Suchergebnisse

Regions and regionalism are rather flourishing in Europe. But what do regionalism and the expression "Europe of regions" exactly mean? There are three approaches to the question: first, the concept of cross-border interregionality between the Member States of the European Union; second, the effort to make regions the basic building blocks of European integration instead of states; and finally, the objective to introduce a three-tier structure to the European Union which would extend the already existing tiers of the European Union and the Member States with a third one, the territorial units within nation-states. The first approach (interregional cooperation) has long been adopted; the second approach (the vision of Europe made up of regions instead of states) is rather utopian. The third one is subject to fierce debates: a three-tier European Union with European, nation-state and regional levels. Although the form, motives and causes of movements promoting regionalism may vary greatly, 1 their purpose is the same for autonomous, federalist and separatist movements alike: to relativise the existing central nation-state. Thus, advancing European integration has become a natural ally for them as – from their perspective – it meant the disfunctionality of traditional nation-states. A supranational and therefore multinational and multicultural community promises much more room for development than a classic nation-state.

Transformácia politického systému -- Aktuálne problémy a riešenia -- Alternatívy súčasného kapitalizmu -- Cynizmus ako princíp -- Appendix o školstve

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the impact of the commercial diplomacy of Ukraine on its export. Within this field of research we mutually compare various official representations abroad and their effects on export flows. We consider embassies, consulates general and honorary consulates as commercial diplomacy actors abroad. The main contribution of the paper is that it is the first empirical study of Ukrainian commercial diplomacy in terms of export promotion. We use an empirical trade model to verify the impact of economic, cultural, geographical and diplomatic factors on Ukrainian exports. The panel data incorporates 1386 export flows to 198 destinations during the period from 2007 to 2013. In the end, we conclude that embassies are more relevant instruments of export stimulation than consulates general or honorary consulates. Adapted from the source document.

The EU crisis has brought about fundamental impacts on the constitutional framework of the EU governance. The internationalization of EU law, the strengthening of the intergovernmental form of decision making with the crucial role of the European Council and the corresponding weakening of parliamentary bodies can be seen as symptoms of a shift of the EU towards an executive form of federal governance. However, this trend may not be interpreted simply as a 'return' of the sovereign state as the key actor within the European polity, as it might be according to traditional theories of emergency powers. The decision making is de facto relocated from the political level to the level of administration. Thus, instead of de-parliamentarization, we can speak about de-politization or a reconfiguration of the political. The crucial role here - even in decisions of summits of the European Council and the Euro Council - is played by administrative bodies, particulary those of the Council Secretariat and the Commission's services. While the economic crisis is (hopefully) already overcome, the overcoming of the crisis of democracy is not in sight. Adapted from the source document.

The aim of this article is to contribute to the discussion of the political economy of trade policy. We also focus on the issue of foreign agricultural trade policy in the contemporary Czech Republic. We assume that in the Czech discourse the position of economic nationalism and mercantilism is clearly dominant. We would like to demonstrate this through a content analysis of several major Czech journals. We also believe that the arguments of those who request further regulation of agricultural trade are not much different from those articulated in the discussion between the free trade stance and the mercantilist stance. Even though the prevailing arguments of classical economists are still not entirely accepted in the Czech Republic (certainly not in its economic policy), the strong mercantilist position in favor of the primary sector in the country, which has a strong comparative advantage in industrial production, is nevertheless an interesting object of research interest. Adapted from the source document.

The ambition of the paper is to analyze the major characteristics of the Chinese energy policy towards the most important producers of natural gas in Chinas neighborhood. The analytical perspectives of a strategic approach to energy security and state-centric realism are used to work with case studies of Sino-Russian and Sino-Turkmen relations from the energy security perspective. The paper concludes that Chinas energy policy towards the given producers in Russia and Turkmenistan comes significantly close to the selected analytical perspectives and that natural gas has become an important part of the strategic considerations of the Chinese political leadership. This conclusion, however, applies more to Turkmenistan and less to Russia, as in the case of the Sino-Russian relations, both parties fail to achieve a mutual complementarity, and economic thinking prevails over Beijing's strategic interests. Adapted from the source document.