Suchergebnisse

The article examines the introduction of the EU carbon border adjustment mechanism (CBAM) as part of the EU economy decarbonization. The implementation of this initiative poses certain risks for the EU trading partners. Moreover, this issue is extremely important for the entire global trading system. The purpose of the study is to assess the real threats of the mechanism for Russian companies and identify opportunities for successful adaptation to the new green realities. The theoretical approaches and prerequisites for the CBAM introduction are analyzed, its systemic effects for companies around the world are shown. The channels and possible scale of this measure's impact on Russian exporters are considered. The authors analyze the main possible response scenarios for Russia. The most promising scenarios could be: a) intensification of the carbon-free energy and increasing the energy efficiency of production processes, 2) development of an alternative compensatory mechanism, 3) integration into the regional emissions trading system. A possible challenge of the CBAM introduction in the WTO may be ineffective; cooperation with countries outside the "green agenda" – counterproductive. It is concluded that there are opportunities for Russian companies to strengthen their competitiveness due to CBAM requirements. However, there is a lack of expertise in a number of areas and levels, which can hinder the implementation of these opportunities.

The COVID-19 epidemic has become a major challenge for Germany. The authors set a goal to analyze how the German government solves the problems facing the country at the national and European levels, as well as to identify how public attitudes are changing under the influence of the pandemic. In the first part the rate of spread of the pandemic and the effectiveness of German restrictive measures were analyzed. It was concluded that during the first period of the spread of the virus, optimistic assessments of its success in the fight against the pandemic prevailed in Germany, but during the second wave, the FRG authorities faced significant difficulties. The authors also looked in detail at the economic damage from the pandemic. The second part of the study is devoted to changing public attitudes in society. The authors research in detail how the pandemic affects electoral preferences and make predictions about the upcoming elections to the Bundestag. Particular attention is paid to the German policy against COVID-19 and minimizing the consequences of the pandemic at the European level. After the first isolationist reaction of the EU countries gave way to attempts to find a join set of measures, the FRG authorities are making significant efforts to come to a compromise that satisfies the majority of the members of the European Union

The article outlines strategies of the largest European energy companies in the context of the EU climate policy aiming to accelerate the transition to a low carbon paradigm of development. For European oil and gas companies, the development of clean hydrogen projects is a natural policy since oil processing is the largest final consumer of hydrogen. Opportunities to increase production of new low-carbon energy sources are critical for European energy companies. It is concluded that hydrogen energy in Europe is developing in accordance with the algorithm previously applied in the sector of green renewable electricity. The driver of hydrogen projects is the political choice of the EU in favor of the green economy and decarbonization. Relatively high production costs allow companies to develop green hydrogen projects only relying on government support and large-scale subsidies from national and European budgets.

The COVID-19 epidemic has become a major security challenge for Germany. The country was faced with the need to protect its own citizens, transform the health care system and support the economy. On the eve of the elections to the Bundestag, German elite concern how COVID-19 and restrictive measures will affect the electoral preferences of the population. At the same time, the pandemic has become a test for European solidarity. The first isolationist reaction of the EU member states gave way to attempts to find a solution at the supranational level. In a twopart article, the team of authors made an attempt to analyze how the German government solves the problems facing the country at the national and European levels, as well as to identify how citizens' moods change under the influence of the pandemic, what predictions can be made about the results of the upcoming elections to the Bundestag. The first part is devoted to German anti-virus policy, as well as a study of economic damage and measures to support the economy. The second will analyze the FRG's policy at the European level, as well as the impact of the pandemic on the mood in society and the political preferences of Germans.

The article is dedicated to the role of the United Kingdom in the political crisis and the armed conflict in Yemen which has not been settled until now. Special attention is paid to military and technical, diplomatic directions as well as to international development assistance in the British foreign policy towards this country. Study of these directions allowed to identify their interrelation and priority to the United Kingdom, to determine the British attitude towards the settlement of the Yemen conflict and to identify main British goals in this armed confrontation. It has been found that first of all the United Kingdom strives to address the terrorist threat originating from Yemen and to ensure free maritime traffic around it. All three mentioned areas of British foreign policy to a greater or lesser extent are aimed at this goal. As for the issue of the settlement of the Yemen conflict, the United Kingdom moved from unambiguous support for the official government of Yemen and the Arab coalition to the actual recognition of status-quo.

The article examines the budget crisis that occurred in Germany at the end of 2023. The results of the execution of the federal budget in terms of expenditures and net borrowings in 2022 are analyzed in comparison with the indicators of the five-year financial plan for 2022–2026, and the main deviations of the fact from the plan are identified. It is shown how the results of the 2022 budget led to an increase in the load on the 2023 budget from the point of view of the implementation of the purpose of renewing the debt brake set in the 2021–2025 Coalition Agreement. Further the events are presented that occurred during the crisis of 2023, which was caused by the decision of the Federal Constitutional Court on the incompetence of transferring net government borrowings from one year to other years (this transfer has been carried out by the ruling coalition in February 2022). Measures regarding the additional budget for 2023 and the new budget for 2024 are listed, that have been adopted by the government to implement the court verdict and return to the debt brake policy. The impact of the budget crisis on the accuracy of budget planning for 2024 is analyzed. The author comes to the conclusion: the results of 2024 will show an interruption in the barely begun post-pandemic restoration of the budget planning's reliability.

The article deals with the impact of the special relationship with the US on the three aspects of Danish foreign policy: the approach to the EU strategic autonomy, regional defence policy priorities, and Denmark's readiness to escalate relations with Russia. Using the method of qualitative content analysis of Danish foreign policy strategies, Copenhagen's current views on the alliance relations with the US are assessed, especially within the framework of Denmark's turn towards «pragmatic idealism» in foreign policy, which Denmark announced in May 2023, and scrapping the EU defence opt-out following the outcome of the June 2022 referendum. The analysis has shown that maintaining the status of an «exemplary» or «model» ally leads both to contradictions and ignoring traditional mores within the Danish political system and the skewed priorities in financing military and non-military instruments of the Danish foreign policy. Moreover, even in Denmark's military support of Ukraine, there is a gap between the symbolic value and practical effect of the measures taken by the Danish side. It is concluded that greater involvement in building the EU's strategic autonomy will reduce Denmark's interest in further escalation of the conflict in Ukraine and its readiness for rhetorical and practical confrontation with Russia. At the same time, based on open sources, the U.S. is not exerting significant pressure on Copenhagen in connection with select gaps in compliance with the sanction regime. In case D. Trump is elected as the US president in the 2024 elections, Denmark, as one of the most pro-Atlantic EU member states, will probably face the acute task of linking the course of strategic autonomy with a broader vision of the future of transatlantic relations, as well as overcoming the dilemma between the concentration of defence capablities either in the Baltic Sea or in the North Atlantic and Arctic area including Greenland and the Faroe Islands.

Abstract. The article examines the social schisms existing in French society and the impact that these divisions had on the social climate and political processes in the country. The factors contributing to the formation of these imbalances are analyzed. It is shown that although the ruling circles have smoothed out the social consequences of numerous extraordinary events that took place during Macron's rule, they have not been able to mitigate the fundamental social divisions. The author comes to the conclusion that the abundance of deep social divisions in society leads to social instability, fragmentation of the political space and a significant increase in the influence of populist movements. Special attention is paid to the problems of increasing the degree of radicalism in the political arena and the degree of aggression and violence in society

The article focuses on the National Health Service and its role in British social and political life. The author highlights the symbolic meaning of NHS for several generations of UK citizens and political leaders, which determines its primacy for all political parties. The article looks at the impact of current NHS crisis on the voters' attitudes to the governing Conservative party and the Government measures aimed at tackling the crisis. The major parties' statements in the run-up to future General Elections are analyzed. The author notes that the population's special attitude to the National Health Service across the UK makes the parties cautious and deters them from ambitious statements, so they restrict themselves to specific promises on a narrow scope of issues.

The article is devoted to the analysis of changes in the foreign trade sector of the Czech Republic during the last decade. The main priorities and key challenges within the framework of the new export strategy of the country were considered. Using the «case-study» method, the opportunities and prospects of the territorial diversification of the Czech export were demonstrated. The general dynamics of the foreign trade as well as changes of its territorial and sectoral structures are analyzed. The persistence of imbalances of the Czech foreign trade sector were revealed, including the prevailing of one or two key partner-country as well as narrow sectoral specialization. It is shown that changes in dynamics and balance improvement depend on external factors. The assessment of the future development of the sector was given, taking into account the existing foreign economic conditions and the development peculiarities of the Czech Republic and its strategic priorities.

In recent years, green bonds have become an increasingly attractive financial instrument for companies that shape their strategies in accordance with sustainable development. In this regard, the purpose of this study was to analyze the use of this tool by EU oil and gas companies facing challenges on the way to transition to eco-friendly production in view of the specifics of the industry that pollutes the environment. It was revealed that green bonds are more profitable for issuers compared to classic securities issued to finance projects. Also, their release has a positive effect on the competitiveness of companies, in particular, by attracting environmental investors. Green bonds are most successfully used by European oil and gas companies, which are distinguished by high quality of information disclosure. In addition, green bonds contribute to the entry of EU oil and gas companies into new markets through the implementation of environmental projects in new territories.

The article analyses the development of Russian-Bulgarian relations after February 24, 2022. The author draws attention to the fact that in the post-socialist period Sofia has developed a practice of viewing bilateral relations with Moscow not as an independent direction of foreign policy, but as a secondary part of a more general task of integrating the country into Euro-Atlantic community. Because of that the reaction of the Bulgarian political mainstream to the beginning of a special military operation of the Russian armed forces in Ukraine does not represent anything fundamentally new, but rather looks like a logical development of the traditions of Bulgarian diplomacy of recent decades. At the same time, the article emphasizes the presence of political players in Sofia who are interested in adjusting the course of Bulgarian-Russian relations by reducing their dependence on ideological and geopolitical factors.

The article analyzes the roots and origins of the Kurdish problem. The author puts forward the thesis that the unresolved Kurdish issue is closely related to the unfair redistribution of the borders of the Ottoman Empire by the victorious countries after the First World War. The Treaty of Sevres in 1920 and the subsequent Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, in fact, divided the borders of three new states of ethnic Kurdistan. Thus, the Kurds were deprived of the opportunity to create their own national state and found themselves in the position of oppressed minorities in Turkey, Iraq and Syria, as well as in Shah Iran. Having received a League of Nations mandate to govern Iraq and Syria, Great Britain and France cared least of all about the rights and freedoms of the Kurds. The so-called neo-colonizers relied in their rule on the comprador bourgeoisie from among the Arab tribal nobility and the military. The national liberation movement of the Kurds was brutally suppressed by local nationalists and the colonial troops supporting them. The problem of self-determination of Kurdish communities in the region is still relevant. At the level of an age-old dream and idea, the Kurds are unlikely to give up broad autonomy, a nation-state or a confederation.

The features of Swiss innovative economy and main success factors in creation and implementation of innovations are analyzed in the article. Special attention is devoted to definition of the role of state and private sector in the formation of innovative structure of Switzerland, laws and acts regulating the development of innovations and basic institutions which are playing leading role in their management. The article considers the importance of cluster system creating around big companies a structural network of different actors complementing innovative ecosystem in the production process of new products. The author concludes that a small country status and economic decentralization arе not the obstacles for the development of innovative economy and corresponding infrastructure.