Central and Eastern Europe at the beginning of the ’90s. The Romanian case
December 1, 2013 Author: Marcela Salagean & Doru Todorescu
The end of the ninth decade of the 20th century brought a change of actors and the change of the balance of power in Central and Eastern Europe. In this complicated context, in which internal crises could not be controlled any longer through reform attempts made by the representatives of the communist regime, the decisive impulse came from East Germany. Soon afterwards, the events followed the “domino principle” and the totalitarian regimes in Central and Eastern Europe collapsed within the interval of June-December 1989. A political system was replaced by another that brought with it profound changes in all sectors of political, economic, social and cultural life. And postcommunism transition was supposed to be a process of liberation towards a set of free chosen alternative futures. Regarding Romania’s, the country’s evolution was dramatically influenced by the ideas of democracy and modernity of its leader and by the systematic attempts of the representatives of the old regime to keep their dominant positions. And, for this reason, the transition was more difficult in Romania than in other former communist states of Central Europe. Even though Romania underwent a difficult period in the early years after the fall of the communism, it is certain that the country has embarked on a new road, aiming the modernization and europenization,
Legitimacy, Institutions and the Communication Strategy in the European Union
December 1, 2009 Author: Dorin I. DOLGHI
Abstract: In the past years there are an increasing number of attitudes and events that suggest a chronic need for a better communication between European Union and its citizens. One of the main issues concerns the perception, among citizens, of a lack of legitimacy and transparency of EU and its institutions. In order to identify and analyze some of the causes, we suggest that an important variable that should be considered is the communication strategy of the EU. In this article we explore some interpretations of legitimacy that can be associated to the perception of EU’s institutions among the European citizens and the main points expressed by the European Commission with regard on the Communication Strategy.
The Policies and the Governance in the European Union
June 1, 2009 Author: Grigore Silaşi, Ioana Vădăşan
The European Union is a governance model, in today’s more and more opened world, and will have an increasingly important role on the international stage, in order to achieve world-wide efficient governance. In this paper, authors approach the governance concept, and the European Union as a multi-level system of governance. We present the different actors that can influence the European governance system, and study the way different major events had influenced the European governance. The authors will also link the policies to the European Union governance and instruments, in the attempt of showing that the EU is governed through the policy-making process. The governance in the EU is all the time-associated to the intergovernmental conferences model, where the states keep their prerogatives, as well as to the supranational model, where a part of the states sovereignty is delegated to the EU. The EU governance model is one of the stakes of influence fights among different European institutions: the Parliament, the Commission and the Council of Ministers. The Parliament, the only direct elected body by the citizens, has obtained, during the EU history, an increased importance in the EU governance. From a simple consultative body, at the beginning, it has obtained a real co-decision power, on a par with the Council of Ministers, in many issues.
Keywords:decision-making process,European Union,governance,institutions, policies