The EU regulatory framework in telecommunications: A critical analysis

The paper analyzes the core telecommunications regulatory framework at European Union (EU) level which has been put in place since the beginning of the 1990s. We find lack of support by Member States of the European Commission’‘s liberalization program in several areas, including Member States’ resistance to rapid liberalization, cost orientation, an effective EU-wide licensing system, pro-competitive numbering policy (carrier selection), as well as EU-wide harmonized interconnection rules and universal service obligations. We also identify a number of shortcomings of European Commission measures, especially in the areas of price regulation, interconnection rules and licensing policy. To overcome these inefficiencies, we recommend the establishment of an independent European Regulatory Authorities (ERA) that is comprised of representatives from National Regulatory Authorities.     

From mutual recognition to mutual scientific opinion? Constitutional framework for risk analysis in EU food safety law

Regulation 178/2002 (the so-called General Food Law – GFL) codifies risk analysis as the core principle of the modern food safety policy. This article places the GFL in EU multi-level food safety governance and analyses the impact of risk analysis, the precautionary principle and mechanisms of scientific governance introduced by the GFL on both national and Community legislation. It discusses the case law of the European Courts dealing with scientific evidence and the precautionary principle applied to both European and national food safety measures. The article concludes with some observations on the role of the risk analysis methodology in the Community internal market.     

National food security assessment through the analysis of food consumption data from Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys: The case of Brazil’s Pesquisa de Orçamento Familiares 2008/09

By analyzing the food consumption data from the 2008/09 Pesquisa de Orçamentos Familiares in Brazil, we demonstrate that failing to account for food consumed for free at school may significantly distort the assessment of the distribution of food consumption among households and therefore the assessment of the extent of food insecurity in the country. The results of our analysis enabled a revision of the FAO estimate of the Prevalence of Undernourishment in Brazil and provide useful suggestions for better design of food consumption modules to be included in Household Consumption and Expenditure Surveys (HCES). Additionally, we identify areas for further research on food consumption data to improve national food security assessments.     

A ‘Common Food Policy’ for Europe: How governance reforms can spark a shift to healthy diets and sustainable food systems

More than half of adults in the European Union (EU) are now either overweight or obese (53%). Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), many of which are diet-related, account for 70% of mortality in Europe and a growing share of healthcare costs. While eating habits have an important role to play in NCD prevention, consumption patterns across the EU are diverging significantly from recommended diets. There is growing consensus on the solution: a series of coordinated and wide-ranging policy interventions to build healthy ‘food environments’.This article argues that EU governance structures remain ill-adapted to the systemic nature of this and other challenges in food systems (e.g. climate change, biodiversity loss, food poverty): conflicting objectives and missed synergies are identified between different policy areas (agriculture, trade, health, environment, etc.) and between different levels of governance (EU, national, local). An integrated food policy framework – a ‘Common Food Policy’ – is therefore required to meet the EU’s public health and sustainability objectives. It identifies four distinct aspects of the governance shift required to promote healthy diets and build sustainable food systems in Europe: (i) coherence across policy areas; (ii) coherence across governance levels; (iii) governance for transition; and (iv) food democracy. Blueprints for a Common Food Policy are already emerging, and are ripe for consideration, development, and implementation by the European institutions.     

Capacity development in food and nutrition in central and Eastern Europe: A decade of achievements

This article summarizes the activities performed by the Network for Capacity Development in Nutrition in Central and Eastern Europe and Balkan countries (NCDNCEE) in the past decade. The article gives a retrospective of the achievements and challenges in building capacity in nutrition research.Recognizing the lack of capacity and incoherent nutritional situation in CEE/BC, the United Nations University (UNU), Food & Nutrition Programme and the UN Standing Committee on Nutrition (SCN) encouraged the formation of NCDNCEE in 2005, which became CAPNUTRA in 2012.The network’s aim was to initiate and support tailor-made activities for capacity development in food & nutrition in research and training in CEE/BC. To identify the challenges and needs of nutrition research in the region, the network performed inventories on existence of food composition databases, food systems elements, dietary surveys, micronutrient recommendations, application of dietary assessment methods and grey literature. Further on, the network focused on the development of food composition databases and concomitant data management software, the Diet Assess & Plan platform for food consumption collection, dietary intake assessment and nutrition planning. These and other elements form the Balkan Food Platform, which underpins harmonized nutrition research in CEE/BC. Among key actions promoted by the platform are EFSA-supported dietary surveys conducted in four Balkan countries, on children and adults, in which food consumption data are collected and analysed in a harmonized way. Cooperation with FAO and active participation in international research projects enhanced the exchange of information and knowledge and brought international recognition to the CAPNUTRA network.     

Food and health research in Europe: Structures,gaps and futures

BackgroundFood and health research is concerned with production, marketing, choice, regulation and policy for food as it affects health, and the mechanisms and control of diet-related diseases, nutrition and obesity. It covers positive and negative impacts of food on health, as well as issues related to under and over consumption of food. The European Union-funded study FAHRE (Food and Health Research in Europe) has described structures and identified gaps and needs for food and health research across Europe.MethodsFAHRE was conducted by a consortium of partners in 7 European countries, including private and public research organisations, university-based researchers and civil society organisations. National advisers in 32 European countries made reports on the structures of food and health research, and nine experts made reports on food and health research themes. At the end of this phase, a stakeholder conference was held to review and discuss the findings, and from this a Strategic Document was developed and distributed electronically for wider consultation at national level. This report presents the findings of the Strategic Document.ResultsFAHRE proposed that future research using public funding should address the global issue of unhealthy eating, including obesity, which causes preventable disability and disease, reduced working life and increased healthcare costs. FAHRE suggests a move of the focus of research from healthy food to healthy eating, and to overcome the existing separation between food research and health research through a shift of research towards food for health.EU member states have widely differing national systems for research management, and information is poorly standardised for comparisons. There are many research programmes in both food and health, usually managed by ministries of science, but rarely in collaboration with ministries of health. Industry mainly contributes ‘near product’ research: few industry small and medium enterprises are engaged with food and health research, nor are civil society organisations. EU food and health research has been focused within the agriculture research theme, and not sufficiently linked to health research.FAHRE recommends coordination of food and health research through an EU-level Coordinating Agency, with budget and representation from the three EU directorates Agriculture, Health and Research, the member states, and wider stakeholders including civil society and industry. There should be corresponding ‘food and health research agencies’ in the member states bringing together national policy-makers and stakeholders, and directing research funding. Food safety agencies may provide a model for this joint approach. Further proposals include strengthening social and policy research, accessing Structural Funds for research programmes, and more strategic approaches to determining research programmes and funding.ConclusionFood and health research in Europe should move from ‘healthy food’, which concentrates on food as a product, to research for ‘healthy eating’ which is concerned with appropriate intake and reducing disease. Coordination of research on this theme, at European level, and between member states, could deliver major economic and social returns.     

Food counts. Measuring food consumption and expenditures in household consumption and expenditure surveys (HCES). Introduction to the special issue

This introductory paper presents the results of an international multi-disciplinary research project on the measurement of food consumption in national household surveys. Food consumption data from household surveys are possibly the single most important source of information on poverty, food security, and nutrition outcomes at national, sub-national and household level, and contribute building blocks to global efforts to monitor progress towards the major international development goals.The paper synthesizes case studies from a diverse set of developing and OECD countries, looking at some of the main outstanding research issues as identified by a recent international assessment of 100 existing national household surveys (Smith et al., 2014). The project mobilized expertise from different disciplines (statistics, economics, food security, nutrition) to work towards enhancing our understanding of how to improve the quality and availability of food consumption and expenditure data, while making them more valuable for a diverse set of users. The individual studies summarized in this paper analyze, both theoretically and empirically, how different surveys design options affect the quality of the data being collected and, in turn, the implications for statistical inference and policy analysis.The conclusions and recommendations derived from this collection of studies will be instrumental in advancing the methodological agenda for the collection of household level food data, and will provide national statistical offices and survey practitioners worldwide with practical insights for survey design, while providing poverty, food and nutrition policymakers with greater understanding of these issues, as well as improved tools for and better guidance in policy formulation.     

Job creation and job destruction in EU agriculture

This is the first paper to study job creation and destruction in EU agriculture. We disaggregate gross employment patterns and net job flows into detailed intra-sectoral labour adjustment dynamics based on a unique EU-wide farm level panel dataset for 1990–2005. We find that: (1) job creation and destruction rates in EU agriculture are comparable to other sectors; (2) there is some evidence of ongoing substitution of family labour for hired labour; (3) there are important differences in job creation and destruction rates between different Member States; (4) these differences can be attributed to structural differences across countries, sectors and farm types; (5) time variation of job reallocation fluctuates countercyclically; and (6) idiosyncratic effects are the main driver of time variance in job reallocation.     

Status of development,regulation and adoption of GM agriculture in Africa: Views and positions of stakeholder groups

The use of genetically modified (GM) crop technology in tackling food security problems and poverty reduction in Africa continues to generate debates over its benefits and safety. Only four countries, South Africa, Sudan, Burkina Faso and Egypt have commercialized GM crops in Africa but controversy surrounds current cultivation of GM maize in Egypt. Our study provides new perspectives on the status, development and regulation of GM crops through examining the views of 305 stakeholders in six African countries across four regions: South Africa, Kenya (East Africa), Egypt and Tunisia (North Africa), Ghana and Nigeria (West Africa), supplemented by interviews with relevant international organizations. The study revealed the challenges leading to the development of biosafety regulatory frameworks and the role of individual stakeholders in the facilitation of GM crops across African countries. This study also revealed that some countries may go through a Fiber–Feed–Food (F3) approach to adopt GM crops where Bt cotton will be adopted first followed by GM crops for livestock feed while undergoing all the necessary assessments before producing GM foods for human consumption. An overwhelming majority of stakeholders placed emphasis on risk analysis (risk assessment and management) in view of limited capacity, lack of scientific expertise and public concern, and encouraged a centralized approach to risk assessment similar to the European Union model of the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA).     

Food self-sufficiency in Micronesia: Effects of a nutrition assistance programme on food consumption

Food assistance programmes in Micronesia have been blamed for creating disincentives to agriculture and nutritionally adverse dietary habits. In 1982 a USDA commodity programme in the Northern Mariana Islands was replaced by the Nutrition Assistance Program (NAP), which required that at least 25% of food coupons be used for the purchase of local foods. Consumption of local fish and bread increased, but consumption of local fruits and vegetables declined among NAP participants. Although targeted coupons did not reverse the trend towards imported foods, the bakery and fishery endeavours indicate that improved marketing can be coupled with food stamps to increase local food production and consumption.     

Food safety issues: From Enlightened Elitism towards Deliberative Democracy? An overview of EFSA’s “Public Consultation” instrument

Following the BSE crisis, the importance of reassuring European consumers and involving them in debate about food safety management issues is generally recognised. Indeed, consulting stakeholders is one of the European Food Safety Authority’s (EFSA) main duties, as stated in its founding regulation (art. 42, whereas 56), where EFSA must have “effective contacts with consumer representatives, producer representatives, processors and any other interested parties”. Even if not clearly obliged to, EFSA has also opted to consider lay citizens’ opinion (under an interpretation of art. 42, wh. 40 of the 178 Reg.) in order to enhance “trust” in food safety. Beyond having formally established meetings with restricted access for participants – like the Stakeholders’ Consultative Platform and the Annual Colloquium, – EFSA engages in its “Public Consultation” web-based Window (PCW). It allows listening to anybody who wishes to submit comments on technical issues.     

Which Are The Main Drivers Behind Residential Electricity Prices?

Over the last decade the residential electricity price in most EU Member States has been increasing. Even after the introduction of significant reforms such as the liberalisation of the electricity market. This upward trend is in response to the development of different price components along the electricity supply chain. In order to identify and analyse these components for EU-Member States, a more detailed price apportionment than those offered by public sources like Eurostat and IEA is necessary. The methodology proposed in this study analyses the development of the residential electricity price and its main components between 2002 and 2012 for Germany, France, Italy and the United Kingdom. The main drivers of the price trends observed for these four countries are subsequently identified, quantified and compared. Furthermore, the residential expenditure on electricity in each country is examined in connection with the evolution of residential electricity consumption. The results show how and to what extent the residential electricity price for the selected EU Member States depends on price components such as the electricity wholesale price, the gross margin, network expenditures, energy taxes and other levies related to the decarbonisation of the national energy system. Furthermore, this detailed analysis of residential electricity prices throughout the last decade provides a sufficient data basis to draw some prospective conclusions in terms of a short-term price outlook.     

Der EU Richtlinienvorschlag für erneuerbare Energien — Eine Analyse der Transferrestriktionen von Herkunftsnachweisen

Until now the promotion of renewable energies in Europe has been effected on the basis of different promotion systems of the Member States. Currently the EU-wide harmonisation of the promotion systems, from which yields of efficiency and a higher effectiveness are expected, cannot be enforced due to a discordance concerning the “right” promotion instrument.With the proposal for a directive on the promotion of renewable energies, published at the 23. January in 2008, the European Commission attempts to make a first move towards harmonisation. Besides existing promotion systems it will be possible to transfer Guarantees of Origin for renewable energies between Member States. Since, however, some Member States expect negative effects as a consequence of opening their markets the proposal comprises opportunities to restrict the transfer. The present scope of interpretation within the proposal allows for different options concerning the design of the transfer restrictions. These will be identified, analysed, and subsequently evaluated in this article. Despite of both extreme options, the possibility to entirely opt out of the transfer system and the obligation to completely participate in the transfer system, two further hybrid options are discussed. The latter are characterised by the possibility of Member States to restrict the transfer of Guarantees of Origin to a certain extent through a “system of prior authorisation”.     

Improving the food environment in kindergartens and schools: An overview of policies and policy opportunities in Europe

Childhood obesity and unhealthy nutrition are high on the European policy agenda because of their association with chronic diseases and due to the related social and economic burden. In 2014, the EU Action Plan on Childhood Obesity 2014–2020 was launched with an overarching goal to halt the rise of overweight and obesity in children by the year 2020. To facilitate the implementation of the Action Plan, the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety of the European Commission provided support to bring together 25 Member States plus Norway for a Joint Action on Nutrition and Physical Activity (JANPA). The current paper is based on the results of JANPA and presents the explored policy options to improve children's nutrition by targeting the food environment in and around kindergartens and schools. We conclude that for effective actions countries need to combine various mutually reinforcing policies in parallel, including the provision of healthy foods, lowering the availability of unhealthy foods, restricting marketing, and promoting education. Success will depend on the coherence of messages and on the engagement of a wide range of stakeholders and sectors. Evaluation should be carefully designed, using indicators of progress towards the goal of improving diet and reducing obesity in children.     

Food accessibility,diversity of agricultural production and dietary pattern in rural China

The market-oriented reform in China in the past 4 decades has greatly reshaped the consumption pattern in rural areas. In particular, farmers’ diets are more likely to depend on food market development such as food accessibility. This study investigates the role of food accessibility in the transition of dietary pattern in rural China by using the China Health and Nutrition Survey data (1997–2011) and whether food accessibility helps alleviate the deviation between farmers’ dietary pattern and the recommended dietary pattern according to China Food Pagoda 2016. The primary results indicate that food accessibility contributes to improvements in quality. In particular, food accessibility increases the consumption of oil and decreases the consumption of cereal, potatoes, and beans; fruits; vegetables; and salt. Further estimation finds evidence that along with increasing food accessibility, fruit is converging to the recommended dietary pattern in China Food Pagoda 2016, and the deviations of legumes, nuts, and oil are increasing. We also observe that the impact of food accessibility on dietary quality is stronger for those not engaged in agriculture production. Our study provides valuable implications for rural development and nutrition security in the developing world.     

Handel mit Grünstromzertifikaten bei Existenz von Emissionszielen: Gewinner und Verlierer in der EU

Within the development goal for the use of renewable energies in the EU, after the publishing of the directive proposal from the European Commission on January 23, an intensive discussion is taking place as to if and how the trade of green electricity certificates should occur. A motion from the opposition in the Bundestag explicitly asks to favour the proposal. Recently the opinion of the EU parliament was submitted that proposes numerous changes. The present article leaves the discussion of details about the possible organization of such a system and analyses the impacts of a green electricity certificate trade with emission targets on state level. It is shown that with the currently discussed conditions the Member States have few incentives to buy green electricity certificates as the overall costs to fulfil the emission and green electricity targets could rise. The national fulfilment of green electricity targets could therefore be cheaper in an overall view. However, it is unclear if such plans are compatible with the rules of the EU internal market. Therefore there could be “forced losers” among EU member states.     

The impact of the European Novel Food Regulation on trade and food innovation based on traditional plant foods from developing countries

The stringent food safety assessment for novel foods required by the European Union’s Novel Food Regulation (NFR) places a high burden of proof on those bringing traditional food products to the EU market not consumed in the EU prior 1997. The regulation has emerged as a non-tariff trade barrier for heritage foods from developing countries that are viewed as “exotic” from the EU perspective. We show how the regulation has discouraged investment in supply chains and market development, and how this negatively affects income generation and rural poverty alleviation in developing countries. Focusing on plant-derived foods, this paper proposes to recognize traditional exotic foods in current EU law as a food category sui generis with food safety evidence requirements being proportionate to the risks they may pose. We argue that development activities promoting export food chains must increasingly accommodate legitimate food safety concerns about neglected food species in project design and seek to generate data to enhance regulatory acceptance in target markets.     

Analysing the C-Band spectrum auctions for 5G in Europe: Achieving efficiency and fair decisions in radio spectrum management

This paper offers a detailed analysis of selected regulatory parameters used as instruments to promote efficiency with fairness for all stakeholders (in the legal sense of equity) in 5G spectrum auctions. Data were collected from sixteen auctions for the C-band that took place in the Member States of the European Union (EU) and in the United Kingdom (UK) between 2017 and 2020 for the introduction of the fifth generation (5G) of mobile communication technology. The selected instruments of intervention are: spectrum packaging, spectrum caps, set-asides, geographical scope of the license, license duration, various forms of license obligations, reserve prices and auction format.Significant differences were observed in national approaches to spectrum packaging, license obligations and reserve prices for efficiency purposes. Our analysis also shows that European national regulators are paying increasing attention to concerns over fairness of decisions on spectrum, or equity, especially by creating opportunities for local private networks to access the spectrum and by imposing requirements on network operators to guarantee more uniform population coverage of newly created 5G networks.     

European dietary patterns and their associated land use: Variation between and within countries

This paper determines the cropland use associated with the dietary patterns of 16 European countries and investigates sources of variation in land use between and within these countries. The analysis combines food availability data at the household level with country-specific land use data for food items. The household food availability data is obtained from a standardized and post-harmonized databank, developed in the Data Food Networking Project (DAFNE). The results show large differences between the land use of the 16 European countries, ranging from ±1500 m² (Ireland) to ±3000 m² (Malta) to supply an average person’s food demand. Major reasons for this divergence include disparities in total caloric food availability and in national yields. The composition of the diet is only a minor source of variation. Using food consumption data at the household level makes it also possible to look for sources of variation within countries. This paper investigates sources of variation within countries by examining the influence of education of the household head on land use associated with food consumption. The analysis shows that diets of people with only elementary education need on average 20% more land than diets of people with a higher education (2302 m² and 1948 m², respectively). The basis of this difference is the higher caloric availability for people with only an elementary education; the influence of differences in the composition of the diet is negligible. Variation in land use between countries is thus caused by the different agricultural productivities and caloric availabilities, and the major source of variation within countries is the caloric availability. The composition of the diet is only a minor source of variation, both between and within countries. The results implicate that highly educated people have a lower demand for land.     

The impact of survey characteristics on the measurement of food consumption

Survey characteristics affect the quality of the measurement of food consumption within households; thus, it is important to identify best practices for designing surveys that collect food data. This paper analyses the impact of survey characteristics on the measurement of food consumption from a sample of 81 national surveys. Results highlight regularities that can inform best practices in designing surveys and promoting the use of the data for multiple purposes. Surveys focused on food acquisition collect higher food quantities compared to those that target food consumption. Surveys based on recall interviews collect higher food quantities compared to those based on diaries, but the difference decreases with long reference periods. The use of standard units of measurement as well as the consideration of partakers in meals and of seasonality generates significant differences in the survey results. The impact of the different survey characteristics carries substantive implications when food consumption data are employed for assessing food security conditions. The results are part of a wider work program aimed at improving the quality of household survey data. More evidence is needed, ideally through coordinated sets of analyses and experiments in different contexts. Additionally, survey characteristics must be complemented by effective field work in order to generate high quality data. Towards this end, statistical capacity development is crucial to promote better data and more evidence-based decision making.