Inhaltsverzeichnis: Andreas Schwabe, Gunter Deuber: a) Die (globalisierte) Volkswirtschaft der Ukraine, b) Aktuelle Wirtschaftsdaten (5-9); Heiko Pleines: a) Der Erdgaskonflikt zwischen Russland und der Ukraine, b) Der russisch-ukrainische Erdgashandel (10-16); Florian Munder: Der Beitritt der Ukraine zur Welthandelsorganisation WTO (17-20); Halyna Kokhan: a) Die Stahlindustrie in der Ukraine, b) Die ukrainische Eisenerz- und Stahlindustrie (21-29); Dokumentation: Die Ukraine in wirtschaftsbezogenen Länderrankings (30-44).
Inhaltsverzeichnis: Taras Kuzio: Die politische Landschaft vor den Parlamentswahlen (5-6); Kerstin Zimmer: Eine Region und ihre Partei. Die Partei der Regionen als Donezker Elitenprojekt (7-10); Thomas Stiglbrunner: Die wichtigsten Parteien im Portrait (11-15); Das vorläufige amtliche Endergebnis der Parlamentswahl vom 26.3.2006 (16-19); Koalitionsverhandlungen und Regierungsbildung vom 26. März bis 6. September 2006 (20-23); Heiko Pleines: Demokratie lernen (24); Die ursprüngliche Zusammensetzung der Regierung Janukowitsch (25-26); Kurzbiographien der Minister (27-28); Der Konflikt um die Entlassung des Außenministers (29-31); Ralf Wachsmuth: Ist Nascha Ukraina noch zu retten? Der schleichende Niedergang der Partei des Präsidenten (32-34); Präsident Viktor Juschtschenko zur politischen Lage (35-36).
"Das Projekt untersucht die Integration der Gewerkschaften aus den neuen Mitgliedsländern Polen, Tschechien und Slowakei auf der EU-Ebene. In der ersten Projektphase (Mai bis Dezember 2007) werden dabei vor allem die praktischen Erfahrungen der Gewerkschaftsvertreter ausgewertet. Dazu wurden im Sommer 2007 Gewerkschaftsvertreter aus den drei ausgewählten neuen EU-Mitgliedsländern zu ihren Erfahrungen und ihrer Einschätzung der eigenen Rolle auf der EU-Ebene befragt. Zusätzlich wurden Mitglieder des Sozialen Dialogs der EU (Vertreter von Gewerkschaften und Arbeitgebern), Vertreter der EU Institutionen sowie Experten zur Rolle der Gewerkschaften auf der EU-Ebene interviewt. Zum Vergleich wurden mit Deutschland auch Gewerkschaften aus einem alten Mitgliedsland in die Analyse einbezogen. Das Projekt ist eine Kooperation der Forschungsstelle Osteuropa an der Universität Bremen mit dem Institut für Soziologie der Tschechischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, dem Institut für Soziologie der Slowakischen Akademie der Wissenschaften und dem Koszalin Institute of Comparative European Studies. Im vorliegenden Arbeitspapier sollen nun erste Ergebnisse der Interviews präsentiert werden. Der erste Beitrag gibt einen Überblick über den analytischen Rahmen und das Forschungsdesign des Projektes. Anschließend folgen thematisch gegliederte Zusammenfassungen zentraler Ergebnisse der Interviews in den einzelnen Untersuchungsländern. Eine Dokumentation der Interviewergebnisse findet sich im zweiten Teil." (Textauszug). Inhaltsverzeichnis: Heiko Pleines: Analytischer Rahmen und Forschungsdesign (7-19); Joanna Einbock, Aleksandra Lis: Zentrale Trends der Interviews in Polen (21-25); Zdenka Mansfeldova: Zentrale Trends der Interviews in Tschechien (27-30); Monika Cambáliková: Zentrale Trends der Interviews in der Slowakei (31-33); Brigitte Krech: Zentrale Trends der Interviews in Brüssel (35-36); Jan Brüning: Zentrale Trends der Interviews in Deutschland (37-38).
"This working paper is the third and final part of a series presenting the first results of a research team examining the impact of the 2004 EU enlargement on governance structures involving the participation of civil society organisations. The research team is part of the NEWGOV Integrated Project, led by the European University Institute. Starting from the thorough analysis of the situation at the national level, in this working paper we examine the engagement of civil society organisations from post-socialist member states in EU governance. The contributions cover the respective EU regulations as well as informal practices and focus on the capacity, impact and accountability of the civil society actors involved." (excerpt). Contents: Brigitte-Erika Krech: The integration of civil society organisations from the post-socialist member states into the EU decision-making process (7-18); Daniela Obradovic, Jose M. Alonso Vizcaino: Good governance requirements for the participation of interest groups in EU consultations (19-44); Kristýna Busková, Heiko Pleines: Case study: Czech environmental NGOs and the EU (45-53); Gesine Fuchs: Case study: Polish non-governmental women's organisations and the EU (54-65); Zdenka Mansfeldová: Case study: Czech trade unions and employers' associations on the way to multi-level dialogue (66-78); Joanna Einbock: Case study: the activities of Polish trade unions at the EU level (79-86); Heiko Pleines: Case study: the Polish agricultural lobby between Warsaw and Brussels (87-99).
"This working paper is part of a series presenting the results of a research team examining theimpact of the 2004 EU enlargement on governance structures involving the participation of civilsociety organisations. The working paper starts with a contribution by David Lane summarizing the state of civil society organisations in the post-socialist EU member states and their potential for an active role in new modes of governance. He offers a quantitative and qualitative assessment and discusses the implications for questions of accountability. The following two articles by Zdenka Mansfeldová and Micha? Federowicz and Micha? Sitek go on to elaborate on civil society organisations holding state actors accountable. Mansfeldová examines the societal context for political and administrative accountability in the Czech Republic, while Federowicz and Sitek examine the political accountability of the Polish government. The next two contributions focus on state actors holding civil society organisations accountable. As argued above, the focus here is on legal accountability. Marcin Wiszowaty offers an overview of national legal regulations of lobbyism and related involvement in political governance in the new EU member states. As only two of these states have passed a law on lobbyism so far (the others are still in the process of drafting relevant legislation), his focus is on its legal regulation in Lithuania and Poland. Jakub P?a?ynski then analyses the realization of legal accountability in practice, comparing different cases of legally questionable actions by Polish civil society organisations. The final article by Martin Kay develops a highly refined theoretical perspective of legitimacy and accountability. Drawing on the Irish example, he shows the theoretical implications of the issues discussed in the preceding contributions and offers guiding questions for future research." (excerpt). Contents: David Lane: Civil society formation and accountabilityin the new post-socialist EU member states (7-21); Zdenka Mansfeldová: Political and administrative accountability in the Czech Republic (22-34); Michal Federowicz, Michal Sitek: Accountability to the forum: the case of civil society interacting with political institutions (35-45); Marcin Michal Wiszowaty: Legal regulation of lobbying in new member states of the European Union (46-56); Jakub Plazynski: Public protests in Poland. Legal regulation and legal accountability (57-76); Martin Kay: A new approach to legitimacy and accountability. Limitations and possibilities in the context of the enlarged EU (77-100); Aleksandra Lis: Bibliography: Political activities and accountability of civil society organisations in the new EU member states (101-114).
"Die Ukraine steht politisch an einem Wendepunkt. Innenpolitisch haben die Parlamentswahlen vom März 2006 erneut die Zerstrittenheit des orangenen Lagers verdeutlicht. Außenpolitisch ist die Ukraine zwischen einer Westorientierung mit Anbindung an die EU und einer Ostorientierung mit Integration in die von Russland dominierte GUS gespalten. Es ist noch unklar, ob die orangene Revolution zu einer deutlichen Annäherung an die EU führen wird. Gleichzeitig kommt es regelmäßig zu Konflikten mit Russland, wie im Januar 2006 im Rahmen der Eskalation des Streites um Erdgaslieferungen." (Textauszug). Inhaltsverzeichnis: I. Die politische Stimmung nach der "Orangenen Revolution" - David Lane: Was kommt nach der Orangenen Revolution? (8-13); Taras Kuzio: Die politische Landschaft vor den Parlamentswahlen (14-17). II. Die Parlamentswahl im März 2006 - Thomas Stiglbrunner: Die wichtigsten Parteien im Portrait (18-23); Kerstin Zimmer: Eine Region und ihre Partei. Die Partei der Regionen als Donezker Elitenprojekt (24-27); Taras Kuzio: Die freien Wahlen in der Ukraine und der Kamikaze-Präsident (28-29); Pressestimmen zu den Wahlen (30-34); Sarah Whitmore: "Damit müssen wir leben": das neue Parlament und das neue Regierungssystem der Ukraine (35-38); Das vorläufige amtliche Endergebnis der Parlamentswahl vom 26.3.2006 (39-43). III. Der Erdgasstreit mit Russland - Heiko Pleines: Die Energiefrage in den ukrainisch-russischen Beziehungen (44-46); Roland Götz: Die wirtschaftliche Seite des Gaskonflikts (47-52); Julia Kusznir: RosUkrEnergo (53-54); Josephine Bollinger-Kanne: Liefermonopol versus Transitmonopol. Russische und ukrainische Argumentationen im Erdgasstreit (55-57); Julia Kusznir: Der russisch-ukrainische Erdgasstreit von Juni 2005 bis Februar 2006 (58-61); Julia Kusznir: Streitpunkte zwischen Russland und der Ukraine (62-65). IV. Westorientierung in der Außenpolitik als Stabilitätsanker? - Eberhard Schneider: Die Ukraine und die Europäische Union (66-72); Steven Pifer, F. Stephen Larrabee, Jan Neutze, Jeffrey Simon: Die Euro-atlantischen Ambitionen der Ukraine. Entwicklung einer effektiven Politikkoordination (73-78); Jan Zofka: Tödliche Wirtschaftsblockade oder transparente Zollregelung? Die neue Zollverordnung der Ukraine und der Transnistrien-Konflikt (79-83); Wilfried Jilge: Die Zollregelung an der ukrainisch-moldauischen Grenze: ein wichtiger Schritt zur Bekämpfung von Schmuggel, Betrug und grenzüberschreitender Kriminalität (84-89).
"The analyses presented in this working paper provide a genuinely interdisciplinary view on Russia's society since the end of socialism. A historian, Hans-Henning Schröder, describes the political sphere, a political scientist, Diana Schmidt, covers civil society, a sociologist and a geographer, David Lane and Denis Eckert, deal with the economic sphere. They all develop a comparative dimension to put the Russian case in context. As the panel title suggests, all papers are concerned with general trends characterising the post-Soviet development of Russia. In order to describe these trends, the authors refer to analytical frameworks of reference provided by their specific discipline and research orientation. Nevertheless, as Valerie Bunce points out in her comment, a number of conclusions on the state of Russian society is supported by all four papers. The most important one seems to be that Russia is marked by a high degree of inequality, fragmentation and political alienation; this in turn questions the stability of the political, economic and social system which has emerged in Russia. However, the main aim of all papers is not to depress the reader or to criticize developments, but to understand what is going on. Here, the authors provide an original, rich and broad overview of ways to analyse and interpret current trends. They present many interesting insights and data and integrate them into a general line of argument which offers a rather comprehensive answer to the question of how to explain Russia's Post-Soviet Political and Economic System." (excerpt). Contents: Hans-Henning Schröder: What kind of political regime does Russia have? (6-22); Diana Schmidt: What kind of civil society does Russia have? (23-45); David Lane: Russia's asymmetric capitalism in comparative perspective (46-60); Denis Eckert: Russia 15 years later: contemporary paradoxes in the organization of economic space (61-67); Valerie Bunce: Commentary on the papers (68-71).
"This working paper presents the first results produced by a research group examining the impact of the 2004 EU enlargement on governance structures involving the participation of civil society organisations. This research group is part of the NEWGOV Integrated Project, led by the European University Institute. This first working paper of the research group is devoted to the state of civil society in the new EU member countries with a socialist past, focusing on the capability of civil society organisations in these countries to participate in old and especially new modes of governance at the national as well as at the EU level. As participation in EU-organised or EU-designed modes of governance is of special importance for the project, the empirical analysis is based on the EU definition of civil society, to make sure that the group of actors covered by the project and by EU regulation is identical. According to the EU 'civil society includes the following groups: trade unions and employers organisations (social partners); organisations representing social and economic players which are not social partners in the strict sense of the term (for instance, association of pharmaceutic industry); non-governmental organisations which bring people together in common cause, such as environmental organisations, human rights organisations, charities, professional associations, grass roots organisations; organisations that involve citizens in local and municipal life with a particular contribution from churches and religious communities.' How this definition corresponds to ideas of civil society being discussed in academic research and what the theoretical and analytical consequences of these definitions are, when applied to post-socialist cases, is discussed by David Lane in his contribution on civil society and the imprint of state socialism. At the same time Lane gives an overview of the specific legacies influencing the development of civil society in post-socialist states. Michal Federowicz then presents a theoretical framework to describe the transformation process going on in post-socialist societies. He discusses changes in the different spheres of society, namely macro- and microeconomic levels, the state and civil society, in an integrated way. Thus he puts the position and functioning of civil society in the new EU member states in its societal context. The following contribution by Heiko Pleines moves on to analyse the role of civil society organisations in policy-making. He takes the examples of Poland and the Czech Republic and contrasts them with Russia in order to show differences within the group of post-socialist cases. In her case study of Czech civil society actors in the social dialogue Zdenka Mansfeldová then offers a closer examination of the role of civil society groups from new EU member states in new modes of governance. Her analysis of the different partners in the social dialogue compares the regional, national and EU level and includes a critical assessment of the ability of Czech civil society organisations to participate in the European social dialogue. As there is a huge amount of literature discussing the questions addressed in this working paper, a selected bibliography, compiled by Malgorzata Czerniak, is included to give an overview of recent research on the topic. With these five contributions this working paper tries to summarize the analysis of the state of civil society in the new EU member states, focusing on the capability of civil society organisations to engage in policy-making processes." (excerpt)
