Model for assessment of external transport costs

The term "external effect" can be explain as a condition that occurs when production or consumption activities of an entity affect the welfare of other(s) subject(s) without having to pay compensation for that impact. The major difficulty for determining external costs is that they cannot be confirmed through the application of market laws and well-known market analysis with interactive effects of demand and supply. The transport greatly affects the quality of life of people, flora and fauna. The interest of studying transport externalities is objective of several researches and special attention is given to how reduce these negative externalities of transport in practice. This paper considers the external transport costs, their significance and their monetary values estimated in relevant EU studies. The methodology for estimating external transport costs as well as specification of a model for assessment of these costs in Republic of North Macedonia is also shown in this paper. The results obtained by this model are discussed and commented.

Determination of 40 Elements in Powdered Infant Formulas and Related Risk Assessment

The aim of the study was to analyze all powdered infant formulas authorized and commercialized in Italy at the time of the study to measure the concentrations of 40 elements, and to estimate the infants’ intake of some toxic heavy metals for assessing possible related health risks. For this purpose, an optimized multi-element method was used through inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. Be, B, Al, Zr, Nb, Sb, Te, W, V, Cr and As concentrations were <LOD in more than 30% of samples. The levels of the other elements resulted to be very variable (more than 2000 µg g−1 for Ca and K or less than 1 ng g−1 for others). The results were similar to those reported by other European Union (EU) studies, but different from those recovered outside the EU. These differences should be eliminated to guarantee the right to health worldwide. The concentrations of Cd, Mn, Ni, Pb, and Zn in the infant formulas studied were always below the considered limits. However, it is important to check for potentially toxic elements in infant formulas to protect the health of this sensitive population. The data found in this study could be used as benchmark data for future research.

The EU Administration of Mostar: Implications for the EU’s evolving peacebuilding approach

This article explores the EU’s efforts to reunify and reconstruct Mostar through the seminal experiment of EUAM (1994-1996), which combined peacebuilding with urban reconstruction in an innovative way. The aim is to identify lessons to be learned from the experiences of EUAM that can assist the EU to adjust its peacebuilding approach to better address post-conflict divides in cities where the EU currently is engaged. Cities divided by violent conflict tend to freeze the conflict, as they remained divided regardless of a conflict settlement, and they become serious obstacles to peace and a challenge to peacebuilding. Far too little is known about the role of urban space in building peace in ethno-nationally contested cities. By marrying critical urban studies with critical peacebuilding literature this article brings novelty to EU-studies and advances our understanding of the EU’s role in peacebuilding as well as in the Western Balkans.

Der Brexit-Prozess: ein „wicked problem“ für die Europäische Union und die Integrationsforschung

The paper looks at the challenges Brexit poses for EU studies as well as European politics. It discusses the exit of the UK from the European Union as a ‘wicked problem’ and the Brexit negotiations as tightly coupled ‘multi-level games’. By bringing together the two theories the article is offering a new perspective on the complexity of the issues and negotiations on the one hand and the disorder that has been typical for the whole Brexit process on the other.

Measuring the Success of the Presidency of the Council of the EU

This paper aims to contribute to the ongoing debate on criteria for measuring the performance of the rotating Presidencies of the Council of the EU. The comparison between Austria and Croatia, two countries that concluded the two most recent Council Presidency Trios, can be illustrative in identifying the main factors that can influence the overall performance of rotating Presidencies. Based on the series of quantitative and qualitative indicators, the overall score of both countries’ Presidencies turned to be positive, despite some failures of these Presidencies to demonstrate a firm commitment to fundamental EU values. In view of the lack of evaluations of the Council Presidencies based on verifiable, measurable indicators, this paper seeks to contribute to the development of a more objective methodological framework for the assessment of the future Presidencies of the Council as a still under-researched area within EU studies.

The European Union After the Rome Declaration: A New Opening or a New Euro-pessimism?

The European Union has been a rare feat achieved by the continent’s societies. Today, almost 15 years since its biggest enlargement and 10 years since the signing of the Treaty of Lisbon, Europe is facing unprecedented challenges, both globally and internally. It long seemed that the way to take on the challenges of the changing world was through united diversity—a stance that is no longer a given. Adopted on the 60th anniversary of the Treaty of Rome, the Rome Declaration was supposed to address the greatest challenges lying ahead of the EU and its member states.Based on an analysis of the Rome Declaration in the light of the Treaty of Lisbon, this paper outlines the biggest threats and possible scenarios of the European integration process. The ruminations below indicate that the declaration signed by the leaders of the 27 member states by and large successfully determined the key problems of European integration. However, contrary to the appearances, it fails to address them in substance. The overriding research method adopted in this study was a critical analysis of the subject literature, as well as EU studies and documents.

Introduction

Chapter 1 introduces the book by briefly discussing the Eurozone crisis and how it has contributed to Europe’s crisis of legitimacy. The chapter begins by describing EU actors’ initial responses to the Eurozone crisis, focused on “governing by the rules and ruling by the numbers” and characterized by policies of austerity and structural reform. It then discusses such actors’ subsequent shift to reinterpreting the rules “by stealth” in reaction to deteriorating economic performance and growing political discontent. The chapter next connects the problems related to Eurozone policies, politics, and processes to questions of legitimacy. It defines legitimacy in the EU studies terms of input (political legitimacy), output (performance legitimacy), and throughput (procedural legitimacy) and considers how the EU’s institutional context has complicated Eurozone crisis governance. It then sketches out EU actors’ different pathways to legitimacy, related to their differences in power, position, and bases for legitimacy. The chapter ends with a methodological note about the book’s analytic framework of discursive institutionalism, explaining how its focus on ideas and discursive interactions in institutional context provides a useful bridge to considerations of both power and legitimacy.

Conceptualizing the Parliamentarization and Politicization of European Policies

In the past 20 years, two related literature strands have gradually moved centre stage of the attention of EU Studies scholars. The first is preoccupied with the ‘politicization of European integration’, a multi-faceted concept that aims to tie together a multitude of political and societal manifestations underlying an increasing controversiality of the EU. A second concerns the parliamentarization of the EU, referring to the changing (institutional) role and EU-related activities national parliaments engage in. The key point of this contribution is simple, but often overlooked: We can and should be seeing parliamentarization as a necessary, yet insufficient, component of a wider process of politicization. Doing so goes beyond the often ad hoc or pars pro toto theoretical assumptions in both literature strands, sheds new light on the normative consequences attached to these phenomena, and furthers a more complete understanding of how a ‘comprehensive’ politicization of European policies develops.