Search Results (710)

Fiscal cyclicality occupies a central position in macroeconomic stabilization, but existing empirical studies have focused predominantly on determining whether fiscal behaviour is procyclical or countercyclical, with relatively limited attention being paid to the dynamic evolution and intensity of fiscal response over time. The purpose of this study is to develop a dynamic framework for assessing the direction, intensity and temporal evolution of fiscal cyclicality in the European Union. This research analyses 27 Member States during the period 2001–2025. The fiscal cyclicality coefficient is estimated using five-year rolling ordinary least squares (OLS) regressions of the budget balance on the output gap, allowing fiscal cyclicality to vary across countries and over time. In order to enhance the reliability of the estimates, the computed coefficients are winsorised and used to construct a continuous measure of fiscal cyclicality intensity and a normalized Score index. The findings reveal substantial heterogeneity in fiscal cyclicality across EU Member States and over time, indicating a predominant countercyclical behaviour during significant macroeconomic shocks, while also demonstrating significant differences in the strength and stability of fiscal responses. Countercyclical observations account for 83.07% of the rolling-window estimates, compared with 11.82% procyclical and 5.11% acyclical observations. The additional robustness tests indicate that the main structure of the estimated coefficient series is preserved under alternative treatments of extreme observations, the exclusion of individual countries and the use of an earlier information set for the output gap. Analysing fiscal cyclicality solely through its direction therefore provides an incomplete representation of fiscal behaviour. The proposed framework extends the existing literature by simultaneously considering the direction, intensity and dynamics of fiscal cyclicality over time, providing a more comprehensive basis for comparative analysis of fiscal policy and future assessments of fiscal sustainability. For policymakers, the resulting Score provides an additional quantitative indicator for monitoring changes in the intensity of fiscal behaviour, and when considered jointly with the estimated coefficient, changes in its direction may complement existing assessments of fiscal policy within the European Semester and the European economic governance framework. Full article

Background/Objectives: Oral diseases are common, largely preventable and closely associated with social determinants, noncommunicable diseases and quality of life. Greece has historically had a high dentist-to-population ratio; however, oral health care remains highly dependent on private provision and out-of-pocket payment. This structured evidence synthesis and health-system mapping aims to summarize the current situation of oral health care in Greece, focusing on access, financing, workforce capacity, epidemiology, prevention, and quality measurement. Methods: A structured evidence synthesis and health-system mapping were conducted using publicly available and verifiable sources, including World Health Organization documents, OECD/European Observatory country health profiles, Eurostat data, official Greek government information, and peer-reviewed studies identified through PubMed, Google Scholar, publisher records, and reference-list searching. The final synthesis included 29 sources: 15 peer-reviewed articles and 14 official or institutional documents/data sources. A formal systematic review, with or without meta-analysis, was not methodologically feasible because the research question was not based on a single intervention, exposure, comparator, or outcome, and because key evidence on oral health-system organization, financing, and governance is contained in heterogeneous policy documents, administrative sources, official reports, and country profiles that are not consistently indexed in bibliographic databases. Evidence was organized across predefined health-system domains: governance, service delivery, financing, workforce, epidemiology, equity, information systems, and quality measurement. Results: Greece combines high dentist density with limited public dental coverage and major financial barriers. Current EOPYY rules list age-specific preventive and treatment benefits, and Dentist Pass provided a preventive dental-care voucher for children; however, no ring-fenced national dental-treatment allocation or nationwide uptake estimate was identified. Most routine adult dental care remains privately financed. Recent Eurostat data indicate that Greece has the highest reported unmet dental care needs in the European Union. Comparative WHO country-profile indicators suggest that Greece’s high dentist density does not, by itself, correspond to lower unmet dental care needs or stronger publicly reported coverage of routine and preventive oral health care. Epidemiological studies show persistent caries, periodontal disease and tooth loss, particularly among children, older adults and socioeconomically disadvantaged groups. Major system-level gaps include limited financial protection, weak integration with primary care, insufficient standardized referral pathways and limited routine measurement of oral health quality and outcomes. Conclusions: The findings suggest that strengthening oral health care in Greece would require a shift from fragmented, curative and privately financed care toward prevention-oriented, publicly accountable and measurable services integrated with universal health coverage and national quality-of-care reforms. Full article

This review article synthesizes the results of four previously published empirical studies to provide a unified framework for understanding the economic and energy processes underlying the European Union’s (EU) energy transition. This study aims to demonstrate how energy efficiency improvements, the expansion of renewable energy sources, and the strengthening of energy security are linked in the EU’s long-term energy policy transformation. This review integrates the relationship among energy use and economic growth, the economic determinants of renewable energy sources, and the evolution of energy security and import dependence into a common analytical framework. The four studies cover different but partly overlapping time periods: Studies 1 and 2 cover 2010–2019, Study 3 covers 2015–2023, and Study 4 covers 2014–2023. The period 2010–2023 represents this review’s aggregated temporal scope, rather than a continuous empirical period common to all studies. The results of the synthesis show that the EU energy transition can be interpreted through three closely related strategic dimensions: improving energy efficiency, expanding renewable energy sources, and strengthening energy security. This study’s novelty lies in integrating the results of four previously published empirical studies into a coherent conceptual framework. Rather than establishing new causal relationships, this framework provides a synthetic perspective on the relationships between the main dimensions examined in the author’s research program. Full article

Geopolitical fragmentation, intensifying geoeconomic competition, and the securitisation of economic relations are reshaping the international environment and changing the conditions under which the European Union (EU) conducts its external economic policy. As economic interdependence has become a source of both prosperity and vulnerability, the EU has begun to redefine the relationship between openness, resilience, and economic security. This article examines how these developments are reshaping the EU’s geoeconomic model and its role within an evolving global order. The study develops an analytical framework that links geopolitical pressures, external dependencies, and institutional responses to the Union’s geoeconomic adaptation. The research employs a concept-driven qualitative design combining qualitative content analysis, analytically focused comparison, and process-oriented interpretation of key EU strategic documents and the relevant academic literature. The study shows that the EU is developing a hybrid geoeconomic model that combines openness with resilience, market integration with economic security, and international cooperation with a stronger capacity to manage critical vulnerabilities. This process reflects a longer-term adjustment of the Union’s external economic strategy and its international role. The article advances current debates on geoeconomics, European integration, and global governance by explaining how geopolitical fragmentation is reshaping the EU’s external action in a more contested international environment. Full article

This article examines the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) as a regulatory instrument of the European Union, situated at the intersection of international trade law, customs law and environmental protection. The primary objective of the study is to assess the legal nature of the CBAM, evaluate its compatibility with World Trade Organisation (WTO) law and analyse its implications for sustainable global trade governance and climate policy. Particular attention is paid to Articles I, III and XX of the GATT, as well as relevant WTO case law, including the cases of United States—Gasoline, United States—Shrimp, European Communities—Asbestos and Brazil—Retreaded Tyres. The study further examines the procedural transformation of customs authorities, particularly in relation to the verification of emissions, the burden of proof and administrative enforcement. The article also assesses the environmental effectiveness of the CBAM in preventing carbon leakage and in enforcing higher environmental standards in third countries, addressing the legal and economic issues of discrimination, proportionality, administrative complexity and potential impact on developing economies. The research is based on doctrinal legal analysis, comparative legal methodology and a review of relevant international and European legal sources, including WTO case law and Regulation (EU) 2023/956. The authors demonstrate that the CBAM represents a hybrid regulatory mechanism combining elements of environmental taxation, regulatory charges and trade policy instruments implemented through customs procedures. The originality of the article lies in its integrated and comprehensive analysis of the CBAM from the perspective of customs law, international trade law and environmental regulation with a focus on sustainability. In contrast to existing studies focusing primarily on trade or climate aspects, the article highlights the evolving regulatory role of customs authorities in the framework of European Union climate governance. The findings suggest that the CBAM is generally compatible with WTO law, provided that it is implemented in a transparent, proportionate, flexible and non-discriminatory manner. The authors conclude that the CBAM can become an important model for the future development of sustainable international economic regulation and climate-related trade governance. Full article

This article investigates the role of European Union (EU) Cohesion Policy (2021–2027) integrated urban development (IUD) strategies in Portugal in supporting the reduction in social segregation and vulnerability. Mostly based on a literature review and field research, the research concludes that the analysed IUD devotes a minor financial support package to social segregation and vulnerability. Even so, the IUD strategies have contributed to supporting the active inclusion of vulnerable social groups, improving access to employment, skills, and qualifications for young and vulnerable social groups, reinforcing equal access to quality services and social protection, and promoting the active inclusion of socially vulnerable groups and social housing. Full article

This paper synthesises the available evidence on the evolution of statutory minimum and average wages across European Union Member States over the period 2019–2024. It examines patterns of wage convergence and wage adequacy, the implementation of Directive (EU) 2022/2041 on adequate minimum wages, and their implications for broader labour market developments. The core period of analysis is 2019–2024. Earlier years are used only as historical or institutional background, while selected 2025 references are used for contextual policy updates and not as part of the main comparative period. The analysis draws upon peer-reviewed academic literature alongside official institutional and statistical data from Eurofound, Eurostat, the European Commission, the OECD, the ECB, and national authorities. The central research question asks whether recent increases in statutory minimum wages and average wages have contributed to upward wage convergence and wage adequacy across EU Member States, and under which institutional and macroeconomic conditions these developments have affected inequality, employment, inflationary pressures, and competitiveness. Its theoretical framework is grounded in the concepts of wage spillover and wage compression effects, the wage–price spiral debate, and institutional approaches to collective bargaining and wage setting. Evidence indicates substantial nominal increases in statutory minimum wages in most EU countries, especially in Central and Eastern Europe, where upward wage convergence has reduced the gap with Western European countries. Despite concerns about inflationary pressures, the evidence does not support the existence of a generalised wage–price spiral. Instead, wage increases largely represent compensatory responses to externally driven inflation, producing moderate spillover effects on neighbouring wage levels and contributing to a partial compression of wage inequality at the lower end of the wage distribution. The study also identifies continuing challenges, including youth unemployment, precarious forms of employment, regional wage disparities and uneven collective bargaining coverage. It concludes that sustainable and adequate wage floors are best supported by transparent adjustment criteria, productivity growth, effective labour inspection, investment in skills and training, and inclusive collective bargaining institutions. Full article

Upper Silesia, historically shaped by hard-coal mining and coal-based energy production, is undergoing a critical phase of just transition under the European Union’s 2050 climate-neutrality objective. This study examines the legal, institutional, and spatial conditions shaping this process and assesses declared social acceptance in seven mining subregions of the Silesian Voivodeship comprising 64 municipalities. The research combines structured desk research on European Union, national, and regional policy and legal instruments with a CATI survey of electricity consumers in the transformation area (N = 602). Particular attention is given to regulatory barriers affecting the revitalization and redevelopment of post-mining and post-industrial land. The document analysis reveals fragmented institutional responsibilities, weak coordination between sectoral strategies, and insufficient integration of mine-closure, revitalization, and spatial-planning regulations. The survey findings indicate that public support for the energy transition is conditional rather than unconditional. Respondents generally acknowledge the need for change; however, they expect the principal financial burden to be borne by the state budget and energy companies, while direct household financing receives only marginal support. The results also show that the survey measured self-reported familiarity with the term “energy transition” rather than objectively tested knowledge. The study contributes an integrated analytical framework linking governance, legal-regulatory constraints, post-mining land regeneration, and declared social acceptance in a coal region undergoing structural transformation. Full article

The European Union Framework Programmes constitute one of the main instruments for promoting research and innovation at a supranational scale. Although their linkages with scientific and technological output are widely recognized, empirical evidence regarding the mechanisms connecting institutional participation, innovative performance, and territorial innovation dynamics remains limited. This study investigates these relationships using data from the 27 European Union member states and indicators associated with Horizon 2020. The analysis considers three dimensions of institutional participation—funding, projects, and participating organizations—and four innovative performance indicators related to traditional and green patents. The empirical strategy combines regression models, panel data models, feedback analyses, and spatial econometric diagnostics based on Moran’s I statistics and LM tests, using a collaboration matrix derived from Horizon 2020 project networks. The results indicate that project participation and organizational involvement show more consistent associations with innovative activity than funding volumes considered in isolation. However, the panel models reveal that these associations are concentrated in structural differences between countries rather than short-term temporal variations. The feedback analyses point to a bidirectional relationship between institutional participation and innovative performance, suggesting mutually reinforcing associations between technological performance and integration into research networks over time. The results also show that the observed associations are particularly relevant for green technologies. Finally, the spatial diagnostics indicate persistent patterns of relational concentration in both innovative capabilities and collaboration networks, though without robust evidence of residual spatial dependence in the estimated models. The study contributes to the literature on innovation systems and innovation policy by suggesting that supranational programmes operate less as direct mechanisms for resource transfer and more as institutional structures for coordination, integration, and the reinforcement of previously accumulated innovative capabilities. Full article

Climate change and wildfire are often treated as separate policy problems, although their costs and ecological consequences converge in fire-prone landscapes. This critical integrative review examines the evidence requirements that connect Mediterranean wildfire-risk governance, restoration, biomass use, carbon accounting, ecosystem services, public procurement and professional capacity. A purposive, theme-based synthesis combines peer-reviewed research, international standards, European Union assessments and audit reports, and Greek implementation documents; Greece is used as a policy case within a wider Mediterranean evidence base. Building on the living- and green-infrastructure literature, this review treats forests as living public infrastructure: dynamic systems whose public functions depend on maintenance, ecological limits and repeated verification. It distinguishes evidence synthesis from policy recommendation and evaluates recurrent shortcuts such as unmaintained fuel continuity, tree planting without diagnosis, carbon dioxide equivalent (CO₂e) claims without credible baselines or permanence strategies, and monitoring platforms without field validation. The resulting framework links risk diagnosis, prioritised intervention, field measurement, integrity gates and public audit. Its scientific contribution is to specify a common evidence chain through which prevention, restoration and climate claims can be compared and tested rather than accepted as activity counts or communication outputs. Full article

The economic dimension of sustainable development has become a central objective of European policies aimed at balancing economic prosperity, social inclusion, and environmental sustainability. This study investigates the contribution of innovation and energy transition to the economic dimension of sustainable development in the European Union. Using a balanced panel dataset covering the 27 European Union Member States over the period 2010–2024, the effects of research and development expenditure, employment rate, energy productivity, and renewable energy share on GDP per capita, employed as a proxy for the economic dimension of sustainable development, are analysed using a two-step System Generalized Method of Moments (System GMM) estimator. The results indicate that employment and energy productivity have positive and statistically significant effects, whereas research and development expenditure and renewable energy share are not statistically significant. The findings suggest that labour market performance and efficient energy use contribute positively to the economic dimension of sustainable development, whereas the effects of innovation and renewable energy deployment may materialise only over longer time horizons. The study provides empirical evidence supporting integrated policies that strengthen economic competitiveness and long-term sustainability within the European Union. Full article

The European Union operates in a highly fragmented international environment shaped by geopolitical rivalry, geoeconomic competition, technological disruption, and growing uncertainty regarding critical external dependencies. These developments have elevated economic security and resilience to the centre of European policymaking, challenging assumptions that traditionally linked economic openness with stability, prosperity, and sustainable development. The purpose of this article is to examine how geopolitical and geoeconomic fragmentation is reshaping the European Union’s approach to economic and technological resilience and to analyse the implications of this transformation for long-term competitiveness and sustainable development. Employing a qualitative research design based on policy analysis and systematic document analysis, supported by secondary statistical evidence from European and international institutional sources, the study investigates three interconnected dimensions of resilience: technological resilience, resource resilience, and competitiveness resilience. The findings indicate that the European Union is moving from an efficiency-oriented model of globalisation towards a resilience-oriented governance framework focused on managing sensitive dependencies in critical technologies, strategic resources, and supply chains. The analysis further demonstrates that resilience cannot be sustained through risk reduction measures alone. Its long-term effectiveness depends on productivity growth, innovation performance, technological capabilities, industrial strength, and investment capacity. The article concludes that competitiveness constitutes a foundational condition for durable resilience and that economic security increasingly functions as an enabling factor for sustainable development in a more contested global economic environment. Full article

Synthetic nitrogen fertilizer underpins global cereal production, yet a substantial share of applied nitrogen escapes to the atmosphere as nitrous oxide, ammonia, and nitrogen oxides, with significant consequences for climate, air quality, ecosystems, and soil health. Despite extensive research on nitrogen losses and mitigation options, no synthesis has traced the historical intensification of cereal nitrogen use, current emission patterns, and the technological and policy responses to these losses as a single connected trajectory. This review provides that integrated synthesis. This review adopts a gloom-to-glory framing to trace nitrogen fertilizer use in cereal systems from its Green Revolution origins through current emission trends to the technological and policy responses now being deployed, treating these as a single continuous narrative rather than separate bodies of literature. Global nitrogen application in maize, wheat, and rice rose roughly tenfold between 1961 and 2010, and more than half of applied nitrogen across this period was never recovered in harvested grain. This unrecovered fraction partitions across mechanistically distinct loss pathways, i.e., nitrous oxide from soil nitrification and denitrification, ammonia from urea hydrolysis and volatilization, and indirect losses from residual soil nitrate, each carrying separate climate, air quality, and ecosystem consequences. Enhanced-efficiency fertilizers, precision nitrogen management, renewable hydrogen-based ammonia synthesis, and biologically mediated approaches such as nitrification inhibition each demonstrate mitigation potential without compromising yield, though field-scale evidence for the biological route remains limited. Regional case studies from China, India, and the European Union show that national policy has altered nitrogen use trajectories without closing the gap to demonstrated best-practice potential, for reasons specific to each jurisdiction’s regulatory design, price structure, and institutional capacity. The review concludes that the principal barriers to realising cereal production’s glory pathway are no longer primarily mechanistic but lie in measurement coverage, technology transfer to smallholder and developing-region producers, and the economic architecture needed to scale proven mitigation measures across cereal-growing regions. Full article

Digital gatekeeping is increasingly performed by adaptive systems that rank, sequence, package, moderate, and sometimes generate news across repeated interactions. This conceptual analysis asks two questions: how should researchers analyze these systems, and who should be responsible for their effects over time? It brings together gatekeeping theory, research on recommender systems and performative prediction, and scholarship on algorithmic accountability, and it makes three contributions. First, it describes curation through six decision functions (source eligibility, agenda and candidate formation, content generation, packaging, exposure allocation, and moderation) connected by a feedback and optimization layer. Agentic curation is treated as a high-autonomy form of adaptive curation, defined by planning ability, authority to act, reach across functions, and delay before human review, rather than as a separate technology class. Second, it defines cumulative exposure allocation as the normalized distribution of weighted exposure across sources, topics, and population groups over time, and it proposes measures of concentration, breadth, repetition, persistence, and disparity. Third, it links each curation function to the actors who control it, the bodies that oversee it, the evidence they need, the standards they apply, and the remedies they can impose. European Union and United States law illustrate the framework. The analysis shifts evaluation away from isolated outputs and short-term engagement toward patterns of visibility produced by a policy over time, and it proposes testable claims about traceability, concentration, disparity, and constrained multi-objective ranking. Full article

The transition toward Agriculture 4.0 aims to improve farm performance and sustainability; however, existing macroeconomic indicators do not fully capture the depth of farm-level digital adoption. This study proposes the Digital Farm Index (DFI) as a tool for assessing digital maturity and regional disparities in European agriculture. The research combines bibliometric mapping of the scientific literature with an empirical DFI assessment for 18 European Union Member States using Eurostat data. The empirical assessment utilizes multiple linear regression, log-linear scale modeling, and hierarchical clustering to analyze adoption patterns and structural determinants. The index integrates four dimensions: connectivity, precision agriculture, robotics, and farm management information systems (FMIS). Results indicate that adoption is concentrated in larger farms, as area-weighted digital maturity (DFI-Hectares) consistently exceeds farm-level adoption (DFI-Farms). CAPEX-based cost modeling suggests the existence of a technological indivisibility threshold, whereby digitalization may become an entry barrier for fragmented farms with limited economies of scale. Multiple linear regression suggests an East–West structural trend: while farm size influences the territorial diffusion of technology, a more consolidated regional innovation ecosystem appears more relevant for farm-level adoption. Findings also highlight a hardware–software imbalance and limited use of data-driven managerial tools. Support policies should therefore move beyond equipment subsidies and include technology transfer networks, digital skills, and managerial data-integration tools. Full article