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This paper discusses the noticeable nervousness of many US-based financial statement issuers in adopting IFRS. For contextual purposes, the paper provides an overview of the FASB/IFRS convergence so far and its probable future. A detailed review of convergence in accounting standards is explained through the respective standards for "Pensions and Other Post-Employment Benefits". The paper concludes by suggesting that, while one set of global steps is a noble goal, it might not achieve the desired goal of comparability.

This paper explores linguistic landscapes and the enactment of public visibility and presence of non-majority linguistic groups in EU member states. Non-majority linguistic groups gain power, visibility and presence through the introduction of bilingual or multilingual signposts on roads, streets, squares, and public buildings in towns and cities where a given linguistic group represents a significant population share. The article offers a comparative analysis of language policies of EU member states regarding enactment of official bilingual or multilingual signs in public space. Twenty EU member states have signed the "European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages," while 17 members have ratified it. In addition, the Charter of Fundamental Rights, an integral party of the Lisbon Treaty, stipulates that language diversity is one of the fundamental values respected by the EU. Hence, this comparative research assesses various practices employed by member states in relation to the proclaimed values of multilingualism. Consequently, the paper depicts and compares different language policies that produce linguistic landscapes in EU member states. Finally, it tries to determine whether there is a convergence towards a common EU policy on bilingual and multilingual signs in public space.

Globalisation, technological changes and the industry-to-service economy transition has produced dramatic changes in the labour market, thus affecting higher education. It is no longer sufficient to provide students with disciplinary knowledge. Graduates are also expected to be adaptive, innovative and flexible. As these competencies are better developed in connection with practice, this implies modifications in the learning design. In this context, work-based learning (WBL) emerges as a relevant approach as it provides students learning experiences oriented for the appreciation of work and practical knowledge. However, several issues still restrain its expansion in the European Union (EU). There is (1) a great disparity in WBL implementation among EU countries which relates to educational cultures, (2) a concentration in certain disciplinary areas such as business and engineering, and (3) a lack of quality assurance. Drawing on reports and materials produced by the Erasmus+ project Integrating Entrepreneurship and Work Experience into Higher Education (WEXHE), this paper explores these issues by identifying differences in the level of implementation as well as design and delivery of WBL in seven EU countries across four disciplinary areas. It then brings forward success factors and drivers instrumental to the further development of better WBL.

This article contributes to the understanding of how different actors in the academic field perceive the challenges that Brexit poses for European higher education. Based on a narrative analysis of 28 interviews, this paper highlights how actors' narratives convene discursive elements stemming from competing discourses on cooperation and competition. In doing so, the exploratory study focuses on two countries, Portugal and Germany, which correspond to distinct cases regarding their performance in the European research and higher education landscape. The analysis highlights that there are national differences between the perceptions of Brexit and allows identifying commonalities in the narratives in both countries. In addition, we identify the presence of a pragmatic managerial attitude in response to Brexit. The three overarching narratives are the narrative of concerns, the narrative of hopes, and the narrative of beliefs. These narratives reflect the struggle of the cooperation and the competition discourses in ascribing meaning to Brexit. The competition discourse has assumed a dominant role in the perceptions of Brexit and cooperation is mainly fueled through the academics and their professional ethos.

Purpose: This paper aims to present a review of case studies on the use of learning analytics in Science, Technology, Engineering, (Arts), and Mathematics (or STE[A]M) education. It covers the features and trends of learning analytics practices as revealed in case studies. Design/methodology/approach: A total of 34 case studies published from 2013 to 2018 reporting relevant learning analytics practices were collected from Scopus and Google Scholar for analysis. The features and trends of practices were identified through a comparison of the first (2013-2015) and the second period (2016-2018). Findings: The results showed an increasing adoption of learning analytics in STE(A)M education, particularly in the USA and European countries and at the tertiary level. More specific types of data have been collected for the learning analytics practices, and the data related to students' learning processes has also been more frequently used. The types of STE(A)M learning practices have become more diversified, with technology enhancement features increasingly introduced. The outcomes of the case studies reflect the overall benefits of learning analytics and address the specific needs of STE(A)M education. There have also been fewer types of limitations encountered in the learning analytics practices over the years, with unknown correlation among variables, small sample size and limited data being the major types. Originality/value: This study reveals the implementation of learning analytics in relation to the contexts and needs of STE(A)M education. The findings also suggest future work for examining the adoption of learning analytics to cope with the development of STE(A)M and, in particular, how the successful experience of learning analytics in other disciplines could be transferred to STE(A)M.

In this paper, the authors seek to disentangle what they see as contradictory uses of the term "professionalisation" with reference to adult educator development and training (AEDT). They set out to distinguish "professionalisation" from "professionalism," and to identify the locus of control of AEDT in Germany, the UK and India. In these three countries, all of which have a long tradition of adult education, "professionalisation" and "professionalism" are used interchangeably to describe conflicting purposes. The authors aim to identify and critically explore the organisations and policies which control and support AEDT in their own countries using American sociologist Eliot Freidson's "third logic" model, and drawing on his juxtaposition of "professions," "the market" and "bureaucracy." Applying Freidson's models to the organisations highlights the role of bureaucracy and that where adult education is concerned, national governments, the European Union and aid organisations not only serve bureaucracy but also support the market rather than operating separately from it. While the term "professionalisation" continues to be used to mean professional development, either by adult educators and representative organisations (as in the UK) or by organisations acting on their behalf (as in Germany and India), it is also used to denote regulation and standardisation issuing from bureaucratic institutions and adult education provider organisations in the interests of the market. The authors suggest that Freidson's model provides a useful tool for adult educators in other countries to reflect on their professional position and to engage in the development of their own professional standards, both in their own interests and in the interests of those they educate.

An important driver of change in work, employment and skills is European Union policy aims of sustainable economic growth and the cultivation of a green economy. Part of the latter--which is supported by increasing environmental regulation--focuses on the development of a "green skills agenda," which involves the "greening" of existing occupations as well as meeting the skill needs of new environmental sectors and occupations. In this paper, we compare attempts to 'green' work and skills through an examination of engineering apprenticeships within the German and British steel industries. We argue that efforts to "green" skills are taking place at varying degrees of intensity, mostly because of variations in institutional context. The evidence we present suggests that implementation of change is much more dynamic in the context of Coordinated Market Economies such as Germany, where development is shaped by robust VET frameworks and wider processes of environmental innovation. In contrast, within Liberal Market Economies such as the UK, there are significant barriers to the vision for and investments in skills generally, as well as those necessary for greening the labour process, with an extant development paradigm that is driven by short-term benefits and a limited focus on environmental compliance.

ELBEP (Eliminating Language Barriers in European Prisons Through Open and Distance Education Technology) is a multilateral project funded by the European Union (EU) Lifelong Learning, Grundtvig (Adult Education) Programme. It aims to overcome language/communication problems between prison staff and foreign inmates at European prisons via online language teaching programs for the staff. This paper discusses the rationale and application of the project with an eye to the related literature and theoretical background. The project outcomes and findings can serve as an example for similar research studies.

Accessibility is hardly a new problem and certainly did not originate with the Web. Lack of access to buildings long preceded the call for accessible Web content. Although it is unlikely that rehabilitation educators look at Web page accessibility with indifference, many may also find it difficult to implement. The authors posit three reasons why rehabilitation educators should be concerned: (a) the transition from an industrial to an information society; (b) increasing use of the Web for course material dissemination; and (c) modeling accessibility for other faculty and advocating for their students. These reasons stem from changes in society, the economy, and their teaching methods. Moreover, these changes create an ethical problem related to equity and inclusion for students. This paper reviews the accessibility laws and regulations in the United States and selected European countries to provide information on Web accessibility to rehabilitation educators. Readers can use this information to gain an understanding of what is being done to make websites accessible in order to better advocate for persons with disabilities.

Since European Union (EU) enlargement in 2003, labour migration from East to West and South to North has increased. It is to be expected that a share of these workers will want to retire in their host countries. According to the academic literature, EU legislation protects such mobility well by allowing the transfer of rights accrued in any EU country to another. However, such research has focused on legislation, not outcomes. We know little about how migration will affect the financial status of retired migrants in their host country and their ability to sustain a life there, should they stay after retirement. Using migration, wage and pension policy data (Eurostat, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development), this paper projects the post-retirement incomes of a range of hypothetical EU migrants, selected in relation to the most common migratory flows since 2003. After having worked in their home countries (Romania, Poland, Bulgaria, Italy) for at least ten years, these people move to richer countries (Italy, Spain, Germany, United Kingdom) and work there for at least 30 years. To determine whether they can remain settled after decades of labour force participation in the host country, the paper adds their pension entitlements from home and host countries and compares this income with the relative poverty line of the host countries. This shows that good portability of entitlements matters little when these are very low because of a large wage gap between home and host country. Thus, after at least 30 years of enjoying all citizenship rights as workers, most of these individuals are projected to receive incomes below the relative poverty line of their host countries and thus experience a sharp drop in this status. Their citizenship is diminished. The paper concludes by considering policies that could avoid such an outcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores trade union strategies to protect wages in the face of EU migration after the enlargement of the European Union. We argue that unions have three instruments at their disposal to deal with the risks linked to downward wage pressure: closure through immigration control, equalisation through collective bargaining and minimum wages, and the organisation of migrant workers. Using comparative case studies of Sweden, Germany and the UK, we show how different types of power resources shape union strategies: unions with substantial organisational resources (in Sweden) relied on a large membership to pursue an equalisation strategy and expected to be able to 'afford' openness. German unions with low membership but access to the political system pushed for a mix of closure and equality drawing on political intervention (e.g. minimum wages). British unions, unable to pursue either, focused their efforts on organisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes an EU-funded project under the Training and Mobility of Researchers (TMR) Programme, with a particular emphasis on the Oxford-based part. Involving six European universities, the overarching investigation was concerned with the tensions between standardization and tradition in education. In Oxford the focus was on aspects of EU education and training policy in four Member States: the United Kingdom, German, Sweden, and France. The paper describes the research undertaken and its outcomes, using the project as an example of EU funding programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of continuing mixed results in the literature, this paper re-examines the German Dominance Hypothesis (GDH) and considers whether the UK should join the Eurozone. For this purpose, short-term interest rate relationships between the UK, Germany, the Eurozone and the USA, for the period January 1982 to June 2007, are studied. The policy implication of a loss of monetary autonomy for the UK in favour of Germany or the European Central Bank (ECB) would give support to the UK joining the EMU as an economic response. From the early 1980s the Bundesbank's responsibility was to use money growth targets to keep average inflation rate down in the long run. This long run objective suggests that an appropriate methodology for testing the GDH is to test whether the German stochastic trend is a driving stochastic trend. In other words we determine whether a permanent shock to the German interest rate has a permanent effect on the UK interest rate. To this end the structural shocks in a VECM are identified by imposing long-run restrictions of the type developed in King et al. (1991). We apply the same techniques to testing whether the UK has suffered a loss of monetary autonomy in favour of the ECB. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The thesis of this paper is that governments of some otherwise enlightened states are increasingly fearful of acknowledging the restraints imposed on them by existing international law. They are also reluctant to enter into new commitments by way of international conventions that would expand the reach of international law. The paper asks whether these fears are based on a true understanding of international law or on some distorted view of it. It will draw comparisons and some contrasts between Australia and the United States in their reactions to a number of recent events as well as to some enduring situations of contemporary relevance. Had time (and the limits of my research) permitted, one might also have examined public attitudes toward international law in China, Japan, and Russia in this context, where similar fears appear to be entertained. France, Germany, Italy, and the United Kingdom, also enlightened states, appear by contrast to belong to a group more dedicated to international law. As Robert Kagan has recently remarked, the experience of two world wars at close quarters, and the formation of the European Union, have made the European countries more dedicated to process, where the United States is more interested in results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous studies that have investigated the J-curve phenomenon between the UK and its largest trading partner from the European Union (EU), Germany, used aggregate bilateral trade data and found no support for the phenomenon. In this paper, we disaggregate the trade data by industry and investigate the symmetric as well as asymmetric J-curve hypothesis for each of the 95 2-digit industries that trade between the two countries. We found support for the symmetric J-curve effect in 12 industries, but support for the asymmetric J-curve effect 21 industries. Since the asymmetric approach required separating pound depreciation from appreciation, the approach also allowed us to identify industries that could benefit or be hurt from pound depreciation and those that could be hurt or benefit from pound appreciation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Renewable energy (RE) is one of the most popular public policy orientations worldwide. Compared to some other countries and continents, Europe has gained an early awareness of energy and environmental problems in general. At the theoretical level, free-market environmentalism indicates that based on the principle of private property rights, with fewer state interventionist and regulation policies, entrepreneurs, as the driving force of the market economy, can provide better services to meet the necessity of offering RE to protect the environment more effectively. Previous studies have revealed that Germany, Denmark, and the United Kingdom have made some progress in using the market to develop RE. However, this research did not analyze the three countries' RE conditions from the perspective of free-market environmentalism. Based on our review of the principles of free-market environmentalism, this paper originally provides an empirical study of how Germany, Denmark, and the United Kingdom have partly conducted free-market-oriented policies to successfully achieve their policy goal of RE since the 1990s on a practical level. In particular, compared with Germany and Denmark, the UK has maintained a relatively low energy tax rate and opted for more pro-market measures since the Hayekian-Thatcherism free-market reform of 1979. The paper also discovers that Fredrich A. Hayek's theories have strongly impacted its energy liberalization reform agenda since then. Low taxes on the energy industry and electricity have alleviated the burden on the electricity enterprises and consumers in the UK. Moreover, the empirical results above show that the energy enterprises play essential roles in providing better and more affordable RE for household and industrial users in the three sampled countries. Based on the above results, the paper also warns that state intervention policies such as taxation, state subsidies, and industrial access restrictions can impede these three countries' RE targets. Additionally, our research provides reform agendas and policy suggestions to policymakers on the importance of implementing free-market environmentalism to provide more efficient RE in the post-COVID-19 era. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decades, ovarian cancer mortality in Europe has been decreasing, but disparities in trends were observed. In this paper, we analysed ovarian cancer mortality trends in Europe over the period 1990–2020 and predicted the number of deaths and rates by 2025. We extracted population and death certification data from ovarian cancer in women for 31 European countries, between 1990 and 2020 from the World Health Organization database. We computed age-standardised mortality rates (ASMR) per 100,000 women-years, based on the world standard population. We also obtained predictions for 2025 using a joinpoint regression model and calculated the number of avoided deaths over the period 1994–2025. Over the observed period, mortality from ovarian cancer showed a favourable pattern in most countries. In the EU-27, rates declined by 5.9% from 2010–2014 to 2015–2019, reaching an ASMR of 4.66/100,000. During the same period, the decline in ovarian cancer mortality was more pronounced in the EU-14 countries (−7.0%) compared to Transitional countries (−2.1%). Declines were also observed in the United Kingdom, to reach an ASMR of 5.29. Decreases in mortality from ovarian cancer are predicted until 2025, to 4.17/100,000 for the EU-27. Favourable trends in ovarian cancer mortality are expected to persist in Europe and can be mainly attributed to the increased use of oral contraceptives in subsequent generations of European women. Decreased use of menopausal Hormone Replacement Therapy and improved diagnosis and management may also have played a role. • Ovarian cancer mortality decreased over the last decade in most European countries. • Favourable trends will continue in the next 5 years. • Less favourable epidemiological situation was observed in Transitional countries. • The largest decrease of mortality in 2025 is predicted to be in Germany. • Until 2025 nearly 131,000 deaths from ovarian cancer would be avoided in EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Perceptions of the EU tend to be studied by examining responses to targeted opinion polls. This paper looks instead at how citizens draw Europe into a wider discussion of politics and political problems. Based on a series of group discussions with taxi-drivers in Britain, Germany and the Czech Republic, it examines the motifs speakers use to explain the origins of problems, the assumptions they make about their susceptibility to address, and how, when these patterned ways of speaking are applied to the EU, they serve to undermine its credibility as a positive source of political agency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose — The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the ways in which the European Union (EU) is influencing policy making in EU member states. It covers the historical development of the UK, France and Germany. There is evidence to suggest politics and economic policy making in these countries are now similar particularly in the areas of adopting anti inflationist strategies and opening up markets. However, some differences remain particularly regarding the flexibility of labour markets in the various member states. Design/methodology/approach — The paper draws on the various components of integration theory and incorporates also a business history approach. Findings — The main findings indicate that the EU is gradually having more influence over member states, newer areas of development include social policy, immigration and an increasing neoliberalist approach towards opening new markets. However, countries are still given some flexibility, for example, there are still a number of countries not yet willing to join the Euro currency. Originality/value — The paper illustrates the important role of the EU in formulating policy for member states in today's increasingly competitive business environment Business needs to be fully aware of these implications in order to become more successful while operating in the expanding European market [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Auditors' liability is a hot topic nowadays. Due to the increased risks of auditors and the lack of appropriate insurance, a limitation of auditors' liability seems appropriate. Based on the economic study of the London Economics, the European Commission issued a consultation paper to discuss a European harmonization of auditors' liability. But to harmonize a liability cap on auditors, one needs to examine not only the economic implications, but also the legal restraints and differences of auditors' liability regimes within the European Union. This paper shows that there are large discrepancies concerning auditor's liability towards third parties within the legal systems of the European Union. In Belgium, an auditor is liable towards each interested party. However, the public role of an auditor is not acknowledged in the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Germany. In those countries the purpose of audited statements is to fulfil the auditor's duty to the shareholders collectively and not to the stockholders as individual parties or third parties. In Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, an auditor has to encompass a special duty of care towards the third party to be liable. Only a special relationship of the auditor towards a third party could imply auditor's liability toward those parties. This element wasn't discussed in the London Economics Study. However, these findings could have a major impact on the debate to harmonize an auditor's liability cap because the more parties can pursue an auditor, the more damage can be claimed and the higher the liability cap needs to be fixed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyzes the opposition to immigration, comparing the European Union as a whole and Portugal, United Kingdom, France and Germany. The first hypvothesis that was examined posits that the perception of economic, security and cultural threats are significant predictors of the orientation towards immigration. The second hypothesis states that racial prejudice is an important predictor of threat perception. Results show that, globally, attitudes towards immigration in EU are more close to openness than they are to closure. As predicted, cultural, economic and security threats are significantly associated with the opposition to immigration. These results are stable across compared countries. Moreover results show that in the EU as a whole political conservatism and racial prejudice are the main predictors of the perception of threat in the economic, security and cultural domains. These same results were obtained in France, Germany and United Kingdom. Except in the case of security threat, also in Portugal prejudice is an important predictor of threat perception. These results are discussed in the context of the immigration integration policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper discusses the relationships between the migratory policies of the EU countries with more experience of immigration and their national political cultures. It focuses on France, Germany and the United Kingdom. It then looks at Italy, a relatively new country of immigration, which, with 3,000,000 legal immigrants, has become the fourth country of immigration in Europe and the first in the Mediterranean basin. In its final part it highlights the incipient process of 'communitarisation' of the immigration policies of EU countries in the last decade. This process, which has already entailed a significant convergence of their migratory policies, is expected to continue after the recent enlargement of the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Europeanization, differentiated from European integration as the impact of European policies on national policies, practices, and politics, has had differing effects on EU member states, depending upon a number of independent variables. These include the constraints imposed by EU decisions in any given policy area, that is, whether the decisions demand that countries follow highly specified rules of implementation, less specified rules, suggested rules, or no rules at all. But adjustment also depends upon certain mediating factors, including countries' vulnerability to global as well as European economic pressures, their political institutional capacity to respond as necessary, the 'fit' of European policies with national policy legacies and preferences, and the discourses that influence policy preferences by changing perceptions of economic vulnerabilities and policies and thereby enhance capacity. Only by putting the decision constraints together with the mediating factors can we adequately explain countries' differential policy outcomes, whether inertia, absorption, or transformation. To illustrate, this paper considers three countries, France, Britain, and Germany, across a representative range of economic policy areas, including monetary policy, financial services, telecommunications, electricity, transport, and mutual recognition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

What are the prospects for trilateral concord among Britain, France and Germany in terms of defence policies? Would more institutionalised links among them lead to more convergence of their defence policies? To answer these interrogations, this article investigates the relation between policy convergence and institutionalised cooperation, in particular by studying whether and when one is a prerequisite to the other. First, this article examines the extent to which these countries' defence policies have converged since the end of the cold war based on several indicators: their attitudes towards international forums, their defence budgets, the structure of their armed forces and their willingness to use force. Second, we study each of the bilateral relations between the three states to qualitatively analyse their degree of institutionalisation and the convergence of their defence policies. This article concludes that contrary to the arguments of many discussions, think-tank reports and political actors, there is no evidence that institutionalised cooperation leads to policy convergence as far as defence is concerned. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

COVID-19 regulations introduced in EU member states in 2020 meant serious restrictions for the free movement of persons, particularly workers. An ensuing gap in the supply of workers raised concerns of food shortages in the West. Governments in several EU member states enacted regulations to except the workers from restrictions facilitating their travel from Eastern Europe. In this study, we focus on EU-level responses to the COVID-19 crisis in relation to labour shortages in the food industry, and on the reactions in Germany and the UK. Firstly, referring to Schmidt (2020) and Wolff and Ladi (2020), we argue that the COVID-19 crisis placed the EU in a permanent emergency mode facilitating a quick response to enable labour mobility with less priority on the coordination of social rights. Secondly, the crisis exposed issues pertaining to working conditions, including housing and sanitation. Thirdly, differences between the reactions in Germany and the UK were consistent with the pre-existing trends in both countries. While a traditional emphasis on quality working conditions made it "appropriate" for the German government to initiate regulatory change, small-scale measures taken in the UK were directed towards maintaining an influx of migrant workers, rather than ensuring adequate working conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Legal requirements in context of the EU Marine Strategy Framework Directive require increased trans-national cooperation on environmental effects induced by marine uses to achieve Good Environmental Status by 2020. Interactions between offshore wind farms and seabirds represent a valuable example of how a changed spatial perspective might influence the assessment of environmental impacts. This paper addresses the potential consequences of offshore wind farm development at the North Sea scale on selected seabird species with high relevance in context of national approval procedures. It provides a new methodology to estimate the cumulative habitat loss due to ongoing and planned offshore wind farm construction activities within the North Sea''s exclusive economic zones of Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom. In addition to providing information on the seasonal distribution of important species and initial estimates of potential seabird habitat exclusion due to offshore wind farming, this study highlights the need for increased trans-national cooperation among riparian states and harmonization of conservation approaches to successfully implement the Marine Strategy Framework Directive. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents a review of the topics in existing research on the establishment and management of public policies for multifunctional purposes. The review is a complete survey of studies carried out in five countries: Finland, Germany, Ireland, Latvia and UK. The viewpoints adopted in developing countries were also surveyed. The concepts, adaptation and implementation of MFA as well as the research carried out were found to vary considerably in the surveyed countries. Several gaps in research were identified. A summary of national policies as well as of the topics studied is presented. 10 areas in which additional research is required are presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In its most explicit and simplest form Europeanisation provides a means by which European Union (FU) policy impacts on member states can be assessed and analysed. In empirical terms this paper concentrates on FU impacts relating to UK and German member state financial services sectors. While in theoretical terms it provides a specific conceptualisation of Europeanisation as both meso (middle range) and substantive theory. Furthermore, breaking down meso theory into specific parts of 'process' (uploading, downloading and cross-loading) the analysis enables a clear understanding of the interaction between Europeanisation and European integration. Overall, the linkages between member state financial services sectors in relation to policy transfer, lesson-drawing and policy convergence clarify conceptualisations and utilisations of Europeanisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the way in which multi-level governance - more specifically the increased overlap in regional, state and EU spheres of authority - can generate conflict between regional and central state actors in Germany and the United Kingdom. The main argument is that this increased overlap between different spheres of authority generates new tensions between regional and central state actors in both of these EU member states. However, the nature of the tensions differs in the two states. Domestic variables, including institutional structures, systems of intergovernmental relations and domestic political culture are key determinants of these differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the role of the media in the EU freedom of movement debate through the lens of high-circulation German and UK newspapers during the first half of 2014. It explores how the media problematised migration from Eastern European member states and its influence on national host country labour markets and welfare systems. It also analyses how different media outlets positioned themselves in relation to relevant policies or policy proposals. The findings show that most articles in our sample present low-skill, low-wage working European Union (EU) migrant class referred to as "poverty migrants" as a problem to be addressed at the policy level in contrast with the economically self-sufficient migrant with marketable skills. The article contributes to discussions on work, welfare, and mobility in the EU by cross-fertilising the literature on migration policy, freedom of movement, social rights, and the media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Little is known about the knowledge and use of technology-based interventions (TBIs) by health personnel working in the addiction field across Europe. Methods: An online questionnaire was designed using SurveyMonkey® in order to determine the level of knowledge, use and perceived efficacy of TBIs in substance use disorders (SUDs), among health professionals across six EU Member States: Germany, Italy, UK, France, Poland and the Netherlands. The survey was sent to a convenience sample of 1200 addiction experts. Results: Surveyed participants (311, response rate 26%), had a mean professional addiction experience of 17 years; 23% stated to have good knowledge of TBIs, while 12% use them in their clinical practice. Forty-six percent consider TBIs useful in the treatment of addiction, and 44% foresee a significant increase of them in the future. TBIs were considered important for people facing barriers to accessing treatment (63%) and for providing support outside the formal care settings (60%). Lack of technical support (48%), poor infrastructure and equipment (42%), and lack of digital literacy among health workers (38%) were identified as the main obstacles in the diffusion of TBIs. Conclusions: Knowledge and utilisation of TBIs among health workers in drug addiction field is low. Nevertheless, TBIs are perceived as a possible means of facilitation in providing access to treatment, and as therapeutic tools which will become more important in the future. The need to improve training policies, awareness and attitudes towards TBIs among EU health professionals, working in the field of addiction is paramount. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) has certainly reduced its influence in the global economic affairs. Despite the fact that it unites 28 nations, including the former great powers such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Italy, the political and economic power of the community has considerably decreased starting with the second half of 2000s. The present research is undertaken with the aim of increasing the readers' awareness regarding the necessity of enforcing the EU economic security through consolidating the authority of the supranational bodies in relation with national representatives. The objectives to be reached in this regard include assessing how much the governance efficiency alternations among the EU member countries influence the efficiency of the single market in a globalised society. It was found that several processes determined the decline of Europe's strength including raising globalisation and increasing competition, economic weaknesses of the EU which worsened during the crisis, stagnation of the integration process, feeble leadership and lack of resoluteness, especially in the most developed EU nations, declining adherence to "core" values, migration crisis, little political commitment to protecting EU's citizens' interests, and countries' individualism in promoting key initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article looks at the accounting measurement practices in France, Germany, and Great Britain and the differences in the effects of their financial statements. The differences in financial ratios and stock market valuation of accounting data are not explained by macroeconomic factors, they are predictable, and they are present in net income. The directives of enacted legislation by the European Union do not affect the cross-country differences despite efforts to create an integrated set of financial reporting standards.

The article deals with the comparison of German and British approaches to the prospect of Ukraine's EU membership. The attitude of both states towards the idea of further EU enlargement is analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Empirical assessments of issue competition lack both conceptual precision in the use of the concept of “policy issue”, and sufficient studies integrating both salience and positional perspectives. This article specifies an operational definition of a “policy issue” suited for the analysis of issue competition in the electoral arena and beyond, and proposes a typology of electoral issues that takes into account the two sides of issue competition – the decision to address an issue, and the adoption of a diverging or similar position on it. This typology allows distinguishing proprietal, consensual, blurred and conflictual issues. The framework is illustrated with an analysis of EU-related issues in the electoral manifestos of British, French and German parties. This source did not enable us to identify any blurred issue, but our exploratory study delivers several conclusions regarding the other issue types. Proprietal issues appear to be marginal, indicating that parties tend to devote attention to the same issues and that issue ownership is highly contested. We further observe a primacy of consensus in EU-related discourses, especially among governing parties. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Why does the willingness of interest groups to join forces with their peers abroad vary across issues? The present article points to cross-issue variation in the “constrain-thy-neighbor” effects of transnational law. Interest groups consider not only whether they are worse off if they themselves are subjected to a transnational law. They also consider how it affects them if the same law applies abroad. Depending on the issue, they derive advantages or disadvantages from seeing their neighbors constrained, and this affects their willingness to fight transnational legislation on that issue. To illustrate the argument, the article compares cohesion within the Union of Industrial and Employers’ Confederations of Europe (UNICE), the European peak employer federation, on two aspects of EU company law. UNICE members were divided over EU takeover directives while uniting against EU worker participation directives. Statements released by German and British UNICE members show that the divergent constrain-thy-neighbor effect associated with these issues contributed to variation in cohesion. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The EU is very good at negative integration, removing barriers to cross-border activity. But does that automatically mean the creation of a common market? We investigate the extent to which EU health care policies, which undeniably are negative integration, are creating any kind of markets in health care. Using elite interviews in the UK and Germany, we find almost no behaviour by states or stakeholders that is both competitive and attributable to EU policy. There are multiple barriers to entry and weak incentives for patients, providers or governments to respond to EU health policy with competition or entry into new markets. So there is very little response to EU law, and what there is is driven by domestic political agendas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article assesses the British and German labour union reactions to European Union (EU) workforce enlargements from 2004 to 2007. These labour unions expressed their concern in their social and economic state since an EU labor law enables Central and Eastern European nations to exploit their free migration rights in compliance to the Lisbon Treaty. British and German unions sought EU intervention to acquire social rights during enlargements to enable job security of their local workers.

European Union (EU) patient mobility law creates destabilization rights: rights for citizens that would, if consistently applied, destabilize law, administration and finance for healthcare systems across the EU. This article focuses on the responses of the destabilized organizations and their efforts to restabilize their legal situation. We argue that it takes place through two decisions: a decision about whether or not to change procedures in response to the new right; and a decision about whether or not to lobby to circumscribe the new right. Our qualitative research in Germany and the UK found some differences in responses, but across the board the incumbent organizations and governments opted for very limited compliance and considerable engagement in EU politics as their preferred strategy for responding to the new destabilization rights. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines the implementation of the Directive 2005/29/EC concerning unfair business-to-consumer commercial practices in the internal market (UCPD) among European Union member states. Several characteristics of the UCPD are cited which include a broad scope and a threefold structure. It discusses how EU members including Great Britain and Germany implemented UCPD in which the latter adopted a First Amending Act in 2008. It is concluded that several factors, one of which is a broad scope, contribute to the challenge of implementing UCPD.

This article asks why the EU member states were able to agree on an EU pension fund directive in 2003 whereas they had failed to do so in a previous attempt (1991). The main argument is that a single pension market was a desirable project before 2003, but bargaining inefficiencies prevented its realisation. This is because bargaining over integration in this sector requires credible signalling between Bismarckian and Beveridgean pension regimes. The co-ordination of divergent welfare and financial regimes depends on the ability of governments to send costly signals that only a limited range of outcomes are considered legitimate in their home state. In turn, the capacity to signal and the costs of bluffing hinge on international pressure for pension reform (Economic and Monetary Union) and the magnitude of changes governments have to make to their respective welfare finance arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The regulation and supervision of financial services in the EU has undergone significant change between 2000 and 2005, when the so-called Lamfalussy framework, the Basel 2 agreement and its transposition into the Capital Requirements Directive were agreed. This research examines the preferences of national financial interest groups in Germany and the UK (the independent variable) in shaping national input and, more precisely, the contributions given by the relevant public authorities to EU and international policy-making processes (the dependent variable). The impact, if any, on the final outputs (the relevant international and EU agreements) is also discussed. It is argued that the level of involvement of each interest group depends on the policy content, namely, whether the policy concerns a broad institutional issue or specific rules, while the degree of interest group influence in policy-making processes depends on domestic institutions, namely state structure, interest representation and political economy institutions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the use in the flotation of Standard Life plc of the prospectus passport for cross-border offers of securities within the EU that was introduced by the Prospectus Directive (2003). The Standard Life flotation was a major test for the new law on prospectuses and, overall, it came through it well. The prospectus was approved in the UK and the passport mechanism worked smoothly in facilitating the offer of securities into Ireland, Germany and Austria. The Standard Life transaction suggests that national regulatory agencies are willing to make the regime work effectively and to find pragmatic, case-by-case solutions where experience reveals shortcomings in its design. The Committee of European Securities Regulators (CESR) has also played a constructive role. The article notes that simplification of the passporting regime does not extend as far as civil liability, which remains a complex area. This leads into a broader discussion of the role of private enforcement and its interrelationship with public enforcement in the European context. These are particularly hard questions to address from a European perspective because of the nationally fragmented nature of the mechanisms of both public and private enforcement. The article's review of (the lack of) modern British cases on civil liability to investors for prospectus or other disclosures supports the view that levels of private enforcement in Europe are low but the article cautions against attaching too much significance to this finding. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How may policy convergence between Germany and the United Kingdom come about? This contribution seeks to offer some analytical explanations. It explores the real-world pressures for convergence for two medium-sized powers which are institutionally embedded within the European Union, whilst economically integrated into the global economy. Globalisation and Europeanisation are reviewed as ways of understanding the potential for convergence. However, detailed attention is directed onto the concept of policy transfer for explaining possible convergence. In particular, the discussion presents an institutionalist account of the opportunities for, and constraints upon, transfer between the two states. It argues that policy transfer facilitated by membership of the EU is likely to be the greatest dynamic behind policy convergence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This contribution argues that although the UK and Germany have different historical traditions of immigration and integration, which continue to define policy responses in specific areas, recent developments show a distinct convergence in each country's policy goals and adopted policy instruments in this sector. It contends that both endogenous (demographic and skills shortages, integration deficits) and exogenous (influx of asylum seekers, terrorism) variables can be identified for this convergence. It also pinpoints the European Union as a growing source both of convergence and policy coordination in this field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Why are international institutions designed in one way and not another? Using the European security and defence policy (ESDP) as a case study, this article suggests that the social representations dominating the national and organizational world of institution-makers are key to our understanding the shape and content of an emerging institution of international security cooperation. A focus on social representations, which are the product of institutional practices, helps to break the interest/idea dichotomy that underpins most theories of preference formation when they try to explain institutional designs. This article shows that foreign and defence policy-makers from France, Germany and the United Kingdom have shaped ESDP by projecting their respective social representations, notably with regard to the role of the state, the nature of security challenges and the purpose of their organization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This papa seeks to develop a new understanding of the implementation of EU policies as a mixed process of both Europeanization and domestication. While some scholars equate the implementation of EU policies with Europeanization, this fails to capture the dominance of national factors and the relative impact of EU policies. The implementation of EU policies is best conceptualized as a blend of effective EU influence over domestic policy choices in a given policy area - defined as Europeanization - and of domestic choices of non-prescribed or non-recommended policy options in the same policy area - which is termed domestication. Domestication and Europeanization usually work as complementary forces. These concepts are employed for art analysis of the implementation of the 1990 EU Directive on Access to Environmental information in Ireland, Britain and Germany. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Trade unions have generally been neglected in the discussion of Economic and Monetary Union (EMU) and the related neo-liberal restructuring of European social relations of production. This article helps to fill this gap through a comparison of British and German unions' position on EMU and European co-operation. It is demonstrated that there is a split between British transnational production sector unions, which support EMU and Europe-wide co-operation, and British national sector unions, which criticise the deflationary implications of EMU and focus on the national level in their policy-making efforts. In Germany, by contrast, EMU is generally accepted by unions with the exception of the construction workers' union. A division between internationally oriented and nationally oriented sector unions can only be identified in relation to the issue of Europe-wide co-operation, where the former are in favour and the latter reluctant. Importantly, however, unions in both countries strongly criticise neo-liberal economics, whether they support or oppose EMU. This may become the basis for a counter, neo-liberal strategy within the European Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]