The Common Foreign and Security Policy (CFSP) is one of the most widely discussed and analyzed policy areas of the European Union (EU). The development of the European Security and Defence Policy (ESDP) within the framework of the CFSP took place at the end of the ‘90s, in a process that interacted with the unfolding of the crisis of the Balkan regional order. Given this context, I believe that a study on the development of the CFSP/ESDP has to investigate how the EU Crisis Management instruments have been used. The crisis that occurred in the Republic of Macedonia, in this respect, is a case of critical salience. Macedonia is a specific case in which both the civilian and the military dimension of EU Crisis Management mechanism were applied, and there exists widespread consensus in the EU on the fact that this was done successfully. However, when talking about successes or failures, a number of slippery questions arise: what indicators of success can one refer to? For example, does success refer to the fact that the ESDP mechanism has been activated without major setbacks, or to the way in which it has affected the situation in Macedonia? Is the Macedonian case a success for the CFSP? How is success determined? Which are its standards of measurement?
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Keywords: brain-drain;
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This paper examines what are the difficulties for achieving mobility, applies gap analysis to identify the key problems and at the end provides essential recommendations to institutions on promoting student mobility and encouraging students to broaden their knowledge and skills in other countries. Regarding mobility, this brief will only focus on students using mobility programs that last one or two semesters in other EU countries. The rationale behind this is to explore the progress of the internationalization process of higher education in the country, and in addition provide further guidance to enhance the mobility of Macedonian students.
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This research study conducted by the Think Tank Center for Research and Policy Making (CRPM) in cooperation with various Macedonian authors deals with the topic of Internal Party Democracy in the Republic of Macedonia. It examines, describes, and compares the intra-party democracy in some of the bigger political parties in the Republic of Macedonia, in order to provide a basis for the development and consolidation of democratic structures and the possibilities for their members’ participation. (Publisherd in co-operation of CRPM and the Macedonian office of the Konrad Adenauer Foundation)
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This article focuses on the transitional process in a society which has experienced a violent conflict and needs adequate mechanisms to deal with the legacies of the past in order to prevent future violence and pave the way for reconciliation and democratic consolidation. The disintegration of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Yugoslavia) and its legacy has left a number of newly emerged and independent democracies in the Western Balkan region to cope with grave violations of human rights. The bloodshed in Croatia and Serbia, and the genocide in Bosnia and Herzegovina lead to the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The jurisdiction of ICTY was extended to Macedonia and the 2001 conflict; however, the Ohrid Framework Agreement (OFA) inclusion of an Amnesty Law raises a number of questions related to the process of reconciliation and transitional justice mechanisms. In The Republic of Macedonia (Macedonia), the need and importance to promote understanding, tolerance and peace for all within the country has been sidelined in the OFA because the main goal was to end the violence, accentuating peace over justice. As a result, OFA focus on political representation and ethnic power-sharing has neglected past grievances and atrocities which are of utmost importance in order for a society to move forward with its democratic consolidation.As such, this paper will look at the mechanisms of transitional justice and its relations with democracy. Its aim is to argue that a long-term approach steaming from the different mechanisms of transitional justice is imperative for democratic consolidation and stable inter-ethnic relations in Macedonia.
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Keywords: asylum-seekers;
Western European countries have been at the front line of developing instruments designed to control and restrict flows ever since the 1970s when the problem of unwanted immigration and asylum flows began to emerge. Their policy responses subsequently set a standard or pattern for other, ‘new’ asylum countries or transit countries on Europe’s borders, at the same time influencing towards more restrictive policies in this area. The European Union’s further integration through building the Common European Asylum System (CEAS) influence towards creating common standards on determination and harmonizing the level of human rights among the EU countries. These processes however, on the other side are producing negative impact on the protection regimes in EU, making it more difficult for the forced migrants to reach the “shores” of Europe and benefit from the asylum. The Republic of Macedonia is a candidate country for European Union membership since 2005 and the accession to EU has been defined as one of the highest strategic priorities for the governmenti . The country present the democratic capacities in a light that shows that the State ensures law, procedure, standards and legal understanding through which it will protect those in need and ensures legitimacy in front of the international democratic public, thus following the development and further integration of the European policies through establishing asylum system and policies synchronized with the EU`s ‘acquis’.After the Bosnian crisis and the Kosovo war, Republic of Macedonia faced with significant number of so- called “new asylum seekers”, asylum seekers coming from countries outside the Balkans and Europe. According the UNHCR official statistical data in 2011, 740 asylum applicationsii were submitted in front of the Section for asylum- Ministry of interior. None of these asylum- seekers was granted with convention (refugee) status or complementary protection statusiii . In 2008, the number of asylum applications was 50, following by increases in the numbers in 2009- 90, then 2010 with 180 asylum applications.
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Keywords: energy-efficiency;
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This policy brief looks at the National Action Plan for OGP (2012-2014) to analyse the degree to which the commitments for transparency have been implemented and whether the new National Action Plan on OGP 2014-2016 addresses its deficiencies. Since the four pillars of open government – transparency, participation, accountability, and open data –– are interdependent and equivalent in their contribution toward good governance, to clearly define the scope of this policy brief, we will distinguish transparency from the other pillars by defining it as when the “public understands the working of their government” (as defined by Transparency Accountability Initiative). By adapting this definition to the commitments of the action plan, CRPM breaks down the definition in three central elements: * the obligation of public institutions to disclose public information at the request of citizens * the means for citizens to access proactively published information and * the right of citizens to receive information through services as set in the national standards for integrity. The following sections will aim to present a concise situation analysis in the three named aspects of transparency and conclude with a set of recommendations for their improvement. The analysis also uses the results of two public opinion surveys produced by CRPM in the period April 2013- September 2014.
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KEY POINTS * According to the research being done on the issue of hidden economy, its share in Macedonia, depending on the measurement method used, ranges from 24% to 47% of GDP with a tendency to decrease. * The decreasing, but still large unemployment rate (28.4% as of Q2 2014), as one of the most important factors that give rise to hidden economic activities and practices, indicates a crossover from the informal to the formal sector. * The indicators of non-observed economy (NOE) and observed informal employment by the SSO indicate a tendency of decreasing hidden economy and increasing formalization of labor. * Attracting FDIs through improving the business environment, increasing the capacity of the self-employment program of the Employment Agency, and reforming the inspectorates will remain some of the most crucial factors in encouraging the formalization process of labor and businesses and thus decreasing hidden economic activities.
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Undeclared work, being one of the main manifestations of hidden economy, becomes the bull’s-eye for many countries focusing on reshaping their social and economic policies in order to tackle this issue, especially since the onset of the economic crisis that hit Europe and the World in 2008. The most recent economic indicators coming from Europe show that this crisis has not concluded and European economies are yet to deal with its mid and long-term consequences. Macedonia and other Western Balkan countries are not exempt from this process, with job creation and policies targeting unemployment (28.2% as of Q2 2014) being a major concern and a focal point of political activity. Low growth prospects in the EU and sluggish economic conditions forecasted in 2014 are also limiting Macedonia’s growth prospects, which at this point are still positive at around 4% GDP growth annually (4.3% as of Q2 2014). In the following period, economic growth will dictate the unemployment rate while regulatory reforms targeted at labor policy, taxation, and inspections will dictate the extent of undeclared economy and, consequently, the risk of poverty and social exclusion that undeclared workers will be subjected to.
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