EVOLUTION OF COHESION POLICY. MISSION AND GOVERNANCE

Cohesion policy is the major investment vehicle and the most reforming EU budgetary chapter. Its landmark reforms mark key integration processes in the European Union. The present policy paper provides reflections of the dynamics of the main development trends in cohesion policy as determined by global phenomena, namely the economic and financial crisis and the current COVID-19 pandemic. They severely hit the entire EU, inevitably also affecting cohesion policy. The article shows that governance and the mission of cohesion policy has been adjusted to their aftermaths. Reforms introduced new measures and reinforced policy’s centralized European profile. Thus, evolution of cohesion policy is an illustration of its transformation from the merely redistributive tool with limited budgetary resources into the full-fledged development policy aimed at safeguarding that EU’s visions and goals will be pursued. The paper concludes that a new architecture poses the major challenge for cohesion policy after 2020 as its responsibilities and ever tightening governance continues while its budgets shrinks.

THE CRISIS IS A NATURAL PART OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, IT IS NECESSARY TO LEARN TO FACE IT

Europe has the strongest and largest tourism in the world. As in times of economic prosperity, the industry can prosper, in the case of a change in the economic environment as a result of a crises, it is hit hard and the tourism industry throughout the European Union is suffering billions of euros in damage. It is the case of all post-communist countries and also in Slovak Republic. The effects of such fluctuations are all the greater for the country´s GDP because they do not have contingency plans in place and solutions are often chaotic or implemented too late. The article assesses the impact of several crises, including the current one associated with COVID-19 and predicts a possible approach to mitigate the consequences of the crisis and at the same time better manage the future crisis.

THE ROLE OF THE SELF-GOVERNING REGIONS IN CORONAVIRUS CRISIS IN SLOVAKIA

The coronavirus crisis is a major social issue addressed in many countries over the last two years. Everyday life has been significantly influenced by the measures taken in an effort to eliminate the effects of this virus. The representatives of the state were not prepared for such a situation, which was reflected in the differently chosen strategies in the member states of the European Union. If we take a closer look at the situation in Slovakia, the outbreak of the corona crisis was associated with the parliamentary elections and change of government at the end of February 2020. Political aspects significantly influenced the initial phase of the fight against Covid-19. Self-governing regions were active in the individual stages and became important actors in the whole process. The article focuses on the evaluation of the role of two selected regional units - Bratislava and Košice self-governing regions within the coronavirus crisis. We primarily focus on the taken measures at the beginning of the whole process, when regional governments reacted sooner than the state itself. In addition, we analyse how self-governing regions have been involved in the vaccination process. In this context, we evaluate the current state and number of vaccinated people in both municipalities.

COOPERATION BETWEEN THE STATE AND MUNICIPALITIES IN THE TRANSFERRED EXECUTION OF STATE ADMINISTRATION

The present paper is focused on the cooperation of the state and municipalities in the context of the transferred execution of state administration. The paper has two parts; in the first part we draw our attention to the current legislation in the selected area, the second part of the paper highlights selected problems and shortcomings. The paper aims to identify selected aspects of the issue, evaluate the situation, take a critical position, and offer proposals and solutions by analysing selected information sources and application practice of local self-government.

TRANSPARENCY AND CORRUPTION AT THE LEVEL OF LOCAL GOVERNMENT

The level of corruption has consistently been a significant social and political phenomenon that affects the level of satisfaction with the current political situation and the support of the political system. Research conducted in recent years by third sector anti-corruption foundations or professional opinion research agencies suggests areas where the public perceives greater or lesser transparency. In the last decade, this significantly included the judiciary, healthcare, political parties, education and distrust grew e.g. also against the media. On the contrary, a relatively high level of trust was maintained by representatives of local governments - municipalities and cities. Given that the perception of transparency is highly emotionally based and the public can make their judgment based on “what I have heard”, the subject of the article is transparency in the local government environment. With the support of the Operational Program Effective Public Administration and the European Social Fund, a survey was conducted among the member local self-governments of the three local action groups (LAGs). From the methodological point of view, two techniques were used. The first was questionnaire survey among the inhabitants of the affected municipalities and at the same time data were requested from the municipalities within selected processes.

THE WORK – LIFE BALANCE IN THE EUROPEAN UNION WITH FOCUS ON PARENTAL AND PATERNITY LEAVE

The paper deals with the social policy of the European Union, specifically the directive (EU) 2019/1158 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 June 2019 on work-life balance for parents and carers and repealing Council Directive 2010/18/EU. And it is considering the changes that need to be made in the area of labour law, especially concerning the Labour Code, and partially in social security in the Czech Republic and the Slovak Republic, in connection with the requirement to transpose this directive. The aim of the paper is to evaluate the valid legislation of the Czech Republic and Slovak Republic in the monitored area. Key words: social policy, European Union, work-life balance, directive, parental leave, paternity leave, carers ́ leave, social security.

THE INFLUENCE OF THE MACROENVIRONMENT ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE PRICE OF SHARED AIRBNB ACCOMMODATION

The shared economy occupies through shared accommodation a full-featured position in many economies of the world and the extent of its impact can be expressed in various ways. In addition, the price of accommodation appears to be a sufficiently objective, measurable, and comparable element to other statistical instruments of the economic environment. In the article, we use statistical methods of correlation and regression analysis to express the relationships between the dependent variable in the form of the price of shared accommodation in European Union countries and other economic indicators of the macroenvironment and the tourism industry, which thus represent an independent variable. The results signal that shared accommodation prices shows a higher degree of correlation with other indicators of the tourism sector than with other macroeconomic indicators in individual countries. Key words: Shared Economy. Shared Accommodation Prices, Airbnb, Regression and Correlation