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222. The Post-2010 Lisbon Process: The Key Role of Education in Employment and Competitiveness
- Author:
- Daniel Gros and Felix Roth
- Publication Date:
- 12-2008
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- This paper points out that education should be the central objective of the post-2010 Lisbon Process. Compared to other OECD countries, the member states of the European Union perform poorly when it comes to key indicators of innovative potential, such as the percentage of students enrolled in tertiary education and the educational quality of Europe's students. Education makes a three-fold contribution to a country's economic health. First it is beneficial for employment rates, second it is a key driver for long-term economic growth and third it appears to be beneficial for social cohesion. It will be crucial for European countries to attain higher levels of tertiary education and increase the quality of their education.
- Topic:
- Economics, Education, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Lisbon
223. The New EU Strategy towards Central Asia: A View from the Region
- Author:
- Nargis Kassenova
- Publication Date:
- 01-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The German Presidency of the EU in the first half of 2007 inspired great hopes regarding the development of relations between the European Union and the states of Central Asia. In Brussels and other European capitals, it was expected that Germany, as an EU political and economic heavyweight and one of the key promoters of the Common Foreign and Security Policy, would be able to foster a coordinated Central Asian policy giving direction and coherence to European engagement in the region. It was widely hoped – within both the governments of Central Asia and the societies of the region – that Germany, which has traditionally been the most pro-active European country in the region, would elevate the relations between the EU and Central Asian states to a higher level.
- Topic:
- Foreign Policy, International Cooperation, and Bilateral Relations
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Central Asia, Asia, and Germany
224. What do we know about the economics of adaptation?
- Author:
- Asbjørn Aaheim and Marianne Aasen
- Publication Date:
- 02-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- An attempt to summarise the state of knowledge about social and economic challenges related to climate change, for example based on the latest IPCC reports, would probably give the impression that impacts, adaptation and vulnerability are a question of interactions between people and institutions within small local communities (IPCC, 2007a), whereas mitigation can be addressed by political analyses and economics (IPCC, 2007b). In most economic studies, the motivation behind mitigation is presented as that of limiting greenhouse gas emissions to a given target
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Economics, and Energy Policy
- Political Geography:
- Europe
225. Adaptation and Mainstreaming of EU Climate Change Policy: An Actor-Based Perspective
- Author:
- Darryn McEvoy, Kate Lonsdale, and Piotr Matczak
- Publication Date:
- 02-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Adaptation to climate change (in comparison to the mitigation agenda) is a relatively new focus for both research and policy communities. Drawing from ongoing 'actor-based' research being carried out for the ADAM project, this briefing paper reports on the knowledge base being developed through a process of engagement with experts and key stakeholders across a variety of countries, landscape types, sectors, institutions and actors. The concluding discussion then focuses on some of the implications of these early findings for both EU policy and decision-making more generally.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Energy Policy, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- Europe
226. The EU's Limited Response to Belarus' Pseudo 'New Foreign Policy'
- Author:
- George Dura
- Publication Date:
- 02-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- Relations between the European Union and Belarus have seen little change since President Alexander Lukashenko came to power in 1994. Belarus has languished in a state of selfimposed political isolation despite the subsequent waves of enlargement – most notably, the 2004 enlargement which made Belarus a direct neighbour of the EU – and the formulation in 2004 of the European Union's Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The EU's dual-track approach of imposing sanctions and trade restrictions whilst promoting democratisation in Belarus have so far yielded minimal results.
- Topic:
- Security and Foreign Policy
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Belarus
227. What lessons can be learned from the EU emissions trading scheme?
- Author:
- Christian Egenhofer and Noriko Fujiwara
- Publication Date:
- 02-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The EU emissions trading scheme (EU ETS) is designed to help EU member states achieve their commitments to limit or reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in a cost-effective way. It was not meant to work as a stand-alone tool but as part of the package of abatement measures across the board. It is a cap-and-trade system. Member states first impose caps on GHG emissions – initially only CO2 until 2012 – from installations in specified sectors, mainly the power sector and industry subsectors (e.g. steel, cement, glass, paper and pulp). Emissions from these sectors amount to 40% of total EU emissions. Next, they allocate allowances to installations. Each installation surrenders a number of allowances equal to the total emissions from that installation during the preceding year.
- Topic:
- Climate Change, Economics, and Environment
- Political Geography:
- Europe
228. The Commission's New Border Package: Does it take us one step closer to a 'cyber-fortress Europe'?
- Author:
- Florian Geyer, Sergio Carrera, and Elspeth Guild
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The European Commission presented a new 'Border Package' on 13 February 2008, setting out its vision of how to foster the further management of the EU's external border. Billed in a Commission press release as a “comprehensive vision for an integrated European border management system for the 21st century”, one of the key elements of this package is a Communication aimed at establishing an EU entry/exit system registering the movement of specific categories of third country nationals at the external borders of the EU. This Communication furthermore recommends the setting up of an Automated Border Control System enabling the automated verification of a traveller's identity (for both citizens and non-EU citizens alike), based on biometric technology as well as an Electronic Travel Authorisation System – abbreviated to ETA – which would oblige non- EU travellers to provide personal data for a pre-departure online check.
- Topic:
- Security and Science and Technology
- Political Geography:
- Europe
229. Making sense of Sarkozy's Union for the Mediterranean
- Author:
- Michael Emerson
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- resident Sarkozy's proposed Union for the Mediterranean (or UMed) has so far been poorly conceived and, to say the least, awkwardly presented politically. However this does not mean that nothing good can come of it. The Barcelona process and its confusing combination with the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) have neither been a disaster nor a brilliant success. There is a case for streamlining a single European Mediterranean policy, rationalising and properly integrating Barcelona, the ENP and new ideas that the UMed initiative may produce. Both Italy and Spain as well as the South Mediterranean states themselves appear concerned not to undermine the existing structures (Barcelona and ENP). Steps could be made to lighten the overweight participation of the EU and all its 27 member states in too many meetings with too many participants and too few results, drawing on models that have emerged in the EU's Northern maritime regions. However, the EU as a whole will not agree to delegate the essential initiative on strategic matters to just its Southern coastal states – as has been made clear in recent exchanges between President Sarkozy and Chancellor Merkel. In addition the EU will also want to maintain a balance between its Northern and Southern priorities, and if the UMed becomes a new impetus for the South, an equivalent but different policy move can be contemplated for the EU's East European neighbours
- Topic:
- International Relations, Security, Foreign Policy, International Political Economy, and Regional Cooperation
- Political Geography:
- Europe, Spain, Italy, and Barcelona
230. What Future for the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice? Recommendations on EU Migration and Borders Policies in a Globalising World
- Author:
- Didier Bigo, Sergio Carrera, and Elspeth Guild
- Publication Date:
- 03-2008
- Content Type:
- Policy Brief
- Institution:
- Centre for European Policy Studies
- Abstract:
- The European Interest: Succeeding in the Age of Globalisation, COM(2007) 581 final, Brussels 3.10.2007, which states: “The EU is already working on many of the policy elements needed to equip it to take on the challenge of globalization with confidence…in the coming months, the Commission will be putting new ideas on the table to address these key challenges…Review of internal policies is already under way, aiming to reshape Europe to face gloablisation and give it the right platform to look beyond its borders.” Further the Communication identifies “Migration in a Globalized World” as one of the key political objectives and states: “In a Europe with no internal borders, the changing demands of an ageing society and a labour market in constant evolution have challenged established assumptions about immigration… a new global approach is needed so that migration strikes the right balance between the risk of labour market shortages, economic impacts, negative social consequences, integration policies and external policy objectives”. Information about the current financial Framework Programme on Solidarity and the Management of Migration Flows for the period 2007- 2013 and about the four Funds comprising it (European Refugee Fund, External Borders Fund, the European Return Fund and the European Integration Fund) can be found at See the original European Commission's proposal in the Communication on a framework programme on Solidarity and the Management of Migration Flows for the period.
- Topic:
- Human Rights, Migration, Immigration, and Law
- Political Geography:
- Europe and Brussels