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The regions as the substatal institutions in-between State and iocal governments have developped a leading role in the process of the Europea integration. Empirical evidences of the activism of the regions are also the increase of the regional policies of the European Union, the develop of the regional paradiplomacy, the proliferation of the regional entities with a strong European identity. The phase of the main develop and the more optimistic predictions the Ninenties is that of the Europe of the Regions perspective or that of the Third Level for a possible federalist model. In particolar, the policy of the political, economical and social cohesion of the European institutions for the overcoming of the territorial inequalities could favourite the active role of the Regions. If in the past the scholars frequently used the intergovernative model to the definition of the European network, now the multi-level-governance model is preferred. It stresses the regions position in the relations between the EU power levels, institutional or not. The paper aims to explore the theory that the weakening of the states owes the globalization and it could provoke the strenghtening of the role of the regions as guarantees od the citizen participation in Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of agro-energy chains, in particular vegetable oil production, can represent, in Italy, an opportunity for the achievement of policy's objectives set by the European Union and for the agricultural sector. The aim of this study is to verify the existence of the "vegetable oil chain" at national and regional level, taking into account the Marche Region scenario (centre of Italy), the number of plants and their connection with the agricultural sector. From the methodological point of view, the paper evaluates trough a cost benefit analysis the economic performance of a vegetable oil plant, considering how the policies and the prices of raw materials affect it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender mainstreaming is the major global strategy for the promotion of gender equality. European Union has been focusing increasing attention on gender issues, and especially on considerations on the female condition. Recent developments in European countries are that more and more women are joining the labour force, birth rates are declining and social policies are mainly orienting their measures towards gender equality. Gender mainstreaming process and strategy and gender equality principle seems to become the core of every policy related to reconciliation policies, family policies and even employment ones. These problems, set within a European framework of public spending cuts, make it difficult to maintain and sustain the current type of welfare state. The paper focuses on the relation between family and gender mainstreaming to stress, if and how, the debate on the topic of reconciliation policies, family policies and gender issues are implemented in the European social policy systems. Although some significant improvements have certainly been made - especially in terms of women's emancipation, gender equity and maternity policies - it should however be noticed that some fundamental issues still remain unresolved and continue to pose problems. Many studies highlight the need for a more deepened approach to gender, family and work relationship. In recent years great attention as been given to family well-being effects in workplace and to community studies. In this sense gender policies, that emphasise the importance of dialogue, practice and negotiation in the relationship among men and women/work and family/ individuals and institutions, fail in catching the specific relationality of this process. These push forward in order to consider the possibility to involve more social subjects in the redefinition of social policies facilitating work-family balance. The family is finding it difficult to face the challenges posed by the economic sphere, which is increasingly intrusive (it suffices to think of fragmented work schedules, which sometimes are in conflict with family needs) and demanding (like in the perception that the family should be subsidiary to work). The lack of attention towards family welfare results in a tendency to consider family policies as provisions to be addressed always and exclusively to individuals and not to the relationships between them. The new challenge seems to be the need to reconcile gender, family and work not only through policies but in their basic meaning for individual life; people experiences different spheres of life as an intertwined process, not artificially separable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the changes in the implementation of migration policies in Europe. The socio-economic structures and geographical placements have attracted immigrants towards Europe. The members of the European Union, in the 1980s, imposed many policies to prevent immigration. The restrictions affected the economic development and international relations of the European countries.