BMJ Open

INTRODUCTION: The prevalence of postnatal depression (PND) is significant: reaching up to 20% in the general population. In mechanistic terms, the risk of PND lies in an interaction between a maternal psychophysiological vulnerability and a chronic environmental context of stress. On the one hand, repetition of stressor during pregnancy mimics a chronic stress model that is relevant to the study of the allostatic load and the adaptive mechanisms. On the other hand, vulnerability factors reflect a psychological profile mirroring mindfulness functioning (psychological quality that involves bringing one's complete and non-judgemental attention to the present experience on a moment-to-moment basis). This psychological resource is linked to protective and resilient psychic functioning. Thus, PND appears to be a relevant model for studying the mechanisms of chronic stress and vulnerability to psychopathologies.In this article, we present the protocol of an ongoing study (started in May 2017). METHODS AND ANALYSIS: The study is being carried out in five maternities and will involve 260 women. We aim to determine the predictive psychobiological factors for PND emergence and to provide a better insight into the mechanisms involved in chronic stress during pregnancy. We use a multidisciplinary approach that encompasses psychological resources and biophysiological and genetic profiles in order to detect relevant vulnerability biomarkers for chronic stress and the development of PND. To do so, each woman will be involved in the study from her first trimester of pregnancy until 12 months postdelivery. ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: Ethics approval was obtained from the Ile de France III Ethics Committee, France (2016-A00887-44). We aim to disseminate the findings through international conferences and international peer-reviewed journals. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT03088319; Pre-results

Fiscal Councils: Threat or Opportunity for Democracy in the Post-Crisis Economic and Monetary Union?

After the Eurozone crisis, European Union (EU) Member States have the obligation to establish independent fiscal institutions (IFIs)—also known as fiscal councils—composed of recognised experts responsible for the monitoring of the compliance with fiscal rules in accordance with European norms. Eurozone Coun- tries are the first addressees of this obligation and are bound by stricter legal constraints than States outside the Euro area. The form these IFIs take varies from one Member State to the other and so do their powers. In any event, in requiring their creation, the European norms have potentially led to a reorganisation and a change in the institutional balance at national level. At the same time, they may have participated to the improvement of democracy in ensuring more inde- pendent expertise, transparent and public information, and knowledge that Parlia- ments can use to control and scrutinise their Government ’ s actions, although the fiscal councils themselves remain weak. In this context, this contribution aims to answer the following research question: Do IFIs, according to the new European and national rules of implementation, constitute a threat to democracy or, rather could they, in fact, enhance democracy

The European Commission and the Member States facing differentiated (dis)integration: The challenges of Brexit

This chapter provides an analysis of the role of the European Commission and the member states in governing differentiation in European integration \u2013 both historically and vis-\ue0-vis the \u2018Brexit process\u2019. It ultimately asks how the balance of powers of the Commission and the member states in this regard could evolve in the future. Whereas the administrative capacity of the Commission\u2019s structure and administration are crucial for the implementation of differentiated integration, it is only the EU\u2019s member states\u2019 governments which can provide sufficient impetus \u2013 if not legitimacy \u2013 for triggering differentiation and thus shaping the future design of the EU. This chapter explores how the institutional dynamics in processes of differentiation have developed over time, assesses the prospective roles that the Commission and the member states could assume in triggering further differentiation in a \u2018post-Brexit\u2019 Union, and eventually proposes that coordination and cooperation between the Commission and governments of member states are likely to increase in the future