Trafficking in Greece

Trafficking in human beings has taken on great proportions worldwide over the last twenty years. “Traditional” slave trade and slavery have evolved into a “modern” business, especially under the forms of compulsory labour and sexual exploitation. It is estimated that trafficking in human beings constitutes the third largest “criminal business” after illicit trafficking of narcotics and arms

Golden Dawn and the Right-Wing Extremism in Greece

There is an ongoing controversy as to whether extreme right has been a longstanding political phenomenon in Greece or whether it is associated with the ongoing economic crisis. The first view suggests that the extreme right ideology has been an integral part of modern Greek political history because of its tradition of far-right dictatorships. The other view emphasizes the fact that the extreme right in Greece never actually existed simply because of the lack of a nationalist middle class. In effect, the emergence of Golden Dawn is simply an epiphenomenon of the economic crisis. At the same time, a broad new trend was adopted not only by the mass media but also -unfortunately– the academia in order to expand – by using false criteria - the political boundaries of the extreme right, to characterize as many parties as possible as extreme right. In any case, the years after the fall of the Greek junta (from 1974 until today) there are mainly two right-wing parties in the Greek political life: the “United Nationalist Movement” (ENEK in its Greek acronym), a fridge organisation acted during the mid 80’s and has ceased to exist, and the Golden Dawn, whose electoral success provoked an important political and social debate

Trafficking in Greece

Trafficking in human beings has taken on great proportions worldwide over the last twenty years. “Traditional” slave trade and slavery have evolved into a “modern” business, especially under the forms of compulsory labour and sexual exploitation. It is estimated that trafficking in human beings constitutes the third largest “criminal business” after illicit trafficking of narcotics and arms

Understanding the European Administrative Space

Despite the fact that the European Administrative Space actually exists for quite a long time, the actual emancipation of the Commission from national governments has placed the development of such a space on a radically different trajectory. This new space seems to complement a basically intergovernmental order with highly visible elements of a Union administration that spans levels of governance, partly circumventing national ministries. It has to be understood that the extent of administrative activity in the European administrative space can only be fully appreciated if the traditional external point of view is supplemented with an internal one. It leads to a view of the European administrative space not as being two superimposed territorial structures; rather, this space can be seen to have developed over time, on one hand, a de-territorialisation of the exercise of power, and on the other hand, the establishment of a network of integrated administration. The emergence of integrated administration has an impact on criteria for accountability. The above analysis will lead us to some extremely interesting conclusions in order to better understand the full concept of the European Administrative Space.European Administrative Space

Central and Eastern European eGov Days 2014

„Smart governance“ is a frequently quoted concept and high on the political agenda. But what does it imply for public administration and the design of processes and ICT systems? Key factors that can be derived include a transparent and participatory form of governance, “lean” (i.e. cost-effective) systems and a high quality standard in public services. To deliver such standards is not an easy task in a society, where more and more people are always on-line and have become used to mobile services that are available on a continuous basis, but where at the same time privacy concerns are high on the personal and political agenda. On top, European integration has added yet another layer of complexity. This conference and proceedings volume aims at providing new insights in the design of ICT-enabled processes in public administration and how to meet these challenges, particularly with respect to the specific situation in Central and Eastern European countries. Ten years ago, eight of these countries joined the European Union thereby ending half a century of division of the European continent. For the past decade, the Austrian Computer Society has organized the Eastern European eGov-Days providing a platform for knowledge transfer and exchange in both directions on the topic of e-government. This year, the conference aims at inquiring whether e-government is able to promote the integration of new member-states into the EU or whether it can also be a stumbling block for integration, if – for instance – eGovernment systems in different countries are not compatible or if data security issues (as they became visible with the NSA affair) are affecting the confidence of citizens in eGovernment. The organizers of the conference are the Andrássy University Budapest (AUB, the international university in German language in Budapest), the Austrian Computer Society (OCG), the Institute for State Organization and Administrative Reform in the Austrian Federal Chancellery (IfSV), the Austrian Institute for European Law and Policy (AIELP), the National University of Public Service Budapest (NUPS) and the University of Public Administration and Finance Ludwigsburg (HVF). The editors who are representing these institutions are most grateful for the support of the sponsors of the conference and of this volume, especially the Austrian Federal Chancellery, the Konrad Adenauer Foundation, the Baden-Württemberg Foundation and the Austrian Cultural Forum. The conference is organized to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the partnership between the institutions which are now NUPS and HVF both educating civil servants of Hungary and Baden-Württemberg, respectively. The volume is dedicated to Prof. Alexander Prosser at WU Vienna for his 50th birthday. Alexander Prosser has promoted the academic co-operation between Austria and her Central and Eastern European neighbours in the field of eGovernment for many years. The Editors Budapest, Vienna and Ludwigsburg, April, 201