European Administrative Space - Balkan Realities
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
European Administrative Space - Balkan realities Editors: Lucica MATEI Davor VAŠIČEK Marija KAŠTELAN MRAK SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPEAN ADMINISTRATIVE STUDIES Coordinator: Lucica MATEI ASsee Online Series, No. 3/2011 Editura Economică EUROPEAN ADMINISTRATIVE SPACE BALKAN REALITIES Editors: Lucica Matei Davor Vašiček Marija Kaštelan Mrak SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPEAN ADMINISTRATIVE STUDIES Coordinator: Lucica MATEI ASsee Online Series, No. 3/2011 2 South-Eastern European Administrative Studies ISBN 978-973-709-552-7 Copyright © Editura Economică, 2011 Autorii sunt responsabili de clarificarea dreptului de utilizare a informaţiilor cuprinse în lucrare. Coperta: Adriana POPESCU Revizie text: Carmen SĂVULESCU Tehnoredactare computerizată: Alexandra Irina TUDORICĂ 2 European administrative space. Balkan realities 3 Table of contents Foreword.................................................................................................................................................5 Keynote speech Public Administration Europeanization, South-Eastern European Trends and Comparative Analysis ............................................................................................................................7 Lucica Matei Chapter 1. European Administrative Space – from Concept to Reality Convergence régionale et fonds structurels européens ....................................................................37 Vinko Kandžija, Alen Host, Igor Cvečić Relevance of “Western European public administration reform” on transition countries – “who learns what from whom?” .........................................................................................................50 Marco Meneguzzo, Gloria Fiorani, Cristina Mititelu, Lucica Matei, Ani Matei, Germano Cipolletta A theoretical inquiry: Is European administration consensus-based?............................................71 Diana Camelia Iancu, Daniel Mihai Ungureanu Understanding the European Administrative Space.........................................................................89 Nikolaos Lymouris Strengthening the Practice of Good Governance in Croatia – Are Civil Society Organizations Co-Governors in Policy Making? .......................................................................................................94 Jelena Matančević Chapter 2. Legal, Administrative and Institutional Pillars of European Administrative Space – National Experiences Access to environmental information: a best practice scenario for achieving transparency .......................................................................................................................................107 Vera Theofilaktou Innovative Decisions of the European Administrative Space Governance ...................................112 Roumiana Tsankova, Lyubina Doneva The application of the principle of transparency in the decision-making process of public institutions. Case study: Romanian Ombudsman, Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Committee on Petitions of the Parliament of Romania.....................................................127 Crina Ramona Rădulescu Convergence of policies for promoting total quality management in the public administrations of Balkan states – European Union Member States........................................................................144 Ani Matei, Carmen Săvulescu 3 4 South-Eastern European Administrative Studies Chapter 3. Convergence and Europeanization of Public Administration – Premises for Strengthening European Administrative Space Life long learning and mobility for the creation of European identity in local governments. Experiences and perspectives............................................................................................................177 Massimo Bianchi Convergence of Local Administration in Croatia. Insight into LG Pratices ................................182 Marija Kaštelan Mrak, Morena Mičetić Fabić, Danijela Sokolić A pilot factor analysis model for the estimation of the indicators of administrative convergence in Greece........................................................................................................................193 Eleni Kitrinou Socio-statistical research on the internalization of the European Administrative Space principles in the Romanian Public Administration..............................................................211 Ani Matei, Lucica Matei, Diana Camelia Iancu Civil society and European administration system .........................................................................230 Panagiotis Grigoriou Bulgarian administration under the conditions of joining the European Administration Space (EAS) .....................................................................................240 Ivan Nachev Questioning Financial Indicators of Civil Society Development....................................................245 Davor Vašiček, Davor Mance Chapter 4. Integrating Balkan Traditional Administrative Values in the European Administrative Space Concept and Practice Making public policy work: between responsiveness and convergence of the public agenda. The Romanian case ............................................................................................................................257 Luminiţa Gabriela Popescu Public Sector Modernization – Balkan Realities and Current Trends..........................................271 Margarita Shivergueva Fiscal rules and fiscal sustainability at sub-national government level – experiences of Slovakia, Slovenia and Croatia ................................................................................279 Uros Pinteric, Daniel Klimovsky, Sasa Drezgic Administrative Europeanization and institutional change: the case of Croatia...........................304 Nenad Smokrović, Ivana Ilijašić-Veršić 4 European administrative space. Balkan realities 5 Foreword Since the conceptual framework of the European Administrative Space (EAS) in 1990s, at least two convergent trends may be found out. The first trend refers to EAS operationalisation as instrument and mechanism for assessing the reforms of the national public administrations. Herewith, we refer to the deepness of EAS content, which has become more comprehensive, incorporating the most significant aspects on the public administrations reforms. The second trend refers to continuous enlargement of EAS area. The limits of this area are not the same with the EU limits and the internal processes of EAS do not have the same intensity as those of the European integration. Therefore, we may assert that the EAS reveals specific developments related to the traditions, history, administrative culture, national identity etc. of every state. The regional characteristics on the development of public administrations are decisive and the administrative convergence will take them into account. In this context, the current volume aims to reveal a few Balkan realities on EAS. Of course our approach is far from presenting the whole complexity of the phenomena and processes of public administrations in the Balkan states. The arguments on the above difficulty refer to: different stages for the Balkan states related to the European integration; diversity of the administrative models and cultures in the public administrations of the Balkan states; different levels of economic and social development in the Balkan area. Even in those conditions, as the reader may conclude after studying the current volume, the ideal of European integration gets closer or gathers the national efforts and actions, incorporating them in a convergent trend related to the EAS principles and values. The analyses and researches have aimed the following directions: EAS conceptualization and operationalisation in the Balkans. National experiences on the legal, administrative and institutional pillars of EAS. Convergence and Europeanization of the Balkan public administrations as premises of EAS development. Integrating the Balkan traditional administrative values into the EAS concept and practice. Those major research–oriented directions have represented the pillar for several specialists’ studies and analyses, especially from academia, which have been selected for the actual volume. The debates on the topics announced have been achieved in the framework of the Workshop: “European Administrative Space – Balkan Realities”, organized by the University of Rijeka on 18 – 19 February 2011. 5 6 South-Eastern European Administrative Studies At the same time, the content of the current volume completes the image of the activities and events organized in the framework of Jean Monnet project “South-Eastern European developments on the administrative convergence and enlargement of the European Administrative Space in Balkan states”, which has received funding from the European Community. Lucica Matei Academic coordinator of Jean Monnet project 6 European administrative space. Balkan realities 7 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION EUROPEANIZATION. SOUTH-EASTERN EUROPEAN TRENDS AND COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS Lucica MATEI Jean Monnet Chair Holder Faculty of Public Administration, National School of Political Studies and Public Administration Bucharest, Romania Abstract Europeanization, as global process, undergoes an increasing enlargement, comprising both EU Member States and South-Eastern European states. The geo-political aspects and democratic traditions influence directly the Europeanization process, conferring both national specific elements and issues of compatibility, thus triggering various