Academic literature on the topic 'European Union countries – Energy policy'
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Journal articles on the topic "European Union countries – Energy policy"
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Kaveshnikov, N. Y. "European Union Energy Saving Policy." MGIMO Review of International Relations, no. 4(37) (August 28, 2014): 109–15. http://dx.doi.org/10.24833/2071-8160-2014-4-37-109-115.
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This article analyses methods of energy efficiency stimulation in the European Union. The author investigates basic areas of the EU activity; in particular, the author estimates results of implementation of the Energy Star program, new provisions of labeling of energy-using products, measures to increase energy efficiency in buildings. The paper also analyzes the provisions of the Directive 2012/27 that is the first EU document, providing for a comprehensive approach to energy saving at all stages: production, transformation and consumption. Today EU policy includes: 7) a general political and regulatory framework laid down by the European action plan on energy efficiency and Directive 2012/27; 2) national action plans on energy efficiency, which should be in line with indicative targets set at the EU level; 3) special EU documents in key areas of energy efficiency (buildings, energy-consuming equipment etc.); 4) accompanying instruments, such as target funding, information dissemination, support of specialized networks. The paper gives a comprehensive analysis of the key methods of implementation of EU policy in the area of energy saving. The author concludes that EU operates within the framework of the open method of coordination. The system of mandatory/voluntary technical standards has allowed to achieve significant success, but indicative planning and monitoring of national actions are not completely effective. In the long term EU policy in the area of energy efficiency is restrained by member states unwillingness to delegate to the European Union a more detailed powers in this field and to give the EU bodies facilities to execute more strict control. In the short term - in conditions of economic crisis, the EU countries are not ready to invest significant budget funds in projects with long payback period.
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Vavrek, Roman, and Jana Chovancová. "Energy Performance of the European Union Countries in Terms of Reaching the European Energy Union Objectives." Energies 13, no. 20 (October 13, 2020): 5317. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/en13205317.
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European energy policy, especially the project of the Energy Union, is one of the most rapidly developing areas of the EU, and one through which European institutions are obtaining gradually more extensive power over the performance of the national energy sectors. The paper focuses on an analysis of the energy performance of EU member states (MS) with regard to the priorities of the European Energy Union. For an assessment of the energy performance of EU countries, the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) was chosen, using the Coefficient of Variation method (CV) as an objective method for determining the weights of eight input indicators, including CO2 intensity, electricity and gas price, energy productivity, energy dependence, consumption of renewables and research and development. The analysis for the period from 2008 to 2016 showed significant changes in the input indicators, which directly influenced the results of both methods mentioned above. Long-term differences between the best- and worst-rated countries are seen mainly in CO2 emissions, energy imports and total consumption of renewable energy sources. It is these aspects of comprehensive energy performance and their convergence at the level of EU countries that we believe should be addressed in the near future.
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Vié, Aymeric, Cinzia Colapinto, Davide La Torre, and Danilo Liuzzi. "The long-run sustainability of the European Union countries." Management Decision 57, no. 2 (February 11, 2019): 523–42. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/md-05-2018-0518.
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Purpose Energy and environmental concerns have gained a significant role in public policy agenda as well as in energy economics literature. As policies often rely on imprecise information on data and goals, fuzzy goal programming (FGP) modeling is a relevant choice to evaluate multi-criteria sustainability. This technique is suitable for the analysis of the Europe 2020 strategy plan dealing with several possibly conflicting objectives in economy, environment, energy and employment. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach The paper presents a FGP model for sustainable implementations for all European Union (EU) countries with respect to Europe 2020 policy goals and provides insights for decision makers to better satisfy conflicting criteria by suggesting optimal allocations of workers in several economic sectors. Findings The analysis shows an overall great performance of European Union countries in the environmental and social criteria and outlines the needs for significant additional policy measures to reduce energy consumption while increasing the economic output. Comparing the performance of countries within the European Union between those who adopted the euro and those who maintained national currencies shows that Euro countries tend to perform worse in terms of Europe 2020 sustainability, opening opportunities for further research to better investigate on the causes and determinants of these differences. Originality/value The paper presents a conceptual model of sustainable development that improves understanding of the concept and reconciles highly competing policy objectives in a common framework. Applying this model to all European Union countries offers both comparison and policy recommendations at a large new scale.
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Kaveshnikov, N. Y. "DEVELOPMENT OF THE EXTERNAL ENERGY POLICY OF THE EUROPEAN UNION." MGIMO Review of International Relations, no. 4(31) (August 28, 2013): 82–91. http://dx.doi.org/10.24833/2071-8160-2013-4-31-82-91.
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The article analyses development of external energy policy of the European Union (EU). In spite of the Lisbon treaty didn’t substantially expend EU powers in external energy policy, European Commission (EC) became more active in recent years. Decision on exchange of information about bilateral energy agreements between Member States (MSs) and third countries may deprive producers of opportunity to differentiate terms of infrastructure projects and energy supply in different MSs. European Commission participation in MSs negotiations with third countries as a guardian of energy market provisions will inevitably increase negotiation power of MSs. Nevertheless, only smooth and modest extension of powers of the EC would be possible because of opposition of numerous countries which makes a search of consensus very difficult. Among priority activities of the EU external energy policy one could identify ‘export’ of energy market provisions in neighbor countries; diversification of suppliers and prioritization of politically selected supply routes; dramatic increase of regulatory activity at EU level. All these activities are partially successful, but they all have some shortages. Several EU legislative and regulatory measures risk to run counter to existing obligations of MSs.
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Reichert, Götz. "The Future of Energy." Texas A&M Journal of Property Law 1, no. 2 (December 2013): 319–25. http://dx.doi.org/10.37419/jpl.v1.i2.8.
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My aim for this presentation today, is to give you a broad overview of the diverse challenges the energy sector in Europe is confronted with today and the various policy approaches of the European Union in this respect. In order to illustrate the European perspective on energy policy, part one of my presentation will illustrate important challenges European countries have to face, and the respective role of the European Union in developing policy responses. The second part of my presentation will deal with the four major policy approaches in this field: the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the promotion of energy efficiency, the development of renewable sources of energy, and finally, the necessary adaptation of the energy infrastructure.
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Morales-Lage, Rafael, Aurelia Bengochea-Morancho, and Immaculada Martínez-Zarzoso. "Are CO2 emissions converging in the European Union? Policy implications." Notas Económicas, no. 49 (December 6, 2019): 63–82. http://dx.doi.org/10.14195/2183-203x_49_5.
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This paper focuses on the process of convergence in per capita CO2 emissions that would occur if the measures taken by the European Union to meet the Kyoto Protocol commitments had been effective. We apply a time series and cross-sectional analysis to test for the existence of convergence among countries and for different economic sectors. The sample covers data for the 28 member countries from 1960 to 2012. The results show weak absolute convergence across countries but clear evidence of conditional convergence, with GDP, the weight of industrial sector and the use of renewable energies being the main drivers of divergence. Concerning sectors, there is an increase of emissions in the agricultural sector, but a reduction in the industrial and energy sectors. Different patterns arise in the energy subsectors where manufacturing and electricity notably reduced their emissions while the transport sector increased them in all countries.
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Yudina, O. "Forming the European Union Common External Energy Policy: Key Events and Results." World Economy and International Relations 65, no. 5 (2021): 39–48. http://dx.doi.org/10.20542/0131-2227-2021-65-5-39-48.
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Received 08.05.2020. Energy has always been of particular importance to the European Union. Meanwhile, up to the beginning of the 21st century, this area had been in exclusive competence of member states, with timid attempts of the European Commission (EC) to receive part of the powers in the energy sphere. The article is devoted to the issues of the EU common external energy policy development that was accompanied by a dichotomy of interests between the member-states, which hardly like the idea of the energy sector communitarisation, and the European Commission, which has been the main driver of supranationalisation of the energy sphere for a long period of time. The author characterizes the main achievements towards the EU common external energy policy, including the law regarding the export of energy to neighboring non-member countries through various organizations, such as the Energy Community, the Eastern Partnership, MEDREG, and launching of the European Energy Union (EEU) in 2015. Special attention is paid to external factors that facilitated the enhancement of the European Commission’s role in the energy sphere. The new era for the EU common external energy policy started in 2015 with the EEU and energy security as one of its priority, partly due to the gas crises and political tension between the European Union and Russia. It is noted that the EEU has facilitated the adoption of some EC’s legal proposals that could not be adopted for a long time, such as the mechanism of consultations on new intergovernmental contracts. In general, the creation of the Energy Union should certainly be seen as strengthening the supranational energy competences of the European Commission. It is concluded that the European Commission has made a significant progress towards a common external energy policy, strongly supported by the public opinion that the European Union should speak one voice with third countries. Despite the lack of legally supported competencies in energy for the EC, it gained authority in different directions of the EU energy policy development. Under these circumstances, the common energy market that has led to energy interdependent of the member states, forces them to cooperate at a supranational level. The author argues that third countries should clearly understand the dynamic and processes of communitarisation of the energy sphere and adopt their cooperation with the European Union based on this knowledge.
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Luty, Lidia, and Monika Zioło. "Differentiation of climate and energy policy in the countries of the European Union." Scientific Papers of Silesian University of Technology. Organization and Management Series 2023, no. 166 (2023): 505–17. http://dx.doi.org/10.29119/1641-3466.2022.166.32.
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Purpose: The energy policy of the European Union focuses mainly on three areas: renewable energy, reducing the emission of harmful pollutants, in particular CO2, and increasing the efficiency of electricity used. Sustainable energy management, in turn, is undoubtedly associated with the increased use of renewable energy sources ensuring energy security as well as the diversification of energy supplies that support and improve the quality of the environment. The aim of the article is to present the diversity of the European Union countries in terms of actions taken in the field of energy policy resulting from climate and energy goals. Design/methodology/approach: On the basis of the objectives of the energy policy presented in the EU directives, indicators describing the activities of the Member States in this respect were selected. Then, they were subjected to substantive and statistical verification, leaving 6 variables. The tool of Multidimensional Statistical Analysis, which is a synthetic measure, was used to develop a synthetic measure of the level of achievement of the goals of the climate and energy policy. Two types of analyses were used: static for international comparisons between the European Union countries, conducted for 2021, and dynamic, for the years 2011-2021. Findings: The most favourable situation in terms of activities aimed at reducing emissions of harmful substances and improving the energy efficiency of countries can be observed in the hitherto leaders of Sweden and Finland. Together with Denmark, these countries have set very ambitious national targets for achieving a share of at least 50% from renewable energy in gross final energy consumption. All countries have increased their energy productivity index. Bulgaria, Italy and Slovakia have made the greatest reductions in pollutant emissions. In the interests of energy independence, countries are trying to increase energy production from domestic resources. The greatest improvements in this field were made in Ireland, Latvia, Portugal and Finland. The division into three groups of countries implementing the energy and climate policy introduced by the EU showed that the indicators that differentiate countries to the greatest extent, among the group of selected variables, are greenhouse gas emissions and the energy dependency ratio. Keywords: energy and climate policy, EU countries, synthetic measure. Category of the paper: Research paper.
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Grecu, Robert-Adrian. "Synchronization of Business Cycles in European Union Countries." Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence 16, no. 1 (August 1, 2022): 217–28. http://dx.doi.org/10.2478/picbe-2022-0021.
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Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has affected economic activity worldwide. Despite the progress made by vaccination campaigns, important uncertainties still linger amid persistent global value chains disruptions and the ongoing energy crisis. A proper understanding of the behavior of the economy is therefore essential for future policy decisions. While there are plenty of studies regarding business cycles, using various methods from univariate filters to more complex methods, less papers focus on large scale comparisons. In this paper, we provide an overview of business cycles in European Union countries. We use the Hodrick-Prescott filter in order to measure the cyclical component of the gross domestic product and the Bry-Boschan-Quarterly algorithm for further analysis, namely the duration and the amplitude of the business cycles. Our results show that their size in European Union countries varies from 2.7 to 6 years and their amplitude is between 1.6 and 5.6 percentage points. We show that in developed economies, business cycles are more stable. Furthermore, strong correlations in terms of business cycles are found in the case of certain groups of countries, such as the Baltic ones or Belgium, Austria and France. In the case of Romania, its business cycle is more similar to the one of Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia. These results could provide useful information for policymakers in terms of future policy decisions conditional on both the current state of the economy and its structural characteristics. Under these circumstances, support measures should also take into consideration such properties of the economy.
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Tantau, Adrian, and Ana-Maria Iulia Şanta. "New Energy Policy Directions in the European Union Developing the Concept of Smart Cities." Smart Cities 4, no. 1 (February 9, 2021): 241–52. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/smartcities4010015.
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In the context of the European Union promoting clean energy, sustainability and better living conditions for its citizens, the development of smarts cities is an initiative supported at the European Union level, in line with the new energy policies of the European Union promoted by the package “Clean Energy for All Europeans”. The concept of smart cities gains increasing importance in the European Union, a fact that is reflected in the project “European Innovation Partnership on Smart Cities and Communities” of the European Commission. Smart cities are a practical example of how the new energy policies shape the lives of the European Union citizens, trying to improve it. As a consequence, new business models arise in big cities, involving the use of technology for better living conditions. These new, technology-based business models are important, as they improve the life quality of the inhabitants, they reduce the climate change impact, and they contribute as well to job creation in the IT-industry, promoting innovation. They have as well a social impact, as they bring experts from energy policies, business, economics, legal and IT together in order to project a new type of city—the smart city. The research hypothesis of the present article is that there is a high acceptance towards the concept of smart cities at the European Union level and that this concept could be implemented with the help of information technology and of artificial intelligence. This way, legal provisions, economic measures and IT-tools work together in order to create synergy effects for better life quality of the citizens of the European Union. The research hypothesis is analyzed by means of the questionnaire as a qualitative research method and is as well assessed by using case studies (e.g., Austria, Finland, Romania). The novelty of the case studies is that the development of smart cities is analyzed due to the new trend towards sustainability in two countries with different living conditions in the European Union.
Dissertations / Theses on the topic "European Union countries – Energy policy"
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Zhu, Feng. "EU energy policy after the Treaty of Lisbon : breakthroughs, interfaces and opportunity." Thesis, University of Macau, 2012. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b2580185.
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BAHMER, Larissa Elisabeth. "Chutes, ladders, snakes and surprises : policy durability and policy flexibility in EU energy and climate governance based on the governance regulation." Doctoral thesis, European University Institute, 2020. https://hdl.handle.net/1814/69195.
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Award date: 26 September 2020Supervisor : Professor Joanne Scott (European University Institute)
Whether the EU will live up to its leadership ambition in mitigating climate change to no little extent depends on whether the Governance Regulation will prove successful or whether it will add to the list of climate and energy policies which aimed high but performed low. This thesis analyses the legal arrangements of the Governance Regulation as embedded in the EU constitutional and administrative law framework in light of policy durability and policy flexibility, with the aim of assessing whether the Governance Regulation promises to build a long-lasting yet adaptable foundation for EU energy and climate governance that facilitates ratcheting up ambition and progress toward a ‘climate neutral’ Union.
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Palmer, James Robert. "Science and politics in European energy and environmental policy : the wicked problem of biofuels and indirect land-use change (ILUC)." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.608217.
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Heffron, Raphael James. "Policy for planned nuclear new build in the European Union and the United States." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2013. http://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.607891.
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Zhong, Xiao Fei. "China and the EU : competition and cooperation in the Caspian region." Thesis, University of Macau, 2010. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b2555549.
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Yan, Ya Xue. "Interests & interdependency in Sino-EU renewable energy cooperation." Thesis, University of Macau, 2012. http://umaclib3.umac.mo/record=b2595814.
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Pourzitakis, Efstratios. "Hedging against energy insecurity: a comparison between China and the EU." HKBU Institutional Repository, 2017. https://repository.hkbu.edu.hk/etd_oa/423.
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The research compares the energy security approaches and strategies of China and the EU since the early 2000's. It examines the nexus between strategies and approaches of the two actors and it seeks to highlight the importance of domestic issues such as energy security governance and domestic politics. In addition, it sheds light to the notion of hedging which has become recently a buzzword among political scientists. Finally, it takes a critical position towards the mainstream dichotomy between strategic and market-based approaches to energy security. Despite their structural differences, China and the EU share similarities regarding their conceptualization of energy security. Interestingly, both sides have based their perceptions on perceived and contested energy security risks. Hence, in the mid-2000's, the two actors securitized energy due to external factors such as the Russia-Ukraine gas crisis and the so-called "Malacca Strait dilemma". Domestic factors however served as a transmission belt and they determined the process of how these external challenges shaped their energy security perceptions and eventually their strategies. During the last years of the examined period, Beijing and Brussels have adopted more comprehensive and sophisticated approach. Their declared adherence to market-based principles reflects among others their interest in self-identifying as liberal actors. The latter has been a global trend among states. Furthermore, it is concluded that their energy security strategies have distinct differences as well as certain similarities. For many years, issues such as the "Malacca Dilemma" and the European dependence on Russian gas have played an important role to the energy security strategies of China and the EU. Again, the two actors have been incorporating strategic and market-based policies in their energy security strategies that aim at their domestic markets as well as abroad. In order to analyse the energy security perceptions of the two actors, the research assumed that China and the EU have been adopting a hedging strategy. While their behaviour has the characteristics of hedging, a basic difference between the two actors is that for China hedging is a strategic choice while for the EU hedging is a combination of policies adopted by different actors. As a result, while it can be accepted that China has been implementing a hedging strategy the EU has been merely pursuing a hedging behavior. The distinction between hedging strategy and hedging behavior stands as one of the theoretical contributions of this research. Finally, the research chooses the Caspian Sea region as a case-study in order to examine the energy security strategies of China and the EU. Both actors have been seeking access to the Caspian energy resources in order to hedge against their energy insecurities. Their approaches however are fundamentally different as China has established a strong foothold in the region adopting mainly mercantilistic tactics while the EU has been facing important hardships as a result of domestic setbacks that limit the effectiveness of its resource diplomacy as well as due to political incompatibility with the Caspian states. Using the Regional Security Complex Theory as a conceptual starting point, the research approaches the Caspian Sea region as an energy security complex where China and the EU have been also integrated. The research analyses the energy security strategies of China and the EU within the Caspian complex applying the theoretical framework of neoclassical realism. This theoretical novelty can be evaluated as successful and as a result, the research has established an alternative theoretical approach to regional security complexes.
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Marengo, Umberto. "The European Union in the international energy regime and relations with the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council, 1981-2013." Thesis, University of Cambridge, 2015. https://ethos.bl.uk/OrderDetails.do?uin=uk.bl.ethos.709420.
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Belyi, Andrei. "La dimension énergétique de la Sécurité pan-européenne et son impact sur la politique extérieure de l'Union européenne." Doctoral thesis, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, 2004. http://hdl.handle.net/2013/ULB-DIPOT:oai:dipot.ulb.ac.be:2013/211092.
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Alakbarov, Gurban. "Die Energieressourcen der kaspischen Region und ihre Auswirkungen auf die Energiesicherheit der Europäischen Union." Bochum [u. a.] : Europäischer Univ.-Verl, 2008. http://www.gbv.de/dms/zbw/568950232.pdf.
Full textBooks on the topic "European Union countries – Energy policy"
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1972-, Aalto Pami, ed. The EU-Rssian energy dialogue: Europe's future energy security. Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2007.
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Paasikallio, Outi. The Impact of EU-membership on the development of energy systems in the Baltic countries. [Helsinki]: Ministry of Trade and Industry of Finland, 1998.
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Larsson, Robert L. Tackling dependency: The EU and its energy security challenges. Stockholm: Division for Defence Analysis, Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI), 2007.
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Law and policy of the European gas market. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2014.
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Buchan, David. Energy and climate change: Europe at the crossroads. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, 2009.
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Energy and climate change: Europe at the crossroads. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, 2009.
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David, Buchan. Energy and climate change: Europe at the crossroads. Oxford: Oxford University Press for the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, 2009.
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Energy security: Europe's new foreign policy challenge. New York: Routledge, 2009.
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The power of science: Economic research and European decision-making : the case of energy and environment policies. New York, NY: Peter Lang, 2010.
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Valdalbero, Domenico Rossetti di. The power of science: Economic research and European decision-making : the case of energy and environment policies. New York, NY: Peter Lang, 2010.
Find full textBook chapters on the topic "European Union countries – Energy policy"
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Matláry, Janne Haaland. "Energy Policies in the EU Countries." In Energy Policy in the European Union, 25–44. London: Macmillan Education UK, 1997. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-25735-5_3.
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Kampa, Eleftheria. "Policy Framework for Hydropower Mitigation." In Novel Developments for Sustainable Hydropower, 1–11. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-99138-8_1.
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AbstractHydropower is at the cross-road of different policies on renewable energy, climate change, water and nature. Knowledge of current policies and regulations at different levels is crucial for understanding the framework conditions for more sustainable hydropower. This chapter examines the role of policy in planning and implementing mitigation actions for European hydropower. The overarching framework is set by European Union legislation in particular the Water Framework Directive, EU policies on nature/biodiversity and the EU agenda for energy and climate. All these different policies should be taken into account in a balanced way considering synergies and trade-offs. EU policies are complemented by national legislation that sets the regulatory framework for hydropower mitigation measures in each country. The impacts of hydropower for which mitigation is most commonly required by legislation are the disruption of upstream fish migration and the modification of flow conditions. Supported by a policy analysis of eight European countries, this chapter shows that recent changes in environmental legislation and societal pressure have reduced permit duration for hydropower plants. Further, the Water Framework Directive and national policy revisions have triggered modifications in authorisation procedures for hydropower at the benefit of implementing mitigation measures.
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Hänni, Julia, and Tienmu Ma. "Swiss Climate Change Law." In Swiss Energy Governance, 17–47. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-80787-0_2.
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AbstractThis chapter explores the relationship between Swiss climate change law and the international and European climate change regimes. At the international level, the chapter reviews the three major international agreements regulating the field: the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Kyoto Protocol to the UNFCCC, and the Paris Agreement. And at the national and regional levels, the chapter briefly describes the CO2 Act—often considered the heart of Swiss climate change policy—and questions whether it will prove effective in achieving its explicitly stated emissions reduction targets. The chapter then reviews the most significant recent innovation in the evolution of Swiss climate change policy: joining the Emissions Trading System (ETS) established by the European Union. Due to long-standing problems afflicting the ETS, the authors raise doubts about whether Switzerland’s joining the scheme will lead to meaningful reductions in the country’s greenhouse gas emissions. As an alternative to an ETS-centric approach, the authors refer to an approach centered on human rights. Drawing on the jurisprudence of the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), the major international climate change agreements, other sources of international law, and the recent Urgenda decision of the Supreme Court of the Netherlands, the authors argue that under the human rights approach, Switzerland would be obligated to take stronger measures to reduce emissions than it could hope to achieve through the ETS and the CO2 Act alone.
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Atkinson, Ben. "Trade Policy and Preferences." In The European Union and Developing Countries, 305–21. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 1998. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9780230509184_21.
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van Hulten, Michiel, and Nick Sitter. "Something for Everyone: Political Fragmentation and Policy Accommodation in the European Parliament." In Energy Union, 223–36. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-59104-3_13.
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Buzogány, Aron. "Neighbourhood Countries: Promoting Environmental Protection Close to Home." In European Union External Environmental Policy, 233–52. Cham: Springer International Publishing, 2017. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-60931-7_12.
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Hewitt, Adrian. "Reform in the British and European Community Aid Programmes: Implications for the Pacific Countries." In European Union Development Policy, 119–30. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 1998. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-26858-0_9.
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Lemaître, Marc. "EU Textiles Policy and Developing Countries." In The European Union and Developing Countries, 322–35. London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 1998. http://dx.doi.org/10.1057/9780230509184_22.
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Schubert, Samuel R., Johannes Pollak, and Maren Kreutler. "External Energy Politics." In Energy Policy of the European Union, 201–44. London: Macmillan Education UK, 2016. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-137-38884-1_8.
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Matláry, Janne Haaland. "Towards a Common Energy Policy?" In Energy Policy in the European Union, 58–78. London: Macmillan Education UK, 1997. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-25735-5_5.
Full textConference papers on the topic "European Union countries – Energy policy"
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Ballı, Esra, and Gülçin Güreşçi Pehlivan. "Economic Effects of European Neighborhood Policy on Countries." In International Conference on Eurasian Economies. Eurasian Economists Association, 2013. http://dx.doi.org/10.36880/c04.00777.
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After the fifth enlargement of European Union in 2004 and with the expansion of European Unions borders and new neighbors, it became one of the important policies to provide security, stability and prosperity, and develop relationship between neighborhood countries. Although, enlargement process provide some opportunities to the member states of European Union, it brings about some difficulties. The differences at the life standards, environment, public health, prevention and combating organized crime between European Union and neighbor countries caused to create new policies. European Neighborhood Policy was launched in 2004, and consists of 16 countries, namely: Israel, Jordan, Moldova, Morocco, The Palestinian Authority, Tunisia, Ukraine, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Georgia, Lebanon, Algeria, Syria, Libya and Belarus. European Union and the partner country sign the Partnership and Cooperation Agreements or Association Agreements, and then the Agreement Action Plans are mutually adapted. Action Plans include privileged relationship, mutual commitment to common values, democracy and human rights, legal and market economy principles, good governance, sustainable development, energy and transportation policies. Within the framework of European Neighborhood Policy, the main aim is to arrange the relationship between the neighbors of European Union. In this study, economic effects of the European Neighborhood Policy will be examined for the relevant countries.
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Narin, Müslüme, and Younes Gholizadeh. "Comparing the European Union and Turkey's Renewable Energy Policies." In International Conference on Eurasian Economies. Eurasian Economists Association, 2018. http://dx.doi.org/10.36880/c10.02155.
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European Union countries (EU), because they have to import a large portion of the consumed energy, on the one hand are trying to develop effective energy consumption, and on the other hand to increase their share of renewable energy sources in total energy consumption. In this context, the European Commission, published "2017 Progress Report" about renewable energy sources in the framework of EU 2020 Renewable Energy Targets". In this report, it is indicated that the share of renewable energy sources in final energy consumption has been increased to 16,4% and with regards to renewable energy sources, a vast majority of EU countries are compatible with their 2020 targets.
The EU's policy towards renewable energy sources supports the "Energy Union Action Plan" in five categories: Energy security, market integration, energy efficiency, decarbonization and innovation. For instance, within the framework of energy security, the increase in EU renewable energy sources saved 16 billion Euros in fossil fuel imports in 2015. In accordance with "Clean Energy Package for Europe", emphasized the importance of providing cheap energy to the countries within EU market. Greenhouse gas emissions have declined with consuming renewable energy sources. The purpose of this study is to provide the latest developments in long-standing renewable energy policies in the EU and Turkey comparatively. In this context, first, the Turkey's renewable energy policies will be studied comparatively, thereafter, the effectiveness of these policies in the EU and Turkey will be investigated.
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Kot-Niewiadomska, Alicja, Krzysztof Galos, and Katarzyna Guzik. "SAFEGUARDING OF MINERAL DEPOSITS AS THE BASIS OF EUROPEAN UNION RAW MATERIALS SECURITY IN THE ERA OF UNSTABLE GEOPOLITICAL CONDITIONS." In 22nd SGEM International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference 2022. STEF92 Technology, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.5593/sgem2022/1.1/s03.046.
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The economic results of many dynamically developing European countries largely depend on the availability of mineral raw materials. For this reason, securing their supplies from import must be supported by a committed foreign policy as well as a sustainable raw materials policy in the field of their obtaining from domestic sources, both from mineral deposits, as well as secondary and waste sources. Raw material security must be based on the diversification of supply sources and minimizing supply risks. The results of analyses show that the European Union relies heavily on imported raw materials, especially in industries recognized as strategic (renewable Energy - wind & PV; grids, Li-ion batteries (LIB), electric vehicles (EVs), Robotics and defense). Moreover, most of the import sources are countries with high or very high risk of supply. Recently, these risks are higher due to unstable political situation in Eastern Europe. Taking into account above, the European Union should consider the possibility of further development of its own mining industry, based on its own resources. The raw material potential of European countries is significant, but recently problems related to the possibility of launching new mining projects have been increasing. Social, environmental and spatial conditions play a decisive role. In this context, particular attention should be paid to the properly implemented policy of mineral deposits safeguarding which provides access to primary sources of raw materials (deposits), thus reducing dependence from unstable import sources.
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Aanstoos, Ted A. "Management Challenges in Emerging European Union Eco-Standards." In ASME 2004 Power Conference. ASMEDC, 2004. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/power2004-52115.
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The European Union is 450 million citizens in 25 otherwise sovereign countries, but connected in a multinational federal metastate that claims a combined economy in excess of $9 trillion (US), making it one of the world’s largest economies. As a community faced with massive decontamination and re-industrialization from devastating wars, Europe places due emphasis on issues of environmental sustainability and pollution prevention. Under broad policy guidelines of the New Approach and Integrated Product Planning frameworks, the European Commission is drafting legislation that will mandate eco-standards for all energized end-use equipment for sale in the internal market. These proposed standards may raise controversy in many industry sectors and international arenas (including within Europe itself) because they may not be based on sound and accepted scientific analysis, because they may constitute a de-facto violation at least in spirit of the Technical Barriers to Trade Agreement, and because nobody can yet predict their cost impact and other market effect. Compliance with these emerging energy efficiency regulations will impose considerable management requirements on manufacturers as they devise documentation and certification programs for their products that are likely to be of a scope similar to ISO 14000. This paper assesses the new requirements from a product and design management perspective.
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Manders, Jan L. C. "Developments in WTE Within Europe." In 16th Annual North American Waste-to-Energy Conference. ASMEDC, 2008. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/nawtec16-1917.
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A description is given of the key elements of European Union (EU) policy and EU directives, which may affect the desired switch from landfill to Waste-to-Energy (WTE) and recycling of waste within the 27 EU countries. The most important directive is the one which forces individual member states to reduce the landfill levels for MSW to 35% of the quantity of the base year 1995.
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Hysa, Eglantina, Minhas Akbar, Ahsan Akbar, Iges Banda, and Simona Andreea Apostu. "Renewable Energy through the Lenses of Financial Development and Technological Innovation: The Case of CEE Countries." In 3rd International Conference Global Ethics -Key of Sustainability (GEKoS). Lumen Publishing House, 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.18662/lumproc/gekos2022/07.
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Central and Eastern Europe countries are considered as a fragile group of economies compared to European Union countries. Furthermore, against the backdrop of rapid industrial growth, this study examines the spillover effects of financial development (FD) and technological innovation (TI) on levels of consumptions with regard to CEE countries renewable energy. Hence, by considering proxies for technological innovation such as trademarks, patents, and grants received for innovation, we assess the stimulus of technological advancement on the consumption of renewable energy. While broad money stock ratio is used for financial deepening. The empirical outcomes of this research will explicate whether advancement in innovation capacity and financial development stimulates the demand for renewable energy. This research will target CEE countries, and the period of examination will be for 2000–2019. Therefore, our model will employ the following explanatory variables; technological innovation, capital formation, and income inequality to test their influence on taking advantages of applying different technologies in renewable energy. Lastly, our study will provide important policy prescriptions for the regulators to ensure an enabling appropriate environment to support renewable energy for pollution abatement.
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Ivanov, Metodi. "SPECIFIC FEATURES OF ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT POLICY AND ITS IMPACT ON REGIONAL DEVELOPMENT IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES." In 22nd SGEM International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference 2022. STEF92 Technology, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.5593/sgem2022/5.1/s23.098.
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The environmental management system should be considered as part of the overall management system. This involves looking at the organizational structure, planning activities, responsibilities, practices, procedures, processes and resources for developing, implementing, achieving, reviewing and maintaining environmental policy. Basic principles and requirements of the environmental management system are aimed at identifying, researching, controlling and reviewing the factors influencing the environment, which allow businesses and public organizations to formulate policies and objectives aimed at protection of the environment. By introducing an environmental management system, organizations simultaneously declare, declare their commitment and guarantee to society as a whole that they are genuinely committed to solving environmental problems. European environmental policy is based on the principle of precautionary measures, preventive action and the elimination of pollution at source, as well as on the principle of "polluter pays". The European Union has the power to take action on all matters of environmental policy such as air and water pollution, waste management and climate change. Although some powers are limited as a result of the principle of subsidiarity and the requirement for unanimous agreement in the Council on fiscal issues, issues related to urban and spatial planning, land use, quantitative management of water resources, choice of energy sources and the structure of energy supply. The purpose of this article is to present specific features of environmental management policy and its impact on regional development in developing countries.
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Nitova, Darina, and Yasen Markov. "CHALLENGE FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DO NOT SIGNIFICANTLY HARM PRINCIPLE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION FUNDED RAIL PROJECTS IN BULGARIA." In 22nd SGEM International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference 2022. STEF92 Technology, 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.5593/sgem2022/5.1/s23.095.
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The European Green Deal has an overarching aim of making Europe climate neutral in 2050. The goal is to reduce EU's greenhouse gas emissions for 2030 to at least 50% and towards 55% compared with 1990 levels. Its goals extend to many different sectors, including construction, biodiversity, energy, transport and food and includes carbon tariffs for countries that don't curtail their greenhouse gas pollution at the same rate. On 18 June 2020, the Taxonomy Regulation for climate change mitigation and adaptation was published in the Official Journal. In December 2020 was adopted the new EU Sustainable and Smart Mobility Strategy, whereas its sustainable mobility element envisages an irreversible shift to zero-emission mobility by making all transport modes more sustainable. In February 2021 the EC issued technical guidance on the application of �do no significant harm� under the Recovery and Resilience Facility Regulation, and in September 2021 an explanatory note on the application of the principle under Cohesion Policy. The Recovery and Resiliency Facility Plan of Republic of Bulgaria was approved in April 2022 and Transport Connectivity Programme should be approved by the end of 2022 as well. This article discusses the challenges for the implementation of the EU guidance documents for the case of the EU co-funded rail sector projects in Bulgaria. In particular the identified cohesion policy projects are discussed and a particular project is analyzed. As a result some challenges and conclusions are formulated.
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Fatur Šikić, Tanja. "THE IMPACT OF TOURISM AND FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON CARBON EMISSIONS: EVIDENCE FROM EU MEDITERRANEAN COUNTRIES." In Tourism and hospitality industry. University of Rijeka, Faculty of Tourism and Hospitality Management, 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.20867/thi.26.14.
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Purpose - The tourism sector not only contributes significantly to gross domestic product, but also plays an important role in the sustainable economic development of a country. Tourism accounts for approximately 8% of global carbon emissions. From flights and boat trips to souvenirs and accommodations, various activities contribute to tourism emissions. Formulating mitigation measures for sustainable tourism requires an understanding of the factors contributing to the increase in tourism CO2 emissions. This study analyses the impact of tourism and financial development on CO2 emissions, while controlling for foreign direct investment (FDI), real income and energy consumption in seven Mediterranean countries that are part of the European Union (Croatia, Cyprus, France, Greece, Italy, Slovenia, and Spain). Methodology - A dynamic panel regression model was used to understand the impact of tourism and financial development on CO2 emissions. The analysis was conducted using annual data from 1995 to 2020 for a sample of seven EU Mediterranean countries. Findings - The empirical results show that the number of tourist arrivals, financial development, real income and energy consumption play an important role in explaining CO2 emissions. Although financial development has an increasing effect on CO2 emissions, tourist arrivals reduce CO2 emissions. It seems that the EU policy to promote sustainable tourism has managed to reduce CO2 emissions. It appears that the tourism sector is using more clean and environmentally friendly technologies in its activities. European countries should continue to take the necessary measures for sustainable tourism. Contribution - This paper aims to contribute to the existing literature in two ways. First, this study examines the impact of tourist arrivals and financial development on environmental degradation so that appropriate measures can be taken to ensure sustainable tourism. Second, this study focuses on seven Mediterranean countries that are part of the EU and have similar tourism characteristics. The tourism sector in these countries depends heavily on beach tourism. Therefore, the results of this analysis will be of particular interest to policy makers.
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King, Andrew, Stuart Burgess, Winnie Ijomah, and Chris McMahon. "Design for End-of-Life: Repair, Recondition, Remanufacture or Recycle?" In ASME 2004 International Design Engineering Technical Conferences and Computers and Information in Engineering Conference. ASMEDC, 2004. http://dx.doi.org/10.1115/detc2004-57759.
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Between 1980 and 1997, municipal waste in OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) countries increased by around 40%. The European Union has responded by introducing legislation on extended producer responsibility (EPR). This paper further explains the context of this new legislation and describes, compares and then contrasts the four alternative strategies to reducing end-of-life waste: namely repairing, reconditioning, remanufacturing or recycling. It also introduces a more robust definition of remanufacturing, validated by earlier research, which differentiates it from repair and reconditioning. From a consideration of the different factors involved, it concludes that remanufacturing may often be a strong strategy. This is based on the fact that it preserves both the embodied energy of virgin production (thus reducing the environmental impact) and the intrinsic “value adding” process of the producer (thus increasing the manufacturer’s profitability). As a result, this new environmental policy is likely to lead to significant increases in remanufacturing as an end-of-life strategy in the European Union. However, effective end-of life strategies are dictated by product characteristics and therefore vary from product to product (Rose et al, 1998). Thus further research is required to compare and contrast the effectiveness of remanufacturing and alternative end-of-life strategy for particular product types.
Reports on the topic "European Union countries – Energy policy"
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Domínguez, Roberto. Perceptions of the European Union in Latin America. Fundación Carolina, January 2023. http://dx.doi.org/10.33960/issn-e.1885-9119.dt76en.
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This working paper examines the puzzle of the gaps between the images that the EU projects, voluntarily and involuntarily, and the perceptions of the EU in Latin America. After reviewing some of the debates related to the role of perceptions in public policy and EU Public Diplomacy (EUPD), the paper analyzes some critical developments in global perceptions of the EU based on the study Update of the 2015 Analysis of the Perception of the EU and EU Policies Abroad (2021 Update Study), which assessed the attitudes of the EU in 13 countries. The third section examines some studies on the attitudes of the EU in Latin America, including some contributions from Latinobarometer. The fourth section offers comparative cases of EU perception in Brazil, Mexico, and Colombia based on the findings of the 2021 Update Study. The analysis of each country relies on the interpretation of surveys with some references to the press analysis and interview methods provided in the 2021 Update Study. Each case discusses specific trends in the following areas: visibility, primary descriptors, global economics, and international leadership. Also, it identifies some patterns in perceptions of the EU in social development, climate change, research/technology, development assistance, culture, the case of the critical juncture in the survey (pandemic), and the EU as a normative setter. The final section offers some general trends in the perceptions of the EU in Latin America.
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Bunse, Simone, Elise Remling, Anniek Barnhoorn, Manon du Bus de Warnaffe, Karen Meijer, and Dominik Rehbaum. Advancing European Union Action to Address Climate-related Security Risks. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, September 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.55163/rzme5933.
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The Ukraine war has added to the pressure to address the links between the environment, natural resource management and conflict. This SIPRI Research Policy Paper assesses the priorities of selected European Union (EU) member states regarding climate-related security risks, explores their strategies for pursuing these at EU level and identifies steps for further action. It finds that the appetite to tackle climate-related security risks at EU level is mixed. While maintaining the operational efficiency of the military is a red line, concentrating efforts on research, development and peacekeeping is acceptable even to countries that do not prioritize climate insecurity in their policies. Country strategies for pursuing such efforts involve spotlighting climate security during their respective rotating Council presidencies, working closely with the European External Action Service and the European Commission, and collaborating with like-minded member states. The paper recommends additional steps for action but in order to make effective adjustments to EU processes, climate security will need greater prominence on the EU agenda.
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Bunse, Simone, Elise Remling, Anniek Barnhoorn, Manon du Bus de Warnaffe, Karen Meijer, and Dominik Rehbaum. Mapping European Union Member States’ Responses to Climate-related Security Risks. Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, September 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.55163/htdn6668.
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This SIPRI Research Policy Paper identifies European Union (EU) member states’ efforts to address climate-related security risks in the short to medium term and suggests entry points for further action. Even countries making visible attempts to mainstream the linkages between climate and security are falling short of pursuing a comprehensive approach. Among the ongoing initiatives that might bear fruit in one to three years are: appointing climate security advisers; climate proofing peacebuilding and conflict proofing climate action; investing in early warning and risk mapping; reassessing climate financing and development aid; and building up the operational resilience of the military. Strengthening such efforts would involve: incorporating climate insecurity into foreign and security policy dialogues; increasing conflict-sensitive climate adaptation finance; sensitization to climate change and conflict; and improving the operationalization of early warning. To remain credible, EU member states must advance their climate security initiatives and close the gap between rhetoric and practice.
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Pastuszko, Radosław Pastuszko, and Włodzimierz Gogłoza Gogłoza. The impact of European Union Common Agricultural Policy on the intensification of animal farming in Bulgaria, Romania, and the countries that have signed association agreements with the EU. Tiny Beam Fund, January 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.15868/socialsector.37974.
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Führ, Martin, Julian Schenten, and Silke Kleihauer. Integrating "Green Chemistry" into the Regulatory Framework of European Chemicals Policy. Sonderforschungsgruppe Institutionenanalyse, July 2019. http://dx.doi.org/10.46850/sofia.9783941627727.
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20 years ago a concept of “Green Chemistry” was formulated by Paul Anastas and John Warner, aiming at an ambitious agenda to “green” chemical products and processes. Today the concept, laid down in a set of 12 principles, has found support in various arenas. This diffusion was supported by enhancements of the legislative framework; not only in the European Union. Nevertheless industry actors – whilst generally supporting the idea – still see “cost and perception remain barriers to green chemistry uptake”. Thus, the questions arise how additional incentives as well as measures to address the barriers and impediments can be provided. An analysis addressing these questions has to take into account the institutional context for the relevant actors involved in the issue. And it has to reflect the problem perception of the different stakeholders. The supply chain into which the chemicals are distributed are of pivotal importance since they create the demand pull for chemicals designed in accordance with the “Green Chemistry Principles”. Consequently, the scope of this study includes all stages in a chemical’s life-cycle, including the process of designing and producing the final products to which chemical substances contribute. For each stage the most relevant legislative acts, together establishing the regulatory framework of the “chemicals policy” in the EU are analysed. In a nutshell the main elements of the study can be summarized as follows: Green Chemistry (GC) is the utilisation of a set of principles that reduces or eliminates the use or generation of hazardous substances in the design, manufacture and application of chemical products. Besides, reaction efficiency, including energy efficiency, and the use of renewable resources are other motives of Green Chemistry. Putting the GC concept in a broader market context, however, it can only prevail if in the perception of the relevant actors it is linked to tangible business cases. Therefore, the study analyses the product context in which chemistry is to be applied, as well as the substance’s entire life-cycle – in other words, the six stages in product innovation processes): 1. Substance design, 2. Production process, 3. Interaction in the supply chain, 4. Product design, 5. Use phase and 6. After use phase of the product (towards a “circular economy”). The report presents an overview to what extent the existing framework, i.e. legislation and the wider institutional context along the six stages, is setting incentives for actors to adequately address problematic substances and their potential impacts, including the learning processes intended to invoke creativity of various actors to solve challenges posed by these substances. In this respect, measured against the GC and Learning Process assessment criteria, the study identified shortcomings (“delta”) at each stage of product innovation. Some criteria are covered by the regulatory framework and to a relevant extent implemented by the actors. With respect to those criteria, there is thus no priority need for further action. Other criteria are only to a certain degree covered by the regulatory framework, due to various and often interlinked reasons. For those criteria, entry points for options to strengthen or further nuance coverage of the respective principle already exist. Most relevant are the deltas with regard to those instruments that influence the design phase; both for the chemical substance as such and for the end-product containing the substance. Due to the multi-tier supply chains, provisions fostering information, communication and cooperation of the various actors are crucial to underpin the learning processes towards the GCP. The policy options aim to tackle these shortcomings in the context of the respective stage in order to support those actors who are willing to change their attitude and their business decisions towards GC. The findings are in general coherence with the strategies to foster GC identified by the Green Chemistry & Commerce Council.
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Kostarakos, Ilias, and Petros Varthalitis. Effective tax rates in Ireland. ESRI, November 2020. http://dx.doi.org/10.26504/rs110.
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This article provides estimates of the effective tax rates in Ireland for the 1995-2017 period. We use these aggregate tax indicators to compare the developments in the Irish tax policy mix with the rest of the European Union countries and investigate any potential relation with Ireland’s macroeconomic performance. Our findings show that distortionary taxes, e.g. on factors of production, are significantly lower while less distortionary taxes, e.g. on consumption, are higher in Ireland than most European countries. Thus, the distribution of tax burden falls relatively more on consumption and to a lesser extent on labour than capital; while in the EU average the norm is the opposite. The descriptive analysis indicates that this shift in the Irish tax policy mix is correlated with the country’s strong economic performance.
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Baldessari, Gianni, Oliver Bender, Domenico Branca, Luigi Crema, Anna Giorgi, Nina Janša, Janez Janša, Marie-Eve Reinert, and Jelena Vidović. Smart Altitude. Edited by Annemarie Polderman, Andreas Haller, Chiara Pellegrini, Diego Viesi, Xavier Tabin, Chiara Cervigni, Stefano Sala, et al. Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, March 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.1553/smart-altitude.
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This final report summarizes the outcomes of the Smart Altitude project. The Smart Altitude project ran from June 2018 to April 2021 and was carried out by ten partners from six different countries in the Alpine Space (Austria, France, Italy, Germany, Slovenia, and Switzerland). The project was co-financed by the European Union via Interreg Alpine Space. The aim of the project was to enable and accelerate the implementation of low-carbon policies in winter tourism regions by demonstrating the efficiency of a step-by-step decision support tool for energy transition in four Living Labs. The project targeted policymakers, ski resort operators, investors, tourism, and entrepreneurship organizations. The Smart Altitude approach was designed to ensure suitability across the Alpine Space, thereby fostering its replication and uptake in other winter tourism regions and thus increasing the resilience of mountain areas.
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Bourrier, Mathilde, Michael Deml, and Farnaz Mahdavian. Comparative report of the COVID-19 Pandemic Responses in Norway, Sweden, Germany, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. University of Stavanger, November 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.31265/usps.254.
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The purpose of this report is to compare the risk communication strategies and public health mitigation measures implemented by Germany, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic based on publicly available documents. The report compares the country responses both in relation to one another and to the recommendations and guidance of the World Health Organization where available. The comparative report is an output of Work Package 1 from the research project PAN-FIGHT (Fighting pandemics with enhanced risk communication: Messages, compliance and vulnerability during the COVID-19 outbreak), which is financially supported by the Norwegian Research Council's extraordinary programme for corona research. PAN-FIGHT adopts a comparative approach which follows a “most different systems” variation as a logic of comparison guiding the research (Przeworski & Teune, 1970). The countries in this study include two EU member States (Sweden, Germany), one which was engaged in an exit process from the EU membership (the UK), and two non-European Union states, but both members of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA): Norway and Switzerland. Furthermore, Germany and Switzerland govern by the Continental European Federal administrative model, with a relatively weak central bureaucracy and strong subnational, decentralised institutions. Norway and Sweden adhere to the Scandinavian model—a unitary but fairly decentralised system with power bestowed to the local authorities. The United Kingdom applies the Anglo-Saxon model, characterized by New Public Management (NPM) and decentralised managerial practices (Einhorn & Logue, 2003; Kuhlmann & Wollmann, 2014; Petridou et al., 2019). In total, PAN-FIGHT is comprised of 5 Work Packages (WPs), which are research-, recommendation-, and practice-oriented. The WPs seek to respond to the following research questions and accomplish the following: WP1: What are the characteristics of governmental and public health authorities’ risk communication strategies in five European countries, both in comparison to each other and in relation to the official strategies proposed by WHO? WP2: To what extent and how does the general public’s understanding, induced by national risk communication, vary across five countries, in relation to factors such as social capital, age, gender, socio-economic status and household composition? WP3: Based on data generated in WP1 and WP2, what is the significance of being male or female in terms of individual susceptibility to risk communication and subsequent vulnerability during the COVID-19 outbreak? WP4: Based on insight and knowledge generated in WPs 1 and 2, what recommendations can we offer national and local governments and health institutions on enhancing their risk communication strategies to curb pandemic outbreaks? WP5: Enhance health risk communication strategies across five European countries based upon the knowledge and recommendations generated by WPs 1-4. Pre-pandemic preparedness characteristics All five countries had pandemic plans developed prior to 2020, which generally were specific to influenza pandemics but not to coronaviruses. All plans had been updated following the H1N1 pandemic (2009-2010). During the SARS (2003) and MERS (2012) outbreaks, both of which are coronaviruses, all five countries experienced few cases, with notably smaller impacts than the H1N1 epidemic (2009-2010). The UK had conducted several exercises (Exercise Cygnet in 2016, Exercise Cygnus in 2016, and Exercise Iris in 2018) to check their preparedness plans; the reports from these exercises concluded that there were gaps in preparedness for epidemic outbreaks. Germany also simulated an influenza pandemic exercise in 2007 called LÜKEX 07, to train cross-state and cross-department crisis management (Bundesanstalt Technisches Hilfswerk, 2007). In 2017 within the context of the G20, Germany ran a health emergency simulation exercise with WHO and World Bank representatives to prepare for potential future pandemics (Federal Ministry of Health et al., 2017). Prior to COVID-19, only the UK had expert groups, notably the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), that was tasked with providing advice during emergencies. It had been used in previous emergency events (not exclusively limited to health). In contrast, none of the other countries had a similar expert advisory group in place prior to the pandemic. COVID-19 waves in 2020 All five countries experienced two waves of infection in 2020. The first wave occurred during the first half of the year and peaked after March 2020. The second wave arrived during the final quarter. Norway consistently had the lowest number of SARS-CoV-2 infections per million. Germany’s counts were neither the lowest nor the highest. Sweden, Switzerland and the UK alternated in having the highest numbers per million throughout 2020. Implementation of measures to control the spread of infection In Germany, Switzerland and the UK, health policy is the responsibility of regional states, (Länders, cantons and nations, respectively). However, there was a strong initial centralized response in all five countries to mitigate the spread of infection. Later on, country responses varied in the degree to which they were centralized or decentralized. Risk communication In all countries, a large variety of communication channels were used (press briefings, websites, social media, interviews). Digital communication channels were used extensively. Artificial intelligence was used, for example chatbots and decision support systems. Dashboards were used to provide access to and communicate data.
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Kira, Beatriz, Rutendo Tavengerwei, and Valary Mumbo. Points à examiner à l'approche des négociations de Phase II de la ZLECAf: enjeux de la politique commerciale numérique dans quatre pays d'Afrique subsaharienne. Digital Pathways at Oxford, March 2022. http://dx.doi.org/10.35489/bsg-dp-wp_2022/01.
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Realities such as the COVID-19 pandemic have expedited the move to online operations, highlighting the undeniable fact that the world is continuing to go digital. This emphasises the need for policymakers to regulate in a manner that allows them to harness digital trade benefits while also avoiding associated risk. However, given that digital trade remains unco-ordinated globally, with countries adopting different approaches to policy issues, national regulatory divergence on the matter continues, placing limits on the benefits that countries can obtain from digital trade. Given these disparities, ahead of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Phase II Negotiations, African countries have been considering the best way to harmonise regulations on issues related to digital trade. To do this effectively, AfCFTA members need to identify where divergencies exist in their domestic regulatory systems. This will allow AfCFTA members to determine where harmonisation is possible, as well as what is needed to achieve such harmonisation. This report analyses the domestic regulations and policies of four focus countries – South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and Senegal – comparing their regulatory approaches to five policy issues: i) regulation of online transactions; ii) cross-border data flows, data localisation, and personal data protection; iii) access to source code and technology transfer; iv) intermediary liability; and v) customs duties on electronic transmissions. The study highlights where divergencies exist in adopted approaches, indicating the need for the four countries – and AfCFTA members in general – to carefully consider the implications of the divergences, and determine where it is possible and beneficial to harmonise approaches. This was intended to encourage AfCFTA member states to take ownership of these issues and reflect on the reforms needed. As seen in Table 1 below, the study shows that the four countries diverge on most of the five policy issues. There are differences in how all four countries regulate online transactions – that is, e-signatures and online consumer protection. Nigeria was the only country out of the four to recognise all types of e-signatures as legally equivalent. Kenya and Senegal only recognise specific e-signatures, which are either issued or validated by a recognised institution, while South Africa adopts a mixed approach, where it recognises all e-signatures as legally valid, but provides higher evidentiary weight to certain types of e-signatures. Only South Africa and Senegal have specific regulations relating to online consumer protection, while Nigeria and Kenya do not have any clear rules. With regards to cross border data flows, data localisation, and personal data protection, the study shows that all four focus countries have regulations that consist of elements borrowed from the European Union (EU) General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). In particular, this was regarding the need for the data subject's consent, and also the adequacy requirement. Interestingly, the study also shows that South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria also adopt data localisation measures, although at different levels of strictness. South Africa’s data localisation laws are mostly imposed on data that is considered critical – which is then required to be processed within South African borders – while Nigeria requires all data to be processed and stored locally, using local servers. Kenya imposes data localisation measures that are mostly linked to its priority for data privacy. Out of the four focus countries, Senegal is the only country that does not impose any data localisation laws. Although the study shows that all four countries share a position on customs duties on electronic transmissions, it is also interesting to note that none of the four countries currently have domestic regulations or policies on the subject. The report concludes by highlighting that, as the AfCFTA Phase II Negotiations aim to arrive at harmonisation and to improve intra-African trade and international trade, AfCFTA members should reflect on their national policies and domestic regulations to determine where harmonisation is needed, and whether AfCFTA is the right platform for achieving this efficiently.
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Jones, Emily, Beatriz Kira, Anna Sands, and Danilo B. Garrido Alves. The UK and Digital Trade: Which way forward? Blavatnik School of Government, February 2021. http://dx.doi.org/10.35489/bsg-wp-2021/038.
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The internet and digital technologies are upending global trade. Industries and supply chains are being transformed, and the movement of data across borders is now central to the operation of the global economy. Provisions in trade agreements address many aspects of the digital economy – from cross-border data flows, to the protection of citizens’ personal data, and the regulation of the internet and new technologies like artificial intelligence and algorithmic decision-making. The UK government has identified digital trade as a priority in its Global Britain strategy and one of the main sources of economic growth to recover from the pandemic. It wants the UK to play a leading role in setting the international standards and regulations that govern the global digital economy. The regulation of digital trade is a fast-evolving and contentious issue, and the US, European Union (EU), and China have adopted different approaches. Now that the UK has left the EU, it will need to navigate across multiple and often conflicting digital realms. The UK needs to decide which policy objectives it will prioritise, how to regulate the digital economy domestically, and how best to achieve its priorities when negotiating international trade agreements. There is an urgent need to develop a robust, evidence-based approach to the UK’s digital trade strategy that takes into account the perspectives of businesses, workers, and citizens, as well as the approaches of other countries in the global economy. This working paper aims to inform UK policy debates by assessing the state of play in digital trade globally. The authors present a detailed analysis of five policy areas that are central to discussions on digital trade for the UK: cross-border data flows and privacy; internet access and content regulation; intellectual property and innovation; e-commerce (including trade facilitation and consumer protection); and taxation (customs duties on e-commerce and digital services taxes). In each of these areas the authors compare and contrast the approaches taken by the US, EU and China, discuss the public policy implications, and examine the choices facing the UK.