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In The End of Utopia, noted social critic and historian Russell Jacoby takes a sobering look at the future of politics and does not like what he sees. Jacoby points to the abandonment of utopian ideals that once sustained dissent and movements of social change; and he call for writers and critics to reclaim the vision and backbone they are losing.
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From the financial agony of Greece some important democratic lessons could be nferred. On the level of the Economic and Monetary Union they are related to the crisis f the democratic legitimacy of institutions and the crisis of confidence. At the national level, democratic legitimacy of the institutions that make the „European“ decisions has to be confirmed. European Union was created by political elites, but its limits are of social nature. The same lesson is important for Serbia’s integration path towards the European Union as well as for its democratic institutions.
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The paper deals with economic relations between Serbia and Russia in the early 21st century in the context of the “European path“ designated by Serbian politics and traditional “political friendship“ between Serbian and Russian peoples on the Slavic and Orthodox basis. The main hypothesis is that, in essence, economic relations between Russia and Serbia are of marginal significance not only for the Russian Federation, but also for the Republic of Serbia, and that they provide almost no basis for the expansion of cooperation between the two countries or, more precisely, do not offer any realistic perspective in which Serbia’s economic cooperation with Russia would be an alternative to its inclusion in the European Union.
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17 czerwca 2013 r. UE i USA ogłosiły „nowe handlowe otwarcie” we wzajemnych relacjach, rozpoczynając negocjacje o ustanowienie Transatlantyckiego Porozumienia w dziedzinie Handlu i Inwestycji (Transatlantic Partnership in Trade and Investment, TTIP). TTIP jest najbardziej znaczącą inicjatywą w historii relacji obu partnerów. Dzięki umowie, zapowiadającej powstanie wspólnego rynku transatlantyckiego, pojawia się szansa strategicznego umocnienia pozycji UE i USA w systemie międzynarodowym. W końcu listopada 2015 r. trudno przesądzić, czy i kiedy negocjacje TTIP zostaną zamknięte; jaki będzie zakres umowy; czy i kiedy wejdzie w życie; czy zapewni warunki do realizacji deklarowanych celów. Zadaniem monografii jest przedstawienie problemów leżących u podstaw toczących się rokowań, ich analiza w kontekście koncepcji i metod funkcjonowania przyszłych instytucji transatlantyckich, a następnie próba oceny rezultatów ewentualnego porozumienia, włącznie z procesami instytucjonalizacji współpracy między UE i USA. Efekty TTIP będą dotyczyć także Polski jako członka UE. AutorzyKsiążka podejmuje ważne i aktualne zagadnienie dotyczące nowej formuły instytucjonalnej dla wzajemnych relacji UE oraz USA w ramach Transatlantyckiego Porozumienia w sprawie Handlu i Inwestycji. Publikacja ma charakter pionierski. Zajmuje się stosunkowo słabo opisanym w badaniach naukowych tematem, głównie dlatego, że umowa nadal jest negocjowana. Co więcej, praca stawia sobie ambitny naukowy cel, starając się ocenić rezultaty TTIP w kilku, niezależnie od instytucjonalnego, wymiarach: ekonomicznym, społecznym, geoekonomicznym i funkcjonalnym.
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The present volume consists of two parts. The contributions in the first part offer first of all a theoretical analysis and outline some perspectives for the functional macro-regions in the eu, while in the second part the papers are basically case studies in the sub-national regions concerned. This combination of the top-down and bottom-up approaches gives the specificity of this edited volume and it provides a big advantage, since the danube strategy – the danube Region strategy, with a usual abbreviation, dRs – can only be approached at the same time from “above” in the framework of the eu2020 general strategy and from “below” through the efforts of its constituent parts, i.e. the countries, sub-national regions and localities, including the capital cities.
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This article deals with the existing provisions of the Law on Protection of Competition of 2009 concerning to the control of concentrations. Control of concentrations is relatively new feature of Serbian competition law since it was introduced in 2005 by adopting the previous Law on Protection of Competition. The basic principles of the previous regime have been maintained in the new Law, but with come changes from a procedural point of view. Prior control of concentrations is based on compulsory notification of concentrations before they are implemented, provided that such concentrations meet the specified thresholds of income. The notification requirements cover mergers, acquisitions of control and certain joint ventures. Concentrations are permissible, unless the Commission for protection of competition decides that they would prevent, restrict or distort competition on the relevant market. During the appraissal procedure, the Commission for protection of competition has a broad powers of investigation, as well as powers of directly imposing sanctions for distortions of competition and infringements of the Law.
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An individualist usually believes that human beings, contrary to what socialists like Karl Marx or Auguste Comte thought, are first and foremost unique, irreplaceable members of the human species, capable of independent thought and action once they reach maturity, and free to choose their conduct based on their conscious thinking. As such, they require the kind of community that makes room for their independence, a community that protects individual rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of one’s chosen goals in life. Although members of the human species and thus possessing a few common attributes, human individuals are a varied lot and flourish best in communities that makes varied pursuits possible, such as the free market political economic order. From time immemorial the individuality of human beings has been evident (mostly so in creative realms such as art, religion and technology) although often suppressed by rulers who wanted a one size fits all type of society to serve their own objectives. So in various historical times it has been a struggle to forge political-legal systems that do full justice to our human individuality.
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Globally the tourism sector is one of the main economic sectors in attracting and generating foreign revenue. The sector accounts for seven percent of global foreign revenue as an export industry. In South Africa the low growth environment over the last decade has resulted in the need to find alternative economic sectors in support to traditional sectors such as mining and manufacturing, to drive higher levels of economic growth in the country. The aim of this study was to analyse the relationship between tourism as the dependent variable, and economic growth, exchange rate changes and political stability, as independent variables. The study region selected is South Africa, which is classified as a developing country and is in many cases seen as the proxy for emerging economies. This study followed a quantitative research approach with time series data from 1996 to 2017. The relationships between the variables were analysed by means of the Johansen cointegration, Vector Error Correction and Granger causality econometric models. The results indicated that there are both long and short-run relationships between the variables. A number of policy recommendations that could potentially contribute to the extension of the role of tourism in development include improved political and currency stability in the country as well as the relaxation of visa requirements.
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This paper analyses agricultural and rural capital factor markets in the three European Union candidate countries: Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic (FYR) of Macedonia and Turkey. Aggregate capital market indicators and their dynamics, and factors driving agricultural and rural capital markets are analysed and compared in these countries. In general, agricultural and rural capital markets show similarities with general capital market developments, but agricultural and rural capital markets are facing specific credit constraints related to agricultural assets and rural fixed asset specificities, which constrain their mortgages and collateral use. Credit market imperfections have limited access to the investment credits necessary for there structuring of small-scale individual farms. Government transfers are used to differing extents in the candidate countries, but generally tend to increase over time. Remittances and donor funds have also played an important role in agricultural and rural economy investments.
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The undeveloped rural capital market in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia is constrained byan urban–rural development gap, with limited capacities for rural development and imperfections in the rural capital market. Among the most striking hindrances are the illegal status of a large share of agricultural buildings and other real estate in rural areas, particularly on the individual family farms that prevail in the country, and the insufficient knowledge and abilities of individual farmers in applying for credit. National, EU and other donor funds are being used to improve knowledge, skills and other human resources, and to address the illegal status of buildings and facilities. During the most recent years, government support for agricultural, rural and regional development has been introduced to promote good agricultural practices, production and economic activity in rural areas. The elimination of imperfections and improvements to the functioning of the capital market – making access to credit and funds easier, especially for small-scale family farms and for rural development –are seen as measures contributing to agriculture and more balanced rural and regional development.
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This study gives an overview of the theoretical foundations, empirical procedures and derived results of the literature identifying determinants of land prices. Special attention is given to the effects of different government support policies on land prices. Since almost all empirical studies on the determination of land prices refer either to the net present value method or the hedonic pricing approach as a theoretical basis, a short review of these models is provided. While the two approaches have different theoretical bases, their empirical implementation converges. Empirical studies use abroad range of variables to explain land values and we systematise those into six categories. In order to investigate the influence of different measures of government support on land prices, a metaregression analysis is carried out. Our results reveal a significantly higher rate of capitalisation for decoupled direct payments and a significantly lower rate of capitalisation for agri-environmental payments, as compared to the rest of government support. Furthermore, the results show that taking theoretically consistent land rents (returns to land) and including non-agricultural variables like urban pressure in the regression implies lower elasticities of capitalisation. In addition, we find a significant influence of the land type, the data type and estimation techniques on the capitalisation rate.
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We compile data about Euro denominated lending in Central and Eastern European Countries (CEE EU) during 2001-2011. Our analysis of the determinants of non-performing loans (NPL) with panel regressions for CEE EU suggests that foreign currency loans contributed significantly to the increase in NPLs, reinforced by effective changes in exchange rates, which cannot be sustained by the local borrowers. We find that there are serious limits to Euro-globalization with Euro denominated loans.
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Nepal has been a politically sovereign country since its pre-historical time as a Kiranta dynasty in 800 B.C. and also as a modern state (M. Jha, 1998). Modern politics explains the year 1951 as the first democracy to entail direct Monarchy by throwing familial dictatorships of the Rana regime for 104 years. Similarly, people’s movement ended more than 240 years long Shah dynasty in 2006 to emerge as a Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal that too could not stop Nepal becoming a politically unstable country. Political instability has hindered economic growth and increased unemployment (Yami, 2017).
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The book deals with the heterodox concept of economic localisation, its aim is to define, operationalize, critically discuss and theoretically embed the localisation concept, especially within a broader framework of ecological economics and social geography. The book is mainly theoretical, its methodology is based on the principles of grounded theory. To complement the theory, five exaples of localisation practise from the Czech republic are shortly introduced. The author concludes that despite the partial shortcomings of the localisation argumentation and despite its undoubtedly multifaceted practices, at least the radical streams of economic localisation can be interpreted as alternatives to the current system of production and consumption with the potential to contribute to sustainability (as understood within the context of sustainable degrowth).
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Beginning with the middle of the XX. century, the majority of the Central and East European population has lived most of its life subjected to the experiments of a political, economical and social environment ─ which finally proved itself to be totally unsuccessful. Subsequent to World War II, the Central and Eastern European countries got under the influence of the Soviet Union and were compelled to live and coexist with that system. The system itself bore a different name in almost every country, but there were, nevertheless, some mutually characteristic features. The socialist system collapsed between 1989 and 1991. Many things have changed ever since. During the last two decades most of the countries in the region have become members of the NATO, and the European Union. From political point of view, there is political partition with due and democratically elected parliaments and governments. When choosing my research subject, I have chosen to look into the Romanian process of change of property, focusing on the process of privatization. Though only a few, in comparison with the other Central and Eastern European countries, but there have already been elaborated comprehensive studies [Earle-Sapatoru, 1993; Earle-Telegdy, 1998; Negrescu, 2000; Telegdy, 2001]. Therefore, I am not going to analyse in detail the process itself. My book consists of three major units. I define the basic terms and I present the hypotheses of the research in the first part of the first unit. In the second part of the first unit I make an overview of the international literature dealing with the economic transition in Central and Eastern Europe, and especially with the early premises of privatization. The second unit compares the features of transition in Romania and Hungary, the two countries being part of the same region. The third unit of the book deals with the privatization of agriculture and consists of three chapters. These chapters describe the impact of privatization on the land-structure, the agricultural machinery and the agricultural production. The research of the privatization in agriculture was financed by the Hungarian Academy of Sciences and it was a part of a larger strategic research programme called "The privatization of Agriculture in Transylvania". I have done my part of research together with students both from the Babeș─BolyaiUniversity of Cluj and Sapientia University. The book is concluded with the due findings of my research followed by the list of references.
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The book contains a thorough analysis of the European Union institutional systemas a specific, sui generis international organisation, in the context of its legitimization(its validity and legitimacy). The book is mainly theoretical. Primarily, the author aimsat presenting a reliable depiction of the EU institutional system legitimization throughthe prism of the theoretical output concerning legitimization of the political power,including and accentuating the indicated specificity of the EU as a distinct internationalorganisation. Secondly, he took into consideration the changes introduced intothe legal foundations of the EU functioning, pursuant to the Lisbon Treaty – the latesttreaty reforming the structures of the Union. In the context of the main theme of thepresent study, these changes are important not only in terms of the EU institutionsthemselves, i.e. their competences and reciprocal relations, but also with regard to thefundamental change of the legal character of the EU, and the alterations introducedinto the individual Union politics. Thirdly, the author attempts to present the problemof the EU institutional system legitimization in the special circumstances, i.e. in thesituation of the most profound economic crisis that the EU members have faced sincethe beginning of the integration process.The EU is regarded as a specific structure, being neither a state nor a typical internationalorganisation. Such an approach was the starting point for the main premise ofthe present book – the idea that the thesis about the deficiency of democracy in the EU,formulated in the literature on the subject and in the public debate, is a certain simplification,and the characteristic features of the EU and its institutions, which provokedthe formulation of such a thesis, should be considered in a broader context, such as theproblem of the EU institutional system legitimization and, alternatively, the deficiency ofthat legitimization. For the direct democratic legitimization is only one of many sourcesof legitimacy of the EU institutional system and of the Union as a specific internationalorganisation in general – an extremely important source, perhaps the most important,yet not the only one. Thus, the legitimization of the EU and its institutions should beanalysed in a broader perspective, which also includes other sources of legitimization – asit is done in case of every political power which, striving for its legitimization to be asstrong as possible, attempts to derive it from the largest number of sources. Accordingto the author of the book, to base the EU institutional system legitimization only onthe grounds of the direct democratic legitimization characteristic of a democratic state,would be tantamount to a certain disruption of the right order. It would rather be asymptom of too advanced an integration on the “institutional” level in comparison tothe extent of the “material” integration. Until the EU is a structure sui generis, in whichcase it is a combination of features characteristic of an intergovernmental, internationalorganisation, a supranational organisation or a state, the nature of legitimization ofthis structure should also be specific. The most important role should be played bythe democratic legitimization, which should be completed with other sources, owingto which the functioning of the EU institutional system, and the whole EU, could berecognised as legally valid.Apart from the main thesis also other theses and hypotheses are posed in the book.The first chapter is a certain theoretical introduction and a basis to the deliberationspresented in the further parts of this study. In the first subsection, with reference tothe literature on the subject, the problem of legitimization (legitimacy) of the politicalpower, i.e. the concept, classifications and sources of legitimization (legitimacy) of thepolitical power, have been synthetically depicted. In another part of chapter one, theauthor attempts to relate the problem of legitimization to the EU as a specific internationalorganisation and to formulate his own definition of legitimization deficiencywith regard to EU institutional system. Bearing in mind that the problem of legitimizationdeficiency in the EU (EC) has not been discussed on a larger scale until certainstage of development of integration process was reached, in 1.3. subsection, the authorraises some questions concerning: the sufficiency of legitimization of the integrationprocess during the first few decades after the Second World War, the grounds for thatlegitimization and the reasons why, at a certain stage of the EU (EC) development thelegitimization of the Union’s institutional system started to be considered insufficient,which was manifested in the opinions acknowledging the democracy and legitimizationdeficiency. The first chapter ends with a passage devoted to the importance ofthe EU institutional system legitimization, whereas the significance of legitimization tothe political power and political institutions in general, consitutes its reference point.The second chapter (subsections 2.3.–2.8.) presents a synthesis of the evolutionof the EU (EC) institutional system in the context of its legitimization, from the momentof the EC founding treaties ratification, till the time the changes pursuant to theLisbon Treaty were introduced. The author focused here mainly on the competences ofthe particular EC (EU) institutions and their reciprocal relations, which should makeit possible to observe two main tendencies in the dynamics of changes taking place inthis field, and present its specificity and distinctiveness in comparison to the systemsof democratic states. At the beginning of this chapter, a thesis has been formulated(simultaneously, becoming an extension of the attempt to determine why, at a certainstage of the integration process, the issue of democracy/legitimization deficiency startedto be discussed – a question that was raised in the first chapter), which states that thelegitimization of the EU institutional system will be sufficient, if the law regulationsand political practice of their functioning are convergent with the level of advancementof the integration process in various spheres of social life; in other words, the “institutional”integration should correspond with the “material” integration (that is the Unionpolitics). To that end, the author made an attempt to present, in a synthetized form,the development of the “material” integration (subsection 2.1.), which he completedwith an analogical endeavour to illustrate the evolution of the EU (EC) institutionalsystem in the context of its legitimization (subsection 2.9). For in accordance with theincreasingly common approach, the EU institutions are treated as a system, the conceptand principles of which have been presented in 2.2. subsection.In the third chapter, the author presents the EU institutional system in its currentform, that is with the changes introduced under the Lisbon Treaty. Here, the selectedaspects regarding competences and functioning of the particular EU institutions havebeen depicted, as well as the relations between them in the context of legitimization.Additionally, three selected problems regarding the EU institutional system have beenraised, which are especially important in the context of its legitimization (the relationbetween the EU institutional system and the institutions of the EU member states, thequestion of transparency in the functioning of the EU institutions, as well as the Unionbudgets in the consecutive years). In the last subsection (3.9.) the specific features ofthe EU institutional system, significant in the context of its legitimization, have beenidentified.The fourth chapter is devoted to the functioning of the EU institutional system inthe perspective of four basic sources of its legitimization, i.e. indirect and technocratic,direct and democratic, utilitarian, and one consisting of “values”. The chapter endswith a conclusion outlining the specificity of the EU and its institutional system withregard to the sources of its legitimization, which is especially important in the contextof the book’s main thesis.The fifth chapter concerns the problem of legitimization of the EU institutions inthe context of the economic crisis, which the EU member states struggle with sincearound the year 2008. The sixth chapter, in turn, regards the so called subjective (empirical,social) dimension of the EU institutions’ legitimization, that is, the way thisproblem is perceived by the citizens of the EU member states. It has been based on theresults of opinion polls conducted for the use of Eurobarometer, from among whichthese questions and answers were selected, which could be applied to illustrate the waythe EU citizens perceive the Union institutions in the context of their legitimization.The closing remarks include the most important conclusions drawn from the conductedanalyses and the potential reforms and modifications of the EU institutionalsystem, which may allow for the reinforcement of its legitimization, primarily in itsdemocratic aspect. The bibliography contains a list of sources which were cited andreferred to in the book.
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After years of lower interest, France has signaled its ambition to re-engage in the Western Balkans. It is not starting from scratch. Historical affinities with the countries of the region abound, in culture, sciences, politics and economy. But shifting priorities in the past decades have eroded French presence in the region. To regain a foothold in this important part of Europe, France has taken a series of initiatives aimed at boosting its engagement. In 2016, it hosted the Berlin Process summit; in 2017, it launched with Germany an initiative to coordinate the drive against firearms trafficking in the Western Balkans; in 2018, it expanded the intervention mandate of the French Development Agency (AFD) to all Western Balkans countries and adopted a national Strategy for the Western Balkans; in 2020, after a twoyear stalemate, it withdrew its reservations against the opening of accession negotiations with Albania and North Macedonia, while drawing the contours of the revised enlargement methodology. Drawing from a series of consultations in the region and structured cooperation with partner think-tanks, this policy paper is conceived as an independent, expert contribution to French efforts at re-engaging with the Western Balkans. It explores perceptions of French re-engagement in the region and reflects the potential of the 2019 Strategy for the Western Balkans in light of the forthcoming French Presidency of the European Council and in the context of the grands débats on the future of Europe.
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The work presents the essence and evolution of development cooperation in Poland’s foreign policy in 1989–2020. It analyses the importance and effectiveness of development aid and cooperation in the area of the state’s external activity. To this end, the study includes the characteristics of the conditions of development cooperation undertaken by the state, its legal and institutional system, its financial resources, as well as the motivations and interests related to ODA provision and the manifestations of its use. Ultimately, the undertaken analysis makes it possible to identify the main features of development cooperation as a soft power tool of Poland’s foreign policy, as well as factors influencing this instrument’s effectiveness.
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