The aim of this paper is to establish and clarify the relationship between corruption level and development among European Union countries. Out of the estimated model in this paper one can conclude that the level of corruption can explain capital abundance differences among European Union countries. Also, explanatory power of corruption is higher in explaining economic development than in explaining capital abundance, meaning stronger relationship between corruption level and economic development than between corruption level and capital abundance. There is no doubt that reducing corruption would be beneficial for all countries. Since corruption is a wrongdoing, the rule of law enforcement is of utmost importance. However, root causes of corruption, namely the institutional and social environment: recruiting civil servants on a merit basis, salaries in public sector competitive to the ones in private sector, the role of international institutions in the fight against corruption, and some other corruption characteristics are very important to analyze in order to find effective ways to fight corruption. Further research should go into this direction.
Konvergencija dohodaka je više od polovine veka predmet mnogih teorijskih i empirijskih istraživanja. Brojni istraživači su posvetili veliku pažnju ovom pitanju na koje, do sadašnjeg trenutka, ne postoji jasan odgovor, niti jedinstven rezultat. Iako je strana literatura bogata radovima čiji je predmet istraživanja konvergencija dohodaka među zemljama Evropske unije, kao i uticaj različitih faktora na konvergenciju dohodaka, u domaćoj literaturi ova oblast nije dovoljno istražena. Osim toga, još uvek je mali broj radova koji se bave ispitivanjem postojanja i brzine konvergencije dohodaka između zemalja Evropske unije i zemalja Zapadnog Balkana. S tim u vezi, predmet doktorske diseratcije je dohodovna konvergencija zemalja Zapadnog Balkana i članica Evropske unije u kontekstu evropske ekonomske integracije. Cilj istraživanja u doktorskoj disertaciji je da se pruži odgovor na pitanje da li postoji konvergencija dohodaka među zemljama Evropske unije. Takođe, cilj istraživanja je utvrđivanje razlike u brzini konvergencije dohodaka između razvijenih zemalja Evropske unije, s jedne strane, i Novih zemalja članica Evropske unije i zemalja Zapadnog Balkana, s druge strane. Pored toga, cilj istraživanja u doktorskoj disertaciji je i utvrđivanje faktora koji utiču na konvergenciju dohodaka. Rezultati empirijske analize pokazuju postojanje dohodovne konvergencije među zemljama Evropske unije. Osim toga, dokazano je da Nove zemlje članice Evropske unije i zemlje Zapadnog Balkana, s jedne strane, imaju bržu konvergenciju dohodaka od grupe razvijenih zemalja Evropske unije. Analizom smera i intenziteta delovanja različitih faktora na konvergenciju dohodaka, dobijeni su rezultati koji ukazuju na pozitivan uticaj bilateralne trgovine na dohodovnu konvergenciju, pozitivan uticaj stranih direktnih investicija na dohodovnu konvergenciju centralnoevropskih tranzicionih zemalja u pretkriznim godinama, kao i pozitivan uticaj prisutnosti ekonomskih sloboda u godinama posle Globalne ekonomske krize. Reformski procesi nisu pokazali snažan i kontinuiran uticaj na dohodovnu konvergenciju centralnoevropskih tranzicionih zemalja. ; Income convergence has been the subject of many theoretical and empirical research for more than half a century. Many researchers devoted great attention analyzing income convergence among countries. However, there is still no clear answer, nor a unique result about this topic. Although foreign literature has vast number of papers that examine income convergence among the European Union countries, as well as the effect of various factors on income convergence, this field has not been sufficiently explored in domestic literature. In addition, there is still a small number of papers that test the existence and speed of income convergence between the developed countries of the European Union and the Western Balkan States. In this regard, the subject of the doctoral dissertation is income convergence of the Western Balkan States and European Union member states in the context of European economic integration. The aim of the research in the doctoral dissertation is to determine the existence of income convergence among the European Union countries. Also, the aim of the research is to determine the difference in the speed of income convergence between developed countries of the European Union, on the one hand, and New Member States and Western Balkan States, on the other. In addition, the aim of the research is to determine factors that affect income convergence. The results of the empirical analysis show the existence of income convergence among European Union countries. The results also show higher speed of income convergence of Western Balkan States and New Member States, compared to developed European Union members, depending on the observed subperiod. By analyzing the direction and intensity of various factors on income convergence, results indicate positive impact of bilateral trade, positive impact of foreign direct investment in the pre-crisis years, and positive effect of presence of economic freedom in the years after Global economic crisis. Reform processes haven't shown a strong and continuous effect on income convergence of Central European transition countries.
The Lisbon Treaty has brought significant changes into the architecture of the European Union. The most important novelty, however, is the establishment of a full unity of the Union structure achieved by creating new and strengthening the existing elements. The new elements of this unity are the disappearance of the European Community, the 'independence' of the European Atomic Energy Community, constituting the European Union as a single entity and the introduction of EU values. At the same time, the Lisbon Treaty has strengthened the existing elements of the common institutional mechanisms, rules on amending the founding treaties and EU membership. However, constituting the Union as a single entity which has replaced and succeeded the European Communities has not abolished the EU elements of diversity. In the areas that differed, even before the adoption of the Lisbon Treaty, from the community pillar, there remain significant differences in the nature and the scope of competences of the Union institutions. This mainly regards the common foreign and security policy, which now includes the defense policy, where the existing model of inter-state cooperation has been only slightly interfered with. In contrast, in the field of police and judicial cooperation in criminal matters, which has become part of a larger Area of Freedom, Security and Justice, the inter-state model of cooperation has been abandoned in some of its most important elements. However, the implementation of some of the important elements of the supranational model has been postponed.
Within contemporary geopolitical processes, respect for the rights of national minorities is no longer the discretion of a state, but rather is an indirect or direct international regulation of the minority issue. In the beginning of the 1990s, the political economical crisis and disintegration of the former SFRY opened the national question, that was considered to be permanently and successfully solved, in the most dramatic way, and ethnic conflicts and clashes followed the desintegration of the country. With the formation of a new states on the territory of the former Yugoslavia, the existence of numerous and different national minorities ("old" and "new") required a different approach to their protection and integration in complex political circumstances. Thus, the position of the so called new minorities drastically changed since they formed constituent nations in the former SFRY, while after secession they remained separated from their home nations and became national minorities almost overnight. Out of Serbia, in former Yugoslav republics live nearly half a million persons belonging to Serbian nationality as new national minority. The paper discusses the position and rights of the Serbian minority in the post Yugoslav states (Slovenia, Croatia, Northern Macedonia, Montenegro) as well as in some neighboring member states of the European Union (Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria). In addition to the analysis of basic demographic indicators (number and spatial distribution) that determine the realization of the rights and freedoms of each minority, the paper examines the issue of protecting the national, cultural and linguistic identity of Serbs, as well as the ways of its preservation and improvement. Although the social and legal status of the Serbian minority is determined by European standards, the analysis points to their undefined status, since they still do not recognize the status of a national minority in some countries, and that they are in practice faced with more or less assimilation. In order to fully realize minority rights and improve the position of the Serb minority, ratified international documents, bilateral agreements, national laws, as well as well-designed policies and assistance from the home state are of great importance.Respecting basic human rights and freedom, as well as national minority protection, represent the basic factors of stability, security and democratic and socio-economic development of every country.
The paper analyzes military capabilities of the European Union, as an important element of the credibility of the EU Common Security and Defense Policy (CSDP). It discusses the development of these capabilities, and main problems that go along with the operationalization of these capabilities, as well as the prospects of their further development. Is the intergovernmental approach to the area of the EU security and defense policy a barrier to the development of EU military capabilities? What is the extent of the harmonization between 'military' competences of the EU and national specificities? The paper aims to provide answers to these questions. The first section analyzes the institutionalization of the EU security and defense policy, which includes both the establishment of special political and military structures responsible for the decision-making process within the framework of this policy, and the adoption of specific goals for the development of EU military capabilities. The second section analyzes the main difficulties met in the operationalization of EU military capabilities, concerning the efficiency of decision-making procedures, lack of strategic capabilities, the discord of national reforms regarding the modernization of the armed forces, and duplication of national programs covering the military equipment. The third section discusses the prospects of the development of EU military capabilities in the light of EU member states' military budget cuts. It concludes that the gradual evolution of the EU security and defense policy can be seen as an incentive for coordinating the efforts of the member states in the development of EU military capabilities.
