European Opportunities Research Articles

Territorial Configurations of School‐To‐Work Outcomes in Europe

<p>Comparative research on school-to-work transitions mainly focused on country differences, examining the variation in institutional design and its impact on shaping youth labour market outcomes. The field has been dominated by a sort of methodological nationalism assuming nation states as homogeneous objects of comparison, while the territorial variations in youth transitions among sub-national territories have been less explored, notwithstanding their potential impact on life chances. In this article, we look at the outcomes of transitions in EU regions, comparing regional configurations of school-to-work transitions and their change over time. Is it possible to identify differences among groups of regions? To what extent do these patterns change over time? In order to answer these questions, we construct and analyse a longitudinal and systematic set of indicators that combine regional aggregated outcomes of transitions from education to work and regional contextual traits at the Nomenclature of Territorial Units for Statistics level 2 for the period 2007–2019. We perform two cluster analyses to describe regional differences and trends over time. The findings provide novel insights into the characteristics and patterns of an unequal geography of youth opportunities in Europe.</p>

The Impact of Open Data Implementation on Entrepreneurial Attitude with Regard to Moving towards UN Sustainability Goals

This study aimed to investigate the impact of open data implementation as part of its data governance initiatives on entrepreneurial attitudes in Europe and Central Asia. The impact of open data implementation in transforming entrepreneurial attitudes in Europe and Central Asia has never been determined or investigated in a measurable form. Using regression (OLS) analysis of secondary data on the open data implementation index from the Open Data Barometer (ODB) and the Entrepreneurial Attitude index from GEI, this study investigates the impact of open data implementation (as a national data governance strategy) on entrepreneurial attitudes in Europe and Central Asia. This study introduces a novel approach by integrating open data implementation into the analysis of entrepreneurial attitudes, a perspective yet to be explored in the context of Europe and Central Asia, thereby advancing our understanding of sustainable development goals. The study establishes a causation of the 32% impact of open data implementation on entrepreneurship attitudes toward recognizing opportunities in Europe and Central Asia. This study advocates for the establishment of a comprehensive national open data initiative as a catalyst for fostering entrepreneurial attitudes within Europe and Central Asia. Moreover, it emphasizes the importance for entrepreneurs to cultivate the necessary attitude for achieving their business objectives successfully. The study recommends further investigation using a recent dataset. The study’s findings improve the understanding of how to induce entrepreneurship attitudes in Europe and Central Asia in pursuit of post-pandemic economic development.

Legitimisation of Foreign Direct Investment Screening Among Business Actors: The Danish Case

There has been a conspicuous shift in the European Union’s perception of economic interdependence and open markets, manifested in a mushrooming number of screening policies aimed at verifying foreign direct investments raising national security concerns. The introduction of these policies can be viewed as a market constraint that might negatively affect business operations, so it is puzzling that some European business actors did not actively resist their adoption, despite having wide lobbying opportunities in Europe. I explore this puzzle using the case of Denmark by drawing on theories of securitisation and preference formation under uncertainty. I argue that business actors established their policy preferences in the context of uncertainty and the gradual increase in security framing by the European and local political elites. Exposed to these increasing security discourses across different levels and networks, businesses adjusted their policy preferences, balancing between different identities. The flexibility inherent in a multilevel and evolving securitisation process led to the legitimisation of investment screening policies among interest groups and mitigated their resistance to the imposition of market constraints on security grounds.

Open Source RISC-V Systems as an Opportunity for Europe

Open Source RISC-V Systems as an Opportunity for Europe

Exploring Energy Sufficiency Benefits, Limitations, Deployment, and Opportunities in Europe

Following the industrial revolution, greenhouse gases continue to grow, and this increase degrades the ozone layer and accelerates the global warming. The climate change has considerably transformed our way of life and the way we produce, buy, transport, and use energy. To reduce the impact of the energy crisis different levers are activated such as energy efficiency, renewables energy and energy sufficiency. The aim of this article is to explore the benefits, limitation, deployment, and opportunities in Europe of energy sufficiency. The research conducted also includes real case studies on energy sufficiency. Furthermore, Covid-19 pandemic and Ukraine war have negatively impacted energy availability and costs.

Seizing opportunities in Europe: a roadmap for efficient big data implementation in Spanish SMEs

PurposeThis paper aims to help small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to seize the potential of Big Data in their marketing strategies to leverage a competitive advantage in the rising digital marketplace and lead the post-pandemic economic recovery. However, Spanish SMEs have had serious difficulties in working with Big Data.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, a roadmap is designed to pave the way for a successful Big Data implementation.FindingsSMEs with updated information on how to access the historic funding opportunities might profit to this opportunity. It not only generates financing opportunities for SMEs but also grants continuity to their strategies by offering the most profitable techniques by which they can efficiently analyse data and gain consumer insights, thus overcoming the many problems they face when working with Big Data as well as helping them to monetise their marketing strategies.Originality/valueThe main advantage of this research is its innovative approach to business strategy as it provides. The value added by this paper lies in its holistic and updated approach to supporting SMEs’ Big Data strategies.

Regional technological capabilities and green opportunities in Europe

The goal of the paper is to elaborate an empirical overview of green technological development in European regions. This is a timely pursuit considering the ambitious commitments stipulated in the recent European Green Deal to achieve climate neutrality by 2050. Our analysis is organised in three steps. First, we map the geographical distribution of innovative activities in Europe and profile regions in terms of technological capabilities. Second, we elaborate a metric to identify regions’ green innovation potential. Third, we check whether possessing a comparative advantage in specific, green and non-green, technological domains is associated with a region’s capacity to develop green technologies.

Awareness and perceptions of medical students and doctors regarding Tropical Medicine education and training in Europe: An international, online-based survey

BackgroundMultifactorial health determinants and shifts in global patterns of disease increase the need for Tropical Medicine training across Europe. A survey of university and postgraduate opportunities in Europe was conducted to identify and analyse gaps. MethodAn online survey was circulated to medical students and doctors in Europe between April and June 2021. Significance tests and a thematic analysis of the data were conducted. Results500 respondents (285 students and 215 doctors) from 27 countries were included. 17.2% of doctors were unsure whether postgraduate training in Tropical Medicine was available in their country. 20% of students and 10.7% of doctors said they were unsure whether they had been taught Tropical Medicine during university. 67.7% of students and 79.1% of doctors stated that the amount of Tropical Medicine training they encountered was or had been “not enough”. ConclusionsRespondents demonstrated great interest in Tropical Medicine. Their self-reported knowledge, awareness, and perceived competence were partly dependent on whether there is specific teaching accessible at the university. Postgraduate training options were available in some countries but not all respondents were aware of these. There is a pressing need for harmonized curricula and expanded postgraduate training to improve Tropical Medicine competencies across Europe.

What is strategic litigation?

Abstract This presentation is an introduction to strategic litigation for public health professionals. It will review the opportunities offered by legal action on environmental issues, with examples from past successes. It will consider opportunities in Europe for legal action in both national courts and in international courts and tribunals. Procedural issues affecting the choice of forum will be discussed, such as ‘standing' (the right to initiate a legal action or participate in the proceedings), admissible evidence, the possible orders available if the case is successful, and the costs and risks involved. What if we don't win? Was it still worth it? Broader public engagement and advocacy opportunities will be noted.

The Circular City and Adaptive Reuse of Cultural Heritage Index: Measuring the investment opportunity in Europe

The long-lived, culturally relevant, and unique buildings of Europe's urban landscapes embody the values of the circular economy (CE) and sustainability. They are central to urban identities, generation after generation. Furthermore, adaptive reuse of cultural heritage buildings (ARCH) contributes to slowing down the extraction of natural resources, reducing energy for new buildings, and reducing construction and demolition waste and greenhouse gas emissions. ARCH's inherent characteristics distinctly express the 2019 European Green Deal's CE objectives and the 2020 building Renovation Wave Strategy. In this context, European city managers, heritage conservationists, and other stakeholders need a systematic method to characterize the investment opportunity for ARCH, considering CE. To fill this methodological gap, this study introduces a new composite indicator called the Circular City Adaptive Reuse of Cultural Heritage Index.

European Green Deal and Recovery Plan: Green Jobs, Skills and Wellbeing Economics in Spain

This paper on Political Economic and Labour Economic Policies in the European Green Deal framework analyses the Recovery Plan and Resilience Facility. It pays attention to the effects on the design of new green jobs and the necessary skills to develop this type of new positions generated, with higher labour wellbeing. The paper is focused on the analysis of the green jobs’ opportunity for Europe, at a country level, with a specific analysis made for the Spanish case. A systematisation of the concepts and calculations on the issue is made and analysed (attending the international institutions and forums proposals) to harmonise the recovery plans, apply them beyond the energy sector to other related green activities and align the public and private sector, and other critical stakeholders, in achieving this goal. The following research questions were formulated: (1) what is the estimated number of new green jobs that would be created as a consequence of the implementation of the Recovery Plan in Spain; (2) which new soft skills or re-skilling would be necessary to develop such new green jobs; (3) how much are the new jobs aligned with Wellbeing Economics? The research was conducted by applying a few research methods, i.e., secondary sources, the desk research method and the exploration method, critical and comparative analysis, inductive and deductive reasoning and some mathematical calculations. The research contribution can provide a valuable source of information to coordinate sectoral plans by the policymakers, particularly those responsible for the economy, business, green activities and education.

Shared Archaeological Heritage: the European Archaeology Days

A discipline where several scientific fields meet, archaeology studies the material traces of civilisations, from prehistory to the contemporary era. By enriching our knowledge of the societies that came before us, it contributes to a better understanding of today's world and helps sharpen citizens' critical outlook. When it comes to protection, conservation, awareness-raising and education, archaeological heritage is a significant societal opportunity for Europe. At a time marked by concerns over identity and community, archaeology is a source of openness and tolerance. The European Archaeology Days can therefore help shape a common identity, while preserving the cultural diversity that characterises a Europe of multiplicity. Developing this initiative could encourage open access to culture for all and, among future generations, foster acceptance of the 'Other' in all their differences. In this context, it feels important to give the event a European dimension.

A Higher Calling: Toward a More Spacious Role for Academic Advisors

A Higher Calling: Toward a More Spacious Role for Academic Advisors

Wollt ihr den totalen Krieg? Legal, Political, and Moral Aspects of the Resettlement of German Population

Germany had started the Second World War in an intentional and conscious manner, obviously being aware that every action can have unpredictable and unwanted consequences. The Potsdam decisions were taken by the Great Powers after assuming supreme authority in Germany. They constituted a manifestation of the Allies’ rights and responsibilities. The territorial changes of Germany and the transfer of population were part of the general regulation of the effects of the Second World War. These decisions were not a simple matter of revenge. They must be perceived in a wider political perspective of European policy. The resettlement by Germany of ethnic Germans to the Reich or to the territories it occupied constituted an instrument of National Socialist policy. This German policy turned out in 1945 to be a tragic irony of fate. The resettlement decided in Potsdam must be perceived in the context of German legal responsibility for the war’s outbreak. The individual perception of the resettlement and individual guilt are different from the international responsibility of the state and from the political-historical responsibility of the nation. In our discussion we made the distinction between the individual and the collective aspect as well as between the legal and historical/political aspect. We deal with the guilt of individuals (criminal, political, moral), the international legal responsibility of states, and the political and historical responsibility of nations (societies). For the difficult process of understanding and reconciliation between Poles and Germans, the initiatives undertaken by some social circles, and especially the church, were of vital importance. The question of the resettlement became a theme of numerous publications in Poland after 1989. In the mid 1990s there was a vast debate in the media with the main question of: should we apologize for the resettlement? Tracing a line from wrongdoing/harm to unlawfulness is not easy. In 1945 the forcible transfer of the German population was an act that was not prohibited by international law. What is significant is that this transfer was not a means of war conduct. It did not apply to the time of a belligerent occupation, in terms of humanitarian law, but to a temporary, specific, international post-conflict administration. Maybe for some people Potsdam decisions will always be seen as an illegal action, for others as an expression of strict international legal responsibility, for some as a kind of imperfect justice, and still for others as an opening of a new opportunity for Europe.

Analysis of Scientific Research Driving Microalgae Market Opportunities in Europe.

A bibliographic database of scientific papers published by authors affiliated to research institutions worldwide, especially focused in Europe and in the European Atlantic Area, and containing the keywords “microalga(e)” or “phytoplankton” was built. A corpus of 79,020 publications was obtained and analyzed using the Orbit Intellixir software to characterize the research trends related to microalgae markets, markets opportunities and technologies that could have important impacts on markets evolution. Six major markets opportunities, the production of biofuels, bioplastics, biofertilizers, nutraceuticals, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, and two fast-evolving technological domains driving markets evolution, microalgae harvesting and extraction technologies and production of genetically modified (GM-)microalgae, were highlighted. We here present an advanced analysis of these research domains to give an updated overview of scientific concepts driving microalgae markets.

Halal Food Industry: Challenges and Opportunities in Europe

The halal industry in Europe has experienced significant development, especially in the food sector. This study aims to analyze the challenges and opportunities of the halal food industry in Europe. The method uses a qualitative approach, with secondary data sources. The analysis technique uses a descriptive approach. The study results show that the development of the halal food industry in Europe was triggered by the increasing demand for halal certification and quality assurance, as well as the development of the tourism sector. This is a great opportunity for industry players to be able to meet the high demand for halal food. The challenge is how to improve quality and can meet halal standards to meet global demand.

Improving the food environment in kindergartens and schools: An overview of policies and policy opportunities in Europe

Childhood obesity and unhealthy nutrition are high on the European policy agenda because of their association with chronic diseases and due to the related social and economic burden. In 2014, the EU Action Plan on Childhood Obesity 2014–2020 was launched with an overarching goal to halt the rise of overweight and obesity in children by the year 2020. To facilitate the implementation of the Action Plan, the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission provided support to bring together 25 Member States plus Norway for a Joint Action on Nutrition and Physical Activity (JANPA). The current paper is based on the results of JANPA and presents the explored policy options to improve children's nutrition by targeting the food environment in and around kindergartens and schools. We conclude that for effective actions countries need to combine various mutually reinforcing policies in parallel, including the provision of healthy foods, lowering the availability of unhealthy foods, restricting marketing, and promoting education. Success will depend on the coherence of messages and on the engagement of a wide range of stakeholders and sectors. Evaluation should be carefully designed, using indicators of progress towards the goal of improving diet and reducing obesity in children.

Financing Pull Mechanisms for Antibiotic-Related Innovation: Opportunities for Europe.

Antibiotic innovation is in serious jeopardy as companies continue to abandon the market due to a lack of profitability. Novel antibiotics must be used sparingly to hinder the spread of resistance, but small companies cannot survive on revenues that do not cover operational costs. When these companies either go bankrupt or move onto other therapeutic areas, these antibiotics may be no longer accessible to patients. Although significant research efforts have detailed incentives to stimulate antibiotic innovation, little attention has been paid to the financing of these incentives. In this article, we take a closer look at 4 potential financing models (diagnosis-related group carve-out, stewardship taxes, transferable exclusivity voucher, and a European-based “pay or play” model) and evaluate them from a European perspective. The attractiveness of these models and the willingness for countries to test them are currently being vetted through the European Joint Action on AMR and Healthcare-Associated Infections (EU-JAMRAI).

The European Union's foreign policy in challenging times: Confirmation hearing of the Hon. Josep Borrell before the Foreign Affairs Committee of the European Parliament for the position of High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and Vice-President of the European Commission

On 7 October 2019, Josep Borrell took part in his confirmation hearing at the European Parliament as the designated High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy / Vice-President of the European Commission for the 2019-2024 term. Both in his introductory remarks and in the ex- change with the MEPS, as well as in his final remarks, Mr. Borrell presented his vision for the European Union’s foreign policy. He called for European unity to develop a truly integrated Union foreign policy that corresponds to its stature as a global player and highlighted both challenges and opportunities for Europe in an international context that is more defiant than expected.

International Procurement Developments in 2018: The United States in International Procurement -- Understanding a Pause in the Trump Administration's Protectionism

As the Trump administration came of age in 2018, two distinct developments marked the United States’ involvement in international procurement. First, to the surprise of many, and despite a wave of other U.S. protectionist measures aimed at strategic sectors such as steel and aluminum, the Trump administration did not press forward aggressively on its promised “Buy American” initiatives in procurement. Second, the Trump administration remained largely silent on an arguably protectionist initiative in the European Union, the European Defense Fund, which gained ground in one of the United States’ most important defense markets abroad. To address these two aspects of U.S. policy, this piece proceeds in five parts. Part I reviews the Trump administration’s failure to move forward on the protectionist measures President Trump called for in the early days of his administration. In Part II, the piece discusses one of the possible causes for the Trump administration’s reluctance to press for protectionism: a significant setback in the NAFTA/USMCA negotiations, which may narrow the administration’s options going forward. Part III reviews other potential causes for the Trump administration’s shift away from protectionism in procurement, including competing strategic concerns, new U.S. data on the relatively small threat posed by procurement from abroad, and data from Europe which confirm that U.S. exporters have much to lose were the European Union to take a retaliatory stance in European procurement markets. Finally, Part IV reviews the European Defense Fund, an initiative which surged forward in 2018 and which threatens to exclude U.S. defense companies from important opportunities in Europe, despite reciprocal defense procurement agreements which guarantee open markets in defense and -- again surprisingly -- with no loud objections from the Trump administration. Part V offers concluding remarks and a potential way forward.