathered through a questionnaire to evaluate numerous strategies against several social, environmental, economic, and technical criteria. The main results are: Italy presents a proactive behaviour, a higher level of institutionalisation, and a coercive isomorphism related to European regulations and strategies. In contrast, Brazil has reactive behaviour, a lower level of institutionalisation, and is impelled by mimetic isomorphism. Although it is possible to observe several advances in the last years in Brazil, the transition to a CE is still in the early stages compared to Italy.

Productivity slowdown and tax havens: Where is measured value creation?

Based on French firm-level data, we evaluate the contribution of the micro-level profit-shifting –through tax haven foreign direct investments– to the aggregate productivity slowdown measured in France. We show that firm measured productivity in France declines over the years following the establishment in a tax haven, with an average estimated drop by 3.5% in apparent labor productivity. To isolate the contribution of multinational enterprises' (MNEs) tax optimization to the decline in productivity, we then exploit the 2006 Cadbury-Schweppes decision of the European Court of Justice limiting the extent to which member States can counter European MNEs' tax planning strategies. We find that multinational groups benefiting from that loosening of the legal constraints do exhibit a lower labor productivity following that ruling. Finally, given these firms' weight, our results imply an annual loss of 5.7% in terms of the aggregate annual labor productivity growth.

Italian diplomacy and the Ukrainian crisis: the challenges (and cost) of continuity

ABSTRACT This article seeks to analyse the Italian diplomatic response to the Ukrainian crisis. To this end, the article relies on role theory to understand how Italy’s diplomatic posture during the war was influenced by the expectations deriving from its EU and NATO membership, but also by the different role conceptions emerging in the public debate. Though Italy under its Prime Minister, Mario Draghi, not only responded to but effectively led European strategy towards Ukraine during the crisis – including supporting Ukraine’s membership bid – on the internal front the country was polarized, unwilling to push for further punishment of Russia in view of its economic reverberations, but also questioning military involvement in the war in Ukraine. After a failed attempt to reconcile external expectations and domestic preferences, centred around Italy’s sponsorship of a ‘peace plan’ for Ukraine, the tension between the two sets of influences intensified to the point of precipitating the end of the Draghi government in July 2022, with Italy’s response to the Ukrainian crisis invoked as one of the main causes of the government’s fall. Although the right-wing alliance of political parties that won the ensuing general elections campaigned on a populist and nationalist, ‘Italy first’, platform, the country’s posture towards the war in Ukraine has not really changed – under its current Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni, Italy has continued to align with the multilateral expectations set by the EU and the US. The differences in foreign policy outlook within the current governing coalition, however, are not insignificant, and public opinion continues to be divided. This suggests that the tension underlying Italy’s foreign policy in the Ukraine crisis has not been resolved – in fact, it could still potentially undermine the country’s diplomatic posture, as well as the government’s own stability, in the months to come.

Making Energy Markets: The Origins of Electricity Liberalisation in Europe by Ronan Bolton

Reviewed by: Making Energy Markets: The Origins of Electricity Liberalisation in Europe by Ronan Bolton Yves Bouvier (bio) Making Energy Markets: The Origins of Electricity Liberalisation in Europe By Ronan Bolton. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, 2021. Pp. 367. As happens so often, the reader who hopes to find in this book a historical analysis of the title (Making Energy Markets) will be disappointed. Ronan Bolton's book, on the other hand, will provide much more enlightenment on the subtitle (The Origins of Electricity Liberalisation in Europe). The clarification is not insignificant, because the author does not deal with energy as a whole but only with electricity. Bolton presents a precise analysis of the movement initiated in the United Kingdom by the transformations of the Central Electricity Generating Board, which spread throughout Europe under the term "liberalization" during the 1990s. After a first part devoted to the United Kingdom, the author then describes liberalization in what he calls the "heart of Europe" (Germany, France, the European Commission) before focusing on the case of the Nordic countries, especially Norway, in the third part of the book. This structure may be surprising, but it is convincing in a dynamic systems approach in which technology, politics, and economics are intertwined. In the case of Norway, for instance, the Norwegian School of Economics in Bergen invented the structure-conduct-performance paradigm to justify the export of surplus hydroelectricity. According to the author, the European Commission's strategy was initially to generalize the British market model before integrating, at the beginning of the 1990s, a complexity linked to the diversity of energy sources in each member state. The interest of the book is not in the claimed socio-technical approach. Indeed, in placing himself in the tradition of Thomas P. Hughes, the author leaves not much space for technology and does not avoid the sacralization of the combined-cycle gas turbine. Similarly, he tends to make the technologies disappear behind the energy sources while reinforcing national stereotypes: gas for the United Kingdom, nuclear for France, coal for Germany, and hydroelectricity for Norway. Bolton thus leaves aside most of the concepts of "networks of power," including that of momentum, and does not go further into Richard Hirsh's theses as one might have hoped. For the technical aspects of electrical networks, he quotes the works of Vincent Lagendijk and Arne Kaijser but completely ignores the work on the history of computing, which is surprising for the period covered. Seeing in competition and the market an answer to the blockages of national systems is a repetition of the economic discourse and underestimates the permanence of competition in the electrical field. On this point, we can regret the gaps in the bibliography on the economic and political history of European construction: the complex nature of the notion of the market in Europe since the oil crisis (Warlouzet, Governing Europe in a Globalizing World, 2018) and the existence of a European view [End Page 597] of electricity for nearly one hundred years (Lagendijk, Electrifying Europe, 2008) before the liberalization of the 1990s arrived. The discussion forums of the International Energy Agency and the OECD (Schmelzer, The Hegemony of Growth, 2017) are simply ignored. Nevertheless, it is in the analysis of the inception of the electricity market through the debates on its regulation that Bolton's book effectively informs the history of technology. The pages devoted to the tensions of regulation perfectly translate the limits of the economic conception of markets on the one hand, and the only partial dependence on energy technologies on the other (chs. 4 and 7). In these intellectual, economic, and political margins, a regulated market is emerging in the United Kingdom. All the players, all the institutions, all the technical bodies have been involved at one time or another in this initiation of an electricity market. By combining long-term strategic analyses and micropolitical actions, the author highlights the unstable forms of electricity markets. The impossible quest for a long-term equilibrium in the electricity market is the main outcome of this book, for the United Kingdom in the late 1980s as for the European Union ten years later. Thus, the concluding chapter sets this period of...

Harmonized human biomonitoring in European children, teenagers and adults: EU-wide exposure data of 11 chemical substance groups from the HBM4EU Aligned Studies (2014-2021).

As one of the core elements of the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) a human biomonitoring (HBM) survey was conducted in 23 countries to generate EU-wide comparable HBM data. This survey has built on existing HBM capacity in Europe by aligning national or regional HBM studies, referred to as the HBM4EU Aligned Studies. The HBM4EU Aligned Studies included a total of 10,795 participants of three age groups: (i) 3,576 children aged 6-12 years, (ii) 3,117 teenagers aged 12-18 years and (iii) 4,102 young adults aged 20-39 years. The participants were recruited between 2014 and 2021 in 11-12 countries per age group, geographically distributed across Europe. Depending on the age group, internal exposure to phthalates and the substitute DINCH, halogenated and organophosphorus flame retardants, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFASs), cadmium, bisphenols, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), arsenic species, acrylamide, mycotoxins (deoxynivalenol (total DON)), benzophenones and selected pesticides was assessed by measuring substance specific biomarkers subjected to stringent quality control programs for chemical analysis. For substance groups analyzed in different age groups higher average exposure levels were observed in the youngest age group, i.e., phthalates/DINCH in children versus teenagers, acrylamide and pesticides in children versus adults, benzophenones in teenagers versus adults. Many biomarkers in teenagers and adults varied significantly according to educational attainment, with higher exposure levels of bisphenols, phthalates, benzophenones, PAHs and acrylamide in participants (from households) with lower educational attainment, while teenagers from households with higher educational attainment have higher exposure levels for PFASs and arsenic. In children, a social gradient was only observed for the non-specific pyrethroid metabolite 3-PBA and di-isodecyl phthalate (DiDP), with higher levels in children from households with higher educational attainment. Geographical variations were seen for all exposure biomarkers. For 15 biomarkers, the available health-based HBM guidance values were exceeded with highest exceedance rates for toxicologically relevant arsenic in teenagers (40%), 3-PBA in children (36%), and between 11 and 14% for total DON, Σ (PFOA+PFNA+PFHxS+PFOS), bisphenol S and cadmium. The infrastructure and harmonized approach succeeded in obtaining comparable European wide internal exposure data for a prioritized set of 11 chemical groups. These data serve as a reference for comparison at the global level, provide a baseline to compare the efficacy of the European Commission's chemical strategy for sustainability and will give leverage to national policy makers for the implementation of targeted measures.

Proposal for a programme of periodic inspections for preventive maintenance of offshore monopiles

Offshore wind energy is a key technology for the European Union's decarbonisation strategy. To boost its growth, it is essential to further develop the know-how in some areas. To this end, the foundation is the most important structural element with the greatest economic impact on the project. An adequate maintenance strategy is necessary to guarantee its structural integrity over time.This article proposes a programme of periodic inspections for preventive maintenance of offshore monopiles. The proposal is supported by an extensive review of the existing applicable regulations of the offshore wind industry and other sectors, and a detailed survey of the most common damages in monopiles.As a result, five inspection levels are defined. For each level, the main objective of the inspection, the scope of works for each foundation element, the intervals and some of the necessary equipment and testing techniques are described.To complete the proposal, a full inspection program is developed for the entire service life of a monopile.

How much wilderness is left? A roadless approach under the Global and the European Biodiversity Strategy focusing on Greece

Preserving ecosystems of high ecological integrity is a crucial target in Biodiversity Strategies, also serving the 10 % target of strict land protection in the European Union (EU). We recommend roadless mapping to delineate wilderness and monitor progress against loss in natural areas. We mapped Greece's roadless land and assessed its ecological attributes. It accounted for 6.1 % of Greece and comprised 451 roadless sites of size over 1 km2: 389 roadless areas and 62 fully roadless islands. Roadless sites occurred in mountains and islands, were undeveloped (no artificial land), undisturbed (no major pressures, <1 % agricultural activity, low Human Influence Index), and natural (>99 % of natural and seminatural vegetation cover, 68 % of their extent in the Natura 2000 network). They also lay in a wilderness continuum of low landscape fragmentation index. Most roadless sites (302) were larger than 10 km2. Larger roadless areas occurred more in higher mountains and steeper terrains, had a lower Human Influence Index and a better Natura 2000 coverage. Roadless sites demonstrated a buffering capacity against naturalness loss and fires (2.5 times lower percentage of burnt land than the national average) but were vulnerable to Renewable Energy Sources deployment, particularly wind farms (33 % of roadless areas might be affected). In support of a roadless policy we suggest using roadless sites to delimit the strictly protected zones in the EU (and Greece), to map primary-old-growth forests, and pinpoint new candidate protected areas. We strongly recommend revisiting the REPowerEU plan to define roadless sites as non-go-to areas for relevant infrastructure deployments.

Exploring the effects of protected area networks on the European land system

The European Union's Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 seeks to protect 30% of land, with 10% under strict protection, while building a transnational nature network. We explore the effects of the Biodiversity Strategy targets for land use and ecosystem services across the European land system. To do so, we propose a novel approach, combining a methodological framework for improving green network connectivity with an EU-wide land system model. We identify an improved network of EU protected areas consistent with the 2030 targets, and explore its effects under different levels of protection and in a range of paired climatic and socio-economic scenarios. The existing network of protected areas is highly fragmented, with more than one third of its nodes being isolated. We find that prioritizing connectivity when implementing new protected areas could achieve the strategy's targets without compromising the future provision of ecosystem services, including food production, in Europe. However, we also find that EU-wide distributions of land uses and ecosystem services are influenced by the protected area network, and that this influence manifests differently in different climatic and socio-economic scenarios. Varying the strength of protection of the network had limited effects. Extractive services (food and timber production) decreased in protected areas, but non-extractive services increased, with compensatory changes occurring outside the network. Changes were small where competition for land was low and scenario conditions were benign, but became far larger and more extensive where competition was high and scenario conditions were challenging. Our findings highlight the apparent achievability of the EU's protected area targets, but also the need to account for adaptation in the wider land system and its consequences for spatial and temporal patterns of ecosystem services provision now and in the future.

Green environment in the EU countries: The role of financial inclusion, natural resources and energy intensity

The European Union pursues the European Green Deal strategy as well as Sustainable Development Goals, the main target of which is to become a carbon-neutral continent by 2050. Hence, a lot of environmental challenges need to be solved. Possible determinants in mitigating environmental challenges are financial inclusion, natural resources and interaction with a green environment. This concept implies preserving natural resources and a clean environment for future generations. However, there is still no clear evidence in the literature on how natural resources and financial inclusion interact with the green environment in the EU. Therefore, this paper aims at filling this gap. In order to obtain empirical results, the quantile regression econometric technique proposed by Koenker has been applied. The analyzed period was from 2004 to 2019 for EU-26 countries. The results show that higher energy intensity is the main cause of environmental degradation. However, financial inclusion in higher quantiles and natural resources rent lead to a reduction in carbon emissions. Our results also confirm that the EU has succeeded in decoupling economic growth from pollution. The robustness of the results was checked using a Powell's quantile regression, which confirmed the relationship between a green environment and the variables analyzed. Thus, the results suggest that financial inclusion needs to be more integrated into energy and climate policies, especially in the early stages of development. In addition, large-scale green investments are needed in EU countries to further reduce energy intensity and create an effective green environment.

Regulating the digital economy: explaining heterogenous business preferences in data governance

ABSTRACT As part of its European Data Strategy, the EU wants to create a market for non-personal data and unlock the sharing of industrial data between companies. This theory-building case study suggests that businesses’ data governance preferences are determined by their position in the data value chain and thus whether firms monetise data as data holders (producers) in the upstream or as data reusers (access seekers) in the downstream segment. While the latter favour legal rules for governing data sharing, the former prefer only contractual agreements. The data value chain theory draws on concepts of the role of data in value creation in the digital economy and on case evidence from the automotive and financial sectors, which are typical cases of digital disruption. The theory helps to better understand coalition building in business lobbying activities, the potential dynamics between private self-regulation and public policies, and the probable feedback effects of digital policies on corporate power sources.

A seed towards a sustainable food system in healthcare institutions: the case of the Basque Country

ABSTRACT Public procurement of food is seen as a critical tool for a paradigm shift and for facilitating the development of specific policy objectives to build sustainable food environments. Furthermore, the harnessing of the purchasing power of hospitals, prioritizing local and sustainable food, offers the potential to transform food production systems into more resilient production models and bring them in line with current European sustainability strategies. This paper analyses the current situation of sustainable food procurement strategies in Osakidetza, the Basque Health System, and identifies the challenges and action plans needed to develop a sustainable food strategy. Sustainable food procurement is still incipient in Osakidetza. This roadmap proposal is a basic but necessary contribution as a starting point. Likewise, we find contributions from agroecology that are interesting for the construction of sustainable food environments in health systems.

The European Union facing the abyss: legislative review in the face of the energy crisis, 2022

The European Union has suffered an energy crisis since June 2021 due to cyclical and structural factors, such as the climate crisis, the war in Ukraine and dependence on fossil fuels. EU leaders agreed on a new energy strategy to tackle the crisis and lay the foundations for a sustainable and decarbonised economy. The article aims to analyse energy prices and supply and the measures Europe took in 2022 to tackle the crisis. This European strategy includes promoting energy efficiency, diversifying energy sources, and reducing dependence on fossil fuels. EU legislative measures have also been proposed, such as a safety cap for gas prices and a temporary dynamic price corridor. However, some actions take time to implement quickly and effectively, and there may be costs and impacts on specific economic sectors. It is also difficult to predict the long-term effect of structural changes.

Analysis and Achievement s of the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 at the First Stage of its Implementation

Problem setting. Ensuring the full participation of people with disabilities in society, combating discrimination, removing barriers and combating social exclusion are the main goals of the European Union in the field of protection of the rights of persons with disabilities. The signing of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities by the European Union imposed an obligation to implement its provisions, which in turn necessitated the adoption of an instrument for the effective and full implementation of the Convention’s requirements. And European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 became such a tool. Analysis of recent researches and publications. Given the importance of this topic, the European disability policy attracts the attention of many foreign authors, including S. Charitakis, D. L. Hosking, Ch. O’Mahony, Sh. Quinlivan, L. Waddington. Among domestic lawyers, S. Vavzhenchuk, S. Maidanik, O. Melnyk, L. Susharnyk and others touched on this problem in their works. But in general, this problem remains little researched precisely in the science of international law, which gives it relevance. Target of the research is to analyze the European disability strategy 2010-2020, identify the main directions of its activities and assess the current state of implementation of relevant measures. Article’s main body. The article is devoted to the description of the state and problems of the implementation of The European Disability Strategy 2010-2020. The author provides a detailed analysis of the development and adoption process of the European Disability Strategy 2010-2020 and reveals the main goals and objectives of this document. The author also emphasizes the achievements that have been made during this stage of the implementation of the Strategy. Special attention in the paper is given to the recommendations provided by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities during the review of the Strategy and the possibilities for their implementation. Сonclusions and prospects for the development. The strategy was developed in response to the significant challenges faced by people with disabilities in accessing education, employment, healthcare, and other basic services. The strategy was designed to create a barrier-free Europe by 2020, where people with disabilities could enjoy equal opportunities and participate fully in society. The author highlights the recommendations provided by the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities during the review of the provisions of the European Disability Strategy 20102020. The most important conclusion is that «the goals of the decade-long strategy remain fully relevant» at this stage, and it has been decided to continue implementing existing measures until the end of the Strategy’s term. It can be said that the progress made at this stage, particularly in terms of accessibility, is quite significant and allows for greater opportunities for people with disabilities to integrate and actively participate in society.

Long‐term care in EU policy 1999‐2022: women's responsibility, migrants' work?

AbstractAs the population of the European Union (EU) is ageing and its working‐age population shrinking, concerns are rising about how the growing demand for long‐term care (LTC) will be met. Since unpaid care, provided mainly by women, is increasingly scarce, some EU states are becoming dependent on migrant labour for the functioning of their elder care systems. To address the growing deficit of care in the EU, the European Commission put forward a European Care Strategy, for the first time proposing a stand‐alone policy on LTC. This followed on from a Commission proposal for a new strategy on migration, calling for labour migrants to be proactively attracted to work in the EU's care sector. As the (lack of) availability of LTC is increasingly shaping EU policy, it is timely to investigate what its impact is on key policy areas, such as gender equality, social and migration policies.

Global Research Progress and Trends on Critical Metals: A Bibliometric Analysis

In the perspective of observing the latest worldwide and European strategies toward green transition and delivering a secured access to local resources, the objective of this study was to analyze the research progress on critical materials and, more specific, critical metals and review the future research hot-topics for critical metals. Consequently, a bibliometric analysis for the assessment of the current state of the art research, future trends as well as evolution through time of the critical metals research was performed in the present work. The study included four phases of work: (i) search string selection, (ii) data collection, (iii) data processing, and (iv) data interpretation. A total of 433 publications on critical metals were collected from Scopus database between 1977 and 2023, with an increasing yearly trend and a burst in 2013. The data retrieved showed a significant increase in publications related to the topic in the last 10 years. The results show that research interest is concentrated around six critical areas: (i) bioleaching as an important process of critical metal recovery, (ii) circular economy concepts and recovery of critical metals by urban mining from e-waste, (iii) resource recovery from waste landfills as urban mines, (iv) targeted studies on various critical elements (copper, zinc, gallium, silver, lithium), (v) rare elements as industry vitamins and, (vi) coal deposits and coal ashes as an alternative source of critical metals. This analysis could provide important guidance for further directions on the development of research for recovery of critical metals.

A “lifeline out of the COVID‐19 crisis”? An ecofeminist critique of the European Green Deal

A “lifeline out of the <scp>COVID</scp>‐19 crisis”? An ecofeminist critique of the European Green Deal

HBM4EU results support the Chemicals' Strategy for Sustainability and the Zero-Pollution Action Plan.

One of the major goals of the European Human Biomonitoring Initiative (HBM4EU) was to bridge the gap between science and policy by consulting both policy makers and national scientists and generating evidence of the actual exposure of residents to chemicals and whether that exposure would be suggest a potential health risk. Residents' perspectives on chemical exposure and risk were also investigated. HBM4EU's research was designed to answer specific short-term and long-term policy questions at national and European levels, and for its results to directly support regulatory action on chemicals. A strategy was established to prioritise chemicals for analysis in human matrices, with a total of 18 substances/substance groups chosen to be investigated throughout the five-and a -half-year project. HBM4EU produced new evidence of human exposure levels, developed reference values for exposure, investigated determinants of exposure and derived health-based guidance values for those substances. In addition, HBM4EU promoted the use of human biomonitoring data in chemical risk assessment and developed innovative tools and methods linking chemicals to possible health impacts, such as effect biomarkers. Furthermore, HBM4EU advanced understand of effects from combined exposures and methods to identify emerging chemicals. With the aim of supporting policy implementation, science-to-policy workshops were organised, providing opportunities for joint reflection and dialogue on research results. I, and indicators were developed to assess temporal and spatial patterns in the exposure of European population. A sustainable human biomonitoring monitoring framework, producing comparable quality assured data would allow: the evaluation of time trends; the exploration of spatial trends: the evaluation of the influence of socio-economic conditions on chemical exposure. Therefore, such a framework should be included in the European Chemicals' Strategy for Sustainability and the data would support the Zero Pollution Action Plan.

Perennial Grass Species for Bioenergy Production: The State of the Art in Mechanical Harvesting

Future European strategies to reduce dependence on foreign markets for energy supply and energy production will rely on the further exploitation of the primary sector. Lignocellulosic feedstock for bioenergy production is a valuable candidate, and dedicated crops such as giant reed (Arundo donax L.), miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus), reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea L.), and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) have been proven to be suitable for extensive cultivation on marginal lands. The present review aimed at providing a comprehensive picture of the mechanical strategies available for harvesting giant reed, miscanthus, reed canary grass, and switchgrass that are suitable for the possible upscaling of their supply chain. Since harvesting is the most impactful phase of a lignocellulosic supply chain in dedicated crops, the associated performance and costs were taken into account in order to provide concrete observations and suggestions for future implementation. The findings of the present review highlighted that the investigated species have a sufficient technology readiness level concerning mechanical harvesting for the upscaling of their cultivation. All the species could indeed be harvested with existing machinery, mostly derived from the context of haymaking, without compromising the work productivity.

FEASIBILITY OF IMPLEMENTING INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES IN THE PROCESS OF FOREIGN LANGUAGE TEACHING

The article deals with the feasibility of implementing information and communication technologies in the process of foreign language teaching. The specifics of their use in order to improve the quality of foreign language teaching have been revealed. The role of information-communication technologies in providing a student-centred approach have been described. The prospects for implementing digital learning and the possibilities of cross-border initiatives within the Bologna Process and the Erasmus+ programme have been analysed. Particular attention has been paid to the role of information-communication technologies in internationalisation of student youth and scientific-pedagogical staff at the global level, the development of partnerships with leading institutions of the world, which improves the quality of education, teaching and research. The development of educational partnerships as a key element of the European strategy of cooperation with other regions of the world has been considered. It has been found out that the wide availability of high-quality educational resources, the ability to adapt these materials to specific conditions cause significant qualitative changes at different levels of education in many countries. The European experience in the development of e-learning strategies, the structure of pedagogical training and institutional support, as well as the possibility of integrating it into the national system of foreign language teachers’ advanced training have been researched.