Showing papers on "European union published in 1998"

Economy and Society

Abstract: The four Visegrad states — Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia (until 1993 Czechoslovakia) and Hungary — form a compact area between Germany and Austria in the west and the states of the former USSR in the east. They are bounded by the Baltic in the north and the Danube river in the south. They are cut by the Sudeten and Carpathian mountain ranges, which divide Poland off from the other states. Poland is an extension of the North European plain and like the latter is drained by rivers that flow from south to north west — the Oder, the Vlatava and the Elbe, the Vistula and the Bug. The Danube is the great exception, flowing from its source eastward, turning through two 90-degree turns to end up in the Black Sea, forming the barrier and often the political frontier between central Europe and the Balkans. Hungary to the east of the Danube is also an open plain. The region is historically and culturally part of western Europe, but its eastern Marches now represents a vital strategic zone between Germany and the core of the European Union to the west and the Russian zone to the east.

The advocacy coalition framework: revisions and relevance for Europe

Abstract: The advocacy coalition framework (ACF) has generated considerable interest among European policy scholars. This article summarizes some of the more important findings concerning, and changes to, the ACF since the last major revision in 1993. These include: (1) a much clearer model of the individual; (2) a clearer, more integrated concept of ‘policy subsystem;’ (3) much greater attention to the problematic nature of collective behavior among people who share policy beliefs; and (4) some suggestions concerning methods of ascertaining the existence and membership of advocacy coalitions. The article also briefly addresses the ACF's applicability to parliamentary systems, to the countries of Eastern Europe, and to the dynamic politics of the European Union.

Governance without government? Rethinking public administration

Abstract: The concept of governance has come to be used more commonly in the discussion of public administration, but the meaning of the term is not always clear. There is a growing body of European literature that can be characterized as "governance without government, " stressing as it does the importance of networks, partnerships, and markets (especially international markets). This body of literature can be related to the new public management; yet it has a number of distinctive elements. This article discusses the strengths and weaknesses of this literature and its applicability to public administration in the United States. The traditional conceptualization of the public sector has come under increasing strain during the past several decades. The idea that national governments are the major actors in public policy and that they are able to influence the economy and society through their actions now appears to be in doubt. Some of the strain on national governments has been the result of the increased importance of the international environment and of an arguably diminished capacity of those governments to insulate their economies and societies from the global pressures. Those pressures on national governments come about through international capital markets (Strange 1996; but see Hirst and Thompson 1996; Peters 1998) as well as through supranational organizations such as the European Union (Scharpf 1997). Another strain on the traditional conception of governing arises from changes in the relationship between government and the private sector. At the extreme it is argued that "governance without government" is becoming the dominant pattern of management for advanced industrial democracies (Rhodes 1997). Other characterizations include "hollow" states and governments 223/Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory J-PART 8(1998):2:223-243 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.163 on Wed, 23 Nov 2016 04:26:57 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Rethinking Public Administration (Peters 1993; Rhodes 1994) and "negotiated" states and economies (Nielsen and Pedersen 1990). In all these depictions of changing patterns of government, it is argued that societal actors have become influential over policy and administration and have done so in ways that were unimaginable in earlier times. Government is seen as weakened and as incapable of "steering" as it had in the past. The traditional concept of government as a controlling and regulating organization for society is argued to be outmoded (Bekke, Kickert, and Kooiman 1995). The discussion of governance without government has been largely European and has concentrated primarily in the United Kingdom and the Netherlands. The European roots of this debate appear to be in part a function of the preeminent role of government in the welfare state in Europe and of the strength and established position of interest groups in these societies (Kooiman 1993; Schmitter and Lembruch 1979). In essence government has much more power to lose, more areas of policy involvement, and a network structure already in place that can replace or supplement the power of government. In the United Kingdom the emergence of this pattern of governing is a direct challenge to the Whitehall model of strong, centralized government. Although the governance debate has been largely European, it is beginning to diffuse to the United States. There is some objective evidence that the same changes-such as contracting, public-private partnerships, and a variety of other interactions with the private sector-move government away from its role as the central source of the "authoritative allocation of values" for the society. Also, in the United States there is the beginning of a body of literature that relates these changes in the relationship with society to broader questions of managing the State (O'Toole 1997; Thomas 1997). The objectives and concrete design of administrative reform mirror the historical, political, and societal roles of public administration as well as its internal culture. Such reforms are path-dependent, probably to a much greater extent than we generally realize. Path-dependency refers to the range of policy choice available for administrative reformers; reform strategies are embedded in systems of norms and administrative practices and therefore reform strategies are shaped more by what already exists than by the desired model of public administration. In this article we will examine the emerging governance debate in Europe and the United States and will describe both the dimensions of the debate over the capacity of the state to continue to govern as it has in the past and the development of 224/J-PART, April 1998 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.163 on Wed, 23 Nov 2016 04:26:57 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Rethinking Public Administration alternative mechanisms for exerting control over society. We will also address the question of whether this is purely an academic debate, the product of developing a theoretical language suitable for the analysis, or whether a real change is occurring in the nature of government. WHAT IS THE GOVERNANCE DEBATE? The conception of governance as it has developed over the past several years in the European debate has several constituent elements. As we indicated above, however, taken together these elements would amount to a prescription for steering society through less direct means and weakening the power of the State to control policy. These changes would, in turn, have implications for the meaning of democracy in the contemporary political system. We will not evaluate these arguments here; rather we will save that for the discussion of how the governance arguments fit within the context of both European and American public administration. The Importance of Networks Perhaps the dominant feature of the governance model is the argument that networks have come to dominate public policy. The assertion is that these amorphous collections of actors-not formal policy-making institutions in government-control policy. State agencies may place some imprimatur on the policy, so the argument goes, but the real action occurs within the private sector. Further, in the more extreme versions of the argument, if governments attempt to impose control over policy, these networks have sufficient resiliency and capacity for self-organization1 (Kooiman 1993; Marsh and Rhodes 1992; de Bruijn and ten Heuvelhof 1997) to evade the control of govermment. It long has been argued that the private sector has real influence over public policy through structures with varying degrees of formality, but this conception carries the argument to that of dominance. This dominance is possible partly because the State has become delegitimated. The loss of legitimacy is in part because state actors are excessively clumsy, bureaucratic, and path dependent and in part because of the control of information and implementation structures by private actors. It appears that whatever the State does it does poorly, while the private sector (for profit and not for profit) is more effective. 225/J-PART, April 1998 'Especially within the Dutch and Germnan literature the term autopoesis is used to describe this self-organizing nature of

Allergen immunotherapy: therapeutic vaccines for allergic diseases

Abstract: ABBREVIATIONS AAAAI: American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology AU: Allergy Unit BAU: Bioequivalent Allergy Unit BU: Biologic Unit CBER: Center for Biologic Evaluation and Research EAACI: European Academy of Allergy and Clinical Immunology EU: European Union IAACI: International Association of Allergy and Clinical Immunology IU: International Unit IUIS: International Union of Immunological Societies PNU: protein nitrogen unit

Poisoning Severity Score. Grading of Acute Poisoning

Abstract: Background; A standardized and generally applicable scheme for grading the severity of poisoning allows a qualitative evaluation of morbidity and facilitates comparability of data. Working from a simple grading scale proposed by the European Association of Poisons Centres and Clinical Toxicologists, a Poisoning Severity Score has been developed jointly with the International Programme on Chemical Safety and the European Commission. Methods: The Poisoning Severity Score has been elaborated, tested, and gradually revised during a project running 1991-1994. Fourteen poisons centers from various countries have participated. Each center independently graded 371 cases of acute poisoning by ten different toxic agents. The data were then analyzed and compared. Results: The concordance in grading the severity increased during the study period, and in the last phase there was an acceptable concordance among centers in 80% or more of the cases. Given the condition and quality of the original case records, th...

A touchstone of dissent: Euroscepticism in contemporary Western European party systems

Abstract: With the recent acceleration of the integration process of the European Union there has been a rise in political parties expressing either scepticism or outright criticism of the nature of the integration process. Using a four-fold differentiation between single issue, protest, established parties and factions within parties, the first part of the article presents an overview of Euroscepticism within EU member states and Norway. This reveals the diversity of sources of Euroscepticism both in ideology and in the types of parties that are Eurosceptical but with a preponderance of protest parties taking Eurosceptical positions. The second part of the article is an attempt to map Euroscepticism in West European party systems through a consideration of ideology and party position in the party system. The conclusions are that Euroscepticism is mainly limited to parties on the periphery of their party system and is often there used as an issue that differentiates those parties from the more established parties which are only likely to express Euroscepticism through factions. Party based Euroscepticism is therefore both largely dependent on domestic contextual factors and a useful issue to map emergent domestic political constellations.

Control of the Public Debt: A Requirement for Price Stability?

Abstract: Reduction of government deficits and controlling the rate of growth of the outstanding public debt has moved to the forefront among the economic policy challenges facing many of the leading industrial nations in recent years. This has come to be of particular concern among the members of the European Union, nearly all of whom must modify their present courses if they are to satisfy the requirements laid down in the Maastricht treaty for participation in the proposed European monetary union. An obvious question raised by the fiscal requirements of the Maastricht treaty — and a pressing one, given the difficulties that many aspiring members of such a union face in satisfying these requirements — is why controls over the degree to which governments resort to deficit finance should be essential to a successful monetary union.2

Antimicrobial resistance is a major threat to public health

Abstract: There is an incoming tide of concern about the problems of antimicrobial resistance. For several years alarm has been expressed in the United States,1 and the past 12 months have seen two World Health Organisation meetings prompted by increasing anxieties about the role of antimicrobials in animal husbandry2; a report by Britain’s House of Lords on antimicrobial resistance; and a report from the US Institute of Medicine on emerging infections.3 This week the Danish Chief Medical Officer, Einar Krag, has called together colleagues from the European Union and their advisors for a conference on “the microbial threat” to “assess the strategies to prevent and control the emergence and spread of antimicrobial resistant micro-organisms.” Is all this activity warranted? We believe it is: in the words of the House of Lords’ report, “Resistance to antibiotics ... constitutes a major threat to public health and ought to be recognised as such more widely than it is at present.” This issue of the BMJ is helping to broadcast this message. The causes of these problems and gloomy portents are not difficult to find. In the past 50 years people in both the developed and developing worlds have accepted antibiotics as their right—to obtain a prescription at the first sign of a trivial infection or treat themselves with a handful of cheap antibiotics. We cannot conceive a return to the pre-antibiotic days, yet the unbridled use of these agents in man and animals is inexorably propelling us in that direction. Most antibiotic use is in two areas: in humans in the community, and in animals for growth promotion and prophylaxis (see table). The data in the table suggest that up to 75% of antibiotic use is of questionable therapeutic value.3 What seems less controversial is the long term risk of spraying fruit trees in some parts of the world with antibiotics and adding 50-60 kg of an antimicrobial to each acre of salmon farm.4 Bacteria have evolved very sophisticated means of exchanging DNA, both within their own genus and species and across them. The widespread use of antibiotics will tilt the delicate balance between us and the bacteria. There seems to be an inevitability about this problem. Society demands easy answers to its health problems. The increasing resistance problems of recent years are probably related to the use of increasingly broad spectrum agents (cephalosporins and fluoroquinolones) and crowding of the most vulnerable members of society in day care centres and nursing homes. These problems are compounded by the world wide phenomena of pressure on health care systems for greater efficiency, with higher bed occupancies and stretched nursing and medical care. Added to this are pressures to allow over the counter use of antibiotics in western countries so as to reduce healthcare costs. To effect change much will be required by the medical profession, politicians, the pharmaceutical industry, and not least patients. Without doubt antibiotic prescribing in humans and animals must be prudent, but by how much must antibiotic use be reduced (10-50%?) and to what extent will this affect antibiotic resistance in different bacteria? Will we see a return to more susceptible populations or just keep the current problem in check? Some see the problem as particularly gloomy.3 There are suggestions that as resistant bacteria increase and the available antibiotics decrease transmission from inpatients to the larger population will increase and become a problem to the general public. Certainly, the veterinary profession will be required to change practices, and we commend the House of Lords’ views on the control of valuable agents in animal husbandry. There are some encouraging signs that this may be occurring: at least in developed countries, fish farming is using new techniques such as immunisation instead of antimicrobials. The Swedish experience in reducing the reliance on growth promoters shows that progression can be made without reducing production. Initial problems in the form of increased morbidity and mortality in pig and poultry production were overcome by enhancing the rearing systems.5 There is a need to keep a sharp eye on the development of resistance in animals, but not at the expense of inaction. Secondly, both patients and doctors must reduce their expectations. Antibiotics are commonly prescribed, mainly for the respiratory tract, where the vast majority of infections are caused by viral pathogens. The pressures on both patient and doctor are easily understood: an anxious parent, a sick child, and a doctor faced with diagnostic uncertainty. The solutions are not straightforward. Patients must be educated that most such infections do not require antibiotics—that they may actually be harmful to them and their families (through their effect on beneficial bacteria in the body) and to society at large (through encouraging resistance). All this requires considerable effort and time, not easily achieved in a five minute consultation. The American Academy of Paediatrics has made a start in giving guidance to parents.6 Advances in rapid diagnosis will help to remove uncertainties. The coming years will undoubtedly see the introduction of strict clinical guidelines on antibiotic prescribing. At present there is a tendency to concentrate on which antibiotic to use rather than question whether an antimicrobial is useful at all. More firm guidance is also required on the optimum length of treatment. In many parts of the world simple cystitis is still treated for 5-7 days and the more common chest infections for up to 14 days. The drug regulatory authorities therefore have their part to play in insisting that relevant clinical trials support the licence of an antimicrobial. There is much discussion world wide about surveillance schemes for antimicrobial resistance.7 The major problem is gaining useful denominator data—that is, how to obtain an accurate picture of resistance in a community, be it in hospital or general practice. In hospital it is moderately straightforward, since ward based surveys can be undertaken, but in general practice we have little accurate information. As resistance rates of common pathogens can vary greatly over short distances,8 such surveillance must be undertaken both nationally, so that meaningful broad based policies can be devised, and locally, so that relevant clinical guidelines can be developed. Greater insights are required into how resistance genes spread, especially in the community, where there is a paucity of information. Infection control procedures in child and elderly care units require enhancing. Scientific funding bodies across the European Union should realise that if we are to understand the levers which control antibiotic resistance more fundamental research will require funding. The House of Lords report highlights the problems of funding research in this area of medicine,2 which in the past has mainly come from the pharmaceutical industry. Finally, the pharmaceutical industry, which until recently has been ahead of the resistance race, will also be well advised to increase its commitment to antimicrobial research. Indeed, now that several bacterial genomes have been sequenced, there are signs that this is occurring.9 In this issue, we trust that these and other matters have been confronted. We wish the European Union medical officers’ conference well. The problems they are addressing are real and can be approached only by concerted action as bacteria respect no country’s borders. The past decade has seen the progressive intercontinental spread of methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus10 and penicillin resistant Streptococcus pneumoniae,11 and there are concerns about increasing resistance of Salmonella typhi.12 Parochial approaches are therefore doomed to failure.

Knowledge-intensive business services: Users, carriers and sources of innovation

Abstract: It has now been recognised that services play a vital role in advanced industrial economies In most European Union (EU) member states service activities now provide around two-thirds of all jobs and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and even higher proportion of total firms More particularly services have provided the bulk of new jobs in the European economy and in a number of strategically important service sectors the EU has established a competitive advantage over its major trading partners, including the US and Japan The contribution of services to technological innovation has also long been undervalued; service industries were seen as passive consumers of new technology, providing little or no input to innovation generation and diffusion This major study by two EIMS consultant teams, from PREST in the UK and TNO from the Netherlands and mentored by Dr Jeremy Howells of the University of Cambridge, seek to alter these outdated views of service innovation by focusing on a key service cluster involved in technological innovation, namely Knowledge-Intensive Business Services (KIBS)

Comparing policy networks

Abstract: Introduction: the development of the policy network approach - Part one: Theoretical developments - Policy networks: myth, metaphor and reality - The tangled webs we weave: the discourse, strategy and practice of networking - Explaining policy outcomes: Integrating the policy network approach with macro-level and micro-level analysis - Part two: Policy networks in comparative respective - Similar problems, different policies: policy networks and environmental policy in Danish and Swedish agriculture - Offshore health and safety policy in the North Sea: policy networks and policy outcomes in Britain and Norway - Policing policy and policy networks in Britain and New Zealand - Economic policy networks in Leeds and Lille: emerging regimes or public sector alliances - Part three: Policy networks at the European level - Transnational local authority networking within the European Union: passing fashion or new paradigm? - Issue networks and the environment: explaining European Union environmental policy - Conclusion: the utility and future of policy network analysis - References - Index.

Recommendations for the routine sampling of diatoms for water quality assessments in Europe

Abstract: Many methods for using diatoms for routine monitoring of water quality have been developed in Europe and, in some countries, these are being used to enforce environmental legislation. In order to facilitate their wider use, particularly with respect to European Union legislation, steps are being taken to harmonize methodology. In this paper, the principles and practice of sampling are described in relation to the main habitat types encountered in Europe. Although details of methods and sampling programmes have to be tailored to particular circumstances and the overall objectives of the monitoring, a number of generalizations can be made. Where available, rocks and other hard surfaces are the preferred substrates and methods for sampling these are described. If such substrata are not available, then introduced ('artificial') substrata have many applications. Various types of introduced substrata can be used successfully, so long as some basic precautions are described. Other types of substrata such as macrophytes and macroalgae may also be useful under certain circumstances, although there is less consensus in the literature on the most appropriate methods, and of the validity of comparisons between indices computed from epiphytic and epilithic communities. When designing surveys, it is recommended that as far as possible, extremes of non-water quality factors (e.g. shade, current speed, etc) are avoided, unless these are characteristic of the system under investigation. Detailed guidelines for sampling epilithon are described. Along with the recommendations for sampling other substrata, it is hoped that these provide a framework that can be adapted to most river types in Europe.

Interests and Integration: Market Liberalization, Public Opinion, and European Union

Abstract: Integration in Europe has been a slow incremental process focusing largely on economic matters. Policymakers have tried to develop greater support for the European Union by such steps as creating pan-European political institutions - and yet significant opposition remains to policies such as the creation of a single currency. Gabel argues that differences in attitudes toward integration are grounded in the different perceptions of how economic integration will impact individual economic welfare and how perceptions of economic welfare influence political attitudes. Basing his argument on David Easton's idea that where affective support for institutions is low, citizens will base their support for institutions on their utilitarian appraisal of how well the institutions work for them. Gabel contends that in the European Union, citizens' appraisal of the impact of the Union on their individual welfare is crucial because their affective support is quite low. This timely book will be of interest to scholars studying European integration as well as scholars interested in the impact of public opinion on economic policy-making.

The study of the European Union II: the ‘new governance’ agenda and its rival

Abstract: The article reviews the current study of the European Union (EU), where a new agenda is emerging under the umbrella of ‘new governance’. Despite its eclecticism, this agenda argues that the EU is not a state, but is a unique system of non-hierarchical, regulatory and deliberative governance. This agenda also conceptualizes the EU as sui generis, explains its development primarily by (new) institutional theory, and suggests that legitimacy is guaranteed through transparent, pareto-efficient and consensual outputs. Nevertheless, this agenda is open to criticism on empirical, methodological, theoretical and normative levels. Such a dialectic suggests a new duality in the study of the EU: between the new governance approach, and a less developed rival agenda, which treats EU politics and government as not inherently unique, compares the EU to other political systems, explains outcomes through rational strategic action, and suggests that legitimacy can be guaranteed through classic democratic competit...

Migration and health in the European Union

Abstract: The paper gives a brief overview of a wide spectrum of health issues and problems, ranging from communicable disease to mental health and family formation, which affect migrants and host countries.

Poverty in Europe

Abstract: Preface. List of Tables. List of Figures. Introduction: Poverty in Rich Countries. Part I: Political Arithmetic: Financial Poverty in the European Union: 1. The Measurement of Poverty: A Cautionary Tale of Comparing France and the United Kingdom. 2. Absolute and Relative Standards. 3. Expenditure versus Income, Households versus Families, and Choice of Equivalent Scale. 4. Differing Judgements and Dominance Criteria. 5. National Studies of Poverty. Part II: Economics of Poverty and Exclusion: 6. Unemployment and Exclusion in the Labour Market. 7. Pricing and Exclusion from the Goods Market. 8. Exclusion, Rising Living Standards and the Availability of Products. 9. Household Production, Time and the Take-Up Problem. Part III: Political Economy of Poverty: 10. The Political Economy of an Official Poverty Line. 11. Macro-Economic Policy and Poverty. 12. Targeting and Efficiency in Alleviating Poverty. 13. The Limits of Targeting via Means Tests. 14. Towards a European Minimum. Envoi: Poverty, Policy and Mainstream Economics. Appendix on Statistical Sources.

Engaging countries : strengthening compliance with international environmental accords

Abstract: A framework for analysis, Harold K. Jacobson and Edith Brown Weiss how compliance happens and doesn't happen domestically, David Vogel and Timothy Kessler managing compliance - a comparative perspective, Abram Chayes et al contingent knowledge - implications for implementation and compliance, Sheila Jasanoff the five international treaties - a living history, Edith Brown Weiss the United States - taking environmental treaties seriously, Michael J. Glennon and Alison L. Stewart the European Union and compliance - a story in the making, Alberta M. Sbragia and Philipp M. Hildebrand Japan - consensus-based compliance, James V. Feinerman and Koichiro Fujikura.

The European Court of Justice, National Governments, and Legal Integration in the European Union

Abstract: We develop a game theoretic model of the conditions under which the European Court of Justice can be expected to take “adverse judgments” against European Union member governments and when the governments are likely to abide by these decisions. The model generates three hypotheses. First, the greater the clarity of EU case law precedent, the lesser the likelihood that the Court will tailor its decisions to the anticipated reactions of member governments. Second, the greater the domestic costs of an ECJ ruling to a litigant government, the lesser the likelihood that the litigant government will abide by it (and hence the lesser the likelihood that the Court will make such a ruling). Third, the greater the activism of the ECJ and the larger the number of member governments adversely affected by it, the greater the likelihood that responses by litigant governments will move from individual noncompliance to coordinated retaliation through new legislation or treaty revisions. These hypotheses are tested against three broad lines of case law central to ECJ jurisprudence: bans on agricultural imports, application of principles of equal treatment of the sexes to occupational pensions, and state liability for violation of EU law. The empirical analysis supports our view that though influenced by legal precedent, the ECJ also takes into account the anticipated reactions of member governments.

Occupational exposure to carcinogens in the european union in 1990-1993: international information system on occupational exposure to carcinogens.

Abstract: OBJECTIVES To construct a computer assisted information system for the estimation of the numbers of workers exposed to established and suspected human carcinogens in the member states of the European Union (EU). METHODS A database called CAREX (carcinogen exposure) was designed to provide selected exposure data and documented estimates of the number of workers exposed to carcinogens by country, carcinogen, and industry. CAREX includes data on agents evaluated by the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) (all agents in groups 1 and 2A as of February 1995, and selected agents in group 2B) and on ionising radiation, displayed across the 55 industrial classes. The 1990–3 occupational exposure was estimated in two phases. Firstly, estimates were generated by the CAREX system on the basis of national labour force data and exposure prevalence estimates from two reference countries (Finland and the United States) which had the most comprehensive data available on exposures to these agents. For selected countries, these estimates were then refined by national experts in view of the perceived exposure patterns in their own countries compared with those of the reference countries. RESULTS About 32 million workers (23% of those employed) in the EU were exposed to agents covered by CAREX. At least 22 million workers were exposed to IARC group 1 carcinogens. The exposed workers had altogether 42 million exposures (1.3 mean exposures for each exposed worker). The most common exposures were solar radiation (9.1 million workers exposed at least 75% of working time), environmental tobacco smoke (7.5 million workers exposed at least 75% of working time), crystalline silica (3.2 million exposed), diesel exhaust (3.0 million), radon (2.7 million), and wood dust (2.6 million). CONCLUSION These preliminary estimates indicate that in the early 1990s, a substantial proportion of workers in the EU were exposed to carcinogens.

Coping with Europe : the impact of British and German administrations on the implementation of EU environmental policy

Abstract: A central problem for improving the implementation effectiveness of European legislation lies in the impact of national administrative traditions. The dependence on national administrations for implementing European policies implies that the formal transposition and practical application of supranational policies are crucially influenced by administrative traditions prevalent in a certain policy field, which may differ substantially from country to country. Focusing on the implementation of EU environmental policy in Britain and Germany, it is the objective of this article to investigate the interplay of national administrative traditions and European policy implementation in closer detail. The main argument is that the extent to which administrative traditions affect implementation effectiveness is less dependent on the ‘real’ costs of adaptation than on the level of embeddedness of existing structures.

European Integration and Supranational Governance

Abstract: The European Union began in 1957 as a treaty among six nations but today constitutes a supranational polity - one that creates rules that are binding on its 15 member countries and their citizens. This majesterial study confronts some of the most enduring questions posed by the remarkable evolution of the EU: Why does policy-making sometimes migrate from the member states to the European Union? And why has integration proceeded more rapidly in some policy domains than in others? A distinguished team of scholars lead by Wayne Sandholtz and Alec Stone Sweet offers a fresh theory and clear propositions on the development of the EU. Combining broad data and probing case studies, the volume finds solid support for these propositions in a variety of policy domains. The coherent theoretical approach and extensive empirical analyses together constitute a significant challenge to approaches that see the EU as a straightforward product of member-state interests, power, and bargaining. This volume clearly demonstrates that a nascent transnational society and supranational institutions have played decisive roles in constructing the European Union.

Asymmetries in housing and financial market institutions and EMU

Abstract: Despite convergence pressures, differences in housing and financial market institutions across the 15 member states of the European Union are still enormous. This paper argues that they have profound effects on the responsiveness of output and inflation in the different countries to changes in short-term interest rates, as well as to asset-market shocks of external origin. The economic reasoning behind this claim is set out and the institutional differences are described. The paper assesses the sometimes conflicting empirical evidence on this issue. Barriers to convergence and implications for labour-market flexibility are discussed. The UK, Ireland, Finland and Sweden tend to cluster at one extreme of the relevant institutional characteristics. The paper concludes with a set of proposals for institutional reforms which would significantly reduce the tensions within EMU and the potential for instability in these economies entailed by EMU membership.

Legitimacy and the European Union

Abstract: Most of the contemporary debates about the European Union - about its role, its institutional arrangements, its development dynamic, its expansion and possible futures - revolve around the issue of political legitimacy. Legitimacy and the European Union addresses the fundamental issues at the heart of the debates on Europe and examines such key questions as:- -What is the scope of the EU's authority -Is there a legitimacy deficit? If so, how much does it matter -Does political legitimacy only reside in the nation state? Using a multi-dimensional conception of political legitimacy, the text analyses the character and problems of the European Union's authority in respect of democracy, political identity and governmental performance. Its distinctive claim is that political legitimacy can now only be understood as a process of interaction between the state and EU levels, and that this interaction impacts differentially on different member states.

Chemistry and technology of agrochemical formulations

Abstract: Preface. 1. Introduction D.A. Knowles. 2. Review of major agrochemical classes and uses L.G. Copping. 3. Formulation of agrochemicals D.A. Knowles. 4. Water-dispersible granules G.A. Bell. 5. Recent developments on safer formulations of agrochemicals P.J. Mulqueen. 6. Agrochemical formulations using natural lignin products S.T. Humphrey. 7. Novel surfactants and adjuvants for agrochemicals S. Reekmans. 8. Improving agrochemical performance: possible mechanisms for adjuvancy P.J. Holloway. 9. Packaging of agrochemicals P.D. Curle, C.D. Emmerson, A.H. Gregory, J. Hartmann, P. Nixon. 10. Application techniques for agrochemicals G.A. Matthews. 11. Regulatory requirements in the European Union W.K. de Raat, I.A. van de Gevel, G.F. Houben, B.C. Hakkert. Regulatory requirements in USA J.M. Wagner. 13. Waste management and disposal of agrochemicals. Index.

Sjögren's syndrome: a community-based study of prevalence and impact.

Abstract: Objective Using the European Community (EC) criteria for classification Vitali et al. Arthritis Rheum 1993;36:340 7, we report the prevalence estimates of Sjogren's syndrome (SS) from a general population and present the first population data to assess the impact of the syndrome. Methods A cross-sectional population-based survey performed on 1000 adults, aged 18-75 yr, randomly selected from a population register. Responders to the initial postal phase were invited for an interview. The five criteria measured at interview were: (1) the reporting of subjective oral symptoms lasting for > 3 months; (2) the reporting of subjective ocular symptoms lasting for >3 months; (3) Schirmer-I test; (4) unstimulated salivary flow; (5) autoantibodies [Ro (SS-A), La (SS-B), rheumatoid factor (RF), antinuclear antibodies (ANA)]. SS was diagnosed if at least four of these five criteria were positive. The MOS Short-form 36 (SF-36), General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the Health and Fatigue Questionnaire (HFQ) were completed by subjects after the interview, and scores were compared between those with and without a diagnosis of SS. Results A total of 341 subjects completed both the postal questionnaire and home visit. A diagnosis of SS could be given to 13 subjects. After adjusting for the presence of possible bias due to non-response, our best estimate of the prevalence of SS in the study population was 33 per 1000 subjects (95% CI 22 44). The prevalence of the disorder was higher in females (38; 95% CI 27-52) and for those subjects aged > or = 55 yr (46; 95% CI 34-61). Those subjects diagnosed positively were more impaired for each of the eight dimensions of the SF-36 than those without a diagnosis, and also suffered from higher levels of depression and fatigue. Conclusions SS affects approximately 3-4% of adults and in the general population appears to be associated with a clinically significant impairment of a subject's health and well-being.