The theme of the master´s thesis is design a microphone preamplifier which uses vacuum tube as a main amplifying element. Part of the work is theoretical assumptions for the optimal design and implementation of peripheral involvement, comparing the properties of components used and the resulting parameters of modeled device. The thesis also includes a proposal of the source unit for supplying all parts of the preamplifier. The results are accompanied by circuit simulations and laboratory measurements of the main parameters of the designed device.

Abstract The main aim of the European Union’s waste legislation and the corresponding Finnish waste legislation is to reduce the production of waste. Further, the aims of the European Union’s growth strategy are to reduce the production of greenhouse gases, increase the use of renewable energy, and improve energy efficiency. According to the renewed Waste Tax Act, a waste tax has to be paid on all fly ashes that are deposited in landfills in Finland. A large amount of wood- and peat-based fly ashes are formed annually in Finland, and the amount is likely to increase in the future due to the increasing use of renewable energy. Previously, these ashes have mainly been deposited in industrial landfills, but the need to utilize the fly ashes has increased recently due to changes in waste legislation. In this thesis, several issues related to the utilization of wood- and peat-based fly ash were studied, with the general objective of improving the utilization potential of such ashes. As the first stage of this research, the suitability of willow ash for use as a fertilizer was studied. Willow ash would be well suited for use as a fertilizer due to its very high nutrient content. However, cadmium, a heavy metal, was found to be enriched in the ashes of the studied willow species. Due to this, special attention should be paid when choosing willow species for energy production. In the second stage of the research, the possibility of improving the strength development of wood- and peat-based fly ashes, as well as the possibility of stabilizing fly ash containing high amounts of heavy metals via the addition of cement and/or alkali activation, was investigated. Strength development was found to be dependent on the amount of reactive calcium and the ratio between that amount of reactive calcium and the sum of the reactive silicon, aluminum, and sulfur (Ca/(Si + Al + S)). The studied methods performed well in terms of stabilizing barium, copper, lead, and zinc. During the next stage, the effect of different chemical digestion methods, which are regulated by the Finnish waste legislation, on the utilization potential of fly ash was studied. The digestion method had a significant impact on the results of the potassium content analysis, which could affect the possibility of using fly ash as a fertilizer. As the final stage of the research, the co-granulation of ash with sewage sludge and lime was studied. From a technical point of view, the co-granulation was successful, although the compressive strength of the granules was low. Additionally, an insufficient nitrogen content was achieved with a sludge addition of 20-40 weight%. / Tiivistelmä Euroopan unionin jätelainsäädännön ja sitä vastaavan suomalaisen lainsäädännön tavoitteena on ehkäistä jätteiden muodostumista. Euroopan Unionin kasvustrategian tavoitteena on vähentää kasvihuonekaasupäästöjä, lisätä uusiutuvan energian käyttöä ja parantaa energiatehokkuutta. Uudistetun jäteverolain mukaan kaikista kaato-paikoille sijoitetuista lentotuhkista tulee Suomessa maksaa jäteveroa. Suomessa puu- ja turveperäisiä lentotuhkia muodostuu vuosittain suuria määriä ja määrä tulee vielä kasvamaan uusiutuvan energiankäytön lisääntyessä. Aiemmin nämä tuhkat ovat päätyneet pääasiassa läjitykseen teollisuuden kaatopaikoille, mutta muuttuneen jätelainsäädännön seurauksena tarve hyödyntää lentotuhkia on lisääntynyt. Tässä väitöstyössä tutkittiin puu- ja turveperäisten tuhkien hyödyntämiseen liittyviä kysymyksiä. Työn yleistavoitteena oli parantaa tuhkien hyödyntämis-mahdollisuuksia. Tutkimuksen ensimmäisessä vaiheessa tutkittiin pajutuhkan soveltuvuutta lannoitteeksi. Pajutuhka soveltuisi hyvin lannoitteeksi erittäin hyvien ravinne-pitoisuuksien ansiosta. Raskasmetalleista kadmiumin havaittiin kuitenkin rikastuvan tutkittujen pajulajien tuhkiin. Tähän tulisi kiinnittää erityishuomiota, kun pajulajeja valitaan energiantuotantoa varten. Tutkimuksen toisessa vaiheessa selvitettiin mahdollisuutta parantaa turpeen ja puun lentotuhkien lujittumista sekä raskasmetallipitoisen lentotuhkan stabiloimista sementtilisäyksen ja/tai alkaliaktivoinnin avulla. Lujuuden kehitys riippui reaktiivisen kalsiumin määrästä sekä reaktiivisen kalsiumin määrän ja reaktiivisten piin, alumiinin ja rikin määrien summan välisestä suhteesta (Ca/(Si + Al + S)). Tutkitut menetelmät toimivat hyvin bariumin, kuparin, lyijyn ja sinkin stabiloinnissa. Seuraavassa vaiheessa selvitettiin Suomen lainsäädännössä määritettyjen kemiallisten hajotusmenetelmien vaikutusta tuhkan hyödyntämispotentiaaliin. Hajotusmenetelmällä oli suuri merkitys kaliumin pitoisuutta määritettäessä, mikä voi vaikuttaa lentotuhkan hyödynnettävyyteen lannoitteena. Viimeisessä vaiheessa tutkittiin tuhkan yhteisrakeistusta lietteen ja kalkin kanssa. Teknisesti yhteisrakeistus onnistui hyvin, mutta rakeiden puristuslujuus oli alhainen. Lisäksi 20 - 40 paino% lietelisäyksellä ei rakeisiin saatu riittävän korkeaa typpipitoisuutta.

This study aims at tackling some of the problems often encountered in photostability testing and liquid formulation development. Three anti-cancer drugs will be employed as models; Dacarbazine (DBZ) has well established photostability issues, Axitinib (AXI) and Sunitinib (SUT) are two new drugs only commercially available in solid dosage forms. In ethanol, the photokinetics of these drugs were well described by the newly proposed Φ-order kinetic mathematical model. This has confirmed the photoreversible character of AXI and SUT’s and unimolecular photoreaction of DBZ’s photodegradations. Also, the Φ-order kinetics is proven to describe them better than the usually used classic thermal reaction orders. In aqueous solution, the drugs were found to undergo thermal and photochemical complex degradations, involving at least 3 photoproducts. A new photokinetic approach has been proposed in this work to solving and unravelling the attributes of such complex mechanisms. For the first time, the quantum yields (QY) of the three drugs were determined and found to increase with irradiation wavelength. SUT’s QY were comparable in ethanol and water (QY460 = 0.02), DBZ was found to be more photoefficient in water (QY330 = 0.04 and 0.1, respectively) and AXI in water (QY330 = 0.06 and 0.03). Φ-order kinetics’ potential for the development of reliable actinometers of the three drugs, without prior knowledge of unknown reaction parameters, has also been established. A general equation to describe the isotherm of a (Gn:Hm) guest-host multicomponent complex was proposed in this work to palliate the lack of a strategy for characterising nanosponge-drug complexes. It provides information on both stiochiometry and association constant of the complex. The results indicate that hydrophobic AXI forms a 1:0.8 complex, indicating the possibility of multiple association sites and/or different types of binding. The newly developed AXI/nanosponge liquid formulation has significantly increased solubility (5000-fold) and thermal stability. Furthermore, the photostability of DBZ and SUT were considerably improved by using a strategy based on light-absorption competitors. Their initial velocities reduced from 10 and 3 s-1 (respectively) to 1 and 0.13 s-1. The successful application of these methods to the model anti-cancer drugs has set out new approaches that might be found useful for future treatments of photodegradation data, development of drug-actinometers and liquid formulations of drugs.

Le radical hydroxyle OH est un oxydant puissant qui intervient, entre autre,dans de nombreux processus photochimiques atmosphériques. L'objectif de cette thèse était de développerun système de mesure desradicaux OH dédié aux études de laboratoire. Celui-ci est basé sur la spectroscopie d'absorption en cavité résonante hors d'axe (OA-ICOS,Off-Axis integrated Cavity Output Spectroscopy).Notre système repose sur le couplaged'une diode laser fibrée (DFB) émettant dans le proche infrarouge (∼1435 nm) au sein d'une cavitéoptique àhaute finesse de 50 cm. Le parcours d'interaction du faisceau avec le milieu atteint 1263 m. Le couplage hors de l'axe permet d'atteindre une limite de détection à 2,12 x 10¹¹ OH / cm³. La spectroscopie par modulation de la longueur d'onde (WMS) en modulant l'intensité de la diode laser à 10 kHz est utilisée conjointement à la cavité OA-ICOS. Cette technique permet de s'affranchir du bruit en 1/f. La WM-OA-ICOS atteint alors une limite de détection de 5,7 x 10¹⁰OH/cm³. Les effets de la Modulation Résiduelle d'Amplitude (RAM) occasionnés par la modulation de l'intensité laser ont ensuite été supprimés. L'implémentation d'une boucle de contrôle de l'intensité laser en amont de la cavité optique a permis de réduire les variations d'intensité de la source et les effets de RAM. Ceci se traduit par une limite de détection plus basse à 5,7 x 10⁹ OH/cm³ pour 100 secondes d'intégration. La suppression des effets de RAM par moyen optique est utilisée pour la première fois pour réduire la limite de détection de systèmes WM-OA-ICOS. Ceci nous permet d'atteindre une valeur de NEAS qui est parmi les meilleures au monde et offre des perspectives intéressantes. / The hydroxyl free radical (OH) plays a central role in atmospheric chemistry due to its high reactivity with VOCs and other trace species. In this thesis, we demonstrate the feasibility of OH radical detection by means of a compact sensor based on off-axis integrated cavity outpout spectroscopy (OA-ICOS) dedicated to laboratory studies. The developed system requires the coupling of a distributed feedback diode (DFB) emitting in near infrared (∼1435 nm) to a 50 cm long spherical high finesse cavity. The effective interaction path length reaches 1263 m. The off-axis injection of the laser beam allows a detection limit of 2,12 x 10¹¹ OH / cm³. The OA-ICOS is used in combination with wavelength modulation spectroscopy (WMS) by modulating the diode current at 10 kHz. This technique is efficient to remove 1/f noise in the signal. The developed WM-OA-ICOS setup achieves alower detection limit at 5,7 x 10¹⁰OH/cm³. While modulating DFB current, Residual Amplitude Modulation occurs. This background contribution was removed at the optical level by the implementation of a control-loop on the laser intensity before its onjection to the cavity. This stabilisation loop on WM-OA-ICOS achieves a detection limit 5,7 x 10⁹ OH/cm³ for an integration time of 100 s. RAM suppression at the optical level was first used to enhance the detection limit of WM-OA-ICOS setup. It makes our OA-ICOS system one of the most efficient in Noise Equivalent Absorption Sensitivity in the world and provides great opportunities for future development.

Le développement d’un procédé de polymérisation en émulsion est complexe de par la nature hétérogène de ce type de réaction. En outre, dans le cas de la polymérisation en émulsion du fluorure de vinylidène, la difficulté est d’autant plus accrue que le monomère est habituellement en phase gazeuse ou supercritique dans les conditions d’intérêt. Or la littérature manque d’informations concernant ce type de procédé de synthèse du PVDF sous une pression comprise entre 30 bar et 90 bar.Ainsi cette thèse a pour objectif de contribuer à une meilleure compréhension des mécanismes cinétiques et de stabilisation intervenants dans la polymérisation radicalaire en émulsion du VDF dans des conditions supercritiques et, plus particulièrement, de fournir des données expérimentales nécessaires à l’élaboration de futurs modèles.Avant même d’entreprendre les études expérimentales, cette thèse s’intéresse d’abord aux aspects d’installation et d’automatisation de l’unité de polymérisation ainsi qu’au démarrage et à l’optimisation du réacteur. Ensuite, plusieurs tests sont réalisés afin de comprendre certaines caractéristiques du latex produit ainsi que certaines propriétés du tensioactif fluoré. Une nouvelle méthode a spécialement été développée afin de suivre le phénomène de coagulation des particules de polymère.Finalement des réactions sont réalisées par lot et en semi-continu et une étude paramétrique des conditions opératoires et de la composition des réactifs est effectuée afin d’évaluer leur impact sur l’évolution de la polymérisation en émulsion. Notamment, le profil de vitesse de polymérisation est obtenu par calorimétrie, à partir d’une approche pratique fondée sur un estimateur d’état en cascade, ainsi que sur la mesure de la consommation de monomère, et sur l’analyse gravimétrique réalisée par prélèvement / The heterogeneous nature of the conventional emulsion polymerization can render the process quite complex. In the case of the emulsion polymerisation of vinylidene fluoride (VDF), the situation is more complicated than for the majority of industrial processes because the monomer is typically either a gas or a supercritical fluid under the polymerization conditions of interest. Given the relatively high pressure required for this process (30bar <P< 90bar), there is a lack of information in the open literature about the VDF emulsion polymerization process.In this sense, this thesis is a contribution to the understanding of the kinetic and stabilization mechanisms that intervene in the free radical emulsion polymerization of vinylidene fluoride (VDF) under supercritical conditions, and more particularly, to the generation of relevant experimental data that can be used for future model developments.Prior to the experimental studies of VDF emulsion polymerization, issues that ranged from the installation and automation of the polymerization unit to the start-up and optimization of the reactor were covered. Later, different tests were performed in order to understand some important features of the produced latex as well as some properties of the fluorinated surfactant. Additionally, a new method to monitor the coagulation phenomena on polymer particles was developed.Finally, reactions were performed using batch and semi-batch mode. The impact of certain compositional changes and reaction conditions on the evolution of the emulsion polymerization was studied. A practical approach was implemented to follow the rate of polymerization using reaction calorimetry. Simultaneous estimations of the evolution of overall heat transfer coefficient and heat of reaction were determined using a high-gain nonlinear cascade state estimator

This thesis develops a model that can be used to assess the ability of religious institutions to contribute to post-conflict state building. Highlighting the tendency in state building literature to stop short in discussing what seems to be inferred, but unnameable—religion—the research proposes a framework that identifies theoretical mechanisms through which religious institutions can contribute to post-conflict state building. Drawing from the theologies of Roman Catholicism and Sunni Islam the thesis then reflects upon why they would, of their own accord, lend their considerable legitimacy and resources. The thesis diverges from traditional approaches such as rational choice theory that suggest religious institutions act to maximise membership or assets, and instead embraces a teleological view recognizing the importance of belief structures in understanding a religious institution's motivations. It embraces salvation as a hermeneutical key to outline a Roman Catholic theology of state building while drawing upon the concept of justice for Sunni Islam. The thesis concludes by incorporating the particularistic nuances of Bosnia and Herzegovina's unique historically and culturally influenced religious practices, structures and theologies to suggest the ability and willingness of the two religions' institutions to contribute to their country's state building.

L’encapsulation est une technique employée couramment par le milieu industriel, notamment dans le domaine du médical, de la parfumerie ou de la cosmétique. Afin de répondre aux attentes et de proposer des capsules modulables pour tous types d’applications, des capsules de type coeur-écorce ont été élaborées au cours de cette thèse. Elles sont obtenues à partir d’émulsion dont le coeur huileux est enrobé par une coque de silice, via la minéralisation de l’interface eau-huile. Les émulsions de Pickering, stabilisées par des particules colloïdales, sont particulièrement stables et intéressantes pour cette étude. Le but de cette thèse est de comprendre, dans un premier temps, les mécanismes fondamentaux impliqués dans le processus de fabrication. Cela a permis d’élaborer, par la suite, des matériaux hybrides complexes à différentes échelles, du micrométrique au nanométrique,mais également d’établir les mécanismes de libération par un stimulus externe. Enfin, une encapsulation maîtrisée permet d’allier stabilité au stockage et destruction rapide ou contrôlée à l’utilisation. Ainsi, par diverses méthodes définies dès la formulation de l’émulsion initiale, le contenu huileux des capsules peut être libéré de manière provoquée par une action mécanique ou par l’augmentation de la température (macroscopique ou local par hyperthermie magnétique). / Encapsulation is a technique used in the industry, in particular in the field of medical,perfumery or cosmetics. In order to meet the expectations and propose adaptable capsules for all types of applications, core-shell capsules type were developed during this thesis.There were based on emulsions science with an oily core coated by a silica shell,synthetized by sol-gel chemistry at the oil-water interface. Pickering emulsions, which are emulsions stabilized by colloidal particles, are particularly stable and interesting for this study. The aim of this thesis is to understand, at first, the fundamental mechanisms involved in the manufacturing process. This made it possible to develop complex hybrid materials at different scales, from micrometric to nanometric, but also to establish the releasing mechanisms by an external stimulus. Thanks to a controlled encapsulation, it is possible to combine stability (storage) and rapid or controlled destruction when used. Thus, by various method, defined from the formulation of the initial emulsion, the releasing of the oily contentcan be caused by mechanical action or by an temperature increased (macroscopically orlocally by magnetic hyperthermia).

This thesis presents the implementation of the upper bound limit analysis in combination with finite elements and linear optimization for solving different stability problems in geomechanics under plane strain conditions. Although the nonlinear optimization techniques are becoming quite popular, the linear optimization has been adopted due to its simplicity in implementation and ease in attaining the convergence while performing the analysis. The objectives of the present research work are (i) to reduce the computational effort while using an upper bound finite element limit analysis with linear programming in dealing with geotechnical stability problems, and (ii) to obtain solutions for a few important geotechnical stability problems associated with reinforced earth, unsupported tunnels and a group of anchors. It is also intended to examine the developments of the failure patterns in all the cases. For carrying out the analysis for different stability problems, three noded triangular elements have been used throughout the thesis. The nodal velocities are treated as basic unknown variables and the velocity discontinuities are employed along the interfaces of all the elements. The soil mass is assumed to obey the Mohr-Coulomb’s failure criterion and an associated flow rule. The Mohr-Coulomb yield surface is linearized by means of an exterior regular polygon circumscribing the actual yield circle so that the finite element formulation leads to a linear programming problem. A simple technique has been proposed for reducing the computational effort while solving any geotechnical stability problem by using the upper bound finite element limit analysis and linear optimization. In the proposed method, the problem domain has been discretized into a number of different regions in which a particular order (number of sides) of the polygon has been specified to linearize the Mohr-Coulomb yield criterion. A greater order of the polygon needs to be chosen only in that part of the domain wherein the rate of the plastic strains becomes higher. The computational effort required to solve the problem with this implementation reduces considerably. By using the proposed method, the bearing capacity has been computed for smooth as well as rough strip footings and the results obtained are found to be quite satisfactory. The ultimate bearing capacity of a rigid strip footing placed over granular, cohesive-frictional and purely cohesive soils, reinforced with single and a group of two horizontal layers of reinforcements has been determined. The necessary formulation has been introduced to incorporate the inclusion of reinforcement in the analysis. The efficiency factors, and , to be multiplied with Nc and Nγ for finding the bearing capacity of reinforced foundations, have been established. The results have been obtained (i) for different values of soil friction angles in case of granular and cohesive-frictional soils, and (ii) for different rates at which the cohesion increases with depth for purely cohesive soil under undrained condition. The optimum positions of the reinforcements' layers corresponding to which and becomes maximum, have been established. The effect of the length of the reinforcements on the results has also been analyzed. As compared to cohesive soil, the granular soils, especially with greater values of frictional angle, cause much more predominant increase in the bearing capacity. The stability of a long open vertical trench laid in a fully cohesive and cohesive-frictional soil has been determined with an inclusion of single and a group of two layers of horizontal reinforcements. For different positions of the reinforcement layers, the efficiency factor (ηs), has been determined for several combinations of H/B, m and where H and B refer to height and width of the trench, respectively, and m accounts for the rate at which the cohesion increases linearly with depth for a fully cohesive soil with = 0. The effect of height to width of the long vertical trench on the stability number has been examined for both unreinforced and reinforced soils. The optimal positions of the reinforcements layers, corresponding to which becomes maximum, have been established. The required length of reinforcements to achieve maximum efficiency factor corresponding to optimum depth of reinforcement has also been determined. The magnitude of the maximum efficiency factor increases continuously with an increase in both m and . The effect of pseudo-static horizontal earthquake body forces on the stability of a long unsupported circular tunnel (opening) formed in a cohesive frictional soil has been determined. The stability numbers have been obtained for various values of H/D (H = tunnel cover, D = diameter of the tunnel), internal friction angle of soil, and the horizontal earthquake acceleration coefficient The computations revealed that the values of the stability numbers (i) decreases quite significantly with an increase in , and (ii) become continuously higher for greater values of H/D and . The failure patterns have also been drawn for different combinations of H/D, and . The geometry of the failure zone around the periphery of the tunnel becomes always asymmetrical with an inclusion of horizontal seismic body forces. The interference effect on the stability of two closely spaced parallel (twin) long unsupported circular tunnels formed in fully cohesive and cohesive-frictional soils has been evaluated. The variation of the stability number with S/D has been established for different combinations of H/D, m and ; where D refers to the diameter of each tunnel, S is the clear spacing between the tunnels, and is the internal friction angle of soil and m accounts for the rate at which the cohesion increases linearly with depth for a soil with = 0. On account of the interference of two tunnels, the stability number reduces continuously with a decrease in the spacing between the tunnels. The minimum spacing between the two tunnels required to eliminate the interference effect increases with (i) an increase in H/D and (ii) a decrease in the values of both m and . The failure patterns have also been generated for a few cases with different values of S/D. The size of the failure zone is found to become smaller for greater values of m and . The horizontal pullout capacity of a group of two vertical strip anchors embedded, along the same vertical plane in sand, at shallow depths has been determined. At collapse, it is assumed that the anchor plates are subjected to the same uniform horizontal velocity without any bending or tilt. The pullout resistance increases invariably with increases in the values of embedment ratio, friction angle of the sand mass and anchor-soil interface friction angle. The effect of spacing (S) between the anchors on their group collapse load is examined in detail. For a given embedment ratio, the total group failure load becomes maximum corresponding to a certain optimal spacing (Sopt). The values of Sopt increases with an increase in the value of , but the changes in the value of H/B and do not have any significant effect on Sopt. The vertical uplift capacity of a group of two horizontal strip plate anchors with the common vertical axis buried in purely cohesive as well as in cohesive frictional soil has been computed. The variation of the uplift factors Fc, Fq and F , due to the contributions of soil cohesion, surcharge pressure and unit weight, respectively, has been evaluated for different combinations of S/B and H/B. As compared to a single isolated anchor, the group of two anchors generates significantly greater magnitude of Fc. On the other hand, the factors Fq and F , for a group of two anchors are found to become almost equal to that of a single isolated anchor as long as the levels of the lower plate in the group and the single isolated anchor are kept the same. For the group of two horizontal strip plate anchors in purely cohesive soil, an increase of cohesion of soil mass with depth and the effect of self weight of the soil have been incorporated. The uplift factor Fcy both due to cohesion and unit weight of the soil has also been computed for the anchors embedded in clay under undrained condition. For given embedment ratios, the factor Fcy increases linearly with an increase in the normalized unit weight of soil mass upto a certain value before attaining a certain maximum magnitude. The computational results obtained for different research problems would be useful for design.

The development of numerical methods for the incompressible Navier-Stokes equations received much attention in the past 50 years. Finite element methods emerged given their robustness and reliability. In our work, we choose the P2-P1 finite element for space approximation which gives 2nd-order accuracy for velocity and 1st-order accuracy for pressure. Our research focuses on the development of several high-order semi-implicit time-stepping methods to compute unsteady flows. The methods investigated include backward difference formulae (SBDF) and defect correction strategy (DC). Using the defect correction strategy, we investigate two variants, the first one being based on high-order artificial compressibility and bootstrapping strategy proposed by Guermond and Minev (GM) and the other being a combination of GM methods with sequential regularization method (GM-SRM). Both GM and GM-SRM methods avoid solving saddle point problems as for SBDF and DC methods. This approach reduces the complexity of the linear systems at the expense that many smaller linear systems need to be solved. Next, we proposed several numerical improvements in terms of better approximations of the nonlinear advection term and high-order initialization for all methods. To further minimize the complexity of the resulting linear systems, we developed several new variants of grad-div splitting algorithms besides the one studied by Guermond and Minev. Splitting algorithm allows us to handle larger flow problems. We showed that our new methods are capable of reproducing flow characteristics (e.g., lift and drag parameters and Strouhal numbers) published in the literature for 2D lid-driven cavity and 2D flow around the cylinder. SBDF methods with grad-div stabilization terms are found to be very stable, accurate and efficient when computing flows with high Reynolds numbers. Lastly, we showcased the robustness of our methods to carry 3D computations.

The aim of the thesis is to assess the economy of Spain and its position in the European Union. The European integration processes significantly influenced the development of democracy in Spain as a member state of EU. The period after Franco regime would last undoubtedly much longer and it would grow less dynamically without these processes. The influence of EU affected not only the Spanish economy, but also the current position of Spanish monarchy in Europe and in the whole world. The thesis is structured in three main parts. To be able to assess the Spanish economy during its membership in the EU, it is essential to study the procedures of negotiations between the candidate country and the Community. That is the reason why the first part is engaged in the pre-entry phase. The second part examines in detail the development of the economy after the reintroduction of democracy in the country. It deals mainly with the macroeconomic tendencies, their causes together with consequences. The progress concerns the economic situation in Spain before the entry to the Community, in the second half of eighties, as well as during the nineties. The thesis does not forget to be engaged in the current situation in the new millennium and it also outlines the possible development in the following years. The last part is devoted to the position and the influence of Spain on the main integration directions in the European Union. The coherence and the extent of evaluation can be considered one of the benefits of this work. The thesis introduces the complex view of the Spanish economy since the entry to the EU. It also deals with possible following tendencies. The understanding of the development is facilitated by a large number of graphs and tables, which help to outline the essence of the topic.