The EU Electoral Reform Efforts: Europeanising the 2019 Elections?

Author(s): Strahinja Subotić / Language(s): English

All across the EU, it has become quite common to label the modus operandi of the EU as ineffective, its institutional set-up as undemocratic and its politics as far removed from European citizens. Attempting to address these concerns, the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker called for institutional reforms in his 2017 State of the Union Address. In it, he endorsed the continuation of the Spitzenkandidaten-experiment and the introduction of transnational lists in the 2019 European parliament (EP) elections. Knowing that 2019 will mark a transition to a new institutional cycle, the President of the European Council Donald Tusk gathered the EU271 leaders on 23 February 2018, at an informal leaders' summit, in order to discuss and decide whether to endorse, postpone or nullify the chances of survival of these proposals. Ultimately, both proposals failed to acquire unanimous support of the EU leaders, who instead opted for revisiting these issues in the future. In this regard, the purpose of this Insight is to present and examine both proposals in order to unravel what they might mean for the future of the EU. Last but not least, this Insight illustrates how these proposals would affect Serbia once it becomes an EU member state, with the aim to draw the debates on the EU institutional framework closer to the Serbian public.

From the Bulgarian to the Austrian Presidency of the Council of the EU

Author(s): Strahinja Subotić / Language(s): English

On 1 July 2018, Bulgaria handed over the presidency of the Council of the European Union (EU) to Austria. Both enlargement-friendly presidencies came at a time of uneasiness and external and internal unpredictability for the Union. As the ongoing trade war and the disagreement on military spending show, EU-US relations have become tense in areas which constitute the backbone of the transatlantic alliance, such as trade and defence. Meanwhile, populist governments, like the one recently established in Italy, as well as those of Poland and Hungary, have been causing concerns with their divisive rhetoric and Euroscepticism. Finally, as the EU's ‘key leader' Angela Merkel continues to face instability at home, and the2019 EP elections are approaching, the EU has found itself in a limbo of ‘soul searching' due to its inability to find common solutions on the most pressing issues such as migration.

Serbia Scores a Weak Two in Professionalisation of Public Administration

Author(s): Vladimir V. Mihajlović / Language(s): English

Although public administration reform is recognised as one of the three pillars of EU Enlargement, nonetheless, neither acquis communautaire nor separate negotiating chapter exists for this area. Therefore, the European Commission had to come up with a new mechanism for monitoring progress of candidate countries in this field. Thus, in 2014, the EC and SIGMA have developed Principles of Public Administration which encompass six areas. Within the document the keyelements of good governance are included, i.e. the requests that countries should complete in order to become a successful EU member country one day. In 2015, SIGMA conducted a detailed analysis of public administration in all candidate countries and potential candidates for EU membership. In this document we analyse Serbia’s score for the Public Service and Human Resource Management and present scores of other Western Balkan countries. The area of public service is analysed through seven principles which are recognised as necessary preconditions for the establishment of professional public administration and merit-based civil service system.

Possible Date for EU Accession and the Years Ahead

Author(s): Duško Lopandić / Language(s): English

The recent announcement by the President of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, on EC's plan to prepare a Strategy for a successful EU accession of Serbia and Montenegro as front-runner candidates in the Western Balkans in 2025 perspective is very important for Serbia and the rest of Western Balkans. His speech represents the first occasion when an EU representative mentioned even a possible date for EU's future enlargement - 14 years since the EU-Western Balkans Summit in Thessaloniki, almost 8 years since Serbia lodged its membership application, and 4 years since the accession negotiations with the EU were opened. Consequently, the ongoing accession negotiations, characterised by unclear timeframe, have become slightly more focused in terms of deadlines. At the same, Juncker's speech puts naysayers at bay. An increasing number of experts, domestically and internationally, have often given their estimates that Serbia negotiates EU accession in vain and that the EU enlargement is a never-ending story - a la turque.

Estonian Presidency of the Council of the EU

Author(s): Sena Marić,Strahinja Subotić / Language(s): English

Estonia is the last "new member state" to hold the rotating presidency for the first time. Unlike any presidency beforehand, Estonia has one additional challenge: a shorter preparation period. Namely, after the Brexit vote occurred in 2016, the UK decided to give up on its Council presidency which was due to start in July 2017, in order to focus on the complex Brexit negotiations lying ahead. Consequentially, Estonia's presidency was rescheduled to begin six months earlier than it was originally planned. Despite such a challenge, all facts presented in this Insight seem to indicate that Estonia has put in a serious amount of effort to ensure that its presidency goes smoothly and according to the plan.

Is the EU on the move again? The development of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) and “Multi-speed” EU

Author(s): Duško Lopandić / Language(s): English

The decision of the European Council, made on the 22nd of June in 2017, to establish the so-called "Permanent Structured Cooperation" (PESCO) in the area of the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) of the Union, represents, in a way, one of first indirect consequences of Brexit on the EU progress. This decision suggests the possible outlines of the development of the "Multi-speed" European Union, which is a possibility widely spoken about in EU circles after the British referendum. After a series of crises, institutional paralysis and the shock of the Brexit, followed by more positive results of elections in France, Austria and the Netherlands, a touch of optimism has returned to Brussels."Europe is on the move again" (Europe is in a new movement) ,would be the comment by one of its "fathers"- Jean Monnet.

Tajani's Presidency. New EP President, Mini Political Earthquake and Why it Matters for Serbia

Author(s): Sena Marić,Strahinja Subotić / Language(s): English

On 17 January 2017 Antonio Tajani became President of the European Parliament, succeeding Martin Schultz in this position. He underwent four rounds of voting - a practice rather unseen in the EP, which indicates how firm different political groups were in supporting their candidates. This CEP Insight takes a closer look into Tajani's profile and ambitions as EP President; analyses the new shifts in balance of power that came as a result of Tajani's election; examines its implications on Serbia's EU membership aspirations and finally suggests how the Serbian authorities should position themselves vis-a-vis the new circumstances.

Pařížská kultura a esejisté Giedroyc, Gombrowicz, Stempowski, Jeleński, Herling-Grudziński, Czapski

Author(s): Jiří Zatloukal / Language(s): Czech

The presented disertation deals with selected essayists associated around the polish exile magazine "Kultura" published in maisons-laffitte in paris in the second half of the 20the century (1946-2000). its managing editor was Jerzy Giedroyc. the oeuvre of the closest magazine associates (so called "kultura group") is disscussed with regard to the aspects of the art of essay. research in this paper is limited to the so called first generation of the culture associates (1946-69). apart from the spiritus agens of the periodical - jerzy giedroyc, the analysis looks in detail at these personae from the closest magazine circle: witold gombrowicz, jerzy stempowski, konstantyn a. jeleński, gustaw herling-grudziński and józef czapski. essay as such goes beyond mere literary genre. at the basis of this texts of this nature lie more general attributes and essay can be placed among texts structured by strict logic and texts so called "litterary". as such, these are grasped in the sense of a statement inferred from several basic principles, whereas literary texts as those of which structure is based on digressions.

BALKAN ENLARGEMENT AND THE POLITICS OF CIVIC PRESSURE: THE CASE OF THE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REFORM SECTOR

Author(s): Milena Lazarević,Corina Stratulat / Language(s): English

One precious lesson learned by the European Union (EU) from the experience of its eastward expansion between 2004 and 2013, and applied now in the case of the Balkan aspiring members, has been to complement the politics of conditionality – that is, Brussel's traditional 'carrot and stick approach' – with the politics of pressure – whereby the region's governments are 'squeezed' in a "Brussels sandwich" between societal demands and an uncompromising European Commission. The Commission's search for civil society allies in the Balkans represents a promising break with the legacy of previous accessions, in which governments were Brussels' only trusted interlocutors. Yet, the new strategy still overestimates the ability of Balkan societies to step up to the mark by themselves. A vibrant civil society is a long-term investment that the EU should beef up further. The public administration reform (PAR) sector supplies concrete opportunities for the Union to do just that.

LACK OF GOVERNMENT TRANSPARENCY IN SERBIA: LOW ACCOUNTABILITY DOMESTICALLY AND POOR RESPONSE TO EU CONDITIONALITY

Author(s): Miloš Đinđić,Milena Lazarević / Language(s): English

The Government of Serbia falls short of ensuring transparency of its work. By regularly publishing cherry-picked information from its sessions, access to all adopted decisions becomes hardly possible and the approach to provision of information unjustiably selective. In addition, by irregularly reporting to the public on its performance, the Government reduces possibilities for public scrutiny of its results. Also, irregular reporting on budgetary performance adds to the overall picture of insufcient and low-quality reporting. Civil society in Serbia recognises these problems and holds the view that the Government’s decision making is for the most part hidden from the eyes of the public. If the Government wishes to adhere to the principles of good governance, it can only do so by thoroughly and regularly publishing detailed information about its activities and results, thus paving the way for free exercise of public scrutiny and facilitating the accountability for its actions.

COPING WITH EU DECISION-MAKING: HOW ARE THE BALKAN COUNTRIES PREPARING THEIR POLICYMAKING SYSTEMS FOR MEMBERSHIP?

Author(s): Milena Lazarević,Corina Stratulat / Language(s): English

Under the public administration reform (PAR) pillar of the European Union’s conditionality for the Balkans, the EU puts a strong emphasison the improvement of the aspirants’ policy development and coordination practices. Yet the governments of the region are not pullingtheir weight. Recent external monitoring eorts reveal very poor results in this reform area across the Balkans, with few positive countryexamples. To help improve the situation, the European Commission should ‘mainstream’ its requests for quality policymaking across thesectoral policies in which it monitors and supports the work of the region’s governments.

PREPARING FOR ACCESSION NEGOTIATIONS IN THE REPUBLIC OF MACEDONIA: WHAT CAN WE LEARN FROM THE WeBER MONITORING?

Author(s): Simonida Kacarska,Aleksandra Ivanovska,Angel Mojsovski / Language(s): English

Following the 2018 June European Council conclusions, the Republic of Macedonia is awaiting the start of the accession negotiations for the end of 2019. In these conditions, the government is currently preparing the institutional framework for EU accession negotiations. In August 2018, the Government adopted the institutional platform for this purpose, which formed the basis for the start of the explanatory screening process. The country is faced with the challenge of coordinating its policies for the purposes of EU accession in an inclusive, yet eective and ecient manner.

PROACTIVE TRANSPARENCY AND THE RIGHT OF ACCESS TO INFORMATION: TWO SIDES OF SAME COIN

Author(s): Ana Bukovac,Anida Šabanović / Language(s): English

Societies which are seen as democratic societies are generally envisioned as an environment in which thegovernment operates for the benefit of its citizens and works together with the citizens. One of the valuesof a democratic order of a country is the transparency of work of its administrative structures, as well as fullrespect of the inalienable rights of its citizens. Proactive transparency and free access to information are thebasic methods of communication between a state and its citizens.

OPENING GOVERNMENTS IN TIMES OF LOCKDOWN LESSONS LEARNED FOR CITIZEN-ORIENTED ADMINISTRATIONS FROM THE COVID-19 CRISIS IN THE WESTERN BALKANS

Author(s): Marko Sošić,Milena Lazarević / Language(s): English

The ongoing coronavirus crisis has spurred a myriad of measures from governments in the Western Balkans to better inform their citizens andprovide services in emergency circumstances. Yet, responses to the pandemic and the institution of unprecedented lockdown measures haveintroduced various challenges to already fragile standards of transparency, accountability and rule of law, as well as have exposed shortcomingsin the functioning of public administrations, in the Western Balkans. The crisis is increasingly being used as an excuse to backslide on previouslyachieved progress. The way emergency measures were adopted and enforced, and how citizens were informed, require close scrutiny, so as toensure that the practices developed during this crisis do not become the "new normal".

DO NEW CIRCUMSTANCES CHANGE ROUTINES? PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION AND SERVICE DELIVERY DURING THE COVID19 PANDEMIC IN THE WESTERN BALKANS

Author(s): Stefan Stojković / Language(s): English

The COVID-19 outbreak introduced signicant changes in our everyday lives. Online platforms for video communication andcommerce sales are booming, while the population is, by and large, changing its habits. Particularly hit are service delivery systemswhere both service providing institutions and their clients had to accommodate to the new modes of interaction. In this way, thepandemic has also raised important questions about the nature and quality of administrative services in these extraordinarycircumstances. As our direct contacts with institutions have been minimized, the relevance of electronic services (e-services) asprimary means of interaction with public administration gains importance.

CAS Newsletter 2023/24

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

Articles, pictures and interviews can be reprinted only with the consent of the publisher.

ONE PAGER OF RECOMMENDATIONS TO DG NEAR, FACING THE UNCERTAINTY CONCERNING CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES IN NORTH MACEDONIA AS A PREREQUISITE FOR CONTINUATION OF THE ACCESSION, I.E., NEGOTIATIONS PROCESS

Author(s): Katerina Kolozova / Language(s): English

RESTORING EU’S CREDIBILITY AND THE EUROPEAN CONSENSUS IN THE CIVIL SOCIETY IN N. MACEDONIA

Author(s): Katerina Kolozova / Language(s): English

ALLIANCES FOR EU

Author(s): Gábor Egry,Spasimir Domaradzki,Michal Vít,Juraj Marušiak,Katerina Kolozova,Dimitar Vatsov,Veronika Dimitrova,Ljubomi Donchev,Valentin Valkanov,Milena Iakimova / Language(s): English

Студија на појдовната состојба (Baseline): демократски институции или дали и колку европските темелни вредности се вградени во функционирањето на јавниот сектор?

Author(s): Katerina Kolozova,Kalina Lechevska,Viktorija Borovska,Tihomir Topuzovski,Meriton Tusha,Risto Aleksovski / Language(s): Macedonian