Europe in 12 Lessons


Book Description







Financing Transitions


Book Description

If a family-owned company is to endure and provide the maximum potential opportunity for future generations, it must plan for provision of both adequate shareholder liquidity and sufficient business capital. Many believe their options are limited: restrict money available to the family; sell the business; or go public. Rather than allowing financial pressures to destroy the family business, careful planning and sophisticated use of the growing collection of financial techniques can help the family retain business control and make wise choices among many available alternatives. Financing Transitions is a guide to * anticipating and managing capital and liquidity needs * understanding how the "Family Effect" can be a family business' greatest asset--or its greatest threat * recognizing how predictable family business transitions can erupt into family crises * keeping patient capital from becoming impatient; * controlling the family business's cost of capital; and much more... Financing Transitions: gives business owners the financial insight and understanding needed to provide future generations with the fullest possible opportunity to enjoy the unique benefits of business ownership.




Assuring the Quality of Health Care in the European Union


Book Description

People have always travelled within Europe for work and leisure, although never before with the current intensity. Now, however, they are travelling for many other reasons, including the quest for key services such as health care. Whatever the reason for travelling, one question they ask is "If I fall ill, will the health care I receive be of a high standard?" This book examines, for the first time, the systems that have been put in place in all of the European Union's 27 Member States. The picture it paints is mixed. Some have well developed systems, setting standards based on the best available evidence, monitoring the care provided, and taking action where it falls short. Others need to overcome significant obstacles.




Impact Assessment in the EU


Book Description

The importance of ex ante and ex post impact assessment in streamlining the regulatory environment and improving the legislative process has been stressed by scholars and testified to by international best practices. The potential benefits of regulatory impact assessment are also being rediscovered by EU officials, who lose no chance to recall that the Commission's ambitious "growth and jobs" strategy heavily depends on the pervasiveness of impact assessment in the regulatory process at EU and member state level. This study, conceived for scholars and policymakers, provides an overview of the state of the art on impact assessment. It focuses on the latest developments in the United States, UK, and EU, and presents a scorecard analysis of the Commission's extended impact assessments. The author concludes with a road map for improving the transparency, efficiency, and effectiveness of the EU Integrated Impact Assessment model.




The Area of Freedom, Security and Justice Ten Years on


Book Description

This book celebrates the tenth anniversary of the Area of Freedom, Security and Justice (AFSJ) by bringing together the views of key practitioners and policy-makers who have played an outstanding role in thinking about and shaping EU policies on freedom, security and justice. Ten years ago, the member states transferred competences to the EU for law and policy-making in the fields of immigration, asylum and border controls, and began the transfer process for criminal justice and policing. This decade of European cooperation on AFSJ policies has experienced very dynamic convergence, the enactment of a large body of European law and the setting-up of numerous EU agencies working in these domains. Such dynamism in policy-making has not been without challenges and vulnerabilities, however. As this collective volume shows, the main dilemmas that lie ahead relate to an effective (while more plural) institutional framework under the Treaty of Lisbon, stronger judicial scrutiny through a greater role for national courts and the Court of Justice in Luxembourg, better mechanisms for evaluating and monitoring the implementation of EU AFSJ law and a more solid fundamental rights strategy. The contributions in this volume address the progress achieved so far in these policy areas, identify the challenges for future European cooperation in the AFSJ and put forward possible paths for making more progress in the next generation of the EU's AFSJ. Book jacket.




The Status of Sign Languages in Europe


Book Description

The present report, based on information provided by member states' governments and by NGOs, gives an overview of the recognition of sign languages in 26 European states. It also summarises policies and programmes which have been developed by member states to ensure sign language users access to their political, social and cultural rights.







Energy Roadmap 2050


Book Description

People's well-being, industrial competitiveness and the overall functioning of society are dependent on safe, secure, sustainable and affordable energy. The energy infrastructure which will power citizens' homes, industry and services in 2050, as well as the buildings which people will use, are being designed and built now. The pattern of energy production and use in 2050 is already being set.




European Prison Rules


Book Description

This publication examines the rules in force in Europe governing prisons and the treatment of prisoners, including the use of force, the selection of prison staff and the protection of prisoners' human rights, based on Recommendation Rec (2006) 2 on the European Prison Rules (which was adopted by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe in January 2006). It contains the text of the recommendation with a detailed commentary on it, together with a report which considers recent developments and analyses the effectiveness of these rules and of imprisonment as a form of punishment.