The Dano case – Or time for the UK to digest realities about the balance of competences between the EU and national levels. CEPS Commentary, 14 November 2014

The European Court of Justice's new judgment on the Dano case should be reverberating around the UK. In Michael Emerson's view, it shows how national competences can be deftly used to control for 'benefit tourism' without challenging EU law, and that the Court is not acting as the agent of 'EU competence creep', as alleged in the Eurosceptic's stereotype.

What drives Europeans to Syria, and to IS? Insights from the Belgian case. Egmont Paper No. 75, March 2015

‘A bizarre phenomenon,’ Der Spiegel concluded, after trying to figure out why youngsters left Germany to become foreign fighters in Syria. The magazine painted a portrait of two thirty-somethings with similar background and the same hobby – martial arts. One became director of a martial arts school in Hamburg, the other became a terrorist poster boy in Syria.1

Facing the fourth foreign fighters wave. What drives Europeans to Syria, and to Islamic state? Insights from the Belgian case. Egmont Paper 81, March 2016

‘A bizarre phenomenon,’ Der Spiegel concluded, after trying to figure out why young people left Germany to become foreign fighters in Syria. The magazine painted a portrait of two thirty-somethings with similar backgrounds and the same hobby – martial arts. One became director of a martial arts school in Hamburg, the other became a terrorist poster boy in Syria.2

The Portuguese Economic Crisis: Policies and Outcomes. Bertelsmann Policy Brief, 19.02.2015

The financial and economic crisis in the aftermath of 2008 is unique for several reasons: its depth, its speed and its global entanglement. Simultaneous economic decline in many economies around the globe sent out political shockwaves. In Europe, the crisis served as a wake-up call. Policymakers responded to the social and political insecurity triggered by economically unsound practices with solidarity and with EU-scepticism. The recession confronted Euro zone countries with a number of similar problems, although each was embedded in its own set of country-specific challenges. The tools with which each began to counteract the financial and sovereign debt crisis differed. This policy brief examines the Portuguese path to recovery. It outlines some of the great recession’s main impacts on the country’s labour market, as well as analyses the path it has taken to restore sustainable jobs.

The assessment of the level of knowledge about dietary fibre among the portuguese population

The aim of this work was to assess the degree of knowledge about dietary fibre (DF), as influenced by factors such as age, gender, level of education and living environment. For this, a descriptive cross- sectional study was undertaken by means of a questionnaire and the total number of respondents was 382. The results revealed that the participants had a not satisfying global level of knowledge (3.59 ± 0.64, on a scale from 1 to 5). The overall knowledge was found lower for young adults aged 19 to 30 years, when compared to adults aged over 31 and up to 65 years, being this difference statistically significant (p=0.030). However, no statistical significant differences were found between genders, levels of education or living environments. The low level of knowledge demonstrated by the enquired alerts for the need to plan some additional actions to further inform the Portuguese population about dietary fibre.

e_LIPID: Characterisation of the Lipid Profile in the Portuguese Population

AIM: Cardiovascular disease (CVD), particularly coronary heart disease and stroke, are the leading cause of morbidity and mortality worldwide. The common forms of CVD have a complex etiology in which interactions between multiple genetic and environmental factors play an important role. Dyslipidaemia is one of many independent cardiovascular risk factors that have been identified for CVD, and its correct identification is of great importance in order to implement specific interventions, especially for CVD prevention. The aim of this study was the construction of population specific lipid percentiles and the to present the characterization of the dyslipidaemia in the Portuguese population.

The influence of corporate governance characteristics on changes in risk following the global financial crisis evidence from companies listed in the portuguese stock market

Apesar da crescente regulação da atividade empresarial e do estabelecimento de normas e recomendações relativamente ao governo das sociedades verificados desde o início da década passada, as empresas de grande parte dos sectores de atividade económica foram seriamente afetadas durante a crise financeira global. Este estudo permite concluir que houve aumentos significativos no risco total e idiossincrático das empresas não financeiras cotadas na Euronext Lisboa após a falência do banco Lehman Bothers, a 15 de Setembro de 2008. Estes resultados são coerentes com o aumento da incerteza dos investidores verificado durante o período de crise, resultante do colapso de alguns dos maiores bancos do último século, que se traduziu numa falta de confiança generalizada nas instituições financeiras que resultou em maiores dificuldades na obtenção de créditos bancários e num aumentos dos custos de capital, durante este período. Os resultados sugerem que as alterações verificadas nas medidas do risco variaram de acordo com as características de governação e características específicas das empresas, quer num horizonte temporal mais curto, quer num horizonte temporal mais alargado. O mercado de capitais premiou as empresas com um número relativamente maior de administradores não-executivos e com administradores que exercem (em média) cargos de gestão num maior número de empresas ou instituições. Por outro lado, o mercado de capitais penalizou as empresas com um número relativamente maior de administradores independentes, maior concentração de capital, maiores oportunidades de crescimento, maior alavancagem financeira e maior liquidez corrente.

The Portuguese National Programme for the Promotion of Healthy Eating: 2012–2015

This paper describes the first 4-year period (2012–2015) of implementation of the Portuguese National Programme for the Promotion of Healthy Eating (PNPAS). PNPAS was approved in 2012 and emerged as a preventive programme for noncommunicable diseases, aiming to improve the nutritional status of the population; it represents the first national strategy in Portugal for the promotion of healthy eating. To accomplish its mission, and taking into account its overall principles, PNPAS has five main goals: (i) to increase knowledge about the food intake of the Portuguese population and about its determinants and consequences; (ii) to modify the availability of certain foods (high in sugar, salt and fat), in schools, workplaces and public spaces; (iii) to inform and empower the population for the purchase, preparation and storage of healthy food, especially the most vulnerable groups; (iv) to identify and promote crosssectoral actions that encourage the consumption of foods of good nutritional quality in an articulate and integrated way with other sectors, namely agriculture, sport, environment, education, social security and local authorities; and (v) to improve the qualifications and conduct of the different professionals who, owing to their roles, may influence nutritional knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. The design of PNPAS followed the latest strategic lines suggested by WHO and the European Commission, proposing a crosssectoral mix of interventions to ensure physical and economic access to healthy eating by creating healthy environments and empowering individuals and communities. Several actions were implemented at different levels during the first 4-year period of implementation of PNPAS; two were especially relevant. The first concerned the empowerment of citizens regarding healthy eating, where the most important aspect was introduction of a digital strategy through development of a website and a blog dedicated to healthy eating. The second concerned the development of documents for health care and other professionals, including several guidelines in new areas, such as anthropometric measures and intervention in preobesity. Process and output indicators were defined to monitor and evaluate the programme. Among those considered as output indicators were the evaluation of childhood obesity, salt consumption and intake of breakfast by school-aged children.

Distribution of benthic foraminifera in surface sediments of the Portuguese continental margin

Living and dead benthic Foraminifera of 26 sediment surface samples from the East Atlantic continental margin (off Portugal) are studied. The stations are located on two profiles off Cape Mondego and off Cape Sines, ranging in water depth from 45 to 3905 meters. The highest values of standing crop are on the shelf (200 m) (up to 420 specimens/10 cm**3). Below 1000 m water depth standing crop is low (5 -24 specimens/10 cm**3). 151species and species groups are distinguished. Most of the living species do occur in a wide depth range. Faunal depth boundaries are at 50/100m, at 600/800 m, and at 1000 m. Results published from the North Atlantic and the East Mediterranean do not differ from those obtained in samples off Portugal. Depth of water (e.g. hydrostatic pressure) or another factor being controlled by depth (e.g. limitation of food supply) seems to be the most important factor of the benthic foraminiferal distribution.

The ware case : a play in four acts /

Mode of access: Internet.