This paper analyzes the Romanian biomedical engineering educational path and certification process in European and international contexts and emphasizes the existence of a deficient operationalization of this qualification and profession, arguing that the domestic shortcomings are both a consequence of an unquestioned process of adopting European and even international classification schemes, and of insufficiently developed national administrative capabilities to properly implement the aforementioned classification frameworks. The core part of the article investigates the current academic track of the biomedical engineering specialization and scrutinizes the classification of occupations at different jurisdictional levels. The conclusions of the study indicate that one of the possible solutions for improving this unsatisfying status quo comes from a better communication between the national and European levels, and by their pro-active involvement in the international attempts of reviewing and refining the existing frameworks. The article ends with several recommendations and policy proposals meant to strengthen the role of various profession-certifying European documents, as well as to alleviate the regulatory deficiencies that this specialization has at Romanian level, in order to maximize its potential in the labor market.

This article explores how the European Union (EU) promotes gender equality beyond its borders, situating the analysis within broader debates on external Europeanization and normative power. While most studies have examined the domestic impact of EU policies, this paper focuses on how gender equality norms are projected internationally and conceptually investigates the mechanisms involved in their diffusion. Drawing on existing theoretical literature, the article analyzes how EU-level normative strategies may interact with domestic political, institutional, and societal dynamics in third countries, often in complex and contested ways. Rather than providing empirical testing, the study identifies core mechanisms—such as strategic communication, partnerships, and funding tools—and reflects on their limitations and the role of local agency in interpreting or resisting EU-promoted norms. The findings highlight the difficulty of isolating EU influence from other international and transnational drivers of norm diffusion, and the need for caution in attributing policy shifts solely to EU action. The article concludes that a better understanding of these processes requires more attention to domestic contexts, as well as future empirical research to complement conceptual analyses of Europeanization in sensitive policy domains such as gender equality.

The Qualified Majority Voting (QMV) used by the Council of the European Union developed to a high degree of complexity from one modifying treaty to another, until the latest definition stipulated in the Treaty of Lisbon. This paper analyses this EU intra-institutional voting method using a rational choice approach and emphasizes that there are situations when not even the institutions, as rational actors, can avoid a collective irrational outcome even when they are addressing subjects such as voting power distribution. It also addresses several shortcomings of the Liberal Intergovernmentalist explanatory framework focusing on the insufficiently developed level of credible institutional commitments. The core part of the article consists in investigating several types of EU Council internal decision-making options, proposing how they can be designed to be considered in the same time fair and efficient, and in analysing how close this voting power ideal type configuration is to the current decisional system.

Helsinki University Press (HUP) is a fully open access University Press, publishing high-quality scholarly literature. We publish peer reviewed books and journals from all academic fields. We are open for submissions by academics globally. HUP offers professional publishing services for the academic community, and a channel to publish and disseminate their research results effectively, fairly, and globally. Our aim is to bring research available to international academic audiences including readers in the Global South, but also outside academic institutions where accessing research behind high paywalls can be a major challenge. The 2023 HUP Annual Report is now available for reading! “It was a pleasure to work with Helsinki University Press. They collaborated with us every step of the way, and also supported the junior scholars involved in the project. The result is a carefully published (and beautifully produced) book.” – Professor Josephine Hoegaerts, University of Amsterdam,editor of Finnishness, Whiteness and Coloniality This chapter presents the rationale behind employing the term ‘EU peripheries’ in the book and clarifies the theoretical framework adopted to define this term within the context of the EU integration process. The first section scrutinizes the concept of ‘EU peripheries’ as it will be theorized in the book. Its main aim is to critically examine the evolving connotations of the term, particularly in light of several crises of the last decade. Subsequently the chapter delves into the diverse manifestations of emerging forms of EU contestation at the peripheries, followed by the methodology section and an outline of the book’s structure. In the last section we examine the selected country cases and their contribution to the proposed conceptualization of EU peripheries, drawing connections with existing literature on the subject from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Finally, the chapter outlines the unique aspects of our approach and its potential contributions to existing scholarship in this field.