Suchergebnisse

Obstaja veliko študij, ki se ukvarjajo s primerjalnim vrednotenjem e-uprave. Razlog za tako popularnost primerjalnega vrednotenja je interes različnih držav za boljši vpogled v trenutno specifično fazo razvoja e-uprave na nacionalni ravni. Ta vpogled hkrati razkriva pozitivne in negativne plati razvoja v primerjavi z drugimi državami ter tiste vidike, ki jih je treba izboljšati. Namen naše študije, ki vsebuje analizo razvitosti e-uprave v Sloveniji, Avstriji, Hrvaški, Danski in Estoniji v letih 2014, 2015 in 2016, je ugotoviti, ali v izbranih državah obstaja povezanost med stopnjo razvitosti e-uprave in drugimi izbranimi dejavniki razvitosti države (višina bruto domačega proizvoda, stopnja izobrazbe in stopnja interakcije z javnimi organi). Za opisovanje ključnih pojmov e-uprave in kazalnikov razvitosti smo uporabili metodo deskripcije, s komparativno in statistično metodo pa smo primerjali izmerjene vrednosti izbranih kazalnikov. Ugotovitve analize ne nakazujejo povezanosti med višino BDP in stopnjo razvitosti euprave. Pri nižji in srednji stopnji izobrazbe obstaja negativna povezanost, kar pomeni, da manjši kot so deleži prebivalstva z nižjo oziroma srednjo izobrazbo, bolj se povečuje stopnja razvitosti e-uprave. Delež prebivalstva z visoko izobrazbo pa je pozitivno povezan s stopnjo razvitosti e-uprave. Močna pozitivna povezanost je prav tako prisotna med stopnjo interakcije z javno upravo in stopnjo razvoja e-uprave. Izjema je le Slovenija, kjer se stopnja interakcije z javnimi organi znižuje s povečevanjem stopnje razvitosti e-uprave. S primerjalno analizo smo pridobili boljši vpogled v stanje e-uprave v izbranih državah ter s tem prispevali k boljšemu razumevanju obravnavanega področja in k identifikaciji povezanosti razvitosti e-uprave z drugimi kazalniki razvoja države. ; There are many studies dealing with comparative evaluation of e-government. The reason for such popularity of comparative evaluation is the interest of different countries for a better insight into the current, specific phase of e-government development at the national level. At the same time, this insight reveals positive and negative aspects of development in comparison with other countries and emphasizes those aspects that need to be improved. The purpose of our study, which includes the analysis of the development of e-government in Slovenia, Austria, Croatia, Denmark and Estonia in 2014, 2015 and 2016, is to determine whether a correlation between the level of development of egovernment and other selected factors of the country's development (amount of gross domestic product, level of education, level of interaction with public authorities) exists in selected countries. In order to describe the key concepts of e-government and development indicators, a descriptive method was used, and with the comparative and statistical method we compared the measured value of the selected indicators. The findings of the analysis do not indicate the correlation between the level of GDP and the level of development of e-government. At the lower and middle level of education, there is a negative correlation, which means that smaller the proportions of the population with lower and secondary education are, higher is the level of development of e-government. The proportion of the population with higher education positively correlates with the level of e-government development. A strong positive correlation is also present between the level of interaction with public authorities and the level of egovernment development. The only exception is Slovenia, where the level of interaction with public authorities is decreasing by increasing the level of e-government development. With our comparative analysis we gained a better insight into the condition of egovernment in selected countries and thus contributed to a better understanding of the area as well as identified the connection between the development of e-government and other indicators of the country's development.

Raziskovalni problem primerjalne analize je preveriti, ali je stopnja razvitosti e-uprave povezana z izbranimi kazalniki razvitosti države ter kakšen je vpliv zgodovine razvoja e-uprave v Sloveniji na povezanost med stopnjo razvitosti e-uprave in izbranimi kazalniki razvitosti države. Trije izbrani kazalniki razvitosti države so: indeks bruto domačega proizvoda na prebivalca, odstotek posameznikov z doseženo terciarno izobrazbo in odstotek posameznikov, ki uporabljajo internet za interakcijo z javnimi organi. V primerjalno analizo sem vključila podatke v obdobju od 2014 do 2017 za 28 držav članic Evropske unije. Pri primerjalni analizi za Slovenijo sem uporabila podatke v obdobju od 2004 do 2017. Uporabila sem metodo linearne regresije in Pearsonov koeficient korelacije. Ugotovitve analize nakazujejo, da glede na Pearsonov koeficient korelacije nimajo vse države članice Evropske unije pozitivne povezanosti med razvitostjo e-uprave in izbranimi kazalniki razvitosti države. Pri linearni regresiji po državah članicah Evropske unije med stopnjo razvitosti e-uprave in indeksom bruto domačega proizvoda na prebivalca ter med stopnjo razvitosti e-uprave in odstotkom posameznikov z doseženo terciarno izobrazbo je povezanost med spremenljivkama neizrazita. Povezanost med stopnjo razvitosti e-uprave in odstotkom posameznikov, ki uporabljajo internet za interakcijo z javnimi organi, je zmerna. Slovenija ima pri vseh izbranih kazalnikih razvitosti države negativno moč linearne povezanosti s stopnjo razvitosti e-uprave. Zmerno povezanost za Slovenijo opazujemo med stopnjo razvitosti e-uprave in indeksom bruto domačega proizvoda na prebivalca ter med stopnjo razvitosti e-uprave in odstotkom posameznikov, ki uporabljajo internet za interakcijo z javnimi organi. Neizrazita povezanost je med stopnjo razvitosti e-uprave in odstotkom posameznikov z doseženo terciarno izobrazbo. ; Research goal of comparative analysis is to check if there is any connection between level of e-government maturity and selected indices of country development and what impact of history of e-government maturity in Slovenia is on connection between level of e-government maturity and selected indices of country development. Three selected indices of country development are: index of gross domestic product per capita, percentage of population with tertiary education and percentage of population using the Internet to interact with public authorities. In comparative analysis I included data for 28 member states of European Union from years 2014 to 2017. In comparative analysis for Slovenia I used data from years 2004 to 2017. I used linear regression method and Pearson correlation coefficient. Result of analysis, according to Pearson correlation coefficient, shows that not all member states of European Union has positive correlation between level of e-government maturity and selected indices of country development. For member states of European Union is linear correlation weak or relatively low between level of e-government maturity and index of gross domestic product per capita and also between level of e-government maturity and percentage of population with tertiary education. Correlation is moderate when compared level of e-government maturity with percentage of population using the Internet to interact with public authorities. Slovenia has negative linear correlation at all selected indices of country development compared to level of e-government maturity. Moderate correlation for Slovenia is noticed between level of e-government maturity and index of gross domestic product per capita and between level of e-government maturity and percentage of population using the Internet to interact with public authorities. Relatively low correlation is between level of e-government maturity and percentage of population with tertiary education.

Namen magistrskega dela je razumeti razlike med epidemiološko uspešnostjo ukrepov za zajezitev Covid-19 v različnih državah in ugotoviti nabor dejavnikov, ki pojasnijo te razlike. Zato smo razvili ogrodje za analizo uspešnosti ukrepov, ki sloni na primerjalni analizi opazovanih epidemioloških podatkov. Uporabili smo ga za enostavno primerjavo podatkov v 133 državah z vseh celin, med katerimi je 41 evropskih držav. Nadalje smo predstavili rezultate podrobne primerjave epidemioloških ukrepov v enajstih evropskih državah izbranih na osnovi različnih evropskih socialnih modelov. Našo raziskavo smo izvedli s pomočjo Spearmanove korelacijske analize nad dejavniki, ki vplivajo na epidemiološko uspešnost ukrepov (število umrlih in okuženih s Covid-19, število ukrepov, uspešnost glede na gostoto prebivalstva idr.). Za končno analizo posameznih sprejetih epidemioloških ukrepov smo nato uporabili še izračune njihovih vplivov na trende uspešnosti po zastavljeni petstopenjski lestvici. V raziskavi ugotavljamo, da pri uspešnosti vladnih epidemioloških ukrepov igra pomembno vlogo zaupanje državljanov v javne institucije. Posledično so v državah z visokim zaupanjem pogosto zelo uspešni že preventivni (epidemiološki) ukrepi. Na našem naboru podatkov ugotavljamo tudi, da epidemiološka uspešnost ni odvisna od gostote prebivalstva in števila sprejetih epidemioloških ukrepov v državi. Potrdimo lahko, da epidemiološki ukrepi niso vsi enako uspešni in da so enaki ukrepi bolj uspešni v državah z višjim zaupanjem v javne institucije. Odločevalcem je tako na voljo orodje za analizo sprejetih epidemioloških ukrepov, ki jih lahko nato enostavno primerjajo glede na predstavnike sorodnega evropskega socialnega modela. Izdelano orodje ponuja dejavnike, na katere morajo biti pozorni, da bi srednjeročno povečali zaupanje v javne institucije ter tako še izboljšali uspešnost države pri prebijanju skozi epidemijo tega ali katerega od prihodnjih virusov. Državljanom pa raziskava ponuja odgovor, kako dobro so se v epidemiji odrezali njihovi odločevalci in ali so opravičili njihovo zaupanje. ; The purpose of this Master's thesis is to understand the differences in the epidemiological success of the measures for mitigating the Covid-19 epidemics in various countries and identify factors that explain the differences. To this end, we design a framework for the analysis of the government interventions' success from epidemiological data. The analysis is based on a basic comparison of the epidemiological data from 133 countries worldwide, including 41 European countries. We also perform a more advanced, detailed comparison of data on government interventions in eleven European countries selected with resect to different European social models. Our research was conducted using Spearman's correlation analysis using the factors influencing the epidemiological success of measures (number of deceased and infected by Covid-19, number of measures, population density, etc.). For the final analysis of the individual adopted government interventions, we have used the calculations of the interventions' impact on the trends of epidemiological performance using a predefined five-level scale. The research finds that the trust of the people towards their public, governmental institutions has a very large impact on the success of the governments' interventions. Consequently, in all the countries with high trust, simple preventive measures show high rates of success. Our analysis also shows that the success of the epidemiological measures does not depend nor is connected on the density of population nor the number of interventions in a country. We can finally confirm that not all measures are equally successful and that the same measures are more successful in countries with a higher trust in public institutions. The Master thesis gives the decision-makers a tool they can use to analyze their epidemiological interventions and simply compare them with the suitable representative from the European social models. The developed tool identifies elements that must be taken into account to increase the trust of the people to the public institutions in the medium term, and hence help improve the country's performance to overcome the epidemic of this or any other new viruses that may appear in the future. To the citizens, the tool offers an answer on how well the decision-makers in their country performed and whether they have justified their trust.

Raziskovalno delo se ukvarja z analizo financiranja lokalnih samouprav v Sloveniji in Makedoniji ter njihovo primerjavo. Sistem financiranja lokalnih samouprav je ključni stabilizacijski dejavnik, ki je bistvenega pomena za zagotavljanje učinkovitega sodelovanja državnega in zasebnega sektorja v zvezi z zagotavljanjem nujno potrebnih sredstev državljanom. Bistvenega pomena so lokalne javne dobrine in javne storitve. Sodobna lokalna samouprava bi morala zagotavljati javne službe, kot so oskrba z vodo, elektriko, plinom, telekomunikacijami, zdravstvom, šolstvom, javni prevozi, odvoz smeti ter zagotavljati nadzor in vpliv na te javne službe. Zagotavljala naj bi tudi zdravstvene prostore, stanovanja, predšolske ustanove, osnovne šole, domove za starostnike itd. Da bi lokalne oblasti zadovoljile povpraševanje in želje njihovih občanov, iščejo nove vire financiranja. V raziskovalnem delu smo analizirali lokalne samouprave, njihove prihodke in odhodke, strukturo in vire. Lokalne samouprave v Sloveniji in Makedoniji smo primerjali tudi z ostalimi članicami Evropske unije in na podlagi analize in smo ugotovili, da je Slovenija na področju sistema financiranja lokalne samouprave primerljivejša z članicami Evropske unije kot Makedonija. Na podlagi analize smo ugotovili tudi, ali so lokalne samouprave v obeh državah ustrezno in zadostno financirane. V skladu s predvidenimi pričakovanji je bilo ugotovljeno, da je v obeh državah zelo pomemben vir financiranja obveznih lokalnih nalog občine proračun države. To pomeni, da imajo lokalne samouprave premalo sredstev oziroma, da niso finančno samostojne, saj obseg primerne porabe občin ni skladen z njihovimi lastnimi prihodki. Posledično so potrebne finančne izravnave, ki jih lokalne samouprave prejemajo iz proračuna države. ; The research work deals with the analysis of the financing of local self-governments in Slovenia and Macedonia and their comparison. The system of financing local self-governments is a key stabilizing factor, which is essential for ensuring effective cooperation between the state and the private sector in terms of providing essential resources to citizens. Local public goods and public services are of paramount importance. Modern local self-government should provide public services such as water supply, electricity, public transport, garbage collection, gas, telecommunications, health, education and others, and to ensure control and influence on these public services. It should also provide health facilities, housing, pre-school institutions, primary schools, homes for the elderly, etc. In order for local authorities to meet the demand and wishes of their citizens, they are looking for new sources of financing. In the research paper we analyzed local governments, their revenues and expenditures, their structure and resources. We also compared the local self-governments in Slovenia and Macedonia with other members of the European Union and on the basis of our analysis, and found that Slovenia is more comparable with the members of the European Union, such as Macedonia, in the field of local government funding. Based on the analysis, we also found out whether local governments are adequately and sufficiently financed in both countries. In accordance with the anticipated expectations, it was found that a very important source of financing of mandatory tasks of local municipalities was the state budget, in both countries, which means that the local self-government are not financially independent. The extent of adequate spending by municipalities is not in line with their own revenues, which requires financial balancing that municipalities receive from the state budget.

Doktorska disertacija analizira konstituiranje funkcije predsednika republike v bivših socialističnih državah. Podrobneje je analiziran ustavni položaj predsednika republike Estonije, Latvije, Litve, Poljske, Češke, Slovaške, Slovenije, Hrvaške, Madžarske, Romunije ter Bolgarije, torej v enajstih državah članicah Evropske unije. Gre za ureditve, ki so funkcijo predsednika republike kot individualnega šefa države uvedle v devetdesetih letih prejšnjega stoletja. Preučevane države so se ob konstituiranju funkcije predsednika republike in umestitvi njegovega položaja zgledovale po etabliranih pravnih sistemih. Pri tem je ob upoštevanju lastnih zgodovinskih, kulturnih in političnih razlogov prelitje posameznih ustavnih institutov privedlo do vzpostavitve svojevrstnega institucionalnega (ne)ravnovesja, kar odločilno vpliva na razmerje med vlado, parlamentom in predsednikom republike ter posledično na samo delovanje državne oblasti. V nekaterih ureditvah so bile sprva prisotne tendence po uvedbi sistema z močnejšim položajem šefa države, povzetim po predsedniškem oziroma polpredsedniškem sistemu, vendar je večina teh držav skozi ustavni razvoj in stabilizacijo političnega prostora postopoma omejila predsednikove pristojnosti. Drugače je v tistih ureditvah, kjer je ustavodajalec predsedniku že ob konstituiranju funkcije podelil predvsem reprezentativne pristojnosti, zgledujoč se po sistemih z nadvlado parlamenta, in tako onemogočil, da bi lahko predsednik, skladno s svojo nevtralno vlogo, ustrezno razreševal »krizne situacije« povezane z blokado oblasti, do katere lahko pride zaradi konfliktov med parlamentom in vlado. Danes se v analiziranih ustavnih ureditvah prepletajo številni elementi, značilni za različne politične sisteme, ki determinirajo (specifičen) položaj šefa države. Položaj predsednika republike, zlasti obseg njegovih pristojnosti in iz tega izhajajoča razmerja do zakonodajnih in izvršilnih organov, pa je hkrati tudi eno izmed temeljnih meril klasične klasifikacije političnih sistemov. Na predsednikov položaj poleg pristojnosti, ki jih izvršuje (predvsem na zakonodajnem in izvršilnem področju), vpliva tudi način njegove izvolitve. V primerjavi s tradicionalnimi zahodnimi sistemi v večini obravnavanih bivših socialističnih držav način izvolitve predsednika republike ni v neposredni korelaciji z obsegom njegovih formalno določenih pristojnosti. Na podlagi opravljene primerjalnopravne analize je mogoče ugotoviti, da ima predsednik republike v slovenski ureditvi (kjer mu je ustavodajalec z neposrednimi volitvami okrepil legitimnost, na drugi strani pa mu hkrati določil šibke, predvsem reprezentativne pristojnosti) najšibkejši položaj izmed obravnavanih enajstih bivših socialističnih držav. ; This doctoral dissertation deals with the constituting i.e. formation of the function of the President of the Republic in former socialist countries. It analyses in greater detail the constitutional role of the President of the Republic of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Croatia, Hungary, Romania and Bulgaria, i.e. eleven Member States of the European Union. These states put in place the office of President of the Republic as the individual Head of State in the 1990s. In the process of the formation of the function of the President of the Republic, the countries analysed took inspiration from other established legal systems. In this context, while taking into account their own historical, cultural and political reasons, these states have experienced a spill-over of individual constitutional institutions leading to the creation of a sui generis institutional equilibrium i.e. separation of powers, or lack thereof, which has a decisive impact on the relations between the Government, the Parliament and the President of the Republic, as well as, consequently, on the functioning of the authority of the state itself. Some political systems initially showed a tendency to introduce a system with a stronger head of state, inspired by presidential or semi-presidential republics, but the majority of these countries gradually limited the powers of the President through the constitutional development and stabilisation of their political space. The situation is, however, different in those countries where, from the very beginning of the formation of the function of the President of the Republic, the constitutional legislator conferred upon the President mainly representative powers, following the example of systems with parliamentary supremacy, thus preventing the President, in accordance with his or her neutral role, from being able to adequately address 'crisis situations' in relation to the blocking of authorities arising from conflicts between the Parliament and Government. Hence, the analysed constitutional regimes have now seen certain elements appear which are "alien" to different political systems and which determine the (specific) position of the Head of State. The position of the President of the Republic, and in particular the extent of his or her powers and the resulting relationship with the legislative and executive bodies, is also one of the fundamental criteria of the classic classification of political systems. In addition to the powers exercised (mainly in the legislative and executive domains), the President's position is also influenced by the way he or she is elected. Compared to traditional western systems, the way in which the President of the Republic is elected in most of the former socialist states in question is not directly correlated to the extent of his or her formally defined powers. Based on the analysis of comparative law carried out, it can be concluded that in a regime like the one set up in Slovenia (where the constitutional legislator strengthened the President's legitimacy by holding direct elections, but at the same time conferred upon him or her weak, mainly representative powers), the President's position is the weakest among the eleven former socialist states analysed.

Visoka kakovost upravljanja storitev v posamezni občini pomeni zagotavljanje kakovostnega življenjskega okolja za bivanje. Namen naloge je obravnavati kakovost upravljanja v slovenskih občinah in s pomočjo statistične analize ugotoviti morebitno povezanost z indikatorji uspešnosti občin. V okviru raziskovalne naloge sem opravila anketno raziskavo o kakovosti upravljanja v 31 občinah v Sloveniji. Preverjala sem tri javne storitve: izobraževanje, zdravstvo in redarstvo v primerjavi s kakovostjo, nepristranostjo in korupcijo teh storitev. Naredila sem analizo povezanosti kakovosti upravljanja v občinah z indikatorji uspešnosti občin in pri tem uporabila kot statistično metodo za obdelavo podatkov standardizacijo, metodo rangov in Pearsonov koeficient korelacije. Najpomembnejša ugotovitev raziskovalne naloge je, da so občine iz osrednjeslovenske regije dosegle najboljše rezultate v kakovosti raziskovanih storitev in tudi, da je kakovost upravljanja povezana z indikatorji uspešnosti občin. Dobljeni rezultati kažejo na to, da obstajajo velike razlike glede kakovosti upravljanja znotraj države. Več kot polovica obravnavanih občin ima kakovost upravljanja na področjih izobraževanja, zdravstva in redarstva pod povprečjem. Analiza povezanosti kakovosti upravljanja z indikatorji uspešnosti občine je pokazala, da občine, ki so imele visoko kakovost upravljanja, so imele tudi najboljše vrednosti indikatorjev uspešnosti. Moja analiza lahko služi vsaki obravnavani občini za pregled stanja kakovosti storitev na področju izobraževanja, zdravstva in redarstva in pojasnilo kje iskati vzroke za takšne rezultate. ; High quality of service governance in single municipality means providing a quality living environment. The purpose of the research study is to address the quality of governance in slovenian municipalities and to identify, through statistical analysis, a possible connection with the performance indicators of municipalities. As part of the research study, I conducted a survey on the quality of governance in 31 municipalities in Slovenia. I checked three public services: education, health and city constabulary in comparision with the quality, impartiality and corruption of these services. I made an analysis of the correlation between the quality of governance in municipalities with the performance indicators of municipalities. I used as a statistical method for data processing standardization, ranking method and Pearson coefficient of correlation. The most important finding of the research paper is that municipalities from the central slovenian region have achieved the best results in the quality of the services explored, and also that the quality of governance is related to the indicators of the performance of municipalities. The results obtained show that there are big differences in the quality of governance within the country. More than half of the municipalities discussed have the quality of governance in the fields of education, health and city constabulary, below average. The analysis of the connection between the quality of governance and the performance indicators of municipalities showed that municipalities that had high quality governance also had the best values of performance indicators. My analysis can serve every municipality to review the situation of the quality of services in the fields of education, health and city constabulary, and an explanation of where to find the reasons for such results.

This study is focused on a small village in Tuscany and explores how citizens
evaluate the actions and communication strategies applied by the local government during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study adopted a combination of
qualitative and quantitative methods: semi-structured interviews with local administrators, and a survey with a representative sample of the local population.
The findings show a limitedly articulated yet meaningful relationship between
the central administration and the local one, a positive evaluation by citizens
of the local government's management of the emergency and, generally, good
social cohesion, albeit not fully supported by the engagement of civic cultures
that were heavily restricted by the socially restrictive measures imposed during
the pandemic.

POVZETEK Prvi del magistrske naloge zajema razlago ustavnih ureditev treh držav, Združenih držav Amerike, Francije in Slovenije, ter instrumente in institucije, podobne slovenski interpelaciji. Ustavne ureditve so vključene zaradi razumevanja razmerja med parlamentom in vlado, saj to igra ključno vlogo pri sprožitvi procesa interpelacije ter pri postavljanju poslanskih vprašanj. Interpelacija po slovenski ureditvi pomeni formalno vloženo pisno vprašanje skupine deset ali več poslancev z namenom, da bi odstavili bodisi ministra ali vlado. Interpelacija je orodje opozicije, da izpostavi trenutno oblast in jo postavi v položaj, kjer se mora javno zagovarjati. V ta kontekst so postavljeni primeri interpelacije v Sloveniji, ker so primer dejanskega nadzora parlamenta nad delovanjem vlade. Interpelacij se je v naši 26 let stari državi zgodilo kar nekaj, za magistrsko delo smo izbrali obdobje devete vlade Republike Slovenije, ki jo je vodil Borut Pahor. V času od novembra 2008 do februarja 2012 so se zgodile štiri interpelacije, ki so dober primer tega, kako je delovalo določeno ministrstvo v tistem obdobju, kakšen je bil sproten pritisk parlamenta na vlado in stališče opozicije do takratne oblasti. Z najprej opisanim razmerjem med parlamentom in vlado ter s primerjavo z drugimi državami smo pojasnili razmerje v slovenski ureditvi, nato pa s primeri interpelacije prikazali, kako to razmerje deluje v praksi. ; ABSTRACT The first part of the thesis consists of the overview of constitutional orders from three states: United States of America, France and Slovenia with the instruments and institutions similar to Slovenian interpellation. Constitutional orders are included because of the easier understanding of relationship between the Parliament and Government, which is crucial for the initiation of the interpellation process and for asking the parliamentary questions. Under the Slovenian constitution interpellation means a formal written question handed in by a group of ten or more members of the parliament with the intent to remove the minister or the government from its position. Interpellation is the instrument of the opposition, to call the coalition in question. In this context we have included the actual cases of interpellation in Slovenia, because they represent the control of Parliament above the work of Government. In our 26 years old country, there has been a significant number of interpellations, and the selected period is the ninth Government of Republic of Slovenia, which was under a leadership of Borut Pahor. In this precise time, from November 2008 to February 2012, four interpellations were processed, which show a good example of how a specific Ministry worked at the time, and what was the consistent pressure of Parliament on the Government, and the position of opposition towards the leadership at that time. With firstly described correlation between Parliament and Government and with the comparison with other countries, we have explained a relationship in Slovenian constitutional order, and afterwards I have presented how this relationship practically works with the cases of interpellations.

Abstract. The study tries to discover to what extent knowledge of the local language of a diplomat's host country, and language skills generally, are considered while selecting candidates for EU delegation heads in the European External Action Service. With this aim, the study examines possible correlations between languages spoken by the EU delegation heads and the official languages in their respective host countries. It is concluded that a correlation often exists between the language(s), and especially mother tongues, spoken by the EU delegation heads and the official language(s) in the countries to which they are posted and, thus, a candidate's knowledge of the host country's official language is usually taken into account in the selection of candidates for EU delegation heads, although this criterion seems to carry different weight for candidates from various EU member countries. Keywords: EEAS, heads of EU delegations, EEAS staffing policy, EU diplomacy, languages in diplomacy

A concise characterization of the political-administrative system of the Kingdom of Belgium with an emphasis on its decentralization & territorial composition. It begins with basic information about the state, including official name, government type, territorial units, total area, population, population density, capital city, EU membership, official languages, & currency. The synopsis describes briefly: (1) the historical foundation & constitutional basis of the state, (2) government structure: the election/appointment & functions/powers of the legislative & executive branches & the monarch's representative role, (3) the representation of the French, Flemish, & German regions in the parliament, (4) the state's sources of income; tax structure & type, (5) regional & local governments, (7) division into provinces & communes, (8) local government structure (the provincial government, municipal council, & the office of mayor), (9) sources of income for local governments. Adapted from the source document.