Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Pavla Bednářová Author-Name: Vladimíra Hovorková Valentová Title: The Development of External Macroeconomic Imbalances in European Countries in Connection with Running Integration Processes Abstract: In the course of the last decade, significant and persisting macroeconomic imbalances accumulated which there were one of the main causes of the economic crisis. The aim of the article is to evaluate the development of external macroeconomic imbalances in European countries in the course of the years 2004 - 2013, and to find out how this development in the member countries of the Eurozone differed from the European countries outside the Eurozone. External macroeconomic imbalances were defined on the basis of Macroeconomic Imbalances Procedures (MIP) Scoreboard. Based on the evaluation of the development of individual indicators, it is possible to state that till 2009 macroeconomic imbalances were more often seen in the countries outside the Eurozone and the Eurozone countries were characterised by bigger external stability. This trend changed for all the indicators after 2009 when the proportion of Eurozone countries in the number of the countries with an imbalance was higher than the proportion of the countries outside the Eurozone. From this point of view therefore the countries outside the Eurozone managed the crisis and post-crisis period better than the Eurozone countries, which could be a result of the possibility to use tools of autonomous monetary policy and the possibility to modify an exchange rate in the non-EMU countries and at the same time of the non-existence of adequate mechanisms which would compensate the loss of these tools in the EMU countries. The conclusions arrived at also do not support the Hypothesis of Integration Process Endogeneity which assumes growing mutual interconnection and economic alignment of the economies in time and in connection with the achievement of a qualitatively higher level of integration. Keywords: EU, EU, eurozóna, External Macroeconomics Imbalances, Euro Area, Macroeconomic Imbalances Procedure, vnější makroekonomická nerovnováha, procedura makroekonomických nerovnováh Classification-JEL: E61, F45, F49 Pages: 4-23 Volume: 2015 Issue: 2 Year: 2015 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/download.php?jnl=se&pdf=120.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/120 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlsev:v:2015:y:2015:i:2:id:120:p:4-23 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlsev/references/120 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Suzan Kodrazi Author-Name: Daniel Heler Title: EU Facilitated Belgrade - Pristina Talks: Analysis of the Impact of Domestic Actors on the Process of Dialogue Abstract: The aim of this paper is to analyse the impact of the EU conditionality on the domestic developments in Serbia and Kosovo during the process of normalization of their relations. Given the importance of local ownership and involvement in successful application of the EU conditionality, we will attempt to shift the analysis of EU conditionality from the EU perspective on to its domestic implications within the dynamics of the political climates of Serbia and Kosovo using the Schimmelfennig and Sedelmeier´s external incentives model as our main theoretical framework. Since any future progress in the EU integration was made conditional on the progress in normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo, our main goal will be to (1) identify the key local actors, to (2) evaluate their positions towards the EU and the normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo and to (3) test their impact on the EU milestones already achieved. Keywords: europeanization, Kosovo, Serbia, dialogue, normalization of relations, EU conditionality, Kosovo, Srbsko, dialóg, normalizácia vzťahov, kondicionalita EÚ, europeizácia Pages: 24-52 Volume: 2015 Issue: 2 Year: 2015 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/download.php?jnl=se&pdf=121.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/121 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlsev:v:2015:y:2015:i:2:id:121:p:24-52 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlsev/references/121 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Nicole Grmelová Title: Access of Individuals to the Action for Failure to Act before the Tribunal of the Court of Justice of the European Union Abstract: The access of individuals to the Court of Justice of the EU has been extremely limited. The action for failure to act constitutes one of the instruments that individuals can use directly before the Tribunal of the Court of Justice of the European Union. This action complements two more tools available to individuals, in particular, the action for annulment and the action for damages. The aim of this paper is to critically assess the use of this action by individuals in practice and to find out whether its definition in primary law corresponds to the settled case-law of the Court of Justice of this EU in this field or whether it has become outdated. Keywords: Tribunál, Action for Failure to Act, Non-Privileged Applicants, locus standi, Individual Concern, General Court, Court of Justice of the EU, žaloba pro nečinnost, neprivilegovaní žalobci, aktivní legitimace, osobní dotčení, Soudní dvůr EU Pages: 53-64 Volume: 2015 Issue: 2 Year: 2015 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/download.php?jnl=se&pdf=122.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/122 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlsev:v:2015:y:2015:i:2:id:122:p:53-64 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlsev/references/122 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Radka Havlová Title: The European Union and the Crisis in Syria Abstract: This article discusses the role of the European Union (EU) in the crisis in Syria. Syria as a part of the Middle East has been historically an important space for Europe and the situation in Syria is very important for the stability in Europe. Despite the fact that the EU disposes of a variety of diplomatic, political, economic, security and humanitarian tools to intervene in the crisis in Syria, the EU has so far not been able to effectively contribute to the resolution of the crisis in Syria. This is partly because the opposition in Syria is deeply fractionalized and the EU is afraid of the rise of Islamism and the Islamic State in Syria after the regime change. Other reasons for the failure of the EU to react successfully to the crisis in Syria included lack of consensus within the EU states, disagreement with the United States about the approach to the crisis in Syria and other priorities of the EU since the outbreak of the crisis in Syria, such as the crisis in Ukraine or negotiations about nuclear program in Iran. Keywords: European union, Evropská unie, Syria, Civil War, Islamic State, ISIL, Islam, Fragile States, Arab Spring, Assad, Syrian Oppostion, Sýrie, občanská válka, Islámský stát, ISIL, islám, padlé státy, Arabské jaro, Asad, syrská opozice Pages: 65-93 Volume: 2015 Issue: 2 Year: 2015 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/download.php?jnl=se&pdf=123.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/123 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlsev:v:2015:y:2015:i:2:id:123:p:65-93 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlsev/references/123 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Pavlína Hubková Title: Conflicts of the Fundamental Economic Freedoms and Fundamental Human Rights in the Case-Law of the European Court of Justice Abstract: Fundamental economic freedoms are the pillars of European integration and are under EU law’s protection. However, the European Union currently focuses also on the concepts of respect to humanity and fundamental human rights. A problem may arise when economic freedoms conflict with human rights. The European Court of Justice (ECJ) resolves such conflicts by diverging methods. An analysis of the methods of reasoning shows that the approach of the ECJ is inconsistent. At the same time, it is not possible to insist on the ECJ to use only one standardised method for resolving conflicts. According to the initial setting of the relation between the conflicting values, it is necessary to choose an adequate test which will reflect that initial setting. Keywords: Court of Justice of the EU, Soudní dvůr EU, Fundamental Economic Freedoms, Fundamental Human Rights, Case-Law, reasoning, proportionality test, základní ekonomické svobody, základní lidská práva, judikatura, argumentace, test proporcionality Pages: 94-104 Volume: 2015 Issue: 2 Year: 2015 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/download.php?jnl=se&pdf=124.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/124 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlsev:v:2015:y:2015:i:2:id:124:p:94-104 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlsev/references/124 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Lenka Kováčová Title: European Parliament and the Framing of the EU Foreign Policy: Emancipated Actor or the Loyal Follower? Abstract: Following the entry into force of the Treaty of Lisbon, as an another milestone of the European integration process, the role of the European parliament has increased, and the area of EU foreign policy has not been an exception. The enhancing of the EP´s powers and accountability in the area of the Union´s external action regarding political control or budgetary authority, has changed the balance of powers in the institutional framework of the European Union. Although the EP dispose of a few formal competences, its work in the field of democratisation, human rights protection, or external trade policy, leads to the beliefs that the influence of the Parliament in the CFSP/CSDP area cannot be ignored. Despite this, the issue of the EP as an external action actor and the maker of the foreign policy discourse is in the Czech and Slovak European studies research agenda neglected. Therefore, the aim of this paper is to analyse the attitude of the European parliament towards the character of CFSP/CSDP. The EP´s position will be analysed through a discourse analysis method in order to understand the ideas towards this policy and to identify the main conceptual frames created by the Parliament in the foreign policy and defence issues. Moreover, the paper will use the quantitative content analysis approach to find the level of consensus with the attitudes of the main strategic documents of the European Union as a whole. Keywords: content analysis, obsahová analýza, European union, Evropská unie, framing, European Parliament, Foreign Policy, zahraniční politika, Discourse Analysis, Security Policy, Evropský parlamentq, bezpečnostní politika, diskurzivní analýza, rámovanie Pages: 105-124 Volume: 2015 Issue: 2 Year: 2015 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/download.php?jnl=se&pdf=125.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/125 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlsev:v:2015:y:2015:i:2:id:125:p:105-124 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlsev/references/125 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Ondřej Sankot Title: Comparative Advantages of Visegrad Four Countries and Germany - A Comparison of Sectors According to the Workforce Qualification and Technology-Intensity Abstract: This article compares comparative advantages of Visegrad Four countries and Germany. Four aggregated economic sectors based on different requirements on the workforce qualification and technology-intensity are being compared. The main aim is to ascertain the degree and speed of changes in V4 export structures towards export of higher value added. According to the executed analysis, there is a gradual shift towards export of higher value added in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia. This shift is characterized by decrease in comparative advantage in labour intensive and low-skill manufactures. Those countries demonstrated also low growth in comparative advantage in high skill and technology intensive manufactures, however, only until the outbreak of the European Sovereign Debt Crisis. Poland differs from the other V4 countries, the shift towards export of higher value added is at marginal level. Keywords: Czech Republic, Česká republika, Poland, Polsko, Germany, Německo, Komparativní výhody, Comparative Advantege, Labour Force Qualification, Technology-Intensity, Hungary, kvalifikace pracovní síly, technologická intenzita, Maďarsko, Slovakia, Slovensko Classification-JEL: F11, F14, F41 Pages: 125-144 Volume: 2015 Issue: 2 Year: 2015 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/download.php?jnl=se&pdf=126.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/126 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlsev:v:2015:y:2015:i:2:id:126:p:125-144 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlsev/references/126 Template-Type: ReDIF-Article 1.0 Author-Name: Antonín Háka Title: The Czech Extreme Right: Alternative Europeanism Abstract: For centuries, people in Europe realise that Europeanism is a part of their identity. This article focuses on the question of Europeanism and conceptions of european integration of the Czech far right. The results reveal that their attitudes are based either on a completely closed or very closed idea of collective identity. Mass immigration is seen as a threat to both european nations and Europeans. Their stance on EU can be described as a hostile rejection with the emphasis put on the immigration policy which could irredeemably harm the affairs of the nation and race. They offer a completely different and sometimes nebulous form of european integration which is based on refusal of a centralist conception and support of the idea of nation state. Keywords: the Extreme Right, Europeanism, National Identity, Worker's Party of Social Justice, European Patriots, Generation of Identity, krajní pravice, evropanství, národní identita, Dělnická strana sociální spravedlnosti, Evropští partioti, Generace Identity Pages: 145-163 Volume: 2015 Issue: 2 Year: 2015 File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/download.php?jnl=se&pdf=127.pdf File-URL: http://www.vse.cz/se/127 File-Format: text/html Handle: RePEc:prg:jnlsev:v:2015:y:2015:i:2:id:127:p:145-163 X-File-Ref: http://www.vse.cz/RePEc/prg/jnlsev/references/127