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Allergo journal international 30(5), 155-168 (2021). doi:10.1007/s40629-021-00178-2, Published by Urban & Vogel, München

The transperineal approach is preferred to reduce prostate biopsy (PB)-related infections. Fluoroquinolones are suspended for prophylaxis of PB in the European Union; therefore, alternative antibiotics based on local resistance, or targeted prophylaxis, in conjunction with povidone-iodine rectal preparation are recommended for transrectal PB.

Introduction Muscular dystrophies present a group of inherited degenerative disorder that are characterized by progressive muscular weakness. This evidence-based position paper represents the official position of the European Union through the UEMS PRM Section. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the role of the physical and rehabilitation medicine (PRM) physician and PRM practice for people with muscular dystrophies. Evidence acquisition A systematic review of the literature and a consensus procedure by means of a Delphi process have been performed involving the delegates of all European countries represented in the UEMS PRM Section. Evidence synthesis The systematic literature review is reported together with thirty-three recommendations resulting from the Delphi procedure. Conclusions The role of the PRM physician is to assess the functional status of persons with muscular dystrophy and to plan, monitor and lead PRM program in an interdisciplinary setting within a multiprofessional team.

After a long-term toxicity study on Bisphenol A (BPA), the European Union and U.S food and drug administration updating the rules regarding the usage of BPA by extending the prohibition of BPA to include in the production of papers, on February 2018. Therefore, it is essential to establish the trace level BPA detectors in paper samples. In this report, the synthesis of novel ZnO nanoclusters wrapped with reduced graphene oxide (ZnO NCs/rGO) and its application towards the selective electrocatalytic detection of BPA are described. Initially, ZnO NCs/rGO is synthesized by the one-step hydrothermal approach, and various characterizations explain the compound's compositions and structure. The significance of ZnO NCs/rGO together with good electrocatalytic properties leads this material to the platform for electrochemical sensor. Finally, ZnO NCs/rGO was fabricated and validated as an effective sensor for the sensitive detection of BPA. The demonstrated sensor revealed excellent detection of BPA with the very low detection limit (2.1 nM), and also it offered good analytical parameters with more extensive linear range and higher sensitivity. Likewise, the sensor annexes good durability, reproducibility, and selectivity towards the determination of BPA. Due to the nourishing capacity of the prepared ZnO NCs/rGO, it is employed for the detection of BPA in tissue paper samples.

Green liquor dregs (GLD) are a major waste of the pulp and paper industry, and their correct classification is important to finding alternatives to landfill disposal. In the European Union, the met...

The food packaging industry generally uses papers and paperboards (PPBs) especially for disposable products. According to the Framework Regulation (EC) No. 1935/2004 of the European Union, no transfer of contamination should occur from food packaging material to the food items. The aim of this study was to determine the presence, numbers, source and different kinds of bacteria present in food packaging PPBs with various contents of pulp fiber. The samples were randomly collected from popular confectioners and fast food restaurants in Saharanpur, India. The results indicated the presence of bacteria in all the samples, ranging from 1.3 × 102 to 6.1 × 103 cfu/g. Most of the samples contained bacteria in more than the permitted concentration of 2.5 × 102 cfu/g as set by Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The detected bacteria were from genera Bacillacea, Staphylococcus and Pseudomonas. According to the FDA declaration, pathogenic bacteria such as B. cereus and S. aureus have been associated with food borne diseases (FBD). Some contaminants in food packaging PPBs were found to be B. subtilis and P. aeroginosa, which produce enzymes like peroxidases and lipoxygenases that are odor generating enzymes.

Success management can bring valuable contributions to improve project results and stakeholders’ relationships. However, the success management process must be explicitly integrated into project management approaches, guides and methodologies (such as PMBOK, PRINCE2 or PM2), which is not currently happening. The purpose of this position paper is to discuss the need and importance for this integration and to present a first proposal on how this can be operationalized. To support the position, the methodology of the European Union PM2 was used. The result of the integration demonstrates that it is possible to advance management and raise the level of project success.

OBJECTIVES: The aims of this position paper are to (i) summarize research on precarious employment (PE) in the context of occupational health; (ii) develop a theoretical framework that distinguishes PE from related concepts and delineates important contextual factors; and (iii) identify key methodological challenges and directions for future research on PE and health. METHODS: This position paper is the result of a working group consisting of researchers from the EU, Turkey and the USA, who have discussed the issue over the course of six months (October 2018–April 2019), meeting both online and face-to-face on several occasions. RESULTS: The lack of a common theoretical framework of PE hinders it from becoming an established part of occupational and public health research. There are also issues regarding operationalization in surveys and registers. Further, previous research on PE and health suffers from methodological limitations including inadequate study designs and biased assessments of exposure and outcomes. PE is highly dependent on contextual factors and cross-country comparison has proven very difficult. We also point to the uneven social distribution of PE, ie, higher prevalence among women, immigrants, young and low educated. We propose a theoretical framework for understanding precarious employment as a multidimensional construct. CONCLUSIONS: A generally accepted multidimensional definition of PE should be the highest priority. Future studies would benefit from improved exposure assessment, temporal resolution, and accounting for confounders, as well as testing possible mechanisms, eg, by adopting multi-level and intersectional analytical approaches in order to understand the complexity of PE and its relation to health.

Spinal dysraphism (SD) or spina bifida (SB) is a congenital deformity that results from embryonic neural tube closure failure during fetal development. This evidence-based position paper represents the official position of the European Union through the UEMS PRM Section. This paper aims to evaluate the role of the physical and rehabilitation medicine (PR M) physician and PR M practice for children and adults with spinal dysraphism. A systematic literature review and a consensus procedure involved all European countries delegates represented in the UEMS PR M section through a Delphi process. The systematic literature review is reported together with thirty-two recommendations resulting from the Delphi procedure. The professional role of the PRM physician requires specific expertise in the treatment of patients with SD to plan, lead and monitor the rehabilitation process in an interdisciplinary setting and to participate in the assessment of the needs of these patients in the transitional phase from childhood to adulthood, with particular attention to the activity limitation and participation restriction.

Thermal papers (e.g. point of sale receipts, adhesive labels, tickets) significantly contribute to contamination of paper material cycles and the environment with substances of (eco-) toxicological concern. In particular, they contain color developers like endocrine disrupting bisphenols in typical concentrations of about 1–2 percent per weight (wt%). Bisphenol A (BPA) was used as the common color developer over the last decades, but it will be restricted for thermal paper application in the European Union to a limit of 0.02 wt% from 2020 onwards. Consequently, a variety of BPA substituents such as bisphenol S (BPS) and its derivatives gain importance in thermal paper application. In this study, a rapid, reliable and cost-effective method for identification and quantification of BPA, alternative color developers and related substances like sensitizers is presented based on HPLC separation coupled with diode array detection (DAD) and Corona charged aerosol detection (CAD). Quantification was performed with regard to the intended use of the substances in thermal papers. Besides traditional UV external calibration using reference standards, alternative quantification approaches, in particular UV chromophore concentration for BPS derivatives and CAD universal response technique for low-volatile color developers, were applied and compared in order to allow quantification without reference substances. A market analysis for intended used color developers and sensitizers was performed on thermal paper samples (n = 211) collected in Germany during 2018 and 2019. Pergafast 201 (in 41.7% of the samples) was the most common color developer with concentrations above 0.02 wt%, followed by BPA (36.0%), BPS (13.3%) and other BPS derivatives known as D8, D-90, BPS-MAE and TGSA, that are mainly present in adhesive labels. Sensitizers were determined in over 90% of the samples.

The geotechnical, chemical, and mineralogical properties of green liquor dregs (GLDs) generated as byproducts from five paper mills were investigated to assess their buffering and heavy metal immobilization capacities and their roles as water and oxygen barriers. One type of GLD was further studied to test the effects of the retrieval process and the storage, drying, and hydration of GLD. The high water retention capacity of the GLDs is valuable for limiting O2 diffusion. Laboratory results showed that the GLDs had hydraulic conductivities of 3.7 × 10-9-4.6 × 10-8 m/s and varied regularly in plasticity. The chemical and mineralogical compositions of the GLDs varied greatly, reflecting the raw material used to produce paper and the process used to retrieve GLDs. Although they had high total heavy metal contents, none of the leached elements from the GLDs (L/S 10 cm3/kg) exceeded the European Union's limits for landfills of non-hazardous waste. The GLDs exhibited high buffering capacities. In a supplementary test, the buffering capacities varied (0.0041-0.0114 M H+/g GLD) over 72 d after acid was added to the GLD. Changing the filtration process did not greatly affect the GLDs' properties but mainly affected the hydraulic conductivity, total heavy metal contents and sulfur content. Analyzing the storage of GLDs is necessary in the mining industry because remediation measures require large amounts of material over short periods. The buffering capacity of the dried GLD decreased slightly. The effect of dewatering caused by the mixing of 2% Na-lignosulfate with GLD (w/w) was low.

This policy paper is based on the findings of the H2020 project CONDISOBS, which was conducted by Lorenzo Vianelli at the University of Luxembourg, thanks to funding received from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement No 838722. CONDISOBS explored the governance of the mobility of asylum seekers in the European Union through a multi-sited qualitative study based on in-depth semi-structured interviews with state officials, representatives of international organisations and non-governmental organisations, lawyers, members of advocacy groups, social workers and activists. Interview material was integrated by an extensive review of academic literature, policy documents and institutional and non-governmental reports. Data was collected between October 2020 and June 2021. This policy paper is part of a series on the hotspot approach, which also includes a policy paper on the features of this mechanism in a broad sense and one on its implementation in Greece. All policy papers, as well as other research outputs, are freely accessible on the project website. &nbsp

The article presents results of a case study aimed at the analysis of environmental and technological modernization of an integrated pulp and paper mill. The peculiarities of technological industrial regulation based on the Best Available Techniques in the European Union and the Russian Federation are considered. The data on the resource efficiency and environmental performance indicators are provided for the pilot enterprise. The key role of the Best Available Techniques in developing new modern production processes and minimizing losses, waste generation and negative environmental impacts is shown. The contribution of the pilot enterprise towards achievement of the sustainable development goal (SDG) 12 “Ensure sustainable consumption and production patterns” is traced.

Sixth generation will exploit satellite, aerial, and terrestrial platforms jointly to improve radio access capability and unlock the support of on-demand edge cloud services in three-dimensional (3D) space, by incorporating mobile edge computing (MEC) functionalities on aerial platforms and low-orbit satellites. This will extend the MEC support to devices and network elements in the sky and forge a space-borne MEC, enabling intelligent, personalized, and distributed on-demand services. End users will experience the impression of being surrounded by a distributed computer, fulfilling their requests with apparently zero latency. In this paper, we consider an architecture that provides communication, computation, and caching (C3) services on demand, anytime, and everywhere in 3D space, integrating conventional ground (terrestrial) base stations and flying (non-terrestrial) nodes. Given the complexity of the overall network, the C3 resources and management of aerial devices need to be jointly orchestrated via artificial intelligence-based algorithms, exploiting virtualized network functions dynamically deployed in a distributed manner across terrestrial and non-terrestrial nodes. European Union in the Horizon 2020 EU-Korea project 5G-ALLSTAR, GA no. 815323, by the Institute for Information & Communications Technology Promotion (IITP) grant funded by the Korean government (MSIT No. 2018-0-00175) and by Grant No. P102-18-27023S, funded by the Czech Science Foundation.

Motivation. The Panama Papers scandal highlighted the scale of financial secrecy, anonymous ownership and shell companies and their role in profit shifting and tax avoidance. We show the importance of international tax planning within the structure of corporate entities owned by shareholder‐individuals through Panama Papers destinations. Purpose. To identify profit‐shifting channels and to estimate related government revenue losses to European Union Member States. Methods. Using company data from the Amadeus/Orbis database (Bureau Van Dijk, n.d.a, n.d.b), we applied micro‐data analysis to the financial statements of multinational companies (MNEs) owned by shareholder‐individuals. Two groups—one with and the other without links to Panama Papers tax havens—alongside an analysis of profit‐shifting indicators. Findings. Profit is generally shifted by moving operating revenues or costs, though the use of debt channels is also important. Also, groups linked to tax havens pay significantly less tax per unit of profit before tax, and require less operating revenue to achieve higher profits. Finally, related government revenue losses were assessed at EUR 8.67 billion. Policy implication. Our results are relevant to the European Commission’s Comprehensive Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCCTB) as it aims to counter profit shifting out of the European Union (EU) into tax havens. Further, our research highlights the importance of setting up registries of ultimate beneficiary owners in EU Member States.

Background Stroke is a major cause of disability worldwide, with an expected rise of global burden in the next twenty years throughout Europe. This EBPP represents the official position of the European Union through the UEMS Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) Section and designates the professional role of PRM physicians for people with stroke. The aim of this study is to improve PRM physicians' professional practice for persons with stroke in order to promote their functioning and enhance quality of life. Methods A systematic review of the literature including a ten-year period and a consensus procedure by means of a Delphi process has been performed involving the delegates of all European countries represented in the UEMS PRM Section. Results The systematic literature review is reported together with 78 recommendations resulting from the Delphi procedure. Conclusions The professional role of PRM physicians for persons with stroke is to improve specialized rehabilitation services worldwide in different settings and to organize and manage the comprehensive rehabilitation programme for stroke survivors considering all impairments, comorbidities and complications, activity limitations and participation restrictions as well as personal and environmental factors.

This article sets out to explore the potential of the right to an effective remedy in Article 47 of the European Union’s Charter of Fundamental Rights (‘CFR’) in equipping the Union’s social acquis with credible remedies. Article 47 CFR is one of the most-litigated and important articles in the Charter. At the same time, however, it has received surprisingly little attention in the context of EU employment law. Discussion is structured as follows: section one explores the rise of the principle of effectiveness, from the early case law of the Court of Justice to the Charter’s entry into force in 2009. Section two sketches the powerful potential of Article 47 CFR, highlighting its utility both in tackling domestic obstacles to effective enforcement, and expanding the horizontal applicability of EU employment law. Section three briefly highlights some of the limitations litigants might encounter, including a general emphasis on broad regulatory discretion for Member States, and the difficult of crafting (positive) duties out of (negative) restraints. A concluding section turns to EU law more broadly, as well as the European Convention of Human Rights, for inspirations guiding the potential future development of Article 47 CFR. A Thematic Working Paper for the Annual Conference of the European Centre of Expertise (ECE) in the field of labour law, employment and labour market policies: The Charter of Fundamental Rights from an EU Labour Law Perspective

espanolEn marzo de 2020, la Union Europea decidio iniciar las negociaciones de adhesion con Albania, pais candidato desde 2014. Para alcanzar este importante objetivo, en el largo camino de la integracion europea, Albania tenia que cumplir con una serie de requisitos. Entre ellos, la centralidad de los derechos humanos que afecta a la aplicacion de las politicas destinadas a integrar a las minorias, asi como a conceder derechos sociales a los ciudadanos desfavorecidos (La Cava Nanetti 2000, Solidar 2016). En este escenario, la evolucion de los conocimientos profesionales de los trabajadores sociales albaneses desempena un papel relevante. En terminos academicos y profesionales, el Trabajo Social tiene una escasa tradicion en Albania, como en la mayoria de los paises postcomunistas (Hoti 2015). Para hacer frente a las dificultades de la evolucion profesional y academica del Trabajo Social y facilitar un proceso de europeizacion de la prestacion de servicios sociales en Albania, la Comision Europea ha financiado el proyecto T@SK “Towards Increased Awareness, Responsibility and Shared Quality in Social work” (2017-2020). El objetivo principal del proyecto consiste en fortalecer la prestacion de servicios sociales en Albania mediante la potenciacion del sistema de Educacion Superior en la formacion de Trabajo Social. El consorcio incluye a todas las universidades publicas que ofrecen cursos de Grado y Master en Trabajo Social en Albania – Universidad de Tirana, Universidad de Shkoder y Universidad de Elbasan – y a la Universidad de Florencia, la Universidad Complutense de Madrid, el ISCTE de Lisboa y el Colegio (l’Ordine) Profesional de Trabajadores Sociales de la Region Toscana como instituciones de Educacion Superior de los paises del programa. El proyecto funciona a tres niveles: actualizacion teorica y empirica entre los socios del proyecto; triangulacion de conocimientos, cooperacion transdisciplinaria con las partes interesadas de la sociedad e innovacion digital; y la seleccion y difusion de las mejores practicas. El proyecto se encuentra en su etapa final, y es posible elaborar el principal marco teorico y empirico adoptado, los resultados logrados y los retos para crear un entorno favorable al desarrollo de la profesion del Trabajo Social en Albania. El articulo trata de arrojar algo de luz sobre la evolucion de las practicas de Trabajo Social en Albania, centrandose en los antecedentes sociales y culturales del pais y describiendo los principales logros del proyecto T@SK. EnglishIn March 2020, the European Union decided to open accession negotiations with Albania, candidate country since 2014. In order to achieve this important goal in the long path of European integration, Albania had to pursue a set of requirements. Among them, the centrality of human rights affects the implementation of policies aiming at integrating minorities, as well as at granting social rights to unprivileged citizens (La Cava Nanetti 2000, Solidar 2016). In this scenario, the evolution of the professional expertise of Albanian social workers plays a relevant role. In academic and professional terms, social work has a poor tradition in Albania, as in most of post-communist countries (Hoti 2015). In order to face the difficulties of the professional and academic evolution of social work and to facilitate a process of Europeanisation of the Social Services delivery in Albania, the European Commission has funded the project T@sk Towards Increased Awareness, Responsibility and Shared Quality in Social work (2017-2020). The main aim of the project consists in strengthening the delivery of Social Services in Albania through the empowerment of the Higher Education system in social work. The consortium includes all public universities offering BA and MA courses in social work in Albania – University of Tirana, University of Shkoder and University of Elbasan –, and the University of Florence, the UCM of Madrid, the ISCTE of Lisbon and the Professional Order of Social workers of the Tuscany Region as Higher Education institutions of the program countries. The project operates at three levels: peer-to peer theoretical and empirical update amongst the project partners; triangulation of knowledge, transdisciplinary cooperation with the societal stakeholders and digital innovation; selection and dissemination of best practices. The project was concluded in December 2020 and it is possible to elaborate on the main theoretical and empirical framework adopted, on the results achieved, and on the challenges to create a favorable environment for the development of social work profession in Albania. The article sheds light in the pattern of evolution of social work practices in Albania, focusing on the social and cultural background of the country, and describing the main achievements of the T@sk project.

The European Union has set a milestone for cutting its carbon emissions by 2030 to levels 40% below the levels of 1990 through domestic reductions, improved energy efficiency and the greater use of renewable energy sources. In parallel, the key challenge of the pulp and paper industry (PPI) is how to achieve a transformation towards a bioeconomy, as well as to realize the necessary new green innovations. Climate change, material resource scarcity and ecosystem decline are among the ten major sustainability megaforces identified by KPMG (2012), globally influencing business environments. However, the relative importance of these megaforces in the context of pulp and paper sector transformation is yet unknown. We therefore investigate the significance of these megaforces and their relation to the drivers of sustainability-related investments in the European pulp and paper sector, and identify threats and opportunities that these business environmental changes may bring about. Our results are based upon a three-round dissensus-based Delphi approach carried out with a sample of 30 high-level European PPI experts collected in 2014. The panelists identified a greater demand for energy, volatility in the fossil fuel markets and increasing material resource scarcity as the most significant sustainability megaforces shaping European PPI over the next 15 years. However, all the megaforces – except for global ecosystem decline and water scarcity – were perceived more as opportunities rather than threats to European PPI business, indicating that designed energy and environmental policies have the potential to advance a paradigm change towards a bioeconomy rather than curbing the future of the European PPI.

The paper industry is the industry with the third highest energy consumption in the European Union. Using recycled paper instead of fresh fibers for papermaking is less energy consuming and saves resources. However, adhesive contaminants in recycled paper are particularly problematic since they reduce the quality of the resulting paper-product. To remove as many contaminants and at the same time obtain as many valuable fibres as possible, fine screening systems, consisting of multiple interconnected pressure screens, are used. Choosing the best configuration is a non-trivial task: The screens can be interconnected in several ways, and suitable screen designs as well as operational parameters have to be selected. Additionally, one has to face conflicting objectives. In this paper, we present an approach for the multi-criteria optimization of pressure screen systems based on Mixed-Integer Nonlinear Programming. We specifically focus on a clear representation of the trade-off between different objectives.

Background Acquired brain injury (ABI) is damage to the brain that occurs after birth caused either by a traumatic or by a nontraumatic injury. The rehabilitation process following ABI should be performed by a multi-professional team, working in an interdisciplinary way, with the aim of organizing a comprehensive and holistic approach to persons with every severity of ABI. This Evidence Based Position Paper represents the official position of the European Union through the UEMS Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) Section and designates the professional role of PRM physicians for people with ABI. The aim was to formulate recommendations on the PRM physician's professional practice for persons with ABI in order to promote their functioning and enhance quality of life. Methods This paper has been developed according to the methodology defined by the Professional Practice Committee of the UEMS-PRM Section: a systematic literature search has been performed in PubMed and Core Clinical Journals. On the basis of the selected papers, recommendations have been made as a result of five Delphi rounds. Results The literature review as well as thirty-one recommendations are presented. Conclusions The expert consensus is that structured, comprehensive and holistic rehabilitation program delivered by the multi-professional team, working in an interdisciplinary way, with the leadership and coordination of the PRM physician, is likely to be effective, especially for those with severe disability after brain injury.

German Abstract: Dieser Beitrag uber die Zukunft der Europaischen Union zeichnet die historische Entwicklung uber die Frage "Wo kommen wir her?" uber die Frage "Wo stehen wir?" nach. Anschliesend wird die Frage "Wo wollen wir hin?" anhand des Weisbuchprozess der Europaischen Kommission erortert. Der Autor skizziert kurz die verschiedenen Szenarien des Weisbuch, um abschliesend mogliche Bausteine fur die Zukunft der EU im Jahre 2025 zu identifizieren. English Abstract: This paper on the future of the European Union traces the historical development from the question "Where have we come from?" to the question "Where are we?". Then the question "Where do we want to go?" is discussed on the basis of the European Commission's White Paper process. The author briefly outlines the different scenarios of the White Paper to conclude by identifying possible building blocks for the future of the EU in 2025.

Ageing people with disabilities (APwDs) are faced with challenges of ageing which is straightforwardly related to disability that adds to the burden related to their early-onset disability. The aim of the paper is to improve Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine (PRM) physicians' professional practice for APwDs (as a distinct group from those who are disabled due to the ageing process) in order to promote their functioning properties and to reduce activity limitations and/or participation restrictions. A systematic review of the literature and a Consensus procedure by means of a Delphi process have been performed involving the delegates of all European countries represented in the UEMS PRM Section. The systematic literature review is reported together with the 30 recommendations resulting from the Delphi procedure. The professional role of PRM physicians in relation to APwDs is extending, expanding and/or improving health-related rehabilitation services worldwide in various settings (getting beyond the rehabilitation facilities) emphasizing the concept of integrated care with collaboration across other sectors to meet the specific needs of APwDs. This evidence based position paper (EBPP) represents the official position of the European Union through the UEMS PRM Section and designates the professional role of PRM physicians in APwDs.

This article analyses the evolution of the European Union’s development policy in relation to civil society. Based on a review of overall policy trends, strategies and practices in Central Asia, it demonstrates how the EU’s development policy has gradually moved from a focus on European NGOs towards civil society organisations, broadly defined and increasingly associated with the private sector and local authorities. While the EU’s policy recognises the intrinsic value of civil society in all its diversity and promotes partnership, its operational practices show a pragmatic preference for working with professionalised organisations in service delivery roles.

To promote sustainability, the effective reutilization of electronic waste and profitable recovery of valuable materials from e-scrap are essential. A recent report showed that 500 million printer cartridges enter landfill annually, creating immense interest in establishing a facile recovery method for transforming waste toner into a ferrous resource. Furthermore, the European Union and US Food and Drug Administration have published guidelines concerning bisphenol A (BPA) use in the manufacture of thermal paper receipts. Accordingly, in this study, BPA levels in thermal receipts collected from various stores in Taiwan were detected by glassy carbon electrodes fabricated using graphene oxide-recovered Fe3O4 nanocomposites.

Migration of formaldehyde to aqueous extracts from paper and cardboard food packaging materials was determined by an ultraviolet visible-spectrophotometric method at 410 nm. Intraday and interday precision of the method, expressed as coefficient of variation, varied between 1.5 to 4.4% and 7 to 8.8%, respectively. The limit of quantification was 0.28 mg kg(-1) for formaldehyde in aqueous extracts. The recovery of the method was over 90% for two different concentration levels in aqueous extracts. The method was applied to the migration of formaldehyde to aqueous extracts from 31 different paper and cardboard materials collected from the packaging sector, intended for food contact, such as tea filters, hot water filters, paper pouches and folding boxes. The results were between limit of detection 0.23 mg/kg and 40 mg kg(-1) and were evaluated according to the relevant directives.

Purpose Scope and clinical importance of interventional radiology markedly evolved over the last decades. Consequently it was acknowledged as independent subspecialty by the „European Union of Medical Specialists“ (UEMS). Based on radiological imaging techniques Interventional Radiology is an integral part of Radiology. Materials und Methods In 2009 the German Society for Interventional Radiology and minimally-invasive therapy (DeGIR) developed a structured training in Interventional Radiology. In cooperation with the German Society of Neuroradiology (DGNR) this training was extended to also cover Interventional Neuroradiology in 2012. Tailored for this training in Interventional Radiology a structured curriculum was developed, covering the scope of this modular training. Results The curriculum is based on the DeGIR/DGNR modular training concept in Interventional Radiology. There is also an European Curriculum and Syllabus for Interventional Radiology developed by the “Cardiovascular and Interventional Radiological Society of Europe” (CIRSE). The presented curriculum in Interventional Radiology is designed to provide a uniform base for the training in Interventional Radiology in Germany, based on the competencies obtained during residency. Conclusion This curriculum can be used as a basis for training in Interventional Radiology by all training sites. Key Points: Citation Format

An ongoing call to implement a circular economy is underway in the European Union, and a specific attention has been placed on the forest industry, which seeks additional recycling routes for its side streams, including biosludge. Biosludge is often dried and incinerated, thus wasting the nitrogen contained therein. This paper describes a study in which the release of nitrogen during thermal drying, the impact of the drying temperatures of 130°C, 180°C, and 210°C on the mass of ammonia released, and the potential for recovery of nitrogen from biosludge were examined. The results indicate that 1310–1730 mg kgTS−1 of nitrogen was released, which corresponded to 56–74% of the soluble nitrogen in biosolids or 4.0–5.3% of the total nitrogen. Of this released nitrogen, 83–85% was identified in condensate and absorbing water, thus indicating a high potential for recovering nitrogen from biosludge.

The People’s Republic of China, with an estimated total population going beyond 1.3 billions, is one of the fastest growing telecommunication markets in the world. In June 2010 the Information Office of the State Council of the People's Republic of China published a white paper on the Internet situation in China stating that by the end of 2009 the number of Internet users reached 384 million, which was 618 times that of 1997, with an annual increase of 31.95 million users. Following the white paper, the total number of Internet users in China exceeds the number of users in the European Union, which is estimated to be 319.393.400 (Internet World

Ostensibly high scientific standards and the promise of short-term benefits are significant challenges for animal research

The Plant Health Panel reviewed the paper by Guarnaccia et al. (2017) and compared their findings with previous predictions on the establishment of Phyllosticta citricarpa. Four species of Phyllosticta were found by Guarnaccia et al. (2017) in Europe. P. citricarpa and P. capitalensis are well‐defined species, with P. citricarpa recorded for the first time in Europe, confirming predictions by Magarey et al. (2015) and EFSA (2008, 2014, 2016) that P. citricarpa can establish in some European citrus‐growing regions. Two new species P. paracitricarpa and P. paracapitalensis were also described, with P. paracitricarpa (found only in Greece) shown to be pathogenic on sweet orange fruits. Genotyping of the P. citricarpa isolates suggests at least two independent introductions, with the population in Portugal being different from that present in Malta and Italy. P. citricarpa and P. paracitricarpa were isolated only from leaf litter in backyards. However, since P. citricarpa does not infect or colonise dead leaves, the pathogen must have infected the above living leaves in citrus trees nearby. Guarnaccia et al. (2017) considered introduction to be a consequence of P. citricarpa having long been present or of illegal movement of planting material. In the Panel's view, the fruit pathway would be an equally or more likely origin. The authors did not report how surveys for citrus black spot (CBS) disease were carried out, therefore their claim that there was no CBS disease even where the pathogen was present is not supported by the results presented. From previous simulations, the locations where Guarnaccia et al. (2017) found P. citricarpa or P. paracitricarpa were conducive for P. citricarpa establishment, with number of simulated infection events by pycnidiospores comparable to sites of CBS occurrence outside Europe. Preliminary surveys by National Plant Protection Organisations (NPPOs) have not confirmed so far the findings by Guarnaccia et al. (2017) but monitoring is still ongoing.

Popularization of privacy policies has become an attractive subject of research in recent years, notably after General Data Protection Regulation came into force in the European Union. While GDPR gives Data Subjects more rights and control over the use of their personal data, length and complexity of privacy policies can still prevent them from exercising those rights. An accepted way to improve the interpretability of privacy policies is through assigning understandable categories to every paragraph or segment in said documents. Current state of the art in privacy policy analysis has established a baseline in multi-label classification on the dataset containing 115 privacy policies, using BERT Transformers. In this paper, we propose a new classification model based on the XLNet. Trained on the same dataset, our model improves the baseline F1 macro and micro averages by 1–3% for both majority vote and union-based gold standards. Moreover, the results reported by our XLNet-based model have been achieved without fine-tuning on domain-specific data, which reduces the training time and complexity, compared to the BERT-based model. To make our method reproducible, we report our hyper-parameters and provide access to all used resources, including code. This work may therefore be considered as a first step to establishing a new baseline for privacy policy classification.

In light of the upcoming opportunity for Cyprus and other Member States to appoint by rotation an Advocate General (‘AG’) to the Court of Justice (‘ECJ’) in 2020-21, the objective of the present report taking the form of a discussion paper is to clarify the law and practice related to such appointments and set out recommendations accordingly. It does so by looking in particular into the relevant provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (‘TFEU’), namely the Article 253 TFEU requirements themselves, the reports of the Article 255 TFEU Panel, and the selection processes carried out at the national levels. Article 253 TFEU requires only that such nominees are persons whose independence is beyond doubt and who either meet the requirements for highest national judicial office or who are jurisconsults of recognised competence. An Article 255 TFEU Panel was established with the Treaty of Lisbon and is responsible for advising the Council of the EU on the suitability of candidates appointed to the Court of Justice of the European Union. The Panel has elaborated upon the Article 253 TFEU requirements, taking six considerations into account in their assessment: i. legal capabilities; ii. professional experience; iii. ability to perform duties of a judge (or Advocate General); iv. language skills; v. ability to work in a team in an international environment in which several legal systems are represented; and vi. whether their independence, impartiality, probity and integrity are beyond doubt.1 In a 2018 report, the Panel stated that ‘[i]t considers all professional paths in the field of law to be equally legitimate to apply for the office of Judge or [AG]’, ‘in particular, those of judge, university professor, jurisconsult, lawyer or senior official specialised in the field of law.’2 The Panel is further elaborated upon in Part I, including through its latest report published in January 2020. To further assist in understanding the nature of Advocate General appointments in the EU, a study was undergone into the law and practice at the national level related to ECJ appointments (Part II and the Tables in the Annex), and also into the characteristics of the profiles of the AGs that have been successfully appointed to date (Part III).

Background, aim, and scope Pulp and paper production is one of the most important Portuguese economic activities. Mostly based on eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus), nearly 70% of the pulp produced is exported, mainly to the European Union. The aim of this paper is to compare the environmental impacts of the production of Portuguese printing and writing paper based on eucalyptus with those from the production of paper from industrial hemp (Cannabis sativa).

This case study examines the European Transport White Paper of 2011 as an example of a planning domain application. The European Union is an economic and political union of some 28 states in Europe. Some of the key premises of the European Union have been to open up markets to free trade within the region and to seek to harmonise technical standards, laws, and processes to facilitate the free movement of people and goods. It is interesting that sustainability is also emphasized as an overarching goal for all areas of European policy making. The European Union employs a wide range of assessment and monitoring mechanisms to track progress on the implementation and performance of policies in the transport area, which is seen as a keystone for the so-called Single European Market. These mechanisms clearly reflect tensions between the different goals and pose challenges for the interpretation of indicators on transportation trends. Also the sheer size and complexity of the Union raises challenges for the effective application of indicator based evidence. The chapter will place the indicator- and application rich example of the ex ante assessment of the European Transport Policy White Paper in the wider context European Union policy making.

The data protection directive of the EU was set up to allow the freedom of movement of people between member states. This has the consequence of allowing the freedom of transfer of data between member states in research. The paper discusses three cases discussed during the project to see whether RECs can refuse research based on concern for data protection in some member states. Since the directive is not, as commonly thought, intended to protect the rights and freedoms of individuals – something which is the function of the Data Protection Acts of individual states, Member States do not have a right to prohibit research based on data laws. One must express concerns directly to Brussels. Conversely it is debated whether some research considered unlawful in one particular member state can be refused by this same state.

The European Union took its first strategic step on the topic of climate adaptation in 2009 with publication of a White Paper on Adaptation. Since its publication, many researchers and analysts have criticized the White Paper for its lack of concrete and enforceable actions. In this paper, we analyse the White Paper as an instrument of soft law. First, we provide background on the theory of soft law, its terms of applicability, and the standards by which to judge its success. Second, we analyse the content and context of the White Paper according to soft law principles. We find that the conditions under which the White Paper was adopted were exactly those suited to a soft law approach and highly determined by the European multi-level governance context. As such, the White Paper has managed to achieve several of the common objectives of soft law in particular in setting up processes allowing information-sharing and subsidiarity. However it has failed to achieve several others especially in fostering the commitment of the states, and in moving the European Union in the direction of binding regulation. Further strategy development will be required to fix these deficiencies.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs), such as exosomes and microvesicles, are released by different cell types and participate in physiological and pathophysiological processes. EVs mediate intercellular communication as cell-derived extracellular signalling organelles that transmit specific information from their cell of origin to their target cells. As a result of these properties, EVs of defined cell types may serve as novel tools for various therapeutic approaches, including (a) anti-tumour therapy, (b) pathogen vaccination, (c) immune-modulatory and regenerative therapies and (d) drug delivery. The translation of EVs into clinical therapies requires the categorization of EV-based therapeutics in compliance with existing regulatory frameworks. As the classification defines subsequent requirements for manufacturing, quality control and clinical investigation, it is of major importance to define whether EVs are considered the active drug components or primarily serve as drug delivery vehicles. For an effective and particularly safe translation of EV-based therapies into clinical practice, a high level of cooperation between researchers, clinicians and competent authorities is essential. In this position statement, basic and clinical scientists, as members of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) and of the European Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) program of the European Union, namely European Network on Microvesicles and Exosomes in Health and Disease (ME-HaD), summarize recent developments and the current knowledge of EV-based therapies. Aspects of safety and regulatory requirements that must be considered for pharmaceutical manufacturing and clinical application are highlighted. Production and quality control processes are discussed. Strategies to promote the therapeutic application of EVs in future clinical studies are addressed.

This paper introduces the European Commission's 2007 White Paper on Sport. It examines the themes of the White Paper on the societal role of sport, the economic dimension of sport, and the organisation of sport, and provides an overview of the follow-up actions planned by the Commission. This analysis takes into account both the opportunities presented in the event that the Lisbon Reform Treaty is ratified, and actions that will be pursued regardless of the state of constitutional reform in the European Union.

Eleven million tonnes of waste are produced yearly by the European pulp and paper industry, of which 70% originates from the production of deinked recycled paper. Wastes are very diverse in composition and consist of rejects, different types of sludges and ashes in mills having on-site incineration treatment. The production of pulp and paper from virgin pulp generates less waste but the waste has similar properties to waste from the production of deinked pulp, although with less inorganics. Due to legislation and increased taxes, landfills are quickly being eliminated as a final destination for wastes in Europe, and incineration with energy recovery is becoming the main waste recovery method. Other options such as pyrolysis, gasification, land spreading, composting and reuse as building material are being applied, although research is still needed for optimization of the processes. Due to the large volumes of waste generated, the high moisture content of the waste and the changing waste composition as a result of process conditions, recovery methods are usually expensive and their environmental impact is still uncertain. For this reason, it is necessary to continue research on different applications of wastes, while taking into account the environmental and economic factors of these waste treatments.

A Danish Green Paper published in July 2010 provides an in-depth analysis of current EU law on insider dealing against the background of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and provides some very useful examples that illustrate the extent of the ban on insider dealing and thereby also when trading may be considered lawful.

The Commission' s White Paper examining options for reforming European governance was published on 25 July 2001.1 It is coincidental that the document emerged within a month of the Irish 'no' vote in their referendum on the Nice Treaty.2 This makes the document all the more pertinent. The Commission seizes upon the Irish decision as evidence that the White Paper raises issues that must be addressed to counteract the apathy and resistance of European citizens to the activities of the EU and to integration more generally. Whilst this may be true in part, the Irish 'no' was not exclusively a reaction to the White Paper's conclusions that political procedures are at fault and require reform. Rather, the Irish decision was more concerned with the actual direction and policy that the EU has adopted, particularly with regard to the enlargement process.3 The White Paper comes at a crucial stage of EU integration. Enlargement and political union are both key objectives for which the EU has set ambitious deadlines to complete. Perhaps rather belatedly, the White Paper has recognised that for these objectives to be successful, the Union must be more in tune with the expectations of its citizens. For example, concepts such as citizenship need to be given a more tangible meaning that enables EU citizens to feel as if they themselves have a stake in the direction that the EU is taking. The Commission President, Romano Prodi's ongoing programme of reforms to combat fraud and mismanagement are a welcome development and the White Paper is an integral part of that reform process. The emphasis on participation through engaging with civil society and a commitment to increased openness are both important inclusions, though there is room for further improvement in these areas. This White Paper is aimed not just at politicians, but at all who have a stake in the EU. Ultimately this includes all EU citizens whose lives are affected by European legislation, whether at their place of employment or if they are buying a package holiday. The question that remains to be answered is whether the White Paper will provide the necessary impetus for all levels of governance in the EU to engage with citizens with regard to what role the EU should play in their lives. The engagement with civil society is crucial but may not be enough. Apathy in the

Traditionally, Scandinavian anaesthesiologists have had a very broad scope of practice, involving intensive care, pain and emergency medicine. European changes in the different medical fields and the constant reorganising of health care may alter this. Therefore, the Board of the Scandinavian Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care Medicine (SSAI) decided to produce a Position Paper on the future of the speciality in Scandinavia. The training in the various Scandinavian countries is very similar and provides a stable foundation for the speciality. The Scandinavian practice in anaesthesia and intensive care is based on a team model where the anaesthesiologists work together with highly educated nurses and should remain like this. However, SSAI thinks that the role of the anaesthesiologists as perioperative physicians is not fully developed. There is an obvious need and desire for further training of specialists. The SSAI advanced educational programmes for specialists should be expanded and include formal assessment leading to a particular medical competency as defined by the European Union of Medical Specialists (UEMS). In this way, Scandinavian anaesthesiologists will remain leaders in perioperative, intensive care, pain and critical emergency medicine.

This opinion article addresses the implications of recent EU regulations on alcoholic drinks labeling for regional development. In March 2017, the European Commission released a report requiring the mandatory labeling of ingredients and nutritional information for alcoholic beverages within 1 year, putting an end to the exceptionality of this sector compared to other foodstuffs, and responding to pressing demands by European consumer associations and other actors. Pressure from the alcohol sector had delayed EU legislation on the matter and managed to avoid a mandatory labeling provision, instead generating the possibility of making its own regulation proposal within a year. The Commission will assess this proposal in March 2018 and could review or reject it if found to be unsatisfactory. Here, we want to examine the controversy elicited by this new regulation, analyzing the consequences of labeling (or not) in the particular case of wine regions. It shows how the lack of labeling regulations harms winemakers oriented towards the production of quality wines and generates important information asymmetries that can lead to an overall decrease of wine quality. Ultimately, it highlights the relevance of a regional perspective on EU sectoral policies, as these can have unintended effects and lead to contradictory outcomes. The example of wine regions is used to emphasize this issue by showing the need to harmonize regional cohesion and CAP policies with industrial, environmental and consumer protection policies., This work was supported by the Rede de investigación Novos Enfoques da Análise Territorial (NEDAT), funded by the SUG, Xunta de Galicia 2017.

In its 2011 Transport Policy White Paper, the European Commission introduced ten targets to be met in order to reach a more competitive and resource efficient transport system. The following dual goal focused on urban transport and commuting: “To halve the use of ‘conventionally-fuelled’ cars in urban transport by 2030; and to phase them out by 2050; and to achieve “essentially CO₂-free city logistics in major urban centres by 2030.” The question driving the research behind this paper is how to realise this dual urban transport goal for 2030, taking into consideration existing trends, available policy options, the diverse interests of stakeholders involved in urban mobility in Europe. The paper draws on data gathered in the EU FP7 TRANSFORuM project, including workshop dialogues with stakeholders representing different interests in and perspectives on urban transport and mobility. The main result is a roadmap that proposes a broad strategy to answer the question “Who has to do what, by when” to achieve the urban transport goal. The roadmap includes detailed proposals for action and milestones at different levels of decision making. This paper will describe the process of consultations and the outcomes of the roadmap process and will also discuss the perspectives for implementation.

The publication was issued within the project ‘Transfer of Know-How for Small and Mid-size Businesses in Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine’ which aims to assist SMEs in those countries by providing support to stakeholders in their efforts to develop analytical and policy advocacy capabilities and by opening new channels of communication between SMEs and NGOs in the Visegrad Four countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) and the rest of the European Union.The objective of the study is to deliver the complete findings and outcomes of the project aimed at Ukraine. This White Paper serves as an authoritative document with action plans, budgets, and a tangible way for the beneficiary country stakeholders to move forward with the agenda of small and medium-sized business development.It presents an overview of the collected background information and contains basic data on the countries, including some key macroeconomic comparisons as well as rankings in major competitiveness reports (e.g. Doing Business report by the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development), identifies the project stakeholders and provides an overview of the situation of small and medium-sized enterprises in Ukraine. It also includes the findings of two surveys implemented by the Slovak-Ukrainian team.Based on the findings, the “Discussion and Recommendations” section presents various perspectives on the problems of SMEs in Ukraine using the experience of the accession process of Slovakia, specific examples of key initiatives that led to the resolution of the problems, as well as case studies from various industries. It stresses the involvement of all parties including the EU, local governments, civil society, business associations, and the SMEs themselves.The key outcome of the paper is a road map – a very specific plan of actions including schedules, budgets, and other details within the scope of this project that will help the beneficiary country to cope with problems regarding the agenda of small and middle business development using the expertise and experience of institutions and stakeholders accumulated throughout the Slovak EU accession process. It includes a wide range of activities including a discussion of the project results with various Ukrainian stakeholders, workshops aimed at increasing knowledge about EU markets, legislation and standards, as well as strategic and institutional moves.