Report on complementary and alternative modes of engagement with the Eastern Partnership countries

Horizon 2020(H2020)693382History and International Relation

Statehood, State Capacity and Limited Access Orders: Comparing Belarus and Ukraine

Horizon 2020(H2020)Security and Global Affair

Development of a social business as a social innovation: the case of Lithuania

Purpose of this article is to assess the first steps of development of social business in Lithuania. Research methodology − systematic analysis of the peculiarities of social business in the scientific literature; identification of the main social problems and possibilities for social business based on results of semi-structured interviews, expert assessment, data grouping and interpretation. Findings − social business development is slow compared to its need. The creation of a legal framework, validating a flexible model of social business and wider social advertising campaign can serve as catalysts for the breakthrough to pave the way for social business development. Research limitations − the main limitation – lack of official social business statistics. Another – factor of subjectivity, which could affect the results of the research, revealing only the main tendencies and problems. In the planning of further research, it is possible to seek greater objectivity of the evaluation by improving the survey questionnaire, to evaluate the social and economic efficiency of social business by the cost-benefit analysis method. Practical implications − the obtained results are useful for social and economic policy makers. Originality/Value − the study contributes to scientific literature by sufficient understanding of practical problems of social business development and fills the gap in research of possibilities of social business development

Three Worlds of Compliance or Four? The EU-15 Compared to New Member States

Starting from the findings of an earlier compliance study covering the 15 'old' Member States of the European Union, which identified three 'worlds of compliance', this article seeks to establish whether or not the new Member States from Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) represent a separate world of compliance. We present empirical findings from a research project on the implementation of three EU Directives from the field of working time and equal treatment in four CEE countries. The evidence suggests that the new Member States display implementation styles that are similar to a few countries in the EU-15. The expectation that the new Member States might behave according to their own specific logic, such as significantly decreasing their compliance efforts after accession in order to take 'revenge' for the strong pressure of conditionality, is not supported by our case studies. Instead, all four new Member States appear to fall within a group that could be dubbed the 'world of dead letters'. It is crucial to highlight, however, that this specific 'world of compliance', characterized by politicized transposition processes and systematic application and enforcement problems, also includes two countries from the EU-15. Copyright (c) 2008 The Author(s).