| |
|
|
|
Reviews by Otilia Petre, opetre@rec.org IPTS/ESTO Prospective Study on Enlargement Futures: Interim Report. November 2001 Authored
by the EC Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Science and Technology
Observatory (ESTO) and Institute for Prospective Technological Studies
(IPTS), 2001, 134 pages. The objective is to offer a model for evaluating the relationship between technological trends and the developments that can be expected to take place in the accession countries in the coming decades. The areas examined are: agriculture and rural development, human capital formation and social systems. Each section compares indicators in Central and Eastern Europe with those of the European Union and offers forecasts and policy recommendations. Examples include a fresh perspective on the long-awaited reform of the EU's Common Agricultural Policy and a study of the school system's impact on development. Cases studies include an evaluation of the pension systems, health care, migration and other employment-related issues in Hungary, Poland and Romania. The report seeks to identify and explain some of the future
macro challenges posed by enlargement, for both EU candidates and the
member countries. The
World Watch Institute. W. W. Norton &Company, New York, 2002, 265
pages The eight chapters of the book outline as many key proposed agenda priorities: health and security for the world population; climate change; farming, food and rural growth; toxic and chemical threats; sustainable international tourism, demography and other population issues; resources scarcity and potential for world conflict escalation; governance, institutions and policy-making. Based on statistical data stretching roughly from the end of the Second World War to the late nineties, the report highlights a number of social and environmental advances since Rio, including health improvements like the declining death toll from epidemic diseases like pneumonia and tuberculosis - or policy deals on phasing out the production of ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs). Figures supporting the report include "global average temperature at Earth 's surface 1867-2000, " "world fertilizers use 1950-1990", "international tourist arrivals, 1950-2000 " and "the Rio conventions - a progress report." The report's authors point out several serious impediments
to building a sustainable world in the past few decades. These include
the continuing low priority given to environmental policies and enforcement,
disappointing expenditures on foreign aid and the vicious circle of the
third world indebtedness. The book is useful for anyone wishing to navigate
the profusion of debates stirred by the approaching summit and to understand
the high stakes of the meeting. |
 |
|
      |
|||
|
