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Regional attempts to reduce pollution levels emerging from the European Union (EU) relative to 2010 are contrasted with unique policies of individual member countries’ aims to achieve a 10% reduction per country. Given this scenario, this research expands on the topic by developing a novel framework that links macroeconomic policies, total national expenditure per person, traditional energy use, renewable energy use, and CO₂ emissions levels in EU countries from 1990 to 2016. The study utilizes the second generation cross-sectional-autoregressive-distributed lag (CS-ARDL) panel data method. According to the study’s findings, the monetary instruments of growth exacerbated the adverse effects of CO₂ emissions, and by tightening monetary policy, the harmful effects of CO₂ emissions levels have been reduced. Further, the Granger causality test indicates a bidirectional causality between monetary policy and CO₂ emissions levels, and unidirectional causality from the policy assessment for energy use. The finding confirms that the assessment policy recommendations on energy consumption have future effects on ecological value.

The second decade of the 21st century has been marked by rising tensions between the United States and China, with the European Union caught between the two powers in an era of strategic competition. The “$17+1$” mechanism, which focuses on economic cooperation between China and Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, is not spared from the U.S.-China economic confrontation. The United States has launched a political and public campaign against China’s telecommunication giant Huawei in the CEE region, where most countries are U.S. allies. Since its establishment as “$16+1$” in 2012, the mechanism has made slow progress in generating expected benefits to CEE countries, as many of China’s investments are under negotiation, delayed, or even canceled. The case of Romania indicates that CEE countries’ engagement in “$17+1$” depends heavily on the changing priorities of their political leadership, which adds much uncertainty to the future development of the mechanism. Besides, there is lingering EU concern that the mechanism may divide the Union. To enhance its status as a strong and responsible partner with CEE countries and the EU, China needs to reform “$17+1$” into a more transparent, effective and inclusive regional mechanism that engages all interested countries.

Business environment is one of the location factors taken into account by investors while investing abroad. This paper focuses on the relationship between changes in business environments in the new Member States of the European Union (EU) and foreign direct investors' behavior. The analysis concentrates on Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries, with special reference to Poland, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. The EU policies and the national incentive-based FDI policies are two driving forces influencing business environment in the new Member States. All the adjustments to the EU requirements reshape conditions for doing business in the new Member States and lead to the improvement of so called economies' 'fundamentals'. The national FDI policies could be treated as a factor disturbing these long term processes and changing economic choices of the established and potential investors. The statistical data on FDI inward stock and annual FDI flows confirm the positive reaction of foreign investors to the changes taking place throughout Central and Eastern Europe. Some data, however, confirm also that there is intense incentive-based competition and a kind of bidding war between them in order to attract foreign investors.

This paper compares the economic integration processes of the European Union and the East Asian nations and comments on the possible reciprocal lessons, if any, that can be drawn to smooth the future paths of the two groups. The most relevant lessons on the EU side rely on strong institutionalization, structural policies, and the monetary union. Lessons from East Asia can be found in regional production networks, trade patterns, and the recent developments in financial cooperation. Both entities are presently facing difficult challenges to progress and growth.

The Indo-Pacific region and its politics are now in obscurity, and the power dynamics of US-China competition have become well settled within a new concept of geopolitics. As an economic giant and a distinct power in IR, the EU’s position and strategy in the region are garnering attention. This paper starts by discussing the EU’s perceived systemic rivalry with China and its falling out with the United States, its Atlantic ally since the two World Wars. It then introduces the concept of Europe as a normative power in order to better understand the EU’s policies. It points out how “Normative Power Europe” (NPE) has adapted to its surroundings by introducing the concept of principled pragmatism concept in 2016. The paper then lays out the EU’s security strategies in Asia and highlights its narrative of strategic autonomy, referred to as the Sinatra doctrine. From there, it employs the notion of NPE and principled pragmatism to delineate the EU’s unique stance in the Indo-Pacific region and how it puts this principled pragmatism into practice. Finally, it analyzes how the EU has strategically applied these concepts to succeed in its own way amidst US-China competition in the Indo-Pacific.

In recent years, there has been a lack of empirical work devoted to the explanation of migration patterns into the European Union with the exception of country specific studies. At the same time, migration theories have undergone a considerable renewal, which has led to the development of new variables for explaining migration decisions. Three of them are of particular interest in the EU case, namely welfare magnets, border effects and policy regulations. This paper aims at explaining recent migration trends into the EU. A first contribution is to provide an original eclectic theoretical model from the new developments in migration theories. Second, an empirical panel data model is developed in order to explain the emigration rate into 18 EU countries, from 67 source countries over the past 10 years. Finally, this model simultaneously tests the impact of the traditional and the new variables on migration flows into the EU. From both static and dynamic panel data estimators, the results show that the new variables are of particular significance, compared to traditional ones.

The European Union (EU) has tasked itself to make Europe the first climate neutral continent in the world. In December 2019, the European Commission presented the European Green Deal committing to climate neutrality by 2050, with the objective of transforming itself from a high to a low-carbon economy, without reducing prosperity while simultaneously improving people’s quality of life, through better health and cleaner air and water. The EU however also believes that climate change must be addressed by a global response and thus, actively engages and supports its international partners in climate action, in particular through the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Paris Agreement. This chapter examines various relevant elements and legislations encompassed within the European Green Deal aimed at guiding and ensuring this transformational change. It contends that as a global climate leader, the EU must also make every effort to reassure countries in the Global South that its efforts at this ambitious green transition will be inclusive. A strong framework for doing this is through the Global Gateway, which was already announced in late 2021. If the Global Gateway project succeeds, this will be a major climate changer for the world.

The chapter offers an insight into possible relations between open innovation and territory. While open innovation aims at benefiting of opening the innovation funnel and participating in business ecosystems, territorial (regional) studies and policies stress the role of tangible and intangible resources and ties available in geographical proximity. Both streams, anyway, use a similar toolkit related to knowledge and innovation management. Besides the theoretical framework, some practical examples of open innovation related territorially-bound initiatives are presented in the chapter. Afterwards an outlook on open innovation in territorial policies in Europe is provided.

Spain and Portugal have established cooperation mechanisms to manage their shared water resources in order to avoid any potential conflict. Cooperation is clearly reflected in the 1998 Albufeira Convention, which provides a legal framework to regulate all transboundary basins between both countries to protect surface water and groundwater, as well as the aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems that depend on them for the sustainable use of water resources. The 1998 Albufeira Convention establishes as one of the uses of the Tagus Basin Gthe transfer of water interbasin such as the Aqueduct Tagus-Segura (ATS). According to this Convention, the management of water uses and the right to use water shall be addressed to guarantee the sustainable use of water that is already established. The ATS is a use guaranteed and protected under international water law. The analysis of the ATS in the context of the international legislation to mitigate water scarcity, and droughts provides the strategies to promote resilience to climate change and the impacts of drought conditions in the society in a sustainable manner while ensuring the fundamental rights.