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The endless flow of migrants coming to Europe since 2014 and the virulent debates in the media dividing public opinions and politicians, raise the question of migrants? future inclusion in European countries of arrival and final destination. Different in each country, the integration process depends on several factors: the way the country defines itself as a Nation; its welcoming culture and welfare model; the political context and dialogue around socio-economic inclusion as well as civic and political rights for migrants. Nonetheless, integration has received minimal attention and its policies have not been considered as a research priority so far, hence this paper aims to highlight some important aspects of migrants inclusion process in Europe, in the context of the on-going crisis. More precisely, this article is offering an overview of the European Union integration policy and tools and of the structural measures put forward by three countries (Sweden, Germany, Italy) in order to integrate the migrants who have settled and continue to arrive on their territory with the purpose to reside. This panoramic perspective will allow us to pick up the main challenges European countries will have to face in terms of migrants? inclusion into the society. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper analyzes the concept of security, emphasizing the difference between political security and societal security, referring to the different types of threats to security, depending on the traits that social groups will define as essential to their identity. Our paper aims also to draw attention upon the significant facts of culture and civilization in a region situated at the confluence of Central and South-Eastern Europe, it aims to reflect the understanding of the plural character of the historic development, and it also aims to pin-point the intercultural character of the Banat region as an example of inter-regional tolerance. The chosen case study - the region of Banat - proves balance between various religions, traditions, customs and between various lifestylesThe intellectual work and the improvement in the degree of civilization conveyed by Romanians, Serbs, Hungarians, Jews, Bulgarians and Slovaks in Banat have become a common inheritance. Another important feature of the culture of this region would be that it was promoted by the entire community, and one can notice the interactive feature of the inter-cultural phenomenon as an outstanding approach of a peaceful living together. Our research can be considered a synthesis regarding the relationship between the coexistence of different ethnicities and cultures and the economic and social performance and, respectively, the setting up of an atmosphere of cooperation and mutual assistance, in fact a manifestation of inter-territorial solidarity aiming towards a better life and in which the diffusion of historical experiences becomes factor of development and economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose - The paper aims to query the value of strategies implemented, notably in France, and to demonstrate the largely ignored link between demographics and economics. Design/methodology/approach - The paper achieves its objective by comparing statistics of European Union (EU) members and competitors to reveal that traditional views on economics and social policy may no longer apply. Findings - The paper finds that the Old Europe stagnated due to political lack of will, but a renewed Europe has begun. The Euro as scapegoat for poor performance is dismissed. Productivity figures show how foreign trade and debt can be efficiently managed. Overall, trade must be encouraged worldwide. Low-wage countries will inevitably compete and cannot ethically be ignored. The subsidy debate heats up as the EU agricultural policy ends and the USA extends Farm Aid. Regardless, EU members must focus on sustainable development. The low birthrate in the Old Europe means social policy should be reformed to encourage families to have children and allow selective immigration to meet labour needs. The implication is that France - Europe in general - must review the EU mission and structure. The French president seems to be headed in this direction. In future research, demographics must be monitored to make social and economic plans for the working lives of our youth and retirement of our seniors. Originality/value - This paper will interest economists, politicians and policy-makers, especially those unaware of the role of demographics in productivity and planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper seeks to provide an insider's view into the implementation of goals set by the European Commission for socio-economic research. By analysing project coordinators' responses to questionnaires (n=88), several aspects of the emergence of a European social science research community are examined. Focus is placed on three 'European Added Values', defined within two subsequent calls for research proposals and funding opportunities: framework programmes 4 and 5 (1994-1998, and 1998-2002 accordingly). These 'Added Values' will set the expected features of European-funded research projects, and will include: (1) transnationality - the involvement of researchers from a variety of EU states; (2) applied research - the potential implementation of outcomes in socioeconomic policy; and (3) interdisciplinarity - the integration and collaboration of different disciplinary perspectives. These 'ideals' were tested against reports as to the reality of the research practices, and found to have a significant compatibility, as well as several discrepancies, with the objectives set out by the EU research committee. This paper allows for an understanding of the dynamics of European research consortia, and the factors involved in the success or failure in attaining the overarching goals of the EU Commission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent developments of the economic theory suggest that due attention to territorial context increases efficiency and improves delivery of the policies. This in turn calls for better linkages between spatial and socio-economic efforts. The paper analyses the concept of policy territorialization and proposes policy tools for that purpose. The relevant theoretical models are used, mainly evolutionary economics and new economic geography. The key outcome is a set of territorial keys supposed to enhance territorial approach in developmental policies. Also some plausible ways of making use of those keys are proposed and then tested using Polish territory as a case study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Aim This paper identifies socio-economic driving forces of biodiversity change and analyses their political and economic dynamics by modelling socio-economic parts of three scenario storylines developed for the ALARM (assessing large-scale risks for biodiversity with tested methods) project. In the BAMBU (business-as-might-be-usual) scenario policy decisions already made in the European Union (EU) are implemented and enforced, but no additional measures are introduced. The GRAS (growth applied strategy) scenario describes a future world orientated towards economic growth and complete deregulation. And finally, SEDG (sustainable European development goal) is a normative scenario focusing on the achievement of sustainable development. Methods The GINFORS (global inter-industry forecasting system) model is applied to quantify the effects of different sets of policy measures representing the three scenarios. It allows investigation of the inter-relations between socio-economic driving forces and the state of the environment. Results The presented results for the 25 EU countries focus on the following variables: unemployment, material extraction, energy supply and CO2 emissions. The lowest amount of unemployment is in the SEDG scenario, where it steadily decreases from 2005 to 2020. In BAMBU it falls to a level that is also below that of 2005. In GRAS, the number of unemployed people in 2020 is clearly over the value of 2005. The development of total material extraction from 2005 to 2020 is nearly stable in BAMBU, while it clearly increases in GRAS. Only in SEDG is there a reduction in resource use. None of the scenarios achieves a substantial reduction in energy use. However, the development of CO2 emissions shows a decoupling from energy supply. For BAMBU there is a slight decline in CO2 emissions over time, for GRAS they increase but with a slightly smaller growth rate than energy supply. In SEDG the emissions are reduced. The decoupling trends can be explained by a shift to more renewable energy sources in all scenarios, with the highest share in SEDG. Main conclusions The results indicate that a growth-oriented policy design, such as presented in the GRAS scenario, is not compatible with the conservation of biodiversity. Only in the SEDG scenario do the policy measures support the idea of a sustainable development, but in some respects they are still not ambitious enough. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drawing mainly on qualitative evidence gathered from interviews with migrant handymen and with labour-using households in the UK, this paper analyses how this migration typifies economic and social divisions within Europe and embodies conflicting tensions between economic and social policies at an interpersonal level. By supplying household services, migrant handymen enable labour-using households to alleviate time pressures and conflicts in time priorities arising from tensions between economic expectations regarding working hours and work commitment, and social expectations regarding contemporary ideas of active parenting. Similarly to the outsourcing of feminized domestic labour and care, these tensions are in part resolved for labour-using households by extending class divisions across national boundaries while leaving gender divisions changed but not transformed and in some instances exacerbating work/ life tensions among the migrants. These broad findings are complicated by differential desires and capabilities around fathering practices among fathers in labour-using households and among the migrants, and economic differentiation among the migrant population. Although we cannot tell from our study whether such movement reinforces or redresses uneven development, what we can say is that existing cohesion policies are insufficient to redress uneven development, and individual responses including migration can reinforce existing social divisions. Further, existing social policies for promoting gender equality fail to recognize or redress the deeply embedded gendered norms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, an argument is developed in favour of further integration of "Europe" and, most importantly, its increased "politicization". It is not based on any romantic or idealistic vision of a positive European cultural identity, but on an assessment of Europe's reality as already integrated economically, socially and ecologically, however lagging behind politically in terms of democratic government and citizenship. The seemingly endless discussions about Europe's identity, limit, unity, civilization, etc. are not a problem that is yet to be solved, but are, precisely, the core of what makes Europe what it is: a plurality in unity instead of a "unity in plurality", as one of the official slogans of the European Union (EU) has it. Current social, economic and environmental problems require European solutions as well as a more active European citizenship. However, European civil identity that is to match European societal reality, will not be a unitary and homogeneous identity, but heterogeneous and diverse, covering a plurality of perceptions, preferences and ideals - it will be plural, not as a first step towards unity, but in its core; and it will be divided, but not along national lines. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyses the development of integration policies concerning third country nationals at the level of the European Union (EU). Starting with the discovery of recent policy developments at the European level, including new European directives mainly granting social rights to non-EU citizens, the paper proceeds to examine the reasons that enabled this shift from the national to the European level of decision making. It concludes that integration policies have been created as a new EU policy field amidst the also fairly new policy field of immigration policies. In light of the theoretical concept of “organisational fields,” the interests and motives of the main actors involved in the emergence of this policy field are analysed. The research combines neo-functionalist and intergovernmentalist assumptions, and it results in the following conclusions: First, a European integration policy could only be established within the emerging field of immigration policies, which laid the groundwork for member state collaborations in this highly sensitive policy area. Secondly, the European Parliament, the Council of Europe, several non-governmental organisations and most notably the European Commission played an important role in promoting integration policies at the European level. Their engagement is interpreted as a necessary but not as a sufficient condition for the establishment of this policy field. Thirdly, these actors tried to strengthen the status of integration policies by emphasising the linkage between successful integration policies and economic and social cohesion. This semantic strategy, among other discussed reasons, facilitated the member states’ decision at the European summit in Tampere 1999 that all third country nationals shall be granted comparable rights to EU citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]