Modelling Nd-isotopes with a coarse resolution ocean circulation model: Sensitivities to model parameters and source/sink distributions

The neodymium (Nd) isotopic composition (Nd) of seawater is a quasi-conservative tracer of water mass mixing and is assumed to hold great potential for paleoceanographic studies. Here we present a comprehensive approach for the simulation of the two neodymium isotopes 143Nd, and 144Nd using the Bern3D model, a low resolution ocean model. The high computational efficiency of the Bern3D model in conjunction with our comprehensive approach allows us to systematically and extensively explore the sensitivity of Nd concentrations and Nd to the parametrisation of sources and sinks. Previous studies have been restricted in doing so either by the chosen approach or by computational costs. Our study thus presents the most comprehensive survey of the marine Nd cycle to date. Our model simulates both Nd concentrations as well as Nd in good agreement with observations. Nd covaries with salinity, thus underlining its potential as a water mass proxy. Results confirm that the continental margins are required as a Nd source to simulate Nd concentrations and Nd consistent with observations. We estimate this source to be slightly smaller than reported in previous studies and find that above a certain magnitude its magnitude affects Nd only to a small extent. On the other hand, the parametrisation of the reversible scavenging considerably affects the ability of the model to simulate both, Nd concentrations and Nd. Furthermore, despite their small contribution, we find dust and rivers to be important components of the Nd cycle. In additional experiments, we systematically varied the diapycnal diffusivity as well as the Atlantic-to-Pacific freshwater flux to explore the sensitivity of Nd concentrations and its isotopic signature to the strength and geometry of the overturning circulation. These experiments reveal that Nd concentrations and Nd are comparatively little affected by variations in diapycnal diffusivity and the Atlantic-to-Pacific freshwater flux. In contrast, an adequate representation of Nd sources and sinks is crucial to simulate Nd concentrations and Nd consistent with observations. The good agreement of our results with observations paves the way for the evaluation of the paleoceanographic potential of Nd in further model studies.

Let their voices be heard: Understanding the barriers to seeking early prenatal care for low-income non-Hispanic Black women

Background: Receipt of early prenatal care, care during the first three months of pregnancy, is the standard in the United States. Sixty percent of non-Hispanic Black women who had a live birth in the Sunnyside community of Houston did not obtain early prenatal care in 2009. ^ This study's aims were to: 1) Describe the barriers to obtaining early prenatal care in non-Hispanic Black women who live in the Sunnyside community of Houston; and, 2) Describe the actions that could encourage non-Hispanic Black women who live in the Sunnyside Community to obtain early prenatal care. The goal was to provide information to organizations that promote early prenatal care use in non-Hispanic Black women in Harris County that may aid in developing interventions. ^ Methods: The Participatory Learning for Action rapid assessment qualitative method was used in a group setting to answer the research questions on behalf of women in the community. Women who participated in the group sessions also participated in an in-depth interview. Key informants who work in the community with pregnant women, or promote the use of prenatal care services, were also interviewed. An inductive analysis of the data was conducted to identify common themes that address the study's aims. ^ Results: Aim 1: Group participants identified fear of the reaction from family and/or the baby's daddy and shame, not having insurance or money, and lack of knowledge of the pregnancy and resources as the top three barriers to early prenatal care for women in the community. Aim 2: Group participants stated that to help women to overcome these barriers, communication, awareness and support; help, resources and services; and information and early education are needed. Participant in-depth interviewees echoed the themes of fear of the reaction from family and/or the baby's daddy and not knowing of the pregnancy. Key informants mentioned these themes as well, though not at the same priority level. Participants and key informants also mentioned similar themes for helping women to overcome barriers to early prenatal care. ^ Conclusion: A comprehensive approach is needed to improve early prenatal care use in the Sunnyside community. Education efforts must include all members of the community, young and old, to promote support for pregnant women. Community members must be a part of the process for developing education campaigns. Engaging the community builds a relationship with organizations that serve the community, which may promote use of the organizations' services, and build trust with the community. All efforts must be ongoing so that women and men of all ages in the community understand the importance of prenatal care and support women obtaining care early in the pregnancy.^

Unsafe abortion: A neglected crisis in women's health

Women around the world risk their lives to end unwanted pregnancies. Created in 2003 and recently converted to a digital format, this short film highlights the toll that unsafe abortion takes on women and the comprehensive approach that Ipas takes to saving women's lives by improving access to safe abortion and contraception. Since this film was made, deaths from unsafe abortion have thankfully decreased to approximately 47,000 each year. However, the estimated number of unsafe abortions has risen to more than 21 million annually, largely due to the increase in population. We have a long way to go before the scourge of unsafe abortion is eliminated.

Reflexiones en torno al proceso de implementación de un programa social en el campo de la actividad física en poblaciones vulnerables : Aportes para la formación del profesorado de Educación Física y la mejora de las políticas públicas

En este artículo se propone describir y analizar el proceso de implementación de un Programa social de intervención en poblaciones vulnerables a través del deporte, la actividad física y el juego recreativo que se desarrolla desde 2011 en tres espacios socio-residenciales de villa o asentamiento urbano informal del Partido de la Matanza. El programa social es analizado en diferentes aspectos claves de su proceso de implementación. Estos aspectos fueron abordados a través de una investigación cualitativa con objetivos amplios y un enfoque integral, en esta oportunidad se reflexiona sobre un avance de investigación que privilegia las percepciones y representaciones de los docentes técnicos que ejercieron el rol docente en el marco del Programa y se realizan algunos aportes para pensar la mejora en las futuras acciones y en la formación del profesorado.Se realizaron 6 grupos focales y se estima que los insumos generados serán útiles para la mejor planificación de las prácticas docentes y formación específica de los futuros profesores. Asimismo, se espera poder aportar elementos de análisis y de juicio para la gestión de políticas públicas en el campo del deporte y la actividad física como estrategia de integración social

Reflexiones en torno al proceso de implementación de un programa social en el campo de la actividad física en poblaciones vulnerables : Aportes para la formación del profesorado de Educación Física y la mejora de las políticas públicas

En este artículo se propone describir y analizar el proceso de implementación de un Programa social de intervención en poblaciones vulnerables a través del deporte, la actividad física y el juego recreativo que se desarrolla desde 2011 en tres espacios socio-residenciales de villa o asentamiento urbano informal del Partido de la Matanza. El programa social es analizado en diferentes aspectos claves de su proceso de implementación. Estos aspectos fueron abordados a través de una investigación cualitativa con objetivos amplios y un enfoque integral, en esta oportunidad se reflexiona sobre un avance de investigación que privilegia las percepciones y representaciones de los docentes técnicos que ejercieron el rol docente en el marco del Programa y se realizan algunos aportes para pensar la mejora en las futuras acciones y en la formación del profesorado.Se realizaron 6 grupos focales y se estima que los insumos generados serán útiles para la mejor planificación de las prácticas docentes y formación específica de los futuros profesores. Asimismo, se espera poder aportar elementos de análisis y de juicio para la gestión de políticas públicas en el campo del deporte y la actividad física como estrategia de integración social

Reflexiones en torno al proceso de implementación de un programa social en el campo de la actividad física en poblaciones vulnerables : Aportes para la formación del profesorado de Educación Física y la mejora de las políticas públicas

En este artículo se propone describir y analizar el proceso de implementación de un Programa social de intervención en poblaciones vulnerables a través del deporte, la actividad física y el juego recreativo que se desarrolla desde 2011 en tres espacios socio-residenciales de villa o asentamiento urbano informal del Partido de la Matanza. El programa social es analizado en diferentes aspectos claves de su proceso de implementación. Estos aspectos fueron abordados a través de una investigación cualitativa con objetivos amplios y un enfoque integral, en esta oportunidad se reflexiona sobre un avance de investigación que privilegia las percepciones y representaciones de los docentes técnicos que ejercieron el rol docente en el marco del Programa y se realizan algunos aportes para pensar la mejora en las futuras acciones y en la formación del profesorado.Se realizaron 6 grupos focales y se estima que los insumos generados serán útiles para la mejor planificación de las prácticas docentes y formación específica de los futuros profesores. Asimismo, se espera poder aportar elementos de análisis y de juicio para la gestión de políticas públicas en el campo del deporte y la actividad física como estrategia de integración social

Competence Training in Higher Education: The case of the Technological Master "Prestación de Servicios Profesionales" from the Colegio de Postgraduados (México).

The Competency-Based Education in the context of training is intended as a comprehensive approach that seeks to link education with the productive sector and increase the potential of individuals, in the face of social, economic, political and cultural transformations that suffers the world and the contemporary society; this is how educational services associated to the rural area takes part of the global revalorization of the role of learning and knowledge. Under the competence approach and taking into account the CONOCER model, we design a Technological Master from the “Colegio de Postgraduados” identifying the competences needed so that the students, professional from different areas of knowledge, managed to develop them, but mainly to achieve the goal of developing the capacities of producers in Mexican rural area.

Analysis, monitoring, and management of quality of experience in video delivery services over IP

Esta tesis estudia la monitorización y gestión de la Calidad de Experiencia (QoE) en los servicios de distribución de vídeo sobre IP. Aborda el problema de cómo prevenir, detectar, medir y reaccionar a las degradaciones de la QoE desde la perspectiva de un proveedor de servicios: la solución debe ser escalable para una red IP extensa que entregue flujos individuales a miles de usuarios simultáneamente. La solución de monitorización propuesta se ha denominado QuEM(Qualitative Experience Monitoring, o Monitorización Cualitativa de la Experiencia). Se basa en la detección de las degradaciones de la calidad de servicio de red (pérdidas de paquetes, disminuciones abruptas del ancho de banda...) e inferir de cada una una descripción cualitativa de su efecto en la Calidad de Experiencia percibida (silencios, defectos en el vídeo...). Este análisis se apoya en la información de transporte y de la capa de abstracción de red de los flujos codificados, y permite caracterizar los defectos más relevantes que se observan en este tipo de servicios: congelaciones, efecto de “cuadros”, silencios, pérdida de calidad del vídeo, retardos e interrupciones en el servicio. Los resultados se han validado mediante pruebas de calidad subjetiva. La metodología usada en esas pruebas se ha desarrollado a su vez para imitar lo más posible las condiciones de visualización de un usuario de este tipo de servicios: los defectos que se evalúan se introducen de forma aleatoria en medio de una secuencia de vídeo continua. Se han propuesto también algunas aplicaciones basadas en la solución de monitorización: un sistema de protección desigual frente a errores que ofrece más protección a las partes del vídeo más sensibles a pérdidas, una solución para minimizar el impacto de la interrupción de la descarga de segmentos de Streaming Adaptativo sobre HTTP, y un sistema de cifrado selectivo que encripta únicamente las partes del vídeo más sensibles. También se ha presentado una solución de cambio rápido de canal, así como el análisis de la aplicabilidad de los resultados anteriores a un escenario de vídeo en 3D. ABSTRACT This thesis proposes a comprehensive approach to the monitoring and management of Quality of Experience (QoE) in multimedia delivery services over IP. It addresses the problem of preventing, detecting, measuring, and reacting to QoE degradations, under the constraints of a service provider: the solution must scale for a wide IP network delivering individual media streams to thousands of users. The solution proposed for the monitoring is called QuEM (Qualitative Experience Monitoring). It is based on the detection of degradations in the network Quality of Service (packet losses, bandwidth drops...) and the mapping of each degradation event to a qualitative description of its effect in the perceived Quality of Experience (audio mutes, video artifacts...). This mapping is based on the analysis of the transport and Network Abstraction Layer information of the coded stream, and allows a good characterization of the most relevant defects that exist in this kind of services: screen freezing, macroblocking, audio mutes, video quality drops, delay issues, and service outages. The results have been validated by subjective quality assessment tests. The methodology used for those test has also been designed to mimic as much as possible the conditions of a real user of those services: the impairments to evaluate are introduced randomly in the middle of a continuous video stream. Based on the monitoring solution, several applications have been proposed as well: an unequal error protection system which provides higher protection to the parts of the stream which are more critical for the QoE, a solution which applies the same principles to minimize the impact of incomplete segment downloads in HTTP Adaptive Streaming, and a selective scrambling algorithm which ciphers only the most sensitive parts of the media stream. A fast channel change application is also presented, as well as a discussion about how to apply the previous results and concepts in a 3D video scenario.

Caracterización y análisis del coste de mejora de la calidad de servicio en transporte urbano en autobús, basado en la metodología ABC (activity based costing)

El estudio de la calidad de servicio en transporte público ha tenido distintos enfoques, tanto en la investigación como en sus aplicaciones prácticas, tales como el desarrollo del método SERVQUAL, los proyectos QUATTRO y EQUIP de la Comisión Europea, el Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual y finalmente el estándar EN 13816, siendo la consideración principal la calidad desde el punto de vista del usuario, es decir, la calidad percibida, cuyo objetivo en la práctica trata de obtener un Índice de Satisfacción del Cliente como medida de la calidad global. Esta aproximación deja de lado aspectos tanto sobre calidad suministrada como sobre los suministradores del servicio, las administraciones y los operadores, particularmente en cuanto a las implicaciones económicas. El objetivo principal de la presente tesis es la estimación del impacto económico real de la mejora de atributos de calidad para un operador de autobús urbano. En el capítulo 2, se lleva a cabo un análisis del estado del arte sobre el estudio de la calidad, tanto de los métodos de estudio, como de su aplicación al campo de transporte público, y, específicamente, del estudio de costes. En los capítulos 3 y 4 se propone la aplicación de la metodología ABC (Activity Based Costing) para el caso de un contrato de servicio de transporte público en autobús en la Comunidad de Madrid, concretamente la conexión de Tres Cantos. Para ello se utilizan datos de encuestas de calidad esperada y percibida por los usuarios, junto con información económica y de actividad, así como entrevistas a personal de la empresa, conformando todo ello una metodología compacta de investigación y análisis. Los resultados de las encuestas y los análisis posteriores identificaron la frecuencia de servicio, la puntualidad de los autobuses y la seguridad de la conducción como las tres variables mas importantes desde el punto de vista del usuario, y ha sido en referencia a estas tres variables sobre las que se ha desarrollado la aplicación del método ABC contenida en el capítulo 5. Los resultados descritos en el capítulo 6 muestran la consistencia y la aplicabilidad de esta metodología, superando las simplificaciones de los procedimientos tradicionales contables. En cuanto a los resultados obtenidos, se ha comprobado que una aproximación tradicional basada en costes por kilometro puede llegar a sobrevalorar los costes asociados a mejoras de calidad hasta tres veces los costes calculados según el método ABC. Finalmente en el capítulo 7 se recogen las principales conclusiones y se apuntan algunas líneas futuras de investigación basadas en mejoras sobre la aplicación y transferibilidad de los resultados. The study of service quality and its implication for transport contracts has several approaches in research and practical applications, such as the development of the SERVQUAL method, the UE QUATTRO and EQUIP research projects, the Transit Capacity and Quality of Service Manual and finally the EN 13816 standard. In all cases the main stream is the consideration of quality from the user’s point of view, thus obtaining a Customer Satisfaction Index as a measurement of the overall service quality. This approach ignores quality consequences for transport providers, authorities and operators, particularly economic implications. The main target of this thesis is to estimate the real economic impact of improving quality attributes for a bus operator. Chapter 2 includes a thorough analysis of the state of the art of general methodologies on service quality, their applications for public transport, and particularly for quality costing. In chapters 3 and 4, the Activity Based Costing (ABC) methodology is proposed for a suburban bus contract in Madrid, Tres Cantos. Perceived and expected quality surveys are used together with economic and performance information, as well as interviews with key staff from the operator. The whole set of surveys, interviews and ABC methodology puts together a comprehensive approach for analysis and research. Surveys and subsequent analysis shows service headway, punctuality and safety as the three most important service attributes from the user’s point of view. The proposed methodology has been applied to these three variables, as described in chapter 5. Results obtained in chapter 6 show the consistency and practicality of this methodology, overcoming simplifications from traditional accounting procedures. According to the latter, a calculation of costs based on mileage can overvalue quality improvements up to three times the results following ABC methodology. Finally, in chapter 7, the main conclusions are highlighted and some future research is suggested in terms of application improvements as well as results transferability.

Contribuição da consulta de enfermagem na adesão ao tratamento do diabetes mellitus na estratégia saúde da família do município de Ribeirão Preto, SP

Trata-se de estudo de intervenção tipo antes e depois, no qual o sujeito é seu próprio controle, fator que permite identificar os efeitos na adesão ao tratamento e controle dos níveis glicêmicos. Teve como objetivo avaliar a contribuição da consulta de enfermagem na adesão ao tratamento do diabetes mellitus tipo 2, em uma Unidade Saúde da Família, de acordo com o \"Protocolo de atendimento as pessoas com diabetes mellitus,\" em Ribeirão Preto, SP. A coleta de dados foi realizada no período de setembro de 2014 a janeiro de 2015. O trabalho foi aprovado pelo Comitê de Ética em Pesquisa da Escola de Enfermagem de Ribeirão Preto, SP, sob Parecer nº 648.970. Participaram 31 pessoas com diabetes mellitus, por meio de três consultas de enfermagem, na unidade de saúde e no domicílio, com intervalo de um mês entre as três consultas de todos os participantes. Foi utilizado um roteiro contendo variáveis sociodemográficos e clínicas e o teste de Medida de Adesão ao Tratamento. Para a análise da adesão, durante e após a intervenção, utilizou-se a estatística descritiva e o teste de Mann- Whitney; para a comparação do antes e após a intervenção, utilizou-se o teste de Wilcoxon; para análise de correlação com as variáveis numéricas, o coeficiente de correlação de Spearman e o teste Q de Cochran, para a comparação dos exames nos momentos anterior, durante e posterior à intervenção. Os resultados mostraram que os participantes tinham entre 33 e 79 anos, sendo 58,1% do sexo feminino; 71% tinham companheiro; renda familiar de 1 a 3 salários-mínimos (83,9%); 80,6% referiram ser profissionalmente inativos (aposentados, pensionistas ou do lar); média de 5,68 anos de estudo e predomínio de menos de 8 anos de estudo (67,7%). Em relação aos valores da pressão arterial sistêmica constatou hipertensão arterial sistêmica grau I em 25,8% das pessoas com diabetes mellitus, 90,3% com índice de massa corporal apresentando excesso de peso, quanto à circunferência abdominal, 32,2% dos homens estavam com valores maiores que 102 cm e 45,2% das mulheres com valores acima de 88 cm. A avaliação dos pés, com uso do monofilamento Semmes-Weinstein de 10g, apresentou 9,7% das pessoas com diabetes mellitus com pé em risco para ulceração e diminuição ou ausência de sensibilidade tátil pressórica protetora dos pés. O tempo de diagnóstico do diabetes mellitus tipo 2 variou entre 1 a 39 anos, predominando as comorbidades hipertensão arterial (83,9%), dislipidemia (58,1%) e obesidade (41,8%). Quanto aos exames laboratoriais, observa-se que, em 64,5% da população estudada, os níveis da glicemia de jejum estavam acima de 100 mg/dL , ocorrendo pequena redução para 61,3% nos casos de pessoas com diabetes mellitus durante a intervenção e se manteve após. No que se refere à glicemia pós-prandial, os casos das pessoas com diabetes mellitus com valores iguais ou acima de 160 mg/dL, antes da intervenção era de 45,2% e durante e após a intervenção caiu para 38,7%. Em contrapartida, aumentou o número de pessoas com diabetes mellitus durante e após a intervenção, com valores da glicemia pós-prandial abaixo de 160 mg/dL, de 54,8% para 61,3%. E, em relação à hemoglobina glicada, foi observado que em 61,3% das pessoas com diabetes mellitus os valores antes da intervenção eram iguais ou acima de 7%. Durante a intervenção, caiu para 19,3% e após a intervenção o número de pessoas com diabetes mellitus, com a hemoglobina glicada igual ou superior a 7%, chegou a 38,7%. Quanto aos valores abaixo de 7%, observou-se aumento de 38,7% antes da intervenção para 80,6 e 61,3% respectivamente, durante e após a intervenção, com diferença estatisticamente significante (p< 0,001). As pessoas com diabetes mellitus desse estudo, apresentaram 83,87% de adesão ao tratamento antes da intervenção, e esses escores subiram para 96,78% após a intervenção, fato corroborado pelo teste de Wilcoxon que mostrou escores estatisticamente significantes (p<0,001), entre antes e após a intervenção. Esse estudo contribui para ressaltar a importância do enfermeiro, enquanto integrante da equipe multiprofissional, seguindo as orientações do \"Protocolo de atendimento ao indivíduo com diabetes\", tanto no atendimento individual quanto em grupo, reorganizando o processo de trabalho, contribuindo para maior adesão ao tratamento e controle dos níveis glicêmicos, ao minimizar a fragmentação e assegurar a continuidade na assistência, por meio de abordagem integral ao diabético

ISSP Position Stand: To Sample or to Specialize? Seven Postulates About Youth Sport Activities that Lead to Continued Participation and Elite Performance

A comprehensive approach to sport expertise should consider the entire situation that is comprised of the person, the task, the environment, and the complex interplay of these components (Hackfort, 1986). Accordingly, the Developmental Model of Sport Participation (Côté, Baker, & Abernethy, 2007; Côté & Fraser-Thomas, 2007) provides a comprehensive framework for sport expertise that outlines different pathways of involvement in sport. In pathways one and two, early sampling serves as the foundation for both elite and recreational sport participation. Early sampling is based on two main elements of childhood sport participation: 1) involvement in various sports and 2) participation in deliberate play. In contrast, pathway three shows the course to elite performance through early specialization in one sport. Early specialization implies a focused involvement on one sport and a large number of deliberate practice activities with the goal of improving sport skills and performance during childhood. This paper proposes seven postulates regarding the role that sampling and deliberate play, as opposed to specialization and deliberate practice, can have during childhood in promoting continued participation and elite performance in sport.

Reviewing the EU’s Crisis Management Procedures. IES Policy Brief Issue 2012/04/November 2012

Summary. The ongoing review of the EU’s Crisis Management Procedures warrants attention. What passes as an update of an arcane and technical document masks a profoundly political debate concerning what the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) should be about. This policy brief summarises the main proposals and formulates a set of critical reflections. It calls for replacing the bureaucratic scheming with a more forthright political debate, and warns against sacrificing incompatible organisational cultures on the altar of the comprehensive approach. At a time when European security and prosperity trends are increasingly pointing downwards, the EEAS and the member states must look to the future and embrace, rather than resist, change.

The European Union and global security: is the EU becoming the indispensable partner? EU Centre Singapore Background Brief No. 11, April 2014

The European Union has developed new capacity as a security actor in third countries, in particular in the area of crisis management. Over the past two decades the EU has deployed numerous missions, both of a civilian and military nature. Moreover the EU has defined its ability to intervene all along the ‘crisis cycle’, (from prevention to mediation, from peace-keeping to post-conflict reconstruction) and using all tools at its disposal (taking a ‘comprehensive approach’). However the EU is still not perceived as a major security provider globally and interventions remain limited to some geographic areas, mostly in its neighbourhood and Africa, with just a few examples further afield. The EU also tends to avoid taking direct action and seems to prefer partnership arrangements with other players. How can we explain the growing activism and number of EU’s intervention with the low impact and lack of visibility? Can we expect the EU to become more active in the future, taking on more responsibility and leading roles in addressing conflict situations? This paper will argue that the main reason for the EU’s hesitant role in crisis management is to be found in the weak decision-making provisions for EU’s security interventions, as one of the few policy areas still subject to consensus amongst 28 European Union Member States. Lack of a clearer delegation of competence or stronger coordination structures is closely linked to low legitimacy for the EU to take more robust action as a security actor. In order to overcome this legitimacy problem, and in order to facilitate consensus amongst Member States, the EU thus privileges partnership arrangements with other actors who can provide legitimacy and know-how, such as the UN or the African Union. As there is no political desire in the EU for tighter decision-making in this area, we can expect that the EU will continue to play a supporting rather than leading role in crisis management, becoming the partner of choice as it deepens its experience. However this does not mean that the EU is playing just a secondary role in the wider area of security, in particular when looking at nontraditional security. Looking at the role of the EU in Asia, where the EU has deployed just two missions, this paper will offer a broader assessment of the EU as a partner in the area of security taking into account different types of actions. The paper will argue that in order to strengthen cooperation with Asian partners in the area of crisis management, the EU will need to define better what it is able to offer, present its actions as part of an overall strategy rather than ad-hoc and piecemeal, and enter into partnership arrangements with different players in the region.

Hybrid Hysteria. Security Policy Brief No. 64, June 2015

Is “hybrid” about to replace “comprehensive” as the favourite container notion of the Brussels foreign policy community? They might not be so different, in fact. Both a hybrid and a comprehensive approach mean the integrated use of a broad range of instruments of external action towards the achievement of a foreign policy objective. It’s just that the hybrid approach put into practice by Russia today seeks to achieve rather less friendly aims than the EU’s own comprehensive approach. The hybrid approach is the comprehensive approach gone over to the dark side of the force.

The Commissioners’ Group on External Action – Key political facilitator. CEPS Special Report No. 125/December 2015

The reactivation of the Commissioners’ Group on External Action (CGEA) is one of the most important institutional initiatives in EU foreign policy-making since the merger of the position of the High Representative for CFSP with that of Vice-President of the Commission and the creation of the European External Action Service. In this report the authors examine the mandate and organisation of the CGEA and note that, in its first year of activity, the Group has injected much-needed political pragmatism into the way the Commission contributes to EU external action, thereby facilitating inter-service cooperation both within the Commission and with the EEAS. They argue that the CGEA has in fact become the logical counterpart to the Foreign Affairs Council, which allows the HRVP to deliver on her duty to assist the Council and the Commission in ensuring a comprehensive approach to EU external action, as indeed consistency in its implementation.