Suchergebnisse

There are two distant conceptual cousins that analyse the external mobilisation of subnational entities, one being European Studies – Multi-Level Governance and the other International Relations – Paradiplomacy. The article first aims to analyse each concept against the dimensions of the politik to determine the conceptual focus and find more pronounced differences in the policy and politics dimensions. The second aim is to identify the theoretical bedrock underpinning both concepts. This article proposes the analogous theory of Neo-Medievalism, establishing that it has some application here; in this sense, the two concepts may be better at explaining wider territorial reconfiguration underway in Europe. Keywords: Paradiplomacy, Multi-Level Governance, Neo-Medievalism, European Union

Evropska sosedska politika (v nadaljevanju ESP) je politika urejanja odnosov s sosednjimi državami EU, ki jim ni bilo ponujeno članstvo v EU. Na Južnem Kavkazu, kjer so po letu 1991 nastale države Azerbajdžan, Gruzija, Armenija, se je sosedska politika okrepila po letu 2003, ko se je spremenila politična struktura v Gruziji in, ko se je s pridružitvijo Romunije in Bolgarije EU širila še bolj proti vzhodu. Velik del »evropeizacije« te regije temelji na širjenju pojma EU »kot edino pravega« razvoja družbe s pomočjo človekovih pravic in svoboščin, demokracije, liberalizacije, urejenega pravnega reda in prostovoljnega skupnega sodelovanja ter na postopni integraciji teh držav v politični, pravni in gospodarski red EU. V magistrski nalogi iščem odgovor na vprašanje ali je ta način promocije evropskih vrednot učinkovit za povezovanje z vsemi sosednjimi državami ali pa utegne imeti negativne posledice v odnosih z njimi. S pravno, gospodarsko in politično analizo evropske sosedske politike v Armeniji, Gruziji in Azerbajdžanu, spoznavanjem njenih prednosti in slabosti, ugotavljam perspektive za prihodnji razvoj. Za oblikovanje ključnih vidikov povezovanja je pomembno poznavanje zgodovinskih, etničnih, geografskih, kulturnih in političnih razlik ter poznavanje problematike območij z velikim varnostnim tveganjem kot so Gorski Karabah, Južna Osetija in Abhazija. Države Armenija, Azerbajdžan in Gruzija se nahajajo na pomembnem območju, kjer se prepletajo geostrateški interesi Rusije, ZDA, Turčije, Irana in v zadnjem času tudi Kitajske. EU se srečuje z novimi izzivi, med katerimi vedno večjo vlogo igra njena sosedska politika do tretjih držav. Ker je v primeru Južnega Kavkaza splošno zaznati obširnost evropskih virov, t. j. dogovorov in politik (pridružitveni sporazumi, sporazumi o partnerstvu in sodelovanju, finančni instrumenti, Vzhodno partnerstvo, Sinergija Črnega morja, sporazumi po sektorjih), v nalogi ugotavljam, ali bi bilo potrebno vzpostaviti enotnejšo in s tem preglednejšo sosedsko politiko do vsake posamezne države. ; The European Neighbourhood Policy (ENP) is an instrument for governing relations with the EU's neighbourhood countries which are not to become members of the EU. In the South Caucasus, where Azerbaijan, Georgia and Armenia declared independence in 1991, the ENP was strengthened after 2003 with change of political structure in Georgia and after EU's enlargement further to the east with joinder of Romania and Bulgaria. A big part of Europeanisation of this region is based on promotion of the EU's values as being »the only right way« of developing societies, through strengthening human rights and liberties, democracy, liberalisation, the rule of law, voluntary cooperation and gradual integration of these countries into the EU's political, legal and economic framework. In this master's thesis I am looking for an answer to a question whether such way of promoting European values will result in cooperation with all the neighbouring countries or whether it might bring negative consequences in the EU's relationship with them. With legal, economic and political analysis of the ENP in Armenia, Georgia and Azerbaijan and with identification of the ENP's advantages and disadvantages, I am trying to find possibilities for its further development. Understanding historic, ethnic, geographic, cultural and political differences and understanding problems coming from areas considered major security risks, such as Nagorno-Karabakh, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, is important for developing key areas of cooperation. Countries Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia are located in the important area where geostrategic interests of Russia, USA, Turkey, Iran and recently China intersect. The EU has been facing new challenges, one of them being the increasing importance of its policy towards the neighbouring countries. As there has been a significant amount of European sources, such as arrangements and politics (e.g. association agreements, partnership and cooperation agreements, financial instruments, Eastern Partnership, Black Sea Synergy, sectoral agreements) in the South Caucasus, I am discussing in this thesis whether there should be a more unified and consequently more transparent neighbourhood policy for each partner country.

The article presents a meta-analysis of academic articles using the European Social Survey Climate Change module. It summarises the key individual and country-level factors that shape climate beliefs, behaviours, and policy support, aiming to mitigate the problem of the fragmentation of findings when informing policymakers. The results, depicted in a heuristic model, underscore the significance of awareness, trust, and socio-political contexts, illustrating the intricate interplay of climate change beliefs, emotional engagement and policy preferences. By consolidating the scattered research through a meta-analytical approach, the study efficiently identifies key obstacles encountered by European decision-makers while implementing climate mitigation measures and policies. Keywords: climate change, climate action, climate policy, European social survey

Ta brošura predstavlja primere dobrih praks sodelovanja pri prilagajanju podnebnim spremembam v Alpskem prostoru. Namenjena je predvsem zainteresiranim akterjem iz javne uprave in organizacijam civilne družbe, zlasti na lokalni in regionalni ravni. Primeri naj bi navdihnili zasnovo in izvajanje različnih oblik sodelovanja in ponudili namige za uspešno izvajanje. V publikaciji so predstavljeni rezultati projekta "GoApply – Multidimensional Governance of Climate Change Adaptation in Policy Making and Practice", ki ga podpira EU program Območje Alp.

Ireland, Portugal and Slovenia – three states with different historical legacies and institutional frameworks – promoted labour market flexibility and active labour market policies before and during the 2008 crisis. These policies were postulated as basic poli-cies on the EU level. However, a significant change came with the COVID-19 crisis when governments in all three states implemented measures much more resembling neo-Keynesian policies. In the article, we show that the crucial mechanisms for the various labour market poli-cy choices made in these three countries were due to the two crises being of distinct types, the (non)coincidence of interests of a range of actors and classes, and the dif-ferent policy frameworks promoted by the EU. Keywords: crises, flexibility, labour market, European union, semi-periphery, COVID-19

The public procurement volume amounts to 10.5% of GDP which represents a considerable part of the Slovene economy. Thus, public procurement remains an important generator of economic growth & one of the key agents for the public financial expenditure policy. The public procurement analysis shows that the public procurement structure & share did not essentially change in Slovenia from 2001 to 2006. The data analysis of the public procurement contracts awarded in 2006 showed that the public procurement contracts were non-uniformly distributed according to their values & the number of procedures. On the one hand, great fragmentation & dispersion of public procurement contracts manifest themselves in the small-value public contract segment & its 25.1% value share in all of the public procurement contracts, but on the other hand, there is concentration of the high-value public procurement contracts in merely few large-volume orders. Adapted from the source document.

Magistrska naloga preučuje dejavnike, ki so povzročili evropsko migracijsko krizo v obdobju 2015/2016 in njihov vpliv na politično dogajanje v Evropski uniji. Čeprav se je Zahodna Evropa srečevala s problematiko migracij že v preteklosti, Evropska unija ni imela izdelane in sprejete ustrezne skupne migracijske politike. Migracije so postale pomembno politično vprašanje in glavna tema volilnih kampanj. Namen naloge je predstaviti vpliv problematike migracij na odločanje volivcev. Slednji je bil dosežen z analizo volitev nekaterih držav članic ter volitev v Evropski parlament v obdobju od leta 2015 do leta 2019. Ta je pokazala vzpon desnih populističnih in nacionalističnih strank, ki so podporo volivcev pridobivale predvsem s protimigrantsko retoriko. Glede na njihov vzpon se je pojavilo vprašanje, ali bi lahko porast moči teh strank vplival na način izvajanja skupne migracijske politike in na politično prihodnost Evropske unije. Na podlagi raziskovanja lahko ugotovimo, da migracije bistveno prispevajo k gospodarskemu in družbenemu razvoju posamezne države ter s tem posledično predstavljajo eno osrednjih predvolilnih tem. Rezultati volitev so sicer potrdili porast podpore tovrstnim strankam, vendar ne v tej meri, da bi v Evropskem parlamentu dobile moč oblikovati politično prihodnost Evropske unije. Na kompleksnost migracij vplivajo različni dejavniki, predstavljeni v magistrski nalogi, ki pripomorejo k razumevanju povezave problema migracij z dogajanjem v evropskem političnem prostoru. Ugotovili smo, da migracije predstavljajo pomembno politično vprašanje, saj so odprle ne samo politični, ampak tudi varnostni in ideološki diskurz združene Evrope, kar predstavlja nove izzive za oblikovanje nadaljnje skupne politike Evropske unije in zagotavljanje njene politične stabilnosti. ; This master thesis examines the factors that caused the European migration crisis in the period 2015-2016 and their impact on the political situation in the European Union. Even though Western Europe had encountered the problem of migration already in the past, the European Union did not develop and adopt a proper common migration policy. The issue of migration became an important political question and a central theme of election campaigns. The purpose of the thesis is to present the impact of the migration issue on voters' decision-making by analysing the national elections in some EU member states and the elections to the European Parliament during the 2015-2019 period. The analysis showed the rise of right-wing populist and nationalist parties that gained the support of the voters mainly by promoting their anti-immigration positions. That trend raised concerns on whether the growth in the power of those political parties could affect the implementation of the common migration policy and the European Union's political future. According to the data gathered, migration profoundly contributes to a country's economic and social development and is therefore among the main pre-election topics. Even though the election results confirmed that right-wing populist and nationalist parties were gaining increasing support, they were still not strong enough to gain power in the European Parliament and consequently change the political future of the European Union. There are different factors that affect the complexity of migration. These factors are presented in the master thesis and help understand the connection between migration issues and the European political situation. It was found that migration is one of the major political issues that has opened not only a political, but also an ideological and security discourse in the European context, which presents new challenges in further developing a common EU policy and ensuring its political stability.

Ekonomski interesi treh ključnih velikih sil, Združenih držav Amerike, Rusije in Kitajske, ki se uveljavljajo oziroma uresničujejo skozi njihove konkretne politike in dejanja, imajo pomemben, če že ne velik vpliv na varnost in politične razmere drugih držav. Ker so ekonomski interesi ključni za katerokoli državo, so medsebojna dinamika, prepletanje in vplivanje teh interesov izrednega pomena za razumevanje trenutnih razmer v mednarodnih odnosih. Analiza primarnih in sekundarnih virov, predvsem pa poglobljeni intervjuji s strokovnjaki nakazujejo, da se politične in varnostne posledice ekonomskih interesov velikih sil največkrat manifestirajo na regionalni ravni. Izjema pri tem so ZDA, ki za doseganje svojih ekonomskih interesov politično in varnostno spreminjajo razmere na globalni ravni. Pri tem so najbolj osredotočene na širitev neoliberalnih ekonomskih praks in zagotovitev energetske varnosti, ki velikokrat poteka s pomočjo znatne uporabe vojaške moči. Rusija, po drugi strani, je trenutno še osredotočena na svojo vlogo energetskega velikana, pri čimer najbolj konkretno vpliva na države iz bližnje soseščine, tudi preko političnih pritiskov in industrijskih sabotaž. Analiza trendov sicer kaže, da bo cilj ekonomske diverzifikacije postajal še pomembnejši v prihodnosti. V osnovi ta zaključek pomeni, da bo Rusija skušala zmanjšati svojo odvisnost od izvoza energentov in na tak način zagotoviti večjo ekonomsko, kot tudi politično in varnostno stabilnost države. Ključna karakteristika ekonomske politike Kitajske je usmeritev v zagotavljanje energetskih virov za rastoče gospodarstvo. V ta namen se poslužuje multisektorske politike, ki je najbolj jasno vidna v Afriki. Ta poseben, quid pro quo pristop se kaže v velikih infrastrukturnih investicijah na strani Kitajske, v zameno za zagotovitve izvoza energentov iz določenih afriških držav. Analiza vse treh držav jasno kaže, da ekonomski interesi vidno vplivajo na odnose med državami v mednarodni skupnosti in usodno določajo dinamiko in ravnovesje sil. ; Economic interests of great powers, specifically United States of America, Russia and China, and the process of attaining these interests through the set of concrete policies and actions has considerable, if not predominantly important effects on political and security situation of other countries. Since economic interests are of pivotal importance for any state, the recognition and understanding of intertwined dynamics and cross-section of these interests is essential for establishing an accurate perception of the current situation in contemporary international relations. Analysis of primary and secondary resources, and especially the in- depth interviews with experts revealed that the majority of political and security implications of the process of attaining economic interests have been manifesting on the regional level. An exception to this rule is the United States, which is affecting political and security characteristics around the globe. In doing so, it is mostly concentrated on continuous expansion of neoliberalism, as well as ensuring energy security, often through utilization of military power. Meanwhile, Russia is currently still focused on its role as an energy giant, and has the ability to strongly influence the countries in its near vicinity through considerate political pressures and industrial sabotage. Many trends within the country and its internal policies seem to suggest that this is likely to change in the near future, and the goal of economic diverzification will become even more important. Essentially, this means that Russia will attempt to reduce its dependence on energy exports, and thus ensure far greater economic, but also political and security stability of the country. Finally, we analyzed China. The key characteristic of its economic policy is focus on ensuring energy resources for its growing economy. In order to succeed, China has been utilizing a multisectoral approach, most clearly visible in Africa. These quid pro quo deals were realized through large infrastrucral investment on the Chinese side, and accompanying insurance of energy exports on the side of the African countries. The analysis of all three states draws the conclusion that economic interests are thus visibly affecting the nature of the intra- state relationships in the international community, and faithfully account for the ultimate dynamics and balance of world powers.

The narrative hero Peter Klepec is known (and laid claim to) by the inhabitants of the Čabranka-Osilnica valley, the border area on the Croatian and Slovenian side of the border. There circulate a number of quite similar stories about him, in which a frail illegitimate child Peter becomes a strong man, whose supernatural powers help the needy and drive the enemies from these regions. This paper shows the changing role and diversity of interpretations of myth in time and space using the example of folk and literary hero Peter Klepec. It focuses on the historical changes in the perception of Peter Klepec: namely, on his (local) function at the time of the Hapsburg imperial policy, the process of his nationalisation and dilemmas that arose following the division of the Čabranka-Osilnica area, i.e., the originating area of the creation of the legend of the two countries (Croatia and Slovenia). It shows that Klepec was due to different historical circumstances and (interpretive) discourse used for different purposes. First, he served as a symbol of strength and survival in the Čabranka-Osilnica valley, and then as the Hapsburg myth that justified the existence of the monarchy facing the hostile Ottomans, and lastly as an allegory of a servile Slovene, who is always just a faithful bondsman to other masters (first under the Austro-Hungarians and then the European Union). ; Pripovednega junaka Petra Klepca poznajo (in si ga lastijo?) prebivalci Čabransko- osilniške doline, torej obmejnega območja na hrvaški in slovenski strani meje. O njem kroži več med seboj precej podobnih zgodb, v katerih šibek nezakonski otrok Peter postane silak, ki s svojo nadnaravno močjo pomaga pomoči potrebnim in iz krajev odganja sovražnike. Prispevek na primeru ljudskega in literarnega junaka Petra Klepca prikaže spreminjajočo se vlogo in različnost interpretacij mita v času in prostoru. Osredotoča se na zgodovinske spremembe v dojemanju Petra Klepca: na njegovo (lokalno) funkcijo v času imperialne politike Habsburžanov, na proces njegove nacionalizacije in dileme, ki so se pojavile ob delitvi Čabransko-osilniškega območja t.j. izvirnega območja nastanka legend med dve državi (Slovenijo in Hrvaško). Pokaže, da se je zaradi različnih zgodovinskih okoliščin in (interpretativnih) diskurzov Klepca uporabljalo v različne namene. Najprej je služil kot simbol moči in preživetja v Čabransko-osilniški dolini, nato kot habsburški mit, ki je opravičeval obstoj monarhije nasproti osmanskemu sovražniku in slednjič kot prispodoba hlapčevskega Slovenca, ki je vedno le vdan podložnik drugim gospodarjem (najprej Avstro-ogrski, nato Evropski uniji).

V zadnjih desetletjih je opaziti močan porast neposrednih investicij v mednarodnem okolju. Zaradi ugotovljenih številnih pozitivnih učinkov, ki jih imajo na državo prejemnico, je v razvitih državah in državah v razvoju posledično prišlo do liberalizacije politike do TNI in zmanjševanja regulativnih ovir na številnih področjih, predvsem z namenom oblikovanja prijaznega poslovnega okolja za tuje investitorje in željo privabiti čim več investicij v državo. Zelo dober primer so države Srednje in Vzhodne Evrope, v katerih je prav na ta račun v zadnjem desetletju prišlo do močnega porasta TNI. To lahko opazimo še posebej na Češkem, Poljskem in Madžarskem. Slovenija pa je kljub svoji razvitosti po drugi strani država, kjer so prilivi vhodnih TNI še vedno zelo skromni. Cilj magistrske naloge je bil ugotoviti, katere so tiste pomanjkljivosti in prednosti slovenskega okolja v primerjavi s konkurenčnimi državami SVE regije, ki odvračajo tuje investitorje od Slovenije. Zanimalo nas je tudi, kako s politiko do TNI, ki jo izvaja država za privabljanje tujih investitorjev ugotovljene pomanjkljivosti popraviti. Politika do TNI, oziroma konkretneje, spodbude, ki jih vlada pripravlja za privabljanje TNI, so šele sekundarnega pomena pri odločanju investitorjev za določeno državo. Te pridejo do izraza, ko se investitorji odločajo med makroekonomsko podobnimi državami, ki že zadostijo njihovim primarnim tržnim potrebam. Kljub temu pa so z vidika države spodbude tisti instrument, s katerim je mogoče relativno hitro in enostavno povečati konkurenčnost poslovnega okolja ali privabiti investitorje v določene panoge. Zato predstavlja pomembno orodje pri izboljševanju elementov investicijske klime. Ugotovili smo, da v Sloveniji kljub majhnemu trgu največje pomanjkljivosti niso v tržnih dejavnikih (kot so dostop do trga ali naravnih virov), temveč v dejavnikih investicijske klime, predvsem ekonomsko-regulatornega okolja države ter podpore podjetništvu. Analizirane države se soočajo z nekaterimi zelo podobnimi ovirami, kot so administrativne ovire za tuje investitorje, nezaupanjem v vlado ter rigidnostjo trga delovne sile. V Sloveniji močno izstopajo še slabo makroekonomsko okolje, visoko obdavčenje delovne sile ter težavno pridobivanje dodatnih virov financiranja. Vendar ima Slovenija na drugi strani zelo kvalitetno delovno silo, inovativno moč, dobro kvaliteto življenja ter dokaj enostavno poslovanje v primerjavi z izbranimi državami, kar povečuje njeno konkurenčnost. Državne spodbude v Sloveniji so naravnane v smeri odpravljanja ugotovljenih tržnih pomanjkljivosti, vendar so te zastavljene preveč široko in so posledično neprilagodljive dejanskim potrebam investitorjev. Z njihovo primerjavo smo ugotovili, da bi jih bilo smiselno prestrukturirati v smeri individualnih paketov spodbud, večjega deleža povratnih sredstev ter jih ciljno usmeriti na nekaj ključnih področij. Zavedati se moramo, da državne spodbude same po sebi ne bodo naredile bistvene spremembe. Lahko pa s ciljno usmerjenim pristopom države in skupaj s preoblikovanjem ostalih elementov poslovnega okolja izboljšajo konkurenčnost in vplivajo na to, da Slovenija postane privlačnejša država za mednarodne investicijske projekte. ; Over the last decades there has been a sharp increase of the direct investments in international environment. In the developed and developing countries the process of liberalisation of policy towards FDI and the reduction of regulatory obstacles have been made in many areas due to numerous established positive effects which have impacted the recipient country. In particular, the aim is to create a friendly business environment for foreign investors and a desire to attract the largest possible number of investments to the country. A very good example of this practice are countries of the Central and Eastern Europe in which there has been an increase of FDI in the last decade. That was observed particularly in the Czech Republic, Poland and Hungary. On the other hand, despite its development, Slovenia is the country where the inflows of the inward FDI are still very modest. The purpose of the thesis was to determine which are these weaknesses and strengths of the Slovene environment in comparison with competitive countries of the CEE region, which discourage foreign investors from Slovenia. We were interested in knowing if these weaknesses can be improved with Slovenian policy toward FDI. The policy towards FDI or more specifically the incentives established by the Government to attract FDI are only of secondary importance in choosing investors for a particular country. These incentives become important when the investors decide between similar macroeconomic countries that already meet their primary market needs. Nevertheless, from the point of view of the state, the incentives are the instrument that can relatively quickly and easy increase the competitiveness of the business environment or attract investors to certain sectors. Therefore, it represents an important tool in improving elements of the investment's climate. We have noted that the biggest shortcomings in Slovenia are present in the factors of investment's climate and not in the market factors. Analysed countries are facing some similar obstacles, such as administrative obstacles for foreign investors, non-confidence to the government and rigidity of the labour market. In Slovenia there is a strong stand out of poor macroeconomic environment, higher taxation of labour and additional funding sources which are difficult to obtain. However, Slovenia has, on the other hand, a high quality workforce, innovative strength, good quality of life and fairly simple business in comparison with other countries of matter, which increases its competitiveness. In Slovenia, state incentives go in the direction of eliminating the identified deficiencies in the market. But the setting of these is too wide and consequently inflexible of real needs of investors. By comparing these, we reached findings that it would be reasonable to restructure it in the direction of the individual packages of incentives, with greater proportion of return funds and target them to focus on a few key areas. We need to be aware that state incentives by itself won't make any significant changes. But with more targeted approach of the state and together with the transformation of other elements of the business environment, we can improve the competitiveness and influence on Slovenia becoming more attractive country for international investment projects.