In the process of preparation for membership of the European Union (EU) Western Balkans countries are obliged to harmonize their legal system with the EU law and with the rules providing the functioning of the EU internal market. The provisions regulating the banking sector are highly important for the European economy for the reason that most of the financial resources for the companies and citizens are provided by the banks in their role as financial intermediaries. The integration process in the EU banking sector depends on three community freedoms: movement of capital, freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services. They are all interdependent and without any of these freedoms the integration of the banking sector will not be achieved. This text presents the EU legal framework relating to the banking sector and analyses the process of preparation in the banking sectors of the Republic of Serbia and the Republic of Macedonia for complying with the respectable EU rules.
This research monograph consists of 17 papers under the framework of contemporary economic and business issues which we can structure into several main research fields. These fields relate to the regulation of economic and business activities, especially in the context of digitalization processes, fiscal and monetary issues, dealing with the impact of digitalization and COVID19 pandemics on traditional academic and business debates, as well as on innovation processes in both government and the corporate sector. We can borrow the phrase from one of our papers and confirm that the papers presented show that the innovative market and digital society, as the new global development and technology paradigm of the modern world, together with its capabilities and standards, has changed the character of entrepreneurship and the state/government in terms of their new interactions. Thus, the contributions from the research monograph are made more urgent by the main objective of introspection of the traditional economic and business sectors and activities under the prism of digital transformation. The researchers were particularly interested in the impact of the COVID19 pandemic on the economic and business sectors. Although the conference was held in the midst of the pandemics, researchers were able to present valuable studies showing the extent of the threat posed by COVID 19 to the public health and economic outcomes of EU citizens. Significant pressure was placed on member state spending, particularly in countries with lower fiscal capacity, resulting in a severe temporary deterioration in the fiscal deficit and public debt. It is also noted that the crisis COVID -19 will have an uneven impact on member states and could deepen their divergence. Therefore, new and creative fiscal policies to support investment in digital transformation, green transition and innovation are of utmost importance. This monograph provides some guidance.
