Is There a Gap in Economic Culture Between EU Countries and the Transition Economies?

The process of EU enlargement is in its final stage, the CEECs havemore or less adapted to the western standards, which is not yet sufficient for successful completion of the transition process successfully. We have learned from the failed communism that the imported norms, institutions and practices can cause entropy, unless they reflect the prevailing cultural orientation in the society. People should believe that what they are presented as right (norms) is also good (values). For this reason the system of norms and values should be developed simultaneously. The research results show that the symptoms of economic cultures are less evident in the CEECs than in the selected EU countries, thus the democratic socialization (stimulated from outside) is the key issue. For this reason the CEECs should be included in the network of the Euro- Atlantic integrations as soon as possible in order to ensure the democratic stability and economic efficiency of Europe.

Measuring Urban Development and City Performance

Cities represent the driving force of development in economic, social, and cultural life, reflecting also the spatial organization of human society. Taking into account the fact that cities are becoming generators of economic development and a source of growth for the national economy, there is an increasing urge to identify the stages of development and to establish a system for the ranking and positioning of cities and regions in this process (the level of categorization). This will allow the preparation of appropriate strategic and development guidelines for cities and urban regions to take place. In order to be able to compare the level of their efficiency in fostering development, there is an intensifying need to develop indicators that measure the performance of cities, are representative and comparable between countries, and allow verification to others. At present, there are many different urban indicators and institutions that compile and analyze them. Performance measurement systems, developed for internal use in some cities, already show a degree of measurement feasibility. The fundamental problem is that this variety of indicators lacks consistency and comparability (over time and between compared cities). Therefore, their use cannot be approved in a wider context (benchmark) of comparative situations. Upon the case of medium-sized cities, we consequently have to question the applicability of the methodology and indicators, used mostly in cases of large, global cities by internationally recognized institutions. With the established set of indicators and assistance of computer programs for multiparameter decision-making processes (analytic hierarchical process [AHP]), this paper also seeks to investigate comparisons between performance of selected European cities (on a qualitative basis)

Regional Analysis for European Structural and Investment Funds on the Case of Slovenia-Austria Cross-Border Cooperation 2014–2020

In 2012, the EU Commission provided each member state with a country position paper outlining the analysis of the Commission of the main challenges and funding priorities relevant for the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESI) in the programming period 2014–2020, including in relation to European Territorial Cooperation. These position papers have guided the ensuing dialogue with the Commission in particular in relation to the prioritisation of development needs and concentration of support, as well as in terms of the presentation of information. In this chapter, authors are presenting relevant social, economic and environmental aspects of the programme area and describe how the cooperation programme’s strategy in the case of cross-border cooperation between Slovenia and Austria for 2014–2020 period has contributed to the delivery of the Union strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and for achieving economic, social and territorial cohesion

A Development Vision and Strategy Model as a Response of Cities to the Challenges of Globalization

Exposure to new sources of competition across the world encourages cities to become more competitive and to allocate their resources more effectively and efficiently. Responding to the demands of many different groups and managing the allocation of resources between different claims is nowadays one of the most important challenging tasks for city governments

Planning the Audit of Financial Resources in a Non-Profit Organization

Internal auditing of non-profit organizations represents the first line of defence against inadequate use of non-profit organization?s funding sources. In the European legal system, the purpose of a non-profit organization is to meet the needs of stakeholders with different products and services and public works that the state or other profit organization cannot satisfy and to affect the policy of the state or the economy. Non-profit organizations due to their nature are not able to acquire their own sources of financing, which is why they largely depend on subsidies, grants, membership fees, revenue from the sale of services and products that are not necessarily sold at market price. Therefore, the correct usage of these sources is all the more important. One way of checking the correctness of the use of sources of financing is internal audit, which must be carefully planned. The purpose of the chapter is to present the planning of the internal audit in the case of a non-profit organization, the most important part of which is the definition of audit objectives, the organization’s risk analysis and the preparation of the audit plan

WTO LIBERALISATION, EU ACCESSION, AND SENSITIVE INDUSTRIES - THE SLOVENIAN CASE

With accession to the EU, Slovenia will simultaneously become a member of customs union, meaning that existing trade barriers with partner countries should be abolished and that trade policy against third countries should be adapted to the policy of the Union. Slovenia should cede up the instruments of common commercial policy. Practical importance for Slovenia will be caused by loss of national sovereignity in the field of anti-dumping measures as well as in concluding trade agreements what will have considerable effects on trade with countries in the area of farmer Yugoslavia. According to the results of the Uruguay round negotiations, most of quantitative restrictions in trade with textiles and clothing will be abolished on 1 January 2005. Slovenia has to be prepared to confront with such keen competition in this branch, especially due to the essentially higher share of employees and exports of this branch in the manufacturing activities of Slovenian industry and its higher regional concentration. Both the Slovenian government and Slovenian companies have to make adjustments to prepare for these changes in operating environment simoultaneously with the accomplishment of all necessary processes before accession to the EU internal market and to common policies of the European Union

Uloga turizma u strategiji međunarodnih ekonomskih odnosa u Sloveniji

This paper explores the idea of sustainable tourism as a criterion for long-term global planning that takes the economic, sociocultural and environmental benefits of tourist products into account. The paper also discusses what Slovenia’s strategy of international economic relations, together with the Law on tourist activities have contributed to the subject.U radu se istražuje ideja održivog turizma kao kriterija dugoročnog planiranja, koji uključuje ekonomske, sociokulturne i ekološke koristi. Posebno je istaknut doprinos strategije međunarodnih ekonomskih odnosa Slovenije i zakona o turističkim aktivnostima toj problematici

POLICY OF INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC RELATIONS AFTER SLOVENIA\u27S ACCESSION TO THE EU

With accession to the EU Slovenia will simultaneously become a member of customs union, meaning that it should abolish existing trade barriers with partner countries and that it should adapt its trade policy against third countries to the policy of the Union. As a member of the EU Slovenia is going to regulate relations with other EU-member countries by competition policy, and to regulate relations with non-member countries by trade policy. Slovenia should cede up the instruments of common commercial policy. Thus, in the future, policy of international economic relations is going to be carried out at three levels: national, European and international (e.g. WTO, OECD). Practical importance for Slovenia will be caused by loss of national sovereignity in the field of anti-dumping measures as well as concluding trade agreements, what will have a considerable effects on trade with countries in the area of former Yugoslavia