This thesis treats the normative power of the European Union and its affect on Macedonia. The main purpose has been to look closer with the use of the application of Ian Manners theory of normative power on the Macedonian case. The focus will be to answer the following questions: Does the European Union act as a normative power in relation to Macedonia, if so, how are these values diffused? Has there been any effect of the spreading of these values? Based on six interviews and the available material of European Union strategies for the Macedonian membership I have attempted to understand to what extent the European Union?s normative power has had an influence in Macedonia. The result of my analysis is confirmation of the European Union as a normative power in Macedonia and the understanding of the methods of application..

After the fall of the Iron Curtain the European Union was challenged partly by an institutionalized organization of the union, as well as by a socio-psychology awareness concerning the meaning of the European Union. The increase in European integration has generated a political collaboration where national understandings in identities are constantly being exposed for reconstruction. This results in a collective European identity where states are united in diversity.National identities are created when boundaries are set up in a relation to other states. In these identity constructions there are thoughts and questions raised such as who we are and who we are not. Ukraine and the European Union has, during a long time, had diversified preconceptions concerning who has been the others.

The construction industry has demands on energy use in permanent buildings. How much energy that is permitted to use during the time the building is produced has no requirements. The purpose with this study is to learn how far Skanska has come with the work of making the building site more energy efficient.A literature study has been performed in the beginning of the study to survey what energy efficient arrangements that can be applied and how they operate. Using site visits and interviews the situations on the building sites have been studied as well as the energy efficient measure that are in use.Skanska has come a long way with the work of energy efficient building sites and they keep improving. They have improved half of their cabins so they use 50 % less energy.

The EU Council adopted in 2007, environmental and energy goals with the aim of them must be met by 2050. This, in combination with those of the Swedish government 15 enacted environmental goals is supposed to lead the way for the Swedish environmental work.This report has examined measures in properties in the Swedish Cooperative Housing Society (SKB) stocks.The report discusses a range of measures that might be appropriate to apply on the properties to make them more energy efficient.One of the measures discussed, the vent whose primary purpose is to create a good indoor environment for the residents but is also where the most energy is lost.Another measure discussed is insulation of the building envelope on the estate to make it more energy efficient. To put extra insulation on the building envelope is important because of the large amount of energy that is lost through the walls, ceilings and floors.Future actions that may be implemented is individual billing of heating and hot water. This system has been used in European countries since the 70's and today the EU wants to increase the own individuals control over their electricity costs. This has led to a discussion whether to implement the system in Sweden or not.However, there are a number of equitable measures to be sorted out before the system can be used in any great scale.Finally, it is important to remember that environmental measures should be the primary and the pursuit of cost reductions the secondary otherwise you risk the environmental work to be counterproductive..

The VAT Directive (2006/112/EC) does not regulate Member States? opportunities to intervene against tax evasion. The European Court of Justice has clarified the situation in case C-255/02 Halifax. This case establish that the universal principle against the abuse of rights applies to VAT, which means that Member States have the opportunity to redefine transactions not involving a breach of law but nevertheless goes past what the legislature envisaged at the introduction of the provision.A debate has risen as to whether the principle against the abuse of rights is equally ap-plicable in Swedish domestic law on VAT. The administrative court of appeal in Go-thenburg, Case No.

The climate change the earth today has to face is no longer a global problem when every individual has a responsibility to act. The residents in Sweden have no understanding how their energy consumption affects the environment, nor what measures can be taken to reduce the energy consumption.The use of the energy in new Buildings is considerably lower than in the older ones as conditions have improved and the requirements have been more stringent. As most of the buildings in the future have already been constructed it´s important to take every opportunity for energy efficiency and rebuilding of available buildings will become a significant act. Reconstruction of a building contributes generally to both a reduced individual and a reduced total energy use, while new constructions only keep a low individual energy use but a increase the total energy use. For this reason we present the opportunities for reconstruction, mainly to reach the standards for a passive house..

This study has been carried out in the spring of 2014 on behalf of PQR Consult AB in Stockholm. The aim of the study has been to analyse the energy usage of the building Skarpövägen 1 in order to explore the possibilites of saving energy by using appropriate equipment. These possible solutions have been simulated by using the programe IDA Indoor Climate and Energy, combined with a life cycle cost analysis. The laundry building, Skarövägen 23, has also been analysed due to its high amount of energy usage. The result of the energy analysis showed that the energy usage was much higher than the energy declaration.

This thesis investigates how energy is used in three public baths today and suggests measures that could reduce the energy demand. The results show that there is a great poteltial for energy savings i public baths, and that it would be interesting to examine some of the proposed measures further..

The interest in building low energy houses has increased along with the rising engagement inthe climate questions. With the advancing energy prices it is highly suitably for those whobuild and administer their buildings in long-term to build energy-saving houses. 40 % ofSweden?s total energy consumption constitutes of the energy in residences, therefore it iscrucial to take advantage of all the free energy as we possibly can. With crucial questions likequality of living and profit low energy building is a subject that concerns us all.Three proposals for apartment blocks are presented in this work on a real estate in Stockholm.Each proposal is developed through unique processes of design with the purpose to displaypossibilities to deal with the energy requirements of today and tomorrow through energybased architecture.The first proposal is an apartment block based on a traditional design process, the demands ofthe property owner and it?s affected by opinions from architects.

Public opinion has increasingly become a political force in the European integration process. At present, it appears that the people?s attitude towards the European integration is relatively skeptical. How can we expect that the attitude towards European integration will evolve in the future? This paper tests the extent to which diffusion theory can serve as a model to explain the development of attitudes to European integration policy in Sweden from 1999 until 2009.

Today equal representation between the genders in parliament is something to be desired. One way to reach the goal of equal representation is by using quotas. The purpose of the study is to research the lack of equality in elected institutions by using a perspective on qoutas.  The study also seeks to find answers to if using quotas is a good method according to gender studies. A text analysis is being used to find reasonable solutions to the study´s presented complivations.  By analyzing different texts about quotas some of the more common arguments in the discussion about using quotas in parliaments were highlighted. Some of the more frequent arguments to implement quotas are that it would be more just but also that women and men may have different interests, experiences and therefore equal representation would be a question of resources.

Sweden has an environmental goal to achieve until the year 2020. To achieve this goal the construction business has to take an initiative to use the modern techniques that are available to lower the energy consumption I buildings. There?s also a debate going on today regarding the energy demands set by the Swedish government through Boverket, some communities throughout Sweden thinks that the demands are to low and have therefore set up own demands regarding energy in buildings.The possibility to construct energy-saving buildings is today very great, with energy-efficient heating-systems and dense climate envelope. The interest to raise energy-efficient buildings have also increased as a consequence that the population have become more aware about their impact on the environment.

Tången 2 is a building situated in Stockholm, Sweden. It´s built in the 1930s and contains both residences and businesses. The property owner, Diligentia AB, wants to lower the energy use in Tången 2. This report consists of an energy audit which clarifies the specific circumstances linked to Tången 2. Collected knowledge is then used, together with the results from the literature study, to decide energy measures to proceed with.

What is the European Union (EU) and which countries should be part of it in the future? These questions became topical during the first part of the 21st century when political and geographical changes hasten the need to decide the nature of the European cooperation. In the European Constitution, that never come into force, the European values that a key role but was taken away in the succeeding Lisbon Treaty. Nevertheless EU continues to expand, recently to the East and non-European countries asTurkey are now on the ?waiting-list?.

The amount of electricity is limited in Namibia and the large distance between towns andvillages complicates the energy supply in the country. Therefore an alternative way to provideaccess to appropriate energy technologies is needed. The Government of the Republic ofNamibia (GRN) has adopted an approach of helping off-grid households by establishing EnergyShops in each region in Namibia and these shops are going to sell basic renewable energy andenergy efficient products. The Renewable Energy Efficiency Institute in Namibia (REEEI), theinitiator of this thesis, is coordinating the establishment of these Energy Shops.The main purpose of this thesis was to examine the needs of energy products for the Namibianpopulation and develop an assessment method for the Energy Shop in how to select appropriateenergy products already on the world market. The purpose was also to develop a method forchoosing an Energy Shop.