European Union Approach Research Articles

Global supply chain network design and Asian analysis with material-based carbon emissions and tax

Global warming has become a serious problem. Global supply chain networks in Asia should reduce not only CO2 emissions but also the fixed opening costs for factories/routes as well as the cost of transportation and procurement. Life cycle assessment (LCA) quantitatively estimates and visualizes the CO2 emissions for each part based on their component materials produced on a country by country basis using a life cycle inventory (LCI) database. In general, in order to reduce both of the CO2 emissions and the costs, supply chain planners should make the decision to switch the suppliers of component parts with higher CO2 emissions but lower procurement costs from emerging countries and/or with lower CO2 emissions but higher procurement costs from developed countries. In addition, the European Union (EU) approaches to reducing CO2 emissions through the introduction of emissions tax and trading. This study proposes a design method of an Asian global supply chain network that minimizes the costs under targeted material-based CO2 emissions reduction ratios, and determines the suppliers and factory locations that satisfy demands for low-carbon material supply, through the adoption of the Asian LCI database. Based on this result, a sensitivity analysis is conducted by changing emission prices for reducing the costs and the carbon emissions, and the difference between the supply chain networks comprising of either two and three different Asian countries is compared.

Introduction: a narrative turn in European studies

In recent years, there has been a tendency to explain the successes or failures in formulating and justifying policy or polity-building proposals for the European Union (EU) in terms of the difficulty in articulating narratives appealing to the contemporary European public. However, narrative analyses are an emerging approach and the theoretical and methodological underpinnings of these debates are sometimes not made explicit. This special issue contributes to debating the potential of narrative analyses for understanding the EU, their methodological and thematic approaches as well as their limits. The articles that follow address three issues. Firstly, they consider how narratives have become prominent in academic interest and political practice in recent years. Secondly, they consider how the EU institutions have embarked in explicit or implicit attempts to build narratives of European political and cultural union through debates on the state of the Union, through cultural committees seeking to give the European project a cultural or artistic ‘soul’ or through designing euro banknotes. Finally, they analyse societal narratives of ‘Europeanness’ in relation to history, memory or cultural diversity.

Differentiation through bargaining power in EU–Azerbaijan relations: Baku as a tough negotiator

ABSTRACTUsing the case of democracy and human rights promotion, this article examines the concept of “differentiation” in relations between Azerbaijan and the European Union (EU). Post-independence, Azerbaijan increasingly positions itself as a strong and influential actor, demanding more discretion from the EU, based on equal input and interest representation. This article argues that the EU approach remains too unilateral, causing the Azerbaijani government to resist and gain influence through different routes, including lobbying activities. The article concludes that EU policy-making mechanisms could become more differentiated to reflect the political reality of changing power dynamics between the EU and Azerbaijan.

Cross-border issues under EU data protection law with regards to personal data protection

ABSTRACTWe are living in an inter-connected, global digital society where the services of different operating systems are universal in nature, but many Internet activities are still being tackled by national laws and regulations. A long-existing question is which law is applicable in cases of Internet activities because the online world does not have any physical boundaries. How the European Union (EU) approaches this duality has become a concern for data protection laws. By analysing some recent Court of Justice of the European Union case laws, this article seeks to discover how the EU data protection law tackles disputes involving transnational issues online, which includes its extra-territorial application and cross-border data transfers. The article also indicates that there is an enormous gap between legislation and practice.

Coherences and Differences among EU, US and PRC Approaches for Rural Urban Development: Interscalar and Interdisciplinary Analysis

The main goal of this paper is to translate the indexing of a projects’ Data Base, based on EU vocabulary on rural urban development, into different lexicons. Built on the groundwork laid in previous researches, the authors want to enlarge the methodology applied in European Union (EU) territory and defined with Rural Architectural Intensification (RAI) and Rural Architectural Urbanism (RAU) to other contexts, in particular People’s Republic of China (PRC) and United States (US), keeping, however, this research at theoretical and methodological definition level. The study of coherences and differences between EU, US and China for rural urban development implies an interscalar and interdisciplinary analysis approach. It must be in complete adherence with national and specific directives and objectives in all the different selected countries. The analysis of main literature and national and federal laws of Europe, United States and China allows the definition of the Strategic Objectives and Main Goals for Rural Development identifying indicators and criteria. They permit to measure intensification’s outcomes in a qualitative way through the description and interpretation of operative tools for architecture and landscape design. Finally, the organized database and the territorial results can be considered as guidelines to support decision makers in rural-urban context. In addition, the whole procedure presented along with the projects’ database is a significant research package for further interdisciplinary applications.

The Impact of EU Political Conditionality on Minority Rights in Western Balkans: Insights from the Croatian Enlargement

Abstract The present paper addresses the following questions: In what way have the European Union (EU) political conditionality affect minority rights in the Western Balkan (WB) region? Did the EU political conditionality on minority issues succeed in addressing the stateness problems in Croatia? With the term “impact” I mean the absorption of formal and informal rules, procedures, norms and practices and I am going to analyze the relation European Union/Western Balkans as unidirectional i.e. the transposing of EU rules on accession countries. In the first part of this work I will analyse the EU standard of minority rights (internal dimension) and compare it with the norm ‘content’ in its external dimension. In the second part, the EU approach concerning minority rights toward the WB region, will be explored. In order to do so I will analyse the Enlargement Strategy and Main Challenges produced by the European Commission (EC) from 2004. In the above document the EC emphasize the main challenges and set out the priorities for the whole region, considered as a single entity. In Western Balkans region we do have an example of recent accession. For this reason, the empirical analysis of this paper will focus on the pre-accession process of one of the new member states, Croatia. In the end I will draw some conclusions concerning the future prospects of the WB region concerning the EU conditionality and the real impact of minority right in the process.

Development of the Organised Crime Threat Assessment (OCTA) and Internal Security Architecture

La version francaise de cet article peut etre consultee a: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2022359This briefing paper provides an overview of the existing European Union approach to issues of security, counter-terrorism, and organised crime. In particular, it focuses on the role of the European Security Strategy (ESS) in the formation of policy and in the development of new institutions and institutional arrangements within the EU, and the influence of the Organised Crime Threat Assessment (OCTA).The paper argues that steps should be taken to streamline and rationalise the existing structures concerned with security, counter-terrorism and organised crime, and strongly recommends that a “Committee on Internal Security” be established to act as a single point of reference and clearinghouse for the work of the various EU agencies and institutions concerned with security, counter-terrorism and organised crime.

Where policy and practice collide: Comparing United States, South African and European Union approaches to protecting children online

That children have a right to protection when they go online is an internationally well-established principle, upheld in laws that seek to safeguard children from online abuse and exploitation. However, children’s own transgressive behaviour can test the boundaries of this protection regime, creating new dilemmas for lawmakers the world over. This article examines the policy response from both the Global North and South to young people’s online behaviour that may challenge adult conceptions of what is acceptable, within existing legal and policy frameworks. It asks whether the ‘childhood innocence’ implied in much protection discourse is a helpful basis for promoting children’s rights in the digital age. Based on a comparative analysis of the emerging policy trends in Europe, South Africa and the United States, the article assesses the implications for policymakers and child welfare specialists as they attempt to redraw the balance between children’s online safety while supporting their agency as digital citizens.

Net Neutrality: An Incyte Perspective responding to recent developments in the European Union

The road to net neutrality within the European Union (EU) has been slow and winding. However, a major milestone was reached in August 2016 through the publication of the BEREC Guidelines on the Implementation by National Regulators of European Net Neutrality Rules. These Guidelines, which must be given the “utmost consideration” by national regulators, provide the EU’s first detailed and unambiguous regulatory commitment to net neutrality, and are carefully crafted to balance the needs of content providers and network operators. This extended article explores the scope of the net neutrality principle as understood and applied in a number of jurisdictions. The approach in the EU is contrasted with the approaches of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States (US) and of a number of other countries. Although there are some constants that recur for net neutrality in all of the countries examined, there remain a variety of specific local connotations.The article indicates that the question, “What is net neutrality?” will continue to be asked and continue to be very apposite for some time. The EU approach, with the BEREC Guidelines, will likely be central to a more harmonised approach worldwide.It also argues that the new EU framework is likely to be even more influential than its highly publicized but politically fractious US equivalent. The EU approach to net neutrality will find greater favour among developing countries, as it provides sufficient flexibility to offer network investment incentives whilst retaining appropriate competition and user safeguards. As with the earlier EU ex-ante regulatory frameworks for market analysis and cost-based interconnection, the BEREC paper paves the way for continued export of best practice regulation from the EU to the rest of the world. However, there are issues that demand caution in how the BEREC approach might be implemented.The authors have extensive experience as consultants and commentators on telecommunications industry and regulatory issues in many countries. David Rogerson and Jim Holmes are founding partners of Incyte Consulting, located in Falkirk (Scotland) and Melbourne, respectively. Pedro Seixas is a Principal Associate of Incyte Consulting located in Frankfurt.

Net Neutrality: An Incyte Perspective responding to recent developments in the European Union

The road to net neutrality within the European Union (EU) has been slow and winding. However, a major milestone was reached in August 2016 through the publication of the BEREC Guidelines on the Implementation by National Regulators of European Net Neutrality Rules. These Guidelines, which must be given the “utmost consideration” by national regulators, provide the EU’s first detailed and unambiguous regulatory commitment to net neutrality, and are carefully crafted to balance the needs of content providers and network operators. This extended article explores the scope of the net neutrality principle as understood and applied in a number of jurisdictions. The approach in the EU is contrasted with the approaches of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in the United States (US) and of a number of other countries. Although there are some constants that recur for net neutrality in all of the countries examined, there remain a variety of specific local connotations.The article indicates that the question, “What is net neutrality?” will continue to be asked and continue to be very apposite for some time. The EU approach, with the BEREC Guidelines, will likely be central to a more harmonised approach worldwide.It also argues that the new EU framework is likely to be even more influential than its highly publicized but politically fractious US equivalent. The EU approach to net neutrality will find greater favour among developing countries, as it provides sufficient flexibility to offer network investment incentives whilst retaining appropriate competition and user safeguards. As with the earlier EU ex-ante regulatory frameworks for market analysis and cost-based interconnection, the BEREC paper paves the way for continued export of best practice regulation from the EU to the rest of the world. However, there are issues that demand caution in how the BEREC approach might be implemented.The authors have extensive experience as consultants and commentators on telecommunications industry and regulatory issues in many countries. David Rogerson and Jim Holmes are founding partners of Incyte Consulting, located in Falkirk (Scotland) and Melbourne, respectively. Pedro Seixas is a Principal Associate of Incyte Consulting located in Frankfurt.

CSDP and the open method of coordination: Developing the EU's comprehensive approach to security

How can we best describe the operation of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP), and how can we improve policy-making in CSDP? The Open Method of Coordination (OMC) is predicated on the conviction that there are clear limits to the extent that European Union (EU) foreign and security policy can be strengthened through the restricting tendencies of intergovernmental cooperation between EU member states. Permanent Structured Cooperation (PESCO) - agreed by the European Council and 25 EU member states in 2017 - offers practical instruments towards delivering value-added capacity to the process of crisis management beyond intergovernmentalism. As a process, PESCO is analogous to the logic of OMC, including more appropriate levels of coordination at the national organisational level in order to effectively facilitate the EU's comprehensive approach to conflict prevention and crisis management. The requirement for new and 'open' types of EU foreign and security policy coordination is underlined by the immense differences between EU member states in external policy, both concerning national crisis management structures and the resulting inefficient segmentation of policy at the EU level. .

Comparing United States And European Union Approaches To Engagement With Asia

The United States (U.S.) and the European Union (EU) have attempted to project themselves as important actors in Asia. They made official announcements of shifting more attention to Asia in 2011-2012. This paper aims to examine and compare their approaches to engagement with Asia and put forth policy recommendations for them to engage with Asia effectively. As their engagement with Asia is becoming multidimensional, this paper places an emphasis on security, economics and diplomacy. Drawing mainly on scholar analysis and official documents regarding the U.S.' and EU's engagement wit Asia, this paper has found out there that there are both similarities and differences in the U.S. and the EU approaches engagement with Asia. It also highlights the core ideas underpinned the U.S. and the EU engagement with Asia.

The Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership and the Developments in the Area of Privacy and Data Protection

This article discusses the relationship between the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) and the respect for the fundamental rights to privacy and data protection as guaranteed in European Union (EU) law. On the basis of an explanation of the EU approach on data protection, it argues that TTIP is not the right place to regulate fundamental rights, and, more specifically that the TTIP should not cover the conditions for exchanging personal data across the Atlantic Ocean. The TTIP would not be an appropriate instrument for bridging the transatlantic divide on privacy and data protection. However, a global approach on privacy and data protection may be an attractive perspective, although complicated. The United Nations would be the right forum, instead of a trade agreement.

European Union Development Policy: Collective Action in Times of Global Transformation and Domestic Crisis

This special issue of Development Policy Review reflects on European Union (EU) efforts to build a more effective global development policy amid a rapidly changing international context. As 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals have made clear, global development challenges require collective action if they are to be resolved. Contributions to the special issue explore the ways in which the EU approaches collective action challenges in different development cooperation frameworks and policy settings. Themes explored include strategies for overcoming collective action problems, the impacts of these interactions on EU and member state aid policies, coherence between development and other policy fields, relations between European and other development actors, and the reception of the EU's efforts in developing countries.

Shifting policy priorities in EU-China energy relations: Implications for Chinese energy investments in Europe

Shifting energy policy priorities both in China and the EU (European Union) have transformed their bilateral relationship. In order to assess the impact of domestic policy priorities on bilateral energy cooperation and climate policy, this comparative study traces the evolution of EU and Chinese approaches to energy policy – and their relative emphasis on factors and frames such as availability, efficiency, affordability and environmental stewardship. Drawing on government documents and a data set of interviews with Chinese policy-makers, experts and academics in 2015–2016, the article argues that while the EU started with a strong emphasis on environmental stewardship and moved towards a focus on affordability and availability, China started with a strong emphasis on availability and has moved towards a greater emphasis on environmental stewardship. This shift in frames on the Chinese side and subsequent changes in subsidy structures and targets can partially explain the increase in investments in renewable energy technologies. The article concludes that the Chinese and EU perspectives have become more aligned over the past ten years, coinciding with an increasing trend towards renewable energy in Chinese energy investments in the EU, for example in Italy and the UK.

The EU Merger Regulation: A One-Stop Shop or a Procedural Minefield?

In 2001, the proposed $42 billion merger between U.S. companies GE and Honeywell was precluded by the European Union after receiving a stamp of approval from the Department of Justice and 11 other jurisdictions. This case provided startling evidence that the jurisdiction of European Union antitrust regulators is certainly capable of impacting business on this side of the Atlantic. This decision made it clear that U.S. attorneys advising U.S. companies and structuring M&A transactions need to be familiar with the antitrust laws of the European Union.The antitrust principles of the European Union are set out in the TFEU and merger control is governed by Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 of 20 January 2004 on the control of concentrations between undertakings. In the European Union, merger control is divided between the European Commission and the Member States. The European Commission and the Member States do not have concurrent power to handle merger control. The Merger Regulation aims to create a “one-stop shop system” by providing the European Commission with jurisdiction to review mergers that transcend national borders. The jurisdiction of the European Commission applies to all concentrations with a irrespective of where the companies are registered or where their headquarters or production facilities are located.There are two primary reasons that mergers between U.S. companies may need the approval of the European Commission. First, due to the considerable number of U.S. companies that either own subsidiaries or generate revenue in Europe and the Merger Regulation's definition of community dimension, the antitrust laws of the European Union are likely to affect the ability of U.S. companies to complete M&A. Secondly, in several aspects of merger control, the European Union's approach diverges from the approach taken by U.S. antitrust authorities. From an economic standpoint, the European Union’s emphasis on competitors, instead of efficiency and consumer welfare is divergent from the approach adopted by US regulators. This divergence has the potential to affect merging U.S. firms, as the GE/Honeywell case demonstrates. From a procedural standpoint, the EU Merger Regulation employs a Referral System, which causes jurisdictional uncertainty, legal uncertainty, and increases delay and expense. Although the referral system was set out to create a more flexible system of merger review in the European Union, it is both conceptually flawed and procedurally flawed. The referral system reduces the effectiveness of the one-stop shop and increases legal and jurisdictional uncertainty, especially through the use of partial referrals. The Referral System is inefficient and places a significant burden on businesses.

Drugs and Devices: Comparison of European and U.S. Approval Processes

SummaryThe regulation of medical drugs and devices involves competing goals of assuring safety and efficacy while providing rapid movement of innovative therapies through the investigative and regulatory processes as quickly as possible. The United States and the European Union approach these challenges in different ways. Whereas the United States has always relied on a strictly centralized process through 1 agency, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the European Commission synchronized the regulations of 28 different countries as they combined to create the European Union. The FDA historically developed as a consumer protection agency, whereas the regulations from the European Commission arose out of a need to harmonize inter-state commercial interests while preserving national “autonomy.” Thus, whereas the FDA has the advantages of centralization and common rules, the European Union regulates medical drug and device approvals through a network of centralized and decentralized agencies throughout its member states. This study explores some of the similarities and differences in European and U.S. regulation of drugs and devices, and discusses challenges facing each.

From collision to collaboration - Integrating informal recyclers and re-use operators in Europe: A review.

The European Union hosts some of the world's most developed waste management systems and an ambitious policy commitment to the circular economy. The existence of informal recycling and re-use activities in Europe has been vigorously denied until quite recently, and remains a very challenging subject for the European solid waste management sector, as well as for European government and private institutions. In countries ranging from Malta to Macedonia and from France to Turkey, informal recyclers excluded from legal recycling niches increasingly collide with formalised and controlled European Union approaches to urban waste management, packaging recovery schemes, formal re-use enterprises, and extended producer responsibility systems.This review focuses on the period from 2004 through the first half of 2016. The 78 sources on European (and neighbouring) informal recycling and re-use are contextualised with global sources and experience. The articles focus on informal recovery in and at the borders of the European Union, document the conflicts and collisions, and elaborate some constructive approaches towards legalisation, integration, and reconciliation. The overarching recommendation, to locate the issue of informal recovery and integration in the framework of the European circular economy package, is supported by four specific pillars of an integration strategy: Documentation, legalisation, occupational and enterprise recognition, and preparation for structural integration.

The comparison of Holt–Winters method and Multiple regression method: A case study

The European Union approach towards a low-carbon society in EU provides many measures. Appropriate heat load forecasting techniques offer opportunity for more effective schedule operations and cost minimization. The Company Energetika Ljubljana claims the largest district heating network in the Republic of Slovenia. Although the company has a 150-year tradition, the company has not implemented any of the advanced heat load forecasting methods. Especially long-term heat load forecasting methods offer many opportunities for the strategic planning and the optimal scheduling of heating resources, whereas short-term forecasting approach would help to reach the optimal daily operations and the maximum utilization of the company's resources. This paper presents forecasting approach for short- and long-term heat load forecasting on the three levels: monthly, weekly and daily forecasting bases. The comparison of the forecasting performances of Multiple regression and Exponential smoothing methods has been analysed. Based on chosen accuracy measures, Multiple regression was recognized as the best forecasting method for daily and weekly short-term heat load forecasting, whereas Holt–Winters methods ensured the best forecasting values in purpose of long-term heat load forecasting and monthly short-term heat load forecasting.

European Union approaches to human rights violations in Kosovo before and after independence

This article examines European Union (EU) approaches to the question of human rights violations in Kosovo before and after its proclamation of independence, in February 2008. While the 1999 NATO-led humanitarian intervention in the region was often justified as necessary due to the continuous abuses of human rights, perpetrated by the Serbian forces against the ethnic Kosovo Albanians, the post-interventionist period has witnessed a dramatic reversal of roles, with the rights of the remaining Serbian minority being regularly abused by the dominant Albanian population. However, in contrast to the former scenario, the Brussels administration has remained quite silent about the post-independence context – a grey zone of unviable political and social components, capable of generating new confrontations and human rights abuses within the borders of Kosovo. Aware of this dynamic and the existing EU official rhetoric, it is possible to conclude not only that the embedded human rights concerns in Kosovo are unlikely to disappear, but even more importantly, that recognition of their relevance has been significantly eroded.