Abstract ▼

Since its inception in 1949, Pr China has functioned in international relations in three capacities: as a great power, a socialist country and a developing country. However, the Chinese prefer to say that China is a “Third World” country. Although the real motives of such statements were often hidden, today, studying Chinese foreign policy, we can say that they have aims to create an enabling environment for fostering good relations with developing countries in order to achieve political, economic, energy and other interests. in a globalized world, at the end of the 20th and beginning of the 21st century Pr China has developed and reformed itself rapidly. it has become the second largest economic power in the world, so it is coming to a position that is increasingly applied the policy of foreign aid. The reasons for this are the desire to increase the sphere of influence compared to the U.S. and the Western powers reducing the significance of dollars in the world, securing energy resources and reducing the impact of Taiwan in international relations. Therefore, the Chinese leadership started a “going out” policy in 2001, which brings developing countries to the forefront. However, while at first it had priority countries in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia after the economic and financial crisis in 2008 the focus of its interest has shifted to Europe. For this reason, it created a Mechanism for cooperation between Pr China and Central and Eastern European countries. Serbia, which is part of this Mechanism, in addition to the existing strategic partnership from 2009, which deepened in 2013, is a leader in the region measured by the Chinese investments and projects initiated.

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The paper discusses the model of Nordic regionalism as a distinctive example of regionalism. The point of departure is that Nordic regional cooperation is by its many characteristics unique and out of the scope of major theories of regionalism and integration as well as that it can be only partially contested within the existing theories of regionalism, namely transactionalism, neofunctionalism and new regionalism. The Nordic model of regionalism is discussed within the theoretical framework of the said theories and the conclusion is made that new regionalism and transactionalism would be the most appropriate to explain the model of Nordic regionalism, but only to certain extent, while neofunctionalism is less appropriate. in order to present the specificities of Nordic model of regional cooperation, a short overview of its development is given, starting from the historical background until nowadays. it is concluded that the model of Nordic regionalism is in many ways specific and different from other models of regional cooperation in Europe, from both theoretical and practical aspects, and that it should be considered as sui generis case.

Abstract ▼

The Cyprus issue summary Cyprus, Mediterranean island with the Greek majority and Turkish minority, it was part of the Ottoman Empire. After that time, Cyprus was a British colony from 1870 to 1960. Hellenic population of the island was for decades torn between ambition to join Cyprus with Greece, and on the other hand, the idea of an independent state. Finally, Cyprus became an independent state. But, torn by national conflicts, an independent island nation and its guarantors of the agreements of Zurich and London 1959-1960 provided the constitutional rights of the minority Turks, including the right of intervention countries guarantors for breach of the agreement. Ankara is on this basis, in 1974. The intervening in Cyprus, as a response to the attempt of the former military junta in Greece to annex Cyprus. Turkish troops then occupied 37% of the territory of Cyprus and the UN has in the past (1964) were sent its peacekeeping troops to guard the socalled green line, which is today the border between the republic of Cyprus and the Turkish republic of Northern Cyprus. State of North Cyprus, Turkey declared in 1983 and only the diplomatic recognition. Problems with refugees, property, and other immigrants, are still a problem for which solutions are sought.

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The latest iPCC report finally confirmed human activity to be the cause of global warming. Despite this firm scientific evidence climate change, law is still not sufficiently developed and does not promptly respond to emerging climate changes. We are still reduced to two international agreements, namely the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (the UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol with very limited reach. Efforts were made to set out a second commitment under Kyoto and to launch a new negotiation framework for adoption of a new legally binding instrument within the UN Climate Change Convention. To what extent these new negotiations will be successful will mostly depend on the willingness of rapidly developing countries to be imposed with legally binding emission reduction targets but also the will of developed countries to meet more stringent targets and offer adequate assistance to developing countries, especially those vulnerable to climate change. it will also require all parties to understand and interpret the UN Climate Change Convention in a new and dynamic context where the Convention will be regarded as a living instrument.

Abstract ▼

In the period 2000-2013, there was a tendency of improvement of the quality of the Serbian exports, which can be traced through an increase in the share of goods of higher levels of processing. The value of indicators of the similarity of the Serbian export and import structures to those of developed countries grew only mildly. In addition, Serbia has stagnant and relatively high levels of export concentration ratio. The quality level of the Serbian exports lags greatly behind the countries in the EU and to a lesser extent to the Central European economies in transition, which indicates that the unfavourable structure of exports has not been significantly improved. The quality of the Serbian exports in 2012 is on average similar to the quality of exports of most of the Balkan countries, which, in turn, also lags behind advanced countries in transition. For export success, it is of great importance to have the transfer of modern technology and investment, especially FDI, in competitive sectors which would “spread” export offer. A targeted industrial policy and sector- and firm-level strategies are necessary to give momentum to a shift towards technology-intensive activities, which are associated with higher spillover effects.

Abstract ▼

The author deals with the reform of the copyright legislation in the People’s Republic of China, so that the PRC could access to the World Trade Organization. In this sense, the author studies the practice of copyright protection throughout the Chinese history and the steps that have been taken by the PRC on conformity of this section with the international standards. Both the legislation innovation and establishing of concomitant institutions are presented. In the end, the article presents some further tendencies of developing copyright in the PRC and its relationship with international copyright protection established within the WTO.

Abstract ▼

The paper points out the gaps and problems in the process of preparation and adoption of the national regulations, i.e. procedures of harmonizing the national legislation of the Republic of Serbia (RS) with the European Union (EU) law. It emphasizes the importance of the implementation of the regulatory impact assessment and adequate participation of the interested parties and especially the public in the preparation of regulations. The basic thesis discussed in the paper is that the current method of preparation and adoption of regulations does not provide adequate participation of stakeholders in the process of its preparation, drafting and adoption, or does not provide an answer to the question of whether the society and economy are able to assume the obligations arising from the EU regulations.

Abstract ▼

The paper attempts to propose how best to strategically use the EU funds as an instrument to stronger and improved socio-economic environment and ensuring of sustainability and it is not a time limited response to the present issues. EU is the largest and one of the most significant donors in RS. Using IPA and IPA 2, the EU will continue to secure significant resources in the period 2014-2020 but the following must be observed: • Increased harmonization with national goals • Strategic analysis within planning • Better coordination across stakeholder To ensure accountability, transparency, ownership, the use of the combined bottom-up (local and regional/national level) and the top-down (national/EU level) approach in planning and implementation of the EU funds would bring multiple positive effects. The advantage of the ‘bottom-up’ approach is the specific local experience, motivation, intensive involvement and personal responsibility. The advantage of the ‘top-down’ approach is the governmental, political and institutional responsibilities, clear vision and strong leadership. A cascade of the output and outcome indicators for the financed operations should be programmed to contribute to the next level indicators. The message on how to fulfil local needs leads us to the EU accession and EU goals must be loud, clear and widely accessible. The outcome of the combined approach would be intensive joint work of the different level of government and segments of society, towards harmonised national and EU objectives that incorporate and respond to the needs of all levels.

Abstract ▼

Unemployment rates in many EU member states constantly show very high values. Since mid-2008 and the beginning of the world economic crisis unemployment started to represent one of the major problems for EU economies. Main factors which caused high unemployment rates were as follows: spillover effect of the crisis from the USA to the EU, the fall in production which led to massive layoffs and a rise in public debts in member states significantly above fiscal criteria of convergence. Rapid ageing of population in EU and social problems conditioned by that as well as high rigidity on EU labour markets were also determinants which directly exerted an impact on changes in unemployment rates. In the same period, employment rates also fall significantly. The level of wages and duration of working time decreased in those countries where there was high flexibility on labour markets, despite often pressures from national trade union that their values should stay at the pre-recession levels. Altogether, this led to a decrease in purchasing power and consequently, to a fall in the standard of living of EU citizens. That caused massive protests of workers, followed by other social and age categories of people in the EU.

Abstract ▼

The security and intelligence sector reform is part of the overall endeavours of the state to adapt itself to the new global security challenges, regional environment and needs of national security and economic strength of each country. In balancing between these three levels of determinants, the state adopts strategic, normative and organizational arrangements of the security and intelligence sector. In the Western Balkan region, this question is even more sensitive and important since the cooperation in the field of security and intelligence is the last indicator of the adaptation and stabilization of this region to the requirements of the European and Euro-Atlantic integration. The basis for cooperation is found primarily in global security threats such as terrorism, organized crime, failed states and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. To better suit this purpose, the defence sector reform in the Western Balkans has taken place under the auspices of the NATO-sponsored defence reform groups and similar bodies. This is why the same organizational patterns of the military and intelligence sector in the region occurred. They will be presented in the form of an overview of the security and intelligence sector of the Western Balkan states. The pattern has the form of establishing a single civilian, i.e. security and intelligence agency as an independent governmental body and a single military agency/service as an organizational part of the Ministry of Defence. The main issues to be examined in this paper deal with the question how these contemporary trends influence the military security and intelligence sector in Serbia and what might be the alternatives.