Publications

For almost two decades, the ten new EU member states in eastern Europe, and also the current and future accession candidates in the western Balkans, have been going through a process of transformation which has had far-reaching consequences. In some of these countries, the process appears to be virtually complete and they have either already joined, or are about to join, the euro zone. The process of transformation is making huge demands on the political and social players in these countries in terms of the social adjustment to a market economy, privatisation, workforce cuts, unemployment and the ongoing process of integrating into the EU. And this is without taking into account the impact of the current global economic crisis.

The efficiency of the European Union-s strategy for enlargement has been tested by the integration process of East European countries after the fall of communism and giving the successful transition to liberal-democracy there are good reasons to support the EU-s involvement in the Balkans. The European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) is the largest civilian mission ever launched under the European Security and Defense Policy (ESDP) and thus a crucial test for the EU-s ambition to act as collective actor.

Almost two years ago, the region of southeast Europe recorded economic growth of almost six per cent establishing itself as one of the strongest growing regions in Europe. The economic crisis of 2008 ended this however.

The current publication is a specific event, a type of its own in the row of writings about trade unionism in transition societies. It comes with a pretty engaging name - about trade unions and the 21century. Taken at face value one may expect that the book is a product of applying fashionable developmental concepts or highly celebrated organizational designs to the realities of trade unions and societies undergoing complex transformation processes. This is exactly what it is not about. This is a book derived from real life and aimed at the practical problems that the trade unions face in the process of “transition” to democratic societies and market economies in Eastern Europe. Inspired by the direct experience of living and working in the…

Politics requires a clear sense of direction. Only those who are able to state their goals clearly will achieve them and inspire others. In light of that, in this Reader we would like to address the question of what social democracy means in the twenty-first century. What are its core values? What are its goals? How can it be put into practice? One thing is clear: social democracy is not predetermined or set in stone for all time, but must rather be constantly renegotiated and subject to democratic contestation. This volume will therefore not provide ready-made answers but rather seek to encourage further reading and reflection.

At the end of 2008, the then EU-Commissioner for Enlargement, Olli Rehn, declared 2009 as the “Critical Year of the Balkans“. It remains to be seen if this prediction will come true, whether it is meant to be a warning or an offer, and to whom it has been directed. The “To-Do-List” for both the countries in the Balkans, as well as for the European Union ́s enlargement policy is long. The apparently endless period of transition and preparation for the accession into the EU has resulted in an increasing impatience and frustration on the side of the Balkans, whereas on the side of the European Union the question is asked more frequently these days why the political elites in the Balkans apparently lack the will and the capacity to overcome the…

Obviously, none of the ex-communist countries of the European periphery could escape the great crisis. Regardless of their integration in global markets (such as Hungary) or their peripheral position (such as Serbia) - no macroeconomic plans, no market integration made them immune to the crisis.

According to Max Weber, political parties represent voluntary associations whose mail goal is to control the resources of the state (power, jobs, money) through their leaders. However, Weber notes that north and western Europe are a special case, where parties are constituted as "ethos communities" of which the German social democracy is a prime example.