Challenges of Developing Open Policymaking in the Western Balkans

2022 ◽  
pp. 297-313
Author(s):  
Igor Vidačak
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Civil Society ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Important Indicator ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Public Administration Reform ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
The Eu

The level of openness of policymaking has gradually become an important indicator of the progress of public administration reform in countries aspiring for EU membership. Based on lessons learned from previous enlargement rounds, the EU has gradually reformed its pre-accession assistance strategy by putting more emphasis on building capacities of government bodies for implementing more open and inclusive styles of democratic governance. Nevertheless, the countries of the region are still facing substantial challenges in this area. This chapter seeks to identify main factors that affect the quality of openness of Western Balkans' governments with particular emphasis on their ability to ensure adequate access to information, transparent and predictable decision-making, and timely public participation as key components of a wider concept of government openness. It is claimed that the specific design of the EU accession negotiations favours and often legitimizes the dominance of executive while at the same time weakening the position of legislative bodies and civil society actors.

scholarly journals Lessons Learned From an Early Hotspot During the COVID-19 Pandemic

2021 ◽  
pp. 000313482199475
Author(s):  
Brett M. Chapman ◽  
George M. Fuhrman
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Surgical Education ◽  
Clinical Care ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Educational Environment ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Residency Programs ◽  
Surgical Residency ◽  
The Impact

The Covid-19 pandemic has provided challenges for surgical residency programs demanding fluid decision making focused on providing care for our patients, maintaining an educational environment, and protecting the well-being of our residents. This brief report summarizes the impact of the impact on our residency programs clinical care and education. We have identified opportunities to improve our program using videoconferencing, managing recruitment, and maintaining a satisfactory caseload to ensure the highest possible quality of surgical education.

scholarly journals FDI determinants in Europe and Chinese influence

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 21-37
Author(s):  
Alena Dorakh
Keyword(s):  
Trade Costs ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Eu Member States ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Vertical Fdi ◽  
Belt And Road ◽  
The Cost ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

Despite recent concerns about the increasing influence of outside investors on the European Union (EU) and Western Balkans, the developed European countries are still a dominant source of foreign direct investment (FDI) in the region, confirming the benefits of EU membership. At the same time, fast-growing connectivity and lower trade costs in accession and neighboring countries determine the FDI growth from China, particularly via the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). By applying panel data over 2000-2019 for 34 countries, which form 89% of all European FDI, we first examine FDI patterns around Europe, compare the EU, NMS, and Western Balkans; verify the importance of EU membership for FDI, caused reducing trade costs and improving connectivity. Thus, the new EU member states (NMS) and Western Balkans appear both as a home country and as a pre- entry destination to the EU. Then, we calculate trade costs indices for each selected country and partners over time and find that Europe and China are closely interconnected through trade and FDI. It means that stronger ties with China can be realized for the sample countries at the cost of easing relations with the EU. Finally, incorporating trade costs indices into the FDI model; we evaluate the impact of connectivity on FDI and estimate how BRI affected FDI in Europe. Additionally, we validate that the old framework of horizontal and vertical FDI not representative well and even new complex vertical or export-oriented FDI strategies are shifting today.

Knowledge-Intensive Entrepreneurship in the Economy of the European Union

2014 ◽  
pp. 43-52
Author(s):  
G. Olevsky
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Knowledge Production ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Quality Of Information ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Knowledge Intensive ◽  
Knowledge Intensive Entrepreneurship ◽  
The Eu

The article studies role of knowledge in business and analyzes tendencies of the formation of knowledge-intensive entrepreneurship (business) in the EU. It is shown that for small and medium-sized enterprises prospects of expansion of knowledge production and sales of products and services are associated with the internationalization of business. The author proposes the matrix of decision-making entrepreneurs, depending on the completeness and quality of information at their disposal on the market.

The Impact of covid-19 Measures on the Rule of Law in the Western Balkans and the Increase of Authoritarianism

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-33
Author(s):  
Andi Hoxhaj ◽  
Fabian Zhilla
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Comparative Analysis ◽  
Bosnia And Herzegovina ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Checks And Balances ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
State Capture ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

Abstract This article offers a comparative analysis of the covid-19 legal measures and model of governance adopted in the Western Balkans countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Serbia and Kosovo) and its impact on the state of the rule of law, and ability of parliament and civil society to scrutinise government decisions. The article assesses the governments’ approaches to introducing and enforcing covid-19 legal measures, and shows examples of how covid-19 has exposed more openly the weaknesses in the existing system of checks and balances in the Western Balkans. The article offers new insights into how covid-19 presented a new opportunity for leaders in the Western Balkans to implement further their authoritarian model of governance in undermining the rule of law. This article offers suggestions on how the EU could respond, through its accession conditionality instruments and civil society, to redirect this trend towards more state capture.

Managerial Decision-Making Process in the Modern Business Conditions in the EU

2020 ◽  
pp. 324-348
Author(s):  
Boban Melovic ◽  
Slavica Mitrovic Veljkovic ◽  
Dragana Cirovic ◽  
Ivana Djakovic Radojicic
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Cultural Dimensions ◽  
Decision Making Process ◽  
Managerial Decision ◽  
Business Decisions ◽  
Eu Countries ◽  
Content Analysis Method ◽  
Modern Business ◽  
The Eu

This chapter analyzes the differences of decision-making process in the EU member countries, caused by differences in main dimensions of national culture of each of them. The influence of different cultural dimensions on decision-making process is explained. Thanks to the application of qualitative research method and deductive approach, there are conclusions about specificities of decision-making process, in particular EU countries. Using the inductive approach, content analysis method and method of synthesis, the EU countries were grouped regarding to the decision-making styles that are the most appropriate in each of them, based on the characteristics of the cultural framework that exist within them. Obtained results may help managers to better understand their decision-maker role in different cultural environment and it would enable them to apply the appropriate decision-making style, which would increase the quality of business decisions that are being made.

9. The European Union and Brexit

Public Law ◽  
2020 ◽  
pp. 355-396
Author(s):  
Mark Elliott ◽  
Robert Thomas
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Legal System ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Eu Law ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Parliamentary Sovereignty ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

This chapter focuses on the constitutional implications of the UK’s membership of the European Union and the constitutional implications of its exit from the EU (or ‘Brexit’). The chapter examines how EU law was accommodated within the UK legal system during the period of the UK’s membership of the EU, and in particular considers the consequences of the primacy of EU law for the doctrine of parliamentary sovereignty. The chapter also considers the extent to which lessons learned about the UK constitution as a result of EU membership will remain relevant now that the UK has left the EU.

scholarly journals Turkey, the EU and Social Policy

2007 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 491-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nick Manning
Keyword(s):  
Civil Society ◽  
Social Policy ◽  
Social Model ◽  
European Social Model ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Welfare Institutions ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Eu

This paper considers what we might expect to be the effect on social policy of Turkish accession to the EU by reviewing the impact of EU membership on social policy in other new member and candidate countries. This effect begins long before membership is finalised, and continues long after membership has been achieved. The patterns of impact can be divided along a number of dimensions: between ‘accession’ and ‘enlargement’; state and civil society; centre and periphery; formal and substantive; and different welfare institutions. In the course of reviewing these variations, the paper reflects upon the nature of social policy itself, and in particular the nature of the European Social Model.

scholarly journals Public Administration Reform in Bulgaria: Top-down and Externally-driven Approach

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 89-124
Author(s):  
Emilia Zankina
Keyword(s):  
Public Administration ◽  
Civil Service ◽  
Human Resources Management ◽  
External Pressure ◽  
Annual Reports ◽  
Policy Outcomes ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Public Administration Reform ◽  
Main Factors ◽  
The Eu

The article examines public administration reform (PAR) in Bulgaria and the main factors that shaped the reform agenda and dynamics. PAR is examined along five key dimensions – transparency and accountability, civil service and human resources management (HRM), public service delivery and digitalisation, organisation and management of government, and policy-making coordination and implementation. The article argues that there are four main factors influencing reform dynamics and determining policy outcomes in the Bulgarian case: the specific political choices made by government elites, external influence of the EU and of past national legacies, and the importance of institutions and reform mechanisms. To illustrate these factors at work, the article examines three policy initiatives, i.e. e-government, the reduction of administrative burden, and civil service reform. The article presents a longitudinal analysis and a qualitative case-study approach, utilising Annual Reports on the Status of the Public Administration 2001–2018, mapping European Semester Documents 2011–2017, an inventory of PAR initiatives 2005–2018, and interviews of public officials. The pushes for reform have been top-down, externally-driven, and stop-and-go in nature. The results confirm previous findings that Bulgaria is among the EU countries with the poorest record in PAR, struggling to overcome communist legacies and high levels of corruption and politicisation. The Bulgarian case highlights several important lessons: the importance of political will and political dynamics for the outcome of reform efforts; the importance of external pressure and financing; the difficulty of uprooting long-standing legacies in administrative traditions; and the limitations of the top-down approach as an obstacle to the sustainability of reform efforts.

scholarly journals Cronic Kidney Disease, Life Quality Assessment Of Patients

2016 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 103
Author(s):  
Marsida Duli ◽  
Qamil Dika ◽  
Matilda Bushati
Keyword(s):  
Quality Of Life ◽  
Chronic Kidney Disease ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Kidney Disease ◽  
Clinical Decision Making ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Clinical Decision ◽  
Healthy Population ◽  
Important Indicator

Assessing quality of life in patients with varying degrees of chronic kidney disease is an important issue because of its impact on clinical decision-making as increasing the efficiency of resources in the health system. Through this survey provided an attempt to assess the quality of life of patients with chronic kidney disease undergoing dialysis. Commitment to maximize their functioning and well-being constitutes the essence of the purpose of health care. In recent decades elaborate SF 36 is cut by a gauge derive so simple and basic that helps to evaluate the function of the target of researchers, a certain age group, a disease or a treatment group. Short questionnaire forms SF36 instrument gauge is used to determine the level of quality of life in patients with chronic renal failure under the different stages of treatment with dialysis. The study involved 206 people, 112 from patients to Tirana and Shkodra and 94 healthy persons, who collaborated consensually for completing the questionnaires. Based on the results, the quality of life of dialysis patients is significantly worse than that of the healthy population and patients with other injuries less severe of renal function. Survey indicates that a more holistic approach to be used in the treatment of patients with chronic kidney disease including clinical decision making and patient perception. Precisely for this it is recommended to enter the practice of clinical interest that a set of questionnaires that provide information on patients' perception of health as an important indicator that facilitates the physician-patient collaboration in order to better treatment of the disease and increase the quality the life of the patient.

scholarly journals Brexit and Western Balkans

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 55-70
Keyword(s):  
Soft Power ◽  
Eu Enlargement ◽  
Western Balkans ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Security Culture ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Eu Membership ◽  
Balkan Countries ◽  
The Uk ◽  
The Eu

This article analyses effects of Brexit on relations between the United Kingdom and the Western Balkan countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, and Serbia). First, the symbolism of the UK departure from the EU for the Western Balkans is explained. In the following step, multiple types of relations (in trade, security, culture) between the post-Brexit UK and this region are analysed using the theoretical concepts of linkage, leverage and soft power. Finally, the consequences of Brexit on further EU enlargement are presented. The research has confirmed the initial hypotheses. First, as expected, the volume and density of UK-Western Balkan relations will be reduced after Brexit. Second, Western Balkans is of a very limited interest for the UK, primarily in security. Third, Brexit has not in a serious way changed the already existing low chances of EU accession for the Western Balkan countries. The reason for this has little to do with the UK’s presence in or absence from the EU and is rather a consequence of the majority view within the Union (that Britain had already shared before Brexit) concerning further enlargement and low level of preparation of Western Balkan countries for EU membership.

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