This article tests if the democratization process in Central and Eastern Europe coincides with a decrease in number of invalid votes. Using descriptive statistics, we seek for evidence from 67 elections in ten countries from the regions during the period 1990-2012. By the beginning of the 2000s, ten years after the breakdown of communist regime, the percentages of invalid votes in the countries of Central and Eastern Europe reached levels comparable to those of the Western European democracies. However, significant differences between regions and countries endure. This article adds to the literature by being the first to inquire into the subject of invalid votes in the Central and Eastern Europe.
In the article the issues of economic growth of Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) at the regional level during 2008-2016 are raised with special attention to the conditions resulting from the global financial crisis. The text of the article is divided into introduction, main part consisting of three parts and conclusions. The introduction contains the purpose and scope of study described in the article. The first part presents the regional structure of CEE; in the second part the results of growth dynamics analysis of the individual CEE countries national and regional economies on EU background are presented; in the third part the results of analysis of the onvergence/divergence process across NUTS regions are presented. 2. The article ends with general conclusions about the impact of the global crisis on regional development, which can be used to improve regional policy.
The article explores the way political participation, representation and governance are conceptualized and rationalized by the Romanian legislation on parties. The plurality of parties was initially set up as a way to discipline and organize the political pluralism manifest in society in order to contain it within the boundaries imposed by the Constitution. This disciplinary vocation of parties was confirmed and reinforced by the laws enacted in 1996 and 2003 that embedded parties into a functional vision of democracy where they were explicitly endowed with the public mission of ensuring the political integration of Romanian citizens. The detailed rationalization of parties' mission to organize citizens' political participation and to contain the expression of their political will contrasted sharply with both the ambiguity of their governmental role within the "eclectic" institutional design of the Constitution, and with their organizational friability.
The events taking place in Central and Eastern Europe (primarily in Ukraine and Latvia) indicate a serious problem facing believers in these States, and are also a signi cant challenge to the adopted approach regarding the right to autonomy of religious associations, a ecting and having signi cance for the entire European continent. Currently, the state authorities of Ukraine and Latvia are taking measures aimed at signi cantly limiting the activities of religious associations that have historically been in churchcanonical connection with the Russian Orthodox Church. It seems that the actions of the State authorities of these countries can be characterized as excessive interference in the autonomy of religious organizations guaranteed by the Constitution of Ukraine and the Republic of Latvia, as well as the European Convention on Human Rights. Meanwhile, the ECHR has formed a stable practice defending the right to autonomy of religious associations in the states of Central and Eastern Europe, as well as guaranteeing protection from unjusti ed state interference in the internal a airs of the church. In this article, the author attempts not only to analyze the precedents already considered in the practice of the ECHR, but also to predict a possible Court decision regarding the actions of state authorities of Ukraine and Latvia on the way from politics to law
This study aims to estimate the impact of three fiscal instruments (direct tax revenue, indirect tax revenue and government consumption expenditure) on the economic growth of ten new European Union member states from Central and Eastern Europe– Bulgaria, Czechia, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. We examine the hypothesis about the effect of expansionary fiscal policy on economic growth. The study employs a vector autoregression and annual Eurostat data for the period 2007–2019. Four control variables (the shares of gross capital formation, household consumption, exports in GDP, and the economic growth in the euro area) are included in the model to account for the influence of non-fiscal factors on economic growth. The empirical results indicate that the real output growth rate in the ten new member states of the European Union is negatively affected by direct tax revenue, while economic growth in the euro area, exports and gross capital formation are positively related to economic growth. The results also imply that government consumption and indirect tax revenue have no significant impact on the growth rate of real output of the ten studied countries from Central and Eastern Europe. It may be inferred that policymakers in the new European Union member states can raise economic growth by encouraging exports and investment and by lowering the share of direct tax revenue in GDP. From the three analyzed fiscal instruments (direct taxes, indirect taxes and government consumption expenditure), only one has proven to be effective in the case of the new member countries.For citationStoilova D., Todorov I. Fiscal policy and economic growth: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe. Journal of Tax Reform. 2021;7(2):146–159. https://doi.org/10.15826/jtr.2021.7.2.095 Article infoReceived February 9, 2021; Revised May 2, 2021; Accepted July 20, 2021 ; Целью исследования является оценка влияния трех финансовых инструментов (прямых налогов, косвенных налогов и расходов на потребление органов государственного управления) на экономический рост в десяти новых государствах-членах Европейского Союза из Центральной и Восточной Европы– Болгарии, Чехии, Эстонии, Венгрии, Латвии, Литвы, Польши, Румынии, Словакии и Словении. Тестируется гипотеза о влиянии стимулирующей налогово-бюджетной политики на экономический рост. В исследовании используется метод векторной авторегрессии и ежегодные данные Евростата за период 2007–2019 гг. Для учета влияния на экономический рост нефискальных факторов в модель включены четыре контрольные переменные (доля валового накопления капитала, потребление домашних хозяйств, экспорт в ВВП и экономический рост в зоне евро). Эмпирические результаты показывают, что на темпы роста реального производства в десяти новых государствах-членах Европейского Союза отрицательно влияют поступления от прямых налогов, в то время как экономический рост в зоне евро, экспорт и валовое накопление капитала положительно связаны с экономическим ростом. Результаты также означают, что потребление органов государственного управления и поступление косвенных налогов не оказывают значительного влияния на темпы роста реального производства в десяти изученных странах Центральной и Восточной Европы. Можно сделать вывод, что политики в новых государствах-членах Европейского Союза могут повысить экономический рост за счет поощрения экспорта и инвестиций, а также снижения доли прямых налогов в ВВП. Из трех проанализированных финансовых инструментов (прямые налоги, косвенные налоги и потребление органов государственного управления) эффективным оказался только один.Для цитированияStoilova D., Todorov I. Fiscal policy and economic growth: Evidence from Central and Eastern Europe. Journal of Tax Reform. 2021;7(2):146–159. https://doi.org/10.15826/jtr.2021.7.2.095 Информация о статье Дата поступления 9 февраля 2021 г.; дата поступления после рецензирования 2 мая 2021 г.; дата принятия к печати 20 июля 2021 г.
The article discusses the issues and modern trends of the regional policy implementation in countries of European Community (EC); the research is focused on one of the pressing directions suggested by the European Commission to increase competitiveness of EU in the global world – research and innovation; the estimate of the state and outlook of R&D in the regional section in countries of Central and Eastern Europe is given; comparative analysis is carried out; conclusions are drawn and recommendations are made. ; В статье обсуждаются проблемы и современные тенденции реализации региональной политики в странах Европейского союза (ЕС); исследование акцентировано на одном из актуальных направлений деятельности, предложенных Европейской комиссией для повышения конкурентоспособности ЕС в глобальном мире – исследования и инновации; дана оценка состояния и перспектив развития сферы НИОКР в региональном разрезе в странах Центральной и Восточной Европы; выполнен сравнительный анализ; сделаны выводы и рекомендации.
The problems of relations between church and state are covered. The opinions of historians, religious studies scholars, public figures are given. The attention to the XX century significant events which had essential influence on the religions' position in Central and Eastern Europe countries is paid: the creation of the European Union, the fall of the Berlin wall, the dissolution of the USSR. The general peculiarities of the relations between state and church during this period for the countries of this region (The Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and others) are analyzed. The main tendencies of such relations development are characterized: establishment of the state church model and separation of church from the state. The attention is paid to the fact that there is no full agreement in understanding the term «separation of church from the state» among experts. It is emphasized that such law, public and cultural situation in which the state has nothing in common with church does not take place in any Western Europe country. The separation means that the state does not identify itself with one of religions or churches and both institutes respect an autonomy of each other in spheres belonging to them. The relevance of the research of the questions connected with law regulation for the religious organizations activity in Central and Eastern Europe countries is grounded for optimization of the relations between state and confessions in Ukraine ; Рассматриваются вопросы взаимоотношений Церкви и государства. Приводятся мнения историков, религиоведов, общественных деятелей. Уделяется внимание знаменательным событиям ХХ века, оказавшим существенное влияние на положение религий в странах Центрально-Восточной Европы: созданию Европейского Союза, падению Берлинской стены, распаду СССР. Проанализированы общие для стран этого региона (Чехии, Словакии, Венгрии и других) особенности государственно-церковных отношений в этот период. Характеризуются основные тенденции развития таких отношений: установление модели государственной церкви и отделение церкви от государства. Обращается внимание на то, что среди специалистов нет полного согласия в понимании термина «отделение Церкви от государства». Подчеркивается, что ни в одной из стран Западной Европы не имеет места такая правовая и общественно-культурная ситуация, в которой государство не имеет с Церковью ничего общего. Отделение означает, что государство не отождествляет себя ни с одной из религий или церквей и оба института уважают автономию друг друга в принадлежащих им сферах. Обосновывается актуальность исследования вопросов, связанных с правовым регулированием деятельности религиозных организаций в странах Центрально-Восточной Европы, для оптимизации государственно-конфессиональных отношений в Украине
Po raz pierwszy rosyjski pomysł zawarcia Traktatu o bezpieczeństwie europejskim został ogłoszony podczas Petersburskiego Forum Ekonomicznym (czerwiec 2008). Chociaż projekt traktatu nie ma wielkich szans na zrealizowanie, wydaje się, że władzom rosyjskim chodzi raczej o zintensyfikowanie rozpoczętej debaty międzynarodowej w kwestii bezpieczeństwa europejskiego. Taka dyskusja może przyczynić się do poprawy ogólnego klimatu zaufania i zrozumienia. Kluczową rolę w tym procesie może odegrać dialog między Rosją i Unią Europejską. ; Russia's intention to sign the European Security Treaty was first announced at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (in June 2008). Although the draft of the Treaty is unlikely to be implemented, the Russian authorities appear to intend to intensify the international debate on the issue of European security. Such a debate might contribute to an improved atmosphere of general trust and understanding. The dialogue between Russia and the European Union may be of crucial importance for this process.
