Paving The Way For Eu Enlargement

This is the third indicator-based report developed under the EU's transport and environment reporting mechanism (TERM). It considers the progress made by EU member states towards the integration of environmental concerns in transport policies, and, for the first time, looks at the trends in the 13 accession countries. This comparative analysis should help promote sustainable transport policies within an enlarged EU, and constitutes a first step towards full integration of the accession countries into the TERM information system.

This third report developed under the EU's transport and environment reporting mechanism (TERM) is the first to include the 13 accession countries (ACs). As in previous reports, the TERM indicators are used to answer a set of policy questions related to the integration of environmental concerns into transport policies. This comparative analysis of the differences and similarities between the EU and the ACs should contribute to the continuing debate on how to achieve more sustainable transport within an enlarged EU.

''This book should be thought-provoking reading for academics and practitioners with a professional interest in infrastructure services, policy design, and the agenda for infrastructure reform in transition economies. Christian von Hirschhausen''s rigorous, multi-sector analysis provides a first-time attempt at a balanced assessment of conceptual and practical issues regarding a critical area of the transition to markets. The book also questions some of the generally accepted findings regarding what works and what doesn''t in the restructuring of infrastructure in the former centrally-planned economies, with special attention to the political economy of reform.'' - José Carbajo, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), London, UK ''The theoretical basis is impressive and the empirical evidence authentic: the book breathes the dust of Hungarian highways and the rust of Estonian power plants. In over five years of field research, the author has acquired an unmatched understanding of the topic and provides clear-cut, highly relevant policy conclusions for EU-enlargement.'' - Axel Siedenberg, Deutsche Bank Research / Economics, Germany ''This book is an insightful study of the neglected issue of the infrastructure of transition economies in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. It chronicles the socialist infrastructure''s incompatibility with a market economy and its collapse using aggregate data and valuable case studies, particularly of the energy and transport sectors. Although there have been clear transition successes, the search for an optimal infrastructure policy has been elusive. Although market-based solutions have delivered less than promised due to political-economy and technological factors, their results have not proven inferior to more conservative regulatory approaches. Modernizing Infrastructure in Transformation Economies rounds out our knowledge of a key aspect of the transition process and is to be recommended to all serious scholars of transition and European integration.'' - Paul Gregory, University of Houston, US ''This is the first comprehensive treatment of a highly topical issue. The message of this book is that transition economies need a substantial overhaul of their infrastructure, but that they should ponder gradual rather than radical ways for deregulation and privatization. Institutional, technical and financial constraints should not be ignored and" one-fits-all" type policies are inappropriate.'' - Irina Akimova, Institute for Economic Research, Ukraine The design of infrastructure policies is a controversial issue in the transition economies of Eastern Europe, where the dismal state of infrastructure was widely regarded to be one of the major obstacles to economic recovery and sustained growth. With the imminent enlargement of the EU, Christian von Hirschhausen provides a detailed, reflective analysis of the state of infrastructure development in Eastern Europe. The author illustrates the different approaches to modernizing infrastructure and the successes that have been achieved in terms of fiscal relief, private investment and increased efficiency. Based upon a comparative institutional analysis and extensive field research and case studies, he provides empirical evidence from different sectors (power, gas, railways, roads, R&D), with particular emphasis on countries such as Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, the Baltics and Russia. Given the substantial institutional instability of the early years of transition, the author promotes a gradual but time-consistent approach to liberalization as a more promising path towards a market economy and increased efficiency. The author offers sound policy recommendations on how best to achieve the successful modernization of East European infrastructure in the course of EU-enlargement. This book will be indispensable to all researchers and academics of European integration and transition economics, policymakers in the EU, and institutions such as development banks which are active in the restructuring process in Eastern Europe and EU-enlargement.

Despite all efforts to create a political union capable of improving European citizens’ quality of life, there are several barriers to the European Union’s (EU) expansion to the Balkan Region. The EU enlargement and expansion to the Balkan Region is one of the Union’s greatest challenges and political objectives in recent years. In the turmoil of economic, social, and sanitarian crises, where is the space to debate the enlargement of the EU? Challenges and Barriers to the European Union Expansion to the Balkan Region presents the EU’s structure, the process of enlargement, and the challenges related to the Balkan region. This book addresses critical issues and challenges in the EU and the emerging trends for the EU’s future. Covering topics such as enlargement policy, integration, NATO, and political challenges, this book is a valuable resource for post-grad students of political science and international affairs, faculty of higher education, researchers, academicians, politicians, world leaders, and policymakers.

This book offers a well-investigated and accessible picture of the current situation around the politics of LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) rights and activism in Central Europe and the Western Balkans in the context of the enlargement of the European Union (EU). It provides not only thoughtful reflections on the topic but also a wealth of new empirical findings — arising from legal and policy analysis, large-scale sociological investigations and country case studies. Theoretical concepts come from institutional analysis, the study of social movements, law, and Europeanization literature. The authors discuss emerging Europe-wide activism for LGBT rights and analyze issues such as the tendency of nationalist movements to turn ‘sexual others’ into ‘national others,’ the actions and rhetoric of church actors as powerful counter-mobilizers against LGBT rights, and the role of the domestic state on the receiving end of EU pressure in the field of fundamental rights.

The design of infrastructure policies is a controversial issue in the transition economies of Eastern Europe, where the dismal state of infrastructure was widely regarded to be one of the major obstacles to economic recovery and sustained growth. With the imminent enlargement of the EU, Christian von Hirschhausen provides a detailed, reflective analysis of the state of infrastructure development in Eastern Europe.

Business, Government, and EU Accession is a detailed study of how EU accession impacts the relationship between business and government in the acceding country. Iankova identifies three major mechanisms by which the EU has affected business-government interactions: first, the legal conditionalities and harmonization efforts for EU entry; second, the pre-accession and anticipated postaccession financial assistance with its specific priorities and requirements; and third, the capacity building and learning that arises from efforts to adapt to the EU conditionalities of membership. Through addressing the question of EU influence on in-country institutional relationships, Iankova is able to highlight patterns of Europeanization that develop in those relationships a result of the adaptational pressures of EU accession, and to trace the effectiveness of these adaptive relationship in facilitating the preparedness of an EU-acceding country for EU entry Using Bulgaria as a case study, she examines the mechanisms of these interactions and interrogates the effectiveness of existing models in facilitating national goals of EU accession, revealing difficulties with and resistances to applying an EU-designed model of institutional change in postcommunist regions.