THE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT AND THE NATURAL ENVIROMENT

The problems of the environment are complex and closely related to a country’s social-economic status, to its progress in general. The economic growth must not deteriorate the environment; in fact it has to guarantee a constant protection correlated with the improvement of the life quality. The contradiction between the economic growth and the natural environment has suffered transformations during time, the adaptation of the economic growth to the natural resources’ volume and quality at a certain moment becoming a necessity as well as the rational utilization of both natural resources and environmental conditions. We do not have to stop the economic growth and development in order to prevent or eliminate pollution; we have, in fact, to obviate the causes that make the economic growth and development to be accompanied by pollutioneconomic growth, economic development, sustainable development

THE ECONOMIC GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT AND THE NATURAL ENVIROMENT

The problems of the environment are complex and closely related to a country’s social-economic status, to its progress in general. The economic growth must not deteriorate the environment; in fact it has to guarantee a constant protection correlated with the improvement of the life quality. The contradiction between the economic growth and the natural environment has suffered transformations during time, the adaptation of the economic growth to the natural resources’ volume and quality at a certain moment becoming a necessity as well as the rational utilization of both natural resources and environmental conditions. We do not have to stop the economic growth and development in order to prevent or eliminate pollution; we have, in fact, to obviate the causes that make the economic growth and development to be accompanied by pollution.economic growth, economic development, sustainable development

Efficacy of European Policies on Rural Landscape: the Case Study of Sardinia (ITALY)

Over the last decades, a large number of developed countries have explicitly recognized the importance of benefits generated from agricultural and rural landscape into their legislation. Since the early '90, preservation and enhancing of rural landscape has played an increasing role also into the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) promoted by the European Union (EU). More generally, the whole European rural development policy seems to recognize an important role to the keeping of agricultural and rural landscape. The present work is a part of a wider research aimed to identify rational instruments for guidance policies on rural landscape. The specific purpose of this paper is to evaluate efficacy of Sardinian (Italy) regional policies on rural landscape. In particular, the analysis aims to assess "functionality" of policies on rural landscape in programming policy. Results arisen from analysis of Rural Development of this first evaluation are controversial.rural landscape, rural and environmental policies, structural policies, efficacy policies evaluation, Sardinia, Agricultural and Food Policy, Q18, Q28, R59,

Removing conceptual blinders: Under what conditions does the ‘democratic deficit’ affect institutional design decisions?

This paper pursues two objectives, one theoretical the other empirical. First, by keeping separate two grand strands in the EU studies literature, one on the design and reform of EU institutions and the other on the EU’s ‘democratic deficit’, EU scholars are foreclosing the opportunity to address a hitherto unanswered question: When and under what conditions does the ‘democratic deficit’ – as it is perceived by political elites in the member states – carry institutional design implications? Does the ‘democratic deficit’ really matter to political elites, and if this is the case, how does it matter? Will it inform political elites’ preferences and choices for institutional design and change? By conceptualising the ‘democratic deficit’ as a value of the independent variable, we are guided to ask when and under what conditions it informs decisions for institutional design and reform. This paper will develop a set of propositions linking political elites’ perceptions about a ‘democratic deficit’ and their institutional design preferences. Secondly, to test the plausibility of these propositions, they will be subjected to empirical scrutiny. The paper shows that the creation and empowerment of the European Parliament can be accounted for by applying the propositions elaborated in this paper. Hence, a question that has puzzled students of European integration since the inception of the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) – why national governments have successively bestowed the European Parliament (EP) with powers (supervisory, budgetary, and legislative) – can only be answered by exploring the conditions under which the ‘democratic deficit’ – as perceived by political elites – will carry institutional design implications.constitution building; democracy; ideas; legitimacy; non-majoritarian institutions; treaty reform; European Parliament

POVEĆANJE EUROPSKE UNIJE OD PETNAEST NA DVADESET PET: PROBLEMI I MOGUĆNOSTI

The accession of ten candidate countries to the EU in May 2004 marks an important turning point in its history. To ensure a smooth course of this process a clear insight into the problems involved and issues at stake is needed. These can be classifi ed into two main groups. The first is the problem of “deepening” the process of integration in the Union, which in the first place means a viable process of decisionmaking and an expedient implementation of respective policies. The second is related with the challenges that the economic and monetary union is facing because of the new constellation of interests created by the accession of the newcomer countries. Conclusions follow.Pristupanje deset zemalja kandidata Europskoj uniji u svibnju 2004. godine obilježava važnu prekretnicu u povijesti. Kako bi se osigurao nesmetani tijek ovog procesa potreban je jasan uvid u probleme koje on uključuje. Oni se mogu svrstati u dvije glavne grupe. Prvi je problem «produbljivanja» procesa integracije u Uniji, koji u prvom redu znači vitalan proces odlučivanja i svrsishodnu primjenu pojedinih politika. Drugi se odnosi na izazove s kojima se ekonomska i monetarna politika suočavaju zbog nove konstelacije interesa izazvane pristupanjem novopridošlih zemalja. Zaključci slijede

The European Free Trade Association – 50 Years of Existence

The European Free Trade Association (EFTA) is an intergovernmental organization set up for the promotion of free trade and economic integration to the benefit of its four Member States: Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Switzerland. The Association is responsible for the management of: The EFTA Convention, which forms the legal basis of the organization and governs free trade relations between the EFTA States; EFTA’s worldwide network of free trade and partnership agreements; and The European Economic Area (EEA) Agreement, which enables three of the four EFTA Member States (Iceland, Liechtenstein and Norway) to participate in the EU’s Internal Market. The purpose of this paper is to present the evolution of EFTA, during the 50 years of existence, whose history, since it was established in 1960, is part of the political and economic history of Europe after the Second World War.Intergovernmental organization, convention, treaty, member state, free trade

The Political Economy of EU Agri-environmental measures: An empirical Assessment at the Regional Level

The paper deals with the political economy determinants of EU agri-environmental measures (AEMs) applied by 59 regional/country units, during the 2001-2004 period. Five different groups of determinants, spanning from positive and negative externalities to political institutions, are highlighted and tested using an econometric model. The main results suggest that AEMs implementation is mostly affected by the strength of farm lobbies, political institutions and the demand for positive externalities. On the contrary, AEMs do not seem implemented by the willingness to address negative externalities.Agri-environmental Measures, Political Economy, EU Regions, Environmental Economics and Policy,

Sustainable Development Policies in Europe

The objective of this paper is to investigate the actual situation in the shift towards the implementation of Sustainable Development Policies in Europe. The aim is to highlight the key role of the European Union in bringing about sustainable development within Europe and also on the wider global stage. It will show how the European Commission performs its commitment in reaching a sustainable regulation by issuing some documents and declarations. The paper frames the EU action into an international framework of strategies, agreements and policies on SD and, at the same time, provides an overview on experiences of SD strategy implementations at the national level, according to the commission pressing on MS to produce their own SD strategy and implement it. Indicators systems, issues of interest and fields of actions are compared: the analysis of these elements aims to highlight common scenarios of SD strategies that reveal the trends towards a more sustainable growth in the European Union.Sustainable Development, Globalization, Environment Policy, Strategy for Sustainable Development, Good Governance, Participation

Technological Progress and Productivity in the Quinoa Sector

The main objective of this case study is to analyze the effect that a significant technological innovation in quinoa processing has had on the productivity of companies devoted to this activity and the impact of such an innovation on the growth and organization of the quinoa cluster in Bolivia, and its possible effects on the future. The study will explain how the boost engendered by technological innovation in quinoa processing has triggered a series of events that have allowed the establishment of an ambitious development program. The sector’s main companies and producer associations are part of this program, which is called the “Quinoa Alliance.” The program has become a unique opportunity for agro-industrial development in the Bolivian Altiplano, so far characterized by subsistence agriculture.Quinoa, saponin, unit operation, specific consumption, productivity