Reaping the Benefits of Deeper Euro-Med Integration Through Trade Facilitation

The current political turmoil in the Arab world has contributed to renewed interest in the Barcelona Process. This paper explores whether deeper integration in the form of trade facilitation – i.e. improved and simplified trade procedures – could be an important part of a reform agenda. Adopting a Southern perspective by focusing on exports from non-EU Mediterranean countries to the EU, we test whether the efficiency of trade procedures affects (i) bilateral volumes of exports, and (ii) the number of products exported. Our findings suggest that trade facilitation could lead to substantially increased export volumes and export diversification.Barcelona Process; Mediterranean Union; European Union; Deeper Integration; Trade Facilitation; Export volumes; Export Diversification

Completing the EU Customs Union. The Effects of Trade Procedure Harmonization

A main component of customs unions is a common trade policy on imports from non-member countries. Trade policy covers both tariff and non-tariff barriers like trade procedures. We argue that since trade procedures vary markedly across EU countries, the EU is not, strictly speaking, a customs union. To illustrate this, we estimate the impact of trade procedures on exports from non-EU countries and find a highly statistically significant and negative effect. Simulating what the effects would be of harmonizing trade procedures, i.e. to actually complete the EU customs union, we find that aggregated exports to the EU would increase by 20 percent for the average exporter.Customs Union; Economic Integration; European Union; Time Delays; Trade Facilitation; Trade Procedures

Critical appraisal is a skill that takes practice: our patients are counting on us

A fumbling attempt at critical analysis in support of a clinical decision crystallizes the author\u27s understanding that skillful analysis of research is crucial to good practice

Les "faits évidents" du Dictionnaire philosophique : l'instrumentalisation de la référence historique

Etude de l'utilisation de la référence historique dans le Dictionnaire philosophique de Voltaire

Politique et religion font-elles toujours mauvais ménage ? Le rôle de la morale dans l'Essai sur les mœurs de Voltaire

Il s'agit de s'interroger sur le rôle que Voltaire accorde aux différentes causes morales dans le façonnage des moeurs des hommes. Les prises de position de Voltaire qui se radicalisent dans les années 1760, le regard porté sur ce qu'il dénonce comme une ingérence du pouvoir religieux dans les affaires politiques, notamment en France, laissent présager la préférence que l'historien pourrait accorder au politique sur le religieux. Ces partis pris le conduisent-ils pour autant à négliger l'influence du religieux, ou bien à lui accorder seulement un rôle négatif dans l'histoire ? Pourrait-on même résumer la présentation du rôle de ces causes morales à une opposition entre religion et politique, la seconde s'évertuant à corriger la première ? La perception du rôle joué par les mœurs dans l'histoire permettrait ainsi d'accéder à une compréhension plus fine des schémas d'interprétation voltairiens, et des conceptions qui informent le discours historique qui est tenu

Tout est cul par-dessus tête: étude littéraire des lettres 142 à 146 des Lettres persanes de Montesquieu

Etude littéraire des lettres 142 à 146 des Lettres persanes de Montesquie

Les Fêtes d’Arles. Encore «Mireille» aux Arènes. Doléances injustifiées.

Transcript of LES FÊTES D'ARLES. ENCORE «MIREILLE» AUX ARÈNES. DOLÉANCES INJUSTIFIÉES by Denys Bourdet, appearing in SOLEIL DU MIDI, 4 mai 1899, p. 2

Lähde Liikkeelle : uravalmennuksesta kohti työllistymistä edistäviä palveluita

Työikäisten elämänlaadulle suurimmat riskitekijät ovat työkyvyttömyys ja työttömyys, ne heikentävät elämänlaatua huomattavasti. Aktivointi on päivän sana, kun puhutaan työttömistä ja työllistymisestä. Heikossa asemassa oleviltakin on alettu vaatia aktiivisuutta yhä enemmän. Hyvinvointiyhteiskuntamme tulevaisuuden yksi keskeisimmistä strategioista ja eettisistä haasteista onkin saada heikossa asemassa olevat ihmiset integroitua työelämään ja osallisiksi täysimääräistä toimijuutta yhteisöissämme. Tämä opinnäytetyö on toiminannallinen opinnäytetyö ja sen toteutustapa oli Lähde Liikkeelle uravalmennus ryhmän vetäminen pitkäaikaistyöttömille ja vaikeasti työllistyville. Ryhmässä tutustuttiin paikalliseen työ sekä koulutustarjontaan ja käytiin läpi hyvinvointiin liittyviä asioita. Yksi ryhmän tärkeimmistä tavoitteista oli päivittää jokaisen ryhmäläisen TE-palveluiden sivuilta löytyvä CV-netti sekä tehdä jokaiselle oma CV. Tarkoituksena oli saada selville ryhmäläisten ajatuksia ryhmästä, sen onnistumisesta, mahdollisista kehittämisen kohteista ja ennen kaikkea heidän ajatuksiaan tällaisen ryhmän hyödyllisyydestä osana heidän aktivoimistaan kohti työllistymistä edistäviä palveluita. Asiakkaat ryhmään ohjautuivat Työvoiman palvelukeskuksen ja TE- toimiston kautta ja se toteutettiin Rauman Seudun Katulähetys ry:n toimesta. Ryhmään osallistui kymmenen pitkään työttömänä tai yksilöllistä ohjausta kaipaavaa haastavassa elämäntilanteessa olevaa henkilöä. Ryhmäläisten sitoutuminen oli kiitettävää ja osallistuminen aktiivista. Ryhmäläisten palautteista voidaan päätellä, että tällaiselle ryhmälle varmasti on paikkansa ihmisten aktivoimisessa kohti työllisyyttä. Varsinkin työpaikkoihin tutustuminen sai kiitosta ja niitä olisi ryhmäläisten mukaan saanut olla enemmänkin. Myös TE- palveluiden sähköiseen asiointiin tutustuminen ja CV: n teko saivat kiitosta ja ne koettiin hyödylliseksi.The main risk factors for working age people are inability to work and unemployment, which greatly reduces the guality of life. Activation is the word of the day when we are talking about unemployed people and employment. Disadvantaged people should also be more and more active now days. One of the most important strategies and ethical challenges is our welfare society is to get those people in a weak position integrated into working life and to participate fully in our community. This thesis is a functional thesis and its implementation way was pulling Get started- career coaching group to long term unemployed and those who has difficulties become employed. In the group we familiarized to local work and training supplies and went through things that are related to welfare. One of the group`s most important goals was to update everyone´s CV- net found on the TE- services pages and to make everyone their own cv. The purpose was to find out group members thoughts about the group, it`s success, possible development target and most of all their thoughts about the usefulness of such a group as part of their activity towards employment promotion services. Customers were guided through the employment service center and TE- service and it was implemented by Rauma region street association. The group participated in ten long-term unemployed or those who needs individual guidance in a challenging life situation. The commitments of the group members was commendable and they participated actively. We can inter from the group feedback that there is a need for this kind of group which activates people towards employment. Especially familiarization to workplaces got praises and according to group members there should have been more of that. Also setting to know electronic services of the TE- service and creating a CV received praises and they experienced it to be useful

Green methodologies to test hydrocarbon reservoirs

Problem statement: The definition and the economic viability of the best development strategy of a hydrocarbon reservoir mainly depend on the quantity and type of fluids and on the well productivity. Well testing, consisting in producing hydrocarbon to the surface while measuring the pressure variations induced in the reservoir, has been used for decades to determine the fluid nature and well potential. In exploration and appraisal scenarios the hydrocarbons produced during a test are flared, contributing to the emissions of greenhouse gases. Approach: Due to more stringent environmental regulations and a general need for reduced operating expenses, the current industry drivers in today's formation evaluation methodologies demand short, safe, cost-effective and environmentally friendly test procedures, especially when conventional tests are prohibitively expensive, logistically not feasible or no surface emissions are allowed. Different methods have been proposed or resuscitated in the last years, such as wireline formation tests, closed chamber tests, production/reinjection tests and injection tests, as viable alternatives to conventional well testing. Results: While various short-term tests, test procedures and interpretation methods are apparently available for conducting successful tests without hydrocarbon production at the surface, clarity is lacking for specific applications of these techniques. An attempt to clarify advantages and limitations of each methodology, particularly with respect to the main testing target is pursued in the study. Specific insight is provided on injection testing, which is one of the most promising methodology to replace traditional well testing in reservoir characterization, except for the possibility to sample the formation fluids. Conclusion/Recommendations: Not a single one method but a combination of more methodologies, in particular injection testing and wireline formation testing, is the most promising strategy to achieve all the targets of a conventional well testing with no surface hydrocarbon production, increased safety during operations and reduction of the testing costs