The EUROHIS project has focused on the comparability of health surveys and has uncovered some problems that arise when aiming to compare data from different countries. Similar problems of cross-cultural comparability also arise when comparing data from other sources, such as health registers, and are just as complex and difficult to tackle. One of the main advantages of health surveys, however, is the relatively low cost and time involved in adapting them according to the needs of health policy-makers. This work shows that the output from the EUROHIS project provides common instruments for the measurement of eight health indicators. The development of these instruments has required careful consideration of relevant common concepts and how these should be defined and operationalized. The instruments are freely available for use by all countries, with the aim of enhancing national health information systems and facilitating cross-national comparisons of health data.

As a voluntary organization of National Statistical Office representatives, the Washington Group addresses problems in statistical methods associated with the measurement of disability. This volume features papers which reflect a sampling of the work done by the Washington Group to address disability, an important public health problem.

Europe currently is the oldest continent in the world and its population is still ageing. This demographic shift affects society, economy, and welfare states. Scholars from various disciplines and the public noted this development and wonder what effects it may have, but lack adequate information. They call for explanations that are concise and easily accessible. The book at hand fills this lacuna. It introduces readers to the most important developments, theories, concepts, and discussions in ageing studies – always keeping an eye on the current situation in Europe. Each chapter adopts the perspective of a different discipline, e.g. public health, sociology, economics, or technology. To make the explanations easy to understand, the book includes learning tools such as learning objectives, multiple choice questions, and a glossary.

This book is a study of the complex relationship between Britain and Europe from the Second World War to the present day. Drawing on first-hand experience of British and European politics, the author highlights not only the dramatically shifting power play between London and Brussels but also the EU’s own struggle to come to terms with its federal mission. He traces the important constitutional events that have fashioned the EU, of which the Brexit process is an outstanding example. The author proposes a number of constitutional reforms which, if carried through, would form the basis of a new entente between the EU and the UK. Both polities will profit from stronger democratic government of a federal type. The author advocates spanning the divide between NATO and the EU. He proposes installing a new class of affiliate EU membership, which may be useful for the whole European neighbourhood, including the UK. Featuring the history, present and future of Britain’s relationship with the European Union, the book will be of worldwide interest to students and practitioners of European integration, as well as diplomats and journalists. It is the first comprehensive manifesto for the future of Europe and Britain since Brexit.

A Financial Times Best Political Book of 2017 An urgent examination of how the political and social volatility in Europe impacts the United States and the rest of the world. The dream of a United States of Europe is unraveling in the wake of several crises now afflicting the continent. The single Euro currency threatens to break apart amid bitter arguments between rich northern creditors and poor southern debtors. Russia is back as an aggressive power, annexing Crimea, supporting rebels in eastern Ukraine, and waging media and cyber warfare against the West. Marine Le Pen’s National Front won a record 34 percent of the French presidential vote despite the election of Emmanuel Macron. Europe struggles to cope with nearly two million refugees who fled conflicts in the Middle East and North Africa. Britain has voted to leave the European Union after forty-three years, the first time a member state has opted to quit the world’s leading commercial bloc. At the same time, President Trump has vowed to pursue America First policies that may curtail U.S. security guarantees and provoke trade conflicts with its allies abroad. These developments and a growing backlash against globalization have contributed to a loss of faith in mainstream ruling parties throughout the West. Voters in the United States and Europe are abandoning traditional ways of governing in favor of authoritarian, populist, and nationalist alternatives, raising a profound threat to the future of our democracies. In Fractured Continent, William Drozdiak, the former foreign editor of The Washington Post, persuasively argues that these events have dramatic consequences for Americans as well as Europeans, changing the nature of our relationships with longtime allies and even threatening global security. By speaking with world leaders from Brussels to Berlin, Rome to Riga, Drozdiak describes the crises. the proposed solutions, and considers where Europe and America go from here. The result is a timely character- and narrative-driven book about this tumultuous phase of contemporary European history.

Our modern insistence on democratic social values has engendered an intense debate over the intersection of fundamental rights and contract law. In particular, case law in several European national jurisdictions has exerted significant pressure on traditional contract law instruments to conform more transparently with the fundamental rights enshrined in the EC Charter. This pressure is clearly evident in a number of societal areas subject to contract law, among them employment, housing, and privacy. It can even be argued, as this author does, that fundamental rights intermediate between politics and law. Taking its cue from many initiatives toward the development of a more coherent, even harmonised, European contract law, this book is the first major study to examine the following essential questions with detailed reference to actual judicial developments: • To what extent do fundamental rights affect contract law? • In which types of cases can fundamental rights be applied? • What does the explicit consideration of fundamental rights add to contract law adjudication? The author approaches the analysis along two different avenues: first, a comparative overview of developments in case law, and second, a more general theoretical view on the interaction between fundamental rights and rules of contract law which is tested against examples from various legal systems. The focus throughout is on developments in case law, because the impact of fundamental rights in contract law has been felt on the level of dispute resolution rather than on the level of legislation. Germany and the Netherlands are chosen because their judiciaries have been notable for their early and continuing attention to the theme, and England and Italy for perspectives on developments under common law and civil law systems respectively.

The European health report responds to the statutory requirements to provide the member states with essential public health information. The report analyses a decade of evidence on health in the Region, which embraces 51 WHO Member States with some 870 million people. While overall levels of health in the Region are among the highest in the world, the report describes widening gaps between and within countries. It confirms the strong links between socioeconomic development, health and equity in the WHO European Region. The report builds on the view that health policies cannot be isolated from other policy sectors: One central task in improving health is to reduce socioeconomic inequalities, thus placing health in the context of human development. The link between health and employment, income maintenance, social welfare, housing and education is crucial in all European Member States. The report focuses on concrete evidence useful for decision-makers in public health. Its role is to summarize and feed back to Member States the information created, deposited and accredited during the Regional Office's work with Member States on key topics and issues in public health in Europe, in the context of the values and principles of WHO as one Organization.