scholarly journals Evaluating the Extent and Nature of ‘Envelope Wages’ in the European Union: A Geographical Analysis

2009 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin C. Williams
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Small Group ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
East Central ◽  
Geographical Analysis ◽  
Central European ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
East Central European

To evaluate the spatialities of the illegal wage practice where employers pay their declared employees both an official declared wage and an undeclared ‘envelope’ wage so as to avoid tax liabilities, a 2007 survey conducted in 27 European Union (EU) member states is reported. The finding is that 5% of employees received envelope wages which amount on average to some two-fifths of their wage packet. Revealing how, although heavily concentrated in a small group of East-Central European nations, this wage practice is nonetheless ubiquitous, the paper concludes by discussing how this practice might be tackled.

scholarly journals Mesmerized by Enlargement

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (3) ◽  
pp. 664-684 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simon Lightfoot ◽  
Balázs Szent-Iványi ◽  
Kataryna Wolczuk
Keyword(s):  
Development Assistance ◽  
Member States ◽  
East Central ◽  
Central European ◽  
New Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Transition Experience ◽  
East Central European ◽  
The Eu ◽  
The Way

The accession of the East-Central European (ECE) countries carried a promise of enhancing and enriching the EU’s Eastern policy. The new member states had the strongest interests among EU member states to ensure that countries in the East are prosperous, stable, and democratic. Yet, the EU’s Eastern policy has been largely criticised for its ineffectiveness. So why have they not been able to address the shortcomings in the EU’s Eastern policies? The article argues that the ECE countries supported the way the EU’s Eastern policies were conceived and implemented because they saw it as a potent vehicle to promote their own transition experience not only in the region but also within the EU. We argue that the ECE states have experienced three types of challenges when promoting their transition experience. First, uploading to the EU level remained largely at a rhetorical level. Second, there are conceptual and practical difficulties in defining what constitutes transition experience and harnessing it, as well as coordinating its transfer between the ECE states. Finally, while using transition experience as the basis for their development assistance strategies, the ECE countries actually insufficiently conceptualised the “development” aspect in these policies. Being so driven by their own experience, they have not drawn the lessons from enlargement to use in a non-accession context, especially by incorporating the broader lessons with regard to development.

Varieties of Capitalist Democracy: What Difference Does East-Central Europe Make?

2004 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 259-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
IAIN McMENAMIN
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Central Europe ◽  
The European Union ◽  
East Central Europe ◽  
The Czech Republic ◽  
East Central ◽  
Central European ◽  
Internal Politics ◽  
Capitalist Democracies ◽  
East Central European

The establishment of capitalist democracies in East-Central Europe raises the question of whether existing accounts of varieties of capitalist democracy need to be revised. This article provides a systematic quantitative comparison of varieties of capitalist democracy in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland with 19 other OECD countries. It finds that the East-Central European cases constitute a distinctive cluster; that they have much in common with Greece, Iberia and Ireland and that they are closer to the continental European than the liberal variety of capitalist democracy. These results have important implications for the internal politics of the European Union, prospects of an East-Central European repeat of the relative success of Ireland and the Mediterranean in the European Union, and debates about the influence of neo-liberalism on public policy.

Why “goEast” When They Are All Coming West?

2016 ◽  
Vol 70 (1) ◽  
pp. 107-111
Author(s):  
Aga Skrodzka
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
East Central ◽  
German Film ◽  
Central European ◽  
European Cinema ◽  
Communist Countries ◽  
East Central European

A report from the sixteenth goEast Festival of Central and Eastern European Film, which took place at the historic Caligari FilmBühne in Wiesbaden, Germany. Supported by the German Film Institute (Deutsches Filminstitut DIF) in Frankfurt, goEast originated in 2001 as a cross-cultural initiative designed to popularize East Central European cinema in the West, an effort which was then aligned with the European unification project focused on incorporating the post- Communist countries into the European family. Today, as the festival continues to cast its gaze eastward, it is no longer the expansion of the European Union that provides its political framework. Rather, this year's edition was more impacted by the questions surrounding the future existence of the European Union itself, whose members had recently refused to act in solidarity to address the ongoing refugee crisis, with some even contemplating exit strategies. Intensifying nationalism and resurgent xenophobia were directly mentioned by a number of goEast organizers as forces that the festival is actively seeking to oppose.

scholarly journals The Support of Agricultural Land Through the “Central European Initiative on Agricultural Land Protection”

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 24-26
Author(s):  
Lucia Palšová
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Agricultural Land ◽  
Food Policy ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Land Protection ◽  
Central European ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
The Eu

AbstractThe protection of the qualitative aspects of agricultural land is in the interests of both Slovakia and the European Union. Several policy documents have emerged in the European Union over the last few years, however, they have not been legally binding, as the EU Member States refuse all binding legal acts in this area. Therefore, solving the problem of agricultural land protection is left to the exclusive competence of the EU Member States. On the other hand, problems related to agricultural land cross the borders of states and that is why the Department of Law, Faculty of European Studies and Regional Development, Slovak University of Agriculture in Nitra submitted an international research project under the Erasmus + program, Key Action 3: Jean Monnet entitled “Central European Initiative on Agricultural Land Protection”. The aim is to strengthen the dialogue between key stakeholders in the protection of agricultural land in Central Europe what will have a positive impact on the achievement of the EU agri-environmental and food policy objectives.

Political aspects of security of the European Union Member States

2020 ◽  
pp. 97-105
Author(s):  
Aleksandra Kusztykiewicz-Fedurek
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Political Security ◽  
New Institutions ◽  
The Stability ◽  
Key Aspects ◽  
The Eu

Political security is very often considered through the prism of individual states. In the scholar literature in-depth analyses of this kind of security are rarely encountered in the context of international entities that these countries integrate. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to key aspects of political security in the European Union (EU) Member States. The EU as a supranational organisation, gathering Member States first, ensures the stability of the EU as a whole, and secondly, it ensures that Member States respect common values and principles. Additionally, the EU institutions focus on ensuring the proper functioning of the Eurozone (also called officially “euro area” in EU regulations). Actions that may have a negative impact on the level of the EU’s political security include the boycott of establishing new institutions conducive to the peaceful coexistence and development of states. These threats seem to have a significant impact on the situation in the EU in the face of the proposed (and not accepted by Member States not belonging to the Eurogroup) Eurozone reforms concerning, inter alia, appointment of the Minister of Economy and Finance and the creation of a new institution - the European Monetary Fund.

scholarly journals European Regional Inequalities: The Other Face of Development

2017 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 163
Author(s):  
Celeste Perrucchini ◽  
Hiroshi Ito
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Capita Income ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Point Of View ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Per Capita Income ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Per Capita

Empirical evidence suggests an overall convergence in terms of GDP and per capita income occurring among the European Union (EU) Member States. Nevertheless, economic inequalities have been increasing at the regional level within European Union countries. Through the review of relevant literature, this study analyzes the increasing inequalities from an economical point of view, focusing on Italy and the UK as examples. First, a general overlook of the empirical evidence of the GDP and per capita income at national and sub-national levels will be presented. Second, an explanation of the possible causes of the results will be proposed through the use of economical and sociological theories. The findings of this research might uncover the relative inefficacy of EU Cohesion policies and point towards the necessity for deeper and more thoughtful measures to continue the convergence of Member States while preserving internal equilibria. This paper ends with discussions for the future directions of the EU.

Practice of the member states of the European Union in the field of anti-corruption regulation

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dmytro S. Melnyk ◽  
Oleg A. Parfylo ◽  
Oleksii V. Butenko ◽  
Olena V. Tykhonova ◽  
Volodymyr O. Zarosylo
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
System Analysis ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Analysis Method ◽  
Member States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Legal Method ◽  
Content Analysis Method ◽  
The Eu

Purpose The experience of most European Union (EU) Member States has demonstrated effective anti-corruption practices, making the EU one of the leaders in this field, which can be used as an example to learn from in the field of anti-corruption. The purpose of this study is to analyze and identify the main features of anti-corruption legislation and strategies to prevent corruption at the national and supranational levels of the EU. Design/methodology/approach The following methods were used in the work: discourse and content analysis, method of system analysis, method of induction and deduction, historical-legal method, formal-legal method, comparative-legal method and others. Using the historical and legal method, the evolution of the formation of anti-corruption regulation at the supranational level was revealed. The comparative law method helped to compare the practices of the Member States of the EU in the field of anti-corruption regulation. The formal-legal method is used for generalization, classification and systematization of research results, as well as for the correct presentation of these results. Findings The main results, prospects for further research and the value of the material. The paper offers a critical review of key EU legal instruments on corruption, from the first initiatives taken in the mid-1990s to recent years. Originality/value In addition, the article analyzes the relevant anti-corruption legislation in the EU member states that are in the top 10 countries with the lowest level of corruption, namely: Denmark, Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany and Luxembourg.

scholarly journals National Food Safety Systems in the European Union: A Comparative Survey

2013 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Hadjigeorgiou ◽  
Elpidoforos S. Soteriades ◽  
Anastasios Philalithis ◽  
Anna Psaroulaki ◽  
Yiannis Tselentis ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
European Union ◽  
Food Safety ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Comparative Survey ◽  
Safety Systems ◽  
Central Level ◽  
The Eu

This paper is a comparative survey of the National Food Safety Systems (NFSS) of the European Union (EU) Member-States (MS) and the Central EU level. The main organizational structures of the NFSS, their legal frameworks, their responsibilities, their experiences, and challenges relating to food safety are discussed. Growing concerns about food safety have led the EU itself, its MS and non-EU countries, which are EU trade-partners, to review and modify their food safety systems. Our study suggests that the EU and 22 out of 27 Member States (MS) have reorganized their NFSS by establishing a single food safety authority or a similar organization on the national or central level. In addition, the study analyzes different approaches towards the establishment of such agencies. Areas where marked differences in approaches were seen included the division of responsibilities for risk assessment (RA), risk management (RM), and risk communication (RC). We found that in 12 Member States, all three areas of activity (RA, RM, and RC) are kept together, whereas in 10 Member States, risk management is functionally or institutionally separate from risk assessment and risk communication. No single ideal model for others to follow for the organization of a food safety authority was observed; however, revised NFSS, either in EU member states or at the EU central level, may be more effective from the previous arrangements, because they provide central supervision, give priority to food control programs, and maintain comprehensive risk analysis as part of their activities.

scholarly journals European Green Deal as a matter of security

2021 ◽  
Vol 900 (1) ◽  
pp. 012035
Author(s):  
P Polko
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Energy Transport ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
Policy Initiatives ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Particular Solutions ◽  
The Eu

Abstract The European Green Deal (EGD) is a set of policy initiatives by the European Union with the overarching and ambitious aim of making Europe climate neutral in 2050. Being world’s first ‘climate-neutral bloc’ and fulfilling other goals extending to many different sectors, including construction, biodiversity, energy, transport, food and others has also an impact on different sectors of security. The implementation of the tasks set out in the EGD requires taking into account the necessity of sustainability in reaching the goals, including not violating sectoral security in the EU Member States. Nexus approach might be useful in the processes of finding and implementation of particular solutions.

scholarly journals Europejska polityka wobec Romów – w stronę inkluzji?

Politeja ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (4(61)) ◽  
pp. 71-84
Author(s):  
Małgorzata Kołaczek
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Research Paper ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Member States ◽  
National Policies ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Roma People

European Roma Policy – Towards Inclusion? This article aims to present the concepts of current European Union’s policy towards the Roma, starting with its origins up until recent years, as well as briefly diagnose the involvement of the EU’s institutions in developing and implementing programs and guidelines for national policies towards the Roma people in member states. This research paper also analyzes to which degree the activities of the European Union, with special emphasis on the period from 2011, positively influences the level of inclusion and integration of the Roma people into mainstream societies of EU member states. Finally, this article attempts to evaluate the results of the implementation of the above-mentioned policy as well as to predict the challenges which may arise in case of continuation of activities in this area.

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