PROCEEDINGS OF THE INSTITUTE FOR EUROPEAN STUDIES, JOURNAL OF TALLINN UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY ISSN 1736-4949 No 8 December 2010 Introductory note (by Aksel Kirch and Peeter Müürsepp) ............................ 2 Notes on the Contributors .............................................................................. 3 ARTICLES Fernando Alonso and Jose Luis Cendejas. Recent Evolution of Economic Differences in the European Union: An Examination of Economic Convergence ................................................................................................. 7 Janno Reiljan. Possibilities of Discussing Convergence of Regional Economic Development in the EU ............................................................. 33 Leon Miller. A Deliberative Approach to a More Stable Global Arena .......... 61 Ero Liivik. Legitimacy through Direct Democracy in the EU Member State: Direct Democratic Initiatives in the Estonian Parliament ................ 82 Jose Bolanos. EU’s ‘Mango Salad’ Policy towards Belarus: A Commentaire from an Economic Perspective ....................................... 100 Eva Polonska-Kimunguyi. Polish Media Laws and the European Union ....116 Oudekki Loone. To Define a Refugee: Clarifications of the Term That Escapes Definition .................................................................................... 144 Katrin Nyman-Metcalf. Incitement or Free Speech? Legal Limits to Freedom of Expression ................................................... 165 Natalia Nekrassova and Maria Claudia Solarte-Vasques. Cultural Competence: A Fundamental Component of a Successful Higher Education Internationalization Strategy.................................................... 179 BOOK REVIEWS Fatemeh Shayan. Adamski, Janet; Johnson, Mary Troy and Schweiss, Christina M. (eds.), Old Europe: New Security: Evolution for a Complex World. Aldershot: Ashgate Publishing, 2006 ............................................ 198 Ágnes Szunomár. Inotai, András & Juhász, Ottó (eds.), Kína és a válság [China and the World Crisis], Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, 2010 ........... 202 Proceedings of the Institute for European Studies 1 Tallinn University of Technology (ISSN 1736-4949), No. 8 Introductory Note The Proceedings of the Institute for European Studies (IES Proceedings) has a history of almost a decade. The first issue of IES Proceedings was published in 2002. In 2007, then issued by the International University Audentes (IUA), it became a peer-reviewed yearbook with an extensive editorial board complying with the requirements of an internationally recognized scholarly collection. Since 2009, already for two years, it has been published as a semi-annual (June and December), peer-reviewed scholarly journal by the Department of International Relations, which was established on the basis of the former School of International Relations of the IUA. Since 2010, the journal has enjoyed the financial support of the Tallinn School of Economics and Business Administration at the Tallinn University of Technology, under which the department has operated since 2009. However, the historical name of the journal has been preserved so far in order to reinforce the continuity of the publication. Nevertheless, because of the recent developments, it has become necessary for the editorial board to make a decision concerning the future name of the journal in the first half of 2011. IES Proceedings is an international journal dedicated to research addressing a wide range of issues related to the developments in the European Union. Editors of the journal share a broad perspective on the multidisciplinary field of European Studies. Therefore, the history and philosophy of science and scholarship in Europe is an appropriate topic for our journal as well. The editorial office reserves the right to publish special issues of the journal dedicated to specific topics. For example, the next issue IES( Proceedings No. 9) will be compiled of papers presented at the 24th International Baltic Conference on the History of Science, organized by the Tallinn University of Technology in October 2010. The regular standards of international peer-reviewing, however, will still be applied to submissions to special issues. IES Proceedings No. 10 will be published, exceptionally in September 2011, as a regular issue. The call for papers, with a submission deadline set on 30 April 2011, has already been forwarded. We expect papers dealing with any aspect of European Studies from any field of social science. Humanities’ issues that concern European culture will be welcomed as well. Somewhat broader disciplinary approach than before can be found already in the current issue. Contributions to the current issue have been grouped into five traditional thematic sections. The section on economic analysis contains two lengthier and substantial methodological papers of key relevance for the regional economic convergence in the European Union. Two papers grouped in the section of international relations highlight theoretical issues of political power and the referenda in EU. The third section deals with the identity developments of two nations in Eastern Europe. The fourth section covers political and legal issues in three papers: the first of them analyzes definitions concerning refugees; the second tackles the problem of the freedom of expression, while the third article discusses cultural competences as a tool for internationalization of higher education. However, we hope that the recent developments concerning our journal will help raise awareness about the journal among the academic community, both readers and prospective authors. 2 Proceedings of the Institute for European Studies TallinnAksel University Kirch ofand Technology Peeter Müürsepp (ISSN 1736-4949), (Editors-in-chief No. 8) Notes on Contributors Fernando Alonso Guinea is PhD in Economics at Complutense University of Madrid. He has touched upon subjects in International Economics, Trade and Economics of the European Union. He is Senior Research Fellow at the Complutense Institute for International Studies and the director of the publication Claves de la Economía Mundial (Keys to the World Economy), published by the Spanish Institute for Foreign Trade. Some of his recently published papers are: “Analysis of Regional Disparities in the Enlarged European Union. Structural Funds and Cohesion Policy. Lessons from Spain and Poland.” (European University Review, No. 6, 2009); “The EU Budget Review: Mapping the Positions of Member States”. Swedish Institute for the European Policy Studies. (SIEPS), Stockholm, 2008. José Bolanos recently obtained his BA degree (cum laude) in International Relations from Tallinn University of Technology. On the theoretical spectrum, his thesis and ongoing research studies the possibility of using decision theory (support theory) to project international strategies via a bi-dimensional concept of anarchy, a hypothesis supported by projecting changes in attitudes towards Iraq’s second invasion since 2003. On the practical spectrum, he is interested in the existence of multiple possibilities out of most international situations and thereon studying how to improve the odds of a successful outcome. He is particularly interested in conflict/democratization topics such as in Belarus and the Zelaya’s coup in Honduras, in environmental attitudes and strategies of non- state international actors, and in the economic development of the Third World. José is currently considering different possibilities for graduate education and welcomes critique and suggestions. José Luis Cendejas Bueno is PhD in Economics at Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. He has been teaching economic theory and econometrics in several universities of Madrid. His research and publications focus on modelling business cycle and economic growth. Some recent publications are the following: “Testing for structural breaks in factor loadings: an application to international business cycle” in Economic Modelling, (December 2010); “Ciclo económico y convergencia real en la Unión Europea” in Fundación BBVA (Working paper No. 10/2006); and “Stability Analysis in ARMA and Unobserved Component Models”, in G. L. Mazzi and G. Savio (eds.) Growth and Cycle in the Eurozone, Palgrave Macmillan, 2007. Proceedings of the Institute for European Studies 3 Tallinn University of Technology (ISSN 1736-4949), No. 8 Ero Liivik works currently as lecturer of Law at Estonian Academy of Security Sciences. In 2000 he graduated from the Faculty of Law at University of Tartu. From 2000 to 2007 worked as specialist and manager in the field of local government. In 2003 and 2004 worked as advisor to the Minister of Justice. Since 2007, he has been involved in doctoral studies at University of Tartu. His fields of research are sociology of law, social theories and direct democracy. He has published approximately 100 pieces in journals and newspapers, recently an article entitled “Influence of Direct Democracy on Legitimacy of Legislative Drafting” in the journal of the Estonian Parliament Riigikogu Toimetised (Vol. 21, 2010). Oudekki Loone is PhD student at Tallinn University, Estonia. Her main research areas include immigration, sovereignty, immigrants in labour market. She is a co-author of a book in Estonian Suveräänsus. Seadus. Immigratsioon’ (Sovereignty. Law. Immigration), her most recent publication is “Right to Refuse. Choices of Sovereign States in Transforming Migration Scenarios” in The Romanian Journal of European Studies, No. 7–8/2009. Oudekki Loone has