Development Finance in the Baltic States and the Process of Europeanization

2021 ◽  
pp. 253-282
Author(s):  
Olga Mikheeva ◽  
Egert Juuse
Keyword(s):  
Eastern European ◽  
Economic Policies ◽  
External Financing ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Development Finance ◽  
Structural Funds ◽  
Strategic Approach ◽  
Eu Structural Funds ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Eu

The Central and Eastern European (CEE) region, where European structural funds make up the lion share of national budgets, provides an opportunity to study how “development financing” is defined and operationalized in the context of dependency on external financing from the European Union (EU). The three Baltic republics (Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania) represent a region with a particular socio-political history, similar economic structures and equally similar asymmetrical relations with the EU, which makes the entire notion of development finance institutions quite different from existing “strategic” qualities attributed to promotional banks as discussed in current literature. We aim to demonstrate that policy trajectories, largely shaped by the EU, and especially an overdependence on EU structural funds, result in a set of incentives that hinder the development of a more strategic approach to economic policies and policy-related finance in particular. We also argue that bureaucratic competences developed within such a context of external financing resemble a “managerial” type of Development Finance Institutions rather than “strategic” investing agents.

scholarly journals THE PROBLEMATICS OF MULTILEVEL GOVERNANCE IN THE EU AND THE CURRENT SITUATION OF REGIONALIZATION OF THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND THE STRUCTURAL FUNDS ISSUES

Auspicia ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 23-37
Author(s):  
František Prášil
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Czech Republic ◽  
Prime Minister ◽  
Multilevel Governance ◽  
The European Union ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
Structural Funds ◽  
Eu Structural Funds ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The Eu

ABSTRACT: This article deals with the issue of multilevel governance in the European Union. Firstly, it introduces the reader to the issue of multilevel governance in the relationship between the European Union and the Czech Republic. It focuses on processes, principles of multilevel governance, their development over time (especially after the Czech Republic's accession to the European Union). Secondly, the article examines the changes within the Czech Republic after its accession to the EU with regard to regions and regionalization. It points out the problems associated with drawing the EU structural funds. The article also deals with the issues of EU vs. Andrej Babiš and his business activities, in particular, the much-discussed Stork's Nest case. By summarizing the findings, the article attempts to provide readers with enough information to be able to get their own idea of whether or not the current Czech Prime Minister Andrej Babiš has a conflict of interest with his business activities.

scholarly journals Impact of Investment Sources for Sustainability on a Country’s Sustainable Development: Evidence from the EU

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 2421 ◽  
Author(s):  
Indre Lapinskaite ◽  
Viktorija Skvarciany ◽  
Patrikas Janulevicius
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Financial Investment ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Structural Funds ◽  
Country Level ◽  
Eu Structural Funds ◽  
The Eu

All countries face several issues while running the process of sustainable development—the absence of a uniform means of sourcing investment for sustainable development and the lack of a unified index for the evaluation of sustainable development. No doubt, ensuring sustainable development requires constant financial investments. Hence, it is essential to examine the investment sources for sustainable development at the country level and to comprehend if the current financial investment has a direct impact on the results of a country’s sustainable development. The article aims at identifying the financing sources for sustainable development for each of the European Union (EU) countries and assessing their impact on each of the EU countries’ sustainable development, which is expressed as the Integrated Sustainable Development Index (ISDI). After the detailed analysis of investment sources for the sustainability of the EU countries, two sources of investment, assignation of budget and the EU structural funds, were selected, and ISDI calculation was applied for twenty-five of the EU member states for the period 2003–2017. Correlation analysis (using SPSS software) helped to identify the strength of the connection and to select countries for the Johansen Cointegration Test (using Eviews software) in order to determine how variables interact. The results show that the combination of the assignation of budget and the EU structural funds has a positive impact on the coherence of five (Czech Republic, Denmark, Spain, Slovenia, and Austria) out of twenty-four countries.

scholarly journals Major changes affecting EU funded loan and equity scheme management in 2021-2027 budgetary period

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 398-408
Author(s):  
Márk Bató
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Regulatory Framework ◽  
Financial Instruments ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Structural Funds ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Development Policies ◽  
Eu Structural Funds ◽  
Capital Injections ◽  
The Eu

Approximately ten percent of support from the European Union structural funds sources was utilised as financial instruments in the 2014-2020 EU budgetary period. The term ‘financial instruments’ represents support in the form of loans and capital injections in Hungary. Programmes for 2021-2027 have not been finalised yet, but major amounts of money are expected to be used in the form of financial instruments. Therefore, one should review the changes affecting the criteria to use EU structural funds, which determine development policies in the next period regarding loan and equity schemes. Both the EU and the Hungarian regulatory framework have been established, they can be studied and used as the starting point of further planning. In this paper the major components of the relevant regulatory framework including its practical conclusions to be expected are discussed.

scholarly journals EUROPEAN FUNDS HELP ROMANIAN AGRICULTURE

World Science ◽  
2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
SILVIA MAZARE
Keyword(s):  
Poverty Reduction ◽  
Developmental Delays ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Cohesion Policy ◽  
Structural Funds ◽  
Industrial Decline ◽  
Eu Structural Funds ◽  
Economic Union ◽  
The Eu

The EU Structural Funds are managed by the European Commission and are intended to finance structural assistance measures at Community level, with the aim of promoting regions with developmental delays, reconverting areas affected by industrial decline, combating long-term unemployment, employing young people or promoting rural development. The European Union is first and foremost an economic union. The central goal is to improve economic performance, including poverty reduction. Cohesion policy is the basic policy of the Structural Funds and is a key element in achieving the central goal.

European Integration

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johann P. Arnason
Keyword(s):  
European Integration ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Historical Processes ◽  
History Of ◽  
External Conditions ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Totalitarian Regimes ◽  
The Eu

Different understandings of European integration, its background and present problems are represented in this book, but they share an emphasis on historical processes, geopolitical dynamics and regional diversity. The introduction surveys approaches to the question of European continuities and discontinuities, before going on to an overview of chapters. The following three contributions deal with long-term perspectives, including the question of Europe as a civilisational entity, the civilisational crisis of the twentieth century, marked by wars and totalitarian regimes, and a comparison of the European Union with the Habsburg Empire, with particular emphasis on similar crisis symptoms. The next three chapters discuss various aspects and contexts of the present crisis. Reflections on the Brexit controversy throw light on a longer history of intra-Union rivalry, enduring disputes and changing external conditions. An analysis of efforts to strengthen the EU’s legal and constitutional framework, and of resistances to them, highlights the unfinished agenda of integration. A closer look at the much-disputed Islamic presence in Europe suggests that an interdependent radicalization of Islamism and the European extreme right is a major factor in current political developments. Three concluding chapters adopt specific regional perspectives. Central and Eastern European countries, especially Poland, are following a path that leads to conflicts with dominant orientations of the EU, but this also raises questions about Europe’s future. The record of Scandinavian policies in relation to Europe exemplifies more general problems faced by peripheral regions. Finally, growing dissonances and divergences within the EU may strengthen the case for Eurasian perspectives.

Academic engagement with small business and entrepreneurship: Towards a landscape of practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 095042222110344
Author(s):  
Oswald Jones
Keyword(s):  
Small Business ◽  
Community Of Practice ◽  
Academic Engagement ◽  
Business Owners ◽  
Business Research ◽  
Structural Funds ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
Eu Structural Funds ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

Academic engagement with small business and entrepreneurship was facilitated by the availability of European Union (EU) funding, which also stimulated the emergence of a small business and entrepreneurship (SBE) ‘community of practice’. Gradually, the SBE community developed into a ‘landscape of practice’ as small business research moved towards maturity. Furthermore, the SBE landscape of practice has coalesced around three core concepts: entrepreneurial learning, social networks and social capital. EU funding was the catalyst for many SBE academics in the UK to engage with practitioners involved with starting and managing their own businesses. The UK’s exit from the EU will inevitably mean that universities will no longer have access to EU Structural Funds. This has major implications for the UK SBE community’s engagement with practice as well as for entrepreneurs and business owners who have benefitted from a range of programmes designed to improve the performance of smaller firms.

Income convergence in Europe: Catching up or falling behind?

2012 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 183-204 ◽  
Author(s):  
Megan Czasonis ◽  
Michael Quinn
Keyword(s):  
European Countries ◽  
Eastern European ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Income Convergence ◽  
Euro Zone ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Time Period ◽  
Eastern European Countries ◽  
Time Frames ◽  
The Eu

One of the motivations for a country to join the European Union is the belief that this will boost short- and long-run incomes. Researchers have tested the hypothesis of income convergence in different settings using either regression or unit root analysis, with mixed results. In this paper, we use both methods on the same samples over a significant time period. This allows us to judge differences in results across varied time-frames and methodologies. The focus of these tests is on convergence to German and EMU average incomes by Eastern European countries and those within the Euro-zone from 1971–2007. The evidence for convergence is mixed. Among the Euro-zone countries, there is more evidence of convergence in the 1970s and 1980s than recently. There is significant evidence that Eastern Europe experienced convergence and that capital formation was one of the root causes. While the results do not support the hypothesis that joining the EU increases convergence, reforms undertaken in the 1990s by Eastern European countries in preparation for joining may have helped them to “catch up”, even if the act of joining the EU did not directly impact convergence.

scholarly journals Financing of Smart Growth in Less Developed Regions on the Example of Poland

e-Finanse ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 8-20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dorota Murzyn
Keyword(s):  
Smart Growth ◽  
Regional Level ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Public Intervention ◽  
Structural Funds ◽  
Factors Influencing ◽  
Development Processes ◽  
Eu Structural Funds ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThe aim of this paper is twofold. First, the smart growth concept is examined with a focus on challenges associated with applying this concept in the less developed regions. Second, the impact of EU structural funds on smart growth in Poland is analyzed at the regional level with a view to contributing to the debate on public intervention in this area. The research questions are as follows: “Is the concept of smart growth, as postulated by the European Union, well suited to the less developed regions?” and “Whether and to what extent do EU funds contribute to achieving smart growth in Poland?”Smart growth has accelerated after 2007, which could suggest a significant impact of EU structural funds, whose allocation to measures supporting innovative activity rose markedly after 2007. However, among the various factors influencing regional development processes, the impact of structural funds was not as strong as might be expected, which was confirmed by further analysis.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document