scholarly journals EUROPE 2020 TARGETS: THE PROGRESS OF THE BALTIC COUNTRIES IN TERMS OF RIS3

Author(s):  
Sergejs GEMMA ◽  
Zane VĪTOLIŅA

The Europe 2020 strategy was proposed by the European Commission with an aim to improve European Union (EU) competitiveness and promote economic growth. For the successful achievement of economic growth using the Smart Specialization Strategy (RIS3) in the EU, the European Commission has set out five interrelated headline targets to be achieved by 2020 in the areas of employment, research and development, climate change and energy, education and poverty and social exclusion. The targets are translated into national targets for each EU Member State; at the same time, they are common goals for all the EU Member States to be achieved through a mix of national and EU actions. The authors of the research used statistical data on the Europe 2020 targets to detect progress or regress in achieving these targets, the accuracy of target value detection and the implementation of RIS3 in the EU. The aim of the research is to evaluate RIS3 progress based on the Europe 2020 targets. The following tasks were set: 1) To calculate progress on each Europe 2020 target for Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania using Eurostat statistical data; 2) To evaluate the calculated data and compare the data with those for the other Baltic States and the EU average; 3) To forecast RIS3 development for the year 2020 in the Baltic States. The research employed the monographic and descriptive methods as well as analysis, synthesis, the graphic method, the data grouping method and forecasting. All the three Baltic States have exceeded their target values on employment and education. Low indicators – just half of the target value – the Baltic States have on the share of the EU’s GDP invested in Research and Development. Other positions such as green energy, poverty and social exclusion mostly show a need for more active and effective action for achieving the Europe 2020 targets.

Author(s):  
Magdaléna Přívarová

The Baltic States have been facing higher emigration flows since joining the EU in 2004. While integrating to the EU, this region has faced many economic and political issues, which revealed the weaknesses of their economic policies, financial systems and social security systems. Even though after the EU accession in 2004 the Baltic economies have demonstrated rapid economic growth, still their financial performance under the economic crisis has evidently shown their weaknesses. The Baltic States is a crucial example of the regions where the current emigration has drawn the attention of the policy-makers seeking to reduce the possible negative effects from the emigration of young and well-skilled workers. Here, we have employed fixed effects and OLS estimation methods to conduct our research analysis. Our regression analysis has demonstrated that remittances positively and significantly contribute to the economic growth of the Baltic. However, we also need to emphasize the importance of further analysis of the geography of remittances to the region, especially under the conditions of Brexit, given the fact that for many years a large share of remittances the Baltics were receiving from the United Kingdom. The effects of Brexit on the remittances flows from the United Kingdom to the Baltics will definitely take place in the future, thus, shifts in emigration flows and remittances should be in the focus of future research.


2018 ◽  
pp. 113-122
Author(s):  
Jerzy Babiak

The issues of poverty, famine and malnutrition mainly concern underdeveloped regions. Yet in recent years the proportion of the population threatened with poverty and social exclusion has been growing not only in these regions but also in developed areas, including the EU. The issue of poverty is additionally related to demography. In this context, the aging population of West European countries is worrisome, as the elderly are one of the groups particularly threatened by poverty, and their number continues to grow. Appreciating the gravity of this issue, the European Commission considers the fight against poverty to be one of the basic five directions established in the Europe 2020 strategic document.


Author(s):  
V. V. Vorotnikov

The economic crisis fueled contradictions among the parties and weakened public support of internal and external policies of the Baltic states (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia). Natural necessity to abandon previous one-sided Euro-Atlantic foreign political and foreign economic orientation in favor of more balanced approach towards relations with Eastern neighbours (primarily with Russia) has become the issue of key importance that turned out to be a stumbling block for main political parties (ruling parties, opposition, so called ‚Russian‘ parties) in the Baltic states. The attitude to this problem became crucial during recent political crisis in Latvia, whereas in Lithuania and Estonia it led to changing rhetoric on foreign political issues by opposition parties. It is possible to nominally define the political situation in Lithuania as partisan consensus, whereas in Latvia and Estonia foreign political strategies complicated by unresolved domestic ethnic and language minorities problems are a battlegroud for ruling right-wing conservative coalitions and social-democratic oppositions. So, main social and political forces in the Baltic states faced the task to find a new consensus on foreign political issues in order to efficiently develop national economies under the conditions of financial economic turbulence in the EU and worldwide as well as to support social unity.


2018 ◽  
Vol 6 (6) ◽  
pp. 75
Author(s):  
Tomas Bekišas

This paper aims to determine Lithuania’s, Latvia’s, and Estonia’s parties’ positions on the European Union (EU) and to ascertain whether these party positions mirror their voters’ positions on the EU. Analysis suggests that parties in this region have rather varied positions on the EU, with the exception of hard-Eurosceptic views, which are absent in Baltic states’ party systems. This paper also indicates that parties in the Baltic states tend to mirror, with some exceptions, their voters positions on the EU. This suggests that there may be additional factors determining parties’ positions regarding the EU in the Baltics.


2021 ◽  
Vol 38 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Oleksandr Vyshnevskyi ◽  
Ihor Stashkevych ◽  
Olena Shubna ◽  
Svetlana Barkova

The article discusses the dynamics of economic development based on the level of digitalization of the countries. Economic development is evaluated through the dynamics of GDP changes. Digitalization level is evaluated through the Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI), which is calculated on a regular basis by the European Commission. Object of study – 28 EU‑member countries. The hypothesis of the investigation: a high level of digitalization leads to an acceleration of economic growth on national level. This hypothesis did not find any statistically significant confirmation. Thus, we can conclude that the level of the economy digitalization at the present stage of development of technologies and institutions in the EU countries does not have a decisive effect on the rate of economic growth.


2018 ◽  
pp. 135-148
Author(s):  
Liutauras Gudžinskas ◽  
Tomas Bekišas
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