We study the evolution of union density in 14 European countries over the postwar period in light of theoretical rationales for union membership. Unions offer not only wage bargaining strength, but also protection against uninsurable labour market risks, and similar protection may also be offered by labour market institutions. Empirically, such institutions as job security legislation and wage indexation do appear to crowd out unions. Conversely, institutional features that make it easier for unions to function (such as workplace representation and centralized wage bargaining) are empirically associated with higher unionization.
Ovaj rad analizira prosječnu bruto per capita dohodovnu konvergenciju osam zemalja Jugoistočne Evrope (JIE) prema prosjeku EU-a. Cilj je utvrditi koji faktori doprinose konvergenciji zemalja JIE regije kao i opisati kretanje konvergencije u periodu 2000.-2018. godine, s posebnom pozornošću na dva pod perioda, prije i nakon Svjetske ekonomke krize. Koristimo pri tome kombinaciju parametarskih i neparametarskih metoda i linearne panel regresije fiksnih efekata s robusnim standardnim greškama. Rezultati sugeriraju da je konvergencija bila podstaknuta procesom EU integracija, obrazovnim nivoom stanovništva, investicijama (stranim, domaćim i javnim), kreditnom ekspanzijom u privatnom sektoru, kao i rastom javnih rashoda. S druge strane, ekonomska kriza, nezaposlenost i inflacija bili su glavni faktori koji su utjecali na divergenciju procesa. Zaključujemo na kraju i da je post-tranzicijski model rasta dominantan u regiji SEE, temeljen na stranim direktnim investicijama, nedovoljan, i da su domaće privatne investicije kritično-nedostajući faktor brže dohodovne konvergencije. ; This paper investigates the average gross per capita income convergence of eight Southeast European economies towards the EU average. Our goal is to analyse which factors have driven that convergence in the SEE region and describe convergence paths in the 2000-2018 period, concerning two sub-periods, before and after the economic crisis. We use a combination of parametric and nonparametric methods and a fixed effects linear panel regression with robust standard errors. Results suggest that the EU integration process drove convergence, education level, investment (FDI, private domestic and public investments), and private sector lending, as well as by government expenditures. Economic crisis, unemployment, and inflation were the main factors which have influenced the divergence process. We also concluded that the post-transition growth model dominant in the SEE region, based on an FDI inflow, has not sufficient for income convergence in this region. Private domestic investments are a critical missing factor for faster income convergence.
L'obiettivo di questo studio é la ricostruzione e l'analisi storico-politica delle varie fasi di avvicinamento del Regno di Danimarca all'Unione Europea. Partendo da una breve introduzione ai principali eventi che hanno portato alla formazione dell'Unione e da un inquadramento della Danimarca nel contesto storico che precede la volontá di unificazione Europea, lo studio si sviluppa poi tracciando il percorso del Regno come paese neutrale e per molti aspetti ostile alla partecipazione in un'unione politica oltre che monetaria e nell'incremento quindi delle competenze dell'Unione. Lo studio prosegue poi esaminando il contorno storico-culturale della Danimarca dal momento dell'ingresso nella Comunitá Europea, tracciando il filo storico-politico degli eventi piú importanti, quali il referendum del 1986, il Trattato di Maastricht e gli opts-out concessi, l'Accordo di Edinburgo, il referendum del giugno 1992, L'EMU e l'Accordo di Amsterdam. Una parte a sé all'interno dello studio é riservata agli opts-out ottenuti dalla Danimarca, con un'analisi delle conseguenze politico/sociali dell'auto esclusione del Regno da aree cruciali come la moneta unica, la difesa e la giustizia. Durante tutto lo studio viene esaminato il concetto di "Danish way of life" come contesto culturale alla base della volontaria esclusione della Danimarca dall'Unione Europea e la determinazione del Regno nel preferire la collaborazione con gli altri paesi Scandinavi, vicini non solo geograficamente ma anche a livello culturale e sociale.
Odlukom Ujedinjenog Kraljevstva da napusti Europsku uniju, kao i usporavanjem procesa proširenja Europske unije na zemlje Zapadnog Balkana i Tursku, pojavila se nova fraza u europskom političkom rječniku: Europa izvan Europske unije. Ta fraza, koju promoviraju tvorci britanske vanjske politike, vraća na dnevni red raspravu o europskom identitetu. U ovom članku analiziraju se kompleksni i različiti odgovori na pitanja kao što su tko je, što je, kad je i gdje je Europa, gdje je njezina granica i tko su Drugi u odnosu na nju. Pitanju identiteta Europe pristupa se iz konstruktivističke perspektive, kroz analizu definiranja Sebstva i Drugosti. Iako je Europa nakon Hladnog rata proklamirala kao svoj cilj ujedinjenje i emancipaciju od Drugih, ona je ostala vezana uz Sjedinjene Američke Države kroz koncept euroatlantizma, a u nekim aspektima i uz Rusiju kroz ideju o Euroaziji. U suvremenim okolnostima Europska je unija sve udaljenija od ideala o jednoj i ujedinjenoj Europi. Umjesto toga, ona više liči na lȕk, sa svojim jezgrom, unutarnjom i izvanjskoj periferijom, kao i s vanjskim akterima koji su polupovezani s Europom zbog povijesnih i strateških razloga. Zbog toga se postavlja pitanje je li Europu uopće moguće definirati kao cjelinu u odnosu na njezine susjede i na druge zainteresirane aktere (Rusiju, SAD i Tursku) ili je njezin identitet određen upravo nemogućnošću takvoga jednoznačnog definiranja. ; Following the decision of the United Kingdom to leave the European Union and in the light of the slowing down of the EU enlargement in the Western Balkans and Turkey, a new phrase emerged in the European political vocabulary – Europe outside the European Union. This phrase, promoted by British foreign policy designers, brings the issue of the European identity back on the agenda. Who, what, when and where is Europe, and who are the Others in relation to Europe? In this article, we analyse the complex and mutually divergent replies to the question of the European identity by using a constructivist approach, based on the definitions of the European Self and Other. Despite proclaiming an ambition to unite and emancipate itself from the Others, Europe remained connected to the United States after the Cold War through the concept of Euro Atlanticism. The competing concept of Eurasia – marking a link between Europe and Russia – is also becoming popular in the areas of European inner and external peripheries. Contemporary Europe is far from being "united in diversities" – it looks more like an onion instead with its core countries, internal and external peripheries and influential external stakeholders that are semi-detached to it for historical and strategic reasons. The author therefore puts forward a question of whether it is at all possible to define Europe as the Other to its neighbours and other external stakeholders such as Russia, the US and Turkey. Would it not be more appropriate to define Europe through a permanent notion of being in-between its own Others, rather than through its own clearly marked and defined Self?
Discusses the Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) of the European Union, designed to maintain peace in Europe, as stated in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, its intergovernmental and federal features, and relationship to the Western European Union (WEU) and Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). Summary in English. Some focus on the potential CFSP contribution to maintenance of peace worldwide.
Understanding Central Europe as a particular European region is based on historical & cultural heritage of the Mitteleuropa & on the revival of the Central European identity in the 1980s. Central European regional cooperation has been promoted in the late 1980s & early 1990s, particularly through the following cooperation schemes: Pentagonale/Central European Initiative (now dissolved), the Vishegrad Group, & the Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA). These schemes have been supported by the European Union & they fit its strategy of widening that is now based on the differentiated integration, which implies strengthening of economic & monetary union & defense union. The European Union tends to link the Central European region to the Baltic countries, rather than connect it with Southeastern Europe, which is regarded as a special case, covered by the peace restoration strategy. Central Europe is a region of uneven development & very diversified cultures & peoples. It is therefore difficult to treat it as a structured European region. EU focuses on a number of states that form "the intersection of different areas of integration," & in this respect Central Europe may be best understood as a development & transformation project that might create a new type of differentiated relationships among states & cultures within Central Europe & between Central Europe & the European Union. Focusing on Central Europe may turn the region into the central project of European development. Adapted from the source document.
