AbstractThe purpose of this thesis has been to investigate if the Swedish legislation concerning taxation of dividends to foreign investment funds is in violation to EU law. Furthermore, the thesis will analyze if the Fondskatteutredningens suggestions to changes in the current legislation is appropriate to the purpose it tries to obtain.Today there is a difference in the taxation of dividends paid to Swedish investment funds and foreign investment funds. Dividends paid to foreign investment funds is being taxed in accordance with the Coupon Tax Act (1970:624), in which no deduction of the tax is possible. Swedish investment funds on the other hand have the possibility to deduct as much of the received dividends that they have given in dividends to its shareholders.The difference in the taxation between investment funds because of origin has been reviewed by both Swedish court and by the European Court of Justice. It has in these cases been up to the courts to review if a difference in taxation of dividends could constitute a violation of the free movement.

A qualitative document analysis is used to answer the aim of this thesis that is to find out if the relation between the European Union and Belarus has changed from confrontational to reparational in between the two parliamentary elections that was held in the country in the years of 2004 and 2008. The study focuses on debates from the European parliament in association to the elections in Belarus to see if the rhetoric used in the debates have changed. It is found that the rhetoric used in the European parliament after the 2004 election in Belarus are extremely confrontational and the members of the debate expresses their thoughts of Belarus in a rather harsh way. It has also been found that the rhetoric used in the European parliament after the 2008 election in Belarus are more diplomatic and have the tendencies of a warmer relation to Belarus although there are still some confrontational views among the members..

To meet the growing amount of waste from electronic and electrical equipment (WEEE) EU developed, year 2002, a directive (2002/96/EG) with the objective to govern the management and reduce the amount of WEEE. The directive is based on producer responsibility which makes the producer responsible for collection and dispose of WEEE. In 2012 a new revised directive (2012/19/EU), with tougher collection targets, was developed. Both the old and the new directive states that the approach to tackle WEEE should be prioritized in order of prevention, reuse and then recycling. Hitherto the amounts of WEEE has increased every year, making it relevant to examine which type of preventive measures the directive contains and how effective they are.

Background and problem: In March 15, 2009, the third piece of money laundering directive was introduced which mean a more strict legislation in control against money laundering and terrorist financing. The directive is based on a risk based point of view which means that the resources should be used where the needs are. The responsibility for financial companies and other parts are bigger then before which means that they have to get a more extensive customer knowledge etc. It has however been appeared that the directive in some cases lack of precision and clarity which creates an insecurity among those who are included by the law. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to examine which consequences the third piece of money laundering will bring on the banks customer relationships and how the employees work assignments at the banks will be affected. The authors also want to examine how the extension of money laundering will be affected and clarify if there is any indistinctness about how the application looks around the banks.Method: The authors choose to use a qualitative method and the empiric material has been collected through personal meetings, telephone interviews and through e-mail answers. Conclusion: The majority sees the third piece of money laundering directive as something positive which will protect both the banks and their customers.

A lot of houses built during the Million Homes Programme are in need of major renovation. Today?s technology and materials are better than in the 60?s and 70?s. Both Swedish government and the European Union have set climate goals regarding energy consumption by 2020 and 2050. Achieving these goals would require better standards in buildings than the Building regulations demands, such as Umeå municipality?s construction requirements for new buildings.The report aims to investigate if a renovation of apartment buildings from the Million Homes Programme can reach Umeå municipality?s construction requirements.

This paper examines constructions of identities in Swedish news paper articles concerning the European Unions?s Tobacco Products Directive. Using critical discourse analysis (CDA) supported by theories of discourse, semiotics and identity formation, this paper argues that constructions of a Swedish ?Us? are distinguished from a non-Swedish ?Them?. These constructions depends on categories such as use of tobacco, science, history and war, which are frequently used in the discourse to separate ?Us?, ?the good? from ?Them?, ?the bad?.

ABSTRACTThe discussions about energy use have increased year by year everywhere in the society, and so also in the healthcare sector. But what is actually energy use in a hospital facility, and what affects it?The typical way today to express the energy use is in kWh/m2. The problem with a key performance indicator that is expressed as energy use in relation to a specific area is that it does not take into account the activity in the building. Even though the activity to a very high extent affects the energy use.

ABSTRACTThe discussions about energy use have increased year by year everywhere in the society, and so also in the healthcare sector. But what is actually energy use in a hospital facility, and what affects it?The typical way today to express the energy use is in kWh/m2. The problem with a key performance indicator that is expressed as energy use in relation to a specific area is that it does not take into account the activity in the building. Even though the activity to a very high extent affects the energy use.

The regulations for energy consumption are consistently getting more and morestrict. This leads to a higher customer demand for energy analysis early in the buildingdesign process. Many building planners and architects use powerful modeling softwareto visualize their projects. These digital models contain sufficient information aboutthe building?s physical characteristics for reliable energy analysis.

People in refuge face states with a dilemma. This dilemma consists of a wish (or obligation) to help those who need a refuge, and at the same time consider domestic issues such as financial costs and security problems. Thus, there are two perspectives which are important to consider when refugee policies are made. The aim of this paper is to see which perspective the EU had when making their migration policies. The question asked is: which perspective is behind the making of European refugee policy?The theories realism and idealism are used to describe the conflicts in the making of European refugee policies.

A large proportion of the energy consumption is in the building industry and a large part goes to heating our homes and premises. In the developing countries' development now threatens the large consumption of energy in our earth's climate. It is in the West world that we must be good role models in terms of energy efficiency. One solution to reduce energy consumption for heating of buildings may be to continue to build low energy houses and passive houses, but it is also about rebuilding the buildings that currently have high energy consumption such as the old Million program Houses. These buildings will be standing many years and their energy consumption will not diminish over time by itself and energy prices will certainly not diminish in the future.

In today?s society a large focus is put on energy systems and how our energy systems are built up. In order to make sure that we in the future still can enjoy the living standards that we are used to today, Sweden and EU have made a number of decisions on making our energy system more energy efficient and consequently reduce the usage of energy resources. By 2020 the European Union should have reduced its energy consumption by 20 % compared to 1990?s level, and by 2050, 50%.

The main purpose of this thesis is to examine how the European Union through the Directorate- General (DG) of Education and Culture, are calling forth a constructed sense of European identity amongst the citizens of the Union.It is a discourse analysis, which can be described in twofold. Firstly, it is a mapping of the European discourse; i.e. how the European Union defines the identity it seeks to mobilise. Secondly, it examines whether or not there are similarities in the European discourse of identity and the traditional nation-building discourse of national identity.According to this thesis a European identity is articulated in cultural terms, whereby its members are said to share the same values and a common cultural heritage.To bring the people of Europe closer together and to deepen awareness of their "common" history, the European Union encourages all manner of meetings and exchange schemes between Europeans. Although its goal is to develop a feeling of belonging to a shared culture, the EU is also keen to preserve the specific aspects of Europe's many cultures.

AbstractIn this thesis I will discuss the relationship between the European Union and the regions of Europe. The development of the European Union has meant that many decisions are taken in Bruxelles. Many actors participate in the policyprocess ranging from national goverment to policynetworks of different kinds. An emerging actor has been the regions of Europe. Their influence on the policyprocess have grown and today almost all of them are represented in Bruxelles through Region Offices.

ABSTRACTThe discussions about energy use have increased year by year everywhere in the society, and so also in the healthcare sector. But what is actually energy use in a hospital facility, and what affects it?The typical way today to express the energy use is in kWh/m2. The problem with a key performance indicator that is expressed as energy use in relation to a specific area is that it does not take into account the activity in the building. Even though the activity to a very high extent affects the energy use.