Central European Public Administration Review (E-Journal)
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Reduced Consumption for Transport due to Population Ageing? An Analysis of Expenditures of Private Households in the European Union and Potential Implications for the Public Sector
Full text linkThe paper focuses on potential effects of the ageing of the population on consumption expenditures of private households in the field of transport. Theoretical considerations as well as previous empirical results suggest that older households consume different goods and services than younger ones due to changing preferences and needs by increasing age. Possible consequences of these changes for goods and services in the transport sector are in focus. The expenditures of European households on transport based on the national household budget surveys of the 28 member countries of the European Union are analysed. The results suggest that expenditures in transport decrease at retirement age in all considered countries. Moreover, the structure of goods and services consumed in the transport sector changes over the life cycle of a private household, with implications for the public sector due to the ageing of the population to be expected
Competition authority in a trap? A few (bitter) words on making public policy by counteracting an unfair use of a contractual advantage in agri-food sector in Poland
Full text linkA problem of counteracting bargaining powers of retailers, specially in agri-food sector, has been recently addressed by regulations in a few European countries but so far it has not been subject to academic considerations.A paper aims at finding rationales of granting administrative bodies with competences of interfering in contractual relationships between market players in reference to an abuse or misuse of bargaining power and to assess a possibility and probability of balancing public and private interests by administrative bodies applying regulations on counteracting an unfair use of a bargaining power. A point of reference for considerations is a Polish regulation dated from December 2016 - Act on Counteracting the Unfair Use of Contractual Advantage in the Trade in Agricultural and Food Products.In a lack of relevant case law a paper is based on a descriptive method of research as well as a method of conceptual analysis.A paper contests a correctness and rationality of selecting a competition authority as an enforcer of a discussed regulation. A competition authority seems to be caught in a trap of opposite (public and private) interests - an antitrust authority shall undertake an intervention in an interest of a private entity which in many situations may be seen as an intervention against public interest.A paper contributes to an ongoing discussion on EU's proposals for actions on eliminating imbalances between big retailing networks and food suppliers
EU-Compatible State Measures and Member States Interests in Public Services: Lessons from the Case of Hungary
Full text linkNational interest, also as a critisism against the pradigm of New Public Management (NPM), is very much emphasised nowadays in public policies, even in sector ones. This article is about a removal from the classical meaning of general (public) interest to that new approach represented by certain EU Member States and the reasons behind. Our analysis focuses on contextual motives and impacts of these changes illustrated by the Hungarian case. The result shows that the market of public utility services has already been influenced by direct political considerations. Our findings indicate that these understandings for legitimate influence on EU market rules can also be derived from the legal framework itself. Measures examined in the paper run completely counter to the spirit of the original intention of the founders of the integration, and recent changes in EU law do not seem to raise unavoidable obstacles to such cases. Lessons of this case may be relevant for other EU Member States as well, at least for those from the Central-European region
Report from the International Workshop on the Role of Public Administration in Public Policies’ Design & 15th Anniversary of the Central European Public Administration Review
Full text linkIn April 2018, the Faculty of Administration of the University of Ljubljana organised a two-day international workshop on the role of public administration in public policies' design. The workshop consisted of four parts: three sessions and one round table. In the first session, discussion was about evaluating public administration and public governance. The second session focused on the identification of the key success factors for effective public policies in Slovenia. These sessions were initiated based on the research project “Development of the model for monitoring and evaluation of development programmes and projects in public sector”, known as the ATENA project. The project is co-funded by the Slovenian Research Agency for the period 2016–2019 (no. J5-7557) and led by prof. dr. Mirko Vintar (cf. Mencinger et al., 2017). The third session was motivated by the European research project EUPACK (European Public Administration Country Knowledge), focused on the analysis of public administration characteristics and performance in EU Member States (see Thijs, Hammerschmid & Palaric 2018). A special part of the workshop was devoted to the 15th anniversary of the Central European Public Administration Review. Here, a round table was conducted with the editors-in-chief of established public administration journals from the region, followed by an editors and reviewers recognition awards ceremony. The discussions were all very fruitful, also thanks to the participation of several internationally recognised scholars from the Netherlands, Croatia, Germany, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Romania and Slovenia, as well as around twenty representatives of Slovenian ministries, other administrative authorities and non-governmental organisations. In a dynamic debate that comprehensively covered the evaluation in public policy cycle and the role of public administration and university therein, numerous issues were discussed. Below is a report on the main topics discussed in the workshop
Analysis of Taxation of Property in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Full text linkThe purpose of this paper is fill in the literature gap and to analyse taxation of property in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH). By using IMF and OECD methodology defined under taxes on property, our research tries to compare taxes on property in two BIH entities to the international practice. The results are twofold: firstly, inconsistencies to international classification of taxes on property in BIH are identified and secondly, the taxation of property differs in two BIH entities (RS and FBIH). We find that three different types of property taxes are applied –tax on immovable property in RS and real estate transfer tax and so called tax on property in FBIH. We also find that identified differences have an effect on the size and share of revenues from property taxes in both entities which affect local communities and their revenues. Hence, we focus on property taxes in FBIH since they are under cantonal jurisdiction. The research shows that most revenues from property taxes in FBIH are collected in Sarajevo Canton. In fact, most property tax revenues in Sarajevo Canton come from real estate transfer tax revenues and are collected in four municipalities forming the City of Sarajevo. Bearing in mind lack of reliable long term data in both BIH entities related to taxation of property, we conclude with a few policy recommendations and suggestions for future FBIH property related reforms which should in turn simplify the process of property taxation in FBIH and improve the position of local communities in FBIH
The Effects of Public - Private Partnership Act on the Slovenian Public Utilities Providers
Full text linkThe paper presents the legal status of existing public enterprises in Slovenia before and after the adoption of Public-Private Partnership Act, that demanded the reorganization of existing public enterprises in the period 2007-2009. The paper also presents the analysis of local public utilities delivery mechanisms in Slovenia, focusing on the local public utilities providers in the field of water and waste management. The aim of the paper is to introduce the changes in the legal status of existing public enterprises, caused by new legislation and also to give an insight into the current state of local public utilities providers in the field of water and waste management. The results confirm the fact that public enterprise is the most common organizational form of local public utilities providers in the field of water and waste management and lead to conclusion that in the reorganization process the majority of existing public enterprises retained the status of a public enterprise
Impact of Active Labour Market Policy Programs on Employment in the EU During the Crisis
Full text linkDue to the financial crisis and the increase in the unemployment rate, active labour market policy (ALMP) inevitably returned to the forefront with its “activation strategy”. The research challenge of the article is analysing the effectiveness of ALMP in the period 2007-2013. The methodology of the work is panel regression with fixed effects estimation. The model estimates the effect of the two largest programs of the ALMP, Training and Employment Incentives, on Employment Rate, considering six additional control variables with potential effect on the labour market. The results demonstrate a positive impact of the Training program on the Employment Rate even in the time of crisis. In contrast, the Employment Incentives program had, along with Passive Labour Market Policy (PLMP), a somewhat negative impact on Employment Rate. The findings provide an insight into the nature of ALMP's implementation during the financial crisis. While the training programs keep their active nature, the employment incentives become reactive and to a certain degree act as a measure of PLMP.
Development of Tax Procedural Law and Sectoral Case Law in Selected Countries
Full text linkThe purpose of this paper is to examine the development of the Slovenian Tax Procedure Act and amendments thereto until 2017, in order to broaden the field knowledge on tax procedures within the administrative system as a whole. The Tax Procedure Act provides the general framework of the procedural tax system in Slovenia. The first version of the Tax Procedure Act (ZDavP) was adopted in 1996 and followed by five amending acts until the adoption of the second version (ZDavP-1) in 2004. The third and currently applicable version of the Tax Procedure Act (ZDavP-2) has been subject to over ten amendments so far. Furthermore, the study aims to compare the development of tax procedure in Slovenia and Sweden. Based on the normative and comparative analyses, review of domestic and foreign literature, and case law analysis, the advantages and disadvantages of the development of tax procedure in Slovenia were identified. The amendments analysed contributed mainly to simplifying the tax procedure, reducing red tape, decreasing costs, improving the efficiency of the tax authorities, and providing greater legal certainty for the taxpayers. Most changes to the Tax Procedure Act involved the personal income tax. An empirical study of the case law of the Administrative, Supreme and Constitutional Courts in selected period further showed that errors were mainly detected in relation to substantial violation of procedural requirements rather than incorrect application of substantive law. The study contributes to administrative and legal science and the tax profession as such. The results can be useful when drafting new tax procedural legislation to improve its effectiveness
The Analysis of E-Government Services Adoption and Use in Slovenian Information Society between 2014 and 2017
Full text linkWith the increasing role of information and communication technology (ICT) in the society, ICT’s role is gaining importance in the aspect of provision and use of the public sector services for the citizens. Especially in the European Union different activities have been conducted through the years to promote ICT use in the society. It has been mainly based on the Digital Agenda for Europe (DAE), which underlines the key role of ICT in the efforts to achieve its strategic objectives. Slovenia as an EU member state follows these directions but positions itself among less successful states in the EU. The well-known European Digital Economy and Society Index ranks Slovenia to the lower half of member states indicating possibilities for improvement. Although much can be said and done about the service-providers side this paper focuses on the users’ side and especially on their digital inequality. The lack of studies in the area of digital inequality and online government services adoption and use is the main motivation for this research. The research uses the data provided by Slovenian annual survey Use of Information and Communication Technology in Households and by Individuals of the last four years. The analysis of this data, presented in the paper, exhibits that changes for the better are detected in Slovenian society, but the situation in public-sector services is not optima. The results demonstrate the existence of digital inequality considering the income level of households and education level of individual users. The synthesis of the data demonstrates that the Slovenian government and its ministries should consider adding tangible actions to the already set strategies if the country wants to catch up with the leading countries of the EU and achieve goals, set by the DAE
Some Thoughts on the Administration of the Regional Development in the Member States of the EU – In the Light of the Role of the Municipal Bodies
Full text linkMunicipalities are traditionally responsible for several regional planning and development tasks even if different systems have evolved in the Member States of the European Union. The administration of regional planning has been strongly influenced by the European integration. The allocation of the European Structural and Investment Funds was a major task of the recipients. The regional approach of the structural funds was a catalyst for the territorial reforms in several EU Member States. Although originally the regional reforms were based on the NPM-related reforms the changes were supported by the post-NPM paradigms (especially by the Good Governance paradigm) as well. In several countries the Crisis caused centralisation and the concentration of the structures. Thus three major models could be distinguished: centralised regional development systems, decentralised systems and federal systems. The characteristics of these systems are reviewed in the article focusing on their major differences and similarities