Transformation and European Integration: The Local Dimension

The Balkan countries have been looking for good examples and ideas to pursue development and internal integration in destabilized and ethnically complex and conflicting areas. This book about transformation in the framework of European outlines the path of the Balkans to European integration.

Cover; Contents; List of Tables and Figures; Preface; Acknowledgements; Notes on the Contributors; List of Abbreviations; 1 The Local Dimension of Transformation: an Introduction; Introduction; Local development; Starting conditions and reforms; Institutions in local development; Conclusions; 2 EU Expansion and Regional Policy; Introduction; Evolution of regional policies, 1957-2004; The EU Budget; Structural funds: criteria, objectives and allocations; Pre-accession assistance to the countries of CEE; Aid and pre-accession assistance to the Western Balkans; Regional policy coordination

Regional aid prospects through 2013Efficiency and impact of regional policies; Conclusions; 3 National and Local Governments: Institutional Rebuilding and Politics in the Balkans; Introduction; The evolution of structural policy, 1975-2006; The 2006 structural funds reform; The goals of Europeanization; The challenges of Europeanization; Conclusions; 4 Inequality, Poverty and Growth: the Balkan Case; Introduction; Stylized facts in the Balkans; Trade, growth and the adjustment costs to trade integration; Inequality and the sustainability of growth; Conclusion

5 Reforms of Local Government in SEE: Closer to Europe?Introduction; Traditions of local self-government in former Yugoslavia; The ECLSG; Organization of local self-government in SEE today; Constitutional and legislative foundations of local self-government; Scope of local self-government and its relations with the central government; Administrative structures and financial resources; Local democracy, citizens' participation, accountability; LSG and the ethnic question; Closer to Europe?: from legislative reform to implementation

6 Institutions and Entrepreneurship: A Comparative Evaluation in SEEIntroduction; Starting conditions: transformation and entrepreneurship; Business environment and entrepreneurial capabilities; SME policies; A difficult guest: the irregular economy; Conclusions; 7 Elites in the Making, and Their Organizational Behaviour: Cases in Russia and the Balkans; Introduction: beyond the debate on elite reproduction vs circulation; Elites in the making in different organizational environments; Conclusions; 8 International Aid, Policy Transfer and Local Economic Development in North Montenegro

IntroductionInternational aid flows to the post-socialist countries of South-East Europe; Local economic development in Montenegro; Government policies towards the North; International donor activities in Montenegro; International assistance and policy transfer; Conclusions; 9 Rediscovering the Value of the Co-operative Sector in SEE: History, Current Developments and Some Ideas for the Future; Introduction; Background to co-operative development in SEE; Co-operative development in Croatia; Key co-operative development issues in Croatia; Policy implications for SEE

10 De-localization, Investments and Knowledge Transfer: The Case of 'Triveneto' Industrial SMEs' De-localization in Romania