Until the 1990s, Albania was a country led by a dictatorial regime, one of the most centralized and isolated among the communist countries and one of the last countries to start a deep-seated transformation in order to achieve radical democratization and new reforms. Considering its history, Albania started its transformation from the poorest economic condition, reaching its status of emerging country candidate to be part of European Community. Yet this fact has created division among the Albanian population and also among the other European countries. In fact the rising problem is: should Albania join the EU? I think that Albania should not even if some people believe that it should be part of this community because it could grow economically, there would be more foreign investments and economic supports by other countries and corruption has also decreased. However, there are others cons for which Albania should not join the EU. In fact, Albania is not economically prepared to face this change, because of high level of corruption and organized crime and, Albania should meet economic and juridical conditions. People think that Albania should join the EU because by now in the country corruption and bribery has decreased and this is an important point accomplished in order to be part of this community. Yet, even if Albania has stated to use an anti- corruption policy since 2009 under Berisha’s government, it has not already accomplished the standard required by European Commission. In fact, as the “Corruption in Albania” by Aiste Skardziute (2010) reports, Albania’s progress is stopped by the highest percentage of corruption and it also expresses that the World Bank for the control of briberies has placed Albania in the 50 percenti... ... middle of paper ... ...d by unemployment and it is at low levels of competiveness in business environment. Before joining the EU, Albania needs to create a strong fiscal environment, reducing the high level of unemployment and public debt. To conclude, I think Albania should not join the EU because it has not achieved some standards required by the Union and also because it still presents some problems that it has to deal with. In fact, what stop the entry of Albania in the EU are the economic unpreparedness, the persistent presence of corruption and organized crime and the last one, if Albania joins the EU, it has to meet economic and juridical conditions established by European commission, partly losing its fiscal and political independence. Albania has to solve some problems and to generally improve its economic, juridical and social conditions, before starting to be part in the EU.
Furthermore, Norway didn’t join because they do not want to give up their independence. Small countries such as Portugal, Greece, Italy joined so they could be more powerful and wants more money. Still, does do the advantages of being in the EU excel the sacrifices? Honestly, I would say yes; essentially for economic competition, peace and security, and cultural diversity.
”Examine the extent to which the benefits of UK membership in the European Union outweigh the costs”
The development of a country depends generally on the work and values of its society. The image of a country can be severely damaged by certain actions and behavior of their citizens, like bribery. When a country is known as a corrupt nation, not only will the facade of the country be affected, but also the economy. Establishing measures to eradicate corruption are urgently necessary. Corruption has been around since the begging of time, but currently is more common in business, more specifically, international business. Although some organizations have been formed, and conventions have been signed in order to end it, corruption is still one of the mayor problems around the world. An ethical view might bring more insight to why bribery and corruption is not a moral act and why more severe measures should be taken into consideration.
Why It Proved to be Impossible to Solve the Problems Created by Balkan Nationalism Before 1914 Balkan nationalism was apparent in the years leading up to 1914 in two forms: The desire for expansion, or rather, self-determination, within the immediate region, and also in the support of Pan-Slav nationalism (a Russian idea). In the years from 1900 to 1914, this nationalism caused the key problems of mistrust and suspicion between the two great powers of Austria Hungary and Russia, who’s conflicting national interests concerning the Balkan states arose from mutual distrust and desire to gain influence in the area and brought to the surface the conflicting national interests of the two countries within the region. The reasons it why it proved impossible to solve these aforementioned issues and soothe the tensions will be the focus of this essay. The Bosnian crisis of 1908 resulted form the annexation of the Balkan provinces of Bosnia-Herzegovina by Austria Hungary.
Schmitter, P. C. 2001. What is there to legitimize in the European Union… and how might this be accomplished? IHS Political Science Series: 2001, No. 75. Institute for Advanced Studies, Vienna.
The European Union (EU), since the initial foundation in 1952 as the European Coal and Steel Community (ECSC) and throughout periods of development, has been considered one of the most advanced forms of regional integration. It, based on numerous treaties and resolutions, has strived to promote values such as peace, cooperation or democracy, and in 2012 was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for having “contributed to the advancement of peace and reconciliation, democracy and human rights in Europe” (Nobel Media AB, 2012). Despite its struggle for promoting democracy, the EU itself has long experienced scholarly criticisms that it suffers the democratic deficit, from which its democratic legitimacy is undermined by observable problems in political accountability and participation. As the importance of legitimacy in a democratically representative institution is hardly debatable, the criticism of whether and why the EU lacks democracy has been given a considerable gravity in academia.
The European Union, or E.U., has existed in its modern form since it was formed by the signing of the Maastricht Treaty in 1993. Since then, fifteen countries have joined the E.U., increasing the number of member countries to 27. Countries must meet strict standards when applying for membership to the E.U., as there are many factors which determine whether their request for membership is approved or denied. Religion is not specified to be one of these factors, but even so it appears to be a detrimental factor in the acceptance of Turkey into the E.U. Turkey is 99.8 percent Muslim and has applied for admission into the E.U. (The World Factbook).
Bribery poses difficulties on moral grounds because it is incompatible with the principal of human equality and the fundamental right for individuals to be treated with equal respect and concern. For an institution to adhere to this principle, they must operate with fairness and impartiality: nobody should have access to influence that is not accessible to all. Bribery operates as part of a mechanism by which influence is only available ...
...e initiative of a new pact between our countries. More over both countries must consider the importance of the best way for both countries, protecting both countries interests. Secondly the reason of the negotiations must be based on the International conventions on the law of the sea. But, as the expression says: “Veritas Filia Temporis” (Truth is the daughter of time) a new pact between Albania and Greece is something that should be left to the time.
The enlargement of the European Union (EU) in 2004 and 2007 has been termed as the largest single expansion of the EU with a total of 12 new member states – bringing the number of members to 27 – and more than 77 million citizens joining the Commission (Murphy 2006, Neueder 2003, Ross 2011). A majority of the new member states in this enlargement are from the eastern part of the continent and were countries that had just emerged from communist economies (EC 2009, Ross 2011), although overall, the enlargement also saw new member states from very different economic, social and political compared to that of the old member states (EC 2009, Ross 2011). This enlargement was also a historical significance in European history, for it saw the reunification of Europe since the Cold War in a world of increasing globalization (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). For that, overall, this enlargement is considered by many to have been a great success for the EU and its citizens but it is not without its problems and challenges (EC 2009, Mulle et al. 2013, Ross 2011). This essay will thus examine the impact of the 2004/2007 enlargements from two perspectives: firstly, the impact of the enlargements on the EU as a whole, and thereafter, how the enlargements have affected the new member states that were acceded during the 2004/2007 periods. Included in the essay will be the extent of their integration into the EU and how being a part of the Commission has contributed to their development as nation states. Following that, this essay will then evaluate the overall success of the enlargement process and whether the EU or the new member states have both benefited from the accessions or whether the enlargement has only proven advantageous to one th...
The story of Europe is a story that is worth telling for the simple fact that without the background of Europe, people will not understand the complexities in the creation of the Europe of yesterday and creation of the Europe today. This rich history cannot be ignored because of the close ties to the creation of the nations and the supranational institutions that have become the European Union and its trade partners. Without the background on the history of Europe the creation of this larger organization or supranational organization would be nearly impossible to understand the complexities of the current political, social and economic qualities within the EU. The history of a country, state or organization also helps us to understand the some aspects of the future of the EU.
Bribery is wrong, and it would be almost instinctive to point at the benefits of impartially functioning public servants and incorrupt corporations to our democratic society as justification. However, in this imperfect world where bribery is rife in varying degrees, is it possible to express this notion convincingly? Certainly 'because the UK Bribery Act says so' is far less persuasive to a council planning office in Shanghai than in London, and indeed in compliance with section 7 of the Bribery Act 2010 which relates to commercial offences, it is essential that this question is engaged with on a corporate scale and without assertion through dogma. Accordingly, this essay will argue that elements wrong with bribery are inclusive of both moral and economic considerations. Moreover, in conjunction with international mandates, advent of aggressive legislation such as that of the UK Bribery Act 2010 is representative of global efforts to eliminate bribery. Hence, it follows that bribery can never be considered a normal part of business because it is economically unsustainable in the long term.
The UN Convention against Corruption (UNCAC) (UN General Assembly 2003) is the first international attempt to establish a standard of anti-corruption policy in order to reduce problems related to corruption (Hechler et al. 2011) like an adverse impact on economic growth (Mauro 2004). In spite the fact that the approach of UNCAC is based on large empirical evidence about the causes of corruption (Judge, McNatt, and Xu 2011) corruption remains in some countries a persistent problem (Hechler et al. 2011). A ex ante analysis by Hechler et al. (2011) identified the lack implementation as one of the major pitfalls of the UNCAC and this essay seeks to find a theoretical explanation by drawing on the literature of policy diffusion, which applies for UNCAC as the policy choices of signing countries affect the policy choices of other countries (Meseguer 2006). This constitutes an interesting case for testing the assumptions of the two main mechanism identified by Gilardi (2003), who distinguishes between mechanisms of diffusion focused on rational problem-solving or symbolic purposes (Meseguer 2006). However, this essay narrows the field of possible answers by arguing that the concept of rational learning (Meseguer 2006) does not apply and therefore advocates a critical assessment of the underlying premise of mimetic isomorphism that countries imitate each other but are more concerned about legitimacy rather than functional efficiency (Hall and Taylor 1996). Testing mimetic isomorphism against the implementation process of UNCAC will highlight under which conditions the theoretical framework is more likely to explain the outcome of anti-corruption policy. This may yield key insights on the antecedents of failure in decreasing...
The link between internationalization, governance and democracy is a central problem for politics as well as for political science. Even if clear evidence on the nature of this link is not yet available, the literature seems to support the view that internationalization both undermines the capacity for governance and puts into question traditional forms of democracy.
OBREJA, Efim (2002). CORRUPTION IN MOLDOVA: facts, analysis, proposals. Transparency International. TANZI, Vito (1998). Corruption Around the World.