Eleni Zafeiriou

This study examines short-run associations among agricultural trade, production, and environmental performance across the 27 current European Union (EU) member states during 1991–2023. The unbalanced panel includes pre-accession observations; Common Agricultural Policy effects are not separately identified. Eco-efficiency is measured as the reciprocal of FAOSTAT agricultural greenhouse-gas (GHG) emissions per unit of production value, with total GHG emissions as an alternative outcome. Pesaran CD, CIPS, and Westerlund tests assess cross-sectional dependence, unit roots, and cointegration. As cointegration is not established, first-differenced dynamic common-correlated-effects mean-group and fixed-effects models with Driscoll–Kraay standard errors are estimated. Conditional on production and common-factor controls, total trade, imports, and exports show no statistically significant average association with eco-efficiency at the 5% level. Production is positively associated with eco-efficiency, although their shared production component warrants caution. In the alternative emissions model, the estimated production elasticity is 0.1325 (conventional 95% confidence interval: 0.0758–0.1893), indicating a positive but less-than-proportional emissions response, consistent with relative rather than absolute decoupling. The findings support evaluating agricultural trade alongside production and absolute emissions rather than treating trade expansion as evidence of environmental improvement.

Increasingly extreme fire weather is expanding the aerial use of fire retardants and firefighting foams, yet their environmental effects rarely inform operational decisions. This review assesses their ecotoxicological risks to forest soils, freshwaters and coastal waters. We synthesized 150 sources from four bibliographic databases (Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed and Google Scholar) and official EFFIS/GWIS datasets, calculated un-ionized ammonia fractions across pH 6.5–9.0 and 10–30 °C, and overlaid Greek burned-area and protected-area data. Ammonium-based retardants act mainly through un-ionized ammonia toxicity and nutrient loading, with effects on fish, cladocerans and amphibian larvae that depend on formulation, temperature, pH and exposure duration. Surfactant-based foams, including fluorine-free replacements for PFAS foams, are often more toxic per unit mass. In soils, retardants raise salinity and nutrients, shift microbial communities and favor weeds. Most evidence comes from cool, circumneutral waters, whereas warm, alkaline Mediterranean streams can raise the un-ionized fraction roughly 14- to 50-fold. In Greece, 29.8% of the area burned in 2016–2026, and 43.5% in 2023, lay within protected areas. A GIS-based framework combining exposure, receptor sensitivity, water chemistry and product hazard into tiered application zones, with safe-by-design criteria for new suppressants, can make application location central to risk management.

Whether tourism has recovered from the COVID-19 shock depends on the benchmark used. This study combines interrupted time-series models, structural-break detection, an event-study specification and counterfactual forecasts to quantify the shock and recovery of Greek tourism using 132 monthly observations for 2015–2025. A counterfactual path is forecast from a trend–seasonal model estimated on pre-pandemic data, validated out of sample against seasonal-naïve, exponential-smoothing and SARIMA benchmarks, and compared with SARIMA, damped-trend ETS and growth-scenario alternatives; a sieve bootstrap quantifies the uncertainty of shortfalls and recovery dates. Travel receipts, inbound traveler flows and receipts per traveler are compared. Receipts and arrivals contracted by approximately 83%, a finding that was robust across intervention dates, HAC bandwidths and serially correlated-error specifications, whereas a single constant recovery slope is not supported. Both indicators regained their 2019 levels in April 2023 under all rules. Relative to the counterfactual, receipts met a three-month criterion in February 2024 while arrivals had not by end-2025; receipts cross first with probability 0.64, but the dates depend on the run-length rule and the assumed pre-pandemic growth, and in real terms the post-2022 lead of receipts reflects prices, not higher spending per traveler. Domestic accommodation demand resisted the shock better; foreign demand rebounded faster.

This study examines the agricultural energy transition in 25 European Union Member States over 2005–2024, focusing on energy intensity, fossil-fuel dependence, and carbon intensity. It integrates multi-regional Kaya–LMDI decomposition, Tapio decoupling analysis, and σ- and conditional β-convergence models to identify the components associated with changes in direct energy-related agricultural CO₂ emissions, assess their relationship with real agricultural gross value added, and determine whether national performance gaps are narrowing. The results show that declining energy intensity and fossil dependence were the main emissions-reducing components, while changes in country structure and carbon intensity partly offset these gains. Within the EU-25 analytical sample, the baseline comparison indicates a shift from recessive decoupling before 2020 to strong decoupling over 2020–2024. Sensitivity tests confirm the robustness of post-2020 strong decoupling, although the characterization of the pre-2020 period is sensitive to sample composition. Conditional β-convergence is observed for all three indicators, whereas σ-convergence is found only for energy intensity; fossil dependence and carbon intensity continue to exhibit substantial cross-country dispersion. Bias-corrected estimates preserve the direction of conditional catch-up but indicate slower adjustment, particularly for fossil dependence. The study’s novelty lies in jointly evaluating emissions decomposition, decoupling, and distributional change while distinguishing relative catch-up towards country-specific trajectories from convergence towards a common EU level. The findings identify energy efficiency, fossil-energy substitution, and differentiated national conditions as relevant areas for CAP-related monitoring and policy consideration. The conclusions concern specifically the energy-related component of agricultural decarbonization.

Amid Europe’s demographic decline and the intensifying global “war for talent,” migration is increasingly viewed as a critical source of human capital capable of sustaining economic growth and welfare systems. Nevertheless, the literature on Macro-Talent Management (MTM) has primarily focused on the attraction of highly skilled expatriates, paying limited attention to how national integration systems shape the broader capacity of countries to attract and retain migrant talent. Addressing this gap, the present study conceptualizes migrant integration as a strategic component of macro-level talent management and evaluates the “talent attractiveness” of different European welfare and migration regimes. Methodologically, the study develops a multi-criteria evaluation framework based on the PROMETHEE II (Preference Ranking Organization Method for Enrichment of Evaluations) outranking method, enabling the simultaneous assessment of institutional, socio-economic, and administrative dimensions of migration governance. The model integrates nine indicators combining policy inclusiveness (e.g., Migrant Integration Policy Index—MIPEX (Migrant Integration Policy Index), citizenship accessibility), labor market outcomes (employment and gender gaps), and systemic pressures on migration management (asylum applications). By integrating policy indicators with real-world labor market performance and administrative capacity, the proposed framework offers a novel analytical tool for comparative migration policy evaluation and decision support. The empirical application covers six European countries representing distinct migration regimes: Portugal, Sweden, France, Poland, Greece, and Germany. The results challenge the conventional assumption that economic strength alone determines migrant attractiveness. Portugal emerges as the most attractive destination, demonstrating that inclusive rights-based integration policies can offset lower GDP levels. In contrast, Germany ranks last in the sample, revealing signs of systemic overextension due to extreme administrative pressure, while Greece occupies the fifth position characterized by structural integration deficits. The study contributes to the literature by linking migration governance, integration policy effectiveness, and macro-level talent management and by introducing a multi-criteria decision-analytic approach for evaluating national migration systems in Europe. The study offers a reassessment of the ‘talent attractiveness’ of European welfare models in a post-pandemic context (2023).

Olive cultivation represents a key pillar of rural economies and cultural heritage in Mediterranean regions, including western Greece. Despite its socio-economic importance, the sector faces increasing pressures from climate change, market volatility, and technological transformation, while progress toward environmentally sustainable production remains uneven. This study investigates how olive farmers’ perceptions of carbon footprint and climate risks are influenced by their demographic characteristics. Primary data were collected through 402 structured questionnaires distributed to olive producers in the Aetolia–Acarnania region. The sample was designed to represent farmers directly engaged in olive production, ensuring the relevance and reliability of the collected data. The findings, based on descriptive statistics, reveal significant heterogeneity in producers’ perceptions of climate risks and their capacity to respond through sustainable practices. Demographic characteristics appear to play an important role in shaping awareness of carbon footprint and the potential adoption of environmentally responsible farming strategies. These results suggest that sustainability transitions in perennial cropping systems depend not only on technological availability but also on social, informational, and institutional capacities. Strengthening agricultural advisory services, farmer training, and climate adaptation strategies may therefore support the adoption of climate-smart practices in olive cultivation. Furthermore, cooperation and value-chain integration are identified as potentially important mechanisms for facilitating knowledge transfer and supporting the adoption of sustainable practices (e.g., efficient irrigation and optimized input use). However, their contribution to environmental performance and greenhouse gas mitigation cannot be directly inferred from the present perception-based analysis and should be examined in future research using appropriate quantitative or environmental assessment frameworks.

This study investigates forest bioeconomy business models through a bibliometric analysis of more than 100 peer-reviewed articles retrieved primarily from the Scopus database. The purpose of the analysis was to identify prevailing research trends, collaborative structures, and thematic priorities that define this emerging field. A mixed-method approach was employed, integrating qualitative thematic coding with quantitative network analysis of co-authorship and keyword co-occurrence. The findings demonstrate a strong regional concentration of research activity in Northern and Central Europe, particularly in countries such as Finland, Germany, and Sweden, where forest-based bioeconomy strategies are strongly linked to national and EU policy frameworks. Core thematic clusters emphasize sustainability, circular economy principles, and participatory governance, reflecting the integrative and systemic orientation of current scholarship. The co-authorship networks highlight the role of a small but influential group of scholars and institutions in shaping knowledge production and fostering interdisciplinary collaboration. To advance the global relevance of the forest bioeconomy, the study recommends expanding geographic coverage to underrepresented regions, enhancing cross-disciplinary partnerships, and aligning research more closely with international policy agendas to support inclusive, circular, and sustainable forest-based transitions.

This study extends the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) framework to analyze the growth–emissions nexus in twelve post-socialist European countries by integrating agricultural development, regulatory quality, renewable energy, and transport dynamics. Employing advanced panel econometric techniques—FMOLS, DOLS, and PARDL—and treating regulatory quality (REGURAQUAL) as an exogenous determinant, the analysis identifies the structural and institutional factors shaping carbon intensity (CI). The results indicate that regulatory quality, transport efficiency, and long-run emissions trajectories significantly reduce carbon intensity, while the independent contribution of renewable energy is comparatively weaker. Agricultural productivity exhibits a nonlinear relationship with emissions, validating the EKC hypothesis: emissions increase during early growth but decline beyond a threshold as modernization and climate-smart practices enhance efficiency. The study’s scientific value lies in its integrated approach, combining economic, institutional, and sectoral dimensions to explain long-run decarbonization in transitional economies. By focusing on post-socialist Europe, it advances EKC research beyond income-based models and underscores the importance of governance and structural transformation. Limitations include data coverage and cross-country heterogeneity, suggesting future work should adopt spatial and nonlinear frameworks and include adaptation and resilience metrics. Overall, robust governance and technological innovation can guide post-socialist economies toward sustainable, low-carbon growth.

The precise regulation of water content plays a pivotal role in determining several the critical properties of marine fuels, including combustion stability, corrosion resistance, and the mitigation of pollutant emissions. The present study introduces an innovative, additive-free technique for moisture extraction from Marine Gasoil (MGO) utilizing the hydrophilic polymer polyacrylamide, which leverages its polar amino groups to attract water molecules. This process facilitates the physical extraction of moisture without modifying the fuel’s composition, in contrast to traditional drying techniques or chemical additions. Experimental findings indicate a 34.6% decrease in water content in MGO (from 29.3 mg/kg to 19.15 mg/kg) and a 36.5% reduction in MGO–biodiesel blends (from 32.04 mg/kg to 20.34 mg/kg), accomplished within one hour of treatment. The scientific significance of this work lies in its discovery of polyacrylamide’s ability to retain moisture within a nonpolar fuel matrix—a phenomenon not previously investigated in maritime fuel applications. The findings highlight the potential for further research into polymer–fuel interactions and non-chemical strategies for fuel enhancement. Economically, the proposed technology reduces dependence on costly chemical additives and energy-intensive drying processes, while environmentally, it improves combustion efficiency and lowers emissions of hydrocarbons (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), and smoke. Overall, the results introduce a novel, sustainable, and practical process for improving maritime fuel quality, while supporting compliance with increasingly stringent regional and global environmental regulations.

This study investigates the relationship between economic growth and environmental performance in selected Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries through the lens of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. Due to data availability constraints, our sample includes Algeria, Egypt, Lebanon, Mauritius, Morocco, and Oman, covering the period 1990–2022. Using annual panel data, we apply panel cointegration techniques alongside Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) estimators, complemented by Granger causality tests, to examine the interaction among GDP per capita, renewable energy consumption, and transport service exports in determining CO₂ emissions per unit of GDP. The empirical findings provide only partial support for the EKC: while the DOLS results confirm an inverted U-shaped income–emissions relationship, the FMOLS estimations contradict it, suggesting a more complex and nonlinear pattern. Beyond testing the EKC, this study contributes two novel dimensions to the literature. First, it shows that renewable energy exerts a statistically significant negative effect on carbon intensity in the long run, despite weak short-run causality, highlighting the delayed but durable environmental benefits of clean energy adoption. Second, it introduces transport service exports as a proxy for structural economic transformation, capturing the role of trade-driven diversification in reducing emissions. By embedding renewable energy deployment and service-based trade dynamics into the EKC framework, the study advances a more policy-relevant and region-specific understanding of the growth–environment nexus in the selected MENA economies. The results underscore the importance of scaling renewable energy, promoting low-carbon service sectors, and aligning trade and environmental policies to ensure that economic growth supports long-term climate objectives.