European Union Policy Research Articles

A “watered-down” solution? Deconstructing the ecosystem approach in Swedish policy affecting fisheries management

This study seeks to deconstruct an ecosystem approach in Swedish national policy pertaining to fisheries management, not least because fisheries are integral to the global agenda of improved marine environmental status. The ’ecosystem approach’ is identified across European Union (EU) policy as the pathway for sustainable management of natural resources, due to its ambition to balance a diversity of interests and account for social and ecological interdependencies within and across ecosystems. Yet an ambiguous and inconsistent representation of the ecosystem approach in policy makes it difficult to implement. In EU policy and many other contexts, the ecosystem approach is largely uncontested as the solution for sustainably managing resources yet can lead to unintended material consequences based on how it is implemented. It therefore becomes pertinent to critically analyze what the ‘ecosystem approach’ solution is represented to be across policy calling for its implementation. Using a poststructuralist approach to analyze three of Sweden’s national policy documents pertaining to fisheries, my study finds that the ecosystem approach in these policy documents is ‘watered-down’ in terms of its use as a solution for making fisheries management more sustainable. At a minimum, implementing an ecosystem approach in fisheries requires a consistent definition of what this entails. Yet differences between the documents in terms of whether they assume a systemic approach that accounts for intersectoral impacts, and the extent to which they prioritize industry, people, or nature, makes the implementation of an ecosystem approach in Swedish fisheries management improbable. Should policy pertaining to fisheries in Sweden wish to manage ecosystems sustainably, I suggest it needs to better account for land-sea interactions to incorporate the social and ecological impacts of the fishing sector more strategically.

The European Union-Intersectionality Framework: Unpacking Intersectionality in the ‘Union of Equality’ Agenda

In recent years, the concept of intersectionality has gained significant prominence in the policy discourse of the European Union (EU). However, several scholars have noted a lack of engagement with intersectionality’s core social justice principles and stressed the need to carefully examine how intersectionality is taken up in EU policy. To contribute to this effort, the authors propose a new ‘EU-Intersectionality’ framework to analyse intersectionality in EU policy, combining elements of Critical Frame Analysis and identifying eight core criteria to operationalize intersectionality in EU policy texts and leverage its politically emancipatory potential. The resulting framework sheds light on how intersectionality has fared within EU policy contexts. Specifically, it asks which dimensions of intersectionality are captured, and which elements are left behind. We illustrate the framework by analysing the EU’s ‘Union of Equality’ strategies on anti-racism; gender equality; lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer equality; Roma equality and the rights of persons with disabilities. We conclude that the EU-Intersectionality framework allows to dissect the varied and conflicting ways in which intersectionality is operationalized within EU policies – while some aspects of the ‘Union of Equality’ agenda resonate with the social justice aims behind the concept, the use of intersectionality remains superficial and largely maintains the status quo. Our findings caution against the co-optation of intersectionality in EU policymaking, while recognising the progressive advancements made within the EU equality policy area.

Viticulture and the European Union's Common Agricultural Policy (CAP): Historical overview, current situation and future perspective

AbstractThe grapevine is one of the most important perennial fruit crops worldwide. The historical stability of winegrowing methods has spanned almost 3000 years since the introduction of viticulture in Europe. However, in the last 70 years, the wine sector in the Europe has experienced substantial transformations. These changes are attributed to the widespread adoption of mechanisation and industralisation in the 1950s and the establishment of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). The growing concern for the environment and climate change in the European Union (EU) has significantly influenced the successive reforms of the CAP. These reforms have resulted in the acquisition of new commitments to protect the environment, mitigate climate change and reduce biodiversity loss over the years. In this work, we carried out a critical analysis of the most relevant aspects of the new CAP and address the regulatory framework of organic agriculture in the EU as a tool for improving the sustainability of vineyards. Currently, Spain is the country with the largest vineyard area in the world, reaching 964,000 hectares. This represents 13% of the world's vineyards and 30% in the EU, which demonstrates the importance of this crop in Europe. Due to its relevance, we focused our critical analyses of the new CAP on Spain as a case study. The latest reform of the CAP, applicable for the period 2023‐2027, is the most ambitious in environmental terms and includes instruments such as reinforced conditionality, eco‐schemes and payments for agri‐environment–climate commitments. Finally, we propose that by integrating concepts and management strategies from current organic and regenerative viticulture together with historical strategies derived from treatises and classic authors across a wide range of societies and cultures, the goals of the new CAP can be successfully met. This will contribute to reuniting the past, the present and the future of viticulture for a more nature‐based winemaking.

The Use of a New Ionic Derivative of Salicylic Acid in Sugar Beet Cultivation

The need for sustainable development in the context of pesticide use has been recognized by the European Union. The “Farm to Fork Strategy” indicates a goal of 50% reduction in pesticide use by 2030. To address this challenge, we used the concept of ionic liquids to modify known resistance inducers, i.e., a group of substances whose action is indicated as an alternative to fungicides. A new, patented substance developed by us, which is a choline 3,5-dichlorosalicylate, has been tested in the context of its use in sugar beet cultivation with the aim of controlling Cercospora leaf spot (CLS). The results suggest that the use of this substance in combination with one fungicide treatment reduces disease infection and produces yields very similar to the use of a standard protection program assuming the use of two fungicides. Such results provide the basis for further development of 3,5-dichlorosalicylate in terms of its use in agriculture. Thanks to its use, it was possible to resign from one fungicide treatment, while maintaining protection against CLS and yields at the same level as for the full fungicide protection program. Such an approach is in line with European Union policies.

Index for Public Administration Resilience Against Hybrid Threats

EU countries are dependent on the import of many raw materials. The geopolitical situation significantly impacts the European Union's raw materials policy. Hybrid threats are a serious challenge to security and stability in the world. They are very diverse in terms of actors, activities, or tools. The relationship between the EU's raw materials policy and hybrid threats is complex and influenced by a number of factors. In principle, however, it can be said that due to its dependence on importing raw materials from third countries, the EU is more prone to become the object of hybrid threats that these countries can use to promote their interests. The resistance of the public administration to hybrid threats is one of the important factors that can help the EU reduce the risk of threats to raw material policy by hybrid threats. The aim of the contribution is to create a new composite index, KAPA, which measures the resistance of public administration to hybrid threats. The proposed index has five dimensions – cybersecurity, resistance to disinformation, compliance with laws and security, protection against corruption, and prevention of a sovereign debt crisis. When constructing the KAPA index, we start from the apparatus of fuzzy sets. We have drawn all data from reputable, publicly available databases. According to the KAPA index, the countries ranked best are Estonia, Denmark, Finland, Sweden, and the Netherlands. The worst-ranked countries were Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Bulgaria, and Croatia. The results confirmed that fragile states, measured by the Fragile States Index FSI, are also more vulnerable to hybrid threats and have less resilient public administration.

The European Union Climate Diplomacy: Evolving Practices in a Changing Geopolitical Context

Summary The European Union (EU) has systematically promoted global climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts. Since the 1990s, despite varying success in international climate negotiations, it has sought to take a leadership role in global climate politics. Internal consolidation of environmental and climate policies has enhanced EU policy coherence and strengthened its ability to influence international efforts to mitigate climate change. Globally, however, the picture is marred by geopolitical competition, rendering the context of global climate politics less propitious for the EU’s climate leadership. This article examines how the EU’s climate diplomacy is adapting to an increasingly complex international context. It finds that while the EU climate action is still premised on the deep-seated beliefs of the EU’s ambitious approach to climate, the practices of EU climate diplomacy have adapted to a changing geopolitical context. This evolution is traced through a set of key diplomatic practices: narration, co-ordination, outreach and mainstreaming.

Evaluation of the ecological risk of pesticide residues from the European LUCAS Soil monitoring 2018 survey.

The 2018 LUCAS (Land Use and Coverage Area frame Survey) Soil Pesticides survey provides a European Union (EU)-scale assessment of 118 pesticide residues in more than 3473 soil sites. This study responds to the policy need to develop risk-based indicators for pesticides in the environment. Two mixture risk indicators are presented for soil based, respectively, on the lowest and the median of available No Observed Effect Concentration (NOECsoil,min and NOECsoil,50) from publicly available toxicity datasets. Two further indicators were developed based on the corresponding equilibrium concentration in the aqueous phase and aquatic toxicity data, which are available as species sensitivity distributions. Pesticides were quantified in 74.5% of the sites. The mixture risk indicator based on the NOECsoil,min exceeds 1 in 14% of the sites and 0.1 in 23%. The insecticides imidacloprid and chlorpyrifos and the fungicide epoxiconazole are the largest contributors to the overall risk. At each site, one or a few substances drive mixture risk. Modes of actions most likely associated with mixture effects include modulation of acetylcholine metabolism (neonicotinoids and organophosphate substances) and sterol biosynthesis inhibition (triazole fungicides). Several pesticides driving the risk have been phased out since 2018. Following LUCAS surveys will determine the effectiveness of substance-specific risk management and the overall progress toward risk reduction targets established by EU and UN policies. Newly generated data and knowledge will stimulate needed future research on pesticides, soil health, and biodiversity protection. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:1639-1653. © 2024 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of Society of Environmental Toxicology & Chemistry (SETAC).

Health policy developments in the Western Balkan Countries 2000-19: towards European Health and Health Care Policies.

Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia have committed to becoming European Union (EU) member states. This, among others, implies that candidate/potential candidate states adopt legally authorized EU policies, including health. The study aims to identify the main country-specific health policy areas critical to the EU accession health policy dimension and present the change in associated selected health indicators from 2000 to 2019. The study draws on published reports and analyses of official statistics over time and cross-country. Health care policy adherence to the European Commission's recommended country-specific health actions was classified into five health policy areas: financing, payment, organization, regulation and persuasion. Key health policy areas for Western Balkan countries (WBCs) were identified. Health progress or lack thereof in catching up to the EU15 population health, health expenditure and the number of health professionals are measured. The European Commission prioritized financing and regulation for all WBCs in the five policy areas. Nine of the 18 analyzed selected health indicators showed divergence, and the other nine converged towards the EU15 averages. WBCs continue to face diverse public health challenges in improving life expectancy at birth, death rates caused by circulatory system diseases, malignant neoplasms, traffic accidents, psychoactive substance use, tuberculosis incidence, tobacco smoking prevalence and public-sector health expenditure. By 2019, there is limited evidence of WBCs catching up to the average EU15 health levels and health care policies. Closer attention towards EU health and health care policies would be favourable.

Evaluating policy coherence and integration for adaptation: the case of EU policies and Arctic cross-border climate change impacts

ABSTRACT The impacts of climate change materialize in different ways and are of varying magnitudes at different locations around the world. Adaptation is a global policy challenge because some of those impacts propagate across borders. The presence of borders influences the policy responses that may aim at preventing, alleviating, or exploiting the impacts. Yet the dynamics of responses to cross-border impacts have not been explored in research on policy coherence. We extend the analysis of climate policy coherence and integration to cover adaptation policies that are enacted at different but interacting geographical locations, proposing a conceptual approach how to do this. We illustrate our approach with examples of European Union (EU) policies related to the cross-border ramifications of climate change impacts originating in the Arctic. Our example highlights interconnections between climate change adaptation policy with foreign, security and trade policies. Since climate change impacts are transmitted through systems that cross borders, policymakers in the EU and elsewhere should recognize the links between policy domains with potential significance in responding to these propagating impacts. The policy responses of a recipient region at risk of such impacts are limited by jurisdictional borders. By explicitly recognizing elements of integration and coherence, more effective policy actions can be developed. Seeking coherence between climate and other policies between different regions, intertwined together via global networks of trade and other relations, should be a fundamental policy goal for the EU.

Industrial policy for a circular industrial transition in Sweden: An exploratory analysis

Currently, both the US and the EU are pursuing industrial policies to support climate mitigation objectives. The climate transition will require increased use of material resources, but the envisioned industrial policies do not sufficiently address resource use, despite the current unsustainable global resource-use trajectory. The lack of industrial policy in this field is therefore relevant and timely to address. This exploratory contribution aims to gain an understanding on how an industrial policy for Circular Economy (CE) transition in Sweden could be designed. The methods employed are literature reviews and interviews with 18 senior experts. The research finds that a Swedish industrial policy focusing on the CE transition is needed, together with larger public investments in CE-related technologies. Few existing policy instruments functioning as industrial policy for CE are identified, but many additional instruments could potentially serve this objective. The interviews provide insights into the specific policy needs, the factors determining policy-design, and the choice of sectors and value chains for policies to target. A relevant policy mix includes policy instruments such as green tax shifting, differentiated Value Added Tax, Circular Public Procurement, funding schemes, but also an improved institutional framework. Policy criteria should be based on environmental impact, but also on potential competitive advantages, and close alignment with European Union policies. The study concludes that a policy mix combining new and expanded industrial policy instruments, focusing on correcting market failures, market creation, and capacity-building, can support a circular industrial transition.

Differentiation, dominance and fairness in the European Union: Bringing in the citizens’ perspective

AbstractThis article analyses whether and how fairness considerations affect citizens’ support of European Union (EU) policies and integration. While past literature has revealed that perceptions of procedural and substantive fairness impact on public opinion at the level of the nation state, we know less about the fairness‐support nexus when it comes to international cooperation. We here make use of the case of differentiated integration (DI) to experimentally dissect normative and utility‐oriented considerations in the evaluation of EU policies. DI as an instrument to overcome heterogeneity‐induced gridlock has been linked to both autonomy and dominance, and it can generate winners and losers in the EU. Our experiments reveal that citizens largely support DI. However, they are opposed to forms of DI which impose negative externalities on a subgroup of EU member states. This holds irrespective of the affectedness of citizens’ own member states. We take these findings as a first experimental confirmation that citizens, indeed, care about the fairness of the EU and its policies.

Inconsistencies in the EU regulatory risk assessment of PFAS call for readjustment

Recognition of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) as widespread environmental pollutants and a consequent risk to human health, has recently made the European Union (EU) adopt several regulatory measures for their management. The coherence of these measures is challenged by the diversity and the ubiquitous occurrence of PFAS, which also complicates the EU’s endeavor to advance justified, harmonized, and transparent approaches in the regulatory assessment of chemical risks. Our study critically reviews the European approach for the risk assessment of PFAS, by applying a comparative analysis of the current and pending regulatory thresholds issued for these chemicals in water bodies, drinking water, and certain foodstuffs. Our study shows that the level of health protection embedded in the studied thresholds may differ by three orders of magnitude, even in similar exposure settings. This is likely to confuse the common understanding of the toxicity and health risks of PFAS and undermine reasonable decision-making and the equal treatment of different stakeholders. We also indicate that currently, no consensus exists on the appropriate level of required health protection regarding PFAS and that the recently adopted tolerable intake value in the EU is too cautious. Based on our analysis, we propose some simple solutions on how the studied regulations and their implicit PFAS thresholds or their application could be improved. We further conclude that instead of setting EU-wide PFAS thresholds for all the environmental compartments, providing the member states with the flexibility to consider case-specific factors, such as regional background concentrations or food consumption rates, in their national regulatory procedures would likely result in more sustainable management of environmental PFAS without compromising the scientific foundation of risk assessment, the legitimacy of the EU policy framework and public health.

Defining the maximum nitrogen surplus in water management plans to recover nitrate polluted aquifers in Spain

Nitrate pollution in aquifers is a global concern. Spain has developed a national strategy to recover nitrate polluted aquifers aligned with the European Union (EU) policies, specifically through the water planning under the EU Water Framework Directive. River basin management plans use PATRICAL model results to define the maximum nitrogen surplus in each polluted aquifer for the first time. The maximum nitrogen surplus allows to reach the good status in each aquifer and the model provides the number of years required.Around 30% of the aquifers in Spain is currently heavily polluted by nitrates. Model results show that 90% of these aquifers can be recovered in next 6–12 years by increasing nitrogen use efficiency and reducing nitrogen losses around 50%, which is in line with the EU Farm to Fork Strategy. The remaining aquifers require additional reductions to achieve the good status. In Spain this increase in nitrogen efficiency can be obtained with different measures including 30% reduction of current fertilization.

Now they can cope? The Green Deal and the contested meaning of sustainability in EU sectoral governance

The European Union (EU) has long discursively positioned itself as a global frontrunner for sustainability and climate protection. Nevertheless, substantive progress toward sustainability goals has not been reached in several governance areas, such as transport and mobility. Especially at the local scale, the highly complex and technocratic EU policy framework is confronted with increasingly polarized claim-making regarding ecological, social and economic problems. With its recent Green Deal governance architecture, the European Commission has sought to address this ideational and institutional fragmentation and resulting stalemate toward reaching “climate neutrality” by proposing ambitious sectoral policies and new governance instruments. This problem-driven paper exploratively investigates the ongoing reconfigurations the Green Deal induces within EU governance. Using the example of the urban mobility sector and employing an interpretive analysis of key policy documents and expert/stakeholder interviews, the paper links the literatures on EU governance architectures and norm dynamics. It discusses potentials and pitfalls for meaning-making processes in times of the socioecological polycrisis. Notably, it critically evaluates the Green Deal’s capacity to open and sustain spaces for translating sustainability across horizontally and vertically fragmented realms of EU governance.

Geoscience for Cities: Delivering Europe’s Sustainable Urban Future

European Union (EU) policy is clear in its ambition to deliver a sustainable urban future for Europe. In this paper, we consider the role of urban geoscience to help achieve these ambitions. We highlight the relevance of geology to urban subsurface planning and wider EU policy and strategy. Despite the lack of explicit mention of urban underground space in key policy documents, we identify a significant number of priority urban issues for which geological characterisation is a pre-requisite and for which the geological system forms part of the solution, such as mitigation of climate impacts, delivering net zero energy, and implementing nature-based solutions. We reflect on the paradigm shift of urban geoscience as a geological discipline, rooted initially in engineering geology but which has moved towards an interdisciplinary, solution-focused science operating at the inter-section of environmental–social–built systems. In this regard, we highlight cutting-edge urban geoscience research aligned to current urban challenges and note, in particular, the significance of digital technologies to enable 3D urban characterisation, support data-driven decision-making for planning and development, and serve as a means to communicate geology to urban practitioners. The role of the urban geoscientist as an agent of change to enhance integrated science, improve the accessibility of geological issues, and accelerate the translation of national–regional geology to local settings and to urban policy drivers should not be underestimated.

Energy Lobbying in the Decision-Making Process of the European Union

Lobbying is part of social life and constitutes an informal path of influencing politics at the national and international levels. The EU is a prime example of an organisation wherein Member States act as lobbyists trying to influence EU policy. The energy transformation that has begun is a process that is particularly dependent on the shaping of climate and energy policy at the European Union level should one compare it to previous socio-technical transformations, with interest advocacy playing an important role in this process. This article aims at examining and explaining the activities and influence of Germany’s lobbying on the shaping of energy policy in the European Union (EU). The subject of the research is Germany’s lobbying strategy based on the Europeanisation of the country’s energy transition (in German, Energiewende). The research shows that lobbying activities have had the intended effect of Europeanising Germany’s Energiewende, which has allowed for increased innovation in technology and as well as increased production of products from the broader environmental sector. Furthermore, these activities have created new jobs in the sector, which has kick-started and strengthened the German economy. In conclusion, the more resources a Member State has and the longer it has been a member of the EU, the better the conditions are for effective lobbying.

The Role of European Union in Refugee Crisis on Belarusian Border – European Union in 2021 - 2022

This article aims to analyze the role of the European Union in handling the refugee crisis at the Belarusian-European Union border in 2021-2022. The refugee crisis at the Belarusian-European Union border poses significant challenges for the European Union in various aspects, such as politics, security, and humanity. This research uses a qualitative approach and is then analyzed to explain the evaluation of the European Union's policies, responses, and strategies in responding to this crisis. Through an in-depth study of the policies and actions taken by the European Union, this article outlines the European Union's response to the refugee crisis on the Belarus – European Union border. This includes diplomatic efforts, humanitarian assistance, and security strategies implemented by the European Union to address problems arising from the crisis. In addition, this article also analyzes the challenges faced by the European Union in dealing with this refugee crisis, including coordination between member countries and internal political consequences. This research found that the role of the European Union in the refugee crisis on the Belarus-European Union border is in the form of providing financial assistance to refugees trapped in the border area. The European Union has also facilitated the Schengen forum, which will be held in 2022. The European Union has also closed its border areas due to the interests of national member countries with direct borders, such as Poland, Latvia, and Lithuania. The European Union also imposed sanctions on Belarus because it was deemed responsible for the crisis that occurred.

Assessing the environmental impact of plastic flows in urban areas: A life cycle assessment and scenario analysis study

Urban areas have a considerable impact on the environment. Among the sectors contributing to the environmental impacts is plastic product usage, resulting in urban plastic waste accumulation. There exists a need to determine and evaluate plastic flows and their environmental impacts in urban areas. Our research comprehended the modelling of the eight most commonly used plastic polymers in a system of a European city with 10^5 inhabitants for the year 2020. A scenario analysis was conducted, considering the European Union's policy of achieving a 65 % recycling rate by 2035. Plastic production contributes to most environmental impacts during the life cycle, where polyurethane, polystyrene and other plastic types are at the forefront. The results per waste management options revealed that recycling is still preferable for plastic waste, followed by incineration and landfill. Recycling potential was further noted during the scenario analysis, where an increased recycling fraction following the EU's policy could decrease the environmental impacts of global warming by a margin of 20 %–45 % and fossil resource scarcity by a margin of 20 %–52 % per individual plastic polymer. While the established model indicates potential benefits, improved data collecting, and further research are needed to improve the model and establish a plastic nexus within urban areas.

Specific Issues in Teaching Consumer Psychology and Marketing Communication in the Context of New Challenges and Information Literacy

In recent years, we have been increasingly confronted with misinformation, hoaxes, and harmful, artificially created fake news. Negative socio-economic developments (including the COVID-19 pandemic, the war in Ukraine, and the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) and their ensuing consequences (societal polarisation, heightened aggression, distrust, and a generally hostile atmosphere) have created a fertile breeding ground for their proliferation. Misinformation and disinformation also challenge the teaching of consumer psychology and marketing communication. One of the primary reasons for this is the alarming trend of people rejecting scientific knowledge, losing trust in scientists and doctors, and turning to alternative sources of information. This scepticism extends to various aspects, including climate change, European Union policies, and other matters. From the consumer psychology standpoint, this represents a significant concern, as disinformation directly hinders the realisation of sustainable development goals outlined in the 2030 Agenda. This paper aims to underscore the specific challenges in teaching modern consumer psychology and propose novel pedagogical approaches that simultaneously enhance information literacy.

How ad hoc coalitions deinstitutionalize international institutions

Abstract As ad hoc coalitions (AHCs) proliferate, particularly on the African continent, two questions crystallize. First, what consequences do they bring about for the existing institutional security landscape? And second, how can the trend of AHCs operating alongside instead of inside international organizations be captured and explored conceptually? To answer these questions, we closely examine the Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) fighting Boko Haram and its changing relationship to the African Union. Through the case-study and a review of policy and academic literatures, the article launches the concept of deinstitutionalization and how it can be characterized. We identify three features of deinstitutionalization: AHCs can bypass standard procedures for decision-making processes, whittle down established institutional scripts and shift resource allocations. We detail how the AHCs contribute to changing practices of financing international peace and security operations, with an examination of European Union and United Nations policies and practices. In sum, the article unwraps processes of deinstitutionalization and identifies three forms of rationales for this process: lack of problem-solving capacity, limited adaptability and path dependency.