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This article is a debate on the rising of the European extremism, based on the recent French elections results. What’s going to happen next and is America different from Europe? The author suggests some possible answers.
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In our survey article, we present a holistic regulation framework for the banking sector. The article is based on European banks that are part of the European Monetary Union (EMU). Initially, we focus on the timelines and review the integration of the European Monetary Union, relevant legislation and information on member countries’ banking sectors. This information creates the framework for our analysis. A regulation framework for the banking sector should be characterised by transparency, responsibility and performance in several important areas. These areas are the global and European framework for corporate financial reporting (CFR), risk management (RM), stockholder value creation (SVC), corporate governance (CG), corporate social responsibility (CSR) and sustainable development (SD). The regulation framework for the banking sector must also consider the fiscal and monetary environment in which a banking institution operates. The global rating system and the rating agencies will also have an important impact on any regulation framework for the banking sector. These two factors play a key role when a financial, credit or debt crisis occurs. Our article considers all of the above factors in creating a holistic regulation framework for the banking sector to present in the context of the recent financial, credit and debt crises that have taken place in the EMU.
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By the 1570’s, Potosí, and its silver, had become the hub of a commodity revolution that reorganized Peru’s peoples and landscapes to serve capital and empire. This was a decisive moment in the world ecological revolution of the long seventeenth century. Primitive accumulation in Peru was particularly successful: the mita’s spatial program enabled the colonial state to marshal a huge supply of low-cost and tractable labor in the midst of sustained demographic contraction. The relatively centralized character of Peru’s mining frontier facilitated imperial control in a way the more dispersed silver frontiers of New Spain did not. Historical capitalism has sustained itself on the basis of exploiting, and thereby undermining, a vast web of socio-ecological relations. As may be observed in colonial Peru, the commodity frontier strategy effected both the destruction and creation of premodern socio-ecological arrangements.
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Neoliberalism is subject to conflicting interpretations. Although often associated with the relation between state and market, neoliberalism is certainly beyond the scope of these relationships. It is a complex phenomenon composed of beliefs, practices and institutions. Neglecting any of these elements leads to a misunderstanding of the whole. One of the most complex issues facing those who deal with the issue of neoliberalism is to establish a connection between normative recommendations of neoliberal theory and political and economic changes in market economies. Elementary insights into economic changes over the last decades show that there is a certain correspondence between the neoliberal ideas and the trajectory of many capitalist economies, but also clear discrepancies. The goal of this paper is to investigate the analytical potential of the "embeddedness" concept in the analysis of discrepancies between neoliberal theory and practice.
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source: THE ECONOMIST, London, Jan 17, 1953 - Confusion Behind the Iran Curtain
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The Altman’s model is in wide use in the world as one of reliable tools for prediction of a company bankruptcy. Today, especially in the current recession, this model has special application possibilities. Companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina for a longer period of time face difficulties in their businesses which results in bankruptcies “under suspicious conditions”. One of possible causes is inadequate usage of prediction models, specially of “Z” score model, as one of the most reliable tools not only for bankruptcy prediction, but also for due diligence and value assessments of companies.
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The article deals with current issues related to environmental protection investment in Ukraine. First of all, green investments are defined in order to avoid inconsistencies in the interpretation of the results. There are analysis of investments in environmental protection over the past five years and the main source of funding, social and economic implications of green investment are considered. During writing conclusions of the article were made primarily on the basis of Ukrainian official statistics.
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Bulgaria's accession to the European Union is the foremost strategic objective of the country. This goal both serves the national interest of the establishment of a developed, democratic state and coincides with Bulgaria's readiness to actively participate in the realization of a united Europe. The conclusions of the European Council in December 1997 in Luxembourg opened the way for the active involvement of the 10 countries of Central and Eastern Europe in the preparations for their accession to the EU. It should be noted that the inclusion of Bulgaria in the next enlargement of the EU is an expression of the highly positive assessment of the democratic processes taking place in the country. At the same time, these conclusions specify requirements which need to be fulfilled by Bulgaria as a condition for Bulgaria's accession to the EU. Further, meeting the second and the third group of the Copenhagen criteria requires the complete restructuring of the national economy, the construction of modern infrastructures, the introduction of competitive principles of fair competition and increased social activities with the goal of accession to the policies and the principles of the EU. The present report examines the preparation of Bulgaria for future participation in the structural policies of the EU with the purpose of achieving economic and social harmonization on the basis of the introduction of principles of regional and social policy and the development of infrastructures in the area of transport and telecommunications. Structural funds are among the instruments used to achieve the aims of economic and social harmonization, and thus the preparation for their most effective and efficient use during the pre-accession period is very important. Within this context, the report examines the necessary organizational, administrative, legal and financial measures which must be undertaken in the pursuit of successful future participation in the structural funds of the EU.
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The social policy of the European Union aims to reduce the most substantial differences in the national schemes and programs, to facilitate the free movement of workers, to create prerequisites for employment growth and improvement of the working conditions, to raise the level of qualification and to promote the retraining and the reintegration of people who lost their job because of structural economic changes or for other reasons with social implications. Ensuring of the national social security systems' conformity with the criteria for membership in the European Union is of substantial importance for the entire process of democratisation and integration in Europe. At the same time these systems determine the internal potential of the applicant countries for accession. That is where the actuality of the questions, put in this study stems from: What is the scope of the field of action of the economic and social criteria for integration in the social sphere? To what extent does the Bulgarian system for social protection correspond to the European models and values? What are the perspectives for development of the social reform in the light of the strategy for accession to the European Union? These questions do not have a simple answer, but nevertheless the analysis of the social problems of the integration is the main challenge at the current stage of the social reform.
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The Structural Funds are financial instruments for implementing the European Union's policy of economic and social cohesion between regions. Implementing a policy aimed at reducing the disparities in the level of development of the various regions and the backwardness of the least developed regions, including agriculture, by reallocating financial resources, has made a significant contribution to economic stability in the EU and to raising the level of employment.
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The extraordinary dynamics of the process of European integration in the second half of the Nineties has brought forward the need for numerous adjustments, different in depth and in scope, in the associated Central and Eastern European Countries (CEECs) having applied for membership of the European Union. For some countries these processes have developed more rapidly than expected and the adjustments in question have been more or less prom-pted by the aspiration not to lag behind in the overall process of approximation of-Central and Eastern Europe to the EU. The environment is dynamic: the process of integration develops in parallel to, and sometimes even coincides with, the process of political and economic transformation typical of the transition to a democratic society with a functioning market economy. Thus, in the desire to reach as soon as possible the goal - full membership of the Union -it is particularly difficult, but also very important, to bear in mind the useful lessons of the past and the experience gained over previous EU enlargements. The purpose of this paper is to draw attention to some typical challenges relating to the negotiations for EU membership, both in the short and in the medium term perspective. This could be a contribution to the development of the various elements of Bulgaria's preparation for accession negotiations. Emphasis is laid on the model of negotiations, on the various underlying principles, on the indispensable preparation for their conducting, on some organisational and other aspects of their successful development. In this respect, significant reflection is devoted to the lessons to be drawn from the fourth enlargement of the Union. The negotiations for accession to the European Union will take place in a given context which would undoubtedly influence their dynamics and predetermine their successful completion. The context will have both external and internal dimensions, the first connected with the changes in and the readiness of the European Union itself, and the second with the preparation of the candidate country concerned. For the purposes of this paper, attention is mainly drawn to the internal adjustments needed by CEECs, rather than on the processes within the Union which have already been discussed in numerous publications. The historical lessons, the theoretical and practical background described in the first part of the paper and the recommendations on Bulgaria's preparation in the second part are based on an analysis of existing studies, monographs, documents and materials devoted to these problems, as well as on some practical observations arrived at in the course of this process. The clear prospect of opening accession negotiations with Bulgaria in the foreseeable future makes it particularly necessary to refine the overall preparation of the country in order to ensure the indispensable conditions for the conduct of the negotiations. Thus, the conclusions offered below should be regarded as practical recommendations for a more successful preparation of Bulgaria for membership of the Union. The collected material could also be used as reference for some typical problems and for the approaches used to solve them.
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The process of Bulgaria's EU integration is a multifaceted political, institutional, economic, socio-structural, and psychological process. It is essentially a complex social transformation aimed at establishing particular public structures, standards, consensual attitudes, and strategies, compatible with EU and acceptable to its member countries. This process involves diverse actors who cannot be reduced solely to the efforts of state institutions and above all, of the legislature and the executive. One of the most powerful, though frequently overlooked, channels bringing Bulgaria closer to EU, are political parties. The inclusion of political parties in the domestic political process cannot be reduced exclusively or primarily to the time in which they exercise executive power. In opposition or even outside parliament, political parties can still occasionally exert considerable influence over the conditions in which foreign policy is conceived and implemented. Parties can sometimes be an exceptionally important source for Bulgaria's international image which strongly influences the positions of the country's international partners, and in particular, the EU member states, in terms of Bulgaria's accession to EU. Political parties, along with everything else, have several essential functions immediately related to Bulgaria's integration in EU: • they are very frequently the channels for the introduction of European po-litical standards in Bulgarian politics; • they represent the Bulgarian political palette of strategies and ideas; • they create an additional lobby network among the EU political class in favor of Bulgaria's accession; • they are in position to structure political life in Bulgaria in line with EU standards. That is why the study of the role of political parties in the process of Bulgaria's EU integration is an essential element of the conception of a general idea, and theoretical model, of the process. In theoretical terms, parties are part of the political system and a connecting link between the political, and civil, society. Their role in foreign policy is typically related to positions of power. But the in-ternationalization of party life in the past decade has provided parties with new opportunities for participation in the foreign political process. In Bulgarian political life parties are an important, if not the chief, instrument for assimilation of foreign political experience. Their activity as international actors, their international contacts, the international forums organized by them, are an irreplaceable channel through which public opinion in Bulgaria gets informed about foreign political standards, about the rules and norms of political life in EU countries, for instance. Naturally, the influence of parties on the foreign policy and international image of a given country is a function of its political system and above all, of the role, status, and functions of political parties within it. Since 1989 Bulgaria has developed a "European" type of party system, in which political organizations are institutional structures striving to represent politically significant social interests. Under this model, parties are involved in the domestic political process as representatives of a certain part of public opinion. In the U.S., along with that function, parties are involved in foreign policy mainly through the influence they have in various foundations which sponsor projects and research institutions. In a sense, the American party-system model is based more on the "expert" participation of political parties in the foreign policy making. In Bulgaria there are few elements of expert participation of parties in the foreign political process, though certain "think tanks", related in some form or other to political parties, do exert some influence, largely through developing and presenting before foreign partners alternatives to government policies.
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The objective of this report is to contribute to the discussion on the capital market reform in Bulgaria in preparation for eventual integration into the European Union. The report views the accession issue on two levels. The first one is whether the necessary capital market institutions and legislation are in place, while the second one is whether capital markets function in a manner that supports economic growth and development. The impetus for the development of the capital markets in Bulgaria was the first wave of the mass privatization program. This program was similar to the program implemented earlier in the Czech Republic. At the same time the Czech Republic is among the first countries in transition that has been invited to negotiate accession with the European Union. For these reasons it is useful to compare the process of capital market developments in both countries. However, it should be taken into consideration that because of the problems that have surfaced recently in the Czech capital markets, the Czech example does not necessarily furnish solutions to the problems that are likely to arise. A large number of the companies are listed on the Bulgarian Stock Exchange-Sofia, but in practice the majority of the smaller ones have not been traded at all. While the unadjusted market capitalization figure amounts to roughly 0 million, this includes all investment funds, holding companies and all shares in partially privatized state owned companies. The actual figure for shares not held by the Government and available for trading on the BSE-Sofia is probably closer to 5 million. This works out to 1 per participant in the mass privatization program, which is a little above one-month’s salary. The market also has very low levels of turnover. Turnover figures at the individual company level are available only for trades on the BSE-Sofia. Most company shares have been traded very few times since the stock market opened. Only eight companies have traded shares in more than half of the sessions for which they were registered.
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Corruption and Trafficking: Monitoring and Prevention titles the new brochure, recently published by the Center for the Study of Democracy of its Reports and Analyses series. It is the first analytical output of the newly founded Expert group on corruption and illegal trafficking as part of Coalition 2000 anti-corruption activities. The phenomenon of illicit trafficking has become one of the most important sources for the “shadow economy” in Bulgaria throughout the 90ies. Its growth was caused by a number of international and internal factors as well; the most crucial of which is the weakening of the post-communist state and the spread of corruption practices among state officials. Hence the emerging of the criminally interwoven corruption/trafficking involve state officials (policemen, customs officers, senior civil servants and politicians) on the one hand, and semi-criminal groups and local mafia on the other. Bulgarian “contraband channels” also constitute a part of the wider network of transnational crime. In the forthcoming brochure, however, the emphasis is on Bulgarian trans-border crime, rather than on its international ramifications. The brochure is composed of three parts: - an analysis of trans-border crime in Bulgaria during the 90ies; - a review of the sociological and statistical methods of measuring illicit trafficking; - Practically oriented proposals with the aim of curbing corruption and trafficking.
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This is the second updated edition under the same title, published by the Center for the Study of Democracy of its Reports/ Analyses series to be distributed among participants in Regional Coordination Meeting of Subtable "Justice and Home Affairs" of Stability Pact Working Table III, held in Sofia on October 3rd, 2000. This latest analytical report is the outcome of the efforts of non-government organizations and state institutions, and of independent experts and journalists as well within the framework of the Coalition 2000 process. Launched in 1997, Coalition 2000 strives to support the restriction and curbing of corrupt practices in Bulgarian society, including regular monitoring of public perceptions and attitudes towards corruption. The illicit trafficking growth, as one of the most important sources of local "gray economy" throughout the 90ies, was caused by a number of international and internal factors, the most crucial of which being the weakening of the post-communist state and the spread of corruption practices among state officials. The threat on society posed by the interlacing of the interests both of crossborder crime perpetrators and the associated corrupt public officials (customs officials being the most alarming example according to public opinion), became a serious public concern. This initiated the necessity to analyze the phenomenon and to identify adequate monitoring and counteraction measures, moreover this type of crime finds further confirmation in experts' estimate that a large portion of the local gray economy is related to smuggling of goods and the proceeds of the respective unlawful activities.
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Smuggling in Southeast Europe analyzes and reviews the connection between the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia and the growth of the trans-border crime in the region, and also looks at the related issue of corruption. The paper highlights the decisive impact the Yugoslav wars had on the development of the regional criminal networks, which were often set up and maintained not only with the knowledge, but even with active participation of the highest state officials. The research also represents a contribution to the study of conflicts in the Western Balkans. The majority of existing interpretations of causes, course and consequences of the Yugoslav wars try to provide the answers through ethno-political explanations. They unjustly ignore the importance that interweaving of interests of political elites, the organized crime groups, which appeared in this period, and the "mediating class" of corrupt state officials had in this process. The paper is divided in three parts: • An analysis of the causes and course of emergence of Balkan smuggling channels in the context of Yugoslav wars and international sanctions; • A review of the recent developments in trans-border crime in Southeast Europe; • An overview of prevention efforts, undertaken both by the regional governments and the international community’ The first part analyzes the emergence of officially sanctioned "state-building" smuggling in those parts of the former Yugoslavia, which were involved in the war. The intermediary role of Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Romania is also discussed. In these four countries, smuggling networks were not developed under open patronage of the governments, but the role of high-positioned politicians was nevertheless extremely important. The second part traces the evolution of the initial semi-official smuggling channels and their transformation into "classical" criminal networks. The so-called "suitcase trade," cigarette smuggling, smuggling of narcotics, and the trafficking in human beings are discussed in more detail.
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