Use of antimicrobials in food-producing animals in Switzerland and in the European Union (EU)

The intensive and inappropriate use of antibiotics in both medicine and agriculture has selected for antibiotic resistant bacteria that cause severe problems in antibiotic therapy. In animal husbandry, antibiotics are used for therapeutic and preventive treatments of infectious diseases and as growth promoters. In Europe, many antibiotics used as growth promoters were of the same classes as important antibiotics used in human medicine. The European Union withdrew the authorization for the use of the major antimicrobial growth promoters between 1996 and 1999. In 1999 Switzerland decided to ban the use of all antimicrobials as growthpromoting feed additives. The regulations concerning antibiotic use in animal husbandry and the chronological reasons for the ban of antimicrobial growth promoters are described. This ban led to a decrease of the antibiotic volume deployed in agriculture. This measure helps to reduce the amount of antibiotic resistant bacteria in food-producing animals. However, the use of medicated feed is still a common practice to prevent and to remedy bacterial infections and thus still leads to resistant pathogens. Surveillance programs, single animal treatment, good manufacturing practices and vaccinations are additional measures to be taken to keep the level of resistances in bacteria low.

Influencing the European Union from Outside. Switzerland, the European Water Framework Directive, and Micropollution Regulation in the Rhine River Basin

This paper sheds light on an unusual political influence mechanism, i.e. the influence of a non-EU member state on agendas and policies at the level of the EU and EU members states. Borrowing both from the literatures on policy diffusion as well as on the influence of small member states in EU decision-making, we argue that such an influence is fostered by both structural and agency-related factors. We illustrate this potential influence with a case study on the regulation of micropollutants in waterbodies. Adopting a mixed-method approach, we show that the upstream location of Switzerland, its integration into transnational networks as well as joint water basin institutions provides the country with structural opportunities to diffuse policy innovation to the EU’s policy agenda and member states’ policies. In addition, agency-related factors matter as the EU or member states can point to Switzerland as a successful example or pioneer, especially since the Swiss policy is in line with an overall EU strategy on reducing negative impacts of chemicals on humans and the environment.

Measuring citizens' implicit and explicit attitudes towards the European Union

Studies assessing citizens’ attitudes towards Europe have mostly used explicit concepts and measures. However, psychologists have shown that human behaviour is not only determined by explicit attitudes which can be assessed via self-report, but also by implicit attitudes which require indirect measurement. We combine a self-report questionnaire with an implicit Affective Misattribution Procedure for the first time in an online environment to estimate the reliability, validity and predictive power of this implicit measure for the explanation of European Union-skeptical behaviour. Based on a survey with a sample representative for Germany, we found evidence for good reliability and validity of the implicit measure. In addition, the implicit attitude had a significant incremental impact beyond explicit attitudes on citizens’ proneness to engage in EU-skeptical information and voting behaviour.

Analysis of the upcoming Modernisation of the Trade Pillar of the European Union-Mexico Global Agreement

Study for the EU Parliament co-authored by Rodrigo Polanco: The 1997 Global Agreement between the EC and its Member States and Mexico, together with the set of decisions taken in its framework, has been effective, and thus modifications of the agreement are mainly motivated by changes in the global landscape since it was first enacted. Therefore, broad considerations on how the European Union (EU) trade policy is shaped are extremely relevant for the upcoming negotiations with Mexico. In this context, the needs and expectations, both from the EU and Mexico, regarding any further agreements are examined, focusing in particular on areas beyond trade in goods and services such as procurement, investment, and regulatory cooperation. It is argued that the 'old' Association Agreements should be taken as models for any modifications, given their emphasis on EU-specific issues and their ability to accommodate the needs of Mexico in any deepened agreement.

Generic competences in engineering field: a comparative study between Latin America and European Union

In this work, a comparison between the competences codes in the CDIÓs* curriculum, the ones defined for the Tunning Project and the International Project Management Association (IPMA) is made. The goal is to define the most appropriate competences codes for the engineering education in Latin America. The CDIO code is obtained from the engineering practice, and responds to the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) standards of accreditation. The Tuning competences are the ones defined for Latin America and the IPMÁs are international competences for project management. It is the first time that the competences defined in ABET accreditation standards in the engineering field are compared with the international competences according to IPMÁs model. The results give evidence that, in first place, there is a need to apply holistic models in the definition of an engineering curriculum. Second, the pertinence of these models in the definition of engineering programs in Latin America.

L’usage des mesures restrictives autonomes de l’Union européenne: deux poids deux mesures ou des mesures de poids? = The use of autonomous restrictive measures in the European Union: double standards or weight measures? EU Diplomacy Paper 09/2012, October 2012

No abstract.