The EU's migrant strategy: a welcome new impetus. EPC Commentary, 19 May 2015

The publication of the Commission's agenda on migration comes at a difficult time: first and foremost in humanitarian terms on account of the recurrent and intolerable tragedies taking place in the Mediterranean, which demand a rapid response; and secondly, in political terms, if we consider both the economic situation (the crisis) and the political situation (the rise of far-right and anti-European parties) which makes all debate and action in this field rather tricky. In this context, the Juncker Commission faced a sensitive challenge because it needed to act quickly but had only limited room for manoeuvre. While certain guidelines had already been revealed at the European Council meeting on 23 April, the publication of the agenda has provided the Commission with an opportunity to recall and to specify the actions it wishes to undertake in the immediate, medium, and long terms. There are three aspects to the agenda worth highlighting: its innovation, its confirmation, and its long-term vision.

Europe's refugee/migrant crisis: can 'illiberal' Turkey save 'liberal Europe' while helping Syrian refugees? EPC Policy Brief, 19 February 2016

Turkish democracy today has lost much of its shine. As the Turkish government continues to backtrack on reforms and infringe on basic freedoms, the country is beginning to look more and more like an ‘illiberal democracy’ at best. Ironically, as one of the most important destination and transit countries for Syrian refugees, it is also still uniquely positioned to help the EU deal with the current refugee crisis. In November 2015, the EU and Turkey signed a Joint Action Plan to better manage the situation, but both parties have fallen short of their promises. German Chancellor Angela Merkel, one of the biggest supporters of closer EU-Turkey cooperation, had hoped that this would allow for the refugees to be admitted into Europe in a more controlled and orderly manner. But it seems she is standing alone in a Europe that is becoming increasingly more hostile towards newcomers, drifting further and further from the liberal values it stands for. In this Policy Brief, Kemal Kirişci discusses the ways in which Turkey, Germany and the EU in general could all benefit from closer cooperation on this issue: “With the right frame of mind and will, the current ‘illiberal Turkey’ could indeed help ‘liberal Europe’. In the long run this would be a ‘win-win’ for Germany, Turkey, and the EU – but most importantly, for the Syrian refugees.”

The investigation of energy efficiency measures in the traditional buildings in Oporto World Heritage Site

Background The improvement of energy efficiency in buildings is widely promoted as a measure to mitigate climate change through the reduction of CO2 emissions. Thermal regulations worldwide promote it, for both new and existing buildings. Among the existing stock, traditional and historic buildings pose the additional challenge of heritage conservation. Their energy efficiency upgrade raises the risk of provoking negative impacts on their significance. Aims and Methodology This research used an approach based on impact assessment methodologies, defining an inital baseline scenario for both heritage and energy, from which the appropriate improvement solutions were identified and assessed. The measures were dynamically simulated and the results for energy, CO2, cost and comfort compared with the initial scenario, and then being further assessed for their heritage impact to eventually determine the most feasible solutions. To test this method, ten case studies, representative of the identified typological variants, were selected among Oporto’s traditional buildings located in the World Heritage Site. Findings and Conclusions The fieldwork data revealed that the energy consumption of these dwellings was below the European average. Additionally, the households expressed that their home comfort sensation was overall positive. The simulations showed that the introduction of insulation and solar thermal panels were ineffective on these cases in terms of energy, cost and comfort. At the same time, these measures pose a great risk to the buildings heritage value. The most efficient solutions were obtained from behavioural changes and DHW retrofit. The study reinforced the idea that traditional buildings performed better than expected and can be retrofitted and updated at a low-cost and with passive solutions. The use of insulation and solar panels should be disregarded.

Legal Services Corporation : grantee attorneys' handling of migrant farmworker disputes with growers.

At head of title: Report to Congressional requesters.

Federal laws related to migrant and seasonal farmworkers /

"March 11, 1983."

The migrant farm worker in America: background data on the migrant worker situation in the United States today.

"Release, Wednesday, July 6 [1960]": 3 leaves inserted.