Trade was assigned as a Community responsibility at the founding of the European Community in 1957. It was then recognized that Europe would achieve a greater international influence if it were to negotiate trade deals with one voice. Since then, the basic rule has been that the European Commission negotiates agreements on behalf of the EC, and presents the agreements negotiated for approval in the European Council. Today, the 25-member European Union is the largest trading power in the world, and most member states have decades of experience of coordinating their national trade interests into a common position. However, partly as a result of the complex nature of the trade decision-making processes it is sometimes problematic to identify who or what really influences EU trade policy.

Vattenfall AB is a large producer of electric energy where approximately half of the energy comes from hydropower. Vattenfall Hydropower has got almost a 100-year old history and the company has developed a lot since 1909. After that the number of power plants increased and the competition got more intense, there were higher demands on the reliability. One way to secure the reliability with a good satisfaction at the power plants is to implement a maintenance method named Reliability-Centred Maintenance. RCM is a result of the introduction of the complex aeroplane Boeing 747 in the 1960?s.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate whether there is a correlation between the actuarial assumptions, of listed groups in Large Cap on the Nasdaq Stockholm, equity ratio and their pensionplans funding status.Method: The study is based on a quantitative research method, where the analysis of annual reports takes place. The quantitative research method has enabled the paper to perform related analyzes and comparisons of means between groups, for listed companies equity ratio and pension obligation, and the relation to its actuarial assumptions. Correlation measurements are made using a non-parametric method, Spearman's rho, then further tested using one-sided hypotheses t-test.Theory: The backbone of the thesis is presented using two theories, earnings management and the principal-agent theory. These theories are intertwined with the previous researches, which also dealt with the essay topic of earnings management in previous years and in other countries.Empirical: Correlation analyzes between the studied actuarial assumptions and corporate groups solidity and pension financial status is presentedusing tables and charts. These are further analyzed using hypothesis tests and scatterplots.Conclusion: All tests resulted in very weak correlation between the different variables and can there for not be classified as significant.

In many European countries there is an increasing concern about the occasionally high concentrations of nitrate and pesticides in drinking water. The advent of the EU Water Framework Directive particularly highlights this. The directive states that all large drinking water sources should be identified and protected from pollution before 2009 and that by 2015 all water bodies should reach a 'good status'. In Sweden about 60 percent of the drinking water sources have protection areas. This means that about 700 new water protection areas need to be designated before 2009. This will affect many farmers, restricting their farming practices. The purpose of this study was to investigate which methods are used in other countries concerning nitrate and pesticide pollution from agriculture. From this, the expectation was to generate ideas on what could be undertaken in Sweden when designating new protection areas.

In the social sciences, geopolitical theory is used in order to analyze states actions and commitments when it comes to foreign policy. This thesis develops a new understanding of geopolitical theory. Firstly, the development and application of geopolitical theory, from its foundations in the early twentieth century to contemporary geopolitical studies is discussed. Secondly a revised understanding of the variables integrated in the concept and how it can be operationalized as an analytical tool is presented and tested empirically.The critical assessment of the research field of geopolitical theory tells us that six different geopolitical perspectives have been considered the most influential (room, strategy, power projection, identity, affiliation and governance) when it comes to analyzing state action. This model is applied as an analytical tool and thus tested on a single case.

Uppsatsen behandlar moderskapsrepresentationer i det svenska reality-tv-programmet Ensam mamma so?ker. Syftet a?r att belysa hur diskurser om moderskap fo?rhandlas genom dessa representationer. Med en representationsanalys och semiotisk analys har jag tittat pa? mitt material utifra?n tva? tematiseringar med respektive underkategorier: 1) Tva?samhet: (hetero)sexualitet, monogami, ko?n och genus; 2) Funktion: social status, familjens och moderskapets funktion.

Guantanamofångarnas status - abstract Syftet med denna uppsats är att utreda Guantanamofångarnas juridiska status. Detta görs genom en diskussion av följande frågor: -Varför och på vilka grunder har USA fattat beslutet om att inte tillerkänna Guantanamo-fångarna krigsfångestatus? -Vad har fångarna för möjlighet att få sin status prövad? -Kan den uppkomna situationen ha någon inverkan på framtida internationell rätt? -Kan den uppkomna situationen påverka hur eventuellt tillfångatagna amerikaner i en framtida internationell väpnad konflikt blir behandlade? Svaren på dessa frågor har sökts genom litteraturstudier och inhämtande av information från internet. Faktablad och pressbriefings från Vita Huset och Försvarsdepartementet i USA har legat till grund för min analys av USA och Bush-administrationens argument. Dessa källor har kompletterats med kommenterande material författat av forskare från olika juridiska högskolor och universitet i USA. Uppsatsen visar att USA skiljer på fångar som är Talibanska soldater, samt fångar som är medlemmar i al-Qaeda.

Att med enkla medel förbättra byggelevers fysiska status för ett friskare och längre arbetsliv..

Introduktion: Under 2011 till året därpå var två politiker, Carl Bildt (moderat utrikesminister) och Håkan Juholt (Socialdemokraternas partiledare), utsatta för mediedrev: Etiopiensvenskar-na och bostadsaffären. Juholt var som en svamp som sög upp all kritik medan Bildt framstod som teflon i jämförelse. Hur kommer det sig att Bildt klarade sig och fick sitta kvar som mi-nister, medan Juholt avgick?Problem: Vad är det som skiljer Bildt från Juholts retorik under mediedreven 2011 enligt sta-tusläran? Hur ramar journalisterna in debatten för Bildt respektive Juholt?Teori: Med statusläran (stasis theory) kan en sakfråga analyseras retoriskt genom ett av fyra status (?ställning?): fakta, definition, kvalitet eller procedur. Exempelvis, ett dödande kan handla om huruvida det ägt rum (fakta), om det var mord eller självförsvar (definition), om det var rätt (kvalitet) samt om frågan ska avgöras i annat forum (procedur).

After the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 the satellite states of the former Communist bloc immediately departed on a journey towards democracy and market capitalism. Among the many tasks of the newly elected governments, one was to transform the paternalist Communist welfare state into a social system that would decrease the oversized role of the state, at the same time as protecting the citizens from the hardships ensued from the transition.I have studied the evolution of new welfare systems in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary, three countries generally agreed as the most similar and most successfull transition countries of the Eastern bloc. Gøsta Esping-Andersen's prominent typology of welfare regimes, consisting of the liberal, corporatist and social democratic regime-types, has constituted the theoretical basis of the analysis. Simultaneously, applying new cases to the typology implies an element of theory testing.The study shows that 40 years of Communism and partial isolation from the West has not prevented these three countries from developing welfare states fully compatible with those of Western Europe and the Anglo-Saxon nations and that all three of them in fact fall within the scope of the corporatist regime-type..

Syftet med den här uppsatsen var att ta reda på lärarstudenters syn på ämnet svenska som andraspråk eller närmare vilka faktorer som påverkade beslutet i val av ämne samt vilka orsaker var de främsta att lärarstudenter valde/inte valde att utbilda sig i svenska som andraspråk.För att få svar på mina frågeställningar har en kvalitativ enkätsundersökning använts där öppna frågor ställdes till lärarstudenter.Undersökningsresultat visar att faktorer som påverkade lärarstudenters val av ämne var intresset för ämnet, barnens ålder, flexibelt jobb, eget modersmål och intagningskravet var de mest nämnda. Resultatet visar vidare att intresset för att bli lärare i svenska som andraspråk var stort dock var lärarstudenter bara beredda på att läsa högst en termin för att bli detta. Lärarstudenter tyckte även att ämnet är viktigt och nödvändigt men att det fortfarande har låg status. Själva lärarstudenterna hade ingen eller lite kompetens i ämnet.Slutsatserna som dras är att ämnet fortfarande används som ett resursämne och därför har låg status vilket i sin tur leder till att få lärarstudenter utbildar sig i detta viktiga ämne..

When a company seeks to enter a new market, the multiple choices of possible new business relationships exist. Further, establishing new relationships is a time-consuming procedure associated with high uncertainty and high costs. Hence, if the firm does not succeed in pinpointing the most suitable business partners to collaborate with, the firm may both forfeit other possible good relationships, as well as resources invested. Based on this notion the aim of this thesis is to explore how a manufacturing company can base the selection of future dealership Business-to-Business partners by evaluating indicators of a possible business relationship?s potential to become successful. The choice of focusing on the Business-to-Business relationship between a manufacturer and a dealership company originates from being influenced by the issues facing the Swedish agricultural machinery manufacturer Väderstad-Verken AB, who is putting attention to explore the US market.

A change has occurred in terms of recruitment to teacher education. From having been an educationof high status and reputation, a reduced application rate has led to lower admission requirementsand thus that students with much lower educational qualifications entering, which in turn means thatthe education status and reputation have been reduced significantly. Mathematics, on the other hand,has always been a topic of high status and reputation. Although there are few students who chooseto study to be a mathematics teacher. By conducting a survey of students on teacher educationtoday, both with mathematics and other approaches, I wanted to get answers to my questions aboutwhat influences students' choice of education: who are the students studying to be teachers inmathematics? Do they distinguish themselves from the student teachers who studies to be teachersin other subject specializations? Pierre Bourdieu's sociological ideas about cultural capitaltransmitted from parent to child constitute the theoretical framework of the study.Early in the study, I noticed that there is a difference between students studying to be a teacher inpreschool, primary or middle school and them studying to be a teacher in secondary and highschool, especially in terms of the mathematics student teachers.

Syftet med det här arbetet är att kartlägga vilka egenskaper och färdigheter framtidens lärare behöver ha. Kravintressenterna är fler än tidigare och det är många som vill ha ett ord med i hur skolans verksamhet sköts och kanske framför allt, hur lärarna ska vara. Den svenska skolan har under det senaste decenniet blivit hårt kritiserad för elevernas bristande och försämrade kunskaper och lärarnas status har sjunkit som en tung sten. De sociala problemen bland barn och unga har ökat och skolans fostransansvar har medfört att undervisning och uppfostran upptar ungefär lika stor del av en lärares arbetstid. Och samtidigt som lärarna mer eller mindre jobbar ihjäl sig, verkar ingen vara nöjd med resultatet.

This report describes the process of translating Russian financial information in accordance with Russian Accounting Standards to IFRS, International Financial Reporting Standards. The author describes the two regulatory frameworks and reveals a number of risk factors in the process. These risk factors may affect the reliability of figures from Russian companies. The conclusion states some recommendations on how these risk factors can be managed..