Publisher: Аналитика Тинк-тенк Организација

“Has regional cooperation led to the establishment of Balkania: Europe’s Southeastern Dimension?”

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

During the last decade there were many regional initiatives such as the Stability Pact and the Southeast European Cooperation Process aiming to establish strong linkage among countries in the Western Balkans, which in turn will bring lasting peace and stability to the region.. But we can hardly state that these regional arrangements have managed to build up strong “regional identity” which is a prerequisite for a sound regional cooperation as seen in other European regions, such as Scandinavia. Mainly, regional initiatives have focused on instant problem solving, rather than on launching a new long life quality for the region as a whole in economic and political sense. Thus, the regional cooperation phenomenon insofar has not produced any substantial results and sounds more like a good intention.

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Strengthening the Role of RIA in the Policy-Making Process in Macedonia

Author(s): Agim Selami / Language(s): English

Governments of different countries throughout the world are encountering a trend of increasing quantities of regulation. This trend, understandably, is more visible in countries with unconsolidated democracies, where beside the problem of the large quantity of existing regulation, an additional concern is its quality, its synchronization with current circumstances in society, and the effects it produces. Approving new regulations, or analyzing existing ones, should have a single goal: solving problems within a certain field for the direct stakeholders as well as for the whole of society. In order to achieve this goal, it is necessary to carry out a detailed analysis of the problem that is being addressed, to identify regulatory or non-regulatory solutions, and, most importantly, to determine the most appropriate solution in terms of budget so that it does not cause additional fiscal implications. Addressing these questions can most precisely be achieved through the preparation of a document on Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA).

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The Challenge of Achieving Sustainable Renewable Energy Policy in Macedonia

Author(s): Ana Stojilovska / Language(s): English

Macedonia’s commitment for becoming an EU member state brought many reforms in the country. The energy sector, previously with no strategic vision of its development and no sustainability, has begun to transform to comply with the market economy model. Macedonia made efforts to fulfill the commitments coming from the EU candidate status including reforming the energy sector and prioritizing the renewable sources of energy (RES) policy. However, the general perception is that the invested efforts have not brought the desired results. Although the strategies are put in place, their implementation is progressing slowly hampered by a set of barriers which discourage potential investors. In addition, the undertaken efforts were partial and insufficient since the energy sector reforms are tied to other system reforms. Last but not least, there is an absence of a coherent and horizontal policy in promoting RES and a lack of inter-sector cooperation in the area. These challenges question the long-term sustainability of the RES policy in Macedonia. Having limited investments in RES sector; furthermore a set of policy, financial, legal, administrative and information obstacles which add to the existing investment uncertainty and low environmental awareness, it is of utmost importance, the RES policy to be thoroughly researched. The RES policy is important for Macedonia not only because it is an obligation steaming from the respective international agreements, but because Macedonia has underused RES potential. By investing in RES, the county would secure its future in light of its increasing energy demand, the high import dependency as well as the exhaustibility of the fossil fuels.

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The End of a Long Transition? Macedonia’s Readiness for EU Candidacy

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English

Mixed record of the EU following the failure of ratification of its first ever drafted constitution, on the one hand, and recent commitment shown to the enlargement, particularly in the cases of Turkey and Croatia, on the eve of 2006, the EU is faced with the big question whether to continue to demonstrate the commitment for the EU enlargement this time to the heart of the western Balkans region, towards Macedonia, success of which enlargement conditions the credibility of the EU’s foreign policy. Wider European and Balkan debate circles on EU enlargement currently have their ears in Brussels awaiting the avis of the Commission, which is to deliver whether Macedonia fulfils the conditions for candidacy and for negotiations for full Membership. The overall process of the European integration of Macedonia successfully started with the filling in the EC Questionnaire. However, as the date for the avis and for decision approaches, the calculations made for the rationale and benefits of enlargement to Macedonia, another western Balkan potential candidate after Croatia poses difficulty to EU officials and its member country representatives.

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The Future of International Police Missions in the New Global Security Environment – Contribution of Western Balkans Police Forces to EU’s International Policing

Author(s): Andreja Bogdanovski,Uroš Živković / Language(s): English

The existence of a police component in UN peace operations is not a novelty. It goes back half a century ago and was first introduced in the Congo in the 1960’s. Embedding police components in UN missions became more extensive at the end of the 90’s, when different types of it (support of country security reforms, advice, monitoring etc.) were incorporated in all UN Security Council approved missions after 1999.

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The state of energy (in) security in Macedonia

Author(s): Andreja Bogdanovski,Ana Stojilovska / Language(s): English

Energy security is of crucial national security importance. This paper analyzes the state of energy security in Macedonia and tries to identify the main issues hampering an improved energy security situation.

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The Story of the Macedonian Heat Market – How to Reform It?

Author(s): Ana Stojilovska / Language(s): English

Being an EU candidate country brought many reforms in Macedonia including significant energy market restructuring. Having signed the Energy Community Treaty, the country is undergoing many institutional, market and legal reforms. In fact, the relevant energy legal acts have been adopted; new institutional and market actors have been set; and incentives for increasing the share of renewables and improving energy efficiency are being taken. However, the area which remained overshadowed by the other energy reforms is the heat market. Dominated by an extremely high consumption of electricity and partly supplied by an under-developed district heating (DH) which is in the hands of a dominant actor, the Macedonian heat market shows patterns of energy inefficiency and lack of vision for long-term development. In the context of increasing prices of the energy sources and heat bills, the customers are faced with ever growing worries of heating their homes and offices. Despite some developments in the heat sector, one of the possible solutions – the gasification process - progresses slowly and furthermore no significant structural reforms are planned, leaving this energy sector one of the most problematic in Macedonia. The aim of this research is to inspect possible policy solutions for reforming the Macedonian heat market and drafting policy recommendations to the respective Macedonian authorities for the purpose of improving the state of the heat market and heat consumers’ wellbeing.

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The Swedish Presidency with the EU – Expectations for the Western Balkans

Author(s): Sonja Risteska / Language(s): English

On the 1st of July 2009, Sweden took over the Presidency of the EU for the next six months. As each member state of the European Union takes its turn in presiding with the European Council for a period of six months in accordance with a pre-established rotation schedule, the agenda of each presidency reflects the interests of the member state. It is a critical position as each presidency plays a central role in organizing the work of the Council and serves as the driving force in setting the agenda, as well as in directing the legislative and political decision-making process.

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Towards 2nd Generation of Security Sector Reforms in Macedonia

Author(s): Andreja Bogdanovski,Magdalena Lembovska / Language(s): English

The peaceful dissolution from communist Yugoslavia in the 90s, together with the experiences from and after the Internal Armed Conflict in 2001 and the efforts to join EU and NATO make Macedonia an interesting case for observing how its security sector governance has evolved and whether it has actually succeeded in institutionalising good practices. This policy paper, therefore, aims at identifying the trends and the main challenges for governance of Macedonia’s security sector for the period 2009 - 2012 in three arenas: externally (through the Parliament), internally (through the executive control) and lastly, the control over the spending of public funds. The authors of this publication try to illuminate the stage to which Macedonia has progressed in the implementation of the second generation of Security Sector Reforms identified by Timothy Edmunds as “the consolidation of previous reforms, and the effective and efficient operation of institutions and procedures at a sustainable cost for the state and society.”

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Transparency of the Security Sector in Macedonia

Author(s): Andreja Bogdanovski,Cvete Koneska / Language(s): English

The main finding of the research suggests that, normatively speaking, all three areas (access to information, protection of classified data and protection of personal data) have appropriate laws which are further operationalised into secondary legislation and that there is no major disharmony between them. A feature of all three is the establishment of commissions/directorates tasked with following the implementation of the laws. As such they report irregularities and act upon them while affirming the benefits of these laws and the obligations of security institutions among the wider public. All have adequate competences which give them solid ground to monitor and act upon irregularities. In practice, sanctioning remains sporadic as a result of the novelty these legal solutions bring. In the case of free access to information, the time required for full adoption and recognition of this public right by state institutions has been considerable. A possible role model is the Directorate for Security of Classified Information, where regular inspections are taking place.

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Wastewater Issue: High Time for Better Management – The Case of Macedonia

Author(s): Karolina Pendovska / Language(s): English

Globally increased industrial production, intense agriculture activities and household consumption in the last century have led to increased use of water resources. This in turn has increased the rate of production of wastewater, polluting the nearby recipients (surface waters and groundwaters). The well‐being of Earth’s natural water resources has been seriously threatened. Sustainable use of water resources and their protection, water quality and targets for achieving safe drinking water supply and basic sanitation have become more promptly addressed in the international and regional legal instruments. Reactions on the diminishing of future water resources quantity and quality are emerging on European Union (EU) level too, calling out for “water to be one of the main issues on the political agenda and integrated into all policies.”

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We did criminalize it – now what? Western Balkans response to the foreign fighters threat

Author(s): Andreja Bogdanovski / Language(s): English

The civil war in Syria has attracted plenty of attention due to various reasons, starting from the appalling humanitarian catastrophe, the criticism for inactivity of the big powers and the use of prohibited arms such as chemical weapons. Lately, more and more signs of worry come as a result of the considerate number of foreign fighters present on the Syrian battlefields. The Balkans and the EU are no exception to this and it is believed that few hundred fighters coming from the Western Balkans have joined the anti Assad rebellions. The main question therefore is what is the risk connected with the foreign fighters when returning home? This policy brief focuses on the actual situation with the foreign fighters and the measures that are put in place by the governments in the Western Balkans with focus on Macedonia. The text borrows from the relevant experiences of Germany, UK and Belgium in addressing this question. Therefore it looks for possible solutions in employing greater resources into prevention and rehabilitation programs through engagement of civil society and local communities. The policy brief ends with set of recommendations directed to the authorities in Macedonia.

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Анализа на Законот за изменување и дополнување на Законот за енергетика од мај 2013

Author(s): Sonja Zuber,Ana Stojilovska / Language(s): Macedonian

Скоро една година по започнување на подготовките за измена на Законот за енергетика донесен во февруари 2011 година, Собранието на РМ на 29 мај 2013 година ги изгласа измените и го усвои Законот за изменување и дополнување на Законот за енергетика. Процесот на донесување на новите измени на овој закон повторно беше недоволно транспарентен без вклучување на пошироката заинтересирана јавност, онемозможувајќи навремено реагирање за содржината на измените со цел истите да се земат во предвид. Па така, добиените резултати се законски измени кои не ги одразуваат интересите на сите засегнати страни од законот и изоставување на низа корисни членови кои би придонеле кон поефикасно постигнување на целите на енергетската политика на Македонија како зголемување на употребата на природен гас, на обновливите извори на енергија и подобрување на енергетската ефикасност. Оваа анализа надоврзувајќи се на претходната анализа на Аналитика за предлог-измените на Законот од јули 2012, има за цел да ги нагласи проблематичните одредби во новите измени од мај 2013 базирајќи се на досегашното истражување и проектните резултати на Аналитика во областа на енергетиката.

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Анализа на последниот предлог за изменување и дополнување на Законот за енергетика од јули 2012

Author(s): Sonja Zuber,Ana Stojilovska / Language(s): Macedonian

Во Македонија последниве месеци се подготвува ново изменување и дополнување на Законот за енергетика кој беше усвоен во февруари 2011 година. Процесот како таков не е спорен, имено државните институции, секогаш имаат право да предложуваат измени во постоечките норми и регулативи за нивно допрецизирање или подобрување со цел нивна подобра имплементација на терен. Сепак, она што се појавува како континуиран проблем во Република Македонија е хроничниот недостаток на дебата за законски решенија и политики, која дококолку постои најчесто не дава простор за придонес од граѓанското општество, како што во случајов е очигледно со секторот за енергетика. Ова е дел од традицијата во односите помеѓу институциите на државата и останатите сектори во општеството, бидејќи институциите немаат воспоставено јасни канали за соработка со граѓанскиот сектор и неретко гледаат на истиот со недоверба.

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Ризици од корупција кај јавно приватно партнерство во Македонија

Author(s): Ana Stojilovska / Language(s): Macedonian

Борбата со корупцијата е горливо прашање за Република Македонија. Европска комисија во последниот извештај за напредок констатира дека корупцијата и понатаму продолжува да постои во многу области и дека корупцијата во јавните набавки е сериозен проблем. Понатаму, корупцијата на локално ново во Република Македонија е недоволно истражена, а и јавната доверба во институциите надлежни за справување со корупција е ниска, па затоа е важно поактивно вклучување на граѓанскиот сектор во мониторирање на трошењето на јавните пари како и континуирано истражување на областа, со цел да се придонесе кон зајакнување на доброто владеење во државата.

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