FSP - Public Policies

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Green Policies, Gray Areas: Farmers' Protests and the Environmental Policy Dilemma in the European Union
(UJ MANDATUM KONYVKIADO, 2024) Bujdei-Tebeică, Vlad
This paper presents a comparative analysis of farmer protests across seven European countries (France, Germany, Spain, Italy, Poland, and Romania) from late 2023 to early 2024, focusing on the intersection of anti-environmentalist discourse and Euroscepticism within these movements. Amidst growing tensions between agricultural practices and environmental policies, these protests highlight how civil society can pose a threat to the implementation of environmental policy across the European Union (EU). Utilizing discourse analysis and comparative methodology, the paper examines the platforms and public statements of the protesting groups to identify core themes of resistance against environmental regulations and EU agricultural policies. Furthermore, it incorporates a Euroscepticism lens to explore how anti-EU sentiments exacerbate the protests, reflecting broader issues of sovereignty, identity, and economic survival in the face of EU-wide policy directives. Our findings suggest that while environmental policy concerns are at the forefront, a significant undercurrent of Euroscepticism influences the discourse and demands of these protests, presenting a multifaceted challenge for EU policymakers. By analyzing these protests in a comparative context, this study contributes to the understanding of contemporary European social movements and the intricate balance between environmental sustainability and agricultural livelihoods within the EU policy framework.
Cultivating Civic Engagement: The Role of Universities in Promoting Democratic Values to Social Science Students
(UJ MANDATUM KONYVKIADO, 2024) Albulescu, Magdalena
In contemporary society, the concept of civic engagement appears as an essential condition for the functioning of democracy and social well-being. Civic engagement transcends simple participation in the electoral process and encompasses a wider spectrum of activities: civic and community participation, activism, and public dialogue. Thus, cultivating civic engagement is a mission, duty, and responsibility for universities, particularly for social science programs. They derive from the need to form and shape not only professionals but also responsible and involved people from a civic and social point of view. However, the mechanisms by which higher education institutions can effectively cultivate such engagement among students remain a subject of debate and investigation. This study seeks to bridge this gap by exploring the strategies used by universities to promote civic awareness among students. Methodologically, this article proposes a study on one of the most important universities in the field of social, political, and administrative sciences in Romania. By analyzing the perceptions and experiences of students, the research provides new empirical data on how educational practices influencing civic and political engagement are evolving, or, conversely, reveals institutional shortcomings in fulfilling the mission of promoting civic engagement among students. In this sense, a standardized questionnaire was distributed to the students from the political science bachelor's degree program to analyze their perceptions and experiences regarding how the study programs and the teachers' activity incorporate the component of civic and political involvement. Data analysis highlights how and if higher education programs cultivate and shape student engagement through academic programs, extracurricular activities, or community partnerships.
Out of one, many: hydro-economic logics in a World Bank-financed irrigation project in Romania
(Taylor & Francis, 2024) Iancu, Bogdan; Stroe, Monica
The study of irrigation systems has been relatively absent from research into socio-ecological transitions in ex-socialist countries, with a few exceptions. Using a World Bank designed and financed irrigation system constructed by a British contractor in 1974 in southern Romania as an entry point, we work with what we term hydro-economic logic to understand the economic and ecological transformations supported by large-scale irrigation systems in the context of rapid post-socialist change. While the socialist-era hydro-economic logic reflected the property regime over land during state-socialism, post-1990 processes of government-backed land restitution and land privatization, the collapse of the vertically-integrated economy that accompanied the network of the canals, pumps and pipes, and the advent of European Union farm payment schemes, created three distinct hydro-economic logics: independent vertical irrigation by small landholders; land grabbing next to the canals; and water grabbing by large agro-industrial business. This suggests that a long-term analysis of infrastructure systems yields unique insights into their changing techno-political rationalities and world-making capacities and may help future efforts to assess the ecological legacies of high modernist infrastructural mega-projects.
Policies to bring about social-ecological tipping points in coal and carbon intensive regions
(Elsevier, 2025) Todor, Arpad; Tăranu, Andrei; Udrea, Robert; Dănilă, Mihai; Helepciuc, Florența-Elena
Achieving the worldwide greenhouse gases (GHGs) reduction targets set in the 2015 Paris Agreement and other international treaties requires reaching a fast tipping point towards sustainably decreasing emissions. Compared to sectoral energy transitions, where different parameters can be easily measured, transitions in Coal and Carbon Intensive Regions (CCIRs) are more complex and thus more challenging to plan, implement, and study. Despite CCIRs' heterogeneity in the population, level of development, economic structure, surface, and transition timing, achieving Social-Ecological Tipping Points (SETPs) poses some common dilemmas to the local, regional, and national authorities. Simultaneously, the transition process poses significant challenges to the economies and local populations. To understand how policy choices can accelerate reaching positive SETPs, we systematically analyze policy responses since the start of the transition to a low-carbon economy for thirteen CCIRs. We evaluate whether, despite the heterogeneity, we can identify policy response patterns and whether these patterns correlate with other features of these regions. We extrapolate the characteristics of policy changes and local developments needed to generate SETPs and discuss the effects of different events on the regional transition's overall justness of this process. Finally, we advance some recommendations on designing policies to achieve positive SETPs.
Regional Evolution of the ICT Sector in the European Union: Insights and Trends
(Editura Universitaria Craiova, 2023) Gabor, Eugen; Oancea, Marian; Pripp, Vladimir
The development of the digital sector is seen as essential for the future of the European Union not only by the European authorities but also by non-governmental organizations (NGOs), national political parties, representatives of the business sector, social activists, or regular citizens. This approach is reflected, among others, in several details of the NextGeneration EU recovery instrument meant to create economic and social stability in the member states after the coronavirus pandemic, which represented one of the grimmest phases in the recent history of the continent. The funds directed towards enhancing the process of digitalization should reduce the development gap that exists at a regional level in the EU. But how profound is this gap, and what are the factors that generate and perpetuate it? The present study shapes answers to these questions by focusing on four regions that include all 27 member countries in the EU: Western Europe, Northern Europe, Eastern Europe, and Southern Europe. The analyzed period is mainly 2018-2022, covering the last two years before the COVID-19 outbreak, the pandemic, and its aftermath. We take into account elements like internet accessibility, the share of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), other economic particularities, the development of e-commerce, or the level of digital literacy. Our conclusions suggest that the importance of historical factors is at times diluted by strategic decisions implemented by governments. The evolution of the ICT sector is seen in numerous countries as a key element in establishing much-needed political, economic, and social resilience.
Evaluating the effectiveness of the EU's approach to the sustainable use of pesticides
(Public Library of Science (PLOS), 2021) Helepciuc, Florența-Elena; Todor, Arpad
By adopting the 2009 "pesticide package," the EU proposed a common approach to limiting the harmful effects of pesticides, promoting Integrated Pest Management, and the progressive replacement of the most dangerous pesticides with low-risk alternatives through a comprehensive but flexible framework for all EU Member States. Each EU Member State had to develop a National Action Plan that would propose measures to achieve the package’s goals. Nevertheless, the choice of actions and indicators remained to be established at the national level. A series of recent evaluations of how Directive 2009/128/EC of the European Parliament and the Council on the Sustainable Use of Pesticides Directive (SUD), a central piece of the "pesticide package," was implemented showed limited success in achieving its goals. Aiming to explain these failures, we compare the National Action Plans eight EU Member States adopted after the SUD. We assess the degree to which the countries’ proposed measures and indicators would achieve the Directive’s three overarching objectives (reduce risks and impact; promote Integrated Pest Management; promote approaches and techniques to reduce reliance on pesticides). We develop the comparative analysis along three dimensions: the promotion of measures to achieve SUD’s three goals; the evolution of the pre-and post-Directive action plans of some of the old EU Member States; and the differences between old and the new EU Member States. The comparison along ten variables shows that the SUD had a minimal effect in homogenizing different states’ approaches to develop their National Action Plans to systematically treat problems, propose measures, and timetables for implementation and indicators. Given that the overall effect in generating a common EU approach to raise the sustainability of pesticide use and agriculture, in general, was still limited, as no common measures, indicators, or process to planning were identified, we discuss some suggestions to improve the situation.
Improving the Authorization of Microbial Biological Control Products (MBCP) in the European Union within the EU Green Deal Framework
(MPDI, 2022) Helepciuc, Florența-Elena; Todor, Arpad
Developing sustainable agriculture by identifying non-chemical alternative Plant Protection Products (PPP) is a cornerstone in achieving long-sought environmental friendliness. Despite significant legislative and political efforts to promote biocontrol solutions and Integrated Pest Management (IPM), the literature points out the disadvantages posed by European Union’s (EU) two-tier system for Microbial Biological Control Agents (MBCA) approval and subsequent Microbial Biological Control Products (MBCP) authorization by each EU Member State (MS). Despite the disadvantages, in a recent article, we showed that the EU had outcompeted the US and other countries in approved MBCA in the last decades; however, MBCP approval at the national level lags. Achieving the EU Green Deal’s aim set out in the ‘Farm to Fork Strategy’ to reduce the use and risk of pesticides by 50% by 2030 is difficult without developing viable alternatives. Why do we not have higher MBCP availability and usage in the EU? Is it the current legislation, its poor application, or some other factors? The current legislative framework stimulated MBCA approval. Thus, we compare MBCA approval and MBCP authorization procedure to evaluate if MBCP authorization is more difficult and thus causes a bottleneck. We find that requirements for MBCP authorization are unnecessarily more complex. We recommend simplifying the MBCP dossier requirements and making them as similar to MBCA as possible to accelerate the MBCP authorization in more EU MS to increase their availability and integration in agronomic crops’ pest management plans.
Greener European Agriculture? Evaluating EU Member States' Transition Efforts to Integrated Pest Management through Their National Action Plans
(MPDI, 2022) Helepciuc, Florența-Elena; Todor, Arpad
Integrated pest management (IPM) is among the most promising approaches for transforming today’s agronomical practices toward sustainable and environmentally friendly agriculture. Aiming to become a global environmental leader, in 2009, the European Union (EU) embraced the idea of making IPM practices ubiquitously used by 2014 in all EU Member States (EU MSs). Through Directive 2009/128/EC (the Sustainable Use Directive (SUD), the EU required EU MSs to structure their transformative measures in National Action Plans (NAPs) in a comprehensive effort. These documents have a fundamental role in orienting the plans and activities of national stakeholders, such as agronomists, researchers, and local and national-level institutions. We analyze and compare the second-generation NAPs (2019–2022) of 10 EU MSs to assess their strengths and weakness and their modifications from the first generation of NAPs (2009). We advance several recommendations on how to make them more valuable instruments in structuring activities towards achieving the goals of the SUD.
Making the best of research investment in pathogens control through biocontrol. How is research correlated with agricultural microbial biological control product availability?
(Public Library of Science (PLOS), 2023) Helepciuc, Florența-Elena; Todor, Arpad
While using microbial biological control products (MBCPs) to limit pathogens is one of the alternatives to the ecologically unsustainable use of synthetic pesticides that received attention, the last 2 decades have not brought the foreseen leap in developing systematic alternatives based on low-risk plant protection products (PPPs) across the globe. To explain this limited progress, we map the evolution of research on the most successful microbial biological control agents (MBCAs) worldwide. We also map the financing structure in the top funding countries and the European Union (EU) to discern the relevant trends. Available data for the European Union Member States allowed us to discover a country-level and EU-level correlation between strain-level research and biocontrol products’ approval based on those strains
Towards Sustainable European Agriculture? Assessing the EU's Progress in Limiting the Negative Ecological Effects of Agriculture on Aquatic Environments
(MDPI, 2023-04-02) Helepciuc, Florența-Elena; Todor, Arpad; Bîrsan, Constantin-Ciprian; Mitoi, Monica-Elena
The degradation of terrestrial and aquatic environments has significant adverse effects on biodiversity and environmental sustainability. The ever-increasing population and constant economic growth strain various ecosystems’ resistance and resilience. An important factor that negatively influences terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems is the use of products used in crop management. In this article, we analyze the pesticide-related European Directives and the Nationals Action Plans (NAP) regarding the sustainable use of pesticides and other documents evaluating the NAPs implementation. We assess the first and second-generation NAPs of nine EU Member States (MS)’ to evaluate if we can identify a significant shift in managing the adverse effects of pesticide use on aquatic environments. Furthermore, we evaluate the degree to which these NAPs are synergic with the EU’s strategic approach to soil protection, aquatic environments, and biodiversity.
Teaching Careers from the Perspective of Graduates of Training Programmes for Teachers (Pilot Study: ASE)
(2024-07-03) Stăiculescu, Camelia; Dincă, Violeta Mihaela; Gheba, Andreea
The article aims to identify how graduates of the psycho-pedagogical training program of the Department for the Preparation of Teaching Personnel (DPPD) and of the Master’s in Teaching (MD) at the Bucharest University of Economic Studies (ASE) relate to the idea of a teaching career, their level of interest and motivation to continue in this professional direction, as well as their satisfaction with these programs and the skills acquired, using as a case study the graduates of the two programs at the ASE. Teachers’ motivation is considered an important factor both for job satisfaction and for the level of teaching performance, or the degree of retention in the field, less addressed in the human resources policy at the level of teaching staff in state institutions. Thus, the discussion can also be considered relevant in the context of the precarious salaries in Romanian education, a problem that can generate difficulties in attracting qualified people with a high level of skills in the field in which they teach. The main results of the pilot study showed that a large part of the respondents consider that their teaching career path is one that suits them, with an increasing interest in training and documentation, as well as in interacting with learners. The study concludes with the idea that intrinsic and altruistic factors are most important to graduates, in choosing a career in this field.
The Historical Roots of Post-Communist Taxation
(Oxford University Press, 2022) Todor, Arpad
The chapter investigates whether and how communist and pre-communist legacies have shaped post-communist taxation in Eastern Europe and Central Asia. It starts with a literature review showing that post-communist tax outcomes are usually explained by post-communist political, institutional and economic variables. Historical legacy effects are largely ignored. The chapter then provides a short historical overview of the spread of modern taxes in Eastern Europe and Central Asia before the rise of Communism. It reconstructs breaks and continuities in national tax systems during Communism. Finally, it uses regression analysis to gauge the influence of pre-communist and communist legacies on post-communist tax systems. It shows that the timing of income tax introductions before Communism and the role of income taxation during Communism have shaped post-communist taxation in important ways.
EU microbial pest control: A revolution in waiting
(Society of Chemical Industry (SCI), 2022) Helepciuc, Florenta-Elena; Todor, Arpad
Recent evaluations of the microbial biological control sector indicate that implementing microbial control of pests is still slow in the EU. The top causal factors are the lengthy, expensive, and cumbersome two-stage procedure for approval of biological agents as active substances at the EU level and authorization of formulated products at the national level, limited funding, lack of EU level integrated approaches, and slow implementation of integrated pest management. This article contributes to a better understanding of the factors that limit microbial control of pests in EU agriculture by providing the first evaluation of the evolution of microbial biological control agent (MBCA) EU-level approval combined with that of microbial biological control product (MBCP) national-level authorization, discusses recent trends in research and offers some policy recommendations. By 2020, the EU had caught up with the USA regarding research output, approved MBCAs, and MBCA approval procedures (first stage). Despite improvements from 2014 to 2019, the number of authorized MBCPs (second stage) has progressed slowly and unevenly across the EU. Significant progress is concentrated in countries with more extensive agricultural land and higher research intensity. The EUʼs focus on promoting more sustainable agriculture by increasing the availability of low-risk pesticides of biological origin as alternatives to conventional chemical pesticides has gained traction in recent years. Nevertheless, more efforts to improve the capacity and expertise of laggard EU Member States to contribute to the approval of MBCA, authorization of MBCP, and stimulating market availability are needed. Furthermore, we recommend introducing more concrete measures to promote the adoption of the microbial control of pests in the National Action Plans for the sustainable use of pesticides.
Greenwashing strategy and environmental obligations : the Volkswagen case
(Medimond Publishing Company, 2016) Palade, Brîndușa
The existing European legislative framework with regard to the environment involves constraints that are perceived as hindrances to the cost-benefit analysis by some companies and business groups. For example, the Volkswagen failure to comply with such obligations by using a sophisticated greenwashing strategy in order to increase its profits on the Diesel cars sold in Europe and United States shows an obvious reluctance to cover the costs required by the environmental laws. The same tendency is revealed by the lobbying against EU environmental policies by some trade associations financed by multinational corporations which otherwise claim to support sustainable development. Companies thus tend to promote their short-term goals against the public interest, by either avoiding or trying to relax environment-related legal constraints. This article will argue for the need to elaborate a new approach to environmental obligations which would tie both short-and long-term interests to sustainable policies, by spelling enforceable measures to tax carbon release, pollution, and production of fossil-fueled products. The Volkswagen case will be discussed in order to make clear that once they are exposed by the media, greenwashing strategies are more counter-productive for a company than genuine sustainable policies. Finally, the article will show how the customers' expectations for environmentally friendly products challenges the traditional cost-benefit analysis and how the enforcement of environmental laws could make environmental obligation, besides a moral duty, a tangible and measurable business goal.
Romania’s capacity to plan and implement a sustainable development strategy
(Springer, 2021) Ion, Oana Andreea; Done, Cătălin-Gabriel
The transformations within the Romanian national sustainable development strategies are a part of the European agenda being a relevant subject of Europeanization. This chapter uses qualitative methodology to explore the consequences of implementing NSDSs in three areas – rural development, human capital, and social disparities. Using a top-down approach, we will offer an integrated model to the Europeanization of Romanian public policies, analyzing government actors’ capacity to implement sustainable development strategies while adapting to international development principles. Simultaneously, the three areas of analysis are incredibly relevant, as they can provide an integrated understanding of the issues Romania has faced in the last 30 years. Rural development, human capital, and social divisions are critical elements of public policies and significant interest factors to the European Union and the UN
Regulation and certification of (bio)medical engineers : a case study on Romania
(MDPI, 2022) Miculescu, Marian; Ion, Oana Andreea
This paper analyzes the Romanian biomedical engineering educational path and certification process in European and international contexts and emphasizes the existence of a deficient operationalization of this qualification and profession, arguing that the domestic shortcomings are both a consequence of an unquestioned process of adopting European and even international classification schemes, and of insufficiently developed national administrative capabilities to properly implement the aforementioned classification frameworks. The core part of the article investigates the current academic track of the biomedical engineering specialization and scrutinizes the classification of occupations at different jurisdictional levels. The conclusions of the study indicate that one of the possible solutions for improving this unsatisfying status quo comes from a better communication between the national and European levels, and by their pro-active involvement in the international attempts of reviewing and refining the existing frameworks. The article ends with several recommendations and policy proposals meant to strengthen the role of various profession-certifying European documents, as well as to alleviate the regulatory deficiencies that this specialization has at Romanian level, in order to maximize its potential in the labor market.
The socio-economic challenges in access to Romanian higher education : student perception and funding policy directions
(Springer Nature, 2022) Dervis, Oana Alexandra; Trifan, Elena; Jitaru, Gabriela
Access to education, specifically in relation to socio-economic background, is one of the enduring issues in educational research. The theme is particularly salient for the Romanian case from a policy perspective, given the increase in social polarisation specific to the post-communist transition and its effect on access to higher education. Recent reforms in university funding have started to address this issue, with the inclusion of several mechanisms that allocate financial resources according to university efforts towards social equity. The main objective of our research is to provide an overview of the policies concerning the inclusion of students from low socio-economic backgrounds and assess the degree to which progress has been made towards reaching current national targets regarding access to higher education. We argue that although significant improvements have been made at the level of policy initiative, more precise targeting is needed in order to meet labour market demands, given that most current efforts are directed either at fresh high school graduates or at diminishing the dropout rate. These efforts, even if 100% successful, will not prove sufficient given current demographic trends. Therefore, we consider another potential avenue for increasing student numbers, suggesting that an orientation towards non-traditional students (adult students) might be beneficial. With this in mind, in the second half of the paper, we explore the main characteristics and trends concerning Romanian mature students using the results from the EUROSTUDENT VI and EUROSTUDENT VII studies, with the goal of formulating policy proposals that aim to unlock the potential of this demographic.
Family background, gender and reading achievement in Romania
(Fundatia 'Orient Expres', 2015) Țoc, Sebastian; Gheba, Andreea
In the last years, Romania formally tried to overcome the problems related to inequality of opportunity in education. This paper examines the role of home resources and gender in determining academic performance. Based on secondary data drawn from Progress in International Reading Literacy Study we suggest that both gender and home resources have a significant impact on the reading achievement of students. The existing work operationalizes the differences in reading achievement as an indicator for life chances, being proportional with economic success later in life. Our findings contradict ideas about equality of opportunity promoted by the official curriculum regarding the individual merit as the main factor that places students in privileged social positions.
Admiterea la liceu în România : o analiza din perspectiva mecanismelor de repartizare
(Facultatea de Stiinte Politice, SNSPA, 2018) Gheba, Andreea
In this article, I present (using non- formalized language) examples of theoretical solutions proposed by researchers focused on the study of mechanism design theory, with the purpose of solving specific educational policy issues based on the school choice principle. Focusing on the mechanisms that aim a controlled school choice by parents, I describe mechanisms whose objective is to implement affirmative policies (e.g., quotas for specific categories of students). At the same time, in this paper, I analyze the characteristics of the system through which the students are assigned to high-school in Romania, using “mechanism design theory“ literature."
Tranziția inechitabilă către sistemul liceal : studiu de caz: admiterea la liceu în București, România.
(Expert Projects Publishing House, 2021) Gheba, Andreea
The main objective of this article is to analyze the interaction between the principle of proximity in the enrollment process to primary school and the high school admission mechanism from an educational equity perspective. Specifi cally, I conduct a case study in which I analyze how the type of school graduated by a student in Bucharest infl uences the type of high school at which she will be admitted, given the present system of allocation. As such, I am interested in identifying the extent to which the school where the student is enrolled (when parents, theoretically cannot choose, as it is dependent on the street where they reside) can represent an explanatory factor for the probability to be admitted at a particular high school (a stage when parents and students can manifest their preferences for a school/specialization).

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