PUBLIC SERVICE PERSPECTIVES ON REFORMS OF ELECTRICITY DISTRIBUTION AND SUPPLY: A MODULAR ANALYSIS

ABSTRACT ** : This article analyzes organizational change in electricity distribution and retail businesses and its impact on public service issues. Organizational change has resulted from the European electricity directives, especially the EU Electricity directive 2003/54/EC , which has imposed major transformations on these activities, requiring legal unbundling of electricity distribution networks by 1 July 2007. Organizational change has also resulted from an adaptation of companies to the newly competitive environment. This has led to a diversity of organizational choices across Europe. We analyze this diversity by using a modular approach, which decomposes reforms in electricity distribution and retail into logical ‘blocks’. We then examine how European countries have dealt with two policy and regulatory issues related to customer protection in that new environment: the regulation of quality of distribution, which is a task of regulators, and energy affordability policies for vulnerable customers, which are a central aspect of public service policies in the electricity sector.     

Auswirkungen der EU-Vermittlerrichtlinie auf die deutsche Vermittlerlandschaft

Die Umsetzung der EU-Richtlinie 2002/92/EG über die Versicherungsvermittlung in deutsches Recht trat am 22. Mai 2007 in Kraft. Seither sind für jeden Vermittler eine Gewerbeerlaubnis und eine Registrierung erforderlich, um den Beruf ausüben zu dürfen. Bei der eigentlichen Beratung gibt es die Pflicht zur Information, Beratung und Dokumentation.     

Prophylaxe und Diagnostik bei Verstopfung

Zusammenfassung  Die Krankenbeobachtung — Für die Basisdiagnostik der chronischen Obstipation gibt es von haus?rztlicher Seite klare Vorstellungen. Doch auch die Pflege ist hier gefordert, insbesondere hinsichtlich der Krankenbeobachtung und der Einsch?tzung der Problematik.     

Tod per Knopfdruck oder palliative Begleitung?

Zusammenfassung   Ein schwieriges Thema hatte sich das „Ethische Cafe“ w?hrend des „Hauptstadtkongresses Medizin und Gesundheit“ am 4. Juni gew?hlt. N?hern wollten sich Experten der Frage: Brauchen wir professionelle Sterbehelfer?     

Der volkwirtschaftliche Wert der Versicherung — eine Input-Output-Analyse der Versicherungswirtschaft

What is the value of insurance to a society and its economy? What are the interdependencies and interrelations between the insurance sector and other sectors of the economy? By applying the tool of input-output-analysis we are able to measure on the one hand the flow of goods and services from other sectors to the insurance sector and on the other hand the flow of insurance to other sectors of the German economy. The results show that the output-multiplier, representing the demand induced by an increased demand for insurance, is surprisingly large. In the course of our study we are further able to give a detailed picture of the input-factors needed to produce insurance and also to quantify how much insurance other sectors of the economy for their intermediate consumption.