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Considering the increase in market requests for bio-products, it is necessary to study the possibility of cultivating industrial crops in areas still untapped to extend the total cultivation surface, reducing land competition with food crops. With this aim in mind, we studied the harvesting performance and cost, and seed losses of Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) cultivation during two growing seasons and in three different locations: (A) an agroforestry field, (B) a marginal field and (C) a dedicated field utilized as a control. The overall efficiency of the cultivation system was higher in location C in respect to the other two fields. The yield was 12–22% and 21–26% higher in location C compared to locations B and A, respectively, while seed losses were 40–33% and 28–50% lower in C compared to locations A and B, as well as the total harvesting costs, which were 45% and 31–35% lower in location C compared to locations A and B, respectively. Despite this, the results highlighted how the reduction in cultivation efficiency given by limiting factors was lower compared to that of other crops, highlighting the possibility of cultivating Safflower for bio-products' production on alternative lands. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the increase in market requests for bio-products, it is necessary to study the possibility of cultivating industrial crops in areas still untapped to extend the total cultivation surface, reducing land competition with food crops. With this aim in mind, we studied the harvesting performance and cost, and seed losses of Safflower (Carthamus tinctorius L.) cultivation during two growing seasons and in three different locations: (A) an agroforestry field, (B) a marginal field and (C) a dedicated field utilized as a control. The overall efficiency of the cultivation system was higher in location C in respect to the other two fields. The yield was 12–22% and 21–26% higher in location C compared to locations B and A, respectively, while seed losses were 40–33% and 28–50% lower in C compared to locations A and B, as well as the total harvesting costs, which were 45% and 31–35% lower in location C compared to locations A and B, respectively. Despite this, the results highlighted how the reduction in cultivation efficiency given by limiting factors was lower compared to that of other crops, highlighting the possibility of cultivating Safflower for bio-products’ production on alternative lands.

The relationship between non-financial reporting quality (NFRQ) and various company-level factors has been studied extensively, considering the mandatory requirements applicable under the Non-Financial Reporting Directive 2014/95/EU (NFRD) of the European Union. The purpose of this research is to systematize the results of previous published studies on the relationship between NFRQ and company size, financial performance, corporate governance, market performance, and sustainability performance, under a mandatory regime. Our study contributes to the literature by proposing a taxonomy of company-level factors grouped into five categories. We analyze the post-2017 period, focusing on the application of NFRD in the European Union. By applying systematic inclusion and exclusion criteria to a population of 618 articles from Scopus, we obtain a sample of fifteen articles that are subject to an in-depth analysis of correlation matrices. The systematic review resorts to the vote counting methodology to assess the existence and strength of relationships between the NFRQ and company-level factors, based on correlation coefficients. The summarized results indicate that company size, corporate governance, and sustainability performance are positive factors of NFRQ. Regarding corporate governance, we find that board independence, board size, foreign ownership, gender diversity, corporate governance quality, the existence of a sustainability committee, and sustainability-linked remuneration positively influence NFRQ. Our findings emphasize the need to explicitly consider the role of corporate governance and sustainability performance in improving NFRQ while transitioning to improved corporate sustainability reporting under the new Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive 2022/2464 (CSRD). Our study has implications for academics who seek to engage in empirical research on various factors with positive or negative influence on sustainability reporting, throughout the transition from the NFRD to the CSRD. Policymakers may find our study useful in addressing specific areas of sustainability reporting that have a negative impact on corporate transparency, while practitioners may obtain valuable information on the challenges of transitioning to sustainability reporting and the implementation of mandatory assurance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen and phosphorus are key to human life and crop production. However, excessive nutrient losses from agriculture affect air, soil, and water quality, with significant negative effects on terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Domestic nutrient emissions, in particular untreated wastewater, also negatively affect water ecosystems. European policies had a crucial role in contrasting nutrient pollution, but the assessment of the impact of these regulations requires an understanding of nutrient inputs and losses from land to sea. In this study, we quantified nutrient inputs in a cross-continental domain (Europe–Africa–Asia) in all regions discharging into the European seas. We reconstructed the time series for the 1979–2019 periods of high spatial resolution anthropogenic nutrient pressures including nitrogen atmospheric deposition, mineral fertilizers and organic N and P fertilizers, N and P from sewer connection, and improved and unconnected systems from urban and rural populations. We investigated regional differences and how existing legislation has affected nutrient inputs.

In 1979, the Council of the European Communities declared its intention to ban battery cages for laying hens; one year later, everything about the ban is forgotten. During this preparatory year (1979-1980), all that happened is the publication of scientific reports, that is, attempts at producing knowledge as a basis for and justification of the ban decision. This paper aims at understanding to what extent ignorance and doubt were produced instead. By examining the reports, I demonstrate that there are three interrelated levels of ignorance production: (1) the missions given by the Commission to scientists were ambiguous, (2) questions inherent to animal welfare sciences, such as the significant variability of their measures and results, lead to a systematic standardization, and (3) the battery cage works as a techno-scientific promise and an "obligatory passage point" where scientists and industry meet. Disciplinary identity issues therefore lead scientists to adopt a double standard about the welfare of laying hens. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the adoption of the Habitats and Birds Directives by EU governments, marine Natura 2000 (N2K) sites have been established in the European Mediterranean Sea, creating one of the largest international networks of protected areas. Nevertheless, to date, marine N2K sites are generally scarcely implemented, studied and monitored, and thus their management effectiveness is weak, and their environmental status is often unknown. The Interreg Italy-Croatia ECOSS project aimed at establishing the ECOlogical observing system of the Adriatic Sea (ECOAdS), to integrate the existing research and monitoring activities in the area, and to promote data sharing at international level, for enhancing monitoring and conservation in Adriatic N2K network. In the framework of ECOSS, a conceptual model was developed and applied to selected N2K sites, to review the existing knowledge, assess site effectiveness, and suggest possible improvements in their monitoring and management based on the contribution that ECOAdS can provide to their implementation. Information on social, ecological, and oceanographic elements related to the conservation and management of these case studies was gathered by consulting the project partners involved in the management and monitoring of the sites and through a literature review. The results of this study revealed a discouraging condition with no management plan in most of the sites, while regulatory measures are generally in place but without surveillance. Monitoring activities are performed occasionally, and information on presence and status of protected species is often lacking or outdated. Although the N2K network provides a unique opportunity to advance marine conservation and achieve the 30% conservation target by 2030, the biggest challenge ahead is the proper management and monitoring of N2K sites. The proposed conceptual model may be taken as a framework to properly set up ecological observing systems in the N2K network and help overcome current limitations, integrating scientific research within the N2K conservation strategies.

Calculating and accounting only for current tax is not sufficient if, due to accounting policies or legal provisions, the tax value of assets and liabilities is different from their book value. Profits or losses are shown in the profit and loss account, while some gains or losses (other than those shown in the profit and loss account) are shown in reserves or retained earnings. To the extent that the taxation of certain profits or the deduction of certain tax losses is deferred to future periods, as well as in situations where some amounts shown in the reserve accounts or retained earnings are to be taxed in the future as a result of provisions in tax legislation, a deferred income tax liability must be recognized in the accounts. The transition to IFRS has led to the recognition of deferred taxes, receivable or payable, depending on the situation of each entity, in the profit and loss account, the retained earnings account or the reserve accounts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Public procurement is a main issue in the frontline of Governments fighting COVID 19 pandemic as the need for additional and urgent acquisitions as well as the need to consolidate the supply chains and to promote sustainable and innovative procurement have been a source of deep changes and main challenges disturbing public markets and invalidating several assumptions of the traditional public contracting. In this paper, the development of appropriate public policies to cope with these challenges is studied following the approach suggested by several authors and including four stages: a Stage on Facts and Issues where the main challenges and conditions are studied, the Options Stage to describe which polices and procedures can be adopted, a Values Stage stating the main values to be pursued and, finally, a Policies Stage including the selection of the recommended policies. The analysis of the challenges and facts includes the study of a taxonomy of short and longer term needs and the available options are based on the comparative study of procedures ruled by the European Directives on Public Procurement approved on 2014. The major values to be respected include the principle of competition which is a major institutional principle of the European Treaty and of the Directives as well as the goal of promoting sustainable and innovative public procurement. Several indicators are suggested to describe the application of the public procurement policies adopted across EU and their comparative analysis is presented using the TED data for contracts concerning COVID 19. The case of Portugal is discussed and final remarks about the recommended public policies are also included herein.

Multilingual writing of European directives is faced with a few linguistic difficulties, like choosing an appropriate legal terms. All linguistic versions shall reflect the same content event though the legal system of each Member State is different and some legal concept do not have an equivalent in other legal systems. In this way, legal writing of European Directive is a very complex subject both from legal and linguistic perspective. The aim of this article is to discuss different linguistics difficulties that could appear during the harmonisation of criminal proceedings in European Union, where multilingualism is a key value and to analyse the possible solutions, when dealing with those difficulties. It seems that even if multilingualism is a big challenge to European Union, it could have a positive influence on the quality of European legislation.

Transitional waters are increasingly threatened by anthropogenic pressures with water quality being a key worldwide issue relevant to human consumption, food production, industry, nature and recreation. Monitoring and maintaining good water quality are enshrined in European policy through the Water Framework Directive and Marine Strategy Framework Directive, and pivotal to fulfilling the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Remote sensing can provide useful, continuous and synoptic monitoring data and diagnostic tools, however, European Union Member States tend to follow different strategies for their individual reporting, leading to a strong need for tailored-made solutions that work across the continuum of reported water bodies. To address the above, user requirements were collected from interviews with users from 18 local and national stakeholder institutes/organisations in six European countries, leading to a selection of improved satellite-based water quality indicators for coastal and transitional environments. These indicators were developed based on new state-of-the-art remote sensing data and ensure compliance with user-specific monitoring requirements. The suite of remote sensing indicators ranges from those tailored to fulfil spatial planning and water resource management needs of industries and local authorities, to those that help to better understand ecosystem functioning and provide input to European Directives. They use estimates of total suspended matter and chlorophyll-a concentrations and include region-specific mean values, anomalies, percentiles, and trends, among others. A selection of these indicators and other multidisciplinary data were then integrated into a Social-Ecological System Vulnerability Index, aiming to showcase a framework that provides global overviews of transitional systems and highlights hotspots of vulnerability to climate change and other anthropogenic pressure. Here, we describe the approach we followed to maximise involvement of various types of user communities throughout the indicator co-development process, ensuring provision of processed information that meets their water quality assessment needs for water resource management. The co-developed indicators are also presented and discussed from a user perspective. • Synoptic, continuous water quality information in estuaries and lagoons is sparse. • Consultations key to tailor remote sensing products to different use cases. • Aggregated satellite-based indicators highly relevant to water users and managers. • Transferable chlorophyll and suspended matter indicators developed. • Remote sensing value increased when integrated with socio-economic data. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Annals of Juridica Sciences / Roczniki Nauk Prawnych is the property of Towarzystwo Naukowe KUL & Katolicki Uniwersytet Lubelski Jana Pawla II 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 plethora of human activities and their pressures and impacts in the oceans require managing at local, national, regional and international scales. This requires management responses in a programme of measures to determine (a) the area in which the human activities take place, (b) the area covered by the pressures generated by the activities on the prevailing habitats and species in which pressures are defined as the mechanisms of change, and (c) the area over which any adverse effects (and even benefits) occur on both the natural and human systems. The spatial and temporal scales of these leads to the concepts of activity-, pressures-, effects- and management responses-footprints, defined here. These footprints cover areas from tens of m2 to millions of km2, and, in the case of management responses, from a large number of local instruments to a few global instruments thereby giving rise to what is termed the management response-footprint pyramids. This may operate from either bottom-up or top-down directions, whether as the result of local societal demands for clean, healthy, productive and diverse seas or by diktat from national, supranational and global bodies such as the United Nations. These concepts are explained and illustrated using marine examples based on experience from many jurisdictions.

This contribution focuses on the specific terminological features of the first European directives relating to equality. More precisely, this study is based on the "Council Directive 2000/43/EC of 29 June 2000 implementing the principle of equal treatment between persons irrespective of racial or ethnic origin" and the "Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment in employment and occupation", as well as on a selection of 24 IATE's terminological records pertaining to the juridical field. This analysis is characterized by a contrastive approach as it will be based on the French and Italian versions of the above mentioned directives, which form a parallel corpus of about 9,000 words per language (9,039 French words - 8,416 Italian words). Terminology is conceived here as a sociocommunicative and cognitive activity which strictly depends on its context of use. The legislative nature of European directives is thus not sufficient to explain the relative terminological choices pertaining to equality. Legislative terminology needs to be considered with respect to the institutional as well as multilingual nature of lawmaking on equality at the European Union. This analysis aims at comparing the denominative variation of equality terminology in French and Italian in order to identify the main contextual and conceptual factors which trigger this kind of terminological features, at the European Union. Our results will show that, in the context of the European Union, the concept of equality is not the subject of an effective harmonization, since its denominative variation still depends on multiple variables, among which the terminological choices proper to each official language of the Union. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Numerous open data initiatives by governments around the globe ostensibly promote better transparency and accountability, yet questions have arisen regarding the immediate usability of these datasets. This research reports on an attempt to utilize purchasing data published under the open data program of the European Union, which provides all expenditure data over certain thresholds from 33 European countries. However, the data and its informational quality as it has been published in CSV format leaves holes in trying to close that accountability gap across countries. This case study offers a recursive model which clearly conceptualizes the quality of data and information, and the research serves as a functional primer warning for users of the experientially-based issues of utilizing this and other open data. Key findings illuminate potential issues when working with open data and provide eight specific caveats on how to navigate the open data initiatives by governments.

Multilingual writing of European directives is faced with a few linguistic difficulties, like choosing an appropriate legal terms. All linguistic versions shall reflect the same content event though the legal system of each Member State is different and some legal concept do not have an equivalent in other legal systems. In this way, legal writing of European Directive is a very complex subject both from legal and linguistic perspective. The aim of this article is to discuss different linguistics difficulties that could appear during the harmonisation of criminal proceedings in European Union, where multilingualism is a key value and to analyse the possible solutions, when dealing with those difficulties. It seems that even if multilingualism is a big challenge to European Union, it could have a positive influence on the quality of European legislation.

Although it is one of the fundamental principles of the criminal process, whose observance is required at all stages of the trial, and therefore in the criminal prosecution stage as well, the principle of the presumption of innocence is often "forgotten" or transformed into the "presumption of guilt" when a tax evasion crime is under investigation. The major interest in investigating these offenses is the recovery of the damage, which is why there is a need to find solvable persons who are involved in these activities. Due to the fact that most of the times it is difficult to prove their involvement, in practice one can notice a tendency to prosecute such persons for the simple fact of having purchased products or services from dummy companies. The article presents examples of judicial practice and seeks to argue the mistaken view of criminal investigation bodies in the light of European directives as well as ECJ jurisprudence.

Due to the importance of noise pollution, the European Commission has published a Green Paper on future noise policy. The experiment is located in Cluj-Napoca. The noise level was measured three times a week, between March and May 2020, in the busiest points of Cluj's districts. The present study shows that the largest exceedances of the allowed limit of 65 db during March - May 2016, was registered in the Mănăştur district of Cluj-Napoca. Also, exceedances of the normal allowed limits were registered in the Mărăşti district in the Cluj-Napoca municipality, but in this case the value was lower, compared to the one registered in the Mănăştur district, respectively 67.66 db. These values raise an alarm, requiring action by the authorities to reduce them. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is positioned at the intersection between the concepts of informed audiences, media literacy, and television content ratings. It begins with a definition of the first two concepts, followed by a consideration of ratings as a mechanism at the service of both. An analysis is offered of the most notable international initiatives (Australia, USA, UK, and The Netherlands), as well as the Spanish case and its associated actions. Rating procedures are necessary mechanisms to facilitate well-informed viewing decisions by TV audiences, especially in the case of children's programming. This article proposes recommendations in relation to the implementation of the European audiovisual media services directive, including the use of a wide range of pictograms to identify types of content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The public procurement market in Romania has become increasingly important in recent years, in the context of the harmonization of the national legislation with the European one. Despite the progress made in recent years, public procurement in Romania continues to be a subject of concerns, due to frequent revisions of procurement regulations (secondary legislation). Absorption of EU funds is often delayed by the numerous complaints lodged by bidders. This paper aims at highlighting the features of the public procurement market in Romania, based on a complex analysis focused on the 2008-2016 period. The data analysis reveals the change in the structure of the public procurement market in Romania in the analysed period. We also notice a fluctuating dynamics of this market, under the impact of the economic factors, both internal and external.

The European Union has published the Directive 2013/34/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 26 June 2013 on the annual financial statements, consolidated financial statements and related reports of certain types of undertakings for reasons of increasing of the competitive advantage and productivity of small and medium‑sized enterprises. The EU Member States have to incorporate the rules of the Directive with their national law by 20 July 2015 at the latest during the year 2016. The intention of this paper is to determine and to evaluate the impacts of transposition of the Directive into the Czech Accounting Law and into the national accounting laws of EU Member States chosen. There is an identification of main differences of Czech Accounting Law and of amended Czech Accounting Law issued 1st of January 2016. There is an impact of implementation of the Directive 2013/34/EU on financial statements and at the same time on requirements of audit for individual categories of Czech accounting entities. In this paper, there is also an analysis of impact of the Directive 2013/34/EU on national accounting laws V4 States and on several further EU Member States. On the basis of comparison of differences recognized, there is an deduction of findings for companies falling into the same group.

This article reviews the aspects of harmonization, development and normative requirements for the organization of accounting in the Republic of Bulgaria, the applicable European directives, national and international accounting standards and normative regulations, organization of practical training in accounting and build of capable accounting professionals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing the state of air quality in urban and suburban areas over the last decades in Europe we can generally say that a clear improvement of many pollution indicators has been achieved. Nevertheless local and national authorities often record increased concentrations of ozone, suspended particles (PM 2.5, PM 10) and carcinogenic compounds, e.g. benzene and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, in urban air. Efforts and progress made on indoor and outdoor air quality with the aim to reducing air pollution and exposure of humans to harmful pollutants in Europe will be briefly reviewed and discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a response to increasing human pressures on marine ecosystems, the legislation aimed at improving the conservation and management of marine coastal areas in European and Contiguous Seas (ECS) underwent crucial advances. ECS, however, still remain largely affected by increasing threats leading to biodiversity loss. Here, by using emblematic case studies and expert knowledge, we review current conservation tools, comparing their application in different areas to assess their effectiveness, potential for synergies, and contradictions. Despite regional differences in their application, the existing legislative frameworks have the potential to regulate human activities and to protect marine biodiversity. However, four challenges remain to be addressed to fully achieve environmental policy goals: (1) Lack of shared vision representing a limitation in transboundary collaboration. Although all EU countries are committed to fulfil EU Directives and other binding international legislative acts, a remarkable heterogeneity exists among countries in the compliance with the common legislation on conservation and in their degree of implementation. (2) Lack of systematic procedures for the selection of protected marine sites. Regional and national approaches in designating Natura 2000 sites and nationally designated marine protected areas (MPAs) reflect varying conservation targets and importance of conservation issues in political agendas. (3) Lack of coherent ecological networks. Natura 2000 sites and other MPAs are still far from reaching the status of effective networks in all considered case studies. (4) Hotspot of conflicts with private economic interests prevailing over conservation aims. Recommendations are given to overcome the fragmented approach still characterizing the conservation and management of coastal marine environments. Holistic, integrated, ecosystem-based, cross-cutting approaches can avoid conflicts among institutions so as to provide effective and timely solutions to current and future challenges concerning the conservation and management of marine ecosystems and associated goods and services.

The accounting field difficulties, generated by the social or cultural climate, often lead to distortions in economic behaviour which involve the loss of economic and financial opportunities or lead to ineffective activities. The increasingly globalisation of economies, the financial requirements statement users and the globalization of capital markets have introduced new forms of financial reporting; thus the contemporary evolution of accounting is marked by the following phenomena: standardization, harmonization, compliance and convergence. Based on the need for modernization and improvement of the European Directives, Directive 2013/34/EU focuses on at least four important aspects: the faithful representation of the information presented in the financial statements, financial reporting cost reduction, fighting against tax evasion and avoiding money laundering. In the present paper, we aim to highlight the elements which will undergo significant change as well as their impact on the entities in our country through the implementation of this directive.

The objective of this paper is to analyse the EU accounting related legislation as a consequence of the introduction of the new European Directive, i.e. Directive 34 of the EC, changing the 4th and the 7th Directive of the EU. These accounting updates will mostly be of the technical and accounting type and will particularly be directed at the financial statements of different sized companies. Therefore, in light of these recent developments, we have herein focused on the current accounting system applied in the EU, which comprises the IAS/IFRS standards and the existing national regulations and is changed by the implementation of the EEC accounting directives.

Flood Risk Management (FRM) is often essential to reduce the risk of flooding to properties and infrastructure in urban landscapes, but typically degrades the habitats required by many aquatic animals for foraging, refuge and reproduction. This conflict between flood risk management and biodiversity is driven by conflicting directives, such as the EU Floods and Water Framework Directives, and has led to a requirement for synergistic solutions for FRM that integrate river restoration actions. Unfortunately, ecological monitoring and appraisal of combined FRM and river restoration works is inadequate. This paper uses a case study from the River Don in Northern England to evaluate the effects of the FRM and subsequent river restoration works on instream habitat and the associated fish assemblage over an 8-year period. Flood risk management created a homogeneous channel but did not negatively affect fish species composition or densities, specifically brown trout. Densities of adult brown trout were comparable pre and post-FRM, while densities of juvenile bullhead and brown trout increased dramatically post FRM. River restoration works created a heterogeneous channel but did not significantly improve species composition or brown trout density. Species composition post-river restoration works returned to that similar to pre-FRM over a short-term period, but with improved numbers of juvenile bullhead. Although habitat complexity increased after river restoration works, long-term changes in species composition and densities were marginal, probably because the river reset habitat complexity within the time framework of the study. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although it is one of the fundamental principles of the criminal process, whose observance is required at all stages of the trial, and therefore in the criminal prosecution stage as well, the principle of the presumption of innocence is often "forgotten" or transformed into the "presumption of guilt" when a tax evasion crime is under investigation. The major interest in investigating these offenses is the recovery of the damage, which is why there is a need to find solvable persons who are involved in these activities. Due to the fact that most of the times it is difficult to prove their involvement, in practice one can notice a tendency to prosecute such persons for the simple fact of having purchased products or services from dummy companies. The article presents examples of judicial practice and seeks to argue the mistaken view of criminal investigation bodies in the light of European directives as well as ECJ jurisprudence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Traceability of products requires their unique identification. In Germany blood products have been encoded by Eurocode since 1998. EU Directives 2004/23/EC, 2006/86/ EC and 2015/565/EC demanded unique identification and safe traceability procedure also for tissues and cells. Eurocode IBLS e.V. and the German Society of Transfusion Medicine and Immunohematology (DGTI) working parties 'Tissue Preparations' and 'Automation and Data Processing' supplemented the already available Eurocode nomenclature for blood products with further data structures for tissue preparations. Based on an agreement with the European Commission, Eurocode Product Codes can be used as 'product number' within the Single European Code (SEC). Several data elements of Eurocode can be used to create the complete SEC data structure, except the tissue establishment number. This can be found on the EU Coding Platform in the internet. Consequently, existing software and labeling solutions in Eurocode format could be easily upgraded with SEC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Strategic Universe Journal / Univers Strategic is the property of Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University, Institute for Security Studies 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 public procurement market in Romania has become increasingly important in recent years, in the context of the harmonization of the national legislation with the European one. Despite the progress made in recent years, public procurement in Romania continues to be a subject of concerns, due to frequent revisions of procurement regulations (secondary legislation). Absorption of EU funds is often delayed by the numerous complaints lodged by bidders. This paper aims at highlighting the features of the public procurement market in Romania, based on a complex analysis focused on the 2008-2016 period. The data analysis reveals the change in the structure of the public procurement market in Romania in the analysed period. We also notice a fluctuating dynamics of this market, under the impact of the economic factors, both internal and external. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial audit, by its object, is a mean of helping to stabilize the economy at national and international level, and a special concern is given to professional bodies, national and European authorities in developing regulations to improve, facilitate and, in at the same time, to standardize financial audit procedures. Each European country adopts laws, codes, ordinances, and practices that aim to comply with European standards. Drawing from this consideration, we conducted research on the basis of analyzing and comparing the financial audit legislation of two countries in the European geographical area, one member of the European Union (Romania) and one outside the EU area (Republic of Moldova), but with aspirations for integration in the European Union. The objective of this research is to identify and to analyze the convergences and divergences between the norms found in the two states in accordance with European directives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Floods are challenging the resilience of societies all over the world. In many countries there are discussions on diversifying the strategies for flood risk management, which implies some sort of policy change. To understand the possibilities of such change, a thorough understanding of the forces of stability and change of underlying governance arrangements is required. It follows from the path dependency literature that countries which rely strongly on flood infrastructures, as part of flood defense strategies, would be more path dependent. Consequently there is a higher chance to find more incremental change in these countries than in countries that have a more diversified set of strategies. However, comparative and detailed empirical studies that may help scrutinize this assumption are lacking. To address this knowledge gap, this paper investigates how six European countries (Belgium, England, France, The Netherlands, Poland and Sweden) essentially differ with regard to their governance of flood risks. To analyze stability and change, we focus on how countries are responding to certain societal and ecological driving forces (ecological turn; climate change discourses; European policies; and the increasing prevalence of economic rationalizations) that potentially affect the institutional arrangements for flood risk governance. Taking both the variety of flood risk governance in countries and their responses to driving forces into account, we can clarify the conditions of stability or change of flood risk governance arrangements more generally. The analysis shows that the national-level impact of driving forces is strongly influenced by the flood risk governance arrangements in the six countries. Path dependencies are indeed visible in countries with high investments in flood infrastructure accompanied by strongly institutionalized governance arrangements (Poland, the Netherlands) but not only there. Also more diversified countries that are less dependent on flood infrastructure and flood defense only (England) show path dependencies and mostly incremental change. More substantial changes are visible in countries that show moderate diversification of strategies (Belgium, France) or countries that ‘have no strong path yet’ in comprehensive flood risk governance (Sweden). This suggests that policy change can be expected when there is both the internal need and will to change and a barrage of (external) driving forces pushing for change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]