The number of women on high courts across the globe has been steadily increasing. Recent estimates found that women now make up 61% of the judiciary in European countries (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development 2019). The large number of women now serving in judicial positions has resulted in a changing demographic makeup of courts. While the majority might think this is a step forward for diverse representation, there is ultimately a dichotomy between judicial accountability that comes as a result of increased diversity in descriptive representation and judicial independence. Given this dichotomy, along with the increase in women on courts, it follows that the public’s perceptions of courts’ independence has the potential to change. We explore this phenomenon by asking the following question: How does the presence of women on high courts impact perceptions of judicial independence among the public? Using survey data gathered from respondents in twenty-seven European countries from 2016 to 2022, we examine how the dynamics of an increasing number of women on high courts alters the public’s perceptions on the level of independence of the court in their country. We draw from literature on judicial independence as well as women political elites and corruption. Importantly, we document that increasing the percentage of women on courts results in higher perceptions of judicial independence for women. Overall, our findings highlight important trends regarding gender diversity in political institutions and how changes in descriptive characteristics shape perceptions of judicial independence.

While there is ample evidence for the efficacy of IPT, confirmed through the results of the efficacy review, on the ground implementation factors are less well understood. We compiled a book on the global reach of IPT by requesting contributions from local authors through word-of-mouth methods. This approach resulted in reports from 31 countries across six continents and 15 diverse populations within the US that spanned the age range and types of usage. In this paper, our aim was to collate and summarize book contributors' descriptions of barriers and facilitators as related to their experiences of implementing IPT across the 31 countries. We conducted a conceptual content analysis and then applied the updated Consolidated Framework of Implementation Research (CFIR) to deductively organize the barriers and facilitators into its five domains. Most found IPT to be relevant and acceptable and described minor variations needed for tailoring to context. National level policies and mental health stigma were highlighted in the outer setting. Availability of specialists and general and mental health infrastructure were considerations relevant to the inner setting. Many sites had successfully implemented IPT through delivery by nonspecialized providers, although provider workload and burnout were common. Clients faced numerous practical challenges in accessing weekly care. Primary strategies to mitigate these challenges were use of telehealth delivery and shortening of the intervention duration. Most programs ensured competency through a combination of didactic training and case supervision. The latter was identified as time-intensive and costly.

Health Technology Assessment (HTA) in Europe has undergone significant evolution, culminating in the adoption of Regulation (EU) 2021/2282 on HTA (HTAR) aimed at fostering sustainable collaboration in HTA at the European Union (EU) level. The EUnetHTA 21 project, a 2-year initiative, was commissioned to address key methodological issues and prepare for the implementation of the HTAR. This commentary documents the outcomes of the EUnetHTA 21 project, focusing on Joint Clinical Assessments (JCAs), while analyzing challenges encountered and lessons learned for future collaboration under the HTAR. The EUnetHTA 21 consortium, comprising thirteen European HTA bodies, developed twenty guidance documents and thirteen templates, refining methods and procedures for joint work in HTA at EU level. Pilot JCAs and Joint Scientific Consultations were conducted to test these materials. Lessons learned from this experience emphasize the importance of inclusive consensus building, effective time and resource management, capacity building, and continuous quality improvement. The project’s realization underscores a collective commitment among HTA bodies to continue to collaborate, now under a legal framework. Recommendations from the project, along with experiences gained from previous European Network for HTA (EUnetHTA) Joint Actions, provide a foundation for developing guidance for EU-HTA under the HTAR. Further proactive efforts at national and central levels are essential to coordinate and ensure a sustainable cooperation. The EUnetHTA 21 experience provides valuable insights for advancing cooperation in HTA under the HTAR, aiming to improve the quality of HTA, avoid duplication, and ultimately enhance patient access to safe and effective health technologies in the EU.

West Nile virus (WNV) is a mosquito-borne pathogen that can infect humans, equids, and many bird species, posing a threat to their health. It consists of eight lineages, with Lineage 1 (L1) and Lineage 2 (L2) being the most prevalent and pathogenic. Italy is one of the hardest-hit European nations, with 330 neurological cases and 37 fatalities in humans in the 2021–2022 season, in which the L1 re-emerged after several years of low circulation. We assembled a database comprising all publicly available WNV genomes, along with 31 new Italian strains of WNV L1 sequenced in this study, to trace their evolutionary history using phylodynamics and phylogeography. Our analysis suggests that WNV L1 may have initially entered Italy from Northern Africa around 1985 and indicates a connection between European and Western Mediterranean countries, with two distinct strains circulating within Italy. Furthermore, we identified new genetic mutations that are typical of the Italian strains and that can be tested in future studies to assess their pathogenicity. Our research clarifies the dynamics of WNV L1 in Italy, provides a comprehensive dataset of genome sequences for future reference, and underscores the critical need for continuous and coordinated surveillance efforts between Europe and Africa.

Societies are experiencing deep and intertwined structural changes that may unsettle perceptions European citizens have of their economic and employment security. In turn, such perceptions likely alter people’s political positions. For instance, those worried by labour market competition may prefer greater social protection to compensate for the accrued risk, or prefer more closed economies where external borders provide protection (or perceived protection). We develop expectations about how such distinct reactions can emerge from distinct labour-market risks of globalization, or automation, or migration. We test these expectations using a conjoint experiment in 13 European countries on European-level social policy. Results broadly corroborate our expectations on how different concerns about sources of labour market competition yield support for different features of European-level social policy.

Cartels today are illegal and illegitimate across the globe. Yet until the end of World War II, cartels were legal, ubiquitous, and popular—especially in Europe. How, then, did cartels become bad, if they had been considered a positive force for capitalist stabilization and peace in the first half of the 20th century? That is the question this dissertation poses. By the 1930s, over 1,000 monopolistic agreements regulated nearly half of world trade. International cartels governed the interwar world economy, setting prices and output quotas, dividing world markets, regulating trade flows, and even controlling the transfer of patents across firms and sovereign state borders. I conceptualize this regime as “cartel capitalism.” Most cartels were headquartered in industrial Europe. First, I trace how a surprising consensus in interwar Europe—comprising national governments; international organizations like the League of Nations; industrialists, led by the International Chamber of Commerce; federalists; and even socialists—backed cartels as a panacea to the problems of reconstruction after 1918, namely the quest for peace and stable markets. However, in the wake of 1945, most countries in Western Europe—along with the new supranational European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC, 1951) and European Economic Community (EEC)—started prohibiting cartels. My project illuminates the causes and consequences of this great reversal. Monopoly Menace reveals, for the first time, how Europe’s transnational reckoning with the shocks of the Great Depression, fascism, and total war produced a genuine anticartel revolution that rewrote the rules of the modern European and global economy. Monopoly Menace ends by illuminating how American, British, French, and West German postwar planners designed new national welfare states, the Bretton Woods Order, and the European Union on the neglected foundation of anti-cartel policies.

Caroline Dodds Pennock, Ned Blackhawk, and Esteban Mira Caballos published three paradigm-shifting works in 2023 that flip deeply ingrained narratives of Indigenous Americans’ presence at home in the hemispheric Americas and abroad in Europe. Pennock's book introduces scholarly shifts towards a global Indigenous presence and reframes Europe On Savage Shores where Indigenous travellers arrived on their own accord in largely forgotten encounters; Blackhawk reimagines official United States history which often omits Indigenous peoples by making them its moving force in The Rediscovery of America; and Mira Caballos conversely breaks down stereotypical attitudes toward Indigenous travellers in Spain by evincing their transatlantic journeys to Iberia in El Descubrimiento de Europa (The Discovery of Europe). All three works are mutually reinforcing in their mission to dismantle popular beliefs rooted in imaginative, racist, and antiquated narratives rather than historically verified reality. They are critical for both the academic and public transformation of the history of Indigenous peoples in Northern Europe, Iberia, and the United States. They propose a necessary and well-founded revision of their respective historiographic traditions, all originating from models predicated upon the paradigm of European discovery which these authors successfully turn on its head.

Evidence is scarce in terms of tracking the progress of implementation of mental healthcare plans and policies (MHPPs) in Europe, we aimed to map and analyze the content of MHPPs across the WHO European region.

We collected data from the WHO Mental Health Atlas 2011, 2017 and 2020 to map the development of MHPPs in the region. We contacted 53 key informants from each country in the European region to triangulate the data from WHO Mental Health Atlases and to obtain access to the national mental health plans and policies. We analyzed the content of MHPPs against the four major objectives of the WHO Comprehensive Mental Health Action Plan, and we also focused on the specificity and measurability of their targets.

The number and proportion of countries which have their own MHPPs has increased from 30 (52%) to 43 (91%) between 2011 and 2020. MHPPs are generally in line with the WHO policy, aiming to strengthen care in the community, expand mental health promotion and illness prevention activities, improve quality of care, increase intersectoral collaboration, build workforce and system capacity, and improve adherence to human rights. However, specific, and measurable targets as well as a description of concrete steps, responsibilities and funding sources are mostly missing. They often contain very little information systems, evidence and research, and mostly lack information on evaluating the implementation of MHPPs.

Progress has been made in terms of the development of MHPPs in the WHO Europe. However, MHPPs are often lacking operationalization and appropriate data collection for evaluation. This is then reflected in missing evaluation plans, which in turn leads to lessons not being learned. To enhance the potential for knowledge generation and demonstration of impact, MHPPs should be more specific and contain measurable targets with allocated responsibilities and funding as well as evaluation plans.