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Aim: To investigate nursing/midwifery students, Clinical Mentors, Link Teachers and Head Nurses experiences within "Dedicated Education Unit" model in 6 European clinical placements and analyse the necessary elements for a powerful clinical learning environment. Design: A multi‐country, phenomenological, qualitative study. Methods: Focus group interviews were performed to identify the personal and organizational factors of importance for students and nurses/midwives. Results: Data analysis produced 4 main themes (1) Clinical placement organization, (2) students' clinical knowledge and skill acquisition, (3) students, and nurses/midwives' experiences within the DEU model and (4) factors for creating an effective learning environment. Conclusions: A close educational‐service collaboration, a realistic clinical placement planning, a focus on student learning process and an investment in professionals' education and development among others, are elements to set up a powerful clinical learning environment. Implications for the profession: It is considered advisable and urgent to improve the working conditions of nurses/midwives and the learning environments of students as a strategy to alleviate the global shortage of nurses and respond to the increasingly demanding health needs of the population. Impact: Due to the close relationship between students' learning and features of the clinical environment nurse educators seek innovative models which allow students to manage patient care and their transition to professional practice. To implement new learning strategies, identifying students, nurses and midwives perceptions and suggestions is a powerful information to evaluate implementation process and outcomes. Public Contribution: Our findings could help academic and clinical managers to meet the human and organizational requirements to create a successful learning environment in every student placement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is no foundation for the view that the balance between small and large member countries has changed through the successive enlargements of the EU. In most cases, the share of votes of the large countries is about 75 percent of what it would have been if the votes had been distributed in proportion to their population, and this figure has changed very little over the years. The great exception is Germany, which is due to the reunification. The effects of the enlargements and of a greater share of small and overrepresented countries have been borne to the same extent by all member countries. The relationship between the over/under representation of small and large countries has not changed since 1958. The share of the total population needed for a decision by qualified majority has, however, fallen, particularly with the accession of Spain and Portugal and the German reunification, and the majority has in a way become "less qualified." This will continue with the coming enlargements, but the widespread belief that the small countries could outvote countries with a majority of the population is erroneous. This article examines the changes in the system that were suggested during the 1996 Intergovernmental Conference. A change of the same magnitude as these could be achieved through a simple formula based on objective criteria and would also eliminate the inconsistencies of the present system and the need for new negotiations at each enlargement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]