What Open Government Partnership (OGP) Does for Transparency?

Author(s): Qëndresa Sulejmani / Language(s): English

This policy brief looks at the National Action Plan for OGP (2012-2014) to analyse the degree to which the commitments for transparency have been implemented and whether the new National Action Plan on OGP 2014-2016 addresses its deficiencies. Since the four pillars of open government – transparency, participation, accountability, and open data –– are interdependent and equivalent in their contribution toward good governance, to clearly define the scope of this policy brief, we will distinguish transparency from the other pillars by defining it as when the “public understands the working of their government” (as defined by Transparency Accountability Initiative). By adapting this definition to the commitments of the action plan, CRPM breaks down the definition in three central elements: * the obligation of public institutions to disclose public information at the request of citizens * the means for citizens to access proactively published information and * the right of citizens to receive information through services as set in the national standards for integrity. The following sections will aim to present a concise situation analysis in the three named aspects of transparency and conclude with a set of recommendations for their improvement. The analysis also uses the results of two public opinion surveys produced by CRPM in the period April 2013- September 2014.

№ 49 THE LONG SHADOW OF ORDOLIBERALISM: GERMANY’S APPROACH TO THE EURO CRISIS

Author(s): Sebastian Dullien,Ulrike Guerot / Language(s): English

The new treaty agreed by European leaders in January reflects Germany’s distinctive approach to the euro crisis rather than collective compromise. Much to the frustration of many other eurozone count-ries, Germany has imposed its own approach – centred on austerity and price stability at the expense of economic growth – on others without considering whether the institutional flaws of monetary union beyond a lack of fiscal control may be the cause of some of the distortions and problems that the cur-rent euro crisis has exposed or whether its approach could have a negative impact on other eurozone countries. German economic orthodoxy has been widely criticised elsewhere in Europe. This brief explores the historical and ideological foundations of German economic thinking and discusses how it differs from mainstream international economic discourse. It argues that there is more to Germany’s distinctive approach to the euro crisis than the much-discussed historical experience of the hyperinflati-on in the Weimar Republic on the one hand and simple national interest on the other. Rather, there is an ideological edifice behind German economic orthodoxy with which Germany’s partners must enga-ge. While a change in the government after the next general election, in 2013, would lead to a change in German economic policy, it is unlikely to dramatically change the country’s approach to the euro crisis.

Publications of Michael A. Peters

Author(s): Author Not Specified / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Aluminij d.d. Mostar na isteku mandata Vlade FBiH - Oktobar 2018. godine -

Author(s): Samir Mušović / Language(s): Bosnian

Nije rijetkost da se značajni društveni i privredni problemi, slučajno ili namjerno, lansiraju u javnost usred predizborne kampanje ili u prva 3-4 mjeseca novog mandatnog perioda. Podešavanje objave vijesti o krupnim aferama i krupnim društvenim problemima u predizbornom periodu ili u prvim mjesecima novih mandata nije slučajno: javna pažnja je zasićena izbornom kampanjom i dodatno, kao u ovom slučaju, dokazanim odsustvom javne pažnje uobičajenim za mjesece ljetnih godišnjih odmora (dovoljno se prisjetiti najpoznatijih vremenskih podešavanja objave loših vijesti u slučajevima poskupljenja osnovnih namirnica i usluga, koje se ćešće objavljuju u trećem večernjem dnevniku, a znatno rjeđe u udarnom terminu drugog TV dnevnika). Tako su vijesti, objavljene krajem mjeseca juna 2018. godine, vezane za smjenu direktora Aluminija d.d. Mostar i istovremena objava vijesti da to preduzeće ima akumulirani gubitak blizu 180 miliona Eura, zadržale javnu pažnju na problemima preduzeća Aluminij Mostar čak i kraće od «tri dana BiH čuđenja», koliko se BiH javnost uobičajeno zadržava na tzv. udarnim problemima.

№250. Only a more active ECB can solve the euro crisis

Author(s): Paul De Grauwe / Language(s): English

The biggest threat for the eurozone is the contagion of the Greek sovereign debt crisis to the rest of the system. If the Greek crisis could be isolated, it would barely matter for the eurozone as a whole. After countless crisis meetings of the European Council, however, it has to be admitted that the European leaders have failed to isolate the Greek crisis and to stop the forces of contagion. The latest meeting of the heads of state or government of the euro area on July 21st is no exception.

№283. A European Deposit Insurance and Resolution Fund - An Update

Author(s): Daniel Gros,Dirk Schoenmaker / Language(s): English

Cross-border banking is currently not stable in Europe. Cross-border banks need a European safety net. Moreover, a truly integrated Europeanl evel banking system may help to break the diabolical loop between the solvency of the domestic banking system and the fiscal standing of the national sovereign.

№290. A Copernican Turn for Banking Union

Author(s): Thomas Mayer / Language(s): English

At every meeting of central bankers, policy-makers and economists, there seems to be agreement that creation of a ‘Banking Union’ is essential for the survival of the euro. Yet, progress in building this union is painfully slow. The Single Supervisory Mechanism may not be ready before the middle of next year, the Single Resolution Mechanism may require a laborious change of the EU Treaty and common deposit insurance has been postponed into the in definite future.

“Capture” of the Post-Socialist State as a Challenge to the EU Integration

Author(s): Andrey Nonchev / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Different trajectories of post-socialist societal transformations and their alternativeconceptualizations are discussed. The paper addresses the specific mode of post-socialist societydesignated as "state capture" and its economic, political and social dimensions. The paper offers atheoretical model of the captured state, identifying its differentia specifica and its economic,political and social effects. The interaction between state institutions, political and economicpower networks and their rational strategies to capture the state is identified. The implementationof these strategies involves the formation and operation of politico-economic power networks thatseek to control key public legislative, executive and judiciary institutions and to extract economicand political benefits. The state capture has fundamental political, economic and social consequences that could become serious barriers to deepening European integration and even stimulate disintegration processes.

The Western Balkans in the EU Accession Process: PES(I) Assessment

Author(s): Galya Mancheva,Elena Simeonova / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Despite the internal destabilization and ongoing asymmetric crises, European Unionstill tends on extending its borders. The main target destinations are Western Balkans countries,which, undoubtedly, present a more complex case compared to previous rounds of the EU enlargement. In the same time, as a result of acceleration, EU has set standards higher than ever. Inthe strive to cover the EU-set acquisition standards, and to attract foreign investments, WesternBalkans countries produce different degrees of political risk which affects the business and investors. The article presents a part of the results of a complex authors’ research with а main focus of evaluating the Western Balkans countries political, economical, social, and risk environment inthe Eurointegration processes in the region. A specially designed modification of the well-knownPEST analysis (PES(I)) analysis is applied on 10-year period (2007-2017). It is concluded thatWestern Balkan accession to EU is more a political rather than an economical issue. Based on theanalysis, Republic of Albania is shown to be the best performing country among the region, doingthe biggest progress in economic and political aspects, generating the lowest political risk levels.Keywords: Western Balkans, political regime, democracy score, exchange rate regime, GDP,GDP per capita, population growth, age and educational structure, key interest rate, sovereignspreads, sovereign credit risk, credit rating, financial markets, political indicators, political risk.

Socioeconomic changes and the subjective well-being of Polish society 1991–2011

Author(s): Piotr Michoń / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Three main questions are asked in the paper. Firstly: how has the sense of ‘life satisfaction’ and happiness of Poles changed over the period of twenty years between 1991 and 2011? During this period Poland has experienced substantial growth of gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, but is Polish society becoming happier and more satisfied with life? Secondly: what is the level of subjective well-being individuals commonly perceived as losers (older, poorly educated and unemployed) in comparison with people who objectively appear to be winners (well-educated, in low middle age, employed)? Thirdly: how has the subjective well-being of unemployed, older and poorly educated people changed during this twenty year period between 1991 and 2011? Some authors suggest that because happiness became something everybody want, it is a core value of society, and it lays the basis for our modern welfare state. Because happiness represents an individual right, individual and societal aim, it is crucial to discover and scrutinise relations between the individual level of happiness, and the impact on it resulting from a variety of factors. It might be true that simple application of happiness economics to policy making would be unreasonable. But still if we agree that happiness constitutes a good life for individuals and thereby also a good society, it is important to collect, analyse and include this type of information for the purpose of policy making.

Beograd na steroidima

Author(s): Rastko Novaković / Language(s): Serbian

Kada se voda povuče, ostaje glib. U tom glibu ćemo videti u kojoj meri je Vučićeva vlada posvećena tehnici neoliberalnog projekta. Ako mu je Margaret Tačer zbilja uzor, Vučić će dobro poznavati sledeći pasus njenog mentora Miltona Fridmana: „Jedino kriza – stvarna ili doživljena – proizvodi istinsku promenu. Kada nastupi kriza, način na koji delamo zavisi od ideja koje su nam na dohvat ruke. Verujem da je to naša osnovna svrha – da razvijamo alternative postojećim merama, da ih održavamo u životu i na raspolaganju, do trenutka politički nemoguće postane politički neminovno.“ Ova izjava datira iz 1982. godine kada je Tačer povela rat protiv Malvina i zadojivši glasačko telo šovinizmom, preokrenula svoj klimavi mandat u većinsku podršku. Ali kriza ne mora da bude proizvedena, ona može da bane u obliku stihije. Tako je Fridman posle uragana Katrina koji je pogodio Nju Orleans 2005. rekao da je ova katastrofa takođe “prilika“. Prilika da se primene mere slobodnog tržišta.

Bože spasi strane plaćenike

Author(s): Branislav Dimitrijević / Language(s): Serbian

Premijer Srbije kaže da vodi Srbiju u Evropsku uniju. Njegovo glavno štampano glasilo optužuje organizacije koje učestvuju u građanskim protestima da primaju pare od Evropske unije kako bi srušile njega i njegovu vladu. U svom odgovoru neke od pomenutih organizacija kažu: ne, nismo mi za Evropsku uniju, to je grobnica naroda, i u njenim interesima radi neoliberalni Vučić pod diktatom MMF-a. Ovo potvrđuje i sama Evropska unija koja kroz usta Maje Kocijančić kaže da EU od svih svojih ulaganja u Srbiji ubedljivo najviše finansijski podržava upravo srpsku državu i aktuelnu vladu. Jer da podsetimo – nijedna srpska vlada nije imala ovoliku podršku Evropske unije, a isto tako nijedna (osim Nedićeve) nije bila ovoliko servilna prema stranom kapitalu.

Приносът на газовата инфраструктура на Румъния за енергийната сигурност на Балканите

Author(s): Svetla Boneva / Language(s): Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

The objective of the research is to present the importance of the gas infrastructure of Romania for the energy security of the Balkans. The research methods used in the study involve elements of retrospective analysis, content analysis, table presentation and generalization of the main ideas of key strategic and regulatory documents on the topic. This is a conceptual study and a posteriori research approach has been followed for its development. The thesis of the paper is that Romania is a key player for the Balkan countries and the wider EU region gas security. Romania possesses a high capacity of installed and functioning powers for transition, generation and storage of natural gas, which is the main factor for its important role in the Balkan region and the EU energy security. The results of the research represent generalizations and analyses of the role and importance of the Romanian gas infrastructure for the region. The research results provide ground for evidence-based recommendations and decisions on the future policy measures in the gas energy sector and their implementation

Критичен поглед върху институционалната система на Европейския съюз

Author(s): Monika Moraliyska / Language(s): Bulgarian Publication Year: 0

The European Union is facing a number of serious challenges which shall be solved through utilizing its own resources – human, financial and intellectual. At the same time, its institutional structure is increasingly criticized - both externally and internally, by the European and national politicians, and increasingly by the European citizens. The disapproval of the EU is aimed both at the functioning and the activities of specific institutions and at the way in which they interact in the general structure, as well as against the implementation of certain policies. This report presents some weaknesses identified by the three main EU institutions - the European Council, the European Commission and the European Parliament. The second part presents the main critical directions to the EU institutional system - bureaucratic inefficiency, democratic deficiency and inefficiency of the EU policies. Their nature and opportunities for improvement are analyzed.

Autonomija u simbiozi. Friedrich Engels i kritika političke ekonomije

Author(s): Alpar Lošonc / Language(s): Serbian Publication Year: 0

Engels was much more than an interpreter-mediator of Marx, and cannot be reduced to the subject of deforming the writer of Capital: we want to show this on crucial ground, where it flares up the leading thought of Marx. It is a critique of political economy. Unlike liberal conception of inscribed boundaries in the social “body”, namely, for unlike the regime of establishing boundaries between politics and economics (which ends with the denial of the existence of a politics in the sphere of production), the critique of political economy points to the intersection of politics and economy at the level of totality, and finds politics in the deepest layers of the economy, denying its neutrality. And exactly in this domain Engels’s constitutive approach should be shown. It is a contribution that is dependent on Marx’s efforts, but became an integral part of the endeavor of two theoreticians. Our paper analyzes three issues: the emergence of the English proletariat, the housing issue, and simple commodity production. We show contradictions in Engels’ discourse, but we prove that Engels did not give up on the revolution that would transcend capitalism and that he remained faithful to this project.

Engels — leksikografska bilješka

Author(s): Miroslav Artić / Language(s): Croatian Publication Year: 0

The paper aims to examine how Friedrich Engels was assessed in encyclopedias, professional lexicons and philosophy textbooks at the time when Croatia was a constitutive part of the former Yugoslavia. The methodological basis for the perception of Engels in Croatia is positioned within the framework of a predetermined concept according to which socialist culture was to be built in Yugoslavia, in all its parts, in the spirit of the ‘socialist worldview’ asserting ‘socialist values’. (Viskovic 2001). The aim of this paper is to evaluate this specific political and cultural period, marked by systematic attempts to create a comprehensive encyclopedic knowledge that would shape and finally define the dominant cultural and political sign empowered by Engels’ work. At the same time, its symbolic power had the task of illuminating the direction for the construction of complex Yugoslav socialist culture. This is only a sketch, but also an incentive for a more complex research of this unique conceptual project on the construction of socialist culture.

Aktualnost Engelsovog teksta - Razvitak socijalizma od utopije do nauke

Author(s): Vera A. Vratuša Žunjić / Language(s): Serbian Publication Year: 0

This work examines the actuality of Engels’ text The Development of Socialism from Utopia to Science in the first fifth of the twenty–first century, taking into account the historical experience acquired within the hundred and forty years after its first release in 1880. The basic method used in the preparation of this work is the analysis of the content of Engels’ writings and its contextualisation within the historical specific social economic circumstances during the time of Engels’ life and today. The main finding of this work is that actuality of Engel’s text Development of Socialism from Utopia to Science rests on the continual existence of the capitalist mode of production internal contradictions, which, according to Engels, utopian socialism overlooked, but which scientific socialism has discovered through new historical materialist and dialectical study of class conflicts throughout human history. The main contradiction between the only socially usable production forces and private appropriation of the unapid for surplus labor of non possesing productive classes on the anarchic world market by the classes who posses the means of production, has not been overcome until our days. In the world proportions there still did not happen expected realisation of the revolutionary action of the exploited class of hired workers to create conditions for the leap into the realm of freedom, that is the taking of control of freely united producers over their own product. Elements of the utopianism of Engels’ writing originate from demoralizing pressure of the devastating consequences of the capitalist production mode, which reduces the conviction of potential subjects of revolutionary class alliance in the possibility of achieving the socialist “realm of freedom”. On the other hand, the author points out in this paper that in the case that there does not come to revolutionary leap from the realm of necessity of the anarchic capitalist merchandise production into the realm of freedom through the self–conscious and self organised revolutionary activity of all exploited and opressed classes, there wil come to the self–annihilation of the planet earth through human destructive, alienated and alienating action of acumulation of capital for the sake of acumulation, long before this annihilation was prediceted by Imanuel Kant and Laplace through the natural evolution of solar system.

Engels između utopijskog i znanstvenog socijalizma

Author(s): Kazimir Majorinc / Language(s): Croatian Publication Year: 0

The article starts from the thesis that one of the main causes of the problems of building socialism in the 20th century is the neglect of morality in classical Marxism, analyses this neglect through a comparison of utopian and scientific socialism, and briefly follows Engels’ development from utopian socialism to scientific socialism and back. The conclusion is that the lack of morality in classical Marxism is not accidental, but that it is precisely this property that makes it untrue, but also an extremely effective socialist ideology at a time of the great crisis of capitalism. Such an understanding of Marxism is consistent with the important Marxist idea that the purpose of ideologies is not to be true, but to strengthen the economic system. In this sense, Marxism is an ideology of the collapse of capitalism.

TRGOVINSKI RAT IZMEĐU SJEDINJENIH AMERIČKIH DRŽAVA I KINE I NJEGOVE TRGOVINSKE IMPLIKACIJE

Author(s): Katja Zajc Kejžar / Language(s): Serbian Publication Year: 0

The introduction of new customs duties represents a serious challenge for the organisation of global value chains and current patterns of the international division of production Such measures have further weakened the already fragile fundamentals of the post 2nd World War Bretton-Wood’s multilateral system. In the last couple of years, the appeal for a reorganization of the World Trade Organization has intensified. In this paper, we aim to study trade implications of the US-China trade war from a perspective of supply chain trade and the organisation of global value chains (GVCs). We first present the development of the tariff rates in the US and China over the course of the trade war and sum up early evidence on the US-China trade war effects from stock price volatility. Next, we discuss the differences in tariff impacts on traditional and supply chain trade. We continue with characterizing the US and China’s GVC position and resulting pressure for supply chain restructuring. Finally, we look at trade effects for the EU in different categories of goods. The involvement of the EU-28in GVCs is characterized in general with a more upstream position in trade with China, while backward participation strongly prevails in the EU-28 trade with the US, with notable differences among EU member states. Trade data for the two most recent years shows a certain degree of EU trade reorientation towards both the US and China, where an increased share of exports to the US has been driven by intermediate goods, while in exports to China consumer goods showed the strongest growth. The evidence on the adjustment of GVCs in wake of the US-China trade war suggests that an increase in trade costs has important implications for the organisation and location of GVC activities. We may expect that such a trend will be further strengthened in response to the current COVID-19 pandemic situation. Trade is likely to fall more steeply in sectors characterized by complex value chain linkages. Restructuring,shortening, and reorientation of GVCs will, expectedly, be even more pronounced since the COVID-19 crisis involves lockdown and social distancing causing major labour supply shocks and GVC disruptions.

Sustainable Development and Environmental Policy of the European Union

Author(s): Andreea Panagoret,Dragoş-Mihai Panagoreț,Tomislav Kandyija / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Sustainable development approaches the concept of quality of life in all its complexity, from an economic, social and environmental point of view, promoting the idea of ​​the balance between economic development, social equity, efficient use and conservation of the environment.By its very nature, sustainable development represents the need for responsibility and education for environmental protection, and this aspect is reflected in the evolution of community policy in recent years, a policy marked by the transition from an approach based on constraint and sanction, to a more flexible, based one on incentives. Thus, it is acting in the direction of a voluntary approach, in order to promote this environmental responsibility and to encourage the use of environmental management systems.The environmental policy does not act independently, but reflects the interest of civil society in this direction, manifested by the creation of numerous environmental movements and organizations. Moreover, in some countries the creation and development of "green" political parties has been achieved, with real success in the political arena. However, resistance - or, more properly, the restraint and inertia that manifests itself, should not be forgotten, when environmental objectives seem to limit industrial competitiveness and economic growth; but this aspect only emphasizes once again the need for a concerted approach at European level and the need for an active and integrated environmental policy, capable of responding to the challenges that appear economically.The European environmental policy is based on the principles of precaution, prevention, correction of pollution at source and "polluter pays". The precautionary principle is a risk management tool that can be invoked if there is scientific uncertainty about a possible risk to human health or the environment, arising from a particular action or policy.