theEuropean Community Research Articles

Regiões ultraperiféricas da União Europeia, que estratégia? O caso dos Açores e a evolução das RUPs-problema às RUPs-oportunidade | Outermost regions of the European Union, which strategy? The case of the Azores and the evolution of the ORs-problem to the

The accession of Portugal and Spain to the European Communities in the 1980s brought a new geopolitical dimension to the process of European integration. The European Commu-nity thus acquired a privileged presence in the Atlantic through the Autonomous Regions of the Azores and Madeira and the Autonomous Community of the Canary Islands. In this article, we propose to reflect on the importance of the strategies of the European Commis-sion towards these Regions, more precisely through the epistemological evolution from pro-blem-region to opportunity-region.

European integration processes аnd private international law: certain aspects

Certain aspects, the meaning and relationship between adaptation of the private legislation of Ukraine to the requirements of theEuropean Community and private international law are analyzed in the article. The above mentioned phenomena are explored in thelight of the active integration of Ukraine into European and world space, which at the same time explains the stage of fundamentalchanges in the national system of private law.Special attention is paid to the provisions of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union dated June 27,2014, which became the basis for deepening the processes of democratization and liberalization in all spheres of life, including thesphere of regulation of private law relations complicated by a foreign element – the legal relations that make up the subject matter ofinternational private law.The concept, features and legal aim of adaptation in law in the context of European integration changes were the subject todetailed analysis. Various approaches of scientists in terms of characterization of this concept are analyzed. It is indicated that the adaptationof the national legislation of Ukraine to the legislation of the European Union is a long and multi-stage process, the plan of whichis enshrined at the level of international treaties, including the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union of June27, 2014. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the provisions of the Association Agreement, which are directly devoted to internationalprivate law and legal relations which make up its subject matter.Special attention is paid to the issue of intellectual property law and its regulation under current legislation of Ukraine and AssociationAgreement between Ukraine and the European Union. Certain aspects referring trademark regulation are analyzed. Judicial practiceof the national court of Ukraine has been taken into account as well.It is crucial to stress that European integration processes have their direct impact on private international law system and its me -cha nism of legal regulation.

European integration processes аnd private international law: certain aspects

Certain aspects, the meaning and relationship between adaptation of the private legislation of Ukraine to the requirements of theEuropean Community and private international law are analyzed in the article. The above mentioned phenomena are explored in thelight of the active integration of Ukraine into European and world space, which at the same time explains the stage of fundamentalchanges in the national system of private law.Special attention is paid to the provisions of the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union dated June 27,2014, which became the basis for deepening the processes of democratization and liberalization in all spheres of life, including thesphere of regulation of private law relations complicated by a foreign element – the legal relations that make up the subject matter ofinternational private law.The concept, features and legal aim of adaptation in law in the context of European integration changes were the subject todetailed analysis. Various approaches of scientists in terms of characterization of this concept are analyzed. It is indicated that the adaptationof the national legislation of Ukraine to the legislation of the European Union is a long and multi-stage process, the plan of whichis enshrined at the level of international treaties, including the Association Agreement between Ukraine and the European Union of June27, 2014. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of the provisions of the Association Agreement, which are directly devoted to internationalprivate law and legal relations which make up its subject matter.Special attention is paid to the issue of intellectual property law and its regulation under current legislation of Ukraine and AssociationAgreement between Ukraine and the European Union. Certain aspects referring trademark regulation are analyzed. Judicial practiceof the national court of Ukraine has been taken into account as well.It is crucial to stress that European integration processes have their direct impact on private international law system and its me -cha nism of legal regulation.

Comment on ‘The European Union building from Public Choice to Ordo, Röpke’s and Einaudi’s ideas of Europe’ by Francesco Forte

In his very elaborate analysis, Forte takes on several issues regarding the European integration process, offering an original insight into the foundations of European economic governance. In particular, the author looks to expand current results in the relevant literature in several directions. On the theoretical front, Forte departs from James Buchanan’s economic theory of clubs to provide a club-theoretic template to both the European Union and European Monetary Union. He arrives at the belief of ‘the incompleteness of the European institutional construct and the misunderstandings about its basic principles’. His argument relies on the similarities that he recognises between Buchanan’s view of European federalism and the German ordoliberalism roots of the European integration process, which can be traced from the founding of the European Community onward. On the empirical front, Forte identifies a potential polarisation among countries within the euro area during the crisis that occurred over the last ten years. According to him, this dualism within the euro club is due to a ‘violation’ of the ideals and the operational suggestions proposed by Buchanan, Ordo, Röpke and Einaudi. In this comment, we briefly describe what became for most member states of the European Union the worst economic and social crisis since the Second World War that led to a new architecture of European economic governance. Subsequently, we highlight significant results presented by Forte and elaborate how these results fit into the existing literature.

Prevalence of asthma symptoms and smoking behavior among 20 - 44 years old adults in Tehran: A telephone survey

Background and Objective: Asthma is a major health problem and a high-burden disease in the world. Unfortunately the prevalence of asthma in adult populations in Iran is not determined precisely. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of asthma symptoms and it’s relation with ages, gender and smoking behaviour in city of Tehran. Methods: A telephone interview survey was conducted among 7150 randomly selected telephone numbers in city of Tehran. A questionnaire adapted from The European Community Respiratory Health Survey (ECRHS) with additional two questions about smoking behaviour and hookah. Results: From 7150 eligible telephone numbers dialled there were 5500 responses (76.92%). The study populations included 3412 female (62%), 2088 men (38%) and the mean age of responder were 31.15 ± 7.33. Their smoking behaviour were; 71.6% non smoker, 11.9% active smoker, 16.5% passive smoker and 7.8% used hookah. The prevalence of “wheezing in the last 12 months”, “dyspnea with wheezing” and “wheezing and two nocturnal symptoms” were 24%, 10.8% and 5% respectively. Prevalence of asthma symptoms was significantly greater in smokers than non-smokers groups. Conclusion: In this study by using symptom based questionnaire (ECRHS), we concluded the prevalence of asthma in Tehran adult population was between 5% to 10%. Also this study may made cross-national comparison of our findings with other ECRHS studies possible; rates of “wheezing in the last 12 months”, “dyspnea with wheezing” and “nocturnal dyspnea” were higher than the European Community Respiratory Health Survey median. Role of air pollution, smoking and other risk factors for asthma should be considered.

The European Union (EU) after the Treaty of Lisbon

The Reform Treaty of Lisbon amending the Treaty on European Union (TEU) and the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC) was signed at Lisbon on December 13, 2007. The TEU radically altered the structure of what used to be the TEC, now called Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). It does away with the former pillar structure, thus abolishing the institutional structure of separate policy areas with regard to police and judicial co-operation in criminal matters. Until the Lisbon Treaty came into force in December 2009, the EU Data Protection Directive (95/46/EC) exempted second and third pillar issues from data protection scrutiny. The Lisbon Treaty now makes such scrutiny possible. With the planned revision of the Data Protection Directive in November 2011, data controllers processing sensitive data, including surveillance systems, may be obliged to subject them to privacy impact assessment.

Delimitation of EU-Competences under the First and Second Pillar: A View BetweenECOWASand the Treaty of Lisbon

Since the European Union (EU) agreed upon the extension of its activities to the fields of foreign, security, and criminal policy in the Maastricht Treaty, the question of the delimitation of those new areas of EU competence towards the “classical” policies under the Treaty of the European Community (TEC) has been present. The broad and rather vague scope of the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) in the so-called second pillar of the EU and the area of political cooperation covered by the third pillar presents several uncertainties. One such uncertainty is the relationship between the supranational legal order under the TEC and the more intergovernmental and diplomacy-based cooperation under the Treaty on the European Union (TEU). Although the EU was organized within a single institutional structure, the substantial differences with regard to voting procedures, competences of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the role of the European Commission rendered a clear separation of competences under the different pillars compulsory: CFSP remains beyond the jurisdiction of the ECJ; the Commission and the European Parliament have only marginal rights of participation; and the legal obligations under the second pillar cannot claim supremacy over national law or direct effect.

Effect of caring for an older person on women's lifetime participation in work

ABSTRACTThis paper examines the relationship between informal care and ending paid work for working women of three age groups (up to 30, 31–49 and 50 or more years) in 1995 in Belgium. It explores the effect of being a carer for older adults on the probability of ceasing to work. Most particularly, it focuses on the effect of the care intensity in the different age groups. The analyses use data from theEuropean Community Household Panel(ECHP). A sample of 24,592 working women living in 11 European countries was followed from 1995 to 2001. Multivariate analyses for the entire sample show that the simple fact of caring or not did not influence the probability of ceasing work, but that providing light care had a negative effect, suggesting the presence of a respite effect. As for the effects specific to each age group, caring did not have any effect for women aged 31 to 49 years, but for the other two age groups, women who provided light care were less likely to cease work than those not caring for an older person. In contrast, providing heavy care increased the probability of ceasing work, but only for those aged 50 or more years. The findings suggest that studies of and policies related to informal care and its consequences should give more attention to age group differences.

Issues of Financing Regional Development

Under Art. 158 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC), one of the EU’s main aims is to enhance the Community’s social and economic cohesion, in particular by diminishing the developmental disparities between various regions, as well as eliminating the backwardness of the less privileged regions or islands, including rural areas. In order to pursue this goal, the funds accumulated in the EU budget are used, as well as supporting funds from member states, in compliance with the principle of additionality.

Legislative Update: EU Immigration and Asylum Competence and Decision-Making in the Treaty of Lisbon

Perhaps the biggest changes that the Treaty of Lisbon would make as compared to the current Treaties affect Justice and Home Affairs (JHA) law, which concerns issues of great significance for national sovereignty and identity. Th e new Treaty would abolish the current ‘third pillar’ (policing and criminal law) and move its provisions into Title IV of Part Th ree of the current Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC),1 which presently concerns immigration, asylum and civil law. Th e European Community (EC) would be merged into the European Union (EU); consequently the TEC would be renamed the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU), and the current Title IV of the TEC would be renumbered Title V. In conjunction with this change in the structure of the Treaties, the Treaty of Lisbon would make major changes to the competence and decision-making procedures regarding JHA matters. Th is paper analyses the specific changes which the Treaty would make to decision-making and competence concerning immigration and asylum law. Simultaneously changes would also be made to the jurisdiction of the Court of Justice as regards immigration and asylum law (as well as civil law), entailing the application of the Court’s normal jurisdiction in this area, which would almost certainly lead to a significant increase in the Court’s role in this area. On the other hand, for the UK, Ireland and Denmark, the effect of the various changes is limited because of their opt-outs concerning JHA law, which would in turn be altered signi ficantly by the Treaty of Lisbon. I have examined these issues in separate articles.2

Translation and Technology by C. K. Quah

REVIEWS Translation and Technology. By C. K. QUAH. (Palgrave Textbooks inTranslating andInterpreting) Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. 2oo6. XiX+ 22I PP. ?I8.99. ISBN 978-1-4039-1832-I. With increasing numbers of students attending university and rising costs of univer sityeducation, it isonly natural that more andmore students are interested indegrees thatprepare them forawell-defined typeof career. In thecase of languages, translation isone of the areas thatbenefits from such an increase in interest. Whereas for many areas of translation studies, good textbooks are available at an affordable price, theuse of computer technology in translation has remained ratherunder-represented in this respect.Most of the available books are published for researchers in computational linguistics or for large translation agencies, which is reflectedboth in theprice and in theway the topic ispresented. This firstvolume of thePalgrave Textbooks inTrans lation and Interpreting is thereforeamost welcome addition to theavailable literature. The domain of computer technology in translation can be divided intoComputer Assisted Translation (CAT) and Machine Translation (MT). In the former, the human translator remains in control of the translation process, whereas in the latter it is the computer that organizes it. C. K. Quah's firstchapter elaborates on this distinction. Before discussing CAT andMT inmore detail, the author turns to their relationship with translation studies inChapter 2. She gives an overview of trans lation studies and introduces the concepts of pre-editing, post-editing, sublanguage, and controlled language. Chapter 3 isdevoted to MT. Itpresents a historical overview of the field,explaining themain issues discussed in this area and thedifferences in the ways various MT systems organize the translation task.Rule-based approaches with a transferand interlingua architecture are covered as well as statistical and example based approaches. Chapter 4 describes some of themain facilities offered by CAT tools, including terminology-management tools and translationmemories. A section in this chapter is devoted to localization of software,websites, and other products, which requires some additional facilities, and another section to standardization and exchange formats. InChapter 5 theevaluation ofCAT andMT tools is treated. Itgives an overview of the issues thatarise and themethods thathave been applied. Chapter 6 gives a prognosis ofwhat can be expected on thebasis of recent developments. Given the advances in MT and CAT, a futureprofessional translator is likely touse a variety of different tools depending on the nature of the source text and the requirements (quality, speed, readership) imposed on the translation. Finally, Chapter 7 gives a clas sification of translation types and theway various formsofCAT andMT can be used. Throughout the book, the presentation ofmaterial is clearly oriented to a reader ship of advanced undergraduate and postgraduate students. Explanations are often accompanied by diagrams and tableswith examples. References to further informa tion are to thepoint and inmany cases URLs are given so that students do not have to relyon proceedings of conferences that are available only to formerparticipants. An appendix givesMT systems and resources (dictionaries, thesauri, etc.) available on the Web. There isalso an index, but it fails tomention thenames of MT and CAT systems, giving long, undifferentiated entries for 'machine translation systems' and 'computer-assisted translation' instead. There are some features thatwill irritate readers with a more extensive back ground in the field. First, in describing the original context of certain articles she discusses, Quah relies quite heavily on the information from the article itself. When presenting G. Van Slype's study of the evaluation ofMT systems (Critical Study ofMethods forEvaluating theQuality ofMachine Translation: Final Report (I979) (http://www.issco.unige.ch/projec ts/isle/van-slype.pdf)), for instance, she uses only MLR, I02.3, 2007 8ii the preface of his report,without referring to the situation ofMT in theEuropean Community at the time.Second, the lastchapter gives a personal view of classification that isentirely unsupported by references but includes quite a number of statements one could take issuewith. Third, some important projects (e.g.Verbmobil) and sys tems (e.g. Passolo) remain unmentioned. Overall, however, this is an excellent introduction to theuse of computers forstu dents of translation,which will also be of use tomany of their teachers who do not have a strong computational background. SWANSEA UNIVERSITY PIUS TEN HACKEN Schriftkultur: Eine Geschichtedes Schreibens und Lesens. By PETER STEIN. Darmstadt...

Temporary Study Abroad: the life of ERASMUS students

For young Europeans who decide to embark on higher education studies, studyingin another country has become a normal option. Statistics suggest that, of thegenerations who graduated in the mid-1990s, about 10% had studied abroad forsome period or the whole study period (Jahr, Schomburg & Teichler, 2002). Sincethen, this proportion has increased. Available data also suggest that almost 5% ofthe European graduates are awarded their degree by a university outside theirhome country. These figures could seem low if we take into consideration theimportance that is now placed on internationalisation and globalisation. But theyare certainly high compared to estimates that only 3% of highly qualified EUcitizens are employed abroad. Although international student mobility is not amass phenomenon, it is no longer just an exotic option.Today, we tend to believe that international student mobility has substantiallyincreased in recent years. This is not true. The number of students studyingabroad, according to UNESCO statistics, has increased more or less in line withthe overall increase in student numbers in the last four decades. This share(although today foreign citizenship is no longer a reliable measure for internationalmobility, the only worldwide mobility data available are still based on it) remainedmore or less constant at about 2%. But the proportion of European studentsstudying abroad increased and the world’s largest support programme for inter-national student mobility — the ERASMUS programme inaugurated by theEuropean Community in 1987 — has clearly contributed to the fact that studyingin another European country is no longer viewed as exceptional for the studentsof the participating countries.The functioning and impact of student mobility in the framework of ERAS-MUS (which became a sub-programme of SOCRATES in the mid-1990s) havebeen analysed frequently. Both its immense popularity and the fact that Europeanpolicies are confronted with a stronger expectation to legitimise their success thanmost governmental policies in individual European countries have led to a relativewealth of information. For example, surveys were undertaken in the mid-1980sof the students mobile within the predecessor of ERASMUS (the Joint StudyProgrammes) in comparison to other mobility programmes (Baron & Smith,1987; Opper, Teichler & Carlson, 1990; Teichler & Steube, 1991), of theERASMUS students around 1990 (Maiworm, Steube & Teichler, 1991, 1993;Teichler, 1996) and again of the ERASMUS students under the umbrella ofSOCRATES who studied in another European country in 1998–99 (Maiworm &

A study of four short tandem repeat systems: African immigrant, Portuguese and Spanish population data

1. IntroductionThe ability to amplify multiple short tandem repeat (STR) loci in a simple reaction,coupled with the development of fluorescence-based PCR technology allowing thesuccessful co-amplification of loci with overlapping size ranges, has enabled theacquisition of greater levels of information and productivity in laboratories where largenumbers of samples are analyzed [1].Tetrameric short tandem repeat (STR) typing systems are a reliable, rapid and sensitivemethodforforensicidentification,paternitytesting[2,3]andpopulationgeneticstudies [4].In this study the allele frequencies for four traditional tetrameric STR loci: HUMTH01,HUMVWA31/A, HUMFESFPS and HUMF13A01, in five different populations wereanalyzed. These populations are specifically those from Portugal, South West Spain, theSpanish population of Caucasian origin in North Africa as well as the Moroccan and WestAfrican immigrant populations that use the South of Spain as a point of entry into theEuropean Community (EC).2. Materials and methodsWhole EDTA blood was obtained by venipuncture from 344 Portuguese, 201 Spaniardsfrom the southwest of Spain, 110 unrelated Spaniards of Caucasian origin from North

Greening the WTO Agreements, Can the Treaty Establishing the European Community be of Guidance?

This article discusses whether the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEU) is actually more environmentally friendly than the WTO agreements and whether it can provide a role model for greening the WTO agreements. It analyses whether European Union (EU) member states have greater leeway in enacting environmental measures than WTO members have and how the WTO agreements could become reformed accordingly.

Understanding the costs of an environmentally ‘friendly’ common agricultural policy for the European Union11

AbstractPart of the bedrock of the European Union's (EU's) Environmental Policy is the principle that those who pollute the environment should pay for the cost of remedying the damage they cause (the polluter pays principle) (Article 174 para. 2 TEC ex Article 130r TEC). In addition environmental objectives must be integrated into all the sectoral policies of the European Union (Article 6 TEC ex Article 3c TEC). The Common Agricultural Policy's (CAP's) role at the centre of the EU's sectoral policies would appear to make it an ideal focus for implementing Article 6 of the Treaty establishing the European Community (TEC). If integration of environmental protection can be achieved in this central area of the EU's activities then a major source of environmental degradation could be overcome. However, if these requirements are applied to European agriculture the sector will face a budgetary and financial crisis of even greater magnitude than at the present time.Recent reforms of the CAP have been designed with the objective of achieving an agricultural sector that is moving towards sustainability. As this article argues the political, social and economic significance of the agriculture sector is such that national governments of the EU have repeatedly shied away from adopting the measures, which could significantly reduce the pollution from the sector. The proposals for reform made by the Agricultural Commissioner, Franz Fischler, were amended by the meeting of the European Council that took place in Berlin on 24/25 March 1999. These amendments substantially weakened the ambitions of the strategy for development of the EU, the ‘Agenda 2000’ adopted in 1997, for a number of reasons (CEC, 1997). This article examines the reasons for the disappointments with the amended reforms and speculates on the possible future path that may be taken to improve matters. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and ERP Environment.

The Principle of Conferred Powers and the Division of Powers Between the European Community and the Member States

This article is a reflection about the division of powers between theEuropean Community and the Member States. It focuses on the adventuresand misadventures of the principle of conferred powers in the process ofEuropean integration. Section I is about the initial vertical divisionof powers in the European Community. Section II is dedicated to ananalysis of the progressive erosion of conferred powers during the 70'sand the 80's. Section III refers to the slow return to the applicationof the conferred powers principle that started after the Single EuropeanAct.

Comparison of conformal radiation therapy techniques within the dynamicradiotherapy project `Dynarad'

The objective of the dynamic radiotherapy project `Dynarad' within theEuropean Community has been to compare and grade treatment techniques that arecurrently applied or being developed at the participating institutions.Cervical cancer was selected as the tumour site on the grounds that theinvolved organs at risk, mainly the rectum and the bladder, are very close tothe tumour and partly located inside the internal target volume. In this work,a solid phantom simulating the pelvic anatomy was used by institutions inBelgium, France, Greece, Holland, Italy, Sweden and the United Kingdom. Theresults were evaluated using both biological and physical criteria. The mainpurpose of this parallel evaluation is to test the value of biological andphysical evaluations in comparing treatment techniques. It is demonstratedthat the biological objective functions allow a much higher conformality and amore clinically relevant scoring of the outcome. Often external beam treatmenttechniques have to be combined with intracavitary therapy to give clinicallyacceptable results. However, recent developments can reduce or even eliminatethis need by delivering more conformal dose distributions using intensitymodulated external dose delivery. In these cases the reliability of thepatient set-up procedure becomes critical for the effectiveness of the treatment.

Gamete donation guidelines. The Corsendonk consensus document for the European Union

IntroductionA multidisciplinary group of experts met in Paris in 1993and in Corsendonk in 1995 under the auspices of theEuropean Community (DG XII) to exchange informationon gamete donation and semen banking in many countriesof Europe.It was recognized during both workshops that the legislation,regulations and practices could differ greatly from one countryto another. There could also be differences from one centre toanother in the same country.It has been agreed that uniformity of regulations need notbe imperative in Europe. Different experiences and practicesadopted in the various European countries must be evaluatedand compared, and when necessary, evolution of practices andmodifications should be undertaken. Nevertheless, it wasthought that minimum requirements had to be respected bythose running donor gamete programme in Europe, inorder to ensure safety and good practice for patientsand donors.A consensus document, covering sperm as well as eggdonation, was drafted after the 1995 meeting, revised andsubmitted to a critical discussion at an Andrology SpecialInterest Group Workshop during the 1996 ESHRE meetingin Maastricht. The result is a document which attempts tostandardize important standard health-related elements whilstrespecting each one’s autonomy on ethical aspects.Some statements are mandatory for professionals involvedin gamete donation; these are prefixed by the words ‘must be’in the guidelines. Other statements are more or less stronglyrecommended according to local situations, but their applica-tion should be an objective. These are prefixed by the words‘should be’ in the guidelines.500

Differences in Perceptions of Exporting Problems Based on Firm Size and Export Market Experience

There is a lacuna of empirical research in the international marketing literature pertaining to problems and issues encountered by exporting firms, particularly in relation to the Western European context. In addressing this gap, reports the findings of an ethnocentric study, which focused on the problems confronting the ongoing export activities of indigenous Greek manufacturing firms within the trading sphere of the European Community. Examines specifically the extent to which there are significant differences in perceptions of exporting problems based on the organizational characteristics of firm size and export market experience. Tests two hypotheses, and identifies a number of such differences. Provides conclusions and implications, which furnish both managers and public policy makers with an awareness of scenarios where exporting problems may arise. Considers the research limitations, and also appends suggestions for avenues of future research on which these have some influence.

Maintaining Competitive Markets: UK and EC Merger Policy

In recent years there has been a substantial increase in the number of mergers and takeovers in the UK referred by the Office of Fair Trading to the Monopolies and Mergers Commission for investigation and report. This reflects an ongoing concern of the UK competition authorities with the maintenance and promotion of competitive markets. Surveys UK merger policy alongside a concurrent development – the introduction in 1990 of a new supranational Merger Regulation by the European Community. Outlines the regulatory frameworks operating in the UK and EC and highlights particular points of interest in the application of policy control by reference to selected merger cases.