scholarly journals IMPORTANCE OF FUNDED PENSION SCHEMES IN PROVISION OF PENSIONS: THE EXPERIENCE OF LATVIA AND THE OLD EU COUNTRIES

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 ◽  
pp. 311
Author(s):  
Jekaterina Jefremova
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
The Netherlands ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Pension Plan ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
The Past ◽  
Pension Schemes ◽  
Retirement Security ◽  
Pension Benefits ◽  
The Eu

During the past 20 years, pension reforms in the EU countries have lowered pension benefits. As a consequence of reforms each person’s responsibility for the result has increased. Examples of such reforms are those in Latvia (1995–2001), Germany (2001–2004) and the Netherlands (2004–2010). The essential part of future pension sufficiency is based on funded pension schemes, which are expected to prevent poverty and ensure the replacement of sufficient income in old age.The government defines a significant role to funded pension schemes. It is important to take into consideration major structural weaknesses in relation to social security. This includes such aspects as security and payment levels, risk management of savings and payment phases, tax implications and necessity of pension plan monitoring. These are all the problems to be solved in order to draw funded schemes as an integral part of retirement security among investors.This paper investigates the importance of funded pension schemes in securing pension in Latvia and in some old EU countries.

scholarly journals Waste from the agricultural sector in the European Union countries in the context of the bioeconomy development

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 47-59
Author(s):  
AGNIESZKA KOMOR ◽  
BARBARA BUJANOWICZ-HARAŚ
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Spatial Diversity ◽  
Research Area ◽  
Animal Waste ◽  
The European Union ◽  
High Position ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
High Degree ◽  
The Eu

The aim of the study was to identify and assess the spatial diversity of generating of animal and vegetal waste by entities from the agricultural sector in the EU countries along with the determination of the importance of this type of waste in total waste generated in individual countries. Statistical data used in the study were obtained from EUROSTAT. The research period was 2016, while the research area covered 25 EU countries. The data was subjected to quantitative analysis using descriptive and parametric statistics. It was found that animal and vegetal waste has the largest share in the structure of waste from the agricultural sector (accounting for 81.6% of all waste in the agricultural sector in the EU in 2016). It has been shown that generating of vegetal and animal waste in agricultural sector in the EU countries is characterized by spatial diversity. Most of this waste type was generated in Spain and the Netherlands. The dominant position of Spain resulted from significant share of this country in the EU volume of animal faeces, urine and manure generation. High position of the Netherlands was associated with a large share of vegetal waste. France, Germany, Slovakia and Sweden ranked next. Nearly 80% of all analyzed groups of waste came from these countries, which indicates a high degree of spatial concentration of the studied phenomenon. In this context, it can be stated that these countries are predestined to base their development on the concept of the bioeconomy. It is a challenge for the research and development sphere regarding development of innovative ways of managing agricultural vegetal and animal waste.

scholarly journals Circularity in Selected EU Countries: The Case of Construction and Demolition Industry

2021 ◽  
Vol 855 (1) ◽  
pp. 012017
Author(s):  
N Dytianquin ◽  
J Gregersen-Hermans ◽  
N Kalogeras ◽  
J van Oorschot ◽  
M Ritzen
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Circular Economy ◽  
Western Europe ◽  
Building Design ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Decision Context ◽  
Life Cycle Stages ◽  
Road Surfaces ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The construction and demolition industry (CDI) became a priority area for the EU circular economy as the industry has the largest waste stream by volume. Most of the CDI waste, however, ends up in incinerators for energy production or as downcycled content for road surfaces despite its enormous potential for recycling and reuse. This study focuses on the application of circularity in the CDI. We recognize that the construction industry provides a prominent decision context for studying circularity since many scrap materials resulting from demolished buildings and houses could be recycled, reused and refurbished in newly constructed edifices from foundation to rooftops. Adopting the fundamental circularity concepts, the study intends to compare how selected countries as early adopters of circularity in the EU apply distinct concepts of the circular economy in the CDI. The study investigates the manner circularity in CDI is achieved in the selected countries using determinants for project success in integrating the three dimensions of sustainability to identify and determine best practices. These determinants are: 1) stage of circularity as described in the waste hierarchy and circularity ladder, 2) building design principles, 3) life cycle stages specific to construction, and 4) availability and extent of policy or strategy on circularity in the EU countries where the selected projects are located. The EU countries covered are: the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, France, and Denmark who are among the top 10 waste generators in Western Europe. The projects chosen are: (i) Superlocal project in the Netherlands; (ii) the Circular Retrofit Lab (CRL) project in Belgium; (iii) Open Air Library in Germany; (iv) Rehafutur Engineer’s House project in France; and (v) Upcycle Studios in Denmark.

scholarly journals CHANGES IN RETAIL INDUSTRY IN THE EU

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-49 ◽  
Author(s):  
Blazenka Knezevic ◽  
Sanda Renko ◽  
Nikola Knego
Keyword(s):  
National Economy ◽  
Retail Trade ◽  
Business Strategies ◽  
Candidate Country ◽  
Retail Industry ◽  
Concentration Process ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Eu

Retail is an important industry of each national economy. In the EU, it is an important source of employment and significantly contributes to the GDP creation. Moreover, almost one fifth of all companies are registered in retail industry. In the past decade, retail industry is changing from applying domestically oriented towards internationally oriented business strategies. The importance of large companies is this industry is growing, too. Retail trade concentration process is recognized in all EU countries. In this paper, some of prevailing trends in retail industry are analyzed and explained. The analysis includes EU countries and Croatia as EU candidate country.

Vennootschappelijke medezeggenschap in de EU en Nederland

2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Robbert van het Kaar
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Employee Participation ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
Works Councils ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
The Core ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
Core Issue ◽  
Board Level ◽  
The Eu

Employee participation at board level in the EU and the Netherlands The core issue of this article is employee participation at board level, as distinguished from information and consultation through union representatives and works councils. The author gives an overview of recent developments at EU-level and several EU-countries, with a special focus on the Netherlands. The analysis takes account of changes in both legislation and practice.

scholarly journals Compulsory membership of pension schemes and the free movement of services in the EU

2017 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 118-140 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hans van Meerten ◽  
Elmar Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Competition Law ◽  
Pension Funds ◽  
European Court Of Justice ◽  
Court Of Justice ◽  
Pension Schemes ◽  
European Court ◽  
Indirect Discrimination ◽  
Mandatory Participation ◽  
The Eu

Mandatory pension participation in the Netherlands is currently under review. This article examines the manner in which the system of mandatory participation in sectoral pension funds is presently organised as well as future proposals from the perspective of the freedom to provide services. It also briefly reviews mandatory participation in Belgium, Denmark, Germany, France and Sweden and asks whether it constitutes a barrier to the freedom enshrined in Article 56 TFEU. Restrictions of this freedom in the field of mandatory participation are too easily excused in the Netherlands by pointing to decisions by the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in which it judged the system to be permissible. These decisions, however, were made from the perspective of competition law, and not on the basis of Article 56 TFEU. Grounds for justifying restrictions to this freedom exist, although different justifications are available for direct and indirect discrimination. The article questions how mandatory participation in the Member States considered in this article fare from this perspective?

Pensions and the reduction of non-wage labour costs. Modelling a decade of reforms in Germany

2002 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 277-291 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Jerone De Deken
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Social Insurance ◽  
Pension Reform ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Past ◽  
Wage Labour ◽  
Pension Schemes ◽  
Labour Costs

The reduction of non-wage labour costs has become a top priority of virtually all social insurance reforms in the European Union. This paper starts out by discussing the levers politicians can theoretically manipulate to lower non-wage labour costs without undermining the equilibrium between revenue and expenditure in social security, focusing on pension schemes. After a discussion of general options open to policymakers, the paper discusses the reforms in Germany during the past decade, in particular the most recent pension reform that seeks to introduce a privately administered funded element into the statutory scheme. It concludes by critically assessing the extent to which this partial return to funding will allow the country to overcome the pending demographic crisis of social security, and by pointing to reform options that have not been considered.

Demonized, domesticated, virtualized: fortification buildings as a case of Prussian heritage in present-day Kaliningrad

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 400-421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eleonora Narvselius
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Historical Narratives ◽  
Military Architecture ◽  
Soviet History ◽  
Public Discussion ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Eu

The article explores ways in which the nineteenth-century Prussian military architecture has been used and promoted as a part of the local heritage in the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Accommodation of the old fortification buildings to tourism and museum work has been publicly discussed since the beginning of the 2000s, but neither local nor federal authorities have proposed a plan to adapt them to non-military purposes. As a result, these structures, which are protected by federal heritage laws and uniformly built of characteristic red bricks, have become an arena for various initiatives, experiments, and games with the past. Strategies of virtualization discussed in the paper reveal a lack of open public discussion about dark episodes of Russian and Soviet history. Consequently, it is important to learn more about how and why contemporary Kaliningraders appropriate the local German legacies, use globally accepted strategies of heritage construction, and develop cooperation with the EU countries, while remaining receptive to official historical narratives promulgated by the national center.

scholarly journals PROBLEMS AND PROSPECTS OF THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE AGRICULTURAL MARKET OF UKRAINE AT THE EXPENSE OF TRUFFLE EXPORTS TO EU COUNTRIES

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Svitlana Maschenko ◽  
◽  
Liudmyla Tiveriadska ◽  
Daria Vydai ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Production ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Agricultural Products ◽  
Land Market ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
The Past ◽  
Food And Agriculture ◽  
Food And Agriculture Organization ◽  
Livestock Products ◽  
The Eu

The article provides economic indicators of the EU and Ukraine, in particular the share of agriculture and indicators of food exports and imports. The changes that took place have been analyzed in the land market and in general in the market of agricultural products of Ukraine, and it was found that during 2015-2019 there was a negative trend of decreasing economic efficiency of agricultural production. It is concluded that the level of profitability of production of horticultural, grain and legume crops tends to decrease. It was found that the structure of exports of Ukrainian products is dominated by crop products, and the share of livestock products is insignificant. Noted that the increase in the value of exports of agricultural goods over the past three years is positive and the most profitable now will be the export of truffles from Ukraine to EU countries. According to FAOSTAT (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations), namely the indicators of profitability and production of truffles, a conclusion was made on the competitiveness of Ukrainian truffles in the EU market. It has been determined that the agricultural sector activity has positive and negative moments in the territories of Ukraine. It has been concluded that the Ukrainian government has to focus on a policy aimed at balancing the tax burden, introducing certification for the European market.

scholarly journals Economic and Environmental Aspects of Agriculture in the EU Countries

Energies ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (22) ◽  
pp. 7826
Author(s):  
Joanna Domagała
Keyword(s):  
The Netherlands ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Greenhouse Gas Emission ◽  
Environmental Aspects ◽  
Member States ◽  
Dea Model ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Emission Efficiency ◽  
European Environmental Agency ◽  
The Eu

The analysis of the economic efficiency of agriculture has been the subject of numerous studies. An economically efficient agricultural sector is not always environmentally efficient. Agriculture is a large emitter of greenhouse gases. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change states that food production and agriculture are responsible for 21–37% of total global CO2 emissions. Due to the comprehensive assessment of the agricultural efficiency, it is worthwhile to apply to its measurement an integrated approach based on economic, energy and environmental aspects. These aspects were the main reasons for undertaking this research. The purpose of the study was to determine the economic, energy and environmental efficiency of agriculture in the EU Member States in 2019. The environmental analyses relate to the period 1990–2019. A total of 26 member states of the European Union (excluding Malta and Luxembourg) were selected for research. The sources of materials were Eurostat and the European Environmental Agency. This study was based on the Data Envelopment Analysis method, and used the DEA model focused on minimizing inputs. The research also adopts energy productivity and greenhouse gas emission efficiency indicators. The DEA model features the following variables: one effect (value of agricultural production) and four inputs (land, labour, use of fertilizers and use of energy). It was found that seven out of the 26 studied EU countries have efficient agriculture. The efficient agriculture group included the Netherlands, Denmark, Greece, Cyprus, the United Kingdom, Italy and Ireland. Based on the DEA method, benchmarks have been defined for countries with inefficient agriculture. On the basis of these benchmarks for inefficient agricultural sectors, it was possible to determine how they could improve efficiency to achieve the same results with fewer inputs. This issue is particularly important in the context of sustainable agricultural development. In the next stage of the research, the analysis of economic and energy efficiency was combined with the analysis of GHG emission efficiency in agriculture. Four groups of countries have been distinguished: eco-efficiency leaders, eco-efficiency followers, environmental slackers, eco-efficiency laggards. The leaders of the classification were the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, Cyprus and Portugal.

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