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The regionalization of Slovenia implies that it is about a demanding professional & political project, which is expected to be completed in 2008 by establishing the regions. The beginning of their functioning is planned as from 1 January 2009. In order to provide this process, some constitutional amendments were introduced in 2006 The regional legislation with its associated implementing regulations should implement them. The bills on regions, their financing, regional elections & establishment of regions (these bills are already being discussed in the National Assembly of the Republic of Slovenia) are a touchstone for introduction of regions & for a successful beginning of their functioning. There is a variety of challenges & dilemmas regarding regional competences & the number of regions, own tax resources, regional authority organization & other issues. Very few international standards & good local & regional self-government principles are adhered to in Slovenia. For this reason, some criticism has come from the Council of Europe & the European Union. Although regionalization is an internal matter of the states concerned, the European principles regarding the objectives of regionalization, division & sharing of powers between levels of government, the scope of regional self-government, sharing of tax revenues & public finance, the connection between the regionalization processes & European & world processes, etc. cannot be avoided. References. Adapted from the source document.

The "integration of Europe" is, among other things, a huge ideological undertaking. Part of that undertaking entails the appropriation of history for the political project of building a "European Union." One aspect of that appropriation of history is the rooting of Europe as a political community in historical times & places where Europe as such did not exist. Popular among such ideological constructs is presentation of the Carolingian Empire as the predecessor of contemporary, united Europe. By analyzing early medieval usages of the word Europe, the author argues that it is unwarranted to speak of any clear "idea of Europe," in the Carolingian period or, in turn, to portray the Carolingian Empire as the "first Europe" & a potential model for today's "integration of Europe.". Adapted from the source document.

The article documents the process of the increase in the relevance of fundamental rights in the European Union and calls attention to the fact that it is gradually approaching an important point whose attainment would have a considerable impact on the nature of the EU. The text traces the development of the EU's powers and activities in setting the norms related to fundamental rights, and deciding about their application, control and enforcement. The states have been reluctant to permit the Union to intervene into their domestic human rights affairs which are not connected to the EU's competences. Nevertheless, its recent activities indicate that the EU is starting to get more say even in this cautiously guarded domain of domestic competence. Adapted from the source document.

This paper analyses the perception of the new member states of the EU (the 2004 and 2007 entrants) by the old member states' representatives. The text utilizes an updated version of image theory and it is based on 24 interviews with diplomats from permanent representations of the old member states in Brussels. It argues that the mutual perception between the EU member states has an impact on coalition building and thus also on the decision-making process of the EU. Although the newcomers are perceived positively in general terms, there are several differences between them in terms of their activities and behaviour at the EU level as well as in the cultural area. The paper therefore divides the newcomers into groups according to the image that is ascribed to them (the four general images are those of a close ally, a passive ally, a distant ally, and a detached ally). Adapted from the source document.

This study seeks to make a contribution to a limited research on the systemic level of the national coordination of European affairs, which involves both domestic institutions and a permanent representation at the EU and national embassies in the EU member states and other countries. We explore the issue through a case study which concentrates on 1) several middle-sized EU member states and 2) coordination in the field of foreign and security policy. The study argues that the coordination at the systemic level has a rather a centralized character. The elements of decentralization, which can be also identified at the systemic level, are primarily related to information-gathering as well as representation at negotiations. Permanent representations are considerably more involved in coordination than national embassies, however. Adapted from the source document.

In the text finite mixtures of lognormal distributions are used for the modelling of net annual income per capita and equivalized income of the Czech households (in CZK) in 2004-2010. The development of distribution of number of members of households is analysed and the characteristics of standardized units according to EU and OECD methodologies are given. Data from the survey EU-SILC organized by the Czech Statistical Office from 2005-2011 (dealing with incomes from 2004-2010) are used for the analysis. Models (with incomplete data) with two to four artificial components are used in order to fit the distribution of incomes; the development of their characteristics is shown. All estimates in the text are maximum likelihood estimates, EM algorithm in the program R is used for the optimalization. Models are compared with the use of Akaike criterion. Adapted from the source document.

The paper gives an analysis of the system for implementing the regional policy in the Republic of Croatia. Proceeding from increasingly large development disparities in the Republic of Croatia, the paper evaluates the level of readiness of the territorial administrative system for conducting regional policy efficiently. Particular emphasis is being placed on the analysis of the three elements that are in a positive correlation with the efficient conduct of regional policy. They are: a legislation framework of regional policy, institutional structure with a special emphasis on the mechanisms of horizontal & vertical coordination, & the system of local & regional self-government. All three variables include relevant limitations that influence the efforts for additional improvement of the overall capacity for conducting regional policy & for stimulating the development of the country. The author analyses & justifies the need for adoption of a special regional development system act. He points to some basic issues that should be solved; he maintains an attitude that an institutional framework should be created & emphasizes the need for reform of local & regional self-government that should be transformed from a retarding element into a generator of development. Figures, References. Adapted from the source document.

The aim of this paper is to examine the consequences of a failure to make a preliminary reference from the point of view of consumer organizations striving for the protection of collective consumer rights. Also, this paper argues against a strict application of the principle of procedural autonomy of Member States, as it makes the enforcement of consumer rights practically impossible, in particular with respect to Directive 2009/22/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 April 2009 on injunctions for the protection of consumers' interests (the Injunctions Directive). The author discusses both judicial and extrajudicial remedies that are available in case of a failure to make a preliminary reference to the Court of Justice of the European Union. She believes that procedural rules and the specific conditions for obtaining damages based on the Francovich judgment are not sufficiently harmonized throughout the European Union. Adapted from the source document.

Through the public procurement rules, protection of competition, equality of choice & transparency of the procedure in relationships between the public & private sectors are provided, to the greatest extent possible, in the EU rules. All the contractual relationships between the public & private sectors cannot be subject to strict & formal rules on public procurement primarily due to the special nature of business operations, complexity & duration of the relationships. Concessions or public-private partnerships of a concessionary nature are excluded from the legal regime that applies to public procurement. This paper analyses the contractual relationships of the concessionary nature & the EU efforts for ensuring a certain degree of equal treatment of private partners entering into public-private partnerships. Adapted from the source document.

Within the context of the ongoing scholarly debate on post-accession compliance in the Central and Eastern European new member states, this paper examines the implementation of EU environmental policy in the Czech Republic since 2004, focusing on the transposition and application of six EU directives. It argues that, while the Czech Republic has had some difficulty complying with EU environmental law since becoming a member state, overall its performance in this area does not conform to pessimistic scenarios, but instead presents a more complex and differentiated picture. It also discusses the main factors inhibiting and supporting the implementation of EU environmental policy in the Czech Republic, showing that these tend to vary according to the specific issue or directive concerned. Adapted from the source document.