Eastern Partnership Countries Research Articles

Candidate Countries’ Engagement with European Union Agencies – Alternative Modes of EU Integration?

ABSTRACT Decentralized EU agencies have played an important role in the Union’s institutional landscape over the last three decades. Various engagement logics and types of cooperation have previously been investigated for the European Economic Area and EU Eastern Partnership countries, but not for the five countries that received EU candidate status by 2021—Turkey and four Western Balkans countries—Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, and Northern Macedonia. Covering the period between 1999 and 2021 analysis found that 23 out of 34 agencies observed had some type of engagement with these candidates, while serving both EU’s broader foreign policy interests and advancing the sector-specific alignment of candidates. This also suggests that it is possible to frame these engagements as a form of external EU differentiation.

Sustainable Development: A Common Denominator for the EU’s Policy Towards the Eastern Partnership?

ABSTRACT The heterogeneity of the Eastern Partnership countries’ cultures, political regimes and foreign policy aspirations has been a challenge to the EU’s formulation of a coherent umbrella policy towards the region since the 2004 enlargement. Document analysis with a focus on region-level documents and the cases of Ukraine and Azerbaijan demonstrates the EU’s tendency to shift from an emphasis on European integration and common values to the sustainable development concept in order to address this challenge. By also taking into account the context of this tendency, this analysis highlights the need to balance sustainable development, integration efforts and democratisation in the Eastern Partnership amidst increasing differentiation between target countries and geopolitical pressures.

Europeanization Through Education: Promoting European Studies In Eastern Partnership Countries

Our aim is to problematize Europeanization through education in EaP countries by studying the promotion of EU studies in higher education. The paper discusses the educational dimension of Europeanization in EaP countries from three interrelated perspectives - social constructivism, the Foucauldian concept of governmentality and a post-structuralist reading of centrality and marginality. We specifically focus on a series of international projects developed by the University of Tartu (Estonia) in partnership with other EU-based and non-EU universities from the EaP. We used qualitative data from reports of 4 EU-funded cooperation projects and also student’s views obtained in 2 focus groups that explored how the EU is taught and discussed. In the end, the added value of the article is that it offers a critical view on teaching about the EU in the Eastern neighborhood, focusing on local perspectives on EU-funded projects in higher education.

Does culture influence online customer engagement of university stakeholders: pandemic perspective

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly increased the role of social media in the communication policy of educational institutions. Ensuring the effective use of social networks to communicate with target audiences requires universities to understand, among other things, the importance of cultural context for the audience’s engagement.We analyzed the engagement rates (ER) in Facebook and Instagram for the most influential universities in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries to determine the influence of the country’s cultural characteristics.The study examines two hypotheses. H1: Stakeholders in collectivist cultures with a high level of power distance are more likely to increase online engagement when limited in offline communication. H2: High uncertainty avoidance countries with long-term orientation will demonstrate broader social media engagement.The results showed that the dynamics of stakeholder activity in the social networks Facebook and Instagram for the most influential universities in the Eastern Partnership countries do not depend on the country’s cultural profile.Thus, we can conclude that universities can expand their presence in the digital communication space while addressing representatives of their target audiences from different countries without differentiating their communication messages. The study results also indicate the prospects for expanding remote students’ mobility programs as they will not require different approaches to effective digital communication.
 JEL classіfіcatіon: M30, M39, I20, I29

Peculiarities and Prospects of the European Union Involvement in the Settlement of Conflicts on the Territory of the Eastern Partnership Countries1

Abstract A new EU global strategy is being formed, as opposed to the European Security Strategy, which no longer corresponds to the geopolitical environment. In accordance with the evolution of security threats at the basis of the Global Strategy, the trends of ensuring unity within the EU and its global leadership, as well as strengthening the EU’s defence capabilities and changing its security approaches are now becoming of vital importance. It is the security structural transformations that currently pose the task of geopolitical repositioning to international actors in the global security system. In the conditions of such restructuring, the role of the EU in resolving international conflicts is given a special place. It is obvious that its classic approaches to conflict resolution have lost their perspective.

ადამიანკაპიტალის გაზომვის კონცეპტუალური ასპექტები

The hyper-competitive global economy of the twenty-first century has become an era of innovation, technology, productivity, new knowledge and skills and focused on sustainable and inclusive growth. Human capital is one of the fundamental factors for ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth. The process of human capital formation is long and is influenced by many factors. Its measurement is one of the actual issues. The article discusses the analysis of both theoretical concepts of human capital measurement, as well as measurement problems. We consider three approaches for human capital measurement: The Cost-Based Approach - measures human capital by looking at the stream of past investments undertaken by individuals, households, employers and governments. The Income-Based Approach - measures human capital by looking at the stream of future earnings that human capital investment generates over the lifetime of a person. The approach elaborated by Jacob Mincer is empirically implemented by explaining the logarithm of the wage of a worker from her/his educational attainment and labour market experience (which is another source of human capital formation), while controlling for a set of background characteristics such as gender, type of labour contract (e.g. full-time or part-time, fixed term or tenure). The Indicators-based Approach - recently are widely used for measurement of human capital. 1. The UN Human Development Index (HDI), which combines measures of average achievements in a country in three basic dimensions of human development, i.e. health, education and knowledge, and standards of living. The Human Development Index (HDI) provides a single index measure which aims to capture three key dimensions of human development: an access to knowledge, long and healthy life and a sufficient standard of living; 2. World Bank Human Capital Index (HCI); 3. The PISA, which tests 15-16 year olds students for their cognitive skills in terms of reading, mathematics, science and problem solving; 4. The PIAAC, which tests adults for their competencies in terms of literacy, numeracy and ability to solve problems in technology-rich environments. The PISA and the PIAAC are new measures and express cognitive skills and abilities of students. A new approaches of human capital measurement clarifies what indicators can be considered to precisely measure more accurate human capital. The paper presents an empirical analysis of the dynamics of human capital of the Eastern Partnership (EaP) countries and draws relevant conclusions. For this purposes we consider several measurements of human capital: Human Capital Index (http://databank.worldbank.org/data); Human Development Index (http://hdr.undp.org/en/content/human-development-index-hdi), Public Expenditure on education (http://databank.worldbank.org/data) and (http://data.uis.unesco.org). Based on the analysis of the values ​​of the indicators and characteristics discussed above the following can be clearly identified: The higher government spending on education, the higher value of PISA (conclusion are similar regarding HCI and HDI). Georgia's favorable positions allows us to draw certain conclusions: the country requires active support from the government to improve problematic situation in terms of both healthcare and education. It is necessary to have an effective educational system that contributes to raising the level of education in the country (especially at the general education level), attracting qualified personnel to schools, supporting science, introducing scientific and technological achievements, analyzing and evaluating global technological trends. The high level of education of the population is a prerequisite for the development of demand for high-tech products and stimulates the creation of innovative products and processes. The current picture shows the impact of the pandemic on human capital through increasing mortality (which is related to the spread of infection), increasing government spending (related to manage the spread of the virus); It is clear that there is a transmission of the pandemic on the economic equilibrium (through the impact on demand and supply). At the same time, however there is the effect that we can consider as a positive result - acceleration of digitization. Since the process of formation and accumulation of human capital is not short-term, quantitative assessment of the impact will be possible after a certain period of time (the time lag should be taken into account); Keywords: Human Capital; Human Capital Index; Human Development Index; Government Expenditure on Education; PISA. JEL Codes: E24, J24, J41

PERFORMANCE CRITERIA OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF MECHANISMS FOR PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION IN ECONOMIC COOPERATION OF EASTERN PARTNERSHIP COUNTRIES

The article presents the criteria for the effectiveness of the implementation of state management mechanisms in the sphere of economic cooperation of the Eastern Partnership countries. It has been proven that every certain period for the implementation of state administration in the sphere of economic cooperation of the Eastern Partnership countries becomes a rather relevant and necessary mechanism, in accordance with the criteria of effectiveness, namely: relevance - the criterion for assessing the need for mechanisms is the perspective of the implementation of the tasks in the direction of formation and implementation public administration in the sphere of economic cooperation of the Eastern Partnership countries; cost-effectiveness - an indicator of the effectiveness of the mechanisms - when the planned result significantly exceeds the costs for their implementation in the process of public administration in the sphere of economic cooperation of the Eastern Partnership countries; minimization of various types of costs (relevant material, human, monetary and other); effectiveness - the indicator for evaluating the effectiveness of the relevant mechanisms is the determined ratio of the number of used resources (relevant material, evolutionary, human, resource, and others) with the result obtained in the process of formation and implementation of public administration in the sphere of economic cooperation of the Eastern Partnership countries. Keywords: European Union, European integration, Eastern Partnership, public administration, performance Criteria.

Mapping Political Populism in the European Post-Transitional Periphery

This article comparatively analyzes the manifestations and various factors of political populism in the European post-transitional periphery. The main difficulty in mapping political populism in the European post-transitional periphery and defining populist parties most accurately is that, unlike most political forces in developed democracies, such parties do not belong to traditional parties. Moreover, their ideology combines the positions of both right and left parties, which makes it extremely difficult to place them on the classical right-left scale of the party spectrum. The political agenda of the populist parties of the European post-transition peripheral countries has a different content, but it usually comes down to updating issues that are hushed up by the political establishment: protecting national and cultural identity, taking tough measures aimed at combating corruption and crime, protecting traditional family values, and even harsh criticism of the Council of Europe, the OSCE and the EU and their institutions. A distinctive feature of the populist forces was also that in their majority they called for the protection of the rights and interests of ordinary people and the wider use of the instruments of direct democracy, and thus directly opposed one of the fundamental principles of liberal democracy, taking into account the opinion of the minority. The article analyzes the emergence of a populist environment, where the responsibility, trust and dignity of politicians are distorted, which in turn leads to a crisis of understanding and civiliarchic culture. The influence of populist parties has grown and most European post-transitional peripheral countries have at least one successful populist party, and populists are among the most influential parties. It is noteworthy that civil society organizations have identified the activities of populist leaders and their parties as the main threat facing the Eastern Partnership countries. Using populist technologies, mainly in the context of an election campaign, leaders and their political groups seek to manipulate public opinion and change the alignment of political parties in the European post-transitional periphery.

The Dubious Perspective of the Eastern Partnership Countries Joining the European Union

There were significant geopolitical shuffles in Europe in the early 1990s. The dissolution of the Soviet Union, the collapse of socialist regimes in Central and Eastern Europe & the disintegration of Yugoslavia emerged as severe threats to destabilizing the international system. Some European countries of the former Eastern Bloc joined the E.U. and NATO swiftly. In contrast, the adjacent countries to Russia of the so-called Eastern Partnership, even Russia in the early '90s, have shown interest in close cooperation with the West. However, the E.U.'s support for the Orange Revolution in Ukraine and the Rose Revolution in Georgia led to a loss of confidence. Discontent escalated, and the EU-Russia partnership froze after the occupation of Crimea and its annexation to Russia. Having recovered economically and politically, Russia seeks its restoration as a superpower and the rival U.S. In this perspective, Russia envisages perpetuating its influence on the countries that had been members of the Soviet Union. Presumably, Russia is directly or indirectly trying to impede the European course of the Eastern Partnership countries that have already declared an interest in becoming E.U. members. The developments in the most significant countries of the Eastern Partnership countries, Ukraine and Georgia, confirm the difficulties they face in claiming the right to join the E.U and N.A.T.O. Has the E.U. Enlargement to the East reached its limits? Can the Eastern Partnership countries ever become E.U. members?

FORMATION OF PROCESSES OF STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT OF SMALL BUSINESS ENTERPRISES IN CRISIS CONDITIONS

Purpose. To de fine the role of the state in small business activity in crisis conditions, directions of support of small and medium enterprises. Summa rise the important factors that in flounce small business activity in the crisis. To of for up date dmanagementtoolsonimprovementofstrategicmanagementprocessesinenterprises, namely: "Reengineering processes", implementation of which will ensure their innovative development. Method. The methodological basis of the scientific research, on the issue of formation of processes of state mismanagement of small business enterprises in crisis conditions, are government documents, material soft the State Statistics Service of Ukraine, materials of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine, etc. the authors propose to introduce in to the activity of enterprises in the modern crisis conditions "Reengineering processes" and note the most important ones. Results. There search on this topic included research by authors of a number of normative and legal documents regulating small enterprises, the state of small business and entrepreneur ship development in Ukraine, as well a indicators of Ukraine in the "Index of SME Policy: Eastern Partnership countries 2020". Scientific novelty. The authors believe that small business enterprises in Ukraine, which operate in crisis conditions, for more dynamic growth, should periodically analyze strategic plans, make generalizing conclusions in accordance with market conditions and implement "reengineering processes". Practical significance. Introduction of "Reengineering processes" intheconditionsofcrisisintotheactivityofenterprisescreatesnewopportunitiesforthem, namely: It is easier to adapt to negative influences, to optimize the activity of enterprises, to prevent possible future losses, to provide higher level of economic development, etc.

EUROPEAN UNION POLICY IN THE AREA OF COUNTERING SOFT POWER OF RUSSIA IN THE STATES OF THE EASTERN PARTNERSHIP

Aim. To analyze how the EU perceives the concepts “hybrid threats” and “soft power” in the context of Russian policy towards the Eastern Partnership states, which are a zone of clashing strategic interests of Russia and the EU.Methodology. The research on the EU’s perception of the so-called hybrid threats and soft power of Russia and the peculiarities of countering them is carried out using analysis of theoretical approach and discourse analysis. Results of the study show that Russia’s soft power relating to the Eastern Partnership states is viewed as a hybrid threat by the EU.Research implications. The article explores and clarifies the terms “soft power” and “hybrid threats” applied to Russia, the EU and the Eastern Partnership countries considering the fact that these notions are used more and more frequently in International Relations and are interpreted ambiguously.

TRANSITIONAL MECHANISMS OF LOCAL SELF-GOVERNMENT IN THE MEMBER STATES OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

The article aims to analyse the local autonomy in three groups of Member States of the European Union in transitional perspective. The examples of the Member States with experience and administrative tradition could inspire for concrete measures in strengthening local autonomy. At the same time, the states from the ex-socialist space represent a model in overcoming communist regimes and building the local layer and free organisation of the local public administration. In the same context, the particular development path of the Baltic countries become relevant. The experience of different categories of European countries highlights concrete lessons learned or valuable experience that can be treated as good examples for other countries in the region. The local autonomy development process in each country is influenced by certain factors, both internally and externally. For a comprehensive view in research elaboration were applied several scientific methods. The juridicallegal perspective of the topic was ensured due to exploring of legislative, normative and methodological materials regulating local autonomy and local public administration in the analysed countries. Comparative method was useful in terms of analysing the same countries of a certain European groups, but also between different groups. The bibliographic analysis supposed studying foreign scientific literature and the domestic sources. The actuality of the research topic relates to the importance of the local autonomy in the context of local development and the increasing significance of the local public administration. The European models and the lessons learned from their experience are absolutely relevant in the context of the transition systems in the region such as Eastern Partnership countries. In conclusion, the simplicity of the local administrative system in terms of one layer of local administration, allows for a transparent and direct implementation of functional autonomy, as is the case of the Baltic countries. For ex-socialist states concrete reforms and fast measures had worked efficiently. The European countries with administrative tradition apply a hybrid style of local autonomy, regionalisation becoming an increasingly widespread practice.

Main directions of the development of the relations of the Republic of Moldova with the European Union in the context of the Eastern Partnership

The Republic of Moldova participation in the Eastern Partnership (EaP) platform has enabled to make significant progress in country’s development over the past decade. The enhancing and deepening relationships with the EaP countries and the European Union (EU), along with the implementation of diverse programs and initiatives drawn up by the EU within the framework of the Eastern Neighborhood Policy has brought its tangible results and benefits. The signing of the Association Agreement with the EU has become an important integral part of the constructive political dialogue between the Republic of Moldova and EU, which cover all cooperation areas in their interest. The creation of the DCFTA had a favorable impact on the increase in Moldovan exports to the EU countries, trade in services, competitiveness of Moldovan products and intensified trade and economic relations between the parties. Visa liberalization regime, technical and financial support from the EU has created a number of advantages for the country andits citizens. The development of relationships between the Republic of Moldova and EU has been characterized by ups and downs – from the ”success story” of the Eastern Partnership to a crises and stagnation period. The difficulties of cooperation were due to internal political crises, inconsistency of government’s actions and low level of democratic development coupled with high level of corruption of Moldovan officials. The new stage of development has been emerged with the coming to power in Moldova in 2020-2021 of pro-European forces. This new phase will be based on a pragmatic dialogue and acceleration of integration processes

Connectivity of the EU’s Eastern Partnership region: contestation between liberal and illiberal approaches

ABSTRACT Contemporary societies are closely interconnected by transnational networks and flows (of people, goods, energy, information, money), which is a source of both opportunities and vulnerabilities. Connections and networks thrive in a liberal, norms-based environment. However, they are also imbued with power politics and geopolitical rivalry over who controls vital connections. The direction, density and quality of the connections of states to their external environment have important implications for their international position, security, and welfare. It is thus highly relevant that connectivity has been singled out as one of the key priorities of the Eastern Partnership (EaP). The article explores how the EU has developed connectivity with EaP countries, given the growing contestation between liberal and illiberal approaches to connectivity in the region. It discusses the linkages of connectivity to power, security, and resilience. It looks at examples in particular in the case of Ukraine and seeks to assess their implications for Ukraine’s security and geopolitical position, and hence for European security more broadly. It argues that, in order to improve Ukraine’s resilience and reduce vulnerability, it is important to connect the country better to European infrastructure and strengthen physical links such as roads, energy connections, and flows of trade.

The European Union’s Transformative Power in the Countries of the Eastern Partnership

Abstract The article examines the Eastern Partnership (EaP) as the initiative of the European Union (EU) through the prism of the constructivist concepts of soft power, normative power and transformative power. The research focuses on the assessment of the EU’s transformative strength in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus, based on the analysis of declared EU policy goals and instruments and the real results of political reforms in partner countries. The results of the study show that the EaP has little transformative impact and needs further revision. The analysis of empirical indicators in the field of political transformation of the EaP countries shows that since its inception, as well as after the signing of Association Agreements with three countries and the renewal of the European Neighborhood Policy in 2015, no radical changes have been made, and the EU’s influence on the course of reforms has been insignificant. Institutional and geopolitical constraints and challenges that complicate the EU’s ability to influence its eastern neighbours are addressed. The article analyses prospects for strengthening the effectiveness of the EaP in the context of its latest update after 2020.

EU-NATO and the Eastern Partnership Countries Against Hybrid Threats (2016-2021)

The EU, NATO and the Eastern Partnership countries are facing a range of security challenges and risks. Hybrid threats are a permanent feature of today’s security environment and a part of the current EU, NATO, and the Eastern Partnership countries security landscape. In a period of rapid changes in the security environment and external pressures, it is important to intensify cooperation between the EU, NATO, and the Eastern Partnership countries and to make further progress on common collaborative approaches against hybrid threats. The paper focuses on different areas of the EU-NATO cooperation against hybrid threats and argues that shared resilience against shared threats can lead to a better synchronization of efforts in countering hybrid threats. A case study on the Eastern Partnership countries is introduced in this research and is examined in the paper.

Key energy indicators for sustainable development goals in Ukraine

Transforming the energy sector to provide universal access to reliable and modern energy services is an essential task for Ukraine, one of the Eastern Partnership countries with heavy energy dependence. It will help accelerate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. The paper is devoted to studying Ukraine’s readiness to generate sustainable energy compared to the EU and other Eastern Partnership countries and the development of an information base for monitoring the achievement of SDG7.The data from the World Energy Council (WEC), the International Energy Agency (IEA), and the State Statistics Service of Ukraine are analyzed. Thus, the study proposed to expand the list of national monitoring indicators that more fully reflect the social, economic, and environmental results of SDG7 “Affordable and clean energy” in Ukraine. The development of an information monitoring base expands the opportunities to assess the availability, sustainability, and balance of national energy policy in green economic transformation. Furthermore, the indicators of energy intensity, carbon intensity, as well as access to sustainable energy for the population and business are emphasized. The findings are aimed to raise the level of awareness of government agencies and make balanced decisions to accelerate the achievement of SDG7 in Ukraine.

EU-NATO and the Eastern Partnership countries against hybrid threats: From the EU Global Strategy till the war in Ukraine

EU-NATO and the Eastern Partnership countries against hybrid threats: From the EU Global Strategy till the war in Ukraine

Trade Flows Between the European Union and the Eastern Partnership Countries: Dynamics and Prospects

The Eastern Partnership is a part of the European Neighbourhood Policy focusing on the EU’s Eastern neighbours. Its main objective is to deepen the political and economic integration of the EU with six countries in Eastern Europe and the South Caucasus: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Moldova and Ukraine. The aim of this paper is to assess the development of EU trade relations with Eastern Partnership Countries from 2002 to 2021 and to indicate its prospects. The results show that the EU is in a group of main trading partners of the Eastern Partnership countries. The EU noticed both: a trade surplus with Belarus, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine and Armenia (except in 2005); and a trade deficit with Azerbaijan. The volumes of imports and exports had increased over the years which also led to better economic integration with the EU. However, the future EU-Eastern Partnership trade characteristics and dynamics remain unknown due to the Russian invasion on Ukraine that caused troubles in trade flows in Ukraine and economic sanctions on Russia and Belarus.

Восточное партнерство в 2019–2021 годах

The article analyzes the activities of the European Union within the framework of the Eastern Partnership in 2019–2021. The updated program of recovery, sustainability, and reforms, supported by an economic and investment plan, does not justify all its efforts. It also can reform the EU’s relations with its Eastern partners and make them more depoliticized. This may lead to the fact that the EU will further reduce its transformational ambitions. And this, in turn, will call into question the fundamental aspect of his foreign policy identity – the role of the EU as a transformative force. In other words, such a development could not only weaken the EU’s role in Eastern Partnership countries, but also undermine the value of its foreign policy.