Do Fiscal Drivers Matter for Sovereign Risk Spread in EU15?

Author(s): Irena Szarowská / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The price of government bonds reflects among other market confidence in governments' commitment towards sustainable fiscal policies. The aim of the paper is to examine the importance of fiscal fundamentals for sovereign risk spread in selected European Union member states in a period 1990-2012 and test if stronger fiscal discipline reduces sovereign risk premium. The empirical evidence is performed on unbalanced panel containing 15 EU countries and panel regression is a basic method of research.

The Budget Support System in Eastern Partnership Countries

Author(s): Elżbieta Kaca / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Here we present the general aims and characteristics of budget support in the EaP region, the volume of support and a breakdown by country. Budget support is the predominant EU tool in the Eastern Partnership countries, as around 60% of bilateral financial resources are scheduled to be spent through such means. This comprises financial assistance supporting government reforms and paid directly to the state budget of a specified country. Therefore, it requires close cooperation between the national administration and the EU delegation, ensured by frequent communication as well as the participation of common monitoring committees. Two types of budget support have been in use in the EaP region: general budget support and sector budget support. Under the former, funding is provided for a broad range of reforms planned by the government for a given period of time, for instance, implementation of the association agenda or action plans. The latter, sector budget support, goes for reforms only in a given sector, e.g., energy or health. Sector budget support has been the dominant form of support in all of the EaP countries except Armenia, where general budget support was employed.

A Cross-Country Picture: Towards More Efficient EU Aid

Author(s): Elżbieta Kaca / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

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.

Poland: A Problem Shared?

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

Since the onset of the Eurozone debt-crisis, Poland’s approach to the EU has gone through at least three distinct shifts as it responds to the deepening of Eurozone integration and the changing locus of power within the bloc. The first of these saw Poland acting as the bloc’s equality supervisor, defending the principle of parity between governments, particularly as guaranteed by the supranational institutions. During its presidency of the Council in the second semester of 2011, it forged a successful partnership with the Commission and Parliament. Yet that effort ended with the British “veto” at the December summit and with the signature of the fiscal compact, a parallel legal architecture potentially excluding non-Euro members. For Poland, signing the compact meant still belonging, but to a different kind of EU.

The future of the European Migration and Asylum Policy

Author(s): Judyta Cabańska / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Purpose: Migration is acomplex issue, with many facets that need to be weighed. Five years after the 2015 refugee crisis and the European Agenda on Migration, the EU still lacks a common migration and asylum policy. The aim of the chapter is to discuss the future of the migration and asylum policy in the European Union. Design/methodology/approach: The chapter analyzes the current migration situation in Europe, the impact of Covid-19 on migratory flows in Europe, challenges faced by the EU, and legislative initiatives proposed under the New Pact on Migration and Asylum. The text indicates key challenges related to migration faced by the European Union and provides an overview of the legislative proposals that seek to address the identified gaps. Findings: Covid-19 pandemic highlighted the need for the EU to be prepared to address situations of force majeure and broader crises, which impact migration and asylum management systems. The Pact on Migration and Asylum sets out the Commission’s new approach to migration, addresses border management, and ensures more coherence to integrate the internal and external dimensions of migration policies. Originality and value: The chapter attempts to contribute to the literature on international migration by delivering analysis results of Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the migration flows in Europe and the analysis of EU’s new approach to migration and asylum policy.

Rethinking the Communication with the Unions Members in the New Context

Author(s): Vasile Hodorogea,Tulia Maria Căşvean / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

Additional to the three main trends influencing social dialogue at the organizational level - de-centralization, up-scaling, de-institutionalization and representation – the COVID-19 pandemic rules brought a new influence that impacts the Unions, forcing it to adapt its internal communication. This paper is centred upon the way the Unions members in Romania get access to information in the new labour landscape, characterized by the work from home and physical distancing. The research focuses on a collective case-study of three strong Union Federations that developed internal communication with unions’ members that fits the pandemic context. The research focuses on the internal communication repertoire elements used by the Unions. The research method assesses the qualitative information gathered by interviewing key Unions representatives. The main areas of interest are the key topics addressed in the communication with the members, the tools and media mix used, the frequency of the formal communication with the trade unions members, the accountable and the responsible persons with the internal communication, and the management of the feedback from the members, all in the context of what is different vs. 2019. The conclusions are enriched with some recommendations for future development of communication with union members, supporting the social dialog.

Audit of European Structural and Investment Funds, a Component of the Management and Control System

Author(s): Iulian Miserciu / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The European Commission (EC) has established through European regulations that at each Member State an independent body, generically called the Audit Authority (AA), who will ensure the external public audit function for each operational program financed by the European grants. Each Member State was free to set up its audit authority, subject to the above-mentioned conditions.The Romanian Audit Authority was set up at the level of the Romanian Court of Accounts, being established by national law as a body without juridical personality, operationally independent from the rest of the public audit activity. This audit body performs the external audit function for all operational programs financed by the European grants.The present article aims to present the Romanian Audit Authority, its institutional and organizational capacity to fulfil the legal requirements of the European legislation and the extent to which its results can provide a reasonable assurance to the European Commission that the management and control system (MCS) functions in way to prevent, detect and correct deficiencies and financial sanctions. One of the challenges of the audit is whether its recommendations can prevent malfunctions in the MCS, and in the event of irregularities, the managing authority (MA) and the certifying authority (CA) can correct them in time before the European Commission is declared expenditure. It will also present the procedure established by the legal framework on how audit recommendations are implemented by the other entities within the management and control system.Although it is part of the Court of Auditors, the Audit Authority has its own working procedures, which must reflect the requirements of European regulations and guidelines, and the results of its verifications are communicated to the European Institutions. The manner in which the EC uses the audit reports will also be the subject of this article.

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.

Бессарабия XIX – XX ст.: мультикультурный субъект европейской истории или ее геополитический объект?

Author(s): Vitali V. Stetskevych / Language(s): Romanian Publication Year: 0

Până la formarea Republicii Moldova, Basarabia nu a fost niciodată un stat independent, deci un subiect valid pe eşichierul relaţiilor internaţionale europene. De fapt, Basarabia a fost permanent un obiect al intereselor geopolitice, care au depăşit cu mult interesele populaţiei locale. Aceste interferenţe geopolitice au avut un rol important în modelarea identităţii culturale a locuitorilor Basarabiei, aflaţi într‑o zonă de interferenţe culturale multiple. Faptul acesta a reprezentat, pe de‑o parte, un beneficiu, însă, pe de altă parte, a fost şi o sursă de confuzie în ceea ce priveşte construirea unei identităţi coerente şi bine structurate.

Nowe ramy efektywnego opodatkowania dochodu przedsiębiorstw w Unii Europejskiej

Author(s): Anna Siwiec / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

Purpose: The aim of the chapter is to present the latest corporate income tax (CIT) reform proposal developed by the European Commission in cooperation with the OECD. The proposed reform provides for the introduction of new rules in international corporate taxation, which are to contribute to increasing the efficiency of this taxation. As the initiative is supported by most OECD countries, including most EU countries, it is highly probable that it will be implemented. The chapter also presents a preliminary assessment of the implementation of the reform in the European Union countries. Design/methodology/approach: The used research method was the analysis of materials published by the European Commission and OECD by the end of August 2021, as well as their comparison with the currently applicable legal solutions or the current proposals regarding the taxation of trans national corporations (TNCs) in the EU. Findings: As a result of the analysis of the materials presented by the European Commission and OECD, the chosen direction of changes was recognized as justified, however, requiring consideration of the interests of less digitized economies. The chapter presents the potential positive and negative effects of the reform for the EU countries, as well as indicates the countries that can lose the most in terms of budget revenues from CIT.

Anti-inflation policy in Poland’s economy during the period of transformation and integration

Author(s): Ryszard Barczyk,Zuzanna Urbanowicz / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The aim of the article is to analyse the origin, course of inflation and scope of operation concerning the instruments of monetary and fiscal policy applied by the anti-inflation policy, as well as to evaluate their effectiveness for Poland’s economy in the years 2000–2021. To measure the relationship between decisions in the area of stabilisation policy and inflation, the authors carried out an econometric analysis using the dynamic autoregressive model with distributed lags. The parameters of the model confirmed that among the applied tools of monetary and fiscal policies, an anti-inflation nature was found between the monetary policy instruments and prices, and also linking budget expenditures with price level. Changes in budget incomes, according to the obtained results, were not conducive to price stabilisation in our economy. Anti-inflationary policy was dominated by monetary policy instruments. The anti-inflationary significance of fiscal policy has been much smaller since the beginning of the transformation of the Polish economy. Its anti-inflationary role increased in the period of difficulties related to the COVID-19 pandemic, in particular at the time of a strong increase in budget spending in the environment of rising price level.

NEKE PRETPOSTAVKE ZA BRISELSKU BOSNU I HERCEGOVINU

Author(s): Omer Ibrahimagić / Language(s): Bosnian,Croatian,Serbian Publication Year: 0

This paper discusses the process of accession of Bosnia and Herzegovina to the European Union and the Euro-Atlantic security system at a time when Bosnia and Herzegovina’s state structure is regulated under the Dayton Agreement, according to which the main pillar of the political order is the rule of three ethnic groups instead of citizens, which therefore instead of democracy introduced the rule of ethnocracy. The consequence is that even 20 years after Dayton Bosnia and Herzegovina is still not a functional state, because the entities created by ethnicity (Serbs in the Republika Srpska, Bosniaks and Croats in the Federation of BiH) have become self-sufficient (entitocracy) and disinterested in the creation of a single state policy. Therefore, BiH has no strategy of socio-economic development and lags behind in meeting the requirements for joining the European Union, for which two-thirds majority of its citizens have voted. This paper offers proposals whose adoption would achieve at least some assumptions to accelerate the process of transition of Bosnia and Herzegovina from Dayton (chained with ethnicities and entities) into Brussels (dynamic-civil) phase of its EU accession.

EUROPEAN UNION HEALTH SYSTEMS AND RESPONSES TO THE ECONOMIC CRISIS

Author(s): Jasmina Selimović,Velma Pijalović,Tea Mioković / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

There is no doubt that the overall health of the population is the area of a special social concern of a state, hence, this concern is most often expressed through complex systems of healthcare insurance. Having in mind the fundamental social significance of the healthcare system, debates pertaining to its functioning and efficiency have been ubiquitously present all around the globe. The importance of scientific and practical research in the healthcare area are becoming particularly important in the unfavorable economic conditions as have been present in the most of the World’s countries during and after the 2007 economic crisis. Considering the severity of the crisis, many of the countries have been facing the need for a revision of their health systems in order to assure sustainability of their healthcare in newly arisen, adverse and uncertain financial reality. Additionally, although the healthcare systems can be grouped and attributed to a certain model, we must not neglect the fact that healthcare systems are different from state to state and that they are under a strong influence of history, tradition, political system, economy and national values of every state. Because of this, it has not been possible to offer a single set of universally efficient measures for tackling the crisis’ repercussions on healthcare systems. In this paper we analyze the responses implemented by European Union countries in the light of the most recent economic crisis, deemed unprecedented in the Union since its establishment.

Wykorzystanie kaskad kopuli w agregacji ryzyka w procesie wyznaczania kapitałowych wymogów wypłacalności w Solvency II

Author(s): Krystian Szczęsny / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

One of the basic aspects of the Solvency II Directive introduced in 2016 is the protection of the insured against the insolvency of insurance companies. For this purpose, by aggregating the solvency capital requirements for the specific types of risk to which the insurer is exposed, the solvency capital requirement (SCR) and the diversification effect (ED) are determined. Insurers are able to calculate the SCR using the Standard Formula given by the authors of the Directive or internal models developed by their insurance companies. The Standard Formula is based on the variance-covariance method, which assumes a constant correlation matrix that defines the relationships between aggregated risks to which the insurer is exposed. The aim of the research is to use, in internal models, pair-copula constructions in order to model the relationship between aggregated risk modules. The structure of the relationship between the aggregated risks is modeled with the use of C-vine and D-vine copula, while the range of possible SCRs resulting from various dependency modeling methods is determined using the ARA (Adaptive Rearrangement Algorithm). In the study, the author arbitrarily assumes loss distributions for the insurer’s five major risk modules, i.e. market, counterparty default, life, health, and non-life modules. The author compares the ED obtained by the variance-covariance method,the ED obtained with the use of copula and the ED corresponding to the upper limit of the SCR determined by the ARA algorithm. The conducted research shows how important in the SCR and ED determination process is the role played by the correct identification of the structure of the relationship between aggregated risks and presents the possibilities of using pair-copula constructions for this purpose.

Parlament EU, savjet ministara eu, evropski savjet

Author(s): Dušan Lopandić / Language(s): Montenegrine Publication Year: 0

Evropski savjet (ES) je nastao 1974. godine na inicijativu tadašnjeg francuskog predsjednika Pompindua. On je dugo funkcionisao kao jedno ad hoc tijelo političkog karaktera, kao međuvladina konferencija koja se sastajala svaki semestar, da bi tek kasnije prerasla u nešto što je uključeno u sistem institucija EU.

ZAKLJUČCI

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

THE IMPORTANCE OF TRAINING IN THE SECURITY AND DEFENCE. WHAT IS MISSING IN THE ROMANIAN CSDP RELATED TRAINING?

Author(s): SIMINA Ovidiu Laurian,Bogdan MARINESCU,Grigore SILAȘI / Language(s): English Publication Year: 0

The paper discusses the importance of training for the success of Romania’s contribution to the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) of the European Union. At the time when the EU Member States are taking concrete measures to implement the European Compact for a Civilian CSDP (2018) and the second annual progress report is planned, Romania is still struggling with the inter-institutional negotiation of the would-to-be National Strategy for the Implementation of the Civilian CSDP Compact, not yet approved by the Government. However, training is not seen as a strong point in the future strategic document, probably because there is not real coordination in the field. Despite the increased interest in CSDP related training (the number of the Romanian members of the European Security and Defence College multiplied five times in just two years), the training institutes are not working in a coordinated way and most of their CSDP training seems mostly related to individual projects or targets and not following a national policy, nor national objectives related to the Civilian Compact implementation. The debate opened by this paper aims to increase the awareness at the national authorities’ level and to suggest the way ahead in liking training to the Romanian policy on CSDP.

ROZVOJ VENKOVSKÝCH OBCÍ PODPOROVANÝ EVROPSKOU UNIÍ V OBDOBÍ 2007 - 2015

Author(s): Veronika Humlerová / Language(s): Czech Publication Year: 0

The article deals with the evaluation of a link between prosperity of a municipality (based on the population or migration growth or population decline) and drawing subsidies from the European Union. The aim of this work is to determine whether the thriving municipalities are more successful in drawing of subsidies than the unprofitable municipalities. The overall increase of population in municipalities which consist of two components (natural increase and balance of migration) can be considered as a primary indicator of the municipality development. If community develops, the amount of inhabitants increase. The case study is focused on testing the prosperity of 100 randomly selected rural municipalities and their drawing of EU subsidies during the period 2007 – 2015. It is analysed the purpose of drawn subsidies and also the municipalities, with no subsidies at all. The analyses showed, that when we compare the median level of drawn subsidies per capita, prosperous municipalities are more successful than unprosperous.

Avrupa Birliği-Türkiye İlişkilerinde İş Birliği ve Çatışma Alanı Olarak Suriyeli Sığınmacılar Meselesi

Author(s): İrem ALGEDİK,Pelin Aliyev / Language(s): Turkish Publication Year: 0

1945’te yerle bir olan Avrupa’nın tekrar toparlanması ve ayağa kalkmasında kömür ve çeliği kilit unsurlar olarak gören anlayışın güçlü savunucularından biri olan Fransız Dışişleri Bakanı Robert Schuman’ın öncülüğünde hazırlanan Schuman Planı kapsamında Almanya, Fransa, İtalya, Belçika, Hollanda ve Lüksemburg’un katılımı ile 1952 yılında AKÇT (Avrupa Kömür ve Çelik Topluluğu) kurulmuştu (Goldstein ve Pevehouse, 2017: 460-461). Bugünkü AB (Avrupa Birliği) ise AKÇT’nin kurulmasıyla yarım asırdan fazla bir süre önce başlayan bir sürecin sonucu olarak görülmektedir (Pinder ve Usherwood, 2018: 1).

Międzynarodowa pomoc administracyjna państw członkowskich UE w zapobieganiu i zwalczaniu oszustw związanych z VAT

Author(s): Agnieszka Krysztofiak / Language(s): Polish Publication Year: 0

Purpose: The purpose of the chapter is to identify and present the rules of administrative assistance between EU Member States in the field of VAT aimed at combating fraud. Administrative assistance instruments such as automatic exchange of information, information exchange on request, information exchange without prior request, Eurofisc network, Multilateral Controls (MLC) and Presence in Administrative Offices and Participation in Administrative Enquiries (PAOE) were characterised and compared. Finally, the challenges faced by the tax administrations of EU Member States in the combating fraud were presented. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve the purpose, an analysis of legal acts was used, including in particular Council Regulation (EU) No. 904/2010 of 7 October 2010 on administrative cooperation and combating fraud in the field of Value Added Tax as well as the documents published by the European Commission and issued internal by Supreme Audit Office (Najwyższa Izba Kontroli, NIK). Findings: Based on the analysis, it can be concluded that close cooperation between administrations is of great importance for the efficiency of the tax authorities of all EU Member States. The exchange of information between Member States should mainly be based on joint analysis of information and joint direct actions. Such an innovative approach will enable full use of the anti-fraud tools available within the European Union and, consequently, will contribute to faster elimination of VAT fraud. Cooperation between countries using the tools described in this chapter is the most appropriate way to combat cross-border VAT fraud.