Suchergebnisse

This chapter analyses the way in which migrant women employed in the domestic services sector in France make their work political. The French context encompasses a double reality. On the one hand, the state promotes a regularized market and the professionalization of paid care work performed in the home. On the other hand, the fact that a majority of domestic sector workers are migrant women leads to the reproduction of working conditions which display continuities with more ancient forms of domestic services relations. In this context, migrant women's demands in trade unions for domestic workers often prove contradictory, ambivalent and different according to their different work experiences. I address the complexity of this form of activism through the analysis of in-depth interviews realized with two migrant women activists involved in different trade unions over different periods. The first one, of Mauritian origin, fought alongside undocumented domestic workers in the early nineties. The second, of Ivoirian origin, has been involved since 2011 in struggles against the exploitation of registered child-minders. Drawing on fieldwork data, I examine the process through which migrant domestic workers create new political subjectivities, and their potential for contesting the norms regulating domestic work, traditional conceptions of citizenship and dominant gender relations.

European countries approach the market ramp-up of hydrogen very differently. In some cases, the economic and political starting points differ significantly. While the probability is high that some countries, such as Germany or Italy, will import hydrogen in the long term, other countries, such as United Kingdom, France or Spain, could become hydrogen exporters. The reasons for this are the higher potential for renewable energies but also a technology-neutral approach on the supply side. In the study "Contrasting European Hydrogen Pathways: An Analysis of Differing Approaches in Key Markets", the Institute of Energy Economics at the University of Cologne (EWI), together with the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES), analysed what the economic and political parameters relevant to a future hydrogen economy look like in the six European countries Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Green hydrogen, produced by electrolysis using water and electricity from renewable sources, is favoured by the southern European countries - Spain and Italy. Both are characterised by a high potential for renewable energies, especially photovoltaics. Germany also relies exclusively on producing green hydrogen in its National Hydrogen Strategy. France is taking a special path. Due to its large share of nuclear energy in the electricity mix, the country relies among other technologies on nuclear-based hydrogen. The advantage: It can be produced cost-effectively in times of low electricity demand. Although the long-term significance of nuclear energy in France is unclear, this approach could ensure a fast and cost-effective market ramp-up with hydrogen in the short- and medium-term. In heavy industry, hydrogen could be of central importance for decarbonisation. However, future demand also depends heavily on the price. In this respect, import-dependent countries such as Germany, which will not have sufficient domestically produced hydrogen available in the foreseeable future due to limited potential for renewable energies, could be at a disadvantage.

European countries approach the market ramp-up of hydrogen very differently. In some cases, the economic and political starting points differ significantly. While the probability is high that some countries, such as Germany or Italy, will import hydrogen in the long term, other countries, such as United Kingdom, France or Spain, could become hydrogen exporters. The reasons for this are the higher potential for renewable energies but also a technology-neutral approach on the supply side. In the study "Contrasting European Hydrogen Pathways: An Analysis of Differing Approaches in Key Markets", the Institute of Energy Economics at the University of Cologne (EWI), together with the Oxford Institute for Energy Studies (OIES), analysed what the economic and political parameters relevant to a future hydrogen economy look like in the six European countries Germany, France, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Green hydrogen, produced by electrolysis using water and electricity from renewable sources, is favoured by the southern European countries – Spain and Italy. Both are characterised by a high potential for renewable energies, especially photovoltaics. Germany also relies exclusively on producing green hydrogen in its National Hydrogen Strategy. France is taking a special path. Due to its large share of nuclear energy in the electricity mix, the country relies among other technologies on nuclear-based hydrogen. The advantage: It can be produced cost-effectively in times of low electricity demand. Although the long-term significance of nuclear energy in France is unclear, this approach could ensure a fast and cost-effective market ramp-up with hydrogen in the short- and medium-term. In heavy industry, hydrogen could be of central importance for decarbonisation. However, future demand also depends heavily on the price. In this respect, import-dependent countries such as Germany, which will not have sufficient domestically produced hydrogen available in the foreseeable future due to limited potential ...

The European Commission to assess the compatibility or incompatibility of mergers with a community dimension has to consider different factors. Among them is the serious financial and economic situation of the target company. For this purpose has developed the failing firm defence, which enables the antitrust authority to allow those mergers, that despite raise competition concerns, are suitable to operate as anti-crisis measures. This paper aims to study this issue in the singular area of the European Merger Control. ; La Comisión Europea a fin de determinar la compatibilidad o incompatibilidad de las concentraciones de empresas de dimensión comunitaria ha de tener en cuenta criterios tanto concurrenciales como extraconcurrenciales. Precisamente, entre estos últimos se encuentra la grave situación financiera y económica que atraviesa la empresa objeto de adquisición. Con tal propósito se ha elaborado la doctrina de la empresa en crisis o failing firm defence, que faculta a la autoridad antitrust a declarar licitas aquellas operaciones de concentración, que pese a plantear problemas de competencia, son aptas para funcionar como medidas anticrisis de ciertas empresas que están obligadas a abandonar el mercado. El presente trabajo se propone estudiar dicha doctrina en el ámbito singular del control de las concentraciones de empresas en la Unión Europea.