scholarly journals Confronting Energy Poverty in Europe: A Research and Policy Agenda

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 858
Author(s):  
Stefan Bouzarovski ◽  
Harriet Thomson ◽  
Marine Cornelis
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Clean Energy ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Energy Poverty ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Multiple Strategies ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Research And Policy ◽  
The Eu

This paper scrutinizes existing policy efforts to address energy poverty at the governance scale of the European Union (EU) and its constituent Member States. Our main starting point is the recent expansion of energy poverty policies at the EU level, fuelled by the regulatory provisions of the Clean Energy for all Europeans Package, as well as the establishment of an EU Energy Poverty Observatory. Aided by a systematic and customized methodology, we survey the extensive scientific body of work that has recently been published on the topic, as well as the multiple strategies and measures to address energy poverty that have been formulated across the EU. This includes the principal mitigation approaches adopted by key European and national institutions. We develop a framework to judge the distributional and procedural justice provisions within the recently adopted National Energy and Climate Plans, as an indicator of the power, ability and resolve of relevant institutions to combat the causes and consequences of energy injustice. We also provide a research and policy agenda for future action, highlighting a series of scientific and decision-making challenges in the European and global context.

The Law & Politics of Brexit: Volume II

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
Legal Framework ◽  
Comprehensive Analysis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Trade Relations ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Financial Settlement ◽  
The Eu

This book provides the first comprehensive analysis of the withdrawal agreement concluded between the United Kingdom and the European Union to create the legal framework for Brexit. Building on a prior volume, it overviews the process of Brexit negotiations that took place between the UK and the EU from 2017 to 2019. It also examines the key provisions of the Brexit deal, including the protection of citizens’ rights, the Irish border, and the financial settlement. Moreover, the book assesses the governance provisions on transition, decision-making and adjudication, and the prospects for future EU–UK trade relations. Finally, it reflects on the longer-term challenges that the implementation of the 2016 Brexit referendum poses for the UK territorial system, for British–Irish relations, as well as for the future of the EU beyond Brexit.

EU-Sanktionspolitik in geopolitischen Zeiten: Europas schärfstes Außeninstrument und seine Herausforderungen

IG ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 278-294
Author(s):  
Niklas Helwig ◽  
Juha Jokela ◽  
Clara Portela
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
Current Debate ◽  
Global Competition ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Policy Tool ◽  
Restrictive Measures ◽  
Fine Tune ◽  
The Eu

Sanctions are one of the toughest and most coercive tools available to the European Union (EU). They are increasingly used in order to respond to breaches of international norms and adverse security developments in the neighbourhood and beyond. However, the EU sanctions policy is facing a number of challenges related to the efficiency of decision-making, shortcomings in the coherent implementation of restrictive measures, as well as the adjustments to the post-Brexit relationship with the United Kingdom. This article analyses these key challenges for EU sanctions policy. Against the backdrop of an intensifying global competition, it points out the need to weatherproof this policy tool. The current debate on the future of the EU provides an opportunity to clarify the strategic rationale of EU sanctions and to fine-tune the sanctions machinery.

Towards an Enhanced Institutional Structure of the Eurasian Economic Union

2020 ◽  
Vol 152 ◽  
pp. 102-111
Author(s):  
Igor V. Pilipenko ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
Institutional Structure ◽  
Governance Structures ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Integration Process ◽  
Eurasian Economic Union ◽  
Economic Commission ◽  
Economic Union ◽  
The Eu

This article considers how to enhance the institutional structure of the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) in order to enable timely decision-making and implementation of governance decisions in the interests of Eurasian integration deepening. We compare the governance structures of the EAEU and the European Union (EU) using the author’s technique and through the lens of theories of neofunctionalism and intergovernmentalism elaborated with respect to the EU. We propose to determine a major driver of the integration process at this stage (the College of the Eurasian Economic Commission or the EAEU member states), to reduce the number of decision-making bodies within the current institutional structure of the EAEU, and to divide clearly authority and competence of remaining bodies to exclude legal controversies in the EAEU.

scholarly journals THE INFLUENCES OF THE DIGITAL REVOLUTION ON THE EDUCATIONAL SYSTEM OF THE EU COUNTRIES

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Cristina Gabriela Cosmulese ◽  
Veronica Grosu ◽  
Elena Hlaciuc ◽  
Artur Zhavoronok
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
Member State ◽  
Educational System ◽  
Public Utility ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Digital Evolution ◽  
Digital Revolution ◽  
Adult Participation ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Eu

In the context of the information skills development programs that are being developed by the EU, there is an increasing interest in the acquisition and use of digital competences as an impact factor on the educational system at all its was levels. The present study aims to analyze the evolution of digital specializations generated by the digital evolution, in parallel with the development of the educational system, through a statistical analysis of the main indicators that have been reported at EU level on early education abandonment, employment rate of graduates, employment of IT specialists by gender, adult participation in gender-based learning, and other impact indicators that demonstrate the capacity of the population in the digital domain through the use of ICT solutions. The object of research were the statistical indicators reported for 2017 by Eurostat at the level of the European Union, for each member state of the union, obtaining a total of 29 statistical observations. The data were modelled through the GRETL statistical program, obtaining a model based on the smallest squares method in 2 phases. This paper shows that there is a need to assimilate the European approaches in the field of digital evolution, a necessity which varies according to the economic development of each member state, Romania being ranked in the chapter of assimilation of the objectives of the open education agenda in the second part of the European ranking, including based on the low absorption rates provided for Union programs in this area. The study theoretically proves and empirically confirms that the function obtained through modelling can be assimilated to the service demand function and can be integrated into the offer function harmonized with the information factor. This research study represents a contribution to the field of management of public utility companies and can be useful for educational institutions, students, the labour market and the general public, providing a starting point for further indepth research in this area. Keywords: educational system, digital revolution, economic development, EU Agenda.

scholarly journals The World in the Post-Truth Era or How Too Much Love of TINA Will Kill You

2017 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 7 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jarl K Kampen
Keyword(s):  
Fossil Fuels ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Global Level ◽  
Global Context ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Alternative Facts ◽  
Research Domains ◽  
Research Domain ◽  
The Eu

Aim: The temptation to provide simple answers to complex problems exists for politicians and scientists alike. This essay attempts to briefly outline the complexity of present day problems at global level, taking as a starting point the question “how quick will the EU collapse?” Design / Research methods: Brief discussions are given of separate yet interconnected, causally related and overlapping natural and social research domains, illustrating the need for qualified multidisciplinary spokesmen able to separate facts from “alternative facts.”Conclusions / findings:  Making the simple anthropological observation that people can choose policies that are self-destructive does not make social science politicized or value-biased. A society that considers global warming, depletion and pollution caused by fossil fuels as mere externalities makes a demonstrable erratic choice. Because one of the major goals of science is to establish (in)validity of “common sense,” it is duty of academics to tell our students that societies, including entire scientific departments, can make consistent erratic choices.Originality / value of the article: This essay may help scholars and practitioners to start to look at their research domain in a (much) wider global context.

Knowledge-Intensive Entrepreneurship in the Economy of the European Union

2014 ◽  
pp. 43-52
Author(s):  
G. Olevsky
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Quality Of Information ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship ◽  
The Eu

The article studies role of knowledge in business and analyzes tendencies of the formation of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (business) in the EU. It is shown that for small and medium-sized enterprises prospects of expansion of knowledge production and sales of products and services are associated with the internationalization of business. The author proposes the matrix of decision-making entrepreneurs, depending on the completeness and quality of information at their disposal on the market.

The European Union in Nice: A Minimalist Approach to a Historic Challenge

2001 ◽  
Vol 36 (2) ◽  
pp. 184-208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karlheinz Neunreither
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
European Union ◽  
Common Good ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
The European Union ◽  
National Interests ◽  
National Elections ◽  
Minimalist Approach ◽  
National Leaders ◽  
The Eu

In Early December 2000 The Political Leaders Of The European Union (EU) met in Nice in order to decide on the treaty adaptations needed before the enlargement envisaged for the next decade. The overall goal was to render the EU more efficient and its decision making more transparent. The outcome of this important event was widely considered as disappointing. Some observers even came to the conclusion that there were no leaders of the EU as such, but only rather narrow-minded, egotistical national leaders who did not – with minor exceptions – care about the ‘common good’ at all. Never had it become so evident, in the opinion of some, that the European perspective had been fading away for many years, and that it was being replaced by national considerations which are often short-sighted and limited to the horizon of the next national elections. One of the classical theories on European integration, neo-functionalism, measures the progress of integration in terms of the Europeanization of its political elites. From this perspective, the top decision-makers seem to be on a downward trend. Is it then a case for the opposite theory, that of intergovernmentalism, which claims that national interests continue to be in the centre of EU decision-making and that tough bargaining is of its very nature?

scholarly journals The energy divide: Integrating energy transitions, regional inequalities and poverty trends in the European Union

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-86 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Bouzarovski ◽  
Sergio Tirado Herrero
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Temporal Trends ◽  
Building Blocks ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Energy Poverty ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Energy Transitions ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Spatial And Temporal Trends

Energy poverty can be understood as the inability of a household to secure a socially and materially necessitated level of energy services in the home. While the condition is widespread across Europe, its spatial and social distribution is highly uneven. In this paper, the existence of a geographical energy poverty divide in the European Union (EU) provides a starting point for conceptualizing and exploring the relationship between energy transitions – commonly described as wide-ranging processes of socio-technical change – and existing patterns of regional economic inequality. We have undertaken a comprehensive analysis of spatial and temporal trends in the national-scale patterns of energy poverty, as well as gas and electricity prices. The results of our work indicate that the classic economic development distinction between the core and periphery also holds true in the case of energy poverty, as the incidence of this phenomenon is significantly higher in Southern and Eastern European EU Member States. The paper thus aims to provide the building blocks for a novel theoretical integration of questions of path-dependency, uneven development and material deprivation in existing interpretations of energy transitions.

Grexit and Brexit: Incidents, accidents and wake-up calls on the bumpy road of European (dis)integration

2020 ◽  
pp. 096977642097061
Author(s):  
George Petrakos ◽  
Alexandra Sotiriou
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Policy Making ◽  
Maastricht Treaty ◽  
Policy Agenda ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Policy Integration ◽  
The Real ◽  
Eu Policy ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
The Eu

Almost 30 years since the Maastricht Treaty and 20 years since the introduction of the euro, it is clear that the European Union (EU) has lost its appeal to wider constituencies and citizen groups that realize that the promises for convergence and prosperity have not been delivered. Rising dissatisfaction and Euroscepticism (expressed both in the ballot box and in Eurobarometer reports) is evident even in traditional pro-EU countries of the European core. As this long decade comes to an end, incidents (or accidents) like these ones, either in the form of open discontent, or in the form of rising populism, will exert pressure on the EU policy agenda that will either increase the frequency of deadlocks and inefficiency in policy making or will eventually lead to an honest effort to address the roots of these phenomena. This paper examines the drivers behind these two incidents (and the ones that may follow) and the limits of the current market and policy integration arrangements in the EU, arguing that a new policy agenda addressing the real weaknesses of the Union is inevitable if disintegration is to be avoided. Luckily enough, some elements of this new policy agenda may already be here.

scholarly journals Judicial Enforcement of Environmental Democracy: a Critical Analysis of Case Law on Access to Environmental Information in the European Union

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-43
Author(s):  
Marjan Peeters
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Public Engagement ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Environmental Information ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Access ◽  
Environmental Democracy ◽  
Gain Access ◽  
The Eu

Abstract Since the 1970s, the concept of environmental democracy, including the right to gain access to environmental information, has emerged as an important concept to promote and ensure public engagement in governmental environmental decision-making. While it is, generally, understood that environmental procedural rights deserve protection across the globe, it remains to be identified to what extent, in practice, the application of such rights differs across jurisdictions. Such differences may be caused by specific understandings of democracy and institutional characteristics. In light of this, this article analyses the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) regarding the right of access to environmental information. It observes that the EU legislature has implemented the right of access to environmental information more ambitiously than required under the Aarhus Convention, particularly with regard to legislative information. Moreover, the CJEU has steered EU institutions, including the European Commission, towards even greater transparency. The judicial reasoning by the CJEU is principled and refers to general values regarding openness and transparency codified in primary EU law and in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights. These judicial developments also highlight the importance of promoting discourse on the implications of a rigorous approach to the right of access to environmental information, including the question of whether enabling wider public engagement necessarily leads to better decision-making. Finally, the article promotes the need for comparative research on how the right to gain access to environmental information is developing across the world.

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