Policies

About 81 percent of respondents interviewed pointed to ineffective use of oil revenues and lack of transparency concerning revenues

An analytical paper from the Institute for Public Policy, Romania, after a six months' project monitoring ca 45 localities in Romania

A policy brief from the International Centre for Human Development in Armenia.

(In English and Armenian)

PASOS Policy Brief No. 2, 2008

by Jacek Kucharczyk, Research Director, Institute of Public Affairs, Poland, and Jeff Lovitt, Executive Director, Policy Association for an Open Society (PASOS)

PASOS Policy Brief No. 1, 2008

Jeff Lovitt, Executive Director, Policy Association for an Open Society (PASOS) and

Věra Řiháčková, Research Fellow, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Czech Republic

AMO Research Paper 2/2008
by Michal Roškanin

Policy Brief No. 17 (in English and Macedonian)

A policy brief of the Social Policy and Development Center in Armenia.

(In English and Armenian)

A policy brief of the Social Policy and Development Center, Armenia.

(In English and Armenian)

A report by Center for Economic and Social Development (CESD), Baku, Azerbaijan

A strategy paper by the Center for Economic and Social Development, Baku, Azerbaijan

Occasional Paper No. 12

(In English and Italian)

Back in October 1995, when Macedonia was admitted as a participating country to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), it accepted the political commitment to treat national minorities in accordance with the principles written down in the Copenhagen Document.

This policy paper outlines the opportunities and obstacles for setting up free, viable and decentralized local government in Moldova following new laws on administrative decentralization and the functioning of local public administration (July - December 2006).

Economic Research Centre, Baku

AMO Research Paper 2/2008
by Michal Roškanin

by Tomasz Grzegorz Grosse
Analyses & Opinion, No. 3, April/May 2008, Institute of Public Affairs, Poland
Analizy i Opinie, Nr 84, kwiecień/maj 2008, Instytut Spraw Publicznych, Polska

(in English and Polish)

A Report by PASOS (Policy Association for an Open Society) for the European Parliament Committee on Development

Authors: Jeff Lovitt and Eva Rybková, PASOS Secretariat, together with eight PASOS members and two other research partners

Policy Brief No.3, Caucasus Institute for Peace, Democracy and Development
(in English and in Georgian)

A strategy paper by the Center for Economic and Social Development, Baku, Azerbaijan

A policy brief by the International Center for Human Development, Armenia

Policy Study No. 5, Center for Research and Policy Making

(in English and Macedonian)

Policy Paper No. 15, Center for Research and Policy Making, Macedonia

(in English and Ukrainian)

This report was prepared as part of the "Support of Public Consultations on an EU-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement" project carried out by the International Centre for Policy Studies (ICPS) with funding from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative of the Open Society Institute (LGI/OSI).

This policy paper outlines the opportunities and obstacles for setting up free, viable and decentralized local government in Moldova following new laws on administrative decentralization and the functioning of local public administration (July - December 2006).

This Policy Brief attempts to assess and forecast some of the direct implications of the ‘liberalisation’ initiatives launched by the government of Moldova (i.e. capital amnesty, fiscal amnesty and zero-rate income tax for legal citizens).

Occasional Paper No. 11

After 15 years of monetary independence we are about to witness the entry of a well-known European commercial bank on the Macedonian market. With the acquisition of Ohridska Banka by Société Générale, CRPM believes that a certain era of mediocre banking practices applied by the Macedonian banks (as well as foreign banks with ‘Macedonian corporate culture’) is coming to an end. CRPM turns your attention to the draft Law on the Macedonian Banking System. This legal framework is expected to provide for further liberalisation of the financial market in the country, improvement of the legal and regulatory environment, and banking supervision. Reforms in all these areas can be considered as crucial to increase the efficiency and existing confidence in the local banking sector.

by Economic Research Centre, Baku

A policy brief from the International Centre for Policy Studies, Ukraine.

A policy brief of the International Centre for Human Development in Armenia.

(In English and Armenian)

A policy brief from the International Center for Human Development, Armenia

Policy Paper No. 15, Center for Research and Policy Making, Macedonia

After 1989 social policy, has, to a great extent, played the role of a “safety valve” for economic reforms in Poland, focusing on protective activities. After more than a decade of transformation the country has found itself at a turning point. It is no longer possible to apply traditional social solutions. It is now necessary to re-focus on programmes that will require support beneficiaries to be more active.

The “Zero Tolerance for Violence in Schools” programme presented by the government is a project of broad social intervention into the field of educational activity and the functioning of Polish schools. The immediate argument for the introduction of this project was the dramatic and tragic event in one of Gdansk secondary schools that took place in 2006. This event was interpreted as a signal and an indicator of the mass threat of peer violence within Polish schools. Due to this reason, the programme has a broad scope, covering all schools and educational institutions. It is difficult, however, to see the grounds for such an interpretation in the existing research and statistics on aggression at schools, whereas the diagnosis presented in the project is not persuasive enough to justify the introduction of this programme.

ОГРАНИЧУВАЊЕ НА МОЖН ОСТА ЛЕКАРИТЕ ВРАБОТЕНИ ВО ЈАВНОТО ЗДРАВСТВО ДА ВРШАТ ДОПОЛНИТЕЛНА ДЕЈНОСТ ВО ПРИВАТНИТ Е ЗДРАВСТВЕНИ УСТАНОВИ

(available only in Macedonian)

CRPM Policy Brief No. 12

The latest changes in the Health Care Law, among other things, feature a ban on having public-service physicians engage in additional private practices.
Is this a legitimate means to combat public service abuses and corruption, like the Government likes to say, or an encroachment upon physicians’ constitutional rights to work and equality, like some experts claim?

No-growth spending?

For Ukraine to see sustainable socio-economic growth, a slew of serious reforms need to take place:

• judiciary reform;

• reform of the residential services sector;

• reform of public services;

• the formation of a proper land market.

Statement of conclusions of the study on the concept to strengthen and improve the financing of primary health care delivery in Azerbaijan - by the Economic Research Centre, Baku

by Economic Research Centre, Baku

Economic Research Centre, Baku

Discussion Paper No.2, January-July 2008
by Dumitru Minzarari

(in English and in Romanian)

by Agnieszka K. Cianciara

Analyses & Opinions, No. 4, June 2008, Institute of Public Affairs, Poland

A policy brief from the International Centre for Human Development.

(In English and Armenian)

PASOS Policy Brief No. 1, 2008

Jeff Lovitt, Executive Director, Policy Association for an Open Society (PASOS) and

Věra Řiháčková, Research Fellow, EUROPEUM Institute for European Policy, Czech Republic

Analiz i Opinii, No. 80, January 2008, a publication of the Institute of Public Affairs, Warsaw, Poland

(only in Polish)

A policy brief by the International Center for Human Development, Armenia

A policy brief, prepared by the Association for International Affairs (AMO), Czech Republic, and the Stefan Batory Foundation, Poland, and supported by Václav Havel, former President of the Czech Republic, Aleksander Kwaśniewski, former President of Poland, and Lech Wałęsa, former President of Poland

A policy paper of the International Centre for Human Development, Armenia.

(In English and Armenian)

A policy brief of the International Centre for Human Development in Armenia.

(In English and Armenian)

This paper will examine Poland’s policy in the Middle East and the potential it yields to become a more active player in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It will also establish whether there is a need for Poland’s involvement as a member of the EU and what value this could add in the context of the new American initiative and the Annapolis Peace conference. It will also examine the overall role of New Member States in Middle-East conflict.

A policy brief by the International Center for Human Development (ICHD), Armenia

A policy brief by the International Center for Human Development, Armenia

(in English and Ukrainian)

This report was prepared as part of the "Support of Public Consultations on an EU-Ukraine Free Trade Agreement" project carried out by the International Centre for Policy Studies (ICPS) with funding from the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) and the Local Government and Public Service Reform Initiative of the Open Society Institute (LGI/OSI).

by Piotr Maciej Kaczyñski, Institute of Public Affairs, Warsaw

(in English and Polish)

European integration has been on Ukraine’s agenda since its independence.There has been a period identified as ‘integration without Europeanization' during the Kuchma regime, and later on it was followed by a number of ‘real integration’ steps (e.g. the EU-Ukraine Action Plan with clear priorities and monitoring procedures). Ukraine will have to make another significant step towards the EU by signing the New Enhanced Agreement. This agreement, especially its part on free trade, will go beyond the liberalisation of trade in goods and services between the EU and Ukraine. It will primarily aim at adjusting Ukraine’s regulatory policy and economic governance rules to those of the EU. Given the lack of EU membership prospects in the mid- and long - run, Ukraine must take as much as possible from what is being offered now.

The Czech Republic, as well as the other new Member States of the European Union, belongs to the group of EU countries most vigorously supporting the future EU enlargement. The support runs across the political spectrum as well as public opinion. According to the last Eurobarometer poll, as much as 65% of the Czech population supports further EU enlargement. Explicit anti-enlargement rhetoric cannot be found in the programme of any of the parliamentary parties. The strong support can be explained by relatively fresh accession memory, recognising the importance of the EU enlargement policy for creating a stable and democratic environment, but also by a genuine belief in the need for over coming post-Cold War divisions in Europe, and the right of non-EU countries to stability and prosperity, which has changed the region of Central Europe in the last fifteen years beyond recognition

Macedonia already enjoys the status of a candidate for EU membership. Undoubtedly, this fact represents a great achievement, since the country had to face so many challenges in such a short period of time. However, the mission called “EU membership” is far from being over. What’s more, the hardest part may be yet to come.

What is waiting for Macedonia on her road to the EU? What is Macedonia’s “to-do-list”? What is EU unfinished business on the Balkans? How is Macedonia perceived in the EU, and how is the EU perceived in Macedonia? Which EU member can be hoped for as a promoter of Macedonian accession?

A policy paper from the Peace Institute, Ljubljana, January 2006.

PASOS network calls on EU to convene EU-Ukraine summit to agree technical and financial assistance to strengthen transparency and rule of law in Ukraine (also available in Ukrainian)

Integracja uchodzców w Polsce - Rekomendacje i dobre praktyki

a policy paper of the Institute of Public Affairs, Poland

(only in Polish)

A policy brief by the International Center for Human Development (ICHD), Armenia

A policy brief by the International Center for Human Development (ICHD), Armenia

A policy brief of the International Center for Human Development, Armenia

CRPM was selected to produce the Macedonian Chapter of the regional project “Migration Flows in South-Eastern Europe,” supported by Comité Catholique Contre la Faim et Pour le Dévelopement and Balkan Trust for Democracy, and coordinated by the Group 484 from Belgrade, Serbia.

by Lena Kolarska-Bobinska and Magdalena Mughrabi

Based on more than 30 interviews with government officials, experts, journalists and development workers in Poland, Israel, the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) and Jordan, this report is a study of Poland’s policy, as a new EU member state (2004-2008), towards the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. It looks at the role Poland plays or could potentially play in the Middle East Peace Process, while investigating whether a need exists for a greater involvement of new EU member states in the context of the re-launch of negotiations with the Annapolis conference. Additionally, it examines Palestinian and Israeli perceptions of Poland in respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A survey conducted by Institute for Public Policy, Bucharest, Romania

The topic of think tanks’ self-sustainability is less a theoretical seminars’ issue than a serious, concerning matter of development for many NGOs in this region. The decrease of several American foundations' support and even its withdrawal in some regions, especially in recent EU member states (2004/2007 waves), raised a number of questions about the future developments of think-tanks in general. The more critical an NGO's approach to the Government has been, the more difficult it has become for it to engage partnership with governmentally managed resources. Still, the future of think-tanks is an important element for democracy's development from now on, and therefore the study on how overhead costs are raised and on the use of overheads for strengthening the internal capacity of the organisation, proves as a useful indicator for the sector’s sustainability in the new political and economic environment.