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

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

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

Transport projects have numerous consequences for the environment, society and economy, and thus an EU Directive has stated a number of impacts that need to be assessed prior to any major intervention. This paper is set in a Danish context where the EU requirements have been adopted in the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) regulation along with national requirements. In recent years, however, the EIAs have been criticised for an inconsistent inclusion of impacts and unclear assessment process. A selection of EIAs is for this reason reviewed and compared to the EU Directive and corresponding works in Sweden and the UK to identify potential opportunities for improvements. From the literature study, an overview table with all potential relevant impacts for transport projects is set up to assist the EIA process. For the sake of simplicity and transparency, the impacts selected from this table should, however, be further reduced in number to ensure that only the most important impacts are included in the process. To further increase simplicity and transparency in the EIA process, a novel framework for assessing different types of impacts is proposed. In this framework, a comprehensive decision support tool involving stakeholders is in focus. The framework is supplemented with a procedure for generating objectives and presenting results in an appropriate way to the many stakeholders involved. The impacts overview table and the assessment techniques are applied to a case study to illustrate the process, and finally, conclusions and perspectives for future work within the field are set out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper aims to contribute to media studies on climate change through a study of the ways in which the adequacy of transnational measures of tackling climate change are represented in media outlets in the UK, Ireland, Sweden and Finland. Media texts on the European Union Energy and Climate Package, introduced in January 2008 and approved in modified form in December 2008, are analyzed in-depth. Through an exploratory cross-societal comparison of media representations, the paper traces some of the dynamics of contemporary environmental debates. We argue that the adequacy of proposed transnational measures for tackling climate change becomes a relative concept in the media: measures are not adequate or inadequate per se, but contingent upon social context and relative with regard to time and to the comparisons made. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under inflation, targeting estimates of the indexation parameter in hybrid New Keynesian Phillips curves are either equal to zero, or very low, in the United Kingdom, Canada, Sweden, and New Zealand. Analogous results hold for the Euro area under the European Monetary Union, and for Switzerland under the new monetary regime: under stable regimes with clearly defined nominal anchors, inflation appears to be purely forward-looking. These results question the notion that the intrinsic inflation persistence found in post-WWII U.S. data is structural in the sense of Lucas (Carnegie-Rochester Conference Series on Public Policy, 1 [1976], 19-46), and suggest that "hardwiring" inflation persistence in macroeconomic models is potentially misleading. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The rapid rise in trade and use of NPS and the lack of information concerning their potential toxicity pose serious challenges to public health authorities across the world. Policy measures towards NPS taken so far have a special focus on their legal status, while the implementation of a public health strategy seems to be still missing. The aim of this study is to perform a general assessment of NPS-related policy (including regulatory measures and public health strategies) implemented by six European countries: Portugal, the Netherlands, Czech Republic, Poland, the United Kingdom and Sweden. Methods: Six EU countries were included in this scoping review study. Drug policies (including legal responses and public health strategies) were analysed. UNODC drug policy classification system was used as a benchmark, while path dependency approach was used for data analysis; a net of inter-dependencies between international, EU and national policies was highlighted. Results and discussion: The countries included in this study can be placed in a wide spectrum according to their formulation of drug policy, from Portugal and the UK that have specific legal responses to NPS but have differently focused on harm reduction strategies at one end, to Sweden whose drug-free society goal is not translated into a specific regulation of NPS at the other end. Conclusion: The findings of the study reveal limited development towards harmonisation of national drug policies–particularly with regard to NPS. To tackle the challenge presented by NPS, EU Member states have formulated legislation and public health strategies independently. National approaches to NPS are therefore in line with their already existing drug policies, reflecting cultural values towards substance abuse and national political interests, while the homogenization at an international level has so far mostly been focused on law enforcement and drugs use preventive strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Paracetamol is used widely in pediatrics because it has a high drug safety when used in therapeutic dosages. In case of overdose the majority of paracetamol is metabolized to N-acetyl-p-benzoquinone imine (NAPQI), which is responsible for the severe toxic effects. The covalent connection between NAPQI and hepatic proteins leads to hepatocellular damage and possibly to severe liver failure. The antidote for paracetamol is N-acetylcysteine (NAC). It is a precursor of glutathione and aids to fill glutathione stores. The Rumack-Matthew nomogram should be used to decide on antidote treatment. Pediatric drug metabolism differs from adult metabolism. Children have a larger liver size compared to their body weight than adults, resulting in a higher metabolism rate. Young children seem to be less sensitive to acute intoxication than adults. One hypothesis to explain the lower rate refers to the larger liver size. The acute toxic dosage for children is more than 200 mg/kg body weight. There seems to be a global increase in accidental pediatric paracetamol overdose. Governmental websites of various European Union (EU) countries were searched for legal information on paracetamol availability in pharmacies and non-pharmacy stores. Various EU countries permit prescription-free sales of paracetamol in pharmacies and non-pharmacy stores. In Sweden paracetamol 500 mg may be sold in both pharmacies and non-pharmacies in a maximum pack size of 20 units. In the United Kingdom (UK) paracetamol 500 mg is listed in the general sales list with a maximum pack size of 30 effervescent tablets or 16 tablets. In Ireland paracetamol 500 mg may be sold in a maximum pack size of 12 units in a non-pharmacy. In the Netherlands paracetamol 500 mg is legal to be sold in a maximum pack size of 50 units in a drug store and with a maximum of 20 units in any other non-pharmacy. Several countries in the European Union are permitted to offer paracetamol prescription-free in pharmacies and non-pharmacy stores without legal guidance on the storage position within the store. Further research is needed to investigate whether paracetamol is located directly accessible to young children within the stores in EU countries which permit prescription-free sales of paracetamol. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Explores the monetary strategies implemented in Denmark, Sweden and Great Britain in relation to European Union and European Monetary Union membership.

Should the UK ultimately withdraw from the European Union, it will have a significant impact on Sweden, a like-minded country that is a member of the EU but not of NATO. Anna Sundberg and Kristina Zetterlund argue that, regardless of whether it supports the UK's efforts to renegotiate its relationship with Europe, Sweden should seize the opportunity to debate its current and future defence policy, while the EU should seek to clarify the purposes and functions of the CSDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article analyses what the third EU Directive on AML (anti-money laundering) and risk management means in terms of democratic accountability when the banking sector is given a role that is traditionally the prerogative of the public actors. The comparison between the UK and Sweden on the private actors' role in various stages of the risk-based decision process shows that the procedures used could jeopardize the traditional liberal understanding of democratic accountability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article, the concept of a tax on financial transactions in Europe is discussed. In the wake of the financial crisis of 2007, the European Union (EU) as well as single Member States are considering imposing a tax on financial transactions to mitigate short-term speculative trading and to generate substantial tax revenue to refinance the costs incurred during the crisis. The implementation of a tax on financial transactions would, from an economic perspective, have a range of consequences for the participants in the global financial markets, which must be considered. The authors analyse the potential economic consequences of a financial transaction tax (FTT) and derive solutions to mitigate negative effects. This article also intends to derive suggestions concerning the structure of an FTT. Therefore, the fundamental structures of different FTT regimes in selected states are presented. In this regard, the authors chose to illustrate the risks as well as the rewards by discussing the experiences of the FTT regimes in Sweden and in the United Kingdom in depth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines policy activity surrounding the implementation of privacy regulations in three European countries, Denmark, Sweden and the UK, following the ratification of the 1995 European Union Directive on Data Protection. It highlights the convergence and divergence of policy embedded in the policy transfer process and stresses not only the complexity of policy transfer, but also the degree to which policy innovation is shaped by existing institutional settings and the processes associated with policy implementation. The article uses Dolowitz and Marsh's 'Policy Transfer Model' as an analytical tool to unpack the regulatory environment surrounding the governance of privacy. This illuminates the main features of the policy process in each of the three case study countries and also the tendency to focus on policy formation at the expense of policy implementation. In the case of the 1995 European Union Directive on Data Protection the three cases examined here demonstrate that multiple regulatory regimes and policy divergence are embedded in the harmonisation (or convergence) process, and that different countries approach the regulation of privacy and data protection in quite different ways. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]