DPC BOSNIA DAILY: What Chancellor Merkel Should Tell Bosnia's Politicians and People (II)
Bosnia Daily: July 9, 2015 – What Chancellor Merkel Should Tell Bosnia's Politicians and People (II)
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Bosnia Daily: July 9, 2015 – What Chancellor Merkel Should Tell Bosnia's Politicians and People (II)
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This section presents how budget support has been used in Moldova. In this country, several budget support programmes were launched in the years 2007–2013. Currently, there is one implemented operation in social assistance, five operations ongoing in the health, water, rural development, energy and justice sectors, and two new ones planned for launch on visa liberalisation and vocational education. The total amount of money planned for these eight operations (including the two newest ones still under preparation) is €332.2 million, of which some 52% has already been disbursed. Sector budget support has been the main EU assistance tool in Moldova, making up about 74% of the overall financial envelope proposed by the National Indicative Programme (NIP) for 2007–2010 (€209.7 million) and approximately half of the budget in the NIP for 2011–2013 (€273.14 million). Such a contribution looks particularly impressive if compared to the state budget of Moldova, of which it represents about 4–5% (the highest contribution among the EaP countries). Moldova has obtained additional resources under the “more for more” principle (€28 million).
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This section presents how budget support has been spent in Georgia. Budget support expenditures amounted to €258 million in 2007–2013 and made up 60% of Georgia’s national budget. This sum consisted of €216 million planned for budget support, including €49 million allocated under the “more for more” rule to some operations and the rest for technical assistance and other grants. In this period of time, 12 programmes were planned, out of which two projects were finalised, six are still under implementation, and four are in the planning process. The majority of the financial resources have been disbursed, as the level of EU conditions met for each tranche hovered around 90%. The EU de-committed only €2.5 million as Georgia had not fulfilled some EU conditions due to changes in the government’s political priorities.
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This section presents how budget support has been used in Ukraine. Sector Budget Support (SBS) is the predominant EU assistance tool in Ukraine, with around 60% of all EU aid to the country planned to be spent in this way in the years 2007–2013. Six agreements were signed in the sectors of energy, energy efficiency, trade facilitation, environment, transport, and border management, and another is awaited in energy for an overall sum of €389 million. However, in total Ukraine received payments of no more than one third of this amount (€111.14 million) because since 2011 the EC has limited transfers for all operations. The main reason for this was non-fulfilment of a precondition on PFM, as since 2011 the country’s public procurement law and budgetary transparency have significantly deteriorated. This crucial condition ensures that funds are not fraudulently used. After two years of futile discussion on the implementation of this condition, the Ukrainian government finally adopted a PFM strategy in September 2013 (not made public) as this issue was made an EU condition to sign an AA.
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This section presents how budget support has been used in Armenia. In 2007–2013, several budget support operations were implemented in Armenia for an overall sum of €134.9 million. The programmes have seen 85% of targets achieved on average. Some delays in paying the tranches took place when specific conditions were not achieved. Such cases are not publicized by the EU delegation, probably in order not to strain cooperation with the government. In terms of management, the Armenian Ministry of Economy is the major coordinator, while on the EU side the delegation manages the process, both in its operational and financial aspects, with a staff consisting of 7–8 people. The programming usually takes 1–2 years, while implementation of budget support operations usually lasts 3-4 years. The programmes are helped by a set of all of the usual TA tools.
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This section presents how budget support has been used in Azerbaijan. The EU has planned relatively modest financial resources for Azerbaijan in the scope of budget support. This is not only due to the fact that it is the wealthiest country in the EaP region and can finance its own ongoing reforms but also because of its limited absorption capacity and the execution of the “more for more” rule. Azerbaijan has oil and gas reserves that provide significant revenue to the budget and it has a relatively stable economy. This, unlike other EaP countries, implies no great interest on the government’s behalf for financial assistance from the EU. Moreover, contractual relations with the EU are not as dense as, for instance, with Georgia or Moldova. Azerbaijan does not aim to integrate economically with the EU, therefore the scope of potential legal approximation is limited. In the years 2007–2013, four operations took place of the overall planned amount of €60 million (which is almost half of all EU assistance planned in Azerbaijan in this period), while only one operation in energy was finalised.
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The EU approach in the Eastern Partnership countries is to financially support concrete reforms: sector budget support operations are most commonly in use. Theoretically, such a tool, given teeth by precise conditions and indicators, should allow the smooth completion of the sector integration planned in the scope of the EaP. In practice, an analysis of the first years of use (2007–2013) shows that this instrument has potential in countries willing to integrate with the EU, while in the others its use has limited impact on guiding comprehensive reforms. The pace of fulfilment of budget support conditions differed much among the partners. This resulted mainly from the various level of willingness of the EaP governments to conduct Euoriented reforms. For Moldova and Georgia, the political will to integrate with the EU is clear, as proved by their determination to sign an AA. On the contrary, Armenia and Ukraine withdrew from signing such deals, a step that confirmed they were not interested in or were hesitant about EUbacked reforms. In Armenia, the EU had to stop support for DCFTA implementation and reshape its assistance, whereas for Ukraine the new pro-European government has signed the political part of the AA after an internal crisis. Azerbaijan is a case apart, as budget support was aimed to develop sector cooperation, but in the meantime it has shown it is not interested in complying with aid conditions on PFM: in this case, the EU help is rather useful in terms of advice on the directions of some reforms. Therefore, one can distinguish two groups of countries, EU-oriented and non-EU-oriented, with the latter being interested only in some sector cooperation.
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In the European Union, there is the belief that with the limited development potential of European territory, the endogenous development factors have become more important. However, there is a lack of a systematic and simultaneous assessment of the role soft factors. The aim of this paper is to contribute to the discussion and to extend the existing knowledge of the theoretical and methodological foundation of the geographical research of the importance of “soft” factors and the importance of media image of regions as one of the intangible factors in the Czech Republic. Results of literature review showed the majority of studies of soft factors of regional development in central eastern countries of the EU have focused on the human and social capital or institution. Image of the region influenced by media (TV) is one of the intangible factor which is rarely included into evaluation of regional development factors. Anylysis revealed that media landscape of the Czech Republic does not always comply with genuine features of individual regions.
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The basic economic category providing information about market environment in particular regions is price. However, information reflecting state and development of regional economies are also disseminated through mass media. It´s relevant in case of news broadcasting of television stations via information flows affecting formation of the regional images of individuals. The news broadcasting may be different through intensity and thematic structure of economic information from individual regions. Given the obvious differences in institutional anchorage, ownership and organizational structure, method of funding, etc., possible differences between public and private media organizations became palpable. The objective of the paper is to identify potential discrepancies within regionally oriented news agendas of Czech Television and commercial organizations TV Nova and FTV Prima in the economic area between 2005-2011. It should be emphasized that it´s a thematic composition of news reports with concrete regional focus. Given the nature of the data, methodical approach is based on the contingency table that allows measure and test association between variables. We apply the nonparametric Pearson chi-squared test of independence. We use Cramer´s contingency coefficient to evaluate dependence intensity. For visualization of the relationship between variables we use correspondence analysis. Based on this methodical procedure, there were identified differences among thematic focus of TV broadcasting news programs in the area of regionally bound economic characteristics. In other words, it depends on which TV news programs population, investors as well as other actors are watching.
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It is apparent that national media substantially affect the look on individual regions. The same holds true also for TV coverage. The objective of the article is to analyze and evaluate the amount of regionally-bound contributions according to the selected news programmes. The coverage of public Czech TV is represented just by two news programmes Události and Události, komentáře. Its private counterparts, i.e. TV Nova and TV Prima are embodied by Televizní noviny and Zprávy FTV Prima news programmes. It is worth noticing that during the investigated period between 2004 and 2010 the most regionally-orientated news appeared in Televizní noviny by TV Nova. As for amounts of nationally broadcasted news that are bound just to individual self-governing regions, all four previously mentioned TV news programmes favour different regions. The degree of medialization of particular regions differs quite a lot across these news programmes.
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The aim of this paper is to analyse regenerated brownfields in the Czech Republic, whose current use belongs within the cultural sector. The content of the thesis is an analytical analysis of a selected set of renewed sites and buildings defined by a series of characteristics to find common features in their regeneration process for the cultural sector. Pilot research in this area is based on the originally created database of originals brownfields, which means examples of good practice currently taking as museums, galleries, libraries, cultural houses and community centres, background for theatre and concert activities, etc. The resulting conclusions can find a parallel in the economic and social reality and have practical relevance to existing brownfields and at the same time, the theoretical field of brownfield regeneration can be enriched by other aspects.
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Although agriculture is considered a „traditional” or even „traditionalist” branch of economy, it is recently undergoing a rapid change along the development of production technologies. In East and Central Europe, these changes are significantly modified by processes of privatisation and profound changes in grant policies. The aim of the paper is to contribute to understanding of the changes in the use of ubiquitous premises of former communist co-operative farms and state farms in the Czech countryside. The changes in utilisation have been followed due to a newly developed database of these premises in 1989 comprising of available maps and aerial images. Geographically, our sample survey of the process focuses on the areas of South Bohemian Region. Altogether, 2,206 premises with a total area of 4,646 hectares have been identified. Currently, only their 59% share is used for varied agricultural purposes, 23 % is used for non-agricultural purposes and 18 % is abandoned and neglected. The distribution does not depend on the original use of the premises. The non-agricultural re-use of the property serves as housing and industrial sites.
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In literature regional development is perceived as the economic growth presented in a positive sense. Economic growth does not necessarily have to be associated with the development of regions, although it is hard to imagine the latter without the former. Regional development of any region must be based on the quality of the environment which influences, among other areas, the quality of the life of inhabitants. The negative aspects of the regional development include also environmental loads. The aim of this paper is to provide detailed characteristics of the environmental loads of Rudniansko-gelnická environmental loaded area , which present limiting factors of regional development. The data about have been obtained from field research, analysis of aerial photographs, as well as bibliography and other resourses, and from interviews. Management of the issue of environmental loads in the Slovakia is being slowed down due to the absence of legislation, lack of financial resources, failure to clearly assign responsibilities for environmental loads, and high number of localities. Solving the issue of environmental loads will not be possible without financial support of European funds by means of Operational Programme for Environment and from the state budget. However, the solution to the whole issue will be a long-term matter and it is assumed to last until 2030. The year 2027 is the target year for sanitation of the most risky environmental loads resulting from the application of allowed exceptions, e. g. EU general directive on water according to which the member states must reach good quality of surface and underground waters and other of environment as well.
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This paper presents the issue of water management in the Czech Republic. Based on research, authors compare two management concepts with sight to the ownership of the water company. In some cases, water companies are owned and managed by regional self-government (ideal type of regional public water sector) and for others examples water companies are owned by private sector (ideal type international corporate water sector). The paper compares both approaches in the Czech water sectors by the methods of ethical management and CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). Therefore, beyond the scope of the law, how both types of management implement ethical instruments effectively in managing strategic material. The contribution explains the specifics of the Czech water development in the last twenty years and examines the situation in 2018/19. In the research, authors compared the water sector in 63 regional and district towns and according to three categories – economic (division of financial gain), CSR (code of conduct, social initiatives) and management quality (strategical planning). The article presents the results of their research. At the end of thesis they make recommendations for public administration how to implement more effectively the ethical management of water supply in the Czech Republic.
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The causes of waste accumulation are economic development, often inefficient waste disposal technologies and inadequate waste management legislation. Due to the continuous accumulation of waste and the increase in its risk, it is necessary to eliminate its´ impact on the environment. The aim of this paper is to analyze the state of municipal waste in Slovakia and in particular, in the Nitra region from 2002-2017 and to compare. We focus on municipal waste changes used in the Nitra region and in other regions in Slovakia. The rise of living standards and the rise in the number´s of inhabitants has led to an increase in the production and composition of municipal waste. Municipal waste per inhabitant in the chosen years in Slovakia increased about 38.7% and in the Nitra region about 58.2%. The amount of recovered municipal waste is gradually increasing in Slovakia. The amount of recycled municipal waste in the SR increased by 18.05% and in the Nitra region by 21.84%. In the recovery of municipal waste, the Nitra region is below the average level in Slovakia (20.69%, amount in SR -31.82%). When comparing the average amount of recycled waste, the Nitra region reaches the same amount as Slovakia (17%).
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Air pollution implies a high risk for premature mortality or incidence of illnesses, as proved by epidemiological studies. In the Czech Republic is one of the most critical conditions the Ostrava region, where air pollution limits are consistently exceeded and have negative impacts on health. The article is focused on finding out part of the social costs of three respiratory diseases in the childhood. Contingent method (based on the revealed preferences) values the loss of benefit including pain and the overall reduction in disease-related quality of life in children. By a questionnaire survey, mothers in Ostrava were addressed to determine how much they are willing to pay by their children to prevent one disease per year. The aim of this article is to find out by statistical analysis whether the willingness to pay for avoiding one disease depends on the air quality given by the region of Ostrava. The results showed that the willingness to pay for avoiding one case of nasopharyngitis and one case of acute bronchitis shows differences between these regions. The relationship has not been proved in asthma attacks. The further analysis does not show that willingness to pay increased directly in proportion to the degree of air pollution.
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The level of health of the population is an important indicator of regional development, quality and competitiveness. The aim of the paper is to determine regional disparities in 5 districts of the Vysočina Region and 7 districts of the Ústí Region in 2006 and 2016. Disparities are determined according to the values of 11 demographic and 2 economic determinants of health and 4 indicators of health interventions. The composite indicator method and cluster analysis were used to compare the regions. The determinant values are better in the Vysočina Region districts in 2006 and 2016 as well. The values of economic determinants and health interventions have improved over time. Only the divorce indicator improved in demographic determinants, life expectancy increased and the proportion of deaths (circulatory system diseases and neoplasms) decreased. The adverse change in demographic sub-indicators in comparison with 2006 and 2016 means a decrease in the composite indicator values in most districts. Composite indicator growth only occurred in the districts of Havlíčkův Brod, Jihlava and Ústí nad Labem. The results of the analyses clearly show that there are still considerable disparities between the districts.
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Monitoring of population health is an important indicator of regional development. The paper deals with the incidence of cancer cases in Czech population, the differences in individual regions are shown and discussed in relation to the health policy and target prevention programs. The aim of this contribution is to map cancer incidence from the perspective of the regions and to map activities at central and regional level, which aimed at the prevention issues. Data and Methods: Epidemiology analysis is based on data from the Czech National Cancer Registry and the associated portal svod was especially needed for the regional issue of the cancer incidence. It was found that the issue of differences in the incidence of the particular types of cancer among individual regions is not a negligible one. e.g. Plzeňský region is an absolute leader in the incidence of colorectal cancer. We also mapped prevention activities in the Czech Republic in relation to the availability of special screening centres in individual regions.
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Social innovation serves to eliminate differences in society, so their goal is to influence and correct social change. They include new methods, services or approaches to problem solving than those currently introduced and serve to improve and improve the social environment. Social innovation is crucial for the economic and social development of society. Advocacy is an activity that seeks to influence political, economic or sociual decisions with to a positive change in policy, practice or attitude and involves direct access to decision makers at different levels. In the Czech Republic, the introduction of social innovation is supported by projects from the European Social Fund. The aim of the paper is to find out the possibilities of advocacy tools supporting social innovation possibilities of functioning and implementation into public policies in the Czech Republic. The research was based on a questionnaire survey on the implementation of advocacy work for selected implementers and applicants for support from the European Social Fund, focusing on the project of the City of Brno. The survey showed that advocacy has its place in innovation projects and further support and development of this tool is desirable. The limits currently being addressed by the entities are mainly related to the limited capacities, financial demands and relatively low knowledge of the tools they can use in the advocacy.
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Availability and economic sustainability of social services are being discussed in relation to ageing of population and financing of social services. The aim of the article is to evaluate the volume of allocated expenditure on selected social-care services, accentuating similarities and differences in regions of the Czech Republic. By use of cluster analysis in years 2010 and 2017, expenditure per user is analysed in four social-care services for senior citizens and the disabled. Results of the cluster analysis confirmed both similarities and significant differences between Czech regions. The regions were divided into three and four clusters in years 2010 and 2017, respectively, based on similarity of expenditure per user of the evaluated services. In 2010, regions in the first and second clusters were more similar in expenditure allocated for personal assistance and day care. In 2017, regions in the second and third clusters were more similar in the volume of expenditure per user by expenditure allocated to day care, as well as regions in the third and fourth clusters by expenditure on personal assistance.
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