Στην παρούσα εργασία επιχειρούμε να διερευνήσουμε το βαθμό στον οποίο οι οικονομικοί κύκλοι μεταξύ των χωρών-μελών στη διευρυμένη Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση των 25 χωρών εμφανίζονται ή όχι συγχρονισμένοι και επιπλέον εξετάζουμε την πιθανότητα ύπαρξης ασυμμετριών. Το θεωρητικό πλαίσιο της ανάλυσής μας στηρίζεται στη Θεωρία της Άριστης Νομισματικής Περιοχής, στην οποία αναφερόμαστε εκτενώς, παρουσιάζοντας τόσο την παραδοσιακή όσο και τη σύγχρονη προσέγγισή της, ενώ παράλληλα θίγουμε και το ζήτημα της ενδογένειας των κριτηρίων. Στη συνέχεια, παραθέτουμε αναλυτικά ένα σημαντικό μέρος της σύγχρονης εμπειρικής βιβλιογραφίας που εξετάζει το ζήτημα που μας απασχολεί, ενώ παρουσιάζουμε και ορισμένες από τις μεθοδολογικές προσεγγίσεις που έχουν υιοθετηθεί από τους ερευνητές. Στο υπόδειγμα που αναπτύσσουμε, χρησιμοποιούμε στοιχεία χρονολογικών σειρών που αφορούν σε δυο μακροοικονομικές μεταβλητές, το πραγματικό ΑΕΠ και το επίπεδο τιμών και διερευνούμε σε πρώτη φάση το βαθμό συγχρονισμού των οικονομικών κύκλων στην ΕΕ-25. Ως σημείο αναφοράς ορίζουμε τις 15 χώρες-μέλη της Ευρωπαϊκής Ένωσης (ΕΕ-15), ενώ στο δείγμα μας μεταξύ των υπόλοιπων χωρών συμπεριλαμβάνουμε και τις υποψήφιες για ένταξη στην ΕΕ χώρες. Στόχος μας είναι να προσδιορίσουμε την έκταση στην οποία η πραγματική οικονομική δραστηριότητα σε κάθε μία από τις χώρες αυτές κινείται ή όχι προς την ίδια κατεύθυνση με την ΕΕ-15. Αναλογιζόμενοι τους μηχανισμούς μέσω των οποίων μπορεί να προκαλείται αυτή η κυκλική συσχέτιση, προχωρούμε την ανάλυσή μας ένα βήμα πιο πέρα και εξετάζουμε την πιθανότητα ύπαρξης ασυμμετριών στις διαταραχές. Ακολουθώντας τη μεθοδολογία SVAR, εκτιμούμε για κάθε μία χώρα τα σχετικά υποδείγματα, επιδιώκοντας αρχικά να αναγνωρίσουμε τις διαρθρωτικές διαταραχές με τις οποίες έρχονται αντιμέτωπες οι εξεταζόμενες οικονομίες. Στη συνέχεια, υπολογίζουμε το βαθμό της συμμετρίας που παρουσιάζουν οι διαταραχές συνολικής ζήτησης και συνολικής προσφοράς ξεχωριστά για κάθε μία χώρα σε σχέση με τις αντίστοιχες διαταραχές στην ΕΕ-15. Όσον αφορά στα αποτελέσματα της ανάλυσής μας, εστιάζουμε κυρίως στη συμπεριφορά που επιδεικνύουν τόσο τα νέα κράτη-μέλη όσο και οι υποψήφιες χώρες, ενώ επιχειρούμε και μια πρόβλεψη για το τι μέλλει γενέσθαι σε σχέση με την πολυσυζητημένη ευρωπαϊκή διεύρυνση. / This paper seeks to explore the extent to which economic cycles between member states in the enlarged European Union of 25 countries appear or not synchronized and further examines the possible existence of asymmetries. The theoretical framework of our analysis is based on the Theory of Optimum Currency Area, to which we refer extensively, presenting both traditional and modern approach, while addressing the question of endogeneity criteria. Then, we present in detail an important part of modern empirical literature examining the issue before us, while also highlighting some of the methodological approaches adopted by researchers. In our model we use time-series data related to two macroeconomic variables, real GDP and price level and explore initially the degree of synchronization between business cycles in EU-25. As a point of reference we define the 15 member countries of the European Union (EU-15), whereas in our sample among the remaining countries we include the candidate countries for EU membership. Our goal is to determine the extent to which real economic activity in each of these countries is moving or not in the same direction with the EU-15. Considering the mechanisms by which this cyclic correlation can be caused, we proceed our analysis a step further and examine the possible existence of asymmetries in shocks. Following the SVAR methodology, we estimate for each country relevant models, seeking initially to identify the structural shocks experienced by the economies concerned. Then, we calculate the degree of symmetry of aggregate demand and aggregate supply shocks separately for each country in relation to the respective shocks in the EU-15. Regarding the results of our analysis, we focus mainly on the behaviour shown by both the new member states and candidate countries, while attempting a prediction about what happens next in relation to the much-discussed EU enlargement.

Development cooperation is nowadays a highly discussed topic, especially in the context of its effectiveness. In the past years the European Union and the Organization for economic cooperation and development adopted several documents concerning aid effectiveness and possible ways of its improvement. The aim of this thesis is to find out, in the case of selected states (France, Sweden, and the Czech Republic), if they implement the commitments resulting from these documents into their national development policies and if they carry out their development cooperation in compliance with them. Since the commitments in this area overlap between the two organizations and both of them are trying to influence the states to fulfill their commitments, this thesis will also try to identify which of these organizations has a greater influence on the chosen states. Keywords EU development policy, Council Conclusions, Member States, OECD, aid effectiveness, financial commitments

The intentional spread of incorrect information, ‘disinformation’ has increased rapidly in the past couple of years. Bringing with it serious threats to aspects of modern society that constitute central parts of the European Union’s values, thus requiring protection in line with the core aims and duties under EU law. Despite this, the phenomenon of disinformation has not been the focus of regulation until recently, and any attempts to further the regulation of disinformation risks limiting the fundamental right to freedom of expression and information. This right is embedded in Article 11 of the Charter of the Fundamental Rights of the European Union (the Charter) and entails protection so fierce that it sets constraints for what actions the European Union (EU) and Member States may take to regulate any expression and information. In light of this information, the study aims to evaluate the current legal response to disinformation under EU law by assessing possible parallels with hate speech and examining possibilities for the EU and Member States to increase their response to disinformation. This aim is pursued through the use of the legal dogmatic method when investigating the sources and by juxtaposing disinformation with hate speech, which is more firmly regulated. The latter is assessed to determine whether the fiercer regulation of hate speech could arguably be a requirement for disinformation as well. The study offers a deeper understanding of the competencies and capacities within the complex and multilayered EU system and on these grounds then discusses the sufficiency of the current response to disinformation and if there are possibilities to enhance it. Through this assessment, disinformation is found homogenous to hate speech, and possibilities for the EU and Member States to enhance the regulation of disinformation are detected. The study therefore concludes that the current response to disinformation is insufficient in contrast with the response to disinformation and in line with the aims and duties to protect under EU law.

The WHO Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitute is a public health recommendation to reduce preventable causes of infant morbidity and mortality associated with malnutrition. Irresponsible marketing of infant formula in hospitals is a threat to exclusive breastfeeding. Nurses are mandated to support, encourage and protect breastfeeding and to familiarize themselves with their responsibilities under this Code. The researcher explored Geneva nurses' knowledge of the Code and its impact in practice. Eighty seven point seven percent of the participating nurses had poor level of knowledge of the Code. Poor knowledge of the Code impacts on the quality and consistency of information given to mothers in hospitals. Inadvertent violations of the Code were observed among a minority of the respondents: 7.3% indicated that they received gifts; 2.4% received sponsorships to conferences. Training about the Code and its application in counseling is recommended to complement the babyfriendly initiative at hospitals to improve nutrition outcomes. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

Unstoppable development in every area of life which brings an innovative methods, implements and forms has been an inherent part of the evolution of society for a long time now. Accordingly, the field of international judicial cooperation in criminal matters with phased pressure on the integrating procedures within the framework of the European Union, with the development of international relations between the Member States, and with increased rate of criminal activity exceeding the implementation of free movement of persons within the European Union has been made to reflect introduction of new mechanisms. The main task of such mechanisms is repressing organised crime and cross-border criminal activities, and also protection of fundamental rights of individuals who are suspected of commiting an offence. One of these mechanisms is the European arrest warrant, relatively new legal instrument to which is my diploma work devoted to. This instrument of criminal law based on the principle of mutual recognitions in criminal matters represents not just a symbol of mutual confidence for the Member States reflecting in their systems of criminal justice, but also some achievement of philosophical purpose in integrating aspects or rather ambitions in the field of judicial cooperation in criminal matters. It is...

Ausgangspunkt dieser Studie stellt die sog. „Patientenrichtlinie“ 2011/24/EU dar. Diese beruht auf der Rspr. des EuGH, wonach für die Inanspruchnahme grenzüberschreitender Gesundheitsleistungen die Dienstleistungsfreiheit Anwendung findet. Bezogen auf den Bereich des Gesundheitswesens steht die Dienstleistungsfreiheit jedoch in einem Spannungsverhältnis zu der Organisationshoheit der Mitgliedstaaten für ihre Gesundheitssysteme. Diese Arbeit widmet sich daher zunächst dem Begriff der Gesundheitsleistungen und führt das Bestehen des Spannungsverhältnisses auf die historische Entwicklung der Sozialregelungen in den Verträgen zurück. In einem weiteren Schritt wird dann die tatsächliche Anwendbarkeit der Dienstleistungsfreiheit für den Bereich der Gesundheitsleistungen untersucht. Im Anschluss daran erfolgt eine Analyse der Rechtsprechung des EuGH. Dieser versucht das Spannungsverhältnis auf der Ebene der „Rechtfertigung“ zu lösen. Letztlich führt jedoch dieser Ansatz nicht zur Lösung dieses Spannungsverhältnisses, da durch die Auslegungsbedürftigkeit des Primärrechts rechtliche Unsicherheiten entstehen. Auch die Patientenrichtlinie, welche auf der Rechtsprechung des EuGH beruht, kann daher nur bedingt zur Beseitigung der bestehenden Unsicherheiten bei grenzüberschreitenden Gesundheitsleistungen beitragen. Ebenso können weitere in der Literatur vorgestellte Alternativen das Grundproblem nicht lösen. Notwendig wäre vielmehr eine klarere Abgrenzung der Regelungszuständigkeiten im Primärrecht selbst. / The starting point for this study is the so-called „Patient Directive“ 2011/24/EU. This is based on the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, according to which when using cross-border healthcare services the free movement of services finds application. Referring to the area of healthcare the free movement of services however is in a relationship of tension with the organisational sovereignty of member states for their healthcare systems. For this reason this work addresses itself firstly to the concept of healthcare services and leads the existence of a relationship of tension back to the historical development of social regulations in the contracts. In a further step then the actual applicability of the free movement of services for the area healthcare services is examined. Following this an analysis of the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice takes place. This attempts to solve the relationship of tension at the level of „justification“. In the end however this starting-point does not lead to solving this tension relationship, for through the need for interpretation of primary law legal uncertainties arise. Also the patient directive, which is based on the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, can for this reason only partially contribute to the removal of uncertainties existing with cross-border healthcare services. Equally further alternatives presented in literature cannot solve the basic problem. Rather a clearer delimitation in the primary law itself would be required.

Ο σκοπός αυτής της εργασίας είναι να εξετάσει σε ποιό βαθμό τα δώδεκα νέα κράτη μέλη (ΝΚΜ)της ΕΕ είναι έτοιμα να ενταχθούν στην ΟΝΕ. Αρχικά, αναφέρονται γενικά τα κριτήρια των άριστων νομισματικών περιόχών (ΑΝΠ) και έπειτα η σχετική βιβλιογραφία για τα ΝΚΜ. Έπειτα, ακολουθεί μια περιγραφική ανάλυση της ανοιχτότητας του εμπορίου και της διαχρονικής πορείας του κατα κεφαλήν προϊόντος των ΝΚΜ. Τέλος,εξετάζεται ο βαθμός σύγκλισης των οικονομικών κύκλων των 12 ΝΚΜ με της Ευρωζώνης και ελέγχονται οι υποθέσεις της ενδογένειας και της β-σύγκλισης αυτών των χωρών. / The aim of this study is to examine in what extent the twelve new member states (NMS)of EU are ready to join the EMU. Firstly, it is refered to the optimum currency area (OCA) criteria in general and to the relative bibliography for the NMS. Secondly, it is presented a descriptive analysis of the openness of the trade and of the time path of the per capita product of NMS. Finally, it is examined the extend of convergence of business cycles of the 12 NMS to the Eurozone and the hypotheses of endogeneity and beta-convergence for these countries.

Sienų apsauga yra aktuali tema bet kurioje pasaulio valstybėje. Tenka pastebėti, kad kuomet valstybė turi išorines sienas su kitomis valstybėmis, ji turi sukūrusi politiką, teisinę bei institucinę bazę sienos apsaugai, užtikrinančiai tos valstybės gyventojų socialinius, politinius, teisinius, ekonominius, kultūrinius, mokslinius interesus. Europos Sąjungos sienos apsaugos srityje, išskiriamos dvi sienų sąvokos – vidaus bei išorės sienos. Valstybių narių bendradarbiavimas, pagrįstas integruotos išorinės sienos apsaugos koncepcija, orientuotas į valstybių narių bendras pastangas, siekiant užtikrinti ES vidaus saugumą, vykdant sienos kontrolę, ją saugant bei bendradarbiaujant vykdant įvairias operatyvines operacijas bei bendrus projektus. Darbo tikslas – išanalizuoti ES valstybių narių bendradarbiavimo sienos apsaugos srityje gaires bei įvertinti bendradarbiavimo efektyvumą. Darbą sudaro įvadas, kuriame pateikiamas temos aktualumas, analizuojama problema, keliamas tikslas bei uždaviniai, pateikiami tyrimo metodai, trys dėstomosios dalys bei išvados ir pasiūlymai. Darbe remiantis jau atliktai tyrimais, taip pat Šengeno teisynu, Amsterdamo sutartimi, Europos Ekonominės Bendrijos steigimo sutartimi, Lisabonos sutartimi analizuojamos ES valstybių narių bendradarbiavimo sienos apsaugos srityje gairės, išskiriamos problemos, vertinamas bendradarbiavimo efektyvumą. / Border guard, control and surveillance are a relevant topic in every country. It should be mentioned, that when the country has borders with other countries, it has created the policy, legal and institutional basis for the control and surveillance of its border that secures social, political, legal, economical, cultural and scientific interests of the citizens of that country. There are two border concepts in the European Union – internal and external borders. The co-operation of the member states, based on the integrated border management concept, is oriented to the common attempt to control and secure the external border carrying out various joint operations and projects. The purpose of this paper is to analyse the guidelines of the cooperation of the EU member states in the field of external border guard and to evaluate the effectiveness of this cooperation. This paper consists of preface, where the relevance, problem, purpose, objectives are presented, three main parts, conclusions and appendixes. The analysis of the guidelines of cooperation of the EU member states in the field of external border surveillance and evaluation of the effectiveness of this cooperation is being carried out using the researches, Shengen acquis, the Treaty of Amsterdam, the Treaty of Rome, the Treaty of Lisbon, etc.

The WHO Code of Marketing of Breast Milk Substitute is a public health recommendation to reduce preventable causes of infant morbidity and mortality associated with malnutrition. Irresponsible marketing of infant formula in hospitals is a threat to exclusive breastfeeding. Nurses are mandated to support, encourage and protect breastfeeding and to familiarize themselves with their responsibilities under this Code. The researcher explored Geneva nurses' knowledge of the Code and its impact in practice. Eighty seven point seven percent of the participating nurses had poor level of knowledge of the Code. Poor knowledge of the Code impacts on the quality and consistency of information given to mothers in hospitals. Inadvertent violations of the Code were observed among a minority of the respondents: 7.3% indicated that they received gifts; 2.4% received sponsorships to conferences. Training about the Code and its application in counseling is recommended to complement the babyfriendly initiative at hospitals to improve nutrition outcomes. / Health Studies / M.A. (Public Health)

Thesis is focused on regional policy of the European Union (known as cohesion policy). The goal of the regional policy is to reduce regional disparities among the member countries of the European Union. Therefore, regional policy has an important role among other policies of the European Union. In the period from 2007 to 2013, regional spending account for 36% of the EU budget. The recent enlargement to 27 Member States has dramatically increased disparity levels across the EU. The new Member States have lower levels of income per head and employment rates than other EU countries. This thesis is divided into two parts. The first part characterizes development of the regional policy, its principles and financial instruments. The second part describes enlargement of the European Union to 27 member states, its impacts, reform of the regional policy and the time period from 2007 to 2013. Different views on impacts of the regional policy together with short case study are added. The goal of this thesis is to evaluate the convergence process among the old and new Member states.