Understanding the process of creating a European identity: The role of Cohesion Policy

This paper reviews the theoretical arguments for understanding the process of the creation of a European identity. We discuss the mechanisms and determinants driving citizens' identification with Europe, stressing the role of territory in European identity formation. More precisely, our focus is on the literature that considers the link between European identity and EU policies that influence the socioeconomic conditions in general and Cohesion Policy in particular. This is a major policy within the EU that accounted for some 350 billion euros invested in the 2007-2013 programming period, or about one-third of the EU budget. Consequently, Cohesion Policy is expected to determine the way citizens identify with the European project in the regions benefitting more and less by the policy. The study also considers arguments supporting an urban-rural divide in European identity, which could interact with the influence of the Cohesion Policy. Initial descriptive evidence of these links is provided based on results from a comprehensive survey of 15 EU member state

El proceso de creación de identidad europea: el papel de la política de cohesión

This paper reviews the theoretical arguments provided by the extant literature for understanding the process of creation of a European identity. We discuss the grounds of mechanisms and determinants driving citizens’ identification with Europe, stressing the role of the territorial dimension on European identity formation. More precisely, our focus is on the literature that have considered the link between European identity and EU policies that influence the citizens’ socio-economic conditions, in general, and Cohesion Policy in particular. This is a major policy within the EU that accounted for some 350 billion euros in the 2007-2013 programming period, about a third of total EU budget. Consequently, it is expected to determine the way citizens identify with the European project, both in the regions more and less benefited by the policy. The study also considers arguments supporting a sort of urban-rural divide in European identity, which could interact with the influence of the Cohesion Policy. Initial descriptive evidence on these links is provided based on results from a comprehensive survey for 15 EU member states.Este artículo revisa los argumentos teóricos proporcionados por la literatura existente para comprender el proceso de creación de una identidad europea. Discutimos los fundamentos de los mecanismos y determinantes que impulsan la identificación de los ciudadanos con Europa, destacando el papel de la dimensión territorial en la formación de la identidad europea. En concreto, nos centramos en la literatura que ha considerado el vínculo entre la identidad europea y las políticas de la UE que influyen en las condiciones socioeconómicas de los ciudadanos en general, y en la Política de Cohesión en particular. Ésta es una política importante dentro de la UE, que representó unos 350 mil millones de euros en el período de programación 2007-2013, aproximadamente un tercio del presupuesto total de la UE. En consecuencia, es de esperar que determine la forma en que los ciudadanos se identifican con el proyecto europeo, tanto en las regiones más y menos beneficiadas por la política. El estudio también considera argumentos que respaldan una división rural-urbana en la identidad europea, que podría interactuar con la influencia de la Política de Cohesión. La evidencia descriptiva inicial de estas conexiones se proporciona en base a los resultados de una encuesta exhaustiva para 15 estados miembros de la UE

Mujeres NoMo en el siglo XXI: Visibilización del movimiento No Mother en la sociedad española

El Trabajo Fin de Grado que presento a continuación acredita la superación del Grado en Trabajo Social en la Universidad de Valladolid. A través de este documento no solo trato de reafirmar las competencias adquiridas sino también el interés que he ido desarrollando sobre uno de los colectivos trabajos en las aulas, la mujer. En este documento se da a conocer el Movimiento No Mother (de ahora en adelante: movimiento NoMo), el cual hace referencia a todas aquellas mujeres que no desean tener hijos/as y que, debido esta condición, sufren críticas y presión por parte de una gran mayoría social dando lugar a estigmas y posibles daños morales. En España, esta tendencia, es cada vez más propensa y estas mujeres carecen de apoyos tanto políticos como sociales debido a la tendencia patriarcal a la que estamos sometidos/as. Tras haber hecho un estudio teórico sobre los problemas que estas mujeres sufren, los conceptos en torno a las siglas NoMo y las posibles razones que justifican este movimiento social, observamos que este colectivo no está siendo respetado y que aún queda mucho por hacer para que se normalice este nuevo estilo de vida. Es por esto por lo que ponemos en marcha una plataforma online de apoyo y visibilización de las mujeres NoMo, intentando eliminar posibles estigmas y prejuicios sociales.Grado en Trabajo Socia

Building a Quality in Work index in Spain

The European Union launched the Lisbon Strategy in 2000 with the aim of establishing itself as the world’s most competitive knowledge-based economy. At the same time, job quality was placed at the top of the European employment and social policy agenda and, later, it was to be incorporated as part of the European Employment and Europe-2020 Strategies. However, in a climate of economic crisis, it is argued that the price we are paying for continued economic growth is the dehumanisation of labour relationships with good jobs being substituted by bad jobs. In order to appraise such claims, scholars require quantifiable measures. The aim of this study is to define and apply a composite index of the quality in work in Spain. We present the results for the period 2001 to 2009. Our measure adopts the dimensional framework provided by the European Commission, and we present our results by region, sector, professional category and firm size. We find that the best results are recorded in the most developed regions, in the service sector, in the largest firms and in jobs in which workers are entrusted with most responsibility

The institutional vs. the academic definition of the quality of work life. What is the focus of the European Commission?

In recent years, we have seen how the quality of work life has been focused and defined by the European Commission (EC). In our study we compare the EC definition with the academic one and try to see how close they are. We also analyse the possibility of applying the institutional definition to the Spanish case through the development of specific indicators. Our main conclusions are that QWL is increasingly important for policy makers. In addition, it is essential to have objective indicators and to conduct surveys in order to reliably measure QWL

libstable: Fast, Parallel, and High-Precision Computation of α-Stable Distributions in R, C/C++, and MATLAB

α-stable distributions are a family of well-known probability distributions. However, the lack of closed analytical expressions hinders their application. Currently, several tools have been developed to numerically evaluate their density and distribution functions or to estimate their parameters, but available solutions either do not reach sufficient precision on their evaluations or are excessively slow for practical purposes. Moreover, they do not take full advantage of the parallel processing capabilities of current multi-core machines. Other solutions work only on a subset of the α-stable parameter space. In this paper we present an R package and a C/C++ library with a MATLAB front-end that permit parallelized, fast and high precision evaluation of density, distribution and quantile functions, as well as random variable generation and parameter estimation of α-stable distributions in their whole parameter space. The described library can be easily integrated into third party developments

Libstable: Fast, Parallel and High-Precision Computation of -Stable Distributions in C/C++ and MATLAB

-stable distributions are a wide family of probability distributions used in many elds where probabilistic approaches are taken. However, the lack of closed analytical expressions is a major drawback for their application. Currently, several tools have been developed to numerically evaluate their density and distribution functions or estimate their parameters, but available solutions either do not reach su cient precision on their evaluations or are too slow for several practical purposes. Moreover, they do not take full advantage of the parallel processing capabilities of current multi-core machines. Other solutions work only on a subset of the -stable parameter space. In this paper we present a C/C++ library and a MATLAB front-end that allows fully parallelized, fast and high precision evaluation of density, distribution and quantile functions (PDF, CDF and CDF1 respectively), random variable generation and parameter estimation of -stable distributions in their whole parameter space. The library provided can be easily integrated on third party developments

Evaluation of the cohesion policy operational program 2007-2013. The case of Extremadura

Funding information: European Commission, Grant/Award Number: H2020-REFLECTIVE-SOCIETY-2015. Grant Agreement num; EC, Grant/Award Number: 693529[eng] This work summarises the main findings of the review of the implementation of the Cohesion Policy in Extremadura (Spain) during the Operational Program 2007-2013, which closed early 2017. The PERCEIVE project, developed within the H2020 framework, gives the opportunity to analyse the characteristics of the region, its main strengths and weaknesses together with the opportunities and threats, and how the Cohesion Policy addresses these challenges. We perform a general overview of the Operational Program 2007-2013 in Extremadura, analysing the final expenditure by priority themes, the absorption rate, the time-line of the implementation and execution, and a comparison with the current 2014-2020 programming period. We also analyse the governance of Cohesion Policy in Extremadura and the institutional setting. We finish this report by summarising the main conclusions and the expected outcomes of the research project in its next stages.[spa] Este trabajo resume las principales conclusiones de la revisión de la Política de Cohesión en Extremadura (España) durante el Programa Operativo 2007-2013, que cerró a principios de 2017. El proyecto PERCEIVE, desarrollado dentro del marco H2020, brinda la oportunidad de analizar las características de la región, sus principales fortalezas y debilidades, junto con las oportunidades y ame - nazas, y cómo la política de cohesión aborda estos desafíos. Desarrollamos una visión general del Programa Operativo en el periodo 2007-2013 en Extremadura, analizando el gasto final por temas prioritarios, la tasa de absorción, el cronograma de implementación y ejecución y una comparación con el actual periodo de progra - mación 2014-2020. Asimismo, analizamos la gobernanza de la Política de Cohesión en Extremadura y el entorno institucional en la que se desarrolla. Terminamos este informe resumiendo las principales conclusiones y los resultados esperados del proyecto de investigación en sus siguientes etapa