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In the European Union (EU), Regulation (EC) 1935/2004 provides a harmonized legal EU framework and sets out the general principles for safety and inertness for all Food Contact Materials (FCMs) and Food Contact Articles. From a food safety point of view, however, specific EU legislation for paper and cardboard FCMs is lacking, while at Member State level, national legislation differs among countries. More than 11,000 chemicals have been identified in all types of FCMs, most of them without any information on toxicity or migration potential from FCM to food. The present review shows a wide variability of protocols, approaches, and conditions used in scientific studies, which are difficult to compare. In this regard, procedures and conditions laid down in EU legislation for plastics and European Standards (EN protocols) may serve as a good basis for the future sample preparation procedures in the framework of paper and cardboard FCMs safety assessment. Challenges on sample preparation procedures are presented involving the interlinked steps of sample preparation, conditions used and their impact in chemical analysis and in vitro bioassay testing. Currently, there is no general consensus on the criteria for structuring, evaluating, and tuning sample preparation procedures for paper and cardboard FCMs. For this purpose, a set of modified criteria and a decision tree are proposed based on the literature. Along this, mass transfer processes occurring in paper and cardboard FCMs and parameters affecting chemical migration need to be accounted for prior to reaching general consensus on criteria for sample preparation procedures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Great advances have been made in the knowledge of development and regulatory approval of medicinal product containing genetically modified cells. Although a guideline has been available in the EU since 2012, the current updated version provides a useful guide to developers and professionals involved in the regulatory process of these medicines. This article presents the main issues communicated in that guidance, the regulators' insights and a commentary from the academic developers' point of view., (© 2024 British Pharmacological Society.)

Motivation: The Panama Papers scandal highlighted the scale of financial secrecy, anonymous ownership and shell companies and their role in profit shifting and tax avoidance. We show the importance of international tax planning within the structure of corporate entities owned by shareholder‐individuals through Panama Papers destinations. Purpose: To identify profit‐shifting channels and to estimate related government revenue losses to European Union Member States. Methods: Using company data from the Amadeus/Orbis database (Bureau Van Dijk, n.d.a, n.d.b), we applied micro‐data analysis to the financial statements of multinational companies (MNEs) owned by shareholder‐individuals. Two groups—one with and the other without links to Panama Papers tax havens—alongside an analysis of profit‐shifting indicators. Findings: Profit is generally shifted by moving operating revenues or costs, though the use of debt channels is also important. Also, groups linked to tax havens pay significantly less tax per unit of profit before tax, and require less operating revenue to achieve higher profits. Finally, related government revenue losses were assessed at EUR 8.67 billion. Policy implication: Our results are relevant to the European Commission's Comprehensive Common Consolidated Corporate Tax Base (CCCCTB) as it aims to counter profit shifting out of the European Union (EU) into tax havens. Further, our research highlights the importance of setting up registries of ultimate beneficiary owners in EU Member States. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The incidence of skin cancers has been increasing steadily over the last decades. Although there have been significant breakthroughs in the management of skin cancers with the introduction of novel diagnostic tools and innovative therapies, skin cancer mortality, morbidity and costs heavily burden the society. Objective: Members of the European Association of Dermato‐Oncology, European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology, International Dermoscopy Society, European Dermatology Forum, European Board of Dermatovenereology of the European Union of Medical Specialists and EORTC Cutaneous Lymphoma Task Force have joined this effort to emphasize the fundamental role that the specialist in Dermatology–Venereology has in the diagnosis and management of different types of skin cancer. We review the role of dermatologists in the prevention, diagnosis, treatment and follow‐up of patients with melanoma, non‐melanoma skin cancers and cutaneous lymphomas, and discuss approaches to optimize their involvement in effectively addressing the current needs and priorities of dermato‐oncology. Discussion: Dermatologists play a crucial role in virtually all aspects of skin cancer management including the implementation of primary and secondary prevention, the formation of standardized pathways of care for patients, the establishment of specialized skin cancer treatment centres, the coordination of an efficient multidisciplinary team and the setting up of specific follow‐up plans for patients. Conclusion: Skin cancers represent an important health issue for modern societies. The role of dermatologists is central to improving patient care and outcomes. In view of the emerging diagnostic methods and treatments for early and advanced skin cancer, and considering the increasingly diverse skills, knowledge and expertise needed for managing this heterogeneous group of diseases, dermato‐oncology should be considered as a specific subspecialty of Dermatology–Venereology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper investigates the transformation challenges related to incumbent industries caused by technology development and industry convergence in the transition to a bioeconomy in the context of Swedish biorefinery development. It involves the emergence of new value chains and several incumbent industries such as the pulp and paper industry, the oil refinery sector, the chemical process industry, and the heat and power sector. In 2019, Sweden had Europe's largest share of biofuels in the transport sector, roughly 20% on an energy basis, and this share has increased by around 300% during the last decade. At the same time, domestic production has stalled, and even though Sweden has beneficial conditions for biofuel production, the share of biofuel that is imported or based on imported feedstock has recently ranged between 85% and 90%. We discuss three transformation challenges: (i) inertia and lack of absorptive capacity creating lock‐in effects at the organizational level; (ii) weak and inefficient actor networks at the industry level; and (iii) contradictory policy instrument mixes and lack of coordination at the government level. The findings underscore the need for policy integration and alignment across various policy domains, and an increased focus on policy mixes that can stimulate the emergence of more disruptive innovations and value chains. There is also a need for industrial initiatives, such as improving absorptive capacity and strengthening actor networks, to help build the value chains needed to realize a sustainable bioeconomy. 2021 The Authors. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining published by Society of Industrial Chemistry and John Wiley & Sons Ltd [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the Reflection Papers published by the European Commission (EC), which focus on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), and defence and the social dimension of European Union (EU) activity. Topics include Great Britain's decision to leave the European Union, also known as Brexit, Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF) that includes migration management and national security, and EU's budget revenues.

Aim This study examined the outputs of research papers in diabetes from 31 European countries between 2002 and 2013, and their funding. Methods Diabetes research papers in the Web of Science were identified by means of a filter based on journals and title words. For 2009-2013 papers, the funders were coded to show their sector and nationality. Results Europe published 40 547 diabetes papers in the 12 years between 2002 and 2013. Denmark, Sweden and Finland published the most relative to their wealth, but the UK published the most absolutely despite an apparently low burden (as measured by disability-adjusted life years). The largest source of funding was government (30%), followed by the non-profit sector (18%) and industry (13%). The European Commission supported 2.7% of papers, but more in Latvia (33%) and Estonia (16%). Based on an estimated cost per paper of €260 000, the annual research expenditure in Europe was approximately €986 million in 2013. Conclusions The European diabetes burden in disability-adjusted life years increased by one third between 2002 and 2012, but its output of research papers has decreased from 44% to 36% of the world total. This decrease needs to be reviewed in the context of European non-communicable disease research policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the most dramatic changes in global publishing in the last decade has been the emergence of China. China now has more researchers than the United States, outspends the United States and European Union in research and publishes more scientific papers each year than any other nation in the world. The quality of these papers is also increasing, with more appearing in top‐ranked journals and gaining more citations overall. Despite this success, China has gained an unenviable reputation for research misconduct and geopolitical issues threaten its continuation. Given the impact of China's growing presence on editors, publishers and non‐Chinese authors seeking to publish in the same journals, it is important to understand the reasons, directions and outcomes of these changes, their effect on Chinese scholars and local Chinese journals, and where they might be leading. In this review paper I explore the rise of Chinese scholarship, its influence on global publishing and on Chinese scholars, and how the Chinese government is responding to its new role in global academic publishing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Harmonising education to support workforce mobility has been a policy objective for the European Union. However, alignment across varied national contexts presents challenges in dental education. Methods: A systematic literature review with narrative synthesis. Searches of the electronic databases Embase [Ovid]; MEDLINE [Ovid]; Scopus; CINAHL; AMED and PsycINFO were conducted for relevant material published between 2000 and 2019 on undergraduate curricula, quality standards and learning outcomes in dentistry. Results: Seventy‐six papers met the inclusion criteria. Fifty‐three papers were commentaries or editorials, twenty‐one were research studies, and two were literature reviews on specific dental subfields. Eighteen of the research studies reported surveys. The literature contains extensive proposals for undergraduate curricula or learning outcomes, either broadly or for subfields of dentistry. Included papers demonstrated the importance of EU policy and educator‐led initiatives as drivers for harmonisation. There is limited evidence on the extent to which proposed pan‐European curricula or learning outcomes have been implemented. The nature and extent of dental students' clinical experience with patients is an area of variance across European Union member states. Arrangements for the quality assurance of dental education differ between countries. Discussion: Harmonisation of European dental education has engaged educators, as seen in the publication of proposed curricula and learning outcomes. However, differences remain in key areas such as clinical experience with patients, which has serious implications if graduate dentists migrate to countries where different expectations exist. Mutual recognition of professional qualifications between countries relies on education which meets certain standards, but institutional autonomy makes drawing national comparisons problematic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The measurement of inequality and its determinants are major tasks within the economic literature. The main objectives of this paper are to identify patterns of convergence in the income inequality in European Union countries and to investigate the factors behind the formation of convergence clubs. For those purposes and considering the Gini index during the period 2007–2018, the club convergence approach and an ordered logit model are employed. The results show four clubs and four divergent countries. In addition, the analysis identifies certain factors, such as economic openness, public intervention and education, as the main drivers of inequality reduction. Finally, the results from the club convergence analysis for an alternative inequality measure, specifically the ratio 80:20, are similar to those achieved in the case of the Gini index. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Predicting carbon prices is crucial for the growth of China's carbon trading industry. This paper proposes a residual correction model that considers multiple influencing factors. First, the best historical data and main external factors input by the model are determined by using the partial autocorrelation function and Spearman correlation analysis, and the carbon price forecasting index system is constructed. Second, the whale optimization algorithm (WOA) is utilized to determine the optimal parameters of the extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost), and the WOA‐XGBoost model is built to perform preliminary carbon price forecasts and obtain the residual series. Finally, the carbon price residual series undergoes decomposition into multiple components utilizing the complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition for subsequent forecasting and the aggregation of outcomes. Experiments are conducted to predict two carbon trading markets in Hubei and Guangzhou, and a feature importance analysis is performed. The results indicate that the proposed hybrid model consistently outperforms the comparative models in terms of prediction accuracy. Furthermore, it is revealed that historical carbon prices and European Union carbon prices are the key factors influencing the prediction of carbon market prices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research on enforcing compliance with the European Union's (EU's) rule of law value has focused on the roles of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Court of Justice of the EU. However, the Council of the EU has attracted less attention. Existing scholarship has convincingly established that the rotating Presidency can crucially influence the functioning of the Council, and, accordingly, this paper examines the discretionary impact the Presidencies have towards Art.7 procedures. Drawing on official documents and statements, this paper compares how the various Presidencies from 2018 to 2022 have used their privileged position on the Council's agenda to decide whether to move forward with hearings. In doing so, they selected appropriate agenda‐shaping strategies, shaped the Commission's perceived opportunities to exercise its agenda prerogatives, avoided compromises on the trios' agendas and, sometimes, benefited from not dealing with Art.7 to pursue other agenda priorities. The Presidency's wide room for manoeuvre hinders the Council's activity in scrutinising backsliding governments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Policy Analysis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, a factor‐augmented version of the New Keynesian Phillips curve (NKPC) is assessed using a data set comprised of a large panel of European Union (EU) member countries. The factor‐augmentation is natural given that country‐level inflation rates are highly co‐moving. The presence of unattended common factors is important because it raises the issue of omitted variables bias, as the real marginal cost, which is a regressor of the NKPC, is likely to load on the same factors as inflation. One possibility here is to employ the regular instrumental variables approach. However, if the external instruments load on the same factors as the error term of the NKPC, the instruments would be invalid and the results would therefore likely be misleading. Motivated by this last observation, the present paper proposes a new estimator of the NKPC that allows for very general forms of factor dependencies and endogeneity. Our results provide evidence in support of the NKPC, but only after the presence of common factors has been appropriately accounted for. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European Union (EU) studies literature has not engaged much with instances in which the European Commission exhibited dysfunctional and pathological behaviour. The paper employs a least likely case to suggest that the Commission might adopt such behaviour even under adverse circumstances. It examines the Commission's public opposition to a private sector involvement scheme for Greece in 2011, despite member states and investors favouring such an option. This stance exacerbated financial instability, proving detrimental for the Commission's stated crisis‐management goals. By using qualitative material, including 10 elite interviews, the paper attributes this behaviour to the Commission's pro‐integration culture as historically interpreted in the context of financial crises. This led the Commission to universalise inefficient policies whilst being insulated from external feedback. The study offers insights on when the Commission adopts dysfunctional behaviour whilst providing a novel angle on its role in EU integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The International Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) regime currently endeavours to protect complex subject matters ranging from art and fashion to software. This paper will specifically examine the key international instruments (issued by the World Intellectual Property Organization [WIPO] and those applicable in the European Union) governing the apparel industry. To that end, it will analyse the different instruments governing the sector and will also highlight in brief the various initiatives undertaken by the WIPO towards facilitating and harmonising the process of protecting the different facets of the fashion sector. Further, we will look at the current statistics available on the different databases and will gauge how the sector has fared. Over the course of the paper, the authors will highlight the gap in the protection granted to garments or cloth weaving techniques belonging to indigenous communities (such fashion articles fall under the broad domain of the traditional cultural expression of a community) ranging from handlooms and handicrafts to unique textile and design prints, motifs, symbols, accessories, and so on, as compared to international fashion corporations. The existing gaps would be analysed in the current international IPR regime which makes it challenging to apply the current norms and standards of IP to elements of traditional and cultural clothing of indigenous communities. It will locate a few examples of communities utilising IPR to protect and promote their cultural heritage in the garment industry. Continuing on this tangent, the paper will look at how the IP regime can be adequately expanded to incorporate the needs and interests of indigenous communities and promote their fashion and culture. The final part of the paper will be conclusive in nature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of European Policy Analysis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The article focuses on the institutional architecture of the euro area. Topics include elections that took place in 2017 such as the fear in France with many wondering whether politician Marine Le Pen of the Front National could sway a sufficient number of people to defeat contenders, and the German federal election, a discussion of the White Paper on the Future of Europe that came out in March 2017 and a discussion of the May 2017 Reflection Paper on Economic and Monetary Union (EMU), despite the salience of Brexit on the European Union agenda, the institutional architecture of the euro area remains an important item.

This paper investigates the ability of female presence to affect value relevance. Focusing on a sample of 487 entities listed in 18 European countries over the period 2009–2017, it uses a price model to assess the ability of female presence to affect the value relevance of earnings and book value disclosed in the consolidated annual reports of the firms analyzed. Findings offer evidence that female presence on corporate boards increases the value relevance of accounting amounts, providing insights that board composition affects investors' judgments. Taking into account that in the literature scholars have shown that female presence is associated with market prices, this paper provides a contribution, showing its ability to affect the value relevance of earnings and book value of equity. The research findings suggest that not only the quality of accounting standards but also other factors such as female presence on the corporate board of directors affect accounting practices and, in turn, the quality of financial reporting and value relevance. Its findings offer an additional support to the European Union Gender Equality Strategy 2020–2025 according to which an increase in women's participation in the labor market has a strong, positive impact on the whole economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Governance of climate mitigation and adaptation has been discussed within polycentric and multi-level governance perspectives. Both perspectives on climate governance are intimately related but yet in some regards are distinctly different - as one perspective has evolved from empirical research within the United States and the other in the European Union. Within an increasingly global discourse on climate governance, there is a need in the literature to bring both discourses together. The findings are based on a systematic literature review of 42 climate governance papers published since 2000. This paper discusses how multi-level and polycentric climate governance perspectives converge and diverge along five dimensions. The five dimensions provide insights for applying a multi-level or polycentric governance perspective to empirical research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) systems, together with text and data mining (TDM), introduce complex challenges at the junction of data utilization and copyright laws. The inherent reliance of AI on large quantities of data, often encompassing copyrighted materials, results in multifaceted legal quandaries. Issues surface from the unfeasible task of securing permission from each copyright holder for AI training, further muddled by ambiguities in interpreting copyright laws and fair use provisions. Adding to the conundrum, the clandestine practices of data collection in proprietary AI systems obstruct copyright owners from detecting unauthorized use of their materials. The paper explores the exceptions to copyright laws for TDM in the European Union, the United Kingdom, and Japan, recognizing their crucial role in fostering AI development. The EU has a two‐pronged approach under the Directive on Copyright in the Digital Single Market, with one exception catering specifically to research organizations, and another, more generalized one, that can be restricted by rightsholders. The UK allows noncommercial TDM research without infringement but rejected a broader copyright exception due to concerns from the creative sector. Japan has the broadest TDM exception globally, permitting the nonenjoyment use of works without permission, though this can potentially overlook the rights of copyright owners. Notably, the applicability of TDM exceptions to AI‐produced copies remains unclear, creating potential legal challenges. Furthermore, an exploration of the fair use doctrine in the United States provides insight into its potential application in AI development. It focuses on the transformative aspect of usage and its impact on the original work's potential market. This exploration underscores the necessity for clear, practical guidelines. In response to these identified challenges, this paper proposes a hybrid model for TDM exceptions emerges, along with recommended specific mechanisms. The model divides exceptions into noncommercial and commercial uses, providing a nuanced solution to complex copyright issues in AI training. Recommendations incorporate mandatory exceptions for noncommercial uses, an opt‐out clause for commercial uses, enhanced transparency measures, and a searchable portal for copyright owners. In conclusion, striking a delicate equilibrium between technological progress and the incentive for creative expression is of paramount importance. These suggested solutions aim to establish a harmonious foundation that nurtures innovation and creativity while honoring creators' rights, facilitating AI development, promoting transparency, and ensuring fair compensation for creators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines The diary from the border: Ventimiglia, an auto‐ethnographic comic based on intensive fieldwork in the Italian border city of Ventimiglia from September to December 2018. The primary objective of my empirical research was to explore the socio‐spatial effects of France's reintroduction of border controls in the area since 2015, mainly targeting irregular mobilities within the European Union (EU). This study presents the auto‐ethnographic comic by delving into two crucial aspects. Firstly, it illuminates the rationale behind utilising an auto‐ethnographic comic as a research output, shedding light on the creative process involved in its conception. Secondly, it explores its composite narrative plot, encompassing three key elements: 'me' (the researcher's personal experiences extending beyond the fieldwork), 'me in Ventimiglia' (the researcher's encounters during the fieldwork), and 'Ventimiglia itself' (the French‐Italian border regime). By fostering a trans‐disciplinary dialogue encompassing migration issues, comics and life course theory, this paper enriches the geographical debate in three significant ways. It recognises the profound impact of the researcher's life events in shaping both research experiences and outcomes within and beyond the fieldwork. Additionally, it underscores the importance of auto‐ethnographic comics in challenging dominant narratives and visually portraying the multifaceted experiences of migration. Lastly, it contributes to the ongoing discussion on visual methods within geography and advocates for using comics as a compelling tool to disseminate research findings, fostering empathy and a comprehensive understanding of migration experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Policy Analysis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of this paper is to identify the main factors responsible for the 2007–2008 crisis development and transmission across the 10 developed European Union (EU) countries. In order to achieve this objective, trade and financial linkages, crisis contagion from the United States and EU countries and countries' internal and external economic vulnerabilities are examined. The results of logistic regression model covering the period from 2002 to 2012 presented in this paper indicate that the transmission of the crisis occurred through contagion from the United States but also from other EU countries. Additionally, the empirical results confirm that high inflation, a decrease in the exchange rate, and a decrease in the US long‐term interest rates increased the probability of the 2007–2008 financial crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the (re)interpretation of migration networks on the move following the European Union (EU) enlargement towards eastern Europe, which affected people's mobility in time–space. The paper poses two questions: are one or more migration networks engaged in this mobility? Is it possible to rethink migration networks in the context of mobility? Drawing on 60 in‐depth interviews with Romanians in Spain, my novel argument is that even while on they move people construct dynamic and multifaceted networks situated between encounter and difference that transcend their distinctive features and complement each other: 'associative networks' grouped around migrant associations; 'professional networks' articulated around the institutions that represent Romania in Spain; and 'global networks of encounter' that include highly mobile young people. The conclusions emphasize that the notion of migration networks on the move can be rethought by taking a transformative approach that overcomes differences and seeks interconnective synergy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of direct payments on rice income variability in Japan are analysed based on a balanced panel dataset of Japanese rice farms for 2012–2016. Firstly, the contribution of income components to rice income variability and the effects of a direct payment reduction are discussed by applying variance decomposition. Secondly, robust regression techniques are used to measure the correlation between direct payments and rice income variability. The originality of this paper is that it disaggregates the effects of payments using a regression analysis of the effects of direct payments on income variability for Japan. This contrasts with the existing literature on this topic, which has largely focused on European Union countries. This paper discusses to what degree the reduction in direct payments increases income variability. The results reveal that direct payments decrease Japanese rice income variability. Indeed, after controlling for various farm characteristics, we find a negative relationship between the amount of direct payments linked to rice production and rice income variability. Finally, the results suggest that reducing direct payments when the rice price is falling would increase rice income variability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper tackles the broader question of why inequality along global value chains (GVCs) tends to remain unchallenged despite the successful upgrading and insertion of firms operating in the world‐system's periphery. Because the reduction and reproduction of inequalities are both intimately connected to power relations along GVCs, such relations are at the core of my analysis. Conceptually, my theorization of power builds on recent work by Dallas, Ponte and Sturgeon, which has sought to more systematically theorize and account for the multidimensional nature of power, and complements it with key insights drawn from World‐Systems theory. Empirically, this paper analyses the biodiesel GVC between Argentina and the European Union, a case in which the successful economic upgrading and enhanced competitiveness of biodiesel producers in Argentina fail to overturn their subordinated position vis‐à‐vis European producers and traders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 'flexible' interstate solidarity model envisaged by the 2020 'New Pact on Migration and Asylum' ('the Pact') allows European Union (EU) member states to choose how to do their share in the distribution of the costs connected to asylum. According to one of the proposals contained in the Pact, member states have the option to contribute to the distribution through return sponsorship, taking measures to facilitate the return of irregular migrants residing in other member states. This paper asks: should EU member states be allowed to discharge their solidarity obligations through return sponsorship as envisaged by the Pact? Scholars of the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) have raised several doubts about this proposal, particularly regarding the feasibility of return sponsorship and the related risks for human rights. Although the proposal is pragmatic in some respects, these problematic aspects pose at least two questions for normative political theorists: first, should member states be allowed to choose their form of contribution in a solidarity scheme? And, if so, should return sponsorship be one of the contributions allowed? Building on normative theories of solidarity in the EU, this article will argue that return sponsorship should be rejected both because it does not further solidarity among member states and because the rights of rejected asylum seekers set a strong presumption against it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the effects of a public policy that reduces by 50% the use of mineral nitrogen in European agriculture. Our results show that, for the European Union, halving mineral fertilizer use leads to: a decrease in agricultural production, a substantial increase in nitrogen use efficiency, lower use of organic fertilizer and a loss of agricultural competitiveness. At the global level, it leads to greater nitrogen consumption if no measure is taken on the demand side. Ultimately, our research highlights the critical importance of supply side adjustments, particularly in terms of cropland area expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Existing research mainly analyzes mass attitudes towards the European Union (EU) from the national and individual‐level perspective. This paper adds to this literature by focusing on the relationship between EU support and subnational economic conditions, using harmonized survey data covering 40 years and 1.1 million respondents in 197 European regions. We first describe Europe's changing subnational conditions in terms of catch‐up, wealthy, declining and glass‐ceiling regions. The paper then develops and tests a set of hypotheses regarding the temporally dynamic relationship between EU attitudes and regions' long‐ and short‐term economic conditions. Our analyses reveal important longitudinal variations in this relationship with low levels of geographic differentiation in public opinion giving way to clear spatial differences in recent years. Our findings are consistent with the idea that the Great Recession and Brexit have generated a new geography of both Euroscepticism in Europe's declining regions and EU support in its wealthy and catch‐up regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public sector accounting harmonization process that started in the European Union in the aftermath of the financial crisis led the European Commission to launch a project for the development of a set of European Public Sector Accounting Standards (EPSAS). This paper analyses the process and the decision‐making around development of the EPSAS through the lens of the garbage can model (Cohen, M. D., March, J. G., & Olsen, J. P. (1972). A garbage can model of organizational choice. Administrative Science Quarterly, 17(1), 1–25). More specifically, by identifying problems, participants, solutions, and choice opportunities, it discusses why the development of the EPSAS is taking so long and why the process does not seem to be progressing as planned. To this end, documents related to the process of EPSAS development are analyzed. The results provide evidence of problematic preferences and fluid participation possibly coupled with flight decisions—three elements of the garbage can model. Postponing decisions can be an option to dampen reluctance. The more the public sector becomes accustomed to the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS) by adopting IPSAS‐like accrual accounting standards while waiting for the completion of the EPSAS, the less resistance there might be to moving to accrual accounting standards. However, at the same time, an imminent change to a new set of EPSAS standards might become less plausible if changes demand extra reform. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Motivation: Agenda 2030 and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) expand the development agenda. While all major development actors support policy coherence for development (PCD), analysis has been lacking on how this can be achieved as the development agenda expands. We discuss the relationship between SDGs and PCD through a comprehensive case study from Finland. Purpose: To examine the coherence of Finland's foreign and development policy for achieving the SDGs, while leaving no one behind. Particular focus is given to policies related to the private sector's role in development, and attention is also paid to ministries other than the Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Approach and methods: We carried out interviews with policy‐makers and other stakeholders, and analysed relevant documents. We reviewed governmental high‐level policy statements, sectoral alignments, and development aid documents. We also reviewed the position papers that the Finnish Government had issued on European Union (EU) processes, particularly regarding development relating to the private sector. Findings: Finland has been uniquely positioned to advance PCD in its foreign policy, thanks to co‐ordination structures across government. Nonetheless, mainstreaming of the expanded development agenda has been largely limited to the Ministry for Foreign Affairs and its development policy department. The breadth of the SDG agenda has enabled individual targets to be cherry‐picked, with less attention paid to advancing the Agenda 2030 as a whole and to implementing its Leave No One Behind (LNOB) principle. Despite an institutional framework seemingly ideal for policy coherence, traditional sectoral divisions between development policy as a separate field and sustainability as an environmental issue, remain. Five factors in particular hindered policy coherence: (a) Finland's position papers to the EU on taxes and migration all but ignored Agenda 2030 commitments; (b) the Finnish emphasis on the private sector in development narrowed the considerations of development to economic growth; (c) sustainability was seen as green technology, with scant regard to social sustainability; (d) private firms interpreted the SDGs to mean that environmental sustainability could address human rights‐related concerns with corporate social responsibility initiatives; and (e) cuts to staffing in the Finnish Government stymied innovative thinking and working across departmental boundaries. Policy Implications: Finland is generally seen as a front‐runner in mainstreaming development issues, which makes it an interesting case. We outline the key challenges that Finland has faced in tackling PCD, which should be relevant for other Organisation for Economic Co‐operation and Development (OECD) countries as well. Many challenges related to PCD are political and organizational. As such, they are highly dependent on the particular institutional settings in each country. Our methodological approach could be replicated in other similar countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of European Policy Analysis is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper explores the convergence of public expenditures and revenues in the EU28 by applying the panel cluster convergence methodology to updated quarterly data for the period 2002–2019. In order to explore whether the recent debt crisis in EU has affected the harmonisation path, the paper, for the first time, considers both the whole period 2002–2019 and two equally‐sized sub‐periods, that is, 2002–2009 and 2012–2019, which correspond to pre‐and post‐debt‐crisis years. The issue is important for the debate on fiscal harmonisation in Europe, given that the EU's debt crisis has generated many asymmetries across the member states, whilst the design of effective public policies remains a key tool for achieving higher economic growth. Overall, our results provide evidence of divergence, especially for public expenditures since the European debt crisis, which suggests that in the future further efforts towards a stronger harmonisation path will be required by policymakers in EU member states. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Against the backdrop of the current political developments in Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, such as Ukraine, Poland, and Romania, the question arises as to the role played by economic transformation and the resulting innovation linkages in these countries over the last 20 years. The main purpose of this paper is to explore the impact of economic and institutional dimensions on the development of CEE countries, explicitly distinguishing between European Union (EU) members and non‐members, and thus reflecting the differences in institutions and path dependency. Furthermore, the paper contrasts the performance of CEE countries with that of Western European countries. To achieve these objectives, the impact of factors such as innovation, institutions, and political practices on the economic development of 37 European countries from 2000 until 2020 is followed using fixed effects regression and Ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. The results of the analysis show the importance of institutional factors such as low levels of corruption, political freedoms, and intellectual property. The effect of institutional variables was particularly pronounced in the case of non‐EU countries, which indicates the particular importance of the development of stable institutions for achieving higher levels of economic development for this category of countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of the rise of generative AI and recent debates about the socio‐political implications of large‐language models, chatbots, and the like, this paper analyzes the E.U.'s Artificial Intelligence Act (AIA), the world's first comprehensive attempt by a government body to address and mitigate the potentially negative impacts of AI technologies. The paper critically analyzes the AIA from a business and computer ethics point of view—a perspective currently lacking in the academic (e.g., GBOE‐related) literature. It evaluates, in particular, the AIA's strengths and weaknesses and proposes reform measures that could help to strengthen the AIA. Among the AIA's strengths are its legally binding character, extra‐territoriality, ability to address data quality and discrimination risks, and institutional innovations such as the AI Board and publicly accessible logs and database for AI systems. Among its main weaknesses are its lack of effective enforcement, oversight, and control, absence of procedural rights and remedy mechanisms, inadequate worker protection, institutional ambiguities, insufficient funding and staffing, and inadequate consideration of sustainability issues. Reform suggestions include establishing independent conformity assessment procedures, strengthening democratic accountability and judicial oversight, introducing redress and complaint mechanisms, ensuring the participation and inclusion of workers, guaranteeing political independence of the AI Board, providing enhanced funding and staffing of market surveillance authorities, and mandating "green AI." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Policy & Internet is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This paper evaluates whether lobbying influence is open to the highest bidder or boosted by congruence with popular opinion. Common wisdom holds that well‐endowed organizations prevail in lobbying battles. This perception contrasts with recent observations, which point to the decisive role of public opinion. This paper unites these seemingly contrasting stances by arguing that both economic resources and congruence with public opinion are paramount for lobbying influence. What matters, we argue, is the interplay between the two. Lobby groups that already enjoy substantial economic capacities are expected to benefit most from congruence with public opinion. We test our expectations in the context of European Union policy making. We draw from a sample of 41 policy issues for which public opinion polls were conducted, an extensive content analysis of 2,085 news articles and 183 lobbyists' survey responses. We demonstrate that interest groups with more economic resources are generally more influential, but only if their policy positions are congruent with a public majority. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to ascertain the attitudes of teenagers (aged 13–16) from Belfast to the Brexit referendum through exploring their attitudes to the implications of Brexit for their future lives and how they explain why adults decided to vote leave. The paper illuminates how young people discussed the right to vote alongside responsibilities to non‐voters. In this way, teenagers demonstrated the often messy relationship that exists between citizenship rights and responsibilities and how this has differing generational implications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present paper examines how the Chinese economy has managed to maintain its overall economic growth, and therefore its production, throughout the various crises, that is, the global crisis of 2007 and the E.U. structural crisis. The paper sets up a network‐global vector autoregressive (GVAR) model that is estimated simultaneously for all the economies in the model, capable of uncovering the dominant entities in the network system, in the time period 1992‐2017. According to our findings, the economies of the United States and EU17 are found to exhibit a dominant role in the GVAR system, which is confirmed using both node theory as well as econometric techniques. The results show that the Chinese economy is unaffected, in the long run, by unanticipated shocks in the dominant economies of the United States and EU17. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hailed for their pragmatism, innovativeness and progressive views, cities and their networks seem to bring a fresh air in current migration debates. Our intent, in this special issue, is to address the scale and significance of this trend by contributing to a greater understanding of their networking activities. Revisiting the conceptual framework used in the literature to date, it addresses the diverse forms of networks, their drivers, internal operation and the functions they perform, at all levels of governance. This introductory paper starts with a review of the scholarship on migration‐related city networks. From there, we draw a more fine‐grained sense of the ambivalent role of city networks in the design and implementation of migration governance. The final part of this introduction introduces the papers included in this issue, pointing to the ways in which each casts significant new light on these aspects which, in the current literature, remain unresolved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses data from a large‐scale survey on corporate action to support biodiversity and ecosystem services undertaken by firms of all sizes and across manufacturing industries. The analysis focuses on Germany as the largest economy by GDP in the European Union and analyses the uptake of activities directly aimed at protecting biodiversity and ecosystem services compared to the uptake of other environmental protection activities. It furthermore investigates how activity and tool adoption as well as risk assessments vary with firm size and across industries, and with implementing environmental management systems. The analysis finds tensions between risk perception and activities pursued for biodiversity protection, largely because firms shy away from substantive action. It reveals that smaller and medium‐sized firms are less active and that environmental management systems are not conducive to corporate activities in support of biodiversity and ecosystem services. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Papers in Regional Science is the property of Wiley-Blackwell and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Protection in the region has rapidly become a favoured durable solution to refugee situations and the hallmark of all current policies. These initiatives reflect changes in humanitarian approaches that have taken place over the past decades as the focus has shifted towards the resilience of crisis‐affected communities and the need to enable their self‐reliance. Despite the strong logic that this change will bring about more dignified solutions, the approach is easily instrumentalized. This instrumentalization is particularly evident where resilience humanitarianism meets security‐migration politics. This paper focuses on the efforts of the European Union and a number of its member states to advance so‐called protection in the region. The paper reviews the characteristics of these policies, highlights a number of risks and defines some known and lesser known implications of this approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

UK geopolitics for the last five years has been heavily dominated by Brexit. The lead up to the referendum, the result, negotiations, intervening general election, extensions, further negotiations, and impending exit from the European Union have captured both academic and public interest. This paper contributes to geographical and wider social science research on the everyday geographies of socio‐economic change, with a particular focus on Brexit and the temporal politics of waiting. Emerging analyses focus on Brexit as an event, as uncertainty, and a discrete period for and of research on public moods. I illustrate how exploring Brexit through the lens of waiting provides new ways of thinking through the time‐spaces of Brexit, by drawing on data collected during an ethnographic participatory project in Gorse Hill, Greater Manchester (2018–2020). Analysis of group discussions, peer‐led research projects, podcast recordings, vox pops, and ethnographic fieldnotes highlight the embodied, everyday, endured, and emplaced experience of waiting for Brexit. More specifically, findings make the case for this waiting as crisis, as conjuncture, and as method. The paper closes with a discussion of the pace and timeliness of research, and the implications of waiting for, in, and with Brexit and other forms of socio‐economic change. This paper contributes to geographical and wider social science research on the everyday geographies of socio‐economic change, with a particular focus on Brexit and the temporal politics of waiting. I illustrate how exploring Brexit through the lens of waiting provides new ways of thinking through the time‐spaces of Brexit, by drawing on data collected during an ethnographic participatory project in Gorse Hill, Greater Manchester (2018–2020). Findings make the case for this waiting as crisis, as conjuncture, and as method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]