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Historical pollution with hexachlorocyclohexane (HCH) isomers of soil and groundwater unfortunately is an unsolved problem, especially in some countries where Lindane is still produced, as also in Europe in the surrounding areas of former production sites or landfilling sites usually due to inadequate long-term storage, treatment or recovery of these wastes. HCH removal technologies are usually dedicated to soil remediation, leachate treatment, water and wastewater treatment. This paper presents the research efforts to develop a treatment technology for gamma HCH removal from water matrices by advanced oxidation processes (AOPs) based on ultrasonication, Fenton and photo Fenton oxidation. Five treatment systems were assessed comparatively: direct ultrasonication, oxidation with hydrogen peroxide, ultrasonication with hydrogen peroxide, Fenton ultrasonication and Fenton ultrasonication followed by photo Fenton oxidation. The energy (25-800 kJ) and amplitude of ultrasonic field, initial concentration of HCH (10 - 89 g/L), hydrogen peroxide (1 - 4000 x stoichiometric dose), iron (Fe II) doses (1-15 mg/L) and UV irradiation time (30-60 min.) were the main experimental parameters evaluated. The ultrasonic frequency was constant - 20 kHz in all experiments. Best treatment performance of 99.9% HCH removal efficiency was achieved after application of a treatment train combining Fenton ultrasonication followed by Fenton UV photolysis at the main experimental parameters of: 200 kJ ultrasonic energy, 1000 x s peroxide dose, 5 mg Fe(II)/L and 30 minutes of UV irradiation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Protecting the environment is a top priority today. The aim of the paper is to present the possible environmental risks arising from the rail transport of hazardous substances. During transport, new risks of leakage of hazardous substances and environmental contamination from railway tanks arise during their decommissioning at railway stations. These risks can be a significant source of environmental contaminants and there is no methodology to prevent possible impacts. The current situation in Europe has seen some changes in the incidence and composition of risks. There is a new risk of terrorist attacks that are aimed at easily achievable targets. In the area of risk management, it is necessary to revise the current approach and create a methodology for the prevention of risks of major accidents and subsequent environmental contamination. Part of the paper is an explanation of the risk of decommissioned trains with hazardous substances, a search of this issue in selected European countries, a comparison of conditions of mobile and stationary sources of risk and a proposal for a set of measures to prevent major accidents from this source. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Taxation can be used as a tool to promote sustainable waste management and recycling of industrial plastic, paper and glass; therefore, this article aims to assess the effectiveness of existing waste taxes by considering their effects on waste generation and disposal in Europe. In this context, a comparative study has been carried out to understand taxpayers' behaviours towards waste taxation, tax rates and methods preferred to calculate the amount of tax to be paid. Sustainable waste management is of particular importance for countries and requires effective investment and financing mechanisms. It can be argued that today's tax systems are asked to contribute to sustainable development by eradicating poverty, reducing inequalities and using tax incentives to limit the amount of waste produced. This also means that tax systems, from time to time, may require to take more proactive Pigouvian roles. Collection of waste tax is mostly under the responsibility of local authorities, and these authorities may opt different methods, such as: Unit-Based Pricing (UBP) and pay-asyou-throw (PAYT) schemes, while calculating the amount of tax to be collected. Pigouvian taxes intend to discourage consumption of products that affect society and/or environment hazardously; therefore, it is argued that the waste taxes that are not inconformity with the Pigouvian approach should be updated because waste taxes should not only finance the service taken by the users(taxpayers), but also promote recycling and protect the environment and human health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The term “syncretism” has a complicated history in religious studies, especially it concerns European scientific environment. In Russian science it has appeared with more or less determined meaning. Comparative analysis helped us to reveal the main array of issues that concerns the meaning of the term “syncretism”. In the 70s European academics decided to revive this notion, but since it was ignored it has acquired different synonyms. So academics in the most recent papers debate if the revival of the term is really necessary, and does it make any sense to explore the phenomena at all if there is no religion that seems to be totally monolithic. Comparative analysis of the different scientific papers revealed that Russian academics usually do not focus their attention on the problematic origin of the notion and on variety of its connotation. The major explorations include new classifications of the phenomena or its case stories: different nations in Russia have syncretic religious culture. Sometimes researchers identify it as syncretism, in other cases as vernacular or folk religion. It happens that they do not distinguish these phenomena and use both in the same paper. In this research we tried to reflect the difference of the approaches that have been proposed by the representatives from academia from Europe and Russia and through analysis them to elicit its meaning against other terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban railway transit is one of the most sustainable and environmentally friendly means of transport in the modern European city. There is a significant incentive for municipalities in Europe to construct new urban railways as the latter combine high energy efficiency with high carrying capacity. One of the main arguments in opposition to expanding existing urban rail networks is the noise and vibration impact of the new line on the surrounding area. This paper addresses the issue by means of formulating a theoretical model for urban railways' vibrational output evaluation. The aim is to provide key insights in the field of assessing the practical environmental impact that a newly installed public transit urban railway line has on the urban environment. Results obtained by this study can be used as input data in future impact assessments for public intentions of investment in the field of urban railway transit infrastructure systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable Energy Communities (REC) are slowly becoming an important driver for promoting the energy transition in Europe. This paper addresses in particular the Italian current regulation on ECs, and analyses how they can implement the application of constitutional principles to the energy sector. In order to answer this question, at present, when we look into the different studies that have addressed the issue, it is pertinent to consider the fact that they have focused on constitutional values of landscape, environment, and health protection. The study examines the model of the energy community as a tool that on one hand, by pushing the local community towards participatory forms of democracy; horizontal, and inter and intra-generational solidarity and on the other hand, helps the local authorities to develop integrated urban planning actions in order to improve the quality of life of citizens. Therefore, it demonstrates how energy communities, especially renewable ones, are an important instrument of "constitutional humanism". They are not only environmental or climatic, but also specifically aimed at the development of the centrality of the Person. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migration is nowadays much discussed topic in Europe. Despite the fact that in the past migration has been associated with development, it is now more associated with uncertainty, fear and resistance of many inhabitants in European developed countries. In different parts of the world, causes of migration are different. However, factors that motivate people to emigrate can be unified into several: political instability, low standard of living, poverty, diseases, armed conflicts, religious contradictions etc. Factors that impact the choice of target country are above all: social security, respect for human rights, better economic opportunities, justice, security, and so on. The paper examines movement of refugees and migrants in Europe over last years. It also tries to outline development in the future. The paper examines arrivals of refugees and migrants across the Mediterranean Sea. We have focused on selected European countries. The paper also tries to find possible ways to solve migration crisis in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Different than a study of wine production at microeconomic level, this paper tries to outline key elements influencing wine production at macroeconomic level, with emphasis on investments. These parameters of interest describe technology, human capital and environmental aspects related to wine industry. All of them are considered components of the larger term of eco-efficiency, so by studying their influence on wine production, we manage to integrate this concept in the wine industry. At first, the importance of the field and the chosen theme is formulated. Secondly, earlier related research is brought into attention, to give our study a foundation. Thirdly, the chosen method based on panel data regression analysis provides estimates for all variables taken into consideration. Among the countries selected and included in the study, are also the greatest wine producers in Europe. The paper confirms that investments in the wine making industry are supporting wine production, even though seen globally this is a process influenced by climatic conditions. Investments' eco-efficiency is measured precisely by this dependent variable, that is wine production. Taking into consideration the analysis' limitations, the results are indicating future research directions regarding the eco-efficiency of investments in wine industry [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The results of laboratory studies concerning self-ignition in Central Europe are presented in this paper. There are known cases of self-ignition of peatlands in Indonesia and tropical regions of Africa, as well as in Southern Europe (for example in Italy and Spain). Therefore, there is a possibility that this phenomenon could also occur in Central Europe due to a climate warming. The laboratory studies, using adiabatic calorimeters, were carried out to assess the tendency of peat to self-ignition. The main aim of this studies was to determine the limit values of peat moisture content and content of inorganic matter at which self-ignition is possible. It was found that lowering the peat moisture content below 30% and heating it up to 40°C enables the start of self-ignition process. The climate changes, causing the constant growth of average temperature of Earth's surface, heat waves and long-lasting droughts, can lead to partial drying of peat bogs and increase in peat's temperature and therefore promotes self-ignition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World Health Organization reports that there are 285 million people with visual impairment in the world, 39 million of whom are blind people. The European Union of blind people estimates that there are approximately 30 million people with visual impairment in Europe. The Czech Statistical Office, based on a sample survey of people with disabilities in 2013, states that there are approximately 65,000 people with severe visual impairment in the Czech Republic. The paper responds to the current state of inclusion and the quality of life of people with visual impairment who decided to study at university. The aim of the review study was to analyse the research findings of the issue of quality of life of people with visual impairment at the university by selecting, evaluating and synthesizing the results of research studies. Searches in selected databases were performed using selected keywords, namely "visual impairment", "student" and "quality of life". The analysis shows that this issue is still relevant in the field of scientific research. The paper presents the results of theoretical-critical analysis of existing researches in the area of quality of life of university students with visual impairment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Global Real Estate Transparency Index covers one hundred markets and is based on 186 variables. These indicators are divided into six parts - performance measurement, regulatory and legal frameworks, and governance of listed vehicles, market fundamentals, environmental sustainability and transaction process. The Index is one of the tools that helps to assess and compare markets across the Globe and give an idea of how investable the market is based on its transparency. Because transparency is critical to the operation of efficient markets. Within Europe, countries in the Central Europe region have shown the strongest advancements as they gradually catchup with their Western peers. Slovakia and Serbia are among the Top 10 global improvers, with Slovenia, the Czech Republic and Romania also progressing. Bulgaria in Southeastern Europe is in the last place. The aim of the paper is to cluster the countries across the world based on the indicators of the Global Real Estate Transparency Index and find out the countries with the common features. The Index 2018 covers 100 countries that were analyzed. The clustering K-means analysis and one-way ANOVA test for fulfilling the goal were used. It was found that the Czech Republic seems to be highly transparent in all the indicators, as well as its neighboring countries Slovakia, Denmark, Poland and Austria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During the ongoing project "Spaceborne Multiple Aperture Interferometry and Sequential Patterns Extraction Techniques for Accurate Directional Ground and Infrastructure Stability Measurements" (DGI-SAR), between : "National Institute of RD for Earth Physics" (NIRDEP) and "Terrasigna Ltd" we learned that we can deliver to local authorities, in our case the Municipality of Bucharest and Nuclear Electric Plant at Cernavoda, Romania, important information about the safety of existing buildings through satellite monitoring. These data will be delivered through the service named: "Critical Infrastructure and Seismic Movement Monitoring Service", whose organization will be presented in the paper. Also we shall present other aspects concerning the safety of buildings during their lifetime. On a map of Bucharest, advanced InSAR interferometric techniques help locate certain regional or local anomalies exemplified by ground uplifting or subsidence. On such a map we overlap seismic intensities, periods of oscillation of Bucharest zones during a strong earthquake which could affect the behavior of constructions of the studied zone/region. This showed us possible endangered areas during an earthquake. Persistent Scatterer Interferometry (PSI) technique gave us the possibility to find out about settelemnts of some buildings and sites. This is an important factor for integrity of buildings during their lifetime and especially when they are in seismic regions, because settlement could occur because of soft soil or other reasons in the lifetime of a construction. Moreover, for the first time in the SAR industry, with the launch of the Sentinel-1 Constellation in 2014 continuous spatial and temporal (every 12 days) coverage of the whole Earth is provided and the data is available directly and free of charge. This is a great opportunity to define a robust service based on this mission. First Sentinel-1 InSAR results for Bucharest City will be presented in this paper. The satellite monitoring of areas of interest, metropolitan and industrial, gave us data, which processed, lead to mitigation of seismic risk and discover soil movements, like settlements, during the lifetime of a construction which could endanger its safety. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Register and authorization of Ground Engineering Professionals are discussed topics in Europe. Ground Engineering Professionals typically includes geotechnical engineers, engineering geologists, mining engineers and geo-science specialists. Need for a unified European registration scheme for Ground Engineering Professionals is eligible and this topic is discussed in the paper based on experiences with regulation of slope stabilization design in Slovakia. Geologists with authorization from Ministry of Environment are responsibile for design of geotechnical structures for landslides stabilization according to Slovak Geological law. Relationship of the requirements for slope stabilization design according to Geological law and Civil Enineering law is discussed in presented paper. European standardization in ground investigation and testing is analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem this paper will try to focalise in my paper, what is trying to answer this question: can be cultural heritage an opportunity to build Europe? A matter of great relevance in a moment of tremendous crisis of Europe as a political and above all financial and economic institution. What was the Europe in the idea of the Founding Fathers, and all the most important political parties and also non institutional subjects had been working around during the period after the end of the second world war, looks today affected by a tremendous crisis, a very great decline, involving not only the economic aspects, but also the political, social and cultural ones. We are today, we could say, in front of the very concrete risk of the death of Europe because of its weakness and almost absence from a political and in particular cultural point of view. So to reflect about cultural heritage in Europe and of Europe means to reflect about the real identity, the past, the present, and above all the future of Europe. The subject will be developed along three main topics, both at a methodological level and at a level of contents: • A problem of definition and methodology, developed along the introductive part, trying to answer the question: what is cultural heritage and what we exactly mean using this category of analysis, and also what was its evolution along time? • What were the different approaches to management of cultural heritage, for tutelage and valorization, in Europe, and especially, till 1989-1990, in the two main different areas of Europe: the Western and Eastern part; • What was and what could become the role of Europe? What are risks and opportunities Europe offers from this particular point of view? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper investigates a sample of 25 European systemically important banks, in terms of performance in fulfilling their financial intermediation function. Performance has been measured by relying on a Malmquist productivity index with panel data, to account for productivity changes over time and to decompose the main sources of changes into the catch-up effect and technological progress. As the database covered the 2007-2016 timeframe, we were able to investigate if the impact of the financial crisis appears in the data. The findings obtained for each year confirmed that the financial crisis exerted a significant influence on banks' productivity which witnessed a decline for most banks in the sample in 2009 relative to 2008. Some systemic banks detached themselves as they exhibited increases of productivity during most time periods considered. The 10-year average levels recorded by the Malmquist index and its two components show that technical efficiency improvements slightly outperformed technological changes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For more than a decade, the liberalisation of the European energy markets has been on the agenda, this liberalisation being highly motivated by expected efficiency improvements. The competitiveness of the European economy and the welfare of its citizens can be enhanced through a more efficient supply of energy. The liberalisation of the energy market should lead to improvements in productivity, a more competitive pricing and greater efforts to support and develop innovation. This paper will provide an overview and some empirical evidence on frontier efficiency measurement in the European energy market, in order to develop and validate the assumption that the liberalisation of this market is a step forward towards efficiency. Moreover, by taking into account the large number of energy operators and the dependency to large suppliers, such as the dependence on the Russian gas, will be taken into account for a proper and accurate understanding of the subject in hand. Even if important steps have been taken across Europe to obtain the liberalisation of the energy market that should be supported by alignments in terms of prices, a greater transparency and the right of European citizens to choose the supplier of energy they prefer, it cannot be affirmed that the practice in this field has assimilated al the theory and the progress that has been done in this field. This research paper will also try to stimulate thinking about the effects that are generated on the energy market by liberalisation, what the European Union would become if this process is complete and what impact would this have on the actors that operate on the energy market. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper uses descriptive statistics of various financial key performance indicators to depicture the situation of the sample of 200 Czech production and agriculture cooperatives from year 2006 to 2010 when financial crisis stroke. The sample is segmented using the area of operations and the setting of the decision making rules, as the then Czech commercial code (valid 1991-2013) was dispositive legal norm. Among the indicators belong ROA, Quick ratio, debt ratio and dynamics of assets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construction sector is one of the major consumers of non-renewable energy and natural resources, but also an important factor in increasing global warming and climate change by producing greenhouse gases. In Europe, around 30% of CO2 emissions and 36% of total greenhouse gases are a direct or indirect consequence of the construction sector. At EU level it is estimated that 40% of energy consumption is due to public / private sector buildings. All EU policies regarding climate, energy efficiency and the use of resources, and current strategies are focused on increasing the properties of the thermal insulation of the envelope, increasing the air-tightness and the use of mechanical ventilation with heat recovery, the improvement of the performance of the equipment, education and awareness-raising at the grassroots level are taken into account in the civil engineering field. Bio-eco-innovative thermal insulation mattresses obtained by recycling and reuse of post-industrial textile waste simultaneously with the use of natural vegetable fibers and sheep wool represent an ecological alternative to common thermal insulation materials that are already used in the construction industry. The aim of this paper is to present preliminary experimental research results regarding the mechanical properties of different thickness bio-eco-innovative mattresses and study their influence on the functionality of the non-woven heat-insulating product, for their intended use. Experimental results obtained on bio-eco-innovative thermal insulation mattresses show a good behaviour of the materials both in terms of mechanical properties, mold attack sensibility, worm and insect attack resistance and also to the biological attack of soil degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Along with paintings, drawings, and prints representing workshops and studios in sixteenth- and early seventeenth-century Europe, written sources also provide important information concerning the different typologies, functions, and organization of the creative and entrepreneurial spaces of the artist in early modern times. These spaces were often the stage of significant social and cultural exchanges with patrons, commissioners, and collectors, in which art-related explorations coexisted with scienceoriented experiments, mutually shaping each other. This paper will focus on Karel van Mander’s narratives in Het Schilder-Boeck, i.e., The Book of Painting (published in Alkmaar between 1603 and 1604) in relation to the redefinition of Renaissance workshops as spaces devoted to knowledge, creativity, and experimentation. It will explore the conceptual agenda that lies behind Van Mander’s attentive, yet significantly selective account of the gradual transformation of workshops (such as Jan van Eyck’s alchemical laboratory or Lucas van Leyden’s cabinet de curiosities) into private art galleries, public art markets, and sites for scientific explorations. Eloquently, Van Mander’s pages will adopt a thought-provoking metaphor to describe the workshop’s dynamics, claiming that, in order to produce anything, within the artistic as well as scientific domain, one must, first of all, steal from the models provided by Art and Nature, playing, as the author suggestively puts it, the part of a “thief.” [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the economic development of the European seas and rivers, there was a sharp increase in demand for services and transport. Maritime transport is one of the least expensive methods of transport, unlike road, rail or air transport and has a number of advantages in terms of the size of the goods transported and the increased safety of freight transport. Many of the sea routes have among their destinations river ports, which hold a large part of the year traffic of ships. In the European waters we find a diversity of types of ships, such as: cargo ships, container ships, barges, passenger ships, yachts, fishing vessels, offshore activities vessels, special crafts and many others. In this paper, a statistical analysis of the number and types of ships that have been registered in the last decade in the ports of European countries, based on information provided by Eurostat Transport Database, an organization of the European Commission that provides statistical information to European Union institutions. As the transport of goods is the main concern in the European waters, an analysis of the gross weight of goods handled in main ports, by type of cargo was made and an analysis of the gross weight of goods handled in all ports, by direction. Also, the top 20 ports in the Europe were identified, in terms of gross weight of goods handled in each port and gross weight of goods handled in each port, by type of cargo. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&As) must now be included among the fundamental mechanisms of industrial globalization. They are seen by many as a relatively fast and efficient way to expand into new markets and incorporate new technologies, know-how and better managerial techniques. Cross-border M&As facilitate the international movement of capital, goods and services, technology and the integration of affiliates into global networks. We analyze in the paper, the influences of the financial and trade liberalization in the EU and the functioning of the EMU on the realization of the cross-border M&As realized over the period 1998-2015 (database data created by the authors), among the selected states (16 source countries and 25 target countries) of the European territory through the generalized linear model in the healthcare industry. The paper was prepared in the scope of implementing the projects VEGA No. 1/0945/17 "Economic research on quantif. of marketing processes improving values for patients, multidimen. analysis of the mark. mix of HCF and quantif. of their importance in the process of establis. a system to measure the quality and efficiency of the Slovak HHC" and VEGA No. 1/0031/17 "Cross-border mergers and acquisitions in the context of economic and social determinants in the European area". [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to analyse the influence of the European Union accession and financial crisis to convergence and integration of the bond yields and bond markets. The results show the deepening of bond market convergence after the European Union accession and the integration has continued until the end of the observed period. The chosen indicators are monthly mid-term bond yields (10-year bond yields). The period of 1/2000 to 12/2016 was chosen in order to show the impacts of the changes. The time period was divided into periods 1/2000 - 4/2004 (before the European Union accession), 5/2004 - 7/2007 (after the accession and before financial crisis), 8/2007 - 3/2009 (period of the deepest financial crisis), 4/2009 - 12/2016 (period after the financial crisis). Used methods are 1) spread between the 10-year bond yields of countries of Visegrad group (Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland and Hungary) and German 10-year bond yield, 2) analysis of alignment, 3) β-convergence. These findings can be beneficial for the financial market observers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this research paper is the study of legal status of the European company, reflection of preconditions for creating a new legal form of a company, which has a European origin, the identification of features of the legal regulation of its establishment and operating activities, as well as the analysis of the advantages and drawbacks of these legal entities, which define its effectiveness for large business and prospects. The methodological basis of the research is historical, comparative-legal, particular-legal analysis, as well as secondary data analysis. One of the most important findings is that supranational legal entities are one of the most promising organizational legal forms of business in the territory of the EU Member States. Among them the European company has received the most attention from business and suitable development. The Regulation on the Statute of the European company vest this European legal form with the prominent features of supranational legal entity. At the same time, this Regulation allows the foundation of legal entity which has a supranational character. The European company initially was created to develop competitive benefits for large businesses. It has several advantages that may ensure the growth of activities and the development of this legal form in the EU. But when comparing the benefits of European company with its drawbacks, it should be recognized that at the moment the drawbacks are more meaningful for business community. The influence of external factors as well as decline of profitability of companies over the world in the last years also play an important role in the perspectives of the development of European companies. The research paper presents the conclusions and suggestions which can be suggested as key factors and potential solutions for business. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Coastal regions house a high concentration of often contradictory activities, directly impacting on the quality of their environment and the sustainable development of these areas. The density of these activities in a limited and geographically defined spatial coastal zone, poses significant challenges and pressures on the marine environment, as most of the activities and services are closely interrelated to marine ecosystems. The international community is developing and implementing important measures for the sustainable development of coastal communities, including the creation of marine protected area (MPA) networks. This approach is an ecosystem-based approach targeted at the management of human activities in order to sustain biodiversity and at the same time support viable economic activities essential for the sustainable development of these areas. This paper contributes to the knowledge and best practice examples pertinent to the creation and development of marine protected areas (MPAs) in Europe and the Mediterranean, analyzing ways in which this important and successful tool can be introduced and applied further in the Black Sea. The creation of MPAs is closely associated to studies mainly focusing on scientific observations of the marine environment, participation and direct involvement of stakeholders, as well as evaluating the socioeconomic impacts on coastal communities. Economic benefits of MPAs include job creation in novel areas such as environmental services and products, including non-consumptive activities such as tourism and recreation. The economic value of biological resources is difficult to express in monetary terms, whereas others such as the direct financial benefit to local economies from recreational and other activities centered on MPAs, are easier to calculate. The paper utilizes the basic methods for valuation of environmental goods and services, based on direct costs, capital costs and operating costs, such as labour costs for monitoring and protecting the area. Also indirect costs, mainly through the assessment of potential damages to fishermen who may be harmed by fishing bans, are addressed. The paper finally discusses the interactions between the complex biological, social, economic and institutional factors and proposes a generic model for attaining significant socioeconomic benefits associated with sustainable development of coastal zone areas in the Black Sea [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban noise is affecting an increasing number of people and this is why it is becoming a major environmental issue, being a known fact that it affects all human activities and constitutes a stress factor with negative effects on health. It can affect the population both physiologically and psychologically, having an influence on the elementary activities such as sleep, rest, study and communication. Noise in the environment - a harmful and unwanted sound from the outside - is spreading, both in duration and in geographical coverage, being associated with many human activities, but the noise produced by road traffic, in particular, represents a problem for the urban environment, because approximately 75% of Europe's population lives in cities, where the volume of road traffic is still increasing. Sound absorbing systems and products are the basis solutions for already existing constructions. They make it possible to protect people from the adverse effects of noise and improve the quality of life. Efficient and properly installed insulation systems protect the environment against noise The current paper presents the effects produced by external noise on the inhabitants of a house before and after performing soundproofing works. There are also elements of sound insulation that can be used in existing buildings without sound protection elements (single casting concrete constructions). Determinations are analysed on frequency bands to identify the optimum materials for reducing noise level in residential buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

After the fall of Communism in 1989-1991, the cities from the Central and Eastern Europe have recorded important changes in what concern their land-use patterns due to the transition from an urban central planning to a capitalist one, as they are searching for a model of economic and social development. The most important particularity of the urban evolution of these cities is defiantly the transition from a compact city to a more dispersed urban form. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to identify the spatial pattern of the urban sprawl that took place in the main urban areas of the former socialist countries from Central and Eastern Europe, focusing on finding the land-use types that suffered the biggest degree of conversion to a discontinuous urban fabric. The paper tries also to identify a pattern concerning the spatial extent and types of the urban sprawl. In what concerns the methodology used in order to investigate the urban sprawl in the Central and Eastern Europe, a mix of techniques from GIS, as well as statistics was used. The analysis has been carried out for the period between 1990-2012 using the CORINE Land Cover database. The main results show the fact that the main land-use changes that took place in the urban areas of post-socialist Romania are the intensive land - artificialization to the detriment of green urban areas as well as to the detriment of semi-naturals peripheral area, in order to make space for the new tertiary activities, as well as new residential zones. Similar patterns of urban sprawl may be observed in the urban areas that have the same functional particularities, as they were submitted to almost the same problems concerning the transition from a socialist era to a post-socialist era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Maps have evolved over time from simple paper documents to intelligent web tools, which today can incorporate rich information embedded via GIS. This paper presents two powerful tools that may offer us a better understanding of the events of World War II. To this end, we proposed the transformation of static maps into interactive web maps using ArcGIS Online and ArcGIS for Desktop. The database structure was divided as following: two types of point feature classes entitled "Targets" and "Cities Europe", two types of line feature classes entitled "River" and "Lines of attack" and five feature classes for the description of modified polygon boundaries and key attacks during World War II in Europe. To highlight the data regarding the types of weapons used in the war and the number of divisions they were employed under, we used the Operation Dashboard section of the ArcGIS platform. Adding a time component using the Time Slider temporal analysis tool has allowed us to create a model describing the movement of troops in Romania throughout the period between the 9th and the 25th of October 1944 of World War II. Another web application was used to compare the country's geographical borders between the years 1945-1949 with its current ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The urban morphology represents the study of the city, namely its built environment. Consequently, this paper investigates the urban form and its characteristics in two countries which have been under different political and socio-economical regime after the Second World War (WWII), therefore being submitted to different urban planning policies. Nowadays, there is an important debate about the particularities of the urban form in the countries which have been under the influence of the former USSR before 1990 and have after that undergone a transition to the market economy. It is possible to observe major distinctive features between the urban form of the Romanian cities and the French ones? Therefore, can we speak of a post-socialist city in Romania which is different from the capitalist city in France? What role plays the European identity in the urban planning of both countries? Are the remade cities similar to those in the Western Europe, namely the capitalist world? What role plays the socialist legacy in the urban planning of the post-socialist city? (See large industrial plants, collective housing lots etc.) These are the questions this paper address in order to identify the outlines of the urban form of the post-socialist Romanian city, as well as its similarities and dissimilarities to the capitalist city. The database used for this analysis is GMES Urban Atlas, which is an urban atlas developed by EEA which provides comparable land use and land cover data for the European Large Urban Zones with more than 100.000 inhabitants as defined by the Urban Audit. Hence, GIS and statistical analyses are mobilized in order to derive the particularities of the urban areas of Iasi from Romania and Lyon from France, seeking to identify what makes the post-socialist city unique with regard to the capitalist one. The main results show the fact that adopting a policy of « shock therapy », the urban areas from Romania tried to copy the western model of the capitalist city, but without a solid legislative and financial back-up and being also confronted to the socialist heritage, it resulted into a hybrid urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper studies clayey soils of platforms which are represented in geological cross section of St. Petersburg with highly lithified Upper Kotlin clays of the Upper Vendian System and Lower Cambrian blue clays. It was established that in engineeringgeological assessment these clays should be viewed as zoned jointed and blocky media, which is predetermined by the regional geological history and structural and tectonic features of the region. Impact of clayey soils jointing on their properties, first of all on strength and strain capacity, was confirmed with experimental data. It is noted that regular changes in jointing are observed in clayey soils depending on the occurrence depth outside of tectonic zones, while no regularities of this kind are present within the fault zones. A number of cases is analysed when the condition of constructions of various applications built on such clays was changed to pre-emergency and emergency state. The paper provides recommendations on how to enhance credibility and reliability of geotechnical assessment of clayey soils as bases and medium of constructions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The insurance industry is an important non-manufacturing sector of the national economy. The insurance market as one of the components of the financial system contributes significantly to the performance of the national economy and influences the economic growth of the state. The insurance market of Europe is a major world segment, which plays an important role in the development of the economy of Europe. Insurance national markets vary in efficiency. Paper aims to analyze the specifics of the efficiency of national insurance market arising from the impact of environmental factors. Models of Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) are used to analyze the efficiency of national insurance market. Efficiency is evaluated based on the efficiency score. To express the efficiency score, models use linear programming and analyze the efficiency of transformation of multiple inputs to multiple outputs. DMUs that are efficient are part of the data envelopment and their efficiency score is equal to one. DEA models allow for the evaluation of factors which in the short term are not under the influence of the analyzed entities. These are called environmental factors. Impact of environmental factors is studied based on an approach by which divide the analyzed subjects into and in ach subgroup efficiency scores are determined. Target values corresponding to the full efficiency are calculated for inefficient subjects. In the next step the efficiency score is expressed on the basis of above mentioned target values and a statistical hypothesis testing is used to determine the statistical significance of the difference between the efficiency scores in groups. We use the non-parametric Mann-Whitney U test. National insurance markets vary in their efficiency. Insurance markets with a long tradition of insurance are more efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New ways in the field of extinguishing by solid extinguishing is aerosol fire fighting originally developed in the 1970s by the Russian space research agency called „SOJUZ“. More significant development in the aerosol fire extinguishers usage occurred in Europe in the 1990s. Carbon as basic element of organic compounds with two allotropic modifications can be found in various modifications like diamond and graphite. Fullerenes as the third modification was discovered in 1985. Detailed analytical researches have found that the most basic and probably known form of graphite is its monolayer known as graphene which has only miraculous properties and is the starting point for other nanocarbon materials. The first part of this paper introduces the the general principle of aerosol fire fighting. Following experimental part follows the pronounced assumptions and findings of selected carbon nanoscale materials that have certain retardation capabilities or they can even significantly participace in the fire suppression effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water in general and especially drinking water, is becoming an increasingly scarce commodity in the Central Europe region due to the climate change. For a human, water is a bare necessity of life. The necessary amount of water to maintain human life is several litres a day. However, in a modern way of life, daily water consumption is usually over 100 litres. This amount accounts only for the personal consumption. To ensure the operation of national economy, consumption must be much higher. There are two ways how to provide sufficient amount of water. The first option is to increase the resources but that is very expensive for the Czech Republic which is situated “on the roof” of Europe. The only source of water is rainfall, which should be captured on the territory and gradually released when needed. The second option is to reduce water consumption, use it more efficiently and the reuse of water - recycling. Industrial production is a huge consumer of water. This also includes construction industry with a number of technological processes that cannot function without water. In addition to the technological consumption, water is used for personal hygiene purposes (toilets, washrooms) and environmental protection (washing the machinery, dust reduction, fire protection). The aim of this paper is to quantify water consumption during new construction activities and to indicate how to reduce total water consumption within the construction project management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapeseed crop is an economical competitive crop which could have a good yield and a good profit to farmers. Due to its biological particularities the rapeseed crop is at the same time the highest risky crop in Europe, especially due to lower percent of emerged plants after sowing or due to lower hardiness during winter. To increase rapeseed resistance to drought and pests attack, during germination, there is a huge need to develop and use a new products based on Gibberellic Acids (GA3) and amino acids for seed treatments. Glutamic acid and proline are the most important amino acids that are accumulated in various tissues of the plant, particularly in the leaves because the effect of water stress. Gibberellic Acid is a plant hormone with activity in seedling elongation. It is necessary in low quantity and concentration to accelerate plant growth. In this context, this paper presents the effect of using a seed treatment product based on various concentrations of amino acids (glutamic acid, proline) on the rapeseed crops and determination of the Gibberellic Acid content from the seed of rapeseeds, which have been studied using HPLC method. Compared to untreated seeds, there is an increase of concentration of GA3 in the tissues of seeds treated with different concentration of amino acids. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The quality of life is one of the frequently discussed topics nowadays, not only in the academic sphere but also within the international policy-making institutions. In the past decades, dozens of complex methods for assessment of the quality of life have been developed. Different approaches can be applied regarding the quality of life evaluation. For many applications, a simple evaluation combining both the subjective and objective information and oriented on the ‘life results’ (means indicators of the good life) can be more suitable than a complex model. This concept is reflected in Veenhoven’s Happy Life Years index, which comprises information about life expectancy and self-reported happiness and denotes, how long and how happy life people live. In previous papers, this index has always been discussed at the national level. The main goal of this paper is to calculate the Happy Life Years index at the regional level in Europe with the purpose to identify national inequalities. With the use of spatial data and geovisualisation, the spatial distribution of the Happy Life Years scores across Europe was evaluated. The countries with the most significant intra-state variability as well as the most liveable regions have been identified. Finally, analysis of index distribution can answer the question, if the quality of life is more linked with nations or with transboundary areas formed by particular regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution is a local, Pan-European and hemisphere problem. Air pollutants emitted from an industrial site can be transported into the atmosphere, contributing to low air quality in other areas. In Europe, the industrial emissions of many atmospheric pollutants have fallen substantially in recent decades, leading to an improvement in air quality in the region, but accidental emissions due to industrial or other damage can adversely affect air quality. A less controllable aspect is the alteration of the physical-chemical characteristics of the atmosphere caused by accident and / or damage as a result of an error, omission or natural disaster, which causes the air to become toxic, incompatible with life. Accidental pollution is often of high intensity and of short duration. The paper presents an advanced way of remote (remote) identification, visualization and quantification of airborne chemicals using an ultra-low-scanning imaging system that is commonly used in difficult environments (environmental accidents, terrorism, calamities, etc.). to emergency response forces as well as to research experts. Expected results consist in identifying the gases underlying an incident, determining the degree of pollution of the affected area, and validating the method (to demonstrate the fulfilment of performance criteria) for determining the pollutant species. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The family associations have a particular importance in the comprehension of those new social subjectivities that are emerging within an increasingly decentralized social fabric from a point of view not only institutional and economic but also epistemic and civil. The research conducted so far leave the question open on the new ways of declination of family associations in a supranational horizon. The last few decades have encountered a process of change and differentiation that has affected on different spheres of the social. In particular, the family structure has been increasing complexity and hit by de-institutionalization processes. At the same time, the spheres of civil society, with the intensification of multi-level and stratified (glocal) governance, have acquired an increasing weight, until to configure a new model of "social citizenship". The correlation of those two factors requires a reflection on the speed and quality of these changes. This paper intends to propose the most significant results of an exploratory research on the associative phenomenon of families in Europe, commissioned by the Institute of Anthropology for the culture of the family and of the person at the University Center for Studies and Research on Family (Catholic University of Sacred Heart, Milan). The research involved 100 family organizations, present in different European countries, through the administration of a questionnaire divided into five thematic blocks concerning: general news on the association, data relating to the compiler, the genesis and history of the organizations, the familiarity matrix of the associations, the value orientation of the associations and the responses fielded by the organizations with respect to the most recent challenges affecting the family. The methodology adopted in the analysis of the data is divided into a quantitative dimension (monovariate and multivariate analysis) and a qualitative dimension (content analysis). The results obtained have been reformulated and reproposed adopting the guiding distinction: the matrix of the organizations' familiarity and the associative reticularity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Europe 2020 strategy sets target for reducing the greenhouse gas emissions is contributing mainly to the development of renewable energy technologies and activities to support energy efficiency, particularly in construction industry, as one of the sectors most directly linked to green or green economic activities. The assessment of the occupational hazards and risks that might be associated with new green technologies and related jobs is now becoming part of many discussions. The paper deals with the initiative of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work aimed at examination of the potential safety and health risks associated with the technologies being used in the development of "green jobs" that are becoming an important part of the construction labor workforce. Moreover, the occupational safety and health implications and scope for emergent risks in green construction technologies are discussed in the paper. The increasing drive towards green buildings is leading to innovative design and construction processes and the use of alternative materials and so development and greater implementation of new technologies. New work situations connected with new technologies, substances and work processes connected with the design and construction of buildings that have potential to reduce energy use may result in some emergent safety and health risks. Consideration should be given to the safety and health of those who build and maintain those designs and the mentioned risks should demand some approaches to ensure high level of occupational safety and health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper refers to the issues related to linear transport structures like roads and railway lines located on areas with the ground deformations caused by mining. Polish Upper Silesian agglomeration is a cluster of neighbouring cities forming a strip about 70 km wide with highly concentrated industrial and business activities. It is also a large transportation center - due to both the geographical location as well as the volume of transport. The construction and management of highway and railway lines in Upper Silesian urban agglomeration is a specific task. This is mainly because of the need to take into account strong ground deformations caused by intensive underground mining activities. Not only in still active coal mines, but also because of previous often forgotten mines, used over hundred years ago for extraction of silver, zinc, lead or salt. The paper shows the example of electronic monitoring system which was applied during construction of motorway A4 and A1 in Upper Silesia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study deals with issues of creating a vivid and pedestrian oriented street network. It is an emerging and vital question in a domain of urban sustainability and place-making for most cities. This research seeks to explore an increasing number of diverse studies regarding the public realm and streetscape. The aim is to set a background for spatial analysis of case studies. This paper uses case studies analysis as the main method through which it develops the systematization for a further study of this theme. Streets and public life as the subjects of this research are categorized through main aspects: spatial aspect, aspects of meanings, sustainability and implementation. As a result, all four aspects are then divided into attributes, which form the basis for a theory of human scaled streets. Attributes are mutually complementary and they interconnect the aspects. Macro-and micro-scale is further presented on comparative case studies of Central European cities Zagreb and Vienna. Conclusion is that through design and theory we can re-create human scaled streets and achieve urban and social sustainability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, the labor market for young people include to most flagrant problem not only in Europe but worldwide as well. The strategy Europe 2020 has different options for solving the problem of low young people employment at the macro level. In our paper, we have strived to contribute to the expansion of a general view of the unemployment in general and employment of men and women aged 15 to 24 years old. We focused on the current unemployment problem, especially for young people in the European area. Based on panel regression analysis, author illustrates his findings through a comparison of outcomes for young population group. In order to eliminate the current state of youth unemployment in the European area, the EU Member States must to reduce the taxes on labor markets, eliminate differences in the legislation on employment protection between employment contracts and adopt targeted measures pursuant to stimulate youth employment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the turn of the last two decades of the 20th century, major changes occurred in the social, political and economic systems of Central and Eastern European countries. Authors in their paper relate to the economic fundamentals of a state in the conditions of a mixed economy. They note that in this type of an economic arrangement, private sector co-exists along with the private sector, and economic activities are being carried out via market mechanisms as well as public institutions. The aim of the paper is to identify and define the nature and structure of the public sector, because in our opinion the existing definitions no longer correspond to recent circumstances. On this basis, then determine whether the scope of the public sector is adequate to its importance. The task is to analyse how broadly the public sector should be conceived, whether it should or should not include along with pure public goods a large scale of mixed goods. Exclusion of mixed goods from public sector domain would mean a gradual reduction in the scope of public goods in the direction towards pure public goods and reexamination of the question of what the relationship between public administration and public policy is. The paper employs several methods, including economic analysis as a scientific approach that deduces, respectively predicts certain phenomena and forms of economic behaviour of the entities in the private and public sector, disaggregation and statistical analysis to measure the size of the public sector domain in the EU countries. Method of comparison was applied to identify common characteristics of the subjects in the mixed economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to assess and compare the evolution of two indicators of financial autonomy, to measure regional disparities in financial autonomy and GDP per capita and then investigate the existence of the relation between the financial autonomy of municipalities and the GDP per capita of NUTS 3 regions in Slovakia in the time periods 2005-2008 and 2009-2011, it is before and after the outbreak of the economic crisis. Regional disparities in financial autonomy as well as in GDP per capita were growing after the outbreak of the economic crisis. Between financial autonomy and GDP per capita there is a strong direct linear relationship which was strengthened in second investigated time period. Growth in the level of GDP per capita positively influences the level of financial autonomy of municipalities in the NUTS 3 regions in Slovakia. Partial results of the analysis indicated the need of future investigation which of factors arising from the activities of municipalities most directly affect the components of own non-tax revenue in relation to the economic performance of NUTS 3 regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper highlights the evolution and the current trends in the financing of public institutions of academic education in Romania. The investigative approach will begin with a review of the funding modalities, starting with the communist regime until now, following to highlight the evolutionary stages and the important moments in the finance policy reform. We shall pay a particular attention to the changes brought by the new National Education Law, as an opportunity to modernize the old structure of the financing system and we shall present the newest methodology for allocating the budgetary funds to public universities. Through this paper we intend to bring something more to the research in the field, advancing our vision on the investigated issues alongside to some of the reliable alternatives in diversifying funding sources. In the context of a domain with an undoubted importance, but in the same time poorly researched, our investigative approach appears as a major and a current challenge, considering it more than appropriate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the authors enhanced the importance of corporate social responsibility for the economic environment. We firstly made a review of several reference material exposing different research findings of the authors interested in the topic. Consequently, we expressed our own opinions and highlighted the CSR impact over community, without ignoring the risks and the importance of global consciousness. The results of this research show that this concept is not new for companies operating in Romania and our demarche consisted in presenting an overview of CSR current state. We consider that organizations should enhance the degree of consciousness on the sustainable development but also lessen the negative consequences on environment and increase the volume of positive actions. Businesses people in Romania could take for example China, which even though is considered a champion country in pollution, does have CSR ambitious projects that aim the environment protection, especially by massive planting of trees. We consider that by adopting social responsibility in private companies, they will be able to increase their competitiveness. Thus CSR will become a tool of "shared value" in the value chain. CSR reporting should fulfill all the requirements regarding its transparency and credibility. In this respect, it would be appropriate for organizations to audit their social responsibility and environment practices, precisely because they provide value for companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is focused on problems connected with the application of special law called Sarbanes Oxley Act by the companies in the Czech Republic. The mentioned law regulates issue of internal control in enterprises that could ensure true and fair view of the presented financial statements. This legislation was created in response to bankruptcy of a lot of large companies in the USA at the beginning of the 21st century such as Enron, Parmalat, Tyco etc. that overestimated their financial results. This act has a lot of positives but on the other hand its implementation in the business environment costs a lot of money. It must by complied by all companies that are listed on stock exchanges in the United States of America. In general it means all firms from the USA and their subsidiaries all over the world have duty to implement the special tools to their firm to ensure better informative value of financial accounting. Due to this implementation companies must spend significant financial resources and it affects their profitability negatively. These companies are in a disadvantageous position compared to their competitors from abroad due to higher costs spent on internal control and it decreases their competitiveness. The main goal of the paper is to analyse if the costs of implementation of Sarbanes Oxley Act into the business environment are as high as the critics of this law claim or not. The analysis will be made on the data obtained by the Czech companies owned by the American parent companies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Romanian labour and industrial relations legislation has undergone wide-ranging changes in recent years. The Social Dialogue Law No. 62/2011 repealed and replaced several laws regulating industrial relations. These measures were among the structural reforms aimed at meeting Romania's budget deficit reduction targets, restoring macroeconomic stability and employment growth. This paper looks at the main legislative amendments regarding collective bargaining in Romania, including social partners' representativeness, the legal effects of collective agreements. One of the major changes is the elimination of collective bargaining at national level. The national collective agreement used to be the bargaining platform for the minimum wage, by derogation from the legal forum. Other legal changes include supplementing representativeness conditions at sector level, introducing the absolute majority requirement for acquiring representativeness for enterprise collective bargaining, and limiting the duration of collective agreements to 24 months. This is followed by a comparative analysis of the legal provisions on collective bargaining in Bulgaria and Romania. Unlike the Romanian system of collective bargaining, the main actors, levels and procedures for collective bargaining are established in Bulgaria by The Labour Code, while the collective bargaining system is organised on three levels: branch/sector level - municipal level - company level. The paper concludes with some considerations on the main impacts of these reforms on workers' rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on copyright aspects of disclosure of digitalized works within the European digital library Europeana project. The purpose of the online platform mentioned above - a platform that collects cultural treasures of libraries, museums and archives from all member states of the European Union - is to make European scientific and cultural heritage available for the general public. Digitalization and disclosure of the content of the library web portal is connected with many copyright aspects. This paper focuses on the legal framework, within which can the cultural memory institutions make copyrighted works available for the public. The basic prerequisite for the dissemination of a work is its copyright qualification for disclosure. This is the reason why the backbone of the Europeana digital library consists of public domains, whose intellectual property rights have expired. European digital library also has to solve the problem of possibility of online dissemination of copyrighted works and also deals with orphan works and out-ofcommerce works, because it is complicated to make them available for the public. This is why this paper focuses on the possibilities for orphan and out-of-commerce works' disclosure without breaking copyright laws. Due to the cross-border dissemination of copyrighted works, this paper also reflects the need for copyright protection in accordance with national, EU and international regulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In numerous regions of the world there are artificial mounds, pyramids or earth embankments that distinguish themselves from the surrounding due to their intentional shape pointing to the existence of sacred sites, burial places or the boundaries of protected space. A large number of them refers to the archetype of the mountain, understood as a timeless monumental form rising up to this particular point where the earthly sphere meets the heavenly one. The paper presents the new meanings of the most recognisable landforms emerging today in the European cityscapes. Achievements of such creators as Dieter Kienast or Charles Jencks become a point of reference for comparative research in the field of the semantic potential. The author also analyses examples of the "artialisation" of degraded landscapes as well as the possibilities of using the earth modeling methods in green infrastructure design. Against this background she distinguishes a trend of the landscape narration that can be perceived as specific to Poland. Its characteristic features are defined on the basis of the architectural creativity of Marek Budzynski and the earth forms which have been used in the Millennium park in Wrocław, where the artificial relief depicts specific topographical situations and events in the history of the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today's economic society, modern and advanced, is the result of significant progresses on the technical, economic and social scale. The object of study of present paper is to realize an analysis related to price paid for this type of described evolution, from point of view of environmental factors which are the base of economic development. More, we propose to analyze if the present way of development is in accord with the principles and requirements of a sustainable economy and, especially, if the administration of environmental factors is efficient and sustainable. The reason for this choice is that we observed, from another analyses realized until now, that the indicators of sustainable development are not at desired level. Thus, based on documentation and research methods which use the statistical data, international reports and progress report on sustainability from European level, we intend to demonstrate that in order to realize a state specific for sustainability is need to use more efficient and rationally all development factors, starting from environment at which we will complete with human factors. In addition we will complete with a most debated problem, that of protection of natural resources because their depletion is seen often as a major source of social unrest and economic conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European economy of the XXI century approaches new directions of orientation towards sustainability and competitiveness. The achievement of these goals is possible on condition that the joint efforts of the Member states' economies are concentrated, through interdisciplinary and inter-state cooperation. The aim of this paper is to identify the common points of interest of environmental and economic approaches, based on: identifying the latest trends in European research concerning the modern concepts designed to promote the vitality of the European economy, establishing relevant correlations between the economic elements of study, in order to promote a new, modern and sustainable economy, as well as to overcome the barriers that prevent the European harmonization of studies concerning environmental and purely financial issues, ensuring the determining mains linkages between different economic fields, which would lead to solving some problems arising precisely because of the lack of such linkages. Based on research of literature speciality, this paper started from the idea that the developed European countries reached a very high level of economic development precisely for the reason that they have gathered, under the same interests, economic and environmental issues and have realized the importance of the financial assessment of the latter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]