Series:Center for the Study of Democracy - CSD Policy Briefs

CSD Policy Brief No. 31: Antimafia: The Italian Experience in Fighting Organised Crime

CSD Policy Brief No. 31: Antimafia: The Italian Experience in Fighting Organised Crime

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

Keywords: organized crime;

KEY POINTS The Italian approach to countering organized crime encompasses a number of complementing measures, which are tailored to the specific threats posed by the mafia. ››› Specialised legislation for facilitating and accelerating of pre-trial and judicial proceedings against mafia leaders and members ››› Harsher penalties and special penitentiary regimes against high level members of organised crime groups, which pose a serious threat to society. ››› Preventive confiscation allowing for expropriating mafia assets in favour of the society and the state. ››› Holistic antimafia policies have been pursued in the infiltrated by the organised crime municipalities and provinces. These policies include dissolving of the mafia controlled local authorities and implementing programs for improving security and economic development in Southern Italy.

CSD Policy Brief No. 32: A Reinstating the Duty‐Free Trade at Bulgarian Land Borders: potential Setback in the Fight against Organized Crime and Corruption

CSD Policy Brief No. 32: A Reinstating the Duty‐Free Trade at Bulgarian Land Borders: potential Setback in the Fight against Organized Crime and Corruption

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

Keywords: CSD; CSD Policy Briefs; Center for the Study of Democracy; organized crime;corruption;

KEY POINTS ››› In January 2012, a proposal to amend the Duty Free Trade Act was submitted to the Parliament by an independent MP (Emil Vasilev, formerly of the marginal opposition party Order, Law and Justice). The sole purpose of the proposed amendment is to allow for the reopening of the duty‐free trade outlets at Bulgaria’s land borders with non‐EU countries in the exact same format with the exact same operators as at the time of their closure three years ago; ››› The proposal is a major threat to border security, tax revenues and might undermine the stability of the state budget; ››› The reopening of the duty‐free shops would reverse the progress made in the fight against corruption, organized crime and excise goods smuggling and threatens to re‐kindle political corruption and clientelism.

CSD Policy Brief No. 33: Management and Disposal of Confiscated Criminal Assets

CSD Policy Brief No. 33: Management and Disposal of Confiscated Criminal Assets

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

KEY POINTS ››› The management and disposal of confiscated assets are important aspects of the overall process of confiscation, but they still remain marginal to the public debate in Bulgaria. ››› The existing legal and procedural gaps impede the effective management of confiscated property, frequently causing its plundering or demolishing. ››› The sale of confiscated real estate is further complicated by problems with mortgages and executive charges, incomplete property documentation, reputation of the former owner, and unfavourable market conditions. ››› The Bulgarian legislation concerning the allocation of proceeds from the sale of confiscated property is not in compliance with the relevant ratified UN conventions, which recommend using these revenues for compensation of the victims of crime. ››› The legal possibilities provided by Bulgarian law for re‐use of confiscated property for socially beneficial purposes are seldom applied and are not sufficiently publicised among the potential beneficiaries. ››› Among the important legislative gaps is the lack of a specific procedure for the transfer of confiscated real estate. The introduction of such an instrument could facilitate the utilization of these assets for the public benefit.

CSD Policy Brief No. 35: Corruption and anti-Corruption in Bulgaria (2011 – 2012)

CSD Policy Brief No. 35: Corruption and anti-Corruption in Bulgaria (2011 – 2012)

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

Keywords: Corruption;

KEY POINTS ››› Following a period of improvement (2009 – 2010), administrative corruption experienced by citizens in Bulgaria is once again on the rise in 2011 – 2012, although still below the levels observed under the previous government (2005 – 2009). The average monthly number of corruption transactions in 2011 was approximately 150,000. ››› Corruption pressure in Bulgaria stems from the very structure of the public administration, and the lack of customer­oriented culture and approach in delivering public services to citizens and businesses. A sustained improvement of the corruption situation is possible only through measures that would systematically change this environment. ››› The scale of corruption in Bulgaria is such that, without a radical administrative reform, even a substantial increase in the capacity and efficiency of law enforcement would not provide sustained decrease of corruption, neither within law enforcement itself nor in the society at large. ››› Administrative corruption experienced by businesses has declined in 2011 – 2012, reaching the lowest levels on record. Although this decline has not been deep enough to produce a marked improvement in the past 3 years, the positive fundamental changes that took place in the business environment and reduced corruption pressure after Bulgaria’s EU accession seem to have taken root.

CSD Policy Brief No. 36: Educational Integration of Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Children: the Situation in Bulgaria and the Experience of other European Countries

CSD Policy Brief No. 36: Educational Integration of Refugee and Asylum-Seeking Children: the Situation in Bulgaria and the Experience of other European Countries

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

Keywords: Asylum-Seekers;

KEY POINTS According to the Migrant Integration Policy Index (MIPEX) for 2011, Bulgaria reaches an average of 15 per cent of the internationally recognised standards in relation to policies on access to education, assessment of knowledge upon arrival and assistance during language learning. The educational integration of RASC in Bulgaria is organised in two stages: preparation for school enrolment and integration into the public school system. ››› The main focus is on the preparatory stage which ensures school enrolment. The second stage, during which the true educational integration of RASC takes place, develops in the public schools and is not supported by special programmes and additional resources. ››› The studying of Bulgarian language is viewed as the main (and the only) element of the educational integration of RASC. Other particularly important aspects of educational integration like preparatory courses in the main subjects, participation of parents in the education process, providing school materials and appliances or mother tongue training currently remain unconsidered by the responsible institutions. There is no systematic observation and data collection with regard to RASC presence and performance in the public school system of Bulgaria.

CSD Policy Brief No. 37: The hidden economy in Bulgaria: 2011 – 2012

CSD Policy Brief No. 37: The hidden economy in Bulgaria: 2011 – 2012

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

Keywords: hidden economy;

KEY POINTS The hidden economy in Bulgaria has decreased in 2011 – 2012 among both businesses and the population. Yet, the registered gains are modest. Deep structural labor market problems and long-term business environment issues continue to constitute favorable conditions for the development of hidden economic activities in Bulgaria. The Hidden Economy Index results show: ››› decrease in the incidence of undeclared employment due to rising unemployment and lack of re-entry of labor force; the decrease has also come partially from the increase of employment in the informal (self-subsistence) economy; ››› decline in tax evasion as a positive result of the government’s focus on administrative and control measures in the tax compliance area. In the short-run, government measures countering the hidden economy seem to be more productive in the tax evasion area while the economic environment positively affects the undeclared work situation. Publicized frequent statistical errors recently raised concerns about the quality of the supplied statistical data for decision-making. While implementation of control measures has achieved some success, very little has been done for the introduction of positive reforms to reduce incentives for the development of the hidden economy. Implementation of structural (e.g. changing the regressive character of social security and tax system) and administrative (e.g. promoting better service delivery as opposed to more controls) reforms is lagging behind

CSD Policy Brief No. 38: Improving Policy and Programs for Assistance and Reintegration of Child Victims of Trafficking in Bulgaria

CSD Policy Brief No. 38: Improving Policy and Programs for Assistance and Reintegration of Child Victims of Trafficking in Bulgaria

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

Keywords: road casualty;

KEY POINTS ››› Bulgaria is one of the few countries in Europe to develop a National referral mechanism for victims of trafficking, including children. ››› A network of 14 crisis centers for children victims of violence and trafficking have been developed in the country, which plays a key role at interim care stage. ››› The main financial and human resource of the system for assistance of child VoT is directed at the stage of crisis intervention. ››› The National Referral Mechanism has no guidance for the implementation of durable solutions for child VoT. ››› The country currently has no specialised programs for long term reintegration of child VoT. ››› The existing programs for assistance of child VoT do not include measures, mechanisms and resources for adequate work with parents. ››› The prevailing durable solution regarding child VoT is the return of the child to the family. However, in the absence of adequate monitoring of the long term reintegration however, this practice leads to increased risk of re-trafficking. ››› There is no centralized data collection for victims of trafficking, including children, in the country. ››› There is no practice of conducting monitoring and evaluation of the programs for reintegration of child VoT.

CSD Policy Brief No. 39: The Bulgarian Economy: Competitiveness 2013

CSD Policy Brief No. 39: The Bulgarian Economy: Competitiveness 2013

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

MAIN POINTS ››› Bulgaria is ranked at 57th position, 3 places below the position achieved in 2012 and the lowest since its inclusion in the yearbook in 2006. This almost 20 places lower than ist highest achievement in 2009 – 38th place. ››› The country continues to have a fiscally stable, open and export-oriented economy with one of the lowest living and business costs in Europe. ››› Bulgaria continues to suffer from the lack of adequate business culture and institutional framework, while also being plagued by a labor market crisis leading to one of the lowest employment levels Bulgaria has reached in its post-communist history in 2013. ››› The most pressing problem of the Bulgarian economy is surging unemployment, with youth and long-term unemployment being persistently high. ››› The 5 main challenges which Bulgaria faces in improving its competitiveness are: o Modernise public administration to increase evidence-based efficiency and regulatory quality; o Reduce administrative costs and provide EU funded incentives for innovation and entrepreneurship; o Strengthen the judiciary to tackle corruption and reduce business uncertainty; o Reform the governance of the energy sector to preserve cost competitiveness, diversify gas supply, and improve energy efficiency; o Tackle hidden economy and related labour market inefficiencies.

CSD Policy Brief No. 47: EU and NATO's role in tackling energy security and state capture risks in Europe

CSD Policy Brief No. 47: EU and NATO's role in tackling energy security and state capture risks in Europe

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

The Crimean crisis and the continuing instability in Eastern Ukraine have turned into a rude wake up call for Europe’s energy security vulnerabilities. Russia has demonstrated its capacity to yield political and economic influence on the countries in the CEE and the Black Sea regions by leveraging its dominant position on their energy markets. Russia has pressured governments to support its flagship project, South Stream, at the expense of the countries’ long-term strategy to diversify their natural gas supply and in defiance of EU’s strategy for building a liberalised common market. Since the beginning of the crisis the EU and NATO have scrambled for finding the right measures to a balanced response to Russia’s growing assertiveness, while striving to alleviate the most acute energy security risks for their members.

CSD Policy Brief No. 48: Anti-Corruption Measures in Law Enforcement Institutions

CSD Policy Brief No. 48: Anti-Corruption Measures in Law Enforcement Institutions

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

Keywords: CSD; CSD Policy Briefs; Center for the Study of Democracy; Corruption

In countries with endemic corruption, integrity reforms can only be successful if anti-corruption institutions succeed in tackling internal corruption challenges. A sharp decline of corruption in law enforcement would provide society with the necessary tools to pursue tangible change. The experience of established democracies is that a successful transformation depends not simply on individual measures but rather on the introduction of sets of effective anti-corruption measures across the entire public administration. Corruption among lawenforcement officers has been viewed with an increasing concern by the authorities and the public in many European states. As a result, while no common approach has ever been tested with respect to the judiciary, elected politicians or the customs, countering police corruption has become an all-European effort. During the last decade, several European countries developed multi-institutional systems for police integrity. On EU level, platforms like the European Partners against Corruption (EPAC) were introduced, enabling specialised anti-corruption institutions to cooperate and share experience. In addition, Europol, Interpol and the UN developed and shared the blueprints of common standards and good practices in preventing police corruption

CSD Policy Brief No. 49: Media Ownership in Bulgaria: State of Play and Challenges

CSD Policy Brief No. 49: Media Ownership in Bulgaria: State of Play and Challenges

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

Transparency of media ownership and media pluralism are directly related to fundamental constitutional principles, rights and freedoms such as independence and freedom of the media, freedom of expression, pluralism of opinions and citizens' right to information. Consistent application of these democratic principles is required to prevent the vicious practice of using the media as an instrument for state capture.

CSD Policy Brief No. 50: Overcoming Institutional Gaps to Tackle Illicit Financing

CSD Policy Brief No. 50: Overcoming Institutional Gaps to Tackle Illicit Financing

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

The EU legal framework requires that all Members States criminalise the financing of organised crime. According to the provisions of Article 2 (a) of the Council Framework Decision 2008/841/JHA of 24 October 2008 on the fight against organised crime "Each Member State shall take the necessary measures to ensure that one or both of the following types of conduct related to a criminal organisation are regarded as offences: (a) conduct by any person who, with intent and with knowledge of either the aim and general activity of the criminal organisation or its intention to commit the offences in question, actively takes part in the organisation's criminal activities including the provision of information or material means, the recruitment of new members and all forms of financing of its activities, knowing that such participation will contribute to the achievement of the organisation's criminal activities". Nevertheless, criminal justice authorities in Member States rarely make use of these provisions.

CSD Policy Brief No. 51: Mapping Anti-Corruption Enforcement Instruments

CSD Policy Brief No. 51: Mapping Anti-Corruption Enforcement Instruments

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

Over the past decade or so, the global political preoccupation with corruption has been matched by extensive research and the design of various ways of measuring its level in society. The resulting abundance of measurement and monitoring instruments have allowed a better understanding of its dynamics and have informed the design of some anti-corruption policies. The current stage of anti-corruption thinking, therefore, opens the opportunity for at least two additional paths of exploration: a critical review of existing measurements and monitoring tools and an examination of possible gaps in these tools. The results of the review of measurements tools have informed the design of a Monitoring Anti-Corruption Policy Implementation (MACPI) tool which is intended to evaluate the anti-corruption preparedness of public organisations by identifying areas of corruption vulnerability.The findings indicate that while the enforcement of anti-corruption policies has been prioritised by international and national governments, the tools for evaluating this enforcement have not been developed.

CSD Policy Brief No. 52: Refocusing Anti-Corruption: New Policy Evaluation Tool

CSD Policy Brief No. 52: Refocusing Anti-Corruption: New Policy Evaluation Tool

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

Anticorruption policies have been designed and implemented exclusively at the national level with little consideration of their actual enforcement and effect in individual public organisations. Such a general approach has prevented these policies from achieving the level of sophistication achieved by interventions in other fields of public governance. A refocusing of the anticorruption effort at the level of public organisation would enhance the quality of design of policies and would allow more precise monitoring of their implementation and effect. Monitoring Anticorruption Policy Implementation (MACPI) - a tool recently developed by the CSD and University of Trento experts - will facilitate such refocusing by allowing evaluators and policy makers to review the anticorruption architecture of individual public sector organisations. It could also help the use of benchmarking and policy templates at the public institution level.

CSD Policy Brief No. 53: Assessing the Integration of Vulnerable Migrant Groups in Ten EU Member States

CSD Policy Brief No. 53: Assessing the Integration of Vulnerable Migrant Groups in Ten EU Member States

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

The EU has played an influential role on Member States and their integration policies, albeit to varying degrees. EU standards have been vital in moving Member States towards the formulation of national integration strategies, which have taken into account the Common Basic Principles of Immigrant Integration and the Zaragoza indicators. The process of developing migration and integration management institutions and the correspondent data collection systems has become more apparent under the influence of EU standards and regulations in all ten Member States. // The Zaragoza set of indicators in migrant integration are only a minimum list of indicators and States are encouraged to collect and analyse further data according to their specific composition of the migrant population and the legal and policy framework. The use of indicators gives policy actors a lasting perspective and evidence base for policy planning. The availability of these indicators is therefore a starting-point for more shared learning across the EU and evidence based policy making, implementation and monitoring. // The setting up of national integration indicators can be seen as a positive development in Austria, Belgium and soon Italy as it helps provide an evidence base for policy monitoring as well as policy making in these countries.

CSD Policy Brief No. 54: Child Trafficking Among Vulnerable Roma Communities

CSD Policy Brief No. 54: Child Trafficking Among Vulnerable Roma Communities

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

Trafficking in persons is a lucrative crime and a gross human rights violation, which affects all EU Member States. Trafficking in children merits special attention of anti-trafficking efforts as children are especially vulnerable to trafficking, re-trafficking and victimisation and the number of children trafficked throughout the EU is on the rise. While there is some empirical evidence on trafficking in human beings for the purpose of sexual exploitation of women, other forms of trafficking have not drawn attention of researchers, academics and policy makers. This means that victims of exploitation fall outside the radar of identification and thus cannot access the available assistance. Having this in mind, a consortium of seven partner organisations sought to explore three specific under-researched forms of child trafficking in order to contribute to the knowledge on how and why children fall prey to exploitation. The three forms studied are child trafficking for the purpose of begging exploitation, child trafficking for the purpose of pickpocketing and child trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation of boys.

CSD Policy Brief No. 55: The Competitiveness of the Bulgarian Economy 2015

CSD Policy Brief No. 55: The Competitiveness of the Bulgarian Economy 2015

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

In 2015 Bulgaria has regained one position compared to the previous year in the economic competitiveness ranking of the World Competitiveness Yearbook (WCY), published by the Institute for Management Development (IMD). The country is ranked 55th out of 61 economies. This is only a marginal improvement and remains significantly lower compared to its highest achievement in 2009 - 38th place. // The ranking highlights two particular commonalities among the best ranking countries. Firstly, nine countries from the top 10 are also listed in the top 10 of the business efficiency factor. And secondly, all top positions are occupied by economies which are driven by innovation-based growth. // In the policy brief the Center for the Study of Democracy provides the following recommendations for increasing the competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy: - Tackle high level corruption and state capture; - Modernize public administration and strengthen independent regulators; - Adopt education for innovation-based growth; - Tackle energy poverty, energy intensity and supply dependency; - Improve the country's branding.

CSD Policy Brief No. 57: Regional Media in Bulgaria: The Limits of Survival

CSD Policy Brief No. 57: Regional Media in Bulgaria: The Limits of Survival

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

The lack of adequate local media is a trend with devastating implications for the regions of Bulgaria. It affects not only the local public institutions; regional economic activity is also hindered by the absence of independent media. At the same time, when discussing the state of media in Bulgaria, the problems of local media are often overlooked. The current publication presents the results of a survey of 179 local media with internet presence. The analysis focused on the mechanisms and factors that prevent journalists and the media from informing the public in an objective, competent, and comprehensive way.

CSD Policy Brief No. 58: Transparent Governance for Greater Energy Security in CEE

CSD Policy Brief No. 58: Transparent Governance for Greater Energy Security in CEE

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

The national and regional energy security of Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries has become a hot topic of discussion in the EU recently, focusing the attention of experts, policy makers, and the general public on ongoing and future energy projects but also on the features of energy governance in these countries. The interruption of gas supplies to Europe as a result of the Russian-Ukraine crisis after the annexation of Crimea, and the EU-Russia controversies regarding the South Stream pipeline project, as well as Gazprom's non-compliance with the EU regulations in several anti-trust cases in the past few years are the major cornerstones that shape the CEE energy security framework and policy options as the region remains heavily dependent on Russian oil, gas and nuclear technology. At the same time, the fragile democratic traditions in the CEE countries, the existing networks of political protectionism and economic oligarchy, and the opaque business practices nurtured by corruption and links with organised crime, have been reinforced by the negative implications of Russian economic and geo-political influence. Russia has exploited its dominant position in the energy market and its long-term links with certain political and economic groups to shape political decisions across the region according to its own interests, but often to the detriment of the home country consumers. The current review of energy security risks in four selected CEE countries, two energy poor - Bulgaria and Serbia, and energy-resourced - Romania and Ukraine, assesses the factual situation per se and the transparency and accountability of energy policy governance in the region.

CSD Policy Brief No. 59: Registration of Non-Profit Organisations: Legal Framework and Recommendations for Reform

CSD Policy Brief No. 59: Registration of Non-Profit Organisations: Legal Framework and Recommendations for Reform

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

Improvement of registration of non-profit organisations (NPOs) - associations and foundations, is a necessary precondition for strengthening the civil society and increasing its transparency and accountability. An easy and simple registration procedure, with no duplication of information and functioning automatic exchange of data, is an important stage in the establishment of a modern registration system. It also guarantees the availability of reliable and up-to-date information on all registered entities