European Union Pension Directive

[Excerpt] This Directive thus represents a first step on the way to an internal market for occupational retirement provision organised on a European scale. By setting the ‘prudent person’ rule as the underlying principle for capital investment and making it possible for institutions to operate across borders, the redirection of savings into the sector of occupational retirement provision is encouraged, thus contributing to economic and social progress. The prudential rules laid down in this Directive are intended both to guarantee a high degree of security for future pensioners through the imposition of stringent supervisory standards, and to clear the way for the efficient management of occupational pension schemes

Field-portable-XRF reveals the ubiquity of antimony in plastic consumer products.

Very little systematic information exists on the occurrence and concentrations of antimony (Sb) in consumer products. In this study, a Niton XL3t field-portable-X-ray fluorescence (FP-XRF) spectrometer was deployed in situ and in the laboratory to provide quantitative information on Sb dissipated in plastic items and fixtures (including rubber, textile and foamed materials) from the domestic, school, vehicular and office settings. The metalloid was detected in 18% of over 800 measurements performed, with concentrations ranging from about 60 to 60,000μgg(-1). The highest concentrations were encountered in white, electronic casings and in association with similar concentrations of Br, consistent with the use of antimony oxides (e.g. Sb2O3) as synergistic flame retardants. Concentrations above 1000μgg(-1), and with or without Br, were also encountered in paints, piping and hosing, adhesives, whiteboards, Christmas decorations, Lego blocks, document carriers, garden furniture, upholstered products and interior panels of private motor vehicles. Lower concentrations of Sb were encountered in a wide variety of items but its presence (without Br) in food tray packaging, single-use drinks bottles, straws and small toys were of greatest concern from a human health perspective. While the latter observations are consistent with the use of antimony compounds as catalysts in the production of polyethylene terephthalate, co-association of Sb and Br in many products not requiring flame retardancy suggests that electronic casings are widely recycled. Further research is required into the mobility of Sb when dissipated in new, recycled and aged polymeric materials

The rise and change of the competence strategy: reflections on twenty-five years of skills policies in the EU

The principal aim of this article is to provide a historical overview of 25 years of competence policy in the European Union, highlighting connections between past and current initiatives and outlining possible scenarios for the decade to come. The article presents the social investment turn in social policy as the critical political background against which the emergence of a competence strategy in European Union education policy should be analysed and understood. The competence strategy, it is argued, finds its roots in a renewed attention at the European Union level for harmonising educational outputs and labour market demands. While trying to produce a schematic history of the emergence and change of the competence strategy, the article does not seek to offer strict definitions of competence itself; instead, it conveys the nebulous and context-dependent nature of the concept

Frequency-dependence of large-signal properties in lead-free piezoceramics

The dependence of large signal properties of (1-x)(0.81Bi 1/2Na 1/2TiO 3-0.19Bi 1/2K 1/2TiO 3)-xBi(Zn 1/2Ti 1/2)O 3 with x 0.02, 0.03, and 0.04 on the measurement frequency was investigated for a wide range of frequencies from 0.1 Hz to 100 Hz. A significant frequency dispersion in the characteristic parameters representatively maximum and coercive values was denoted. On extension with the temperature dependent dielectric permittivity measurement, it was shown that the observed frequency dependence is primarily correlated with the dynamics of field-induced phase transition from a relaxor state to a long-range ferroelectric state. Increasing the substitutional disorder introduced by Bi(Zn 1/2Ti 1/2)O 3 addition was demonstrated to pronounce the frequency dependence. It was proposed that the change be due to the increase in random fields and consequent dominance of ergodicity, based on the frequency-dependent hysteresis measurements at an elevated temperature above so-called induced-ferroelectric-to-relaxor transition temperature.open8

Financing social and cohesion policy in an enlarged EU: plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose?

The development of the Open Method of Coordination, agreement on the Lisbon Agenda and EU enlargement offered the prospect of a new and substantial EU social policy agenda. This article considers EU social and cohesion policies in the context of the recent negotiation of the EU budget for 2007—13. We find the Commission's wish to redistribute EU spending in favour of these policy areas and new member states was thwarted by key political features of EU budget making: CAP spending levels which are downwardly sticky; institutional arrangements which provide for budget making as, at best, a zero-sum game; and the preferences of contributor member states in the EU-15 to contain overall spending while preserving their net budget positions. Questions are thus raised as to the ability of the EU to make any progress, from a budgetary perspective, on the social and cohesion policy agenda in an enlarged EU

Securing effective and equitable coverage of marine protected areas : the UK's progress towards achieving Convention on Biological Diversity commitments and lessons learned for the way forward

Current international agreements call for protecting 10% of marine and coastal waters by 2020, with the intention of increasing that target to 30% by 2030. With 24% of its territorial waters protected, the UK falls short of the new expected target. As well as quantitative targets, qualitative criteria have been internationally agreed for protected area designation, including minimum coverage values and characteristics that encompass effectively and equitably managed, ecologically representative and well-connected systems of protected areas and other effective area-based conservation measures, and integrated into the wider landscape and seascape. The legal framework supporting protected area designations at sea is summarized and explained for UK territorial waters. Efforts to date to achieve current marine protected area (MPA) targets are reviewed, with emphasis on how well the existing protected area portfolio captures the qualitative criteria. Examples are given of other effective conservation measures complementary to formalized MPAs, especially with regard to achieving and promoting qualitative criteria for biodiversity conservation, including appropriate recognition of and support for areas conserved by indigenous people, local communities and private entities. A precis on the governance of MPAs and other effective conservation measures in the UK and its overseas territories is presented. Whilst the UK has made exceptional progress with quantitative MPA coverage, it is still not clear whether designated areas offer effective protection. A UK-level strategy is in place to address this; and at site level, Lyme Bay MPA illustrates the benefits of addressing qualitative criteria. Illustrated by the UK example, an urgent call is made for ongoing and future marine in situ area-based conservation efforts to substantiate quantitative and qualitative considerations, and to ensure that MPA networks are ultimately fit for purpose

Bridging rhetoric and practice: new perspectives on barriers to gendered change

Contains fulltext : 167537.pdf (publisher's version ) (Open Access)This article presents a new methodology, Gender Knowledge Contestation Analysis, and uses it to examine the processes under way when transformative gender equality policies, such as gender mainstreaming are implemented. Drawing on data gathered in the European Commission, the findings show the processes linking high-level rhetorical policy statements, strategic policies, and daily working practices. This analysis enables exploration of the mechanisms through which indifference to and nonawareness of gendered policy problems are collectively constituted and methods through which they can be challenged. Findings thus deepen our understanding of barriers to the implementation of gender mainstreaming and the steps required for its effective implementation.20 juli 201

Concentrations and Migratabilities of Hazardous Elements in Second-Hand Children's Plastic toys.

About 200 second-hand plastic toys sourced in the UK have been analyzed by X-ray fluorescence spectrometry for hazardous elements (As, Ba, Cd, Cr, Hg, Pb, Sb, Se) and Br as a proxy for brominated flame retardants. Each element was detected in >20 toys or components thereof with the exception of As, Hg, and Se, with the frequent occurrence of Br, Cd, and Pb and at maximum concentrations of about 16000, 20000, and 5000 μg g-1, respectively, of greatest concern from a potential exposure perspective. Migration was evaluated on components of 26 toys under simulated stomach conditions (0.07 M HCl) with subsequent analysis by inductively coupled plasma spectrometry. In eight cases, Cd or Pb exceeded their migration limits as stipulated by the current EU Toy Safety Directive (17 and 23 μg g-1, respectively), with Cd released from yellow and red Lego bricks exceeding its limit by 1 order of magnitude. Two further cases were potentially noncompliant based on migratable Cr, with one item also containing >250 μg g-1migratable Br. While there is no retroactive regulation on second-hand toys, consumers should be aware that old, mouthable, plastic items may present a source of hazardous element exposure to infants