scholarly journals An analysis of innovation performance of the Western Balkan countries and the EU selective economies group

2013 ◽  
Vol 65 (1) ◽  
pp. 68-84
Author(s):  
Slobodan Cvetanovic ◽  
Vladimir Nedic

First of all, the paper offers a theoretical explication of the importance of economic innovation for a country?s economic development. It further considers the metrics of the Global Innovation Index. By means of a box-plot diagram, the article explores the link between basic innovation performances (Global Innovation Index, Index Innovation Input and Index Innovation output) of the six Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia, Serbia, Croatia and Montenegro) and a group of six selected European Union economies in the neighbourhood (Austria, Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovenia). The aim is to identify the existence of extreme values between the data that reveal the key innovation performance of the two groups including the description of the basic characteristics of the performances which have been examined.

2018 ◽  
Vol 68 (4) ◽  
pp. 521-547
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Roszko-Wójtowicz ◽  
Jacek Białek

The paper concentrates on the evaluation of the Global Innovation Index, the Summary Innovation Index and the Innovation Output Indicator. For the purpose of this article, the PROFIT (PROperty- FITting) method, an extension of the multidimensional scaling (MDS), was applied. The ultimate goal of MDS techniques is to produce a geometric map that illustrates the underlying structure of complex phenomena such as the innovation performance of the EU countries. Cluster analysis, conducted with the use of Ward’s method provided an objective view of the division of the EU countries based on their selected characteristics. The final result is a two-dimensional map illustrating the structure of innovation performance. The main conclusion drawn from the analysis is the explanation of distance between single indices in a spatial map and their role in distinguishing specific groups of the EU countries from the perspective of innovation performance.


2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dr. Sc. Slagjana Stojanovska ◽  
Dr. Sc. Violeta Madzova

The aim of this paper is to identify if there are differences in the efficiency of innovation performance between the two groups of countries: EU candidate countries such as Macedonia, Serbia and Turkey and the average level of innovation performance in EU-28 countries from 2010 - 2017. The further paper’s analysis aims to identify the most crucial factors and indicator that contribute to the efficiency of innovation performance in both groups of countries.In that sense, the comparative analyses of the two observed groups of countries has been done, using   the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) data as well as 12 EIS indicators for the period 2010 - 2017. For benchmarking of the countries three indicators are created: sub-index Input Innovation (II), sub-index Output Innovation (OI) and the Innovation Efficiency Performance Index (IEPI).The findings show that there is a difference in efficiency of innovation performance indicators between the observed two groups of countries, but as well as among each the EU candidate country. In fact, Macedonia (IEPI=2.33) has twice higher efficiency of transforming innovation inputs into innovation output unlike the EU28 countries (IEPI=1.17), Serbia (IEPI=1.06) and Turkey (IEPI=.24).It can be noted as well that Macedonia managed to use its limited resources to input (sub-index II= 0.13) in much more efficient/productive way (IEPI= 2.33) and to obtain most output innovation (sub-index OI= 0.29). This paper’s findings can be used for designing better innovation policy in the observed EU candidate countries.


Politeja ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3(66)) ◽  
pp. 157-169
Author(s):  
Wawrzyniec Banach

European Union towards Western Balkans in the Context of Migration Crisis 2015‑2019 The aim of the article is to analyse the actions taken by the European Union towards the Western Balkans in the context of the migration crisis. The study assumes that the migration crisis was an important factor accelerating the accession process of the Western Balkan countries to the European Union. In order to fulfil the research goal, an analysis of sources (European Union documents) was conducted. The paper uses elements of the theory of the regional security complex as a theoretical framework. Firstly, the activities of the European Union before the migration crisis are discussed. Next, the paper focuses on presenting the course of the crisis on the Western Balkan route. The further part of the study discusses the actions taken by the EU towards the countries of the Western Balkans in response to the migration crisis.


Author(s):  
Stefan Đurić ◽  
Bojana Lalatović

Solidarity as one of the cornerstone values of the European Union has been once again seated on the red chair and intensively discussed within the European Union and broader. After the economic recession and migrant crisis that marked the last two decades, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has once again harshly tested the fundamental objectives and values of the European Union and the responsiveness and effectiveness of its governance system on many fronts. In April, 2020 several EU Member States were among the worst affected countries worldwide and this situation soon became similar in their closest neighbourhood. It put a huge pressure on the EU to act faster, while at the same time placing this sui generis community to the test that led to revealing its strengths and weaknesses. As it happened in the previous crises, the Union launched policies and various programmes that were meant to lessen the burden of the Member States and aspiring countries caused by the crises. The objectives of the mentioned soft law instruments that the EU adopted during the COVID-19 crisis has been not only to show that EU law is equipped to react to health and economic crises rapidly but to deliver its support in terms of solidarity to its Member States and its closest neighbours facing the unprecedented health and economic crisis. This article will explore the value and implication of the solidarity principle in times of Covid-19 in its various manifestations. A special focus will be on the financial and material aspects of the EU instruments created to combat the negative consequences of the pandemic and their further impact on shaping the solidarity principle within the EU system. While examining the character and types of these mechanisms a special focus will be placed on those available to Western Balkan countries, whereas Montenegro as the “fast runner” in the EU integration process will be taken as a case study for the purpose of more detailed analyses. One of the major conclusions of the paper will be that although the speed of the EU reactions due to highly complex structure of decision making was not always satisfying for all the actors concerned, the EU once again has shown that it is reliable and that it treats the Western Balkan countries as privileged partners all for the sake of ending pandemic and launching the socio-economic recovery of the Western Balkans. Analytical and comparative methods will be dominantly relied upon throughout the paper. This will allow the authors to draw the main conclusions of the paper and assess the degree of solidarity as well as the effectiveness of the existing EU instruments that are available to Montenegro and aimed at diminishing negative consequences of the crisis.


Author(s):  
Joni Heliskoski

Whatever terminology one might wish to employ to describe the form of integration constituted by the European Union and its Member States, one fundamental attribute of that arrangement has always been the division, as between the Union and its Member States, of competence to conclude international agreements with other subjects of international law. Today, the fact that treaty-making competence—as an external facet of the more general division of legal authority—is divided and, to some extent, shared between the Union and its Member States is reflected by some of the opening provisions of the Treaty on European Union and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. Notwithstanding the changes to the scope and nature of the powers conferred upon the Union, resulting from both changes to primary law and the evolution of the case law of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), the basic characteristics of the conferment as an attribution of a limited kind has always been the same; there has always existed a polity endowed with a treaty-making authority divided between and, indeed, shared by, the Union and its Member States. In the early 1960s mixed agreements—that is, agreements to which the European Union


Author(s):  
Graham Avery

This chapter focuses on the expansion of the European Union and the widening of Europe. Enlargement is often seen as the EU's most successful foreign policy. It has extended prosperity, stability, and good governance to neighbouring countries by means of its membership criteria. However, enlargement is much more than foreign policy: it is the process whereby the external becomes internal. It is about how non-member countries become members, and shape the development of the EU itself. The chapter first compares widening and deepening before discussing enlargement as soft power. It then explains how the EU has expanded and why countries want to join. It also looks at prospective member states: the Balkan countries, Turkey, Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland. Finally, it examines the European Neighbourhood Policy.


Author(s):  
Ulrich Sedelmeier ◽  
Graham Avery

The EU has expanded many times and many countries still aspire to join. It has extended the prospect of membership to countries in the Balkans and Turkey and has developed a ‘neighbourhood’ policy towards other countries, some of which may want to join in the future. Enlargement illustrates the success of the European model of integration. It has also provided the EU with a powerful tool to influence domestic politics in would-be members. But enlargement also poses fundamental challenges. It has implications both for how the EU works (its structure and institutions) and for what it does (its policies). The chapter first compares ‘widening’ and ‘deepening’ before discussing enlargement as soft power. It then explains how the EU has expanded and why countries want to join. It also looks at prospective member states: the Balkan countries, Turkey, Norway, Switzerland, and Iceland. Finally, it examines the European Neighbourhood Policy.


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