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The number of older people dying in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) is increasing globally, but care quality may be variable. A framework was developed drawing on empirical research findings from the Palliative Care for Older People (PACE) study and a scoping review of literature on the implementation of palliative care interventions in LTCFs. The PACE study mapped palliative care in LTCFs in Europe, evaluated quality of end-of-life care and quality of dying in a cross-sectional study of deceased residents of LTCFs in 6 countries, and undertook a cluster-randomized control trial that evaluated the impact of the PACE Steps to Success intervention in 7 countries. Working with the European Association for Palliative Care, a white paper was written that outlined recommendations for the implementation of interventions to improve palliative and end-of-life care for all older adults with serious illness, regardless of diagnosis, living in LTCFs. The goal of the article is to present these key domains and recommendations. Transparent expert consultation. International experts in LTCFs. Eighteen (of 20 invited) international experts from 15 countries participated in a 1-day face-to-face Transparent Expert Consultation (TEC) workshop in Bern, Switzerland, and 21 (of 28 invited) completed a follow-up online survey. The TEC study used (1) a face-to-face workshop to discuss a scoping review and initial recommendations and (2) an online survey. Thirty recommendations about implementing palliative care for older people in LTCFs were refined during the TEC workshop and, of these, 20 were selected following the survey. These 20 recommendations cover domains at micro (within organizations), meso (across organizations), and macro (at national or regional) levels addressed in 3 phases: establishing conditions for action, embedding in everyday practice, and sustaining ongoing change. We developed a framework of 20 recommendations to guide implementation of improvements in palliative care in LTCFs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Insights into the waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) management. • Developed a generic system dynamics model simulating the stock and flow of WEEE. • Applied the model to eleven WEEE categories in the United Kingdom. • Sensitivity and backcasting scenario analyses of landfilled WEEE targets. • Identified enhancing collection rates as the best way to reduce landfilled WEEE. Every year an estimated two million tonnes of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) are discarded by householders and companies in the United Kingdom (UK). While the UK has left the European Union (EU), its waste-related policies still mirror those of the EU, including the WEEE-related policies. Motivated by the recent introduction the so-called 'Right to Repair' policy for electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) across the EU and UK, this paper aims to demonstrate that, depending on the commitment and behavioural changes by the consumers and the government, the future of the WEEE management of the UK will vary. To this end, focusing on landfilled WEEE reduction we develop a generic system dynamics model and apply it to eleven WEEE categories. They depict the flow of EEE and WEEE representing the interaction among the stakeholders (e.g., consumers and producers of EEE) and relevant government regulations of the UK. Our four scenario analyses find that longer use of EEE and better WEEE collection seem to be effective in reducing landfilled WEEE, while more reuse and more recycling and recovery have negligible impacts, despite excluding the additional generation of landfilled WEEE as a result of recycling and recovery. Comparing with the business-as-usual scenario, one year longer EEE use and 10% more of WEEE collection could at maximum reduce landfilled WEEE by 14.05% of monitoring and control instruments and 93.93% of display equipment respectively. Backcasting scenario analyses reveal that significant efforts are required to reduce the targeted amounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When member states of the European Union face serious international threats, does this serve as a catalyst or obstacle for European integration in the security and defence domain? To gain purchase on this question, this paper examines public opinion from a common instrument fielded in 24 EU member states (and the United Kingdom) with a total sample size of more than 40,000 respondents.We argue that theoretical accounts of perceived threat produce rival hypotheses. Threats might have either uniform or differential effects on different groups of citizens and could lead to either convergence or divergence of public opinion. We show that perceptions of foreign threats are associated with more favourable views on integration in the security and defence domain. Importantly, this association is as strong among Eurosceptics as among Europhiles. The findings presented here are consistent with the view that functional pressures may temporarily convince Eurosceptics to accept integration in the foreign and security domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses how so-called Brexit, that is the United Kingdom's departure from the European Union (EU), has modified the regional geography of Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products (ATMPs). The latter are therapies deriving from cell manipulation, gene editing, tissue engineering, or a combination of these techniques. Their development and delivery have been realised through research collaborations and commercial relations of international scope. In the EU, this has happened by means of a complex distribution of commercial activities and legal responsibilities. With Brexit, three main kinds of reconfigurations have occurred: the relocation of research and manufacturing activities; the reorganisation of quality control tests aimed to manage clinical risks; and the redistribution of legal responsibilities and representatives. This technical and legal reconfiguration is captured here by means of theoretical insights from the emerging domain of legal geography. Drawing on interviews conducted with both EU and UK professionals involved in ATMP development, this paper reveals the main challenges brought by Brexit to the current and future configuration of the ATMP landscape in the EU and the UK. Furthermore, it demonstrates how shifts in legal arrangements impact on science-intensive domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As part of the European Commission's 'Banking Package', introducing a series of amendments to the key legal sources of EU banking regulation, a comprehensive proposal for the treatment of third country branches of credit institutions (i.e., branches of institutions licensed by non-EU jurisdictions seeking authorisation in an EU Member State) has been presented. If and when ultimately adopted, this new framework will, for the first time, harmonise the applicable authorisation procedures and substantive conditions for authorisation hitherto left exclusively to the discretion of EU Member States. Under the new regime, the equivalence of third country regulatory and supervisory approaches with EU banking regulation will play a role, albeit a limited one. While taking up, and refining, approaches that have been present in a range of Member States for some time already, the new framework will require others to fundamentally change their existing regimes. The new amendments will be of particular relevance for the future regulatory relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union, since a bespoke arrangement for continuing access of UK financial intermediaries to the EU markets has not been achieved, and UK credit institutions wishing to continue to operate within the EU other than through legally separate and independently capitalised subsidiaries have to rely on authorisations as third country branches. Against this backdrop, the present paper presents a functional analysis of the incoming regime in light of experiences made with regard to the existing landscape of diverging national laws. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU Settlement Scheme (EUSS) is a transitory immigration regime rolled out by the Home Office as part of the measures for the UK withdrawing from the EU. More can be said about whether the EUSS can truly be hailed an overall "success", as per official Government messaging, several years after its initial introduction. This paper evaluates this by considering two case studies of vulnerable immigrant women required to apply to the Scheme to successfully remain in the UK after the transition period: those at risk of or facing violence against women and girls (VAWG), and non-EU family members (NEFMs) of EU citizens. Using the theories of intersectionality and vulnerability, the paper outlines how gender and immigration status intersect to make women more vulnerable by virtue of the legal framework of the EUSS and its criteria, arguing that it entrenches intersectional oppression faced uniquely by these women. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Attempts to modernise the working practices of the Foreign Office within the last half century have largely been successful. Technological advances have rendered the work of today's Foreign Secretaries and Diplomatic Service totally different from their immediate post-war predecessors. This has not only speeded up the pace of diplomacy but resulted in a more 'intimate' approach to diplomatic contact through the use of video and satellite links, for example. These changes have taken place against the backdrop of a decline of Britain as a world power and a realignment of the British relationship with Europe through the European Union. At the same time, however, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office was anxious to preserve its architectural and historical heritage, and the author praises the Thatcher government's commitment to restoring Gilbert Scott's building in Whitehall to its original splendour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Alcohol increases cancer risk, but less is known about public awareness of this link. This scoping review summarizes recent findings on the public awareness of alcohol as a cancer risk factor in European Union and UK. Methods Four databases (Web of Science, MEDLINE, PsycInfo, CINAHL) were searched for papers containing data on awareness of alcohol as cancer risk factor in EU or UK published between January 2017 and December 2022, and complemented with grey literature searches. Results In total, 45 studies were included covering 18 EU countries (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden) and UK, presenting data collected between 2009 and 2022. Studies covered general population (17 studied a nationally representative sample), women, health professionals, patients and young people. Awareness of alcohol causing cancer in general was higher and studied more often than awareness of alcohol's impact on specific cancers. Among the EU general population, awareness of the link between alcohol and breast cancer ranged between 10% and 20%, head and neck cancer 15–25%, colorectal and oesophagus cancer 15–45% and liver cancer 40%. Awareness was higher among young people and specialized health professions and lower among women (the latter specifically for the breast cancer). Conclusions While awareness rates varied depending on the exact question wording, many studies showed low awareness of the alcohol-cancer link, especially for specific types such as breast and colon cancer. Public should be better informed about alcohol consumption-related cancer risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An evolving green agenda as the UK seeks to achieve 'net zero' in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, coupled with our new trading relationship with the European Union, is resulting in new government policies, which will be disruptive to Britain's traditional food and farming practices. These policies encourage sustainable farming and land‐sparing to restore natural habitats and will provide an opportunity to address issues such as high emissions of GHGs and dwindling biodiversity resulting from many intensive agricultural practices. To address these and other food challenges such as global conflicts and health issues, Britain will need a revolution in its food system. The aim of this paper is to make the case for such a food revolution where additional healthy food for the UK population is produced in‐country in specialised production units for fruits and vegetables developed on sites previously considered unsuitable for crop production. High crop productivity can be achieved in low‐cost controlled environments, making extensive use of novel crop science and modern controlled‐environment technology. Such systems must be operated with very limited environmental impact. In recent years, growth in the application of plasticulture in UK horticulture has driven some increases in crop yield, quality and value. However, the environmental cost of plastic production and plastic pollution is regarded as a generational challenge that faces the earth system complex. The distribution of plastic waste is ubiquitous, with a significant pollution load arising from a range of agricultural practices. The primary receptor of agriplastic pollution is agricultural soil. Impacts of microplastics on crop productivity and quality and also on human health are only now being investigated. This paper explores the possibility that we can mitigate the adverse environmental effects of agriplastics and thereby exploit the potential of plasticulture to enhance the productivity and positive health impact of UK horticulture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effectiveness of the prevention through design (PtD) approach to the management of health and safety (H&S) risks on construction sites is widely acknowledged. This approach underlies the construction, design, and management (CDM) Regulations in the United Kingdom that provide for a Principal Designer (PD) role with a statutory duty to plan, manage, and monitor the preconstruction phase of projects and to coordinate matters of H&S during that phase. Although there is a growing body of research literature on PtD practice, there is a gap in the general issue of the practical implementation of the CDM Regulations in general and the performance of the PD in particular. The purpose of this paper is to report research undertaken with the aim of plugging this gap. The part examined concerns the challenges that beset the performance of the PD role and the drivers behind such barriers. A qualitative research design was adopted using, for data collection, 14 focus group discussion sessions involving 89 participants with direct experience of practical implementation of the regulations. The research uncovered three broad categories of barriers to the performance of the PD role: inadequacies in the client's general approach to its duties; supply chain fragmentation and insurance challenges; and performance-related challenges stemming from limitations in PD technical competence and interpersonal skills. The research is the first study focused on the H&S risk management processes and the organizational and operational barriers to effective management and coordination of H&S matters by PDs. The research outcomes are of obvious relevance to H&S management practice in not only the United Kingdom but also European Union countries and other countries with similar regulations. As management of design H&S risks at the preconstruction stage is an inherent feature of the PtD concept, they could also inform PtD practice with respect to coordination of the work of the different design specialisms involved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The shift to online commerce and communication in the global pandemic, the Cambridge Analytica scandal and the cancel culture exacerbated by social media platforms have demonstrated our increasing reliance on digital platforms. Digital regulation is receiving increasing scrutiny globally and, in the UK, as exemplified by the recent Digital Markets and Digital Services Act by the European Union and the establishment of the Digital Markets Unit within the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK. In July 2020, the Competition and Markets Authority, the Information Commissioner's Office and the Office of Communications formed the Digital Regulation Cooperation Forum (DRCF) to coordinate digital regulation between various regulators. In April 2021, the Financial Conduct Authority also joined the DRCF as a full member. Against this backdrop, the paper explores the coordination of digital regulation in the UK and analyses how effective the DRCF is in contributing to this objective. It is argued that to effectively respond to the challenges posed by digital technologies, coordination between various regulatory authorities must be extended and formalised to avoid fragmented enforcement. Whilst the DRCF is a step in the right direction, it needs to engage more closely with other relevant stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a large-scale research project conducted in a northern English city, this paper focuses on the attitudes towards, and experienced by, Polish migrants as a result of increased immigration following the 2004 enlargement of the European Union. We pay attention to the ways in which people justify their negative attitudes towards this migrant group through competition for resources, particularly in terms of job security and the receipt of benefit payments. However, we also consider meaningful encounters between these migrants and the 'local' population, and how through these encounters attitudes can sometimes be transformed from negative to positive. Crucially, we demonstrate how Polish migrants themselves respond to these attitudes. In doing so, we show that by drawing upon the very same discourses of job security and social benefits they develop complex understandings of the 'local' population. Through its attention to immigration, the paper contributes to debates about the relationships between different social groups and processes of exclusion, highlighting the importance of encounters on the process of attitude formation. By giving voice to representatives of both the 'local' population and migrants, it further provides a rare perspective on social responses to immigration-driven diversity in European societies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Kingdom's European Union membership referendum, which marked the end of UK membership in the European Union, created much uncertainty amongst those British and European business practitioners who were accustomed to conducting trade with partners across The North Sea. This exogenous threat to business was subsequently compounded by another serious threat: the COVID-19 pandemic. Knowing that business-to-business (B2B) relationships are particularly important for the success of small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and that exogenous threats in the business environment can threaten these relationships, the purpose of this study is to examine whether frequent contact and social exchanges between partners on a range of topics, during threatening times, are positively linked to the relationship qualities of trust, satisfaction, and commitment. Guided by an explorative, expert interview with a Danish SME owner-manager (OM) who has a great deal of experience conducting business with UK partners, a questionnaire was developed to examine two variables which seemingly play central roles with regard to supporting business relationships during threatening times: contact frequency (how often partners are in contact), and contact scope (how often B2B partners talk together about topics which are social in nature). The questionnaire was administered to 193 Danish SME owners and managers who had British business partners at the time of the BREXIT referendum and the COVID-19 pandemic. The questionnaire revealed a positive relationship between contact frequency and relationship satisfaction and commitment, as well as a positive relationship between contact scope and relationship commitment. However, no significant relationships were found between contact frequency nor contact scope, on the one hand, and the level of trust between business partners on the other. This study has underscored the usefulness of studying social exchanges, and not just information exchanges, as they are an important, relationship-strengthening aspect of B2B communication. Indeed, while the central role played by informational exchanges in building quality relationships, including trusting relationships, is well-documented, this study increases our understanding of the value of social exchanges to business relationship quality; in particular, their noteworthy link to B2B partners' willingness to go to great lengths to maintain relationships during challenging times. Our findings indicate that simply being in contact with B2B partners and speaking about topics that are not directly related to business is not, on its own, a sufficient means of establishing trusting relationships; however, it is nonetheless worthwhile to take the time to nurture personal relationships with B2B partners. Just a modest amount of contact is positively related to relationship satisfaction, as well as relationship commitment, which can be crucial when unforeseen and threatening times inevitably arise in the business environment. Besides enhancing our understanding of the value of frequent and social exchanges in terms of relationship quality, this paper also illustrates a useful means of studying social aspects of business relationships, which are notoriously difficult to study. This is accomplished via a questionnaire study in which respondents are asked to concretely reflect upon and report on the frequency and nature of their contact with specific B2B partners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper outlines a sociological model of the conditions of possibility of the UK's decision to withdraw from the European Union in 2016. Drawing on the conceptual tools of Pierre Bourdieu and those inspired by him, it synthesises and goes beyond the partial and fragmentary accounts offered so far to offer a more comprehensive narrative implicating the interrelation of multiple fields, with agents' evolving strategies within the different fields being the major fulcra. To be specific, the conditions of possibility for the referendum result were provided by mutations within the global field of nation states ricocheting through the UK's political field, ethno-racial field and class structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the impact of business cycles on unemployment rates in EU countries. The relationship between changes in gross domestic product and changes in the unemployment rate is referred to in the academic literature as Okun’s law. This law is of particular importance and the relationship has been extensively investigated in the scientific literature, but there are not many studies that analyse the European Union countries. This paper examines the relationship between the unemployment rate and real GDP in the EU-27. The data used for the study cover the period 2007–2019. The results of a correlation regression analysis provide evidence of the inverse relationship between the unemployment rate and real GDP as established by theory. The results also show that the relationship between business cycles and unemployment varies from country to country: in Lithuania and the UK, there is a very strong inverse relationship between the unemployment rate and real GDP. In Lithuania, the coefficient was –0.9377, and a similar coefficient was found in the United Kingdom (-0.9337). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite seven decades of development of the European Union project, on 23 June 2016, the United Kingdom, Europe and the rest of the world were surprised when the Leave campaign won the Brexit referendum, offering an extraordinary case study for researchers. We spatially disaggregate the vote share data, which allows us to explore where anti‐European sentiment took root in the UK and why. In this paper, a spatial dependence model is applied to clarify and quantify the relevance of the different dimensions—demographic, cultural/educational and economic—that play a role in explaining the rise of support for the Leave campaign. The analysis is conducted at the local level, using local authorities (LAs) as the spatial unit of analysis due to the combination of official datasets with newly generated data in the context of an EU H2020 project. A new indicator capturing the affluence of each local area relative to its close neighbours is proposed and included in the model. In general, we observe that most of the main conclusions obtained by large regions or at the national level also hold at the local scale. However, it is particularly interesting that inequalities by LAs are clearly significant, indicating a marked influence on voters' decisions that have thus far been unaccounted for. This result provides further support for the existence of, to use Andrés Rodriguez‐Pose's terminology, an even more intense "revenge of the places that do not matter" at the local scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: The paper aims at examining wage developments among Eastern European immigrants vs UK natives before and after the 2004 enlargement by measuring the extent to which inter-group wage differentials are explainable by these groups' changing attributes or by differences in returns to these characteristics. The enlargement has been a defining moment in British recent history and may have contributed to the unfolding of the events that have culminated in Brexit. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses a quantitative analysis of the immigrant–native wage gap across the entire distribution by applying the methodology known as the unconditional quantile regression. The analysis is performed before and after the 2004 European Union enlargement to Eastern countries. The data used is the British Labour Force Survey (UK LFS) from 1998 to 2008. Findings: At all distribution points, a major role is played by occupational downgrading, which increases over time. The results further suggest that the decreased wage levels at the top of the distribution stem mainly from low transferability of skills acquired in the source country. Research limitations/implications: The UK LFS does not allow to follow individuals for a long period of time. For this reason, the main limitation of the study is the impossibility to measure for individual-level trajectories in their labour market integration and to account for return migration. Originality/value: The analysis provides a detailed picture of the wage differences between Eastern European immigrants and natives along the whole wage distribution. The paper also identifies possible causes of the wage gap decrease for EU8 immigrant workers after 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The UK's 'Australian-style' points-based system (PBS), introduced in 2021, has been promoted by politicians as a strategy to 'take back control' of migration after leaving the European Union. However, the 2021 PBS is just the most recent of several initiatives since 2002 to introduce points into the UK's labor migration policy. Points tests in various forms have been repeatedly introduced, modified, and removed in the UK's immigration system. This paper examines what accounts for the enduring appeal and repeated reinvention of this policy tool. We argue that the main factor driving interest in points-based systems is not what they achieve in practice, but their symbolic value. Points systems have allowed policymakers to signal that labor migration policy is objective, rational, meritocratic and efficient. These objectives appear to outweigh the substantive policy benefits of points-based systems as mechanisms for accumulating human capital or offering flexibility in eligibility criteria. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents a hypothetical Supreme Court judgment issued in response to a similarly hypothetical entrenchment problem arising in the context of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union. The article imagines a scenario in which a Conservative government facing electoral defeat presses legislation through Parliament which is intended to entrench - to a very high degree - the United Kingdom's withdrawal. The hypothetical litigation suggests that the Supreme Court would upheld such legislation in the face of a subsequent statute passed in the ordinary way which purports to repeal the earlier Act. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union, known as Brexit, is arguably the most important political, social, and economic phenomenon in British post‐WWII history. This paper analyses parliamentary debates from December 2018 concerning the European Withdrawal Act, focusing on the epistemic modality of Member of Parliaments' (MP) statements, to investigate the ontology of Brexit. Epistemic modality refers to linguistic devices that allow modification with regards to confidence, truthfulness, and probability, and enables investigation of MPs' commitments. Commitments are a part of their status function declaration, which create institutional reality. Analysis of such commitments permits inference about the institutional reality of Brexit. A video abstract is available at https://youtu.be/90RRWApg0rQ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU Referendum of 2016 was one of the most significant events in recent British political history. It is widely recognised that citizens engaged with the referendum through understandings of Britain, the EU, the world, and their place in it. This study complements existing research where such understandings have been inferred from citizens' demographic characteristics, the characteristics of their localities/regions, or elite discourses. It builds on existing research where a more direct engagement with citizens' understandings has been achieved through interviews or focus groups, allowing the content of understandings to be thickly described. To these latter studies, this paper makes three main contributions. First, it focuses on popular imaginative geographies, which are conceptualised drawing on literatures in Geography and Political Science as fast‐thinking heuristics. Second, it brings new evidence to the conversation in the form of volunteer writing for Mass Observation. Third, the focus is on the content of popular imaginative geographies, but also how and why such geographies were used by voters in the referendum. The main findings include that many Leave supporters imagined Britain as an island – either a once great military and imperial power, an island separate from Europe, needing freedom from Europe to engage in the wider world; or a small island, a full container, close to the rest of Europe and vulnerable to mobilities across Europe's borders. By contrast, many Remain supporters imagined Britain as post‐imperial, small, vulnerable, and under threat of isolation from Europe and exposure to a chaotic, uncertain, dangerous world. Both groups engaged with the referendum through such popular imaginative geographies because the referendum presented voters with a difficult task, the campaigns provided few trustworthy facts, and voters therefore had to rely on cognitive shortcuts, including popular imaginative geographies. It is widely recognised that citizens engaged with the EU Referendum of 2016 through understandings of Britain, the EU, the world, and their place in it. This paper conceptualises popular imaginative geographies as fast‐thinking heuristics, draws on new evidence in the form of volunteer writing for Mass Observation, and focuses on the content of popular imaginative geographies, but also how and why such geographies were used by voters in the referendum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Future energy scenarios include both green and blue hydrogen, as both are needed to scale up decarbonized energy supply. A transition to renewable energy is predicted over time, but the urgency we are facing cannot be met by renewable energy alone. For blue hydrogen production, the overall greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are primarily affected by emissions from natural gas production, processing, and transport (CO2 and methane), as well as process efficiency and carbon capture ratio. Few complete and updated analyses are available that cover the entire blue hydrogen value chain with the best available technology for process facilities, as well as the proper design, operation, and maintenance of all relevant systems and infrastructure. This paper analyses the GHG intensity of blue hydrogen, using recent data as well as input from technology providers on state‐of‐the‐art gas reforming technologies. Data are primarily based on natural gas production and transport in the North Sea Basin, with gas export from the Norwegian continental shelf to continental Europe or the United Kingdom, and with blue hydrogen production either in Norway or near pipeline landfall in the European Union or United Kingdom. Some data related to potential blue hydrogen production in the US Appalachian region are also given. The data show that the properly designed and operated value chains for blue hydrogen supply, with minimal emissions from natural gas supply and high carbon capture in hydrogen production, will give a major reduction in GHG emissions from energy end‐use. GHG footprint for end‐users based on blue hydrogen will typically be 80%–90% lower than for direct supply and use of natural gas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Migrants in the UK from the Central and Eastern European states that acceded to the European Union in 2004 and 2007 often have close proximity to precarity. This contribution illustrates that the positioning of the migrants in the casualised labour market has not occurred by accident but has been brought about by the (disingenuous) way in which nationals of the accession states were permitted access to the UK labour market. The positioning has been further maintained through the increasingly restrictive direction of the intertwined EU-UK response to claims for support from vulnerable EU migrant citizens. This piece presents the idea of 'confined labour market citizenship' as a way to understand the way many migrants have experienced working and living in the UK in the years following EU enlargement. This concept, it is argued, is able to capture: the role of the UK state as it regulated post-accession migration rules and implemented laws relating to social security entitlement; the influence of the broader EU framework on free movement and citizenship of the Union; and the impact of employers 'on the ground' in creating and exacerbating conditions of precarity and exploitation. The analysis throughout the paper exposes how EU8 and EU2 migrants have served as scapegoats for the result of the Brexit referendum, deflecting attention from the instrumentalisation of the migration issue by politicians. They have also been guinea pigs, testing out a confined version of EU citizenship with less tolerance for those in precarious and insecure work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Implementation outcomes of the Ambient Air Quality Directive (AAQD) (2008/50/EC)) are weak across European Union (EU) member states. In the UK, Local Authorities (LAs) must work toward reducing air pollution, however, means of assessing the extent and effectiveness of their contribution are limited. This paper develops a framework to evaluate policies implemented by UK LAs to address air pollution and applies it to Air Quality Action Plans (AQAP) of five cities. It looks at how, and the extent to which, LA air quality policies align with AAQD requirements, thus advancing empirical and academic knowledge on implementation literature surrounding multi-level governance, specifically the policy disconnect between the AAQD and UK Local Air Quality Management (LAQM). The application of the framework shows how LAs can better integrate AQAPs into their LAQM plans to assess, develop, improve and implement their air quality policies on the ground. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Since Poland's accession to the European Union in 2004, migration from Poland to the UK has increased substantially. These migrants are generally young and highly educated, and are migrating for reasons of economic improvement and self-fulfilment. Many are women migrating independently, an emerging trend in migration in general. Information behaviour research around migration has tended to focus on populations such as refugees; less research has been done on the information behaviour of economic migrants. This paper, therefore, investigates the role of information in the migration experience of young Polish women in the UK. Design/methodology/approach: This study takes an interpretivist, constructionist perspective. An exploratory study was conducted, involving expert and pilot interviews and analysis of secondary data. In the main study, 21 participants were interviewed using a semi-structured technique. Data were analysed thematically. Findings: The paper provides insights into the information behaviour and experience of this migrant group. They were found to be confident and successful information users, partly because their migration was planned, their language skills were high and cultural differences from their host country were not substantial. Weak ties were an important source of information. The paper contextualises these findings against previous research on migration in information science, and presents a model of the underlying factors shaping the relationship between migration and information behaviour. Originality/value: The paper examines the migration experience of a relatively understudied group, drawing attention to a broader range of experience and demonstrating that a wider conceptualisation of migration is required in information behaviour. It presents a model of key factors shaping information behaviour around migration, which is relevant not only to the information field, but also to a wider range of areas. It also delivers practical recommendations for migrants and those working with them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper offers a defence of ambivalence as a response to the political polarisation of our era using multiple languages to present its case from psychology to sociology, political science, philosophy and critical theory. It suggests that the Brexit story can be told in a different key, whereby the politics that have led to entrenching 'leave' and 'remain' identities overlay a harder to assess ambivalence about the EU both in the UK and in the EU, a dynamic referred to as the 'Machiavelli Trap.' Accordingly, we ought to ground the future relationship in the recognition of the 'Brexit paradox' (you can leave and therefore you shouldn't), and its implications for the core principles that have shaped the Brexit debate and negotiations. In the end, the paper offers a plea for a politics that allows citizens to tune into their constructive ambivalence about the fundamental tension between control and cooperation which pervades both Brexit, EU and global politics at large. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The EU's work on climate change is key to the regional and international fight against the problem, and disruptions to it have global implications. When analyzing the effects of the UK's decision to leave the EU (Brexit) on EU climate action, this paper looks at two types of impact. The first is related to UK absence from EU climate policy, finance and diplomacy following the actual UK departure from the EU. The second is related to the costs attached to the withdrawal process, including the additional costs and uncertainty created by the delayed UK departure. These latter implications of Brexit have been less explored by the literature, although the last years provide plenty of evidence for them. The paper finds that the impact of Brexit on EU climate action is mainly negative, without denying some potential positive impact and while acknowledging the limitations of a study that entails forecasting in an uncertain political context. Key policy insights Following Brexit, the EU will lose a member that supported its climate action internally and internationally through commitment to high emissions reduction targets at the EU level, policy solutions, and financial and diplomatic support. The withdrawal process itself has had a negative impact on EU climate action: Brexit has hijacked the EU agenda, captured EU human and administrative resources and increased the uncertainty in which investors and businesses operate. Planning for separate European Councils to deal with Brexit could prevent agenda hijacking. Both the EU and UK also need to provide businesses with a clear regulatory framework. A repeatedly postponed Brexit has caused additional damage, by prolonging uncertainty. Continuing to work with the UK on climate during the Brexit negotiations and after the UK departure should be a priority for the EU, as well as ensuring the willingness to cooperate is not spoiled by mutual resentment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polish migration to the UK post European Union enlargement has been studied extensively but limited attention has been paid to women and their gendered mobility. In this paper, I argue that it is key to turn attention to women migrants as those who are often responsible for reproductive labour and who raise future generations of workers and citizens. This is pivotal to consider in light of ageing European societies and the need for workers and Brexit. Arguably, precarity is characteristic of contemporary life. This applies to the post-Brexit-vote UK and the uncertainty linked to the future after 2019. Precarity is inevitably characteristic of many migrants' lives often punctuated by a lack of job security which is linked to limited material and psychological well-being. For women migrants, this state of affairs is further compounded by their attachment to the private sphere which often constitutes a barrier to their engagement in the paid labour market on the same footing as men. This paper draws on qualitative primary data gathered from 32 Polish women migrants who were initially interviewed in 2012/2013 and subsequently some of them were re-interviewed in 2016/2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

United Kingdom's relation with the European Union has been always distant. Nevertheless, Britain's decision to leave the European Union, socalled the Brexit decision, has been one of the shocking developments happening in 2016. Prima facia the referendum result shows the electorate's historic decision to break away from the EU, however it is actually a product of a populist political discourse, which has been shaped by increasing antiimmigrant sentiments in the UK. In this paper, we argue that anti-immigrant discourses behind the Brexit campaign actually are a part of larger historical relations with the European Union. Following on from the literature, we argue that the role of the UK in the EU throughout the history of European integration has always been one of 'British exceptionalism'. The immigration question, on the other hand, provided an important opportunity for following this exceptionalist policy and leave the EU membership, but it resulted in racist and xenophobic attacks towards all "others" within society. In this process, discourses on the leave side contributed to anti-immigrant feelings and racism within society, although we cannot say this was the main aim. In this paper, we conduct the political discourse analysis developed by Teun van Dijk to examine the campaign of the United Kingdom Independence Party during the referendum process. Taken together, these aspects of the article show how the anti-immigration discourse has contributed to the racist and xenophobic actions, while the main aim has been to finalise the UK's longstanding distance from the EU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rationale, aims and objective: Substituting outpatient hospital care with primary care is seen as a solution to decrease unnecessary referrals to outpatient hospital care and decrease rising healthcare costs. This systematic review aimed to evaluate the effects on quality of care, health and costs outcomes of substituting outpatient hospital care with primary care-based interventions, which are performed by medical specialists in face-to-face consultations in a primary care setting. Method: The systematic review was performed using the PICO framework. Original papers in which the premise of the intervention was to substitute outpatient hospital care with primary care through the involvement of a medical specialist in a primary care setting were eligible. Results: A total of 14 papers were included. A substitution intervention in general practitioner (GP) practices was described in 11 papers, three described a joint consultation intervention in which GPs see patients together with a medical specialist. This study showed that substitution initiatives result mostly in favourable outcomes compared to outpatient hospital care. The initiatives resulted mostly in shorter waiting lists, shorter clinic waiting times and higher patient satisfaction. Costs for treating one extra patient seemed to be higher in the intervention settings. This was mainly caused by inefficient planning of consultation hours and lower patient numbers. Conclusions: Despite the fact that internationally a lot has been written about the importance of performing substitution interventions in which preventing unnecessary referrals to outpatient hospital care was the aim, only 14 papers were included. Future systematic reviews should focus on the effects on the Triple Aim of substitution initiatives in which other healthcare professions than medical specialists are involved along with new technologies, such as e-consults. Additionally, to gain more insight into the effects of substitution initiatives operating in a dynamic healthcare context, it is important to keep evaluating the interventions in a longitudinal study design. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the resilience of British cities to major economic shocks. Using a novel data set for 85 cities, it analyses their resistance to and recovery from the last four major recessions, over the period 1971 to 2015. It reveals a distinct shift in the relation between resistance and recovery between these shocks, as well as major differences between northern and southern cities. Some possible factors shaping these patterns are explored, and tentative estimates of the likely impact of the Brexit shock (Britain's withdrawal from the European Union) are also provided. A key implication is that differences in resilience to major shocks can contribute to the long‐run growth paths of cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the historic role of Britain's major public service broadcaster, the BBC, in reporting the European Union. To do this it combines a content analysis of two datasets of BBC broadcast and online coverage from 2007 and 2012 with a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with former and current senior BBC editors and journalists. The research finds that BBC coverage in the pre-referendum period was closely tied to major events – such as summits – and elite party conflict. These patterns in coverage were primarily a consequence of the lack of traditional news values inherent in most EU stories and the impact of the wider political and media landscape. The consequence of these patterns in coverage was to present audiences with a restricted, negative and largely conflictual picture of Britain's relationship with the EU which is likely to have fuelled rather than inhibited the growth of Euroscepticism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: A key issue in Britain's referendum on European Union membership was the free movement of labor into Britain, with Brexit "Leavers" having more negative attitudes toward immigrants than "Remainers." Such anti‐immigrant attitudes are driven by feelings of threat. The coronavirus pandemic presented a new threat in the context of ongoing Brexit negotiations. This paper examines how the COVID‐19 pandemic affected anti‐immigrant attitudes and how these effects differ between Leavers and Remainers. Methods: Using an online survey in Spring 2020 of 3,708 individuals residing in the UK, we experimentally test the effect of priming COVID‐19 thoughts on anti‐immigrant attitudes, and examine whether this effect varies by Brexit identity. Results: We show that COVID‐19 may exacerbate anti‐immigrant attitudes among Leavers while having little effect on Remainers. Conclusion: These findings support the idea that the coronavirus pandemic might have presented a new, viral, threat that heightened anti‐immigrant attitudes among certain political identities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For most analysts, Brexit reveals the highly contingent power of finance and the clear limits to its ability to influence crucial policymaking outcomes. By contrast, I contend that UK-EU negotiations demonstrate the unique capacity of finance to secure substantial commercial protections relative to all other business sectors and that the structural sources of the City's political power remain exceptionally robust. Elaborating a notion of 'structural interdependence', the paper demonstrates how policy officials on both sides came to perceive that the future prosperity and stability of their economies relied upon maintaining open trading relations in financial services. This necessitated broad continuity in access to London's deep financial markets for EU firms and preservation of the City's leading role in the UK growth regime. In establishing these claims empirically, I document an extensive range of contingency measures designed throughout December 2018-April 2019 that would function to protect the financial industry from economic disruption in the event of a no-deal Brexit. The outcome illustrates how finance benefits from a form of structural power that does not require instrumental mobilisation, but rather shapes policy decisions on the basis of deeply entrenched and commercially vital cross-border financial entanglements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The possibility of the UK's withdrawal from the European Union has never been more realistic and upto- date since joining the European Communities (EC) as it is today. The UK is facing a unique situation. At present, this depends solely on the capabilities of European and British government officials, who negotiate the terms of withdrawal and future cooperation between the two entities. The main goal of this paper is based on the British - Slovak trade relations development analysis to figure out their impact within the Brexit consequences on the future Slovak economy and its current status in international economic relations. The paper also provides a basic overview of Brexit process and its possible impact on the EU's further functioning. Basic data will be drawn from generally accepted institutions, evaluating the UK and Slovak trade and economic performance. To accomplish this goal, methods such as analysis and comparison to illustrate the UK-Slovak foreign trade development, synthesis and logical deduction to discuss the Brexit impact on Slovak economic environment in the future are to be used; data from scientific and professional publications, periodical and non-periodical press. The paper presents the results of an empirical analysis, which showed that because of the size of economic relations between Slovakia and the United Kingdom and the number of goods and services being exported to the UK, the «hard» Brexit will be very unfavourable for Slovak foreign trade due to the possible tariffs being imposed. The research empirically confirms and theoretically proves that it can cause a significant weakening and slowdown in the Slovak economy. Either way, the upcoming Brexit process, that is the withdrawal of Great Britain from the European Union, would have a major impact not only on British, European but also on the world economy. The impact of Brexit on Slovakia's economy will not only be in reducing the possible growth of the economy, but also in employment and price increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Brexit has reopened and repoliticised the debate about future growth models for the UK economy. This contribution argues that this debate is built around historically specific path dependencies that reflect the particular character of public debate about British political economy, while also suggesting that the debate around Brexit takes place at a very distinctive moment in the history of democratic capitalism in Europe. This combination gives the renewed politicisation a specific and perhaps perverse character. The paper considers how we should approach debates about growth models, paying particular attention to the importance of the politics of support. It suggests that recent debate about growth models has been largely subsumed within the politics of Brexit, which has politicised that debate, albeit through the emergent political economy frames that Brexit has provoked. The paper explores the ways in which the demise of three key props of European democratic capitalism - a sustained period of economic growth, a governing philosophy that subordinated the market to wider social purposes and strong political parties - play out in the context of Brexit and the search for a new politics of support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Energy efficiency, which is one of the pillars of the EU's Energy Union strategy, has been proposed as a solution, namely as a highly effective pathway to improve economic competitiveness and sustainability of the European economy, lower emissions, reduce energy dependency and increase security of supply, and job creation. The paper reviews the EU strategies and policies on energy efficiency and argues that further focus should be placed on industrial energy efficiency. Despite a decline in energy consumption in recent years in industry, this sector is one of the largest users of energy in the EU. Therefore, the paper reviews the extent to which the European and national policies in the selected jurisdictions, such as Italy and the UK address energy efficiency in industry and whether there are any measures in place to promote it. Highlights • Legal certainty is required in industrial energy efficiency policies. • White Certificates play a major role in industrial energy efficiency in Italy. • Yet, constant changes in the WC regulations can act as an investment barrier. • The UK's Energy Efficiency policy is underpinned with decarbonisation of the industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Explores barriers to applying the waste hierarchy for e-waste. • 30 semi-structured expert interviews examined the impact of the WEEE Directive. • Legislation has prompted innovation in recycling and higher capture rates. • Recovery through recycling is limited to easily salvageable materials. • Waste prevention and reuse of EEE is often neglected in favour of recycling. Rapidly developing technology and an increasing number of products containing electrical or electronic functions, has led to discarded electrical and electronic equipment (EEE) being one of the fastest growing waste streams. The European Union (EU) has enacted several iterations of the Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive to address this complex waste stream. However, recycling dominates treatments for e-waste, despite the established 'waste hierarchy' showing waste prevention and reuse are generally preferable to recycling. This paper reports on 30 semi-structured interviews, undertaken across the EEE value chain, examining the impact of the WEEE Directive in the UK. The interviews confirmed that reuse takes place for a limited number of product types, mostly on a small scale. Additionally, whilst legislation has prompted innovation in recycling and higher capture rates, resource recovery is in practice limited to easily salvageable materials, whilst recovery of critical raw materials is often neglected. Furthermore, there is confusion around available collection networks, particularly for small WEEE, which consistently appears in residual waste streams. The waste hierarchy remains the key component of EU waste strategy and moving to the higher levels of the waste hierarchy is an essential part of achieving sustainable waste management and moving towards a circular economy. The paper proposes a series of measures to this end: promoting recovery routes and practices that facilitate reuse of suitable products, adapting recycling technology to increase recovery of critical raw materials and targeted policies to encourage the application of the waste hierarchy within a resource efficiency-oriented framework. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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 compares national sustainability support schemes and sustainability requirements in four countries that import solid biomass for heat and power generation: Belgium, Denmark, the UK, and the Netherlands. The paper also reviews voluntary certification schemes for solid biomass that may be used to demonstrate sustainability compliance. In the absence of mandatory EU criteria for solid biomass, different national support schemes and sustainability requirements may present barriers to trade. This paper identifies some possibilities for harmonization and provides suggestions for policymakers for the improvement and alignment of national sustainability requirements. Ultimately the paper suggests establishing a harmonized certification scheme in the short term based on legislative requirements in the four countries and in voluntary initiatives. The proposed harmonized certification scheme may also reduce both implementation costs and complexity for biomass suppliers and generators. In the long term, the paper recommends binding criteria on sustainability requirements for solid biomass at EU level. © 2017 The Authors. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining published by Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we develop a conceptual and methodological approach that psychologists and other social scientists can employ to study emergence. We consider relevant social psychological approaches and conclude that, for the most part, social psychology has tended to focus on processes of normalisation following disruptions, rather than examining emergence in itself. An exception to this is G. H. Mead, whose work we draw on to theorise emergence with a focus on contemporary "affective politics." In the second part of the paper, we use focus group data on the European Union referendum in the UK to empirically illustrate our theoretical points. We discuss in particular three axes for exploring the emergent politics of Brexit: political values, political authority, and the authority of affect. We conclude our discussion by reflecting on some of the theoretical and political implications of our analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

States started to be member of economic integrations after the Second World War to increase the efficiency of economic cooperation. Theoretically, economic integration models prioritize interests of members and especially are expected to contribute the export of that countries. Therefore, this study examines export convergence and enriches the literature that usually models income convergence. The main target of this study to reveal whether export convergence model supports the Britain Exit (BREXIT) decision in 2016. In this context, the paper analyzes European Union (EU) - 15 before and after EU agreement and EU-25 (the most extensive enlargement of EU in 2004) countries in terms of export convergence. According to results, export of United Kingdom (UK) had convergence in EU-15 countries after EU agreement. However, the 2004 enlargement of EU led to suppress the export convergence of UK. In conclusion, the export convergence model supports BREXIT decision and reveals the probability of such processes in the EU [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]

The United Kingdom continued to question some aspects of the European Union even after becoming a member state in 1973. The country's uneasiness with the European Union increased significantly in the 1990s, when the European Union member states took significant steps to deepen the level of integration in response to the changing dynamics of the international politics. Never-ending unrest in the country eventually led to the withdrawal from the EU, commonly known as the Brexit, after a decision basing upon a referendum in 2016. This paper analyses the role of the United Kingdom Independence Party in the Brexit process till the end of the referendum of 23 June 2016. The study argues that concomitant operation of the current and historical dynamics produced the result of the Brexit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rejection of free movement embodied in the 2016 Referendum vote created tremendous uncertainty regarding the immediate and future legal rights of EU nationals living in the UK. Drawing on interviews with EU staff and management at three universities, this paper asks how Brexit was experienced by highly skilled migrants in a sector reliant on EU migration, and the ways that employment in higher education buffered staff against its impact. Interviews reveal the ways that the Brexit vote disrupted previous perceptions of life in the UK, creating new feelings of vulnerability in terms of rights as well as public acceptance. Symbolic and practical support provided by management, as well as informal support from colleagues, cushioned EU employees against this shock. At the same time, employee satisfaction with employer response was shaped by perceptions of a neo-liberal turn within the University, with a subset of (primarily) academics expecting more personalised support and political involvement in the Brexit debate. Ironically, at the institutional level, the university with the most neo-liberal employment model was the most concerned and proactive in response to the Brexit vote, due to reliance on ready access to the EU to fulfil contingent labour contracts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the late 1990s, populist discourse based on anti-immigration sentiments has been on the rise in Britain. This phenomenon reached a peak during the EU Referendum (ER) campaign and shortly thereafter. The ER has been linked to the upsurge in racially and religiously aggravated offences recorded post-July 2016. Polish nationals, who constitute the largest group of EU nationals in the UK, were targeted by many of these incidents. It could therefore be argued that, in the last years, and particularly, since the ER, EU nationals living in the UK have become more 'vulnerable'. To test this hypothesis, this contribution is based on an interdisciplinary project that collected socio-legal evidence to compare the vulnerability of the Polish community in Southampton before and after the ER. The paper draws on vulnerability and psychology literature to differentiate between 'objective' and 'subjective' vulnerability. Our study deploys mixed methods (qualitative and quantitative) to test changes in objective and subjective vulnerability among Southampton-based Poles before and after the ER. Our findings suggest that, following the ER, Poles felt significantly more vulnerable, especially in terms of subjective vulnerability, even if they had never experienced overt hate incidents or discrimination (objective vulnerability) before. [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]