The End of EU Financial Regulatory Internationalism?

Introduction: This paper grapples with the issue of EU internationalism in the area of financial regulation. It first delineates between two dimensions of internationalism – integrationism and multilateralism – noting that since 2007 it is increasingly difficult to be internationalist in both senses. After discussing policymakers’ confidence in EU internationalism as well as scholarly debates, we report on our own comparative study of nine regulatory areas, over time and with respect to the US and international soft law. Our findings suggest that compared to 2007 the EU and the US have become less integrationist – though they have done so in a coordinated fashion, at least through 2011, but less so afterwards; and the EU, contrary to its image as portrayed by EU officials, has also become less multilateralist, notably after 2010, in contrast to a US pattern of relative stability. The explanatory sections of the paper thus focus on the inflection point between 2010 and 2011, preceded by high levels of Transatlantic coordination and followed by a decline of EU multilateralist behavior. We attribute both to a combination of three interrelated causal variables: public salience; UK-­‐Continental relations; and the distance between EU preferences and transnational soft law. We provide empirical evidence in support of all three

Thriving at work: Toward its measurement, construct validation, and theoretical refinement

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/90225/1/job756.pd

Die Handlungsfähigkeit des Nationalstaats bei der Regulierung der Finanzmärkte

In der Diskussion um die erodierende Handlungsfähigkeit des Nationalstaats geht es normalerweise um Innenpolitik. Durch sein zunächst effektives Management der sich als Bankenkrise äußernden Finanzmarktkrise hat der Nationalstaat unzweifelhaft Handlungsfähigkeit bewiesen. Für die Verhinderung künftiger Krisen dieser Art ist eine striktere Regulierung der Finanzmärkte erforderlich. Wirksame Regulierung ist angesichts der globalen Expansion der Finanzmärkte nur durch internationale Vereinbarungen zu erreichen. In den entsprechenden Verhandlungen äußert sich jedoch die Handlungsfähigkeit der Nationalstaaten vor allem in der Verhinderung internationaler Vereinbarungen, die ihren nationalen Interessen nicht gerecht werden. Hier wird nationale Handlungsfähigkeit kontraproduktiv

Inducing mineral precipitation in groundwater by addition of phosphate

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Induced precipitation of phosphate minerals to scavenge trace elements from groundwater is a potential remediation approach for contaminated aquifers. The success of engineered precipitation schemes depends on the particular phases generated, their rates of formation, and their long term stability. The purpose of this study was to examine the precipitation of calcium phosphate minerals under conditions representative of a natural groundwater. Because microorganisms are present in groundwater, and because some proposed schemes for phosphate mineral precipitation rely on stimulation of native microbial populations, we also tested the effect of bacterial cells (initial densities of 10⁵and 10⁷mL^-1) added to the precipitation medium. In addition, we tested the effect of a trace mixture of propionic, isovaleric, formic and butyric acids (total concentration 0.035 mM).</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The general progression of mineral precipitation was similar under all of the study conditions, with initial formation of amorphous calcium phosphate, and transformation to poorly crystalline hydroxylapatite (HAP) within one week. The presence of the bacterial cells appeared to delay precipitation, although by the end of the experiments the overall extent of precipitation was similar for all treatments. The stoichiometry of the final precipitates as well as Rietveld structure refinement using x-ray diffraction data indicated that the presence of organic acids and bacterial cells resulted in an increasing <it>a </it>and decreasing <it>c </it>lattice parameter, with the higher concentration of cells resulting in the greatest distortion. Uptake of Sr into the solids was decreased in the treatments with cells and organic acids, compared to the control.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Our results suggest that the minerals formed initially during an engineered precipitation application for trace element sequestration may not be the ones that control long-term immobilization of the contaminants. In addition, the presence of bacterial cells appears to be associated with delayed HAP precipitation, changes in the lattice parameters, and reduced incorporation of trace elements as compared to cell-free systems. Schemes to remediate groundwater contaminated with trace metals that are based on enhanced phosphate mineral precipitation may need to account for these phenomena, particularly if the remediation approach relies on enhancement of <it>in situ </it>microbial populations.</p