Suchergebnisse

This article focuses on the 'globalisation-cum-regionalisation' process in the European Union that has led to the emergence of functional macro-regions. It provides first a classification of regionalisation, and describes the organisational and mental barriers of the European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP). The second part traces the shift of the ENP from the South to the East that has also activated the EU's pre-accession policy in the West Balkan region and the Eastern Partnership programme. Finally, it argues that the Baltic Strategy and the Danube Strategy as functional macro-regions are the main instruments to overcome the weaknesses of the incentive-based approach in the EU's conditionality (or, as it is described here, its 'carrot crisis'). Adapted from the source document.

"The global crisis broke out 'externally' when the 'internal' institutional crisis in the EU reached its peak.
In addition, the new member states were still in the post-accession crisis. These three types of 'crises'
can be observed: first, a deep systemic crisis is ongoing in the global world; second, the creative crisis is
the usual way of development in the EU; and finally third, the serious problems, disturbances, troubles
in the new member states are transitory as the unavoidable contradiction of Europeanisation within the
EU. Nonetheless, in the deepening-widening relationship, the new members are the main losers of the
triple crisis, since the global financial crisis has broken out when they have been in their most vulnerable
situation, so it deteriorates significantly their efforts to catch up and reach 'effective membership'.
Two alternative scenarios can be outlined: (1) the 'post-communist track' and (2) the 'completing the
membership' scenario. The first scenario has been based on the 'Prague-Vladivostok doctrine', which
presupposes that these 'post-communist countries' are basically of the same nature from Prague to
Vladivostok and due to the burden of history they are doomed to fail in the process of catching up in the
EU. The completing the membership scenario has been based on the Europeanisation process, which
indicates that the new member states can reach effective membership by 2015. All in all, a new kind of
controversial progress has begun, since the global economic and social crisis with new dangers and new
opportunities has accelerated the necessary domestic reforms in the new member states." (author's abstract)

Die Folgen des Systemwandels, die Finanzkrise sowie die Anforderungen an Ungarn nach dem EU-Beitritt 2004 sind die Hauptursachen für die gegenwärtige Krise des Landes. Der Verfasser arbeitet die gegenwärtigen Krisenelemente sowie die langfristig zu erwartenden Demokratisierungs- und Europäisierungstendenzen. Er beschreibt die positive Bedeutung der EU-Mitgliedschaft Ungarns für die ungarische Außen- und Innenpolitik sowie die Haltung der Bevölkerung zur EU. Diese weist ein Paradoxon auf: Die geringe Befürwortung der EU-Mitgliedschaft ist mit einer starken Befürwortung der europäischen Integration und einer positiven Beurteilung der EU-Institutionen verbunden. Die ungarischen politischen Institutionen genießen eine weitaus geringere Wertschätzung. Daraus leitet der Autor einen mehrstufigen Entwicklungsprozess der EU- und nationalen Identität ab. Die Unterstützung Ungarns seitens der EU im Kampf gegen die Finanzkrise hat nach Auffassung des Autors große Wirkung auf die öffentliche Meinung ausgeübt. Seine Prognose: Ungarn bleibt ein hartnäckiger Verfechter der EU-Integration. (ICC)

The article examines the vps and downs of Hungary's accession to the European Union. It considers Europeanization as a process parallel to EU accession, and uses key terms accordingly. Hungary's development in the 1990s is thus described as "anticipatory Europeanization", the more concrete EU perspective taken up in 1998 as "adaptive Europeanization", the years between 1998 and 2002 are labeled as "derailed Europeanization", and the years after the actual EU accession as "post-accession crisis". Much of this analysis focuses on the central government, but also includes developments on the sub-national, i.e. meso- and micro-levels of Hungarian public administration. The conclusion offers an outlook for the imminent future, as Hungary prepares for assuming the EU presidency in 2011. Adapted from the source document.