International Environment Policy: U.K. and Germany - Assignment Example

College: Introduction Policy can be defined as a definite or method of action selected by government, group or individual; from among alternatives and in the light of given conditions to guide and, usually, to determine present and future decisions. (Goodman 80) In relation to U.K. and Germany, there are some similarities and differences based in the four main policy areas. These areas include; Immigration, health, economic and education. This paper seeks to analyze these similarities and differences and thereafter draws a conclusion based on the findings. (Hofmann 78) Immigration Policy a) Similarities and differences Similarities For short term visits to engage in non work business activities, U.S. citizens do not need a visa to enter Germany. For longer term work assignments on the other hand, Germany offers a broad selection of employment authorization visa categories. (Gunlicks 67) As is the case with Germany, U.S, citizens do not currently need to have a visa to travel to the United Kingdom (UK) for short business visits. The individual may remain in the UK for up to six months. However, the UK government recently announced that it is considering the introduction of a new business visa that would reduce a permission to remain from six months to three months. (Schulte- Peevers 92) Differences The UK has a number of specialized programs available for various types of work such as; training and work experience, business entrepreneurs, highly skilled migrants; however, the workhorse option for most companies sending U. S. citizens to the UK is the work permit Scheme. Under this system, a work permit may be issued for up to five years. Work permits are generally issued only where the job requires relatively advanced skills and or experience, or where resident labor is unavailable. The work permit Scheme is divided into two tiers; Tier One and Tier Two. (Szarka 83) Tier One work permit applications are exempt from any requirement to recruit for the position within the European Economic Area (EEA), which consists of the 27 EU member states plus Iceland, Norway, and Liechtenstein. (Boehmar- Christiansen 84) Tier Two applications do not fall within the various Tier One categories automatically come within Tier Two. For Two workers, the employer must document that it conducted a recruitment search for the position and was unable to find a suitable employee from either the UK or EEA labor market. (Chick 100) With both Tier One and Tier Two applications, once the work permit has been issued, in most cases an individual will apply for entry clearance to the UK at the British Embassy in his home country. The individual may then come to the UK to take up the contemplated employment. (Goodman 87) Under Germany, good option for multinational corporations allows transfer of personnel to Germany if it can be shown that the German company has employees working abroad; allows for a replacement of these employees, so that if five German employees are working abroad, five employees can be brought into Germany; valid for one year; extensions available for up to three years; no labor market opinion required. (Hofmann 82) Short term assignments on the other hand allows persons to enter Germany for up to three months in any 12 month period for specific purposes; a good choice for persons responsible for software installation, machine delivery or equipment repair; no labor market opinion required. (Szarka 90) Moreover, U.S. citizens enjoy a privileged status in Germany; in special cases, a work permit may be issued regardless of the requirements above; a labor opinion is required. (Chick 105) b) Why different/ Similar Different since UK's work permit is divided into two tiers and once the work permit has been issued, the individual is required to apply for entry clearance to the UK at the British Embassy in his home country and thereafter he or she may come to UK to take up the contemplated employment thus inconvenient. (Schulte- Peevers 96) c) Which better, and why Germany is better since it allows transfer of personnel, replacement of employees, no labor market opinion is required and it is valid for one year though can be extended up to three years. (Boehmer-Christiansen 99) Health Policy a) Similarities and differences Similarities Both UK and Germany have special provisions for the elderly, the poor, those with long term care needs and other classes of citizens. Moreover, they both have in place different regimes regulating the pharmaceutical market on the supply side; the UK has a profit control system in place which affects prices of medicines indirectly by regulating the profits of pharmaceutical companies. (Goodman 91) Germany on the other hand has a free price system in place for in patient medicines, but operates a reference pricing system at the substance level in the out of patent segment of the market. (Szarka 95) Differences In Germany, hospitals are under diverse ownership, which further encourages competition and constant efforts to raise standards. Queuing up in hospital outpatient department is unknown this is because; Germans are free to visit any doctor they like. They may either walk in off the street, or ring for an appointment that will invariably be booked for the same morning or afternoon. (Hofmann 84) Germans do not have to see a GP before visiting a private specialist. GPs do act as gatekeepers to German hospitals, but about half of all specialists practice outside the hospitals. German hospitals provide few out patient services. Instead, there are a large number of independent clinics invariably with the most sophisticated diagnostic equipment. (Boehmer-Cristiansen 108) b) Why different/ Similar Different since Germany has 2.3 practising specialists for every 1,000 people, compared with only 1.5 in the UK. (Goodman 97) c) Which better, and why Germany is better since insurance provides a connection between the people who go out to work and earn their keep and the resources available to healthcare providers. Moreover, Germans have successfully combined consumer choice and access for everyone. It is true that the rich can always buy a premium service. They can do in the UK, but German policy makers do not waste their time trying to stop some people from ever getting more than anyone else. Instead they focus on ensuring that the standard of care available to the poorest is acceptably high. (Schulte-Peevers 98) Economic Policy a) Similarities and differences Similarities Feed in tariff (FITs) creates incentives to move fast by means of price degression, with the goal being not a particular percentage of energy supply, but to make renewables competitive quickly. (Chick 110) Differences Germany is a country with moderate wind and solar potential but nevertheless has become a global leader in not only renewable energy generation, but also industry. This success is greatly attributed to the Renewable Energy Act (REA), which established a renewable energy feed in tariff (FIT) that set a price schedule for renewable electricity. (Boehmer-Christiansen 115) In contrast, the UK still leave investments in power production up to conglomerates. The predominant mechanism in UK for promoting renewable energy is a quota system where the government mandates that power supply companies generate a specified amount of electricity from renewables. (Szarka 99) b) Why different/ Similar Similar, since the quota systems and FITs both intervene in the market. While quota systems set the Renewable Energy (RE) capacity required and leave the price up to the market, FITs set the price and leave capacity to the market. (Gunlicks 79) c) Which better, and why Germany is better since it is a significant investor in the UK, providing the second largest source of direct foreign investment (DFI) into the UK in terms of both stock and flow of such investments. (Gunlicks 87) Education Policy a) Similarities and differences Similarities Both Germany and UK lags behind in terms of personal computers (PC), although UK is ahead in terms of PC use in school. Moreover, both Germany and UK are characterized as moderate family oriented cultures due to the fact that they have strong multi-cultural populations. (Goodman 118) Differences While Germany has more privatized media use, UK on the other hand represents a special case. The particularly large amounts of time British children spend with the media (around 5 hours per day on average) can be linked to a combination of three factors mainly: (Hofmann 96) An increasingly personalized media environment in the home. Parental fears for children's safety outside the home. A relative lack of things for young people to do in the area where they live. b) Why different/ Similar Based on the cross national differences; print and screen media are less successfully combined in the UK. It tends to stand apart, as a country where screen entertainment, above all television viewing, is particularly important for children and young people and where books are seen as boring and unrewarding. (Szarka 110) c) Which better, and why Germany is better even though it lags behind in the use of PC both in school and home. This is because despite the fact that UK is ahead in PC use in school, UK children are Europe's biggest screen-gazers and they view books as boring and unrewarding. (Boehmer-Christiansen118) Conclusion a) Germany has the best policies in all the four policies though UK has better economic policy since it focuses on the quota systems that reward the currently most efficient wind technology. b) Multinational corporations in Germany allow transfer of personnel to Germany if it can be shown that German company has employees working abroad. In addition to this, queuing in hospital outpatient department is unheard of since Germans are free to visit any doctor they like. c) I would argue that the U.S. needs to learn that work permit should not take several months to be acquired and that when the employees enter the country where they should work, residence permits should not be so much emphasized. Moreover, U.S should follow the example of Germany whereby multinational corporations allows transfer of personnel to Germany on the basis that German company has employees working abroad and thus allows replacement of employees. Works Cited Boehmer-Christiansen Sonja. International environment Policy. Edward Elgar Publishers, 2002. ISBN: 184064818X Chick Martin. Industrial Policy in Britain, 1945-1951: Economic Planning, Nationalisation. Cambridge University Press, 1998. ISBN: 0521892538. Goodman, William. Telecommunications Policy- Making in the European Union. Edward Elgar Publishers, 2006. ISBN: 1843768062 Gunlicks, B. German Public Policy and Federalism. Berghahn Books Publishers, 2003. ISBN: 1571813934 Hofmann, Herwig. EU Administrative Governance. Edward Elgar Publishers, 2006. ISBN: 1845422856 Schulte-Peevers, Andrea. Germany. Lonely Planet Publishers, 2007. ISBN: 1740599888 Szarka, Joseph. The Shaping of Environmental Policy in France. Berghahn Books Publishers, 2002. ISBN: 1571814957. Read More