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Leadership styles in southeast Europe tend to lie at the poles along a line stretched between passivity and authoritarianism. This is a universal problem in the global church, not one unique to southeast Europe. However, the fact remains that the mainstream leadership models in this part of the world need to be appraised and healthier models need to be developed. Unfortunately, the leadership models being imported from the West take as their cue business management, oftentimes focusing on efficiency, productivity, and growth rather than focusing on Kingdom expansion and serving the Bride of Christ. However, a model does exist for servant leadership, a model that emerged from the Eastern Church 17 centuries ago. In this paper, I will examine Gregory Nazianzen’s Oration II which presents a spiritual model of leadership for the 21st century. While written many centuries ago, this text is still able to speak to the modern mind and remains relevant for several reasons. First, this is the first extant extra-Biblical account of an individual’s struggle with calling and obedience to Christian ministry. Second, Gregory’s model is saturated with Scripture, providing a sound though unique perspective from his brilliant and highly trained mind. Finally, as one of Gregory’s primary concerns is remaining faithful during a corrupt public form of Christianity, the context is appropriate to the traditional church contexts of southeast Europe. Following a brief historical background, this paper will look at three elements of Christian ministry and how Gregory addresses their spiritual components. First, the roles of a minister, under the titles of priest, king, and prophet. Second, the challenges that beset ministers who seek to serve. And third, the personal struggles that an individual must face and overcome to be obedient in this calling. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, the Romani population is one of the largest and oldest minority communities in most European countries. In Croatian territories, their history was often marked by anti-Gypsy policies of persecution and repressive assimilation. Scientific research into the history of the Romani within European historiographies had been very modest and has only begun to develop continuously in the second half of the 20th century. The paper analyses the research results on the history of the Romani within European historiographies in the last twenty years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper analyses 134 policies which address lifelong learning policies (LLL policies) in nine countries involved in the project Policies Supporting Young Adults in their Life Course: A Comparative Perspective of Lifelong Learning and Inclusion in Education and Work in Europe (YOUNG_ADULLLT, HORIZON 2020). The analysis is based on three theoretical concepts - cultural political economy, life course theory and governance. The objective of the analysis is to determine the ways in which the LLL policies for youth are formulated and implemented in educational, economic and social sectors. The analysis shows the differences between the countries with regard to the stated goals that are a result of different social and economic circumstances. Policy formulation policies range from centralized to decentralized. The objectives of policies are threefold - educational, economic and social, with their representation varying from country to country. The levels and mechanisms of lifelong learning coordination also show the differences between countries with regard to centrally managed localism, laissez faire and democratic localism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deals with the legal nature of forced share which can be two-sided-forced share as a property right (forced share in kind), like it exists in Croatia and forced share as a money claim (forced share in value), like it exists in some European countries. The paper outlines basic characteristics of both of these systems, their advantages and disadvantages, it brings the overview of forced share as a money claim in certain European countries, it lists the standpoints of different authors that have written about this topic and it brings suggestions of possible changes concerning the legal nature of forced share in Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims to illustrate the development of the basic characteristics of takeover law in Europe, and in particular the harmonisation process of takeover law in the European Union, which has led to the adoption of the EU Directive on takeover bids. The paper suggests some Directive solutions and points current situation in the development and harmonization process of takeover law. Development of takeover law in Europe, with different legal systems in different countries and harmonization of activities in the European Union highlights the importance of the market for corporate control and the different national interests, which after many years of trying to harmonize led to the adoption of the Directive on takeover bids. The Directive establishes minimum requirements for Member States and leaves considerable room for variations which significantly affect the extent and effects of harmonization in the application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The office of the High Commissioner on National Minorities, body of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, published at the end of 2008 a set of recommendations dealing with the rights of national minorities in inter-state relations. In this paper circumstances related to the origins of Bolzano/Bozen Recommendations are analysed, subsequently the paper presents the content of the Recommendations, and finally, the paper analyses to what extent the Recommendations have been reflected in minority-related legislation and policies of Croatia and several neighbouring countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper attempts to deal with the institute of maintenance of adults (spouses, extramarital partners, and same-sex partners). After introductory remarks on the fundamental features of the institute of maintenance, the author clarifies the difference between maintenance as an institute of family law and maintenance as regulated in civil law regulations. A special focus of the paper is a comparative analysis of the legal solutions laid down in the Principles of European Family Law (a non-binding legal document issued by the Commission on European Family Law) and the legal solutions in Irish family law legislation, compared to the Croatian solutions. In the final part of the paper, the author presents the results of the research, and the conclusions drawn from the study of the legal regulation of maintenance of adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to present basic postulates of immediate democracy, determine theoretically its basic instruments, reflect on its historical development, explain justification and nonjustification of criticism it has or has not been exposed to and to show how it works in practice by an example of a number of European countries. It also deals with whether and how the immediate democracy has affected economic development and if it has affected the systems where it has more frequently been practised. The paper emphasizes advantages of immediate democracy and possibilities offered by the well thought out and successfully applied immediate democracy, a necessity to create more space for its faster and more powerful development, especially in economically unstable, developing transitional countries with shaken confidence in ruling political structures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Alongside the Safety at Work Act (N.N., Nos. 59/96, 94/96, 114/03 and 100/04), other supporting legislation (implementation provision) has been passed. The legislation in question is the Safety and Health Regulations in Using Working Equipment (N.N., No. 21 of 18 February 2008). The Regulations set out the obligations of both employer and employee with regard to use of working equipment. For working equipment incorporated into buildings, aside from the Regulations, special provisions regarding physical planning and building are implemented. The paper stresses the specific importance of the Regulations, which came into force on 26 February 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims at presenting a (new) discipline- law and economics also known as economic analysis of law that has not fully taken hold in Croatian theory and practice. Following the introductory remarks the second part of the paper deals with basics of economic analysis of law, a separate scientific discipline that makes use of economic analysis as a means for evaluation of laws and regulations or to use the institutionalists' terms - institutions, their economic efficiency and social adequacy. The third part of the paper gives a survey of economic analysis of law application in a case study of defining the term of imprisonment as a sanction imposed for committing criminal offences. The fourth part comments briefly on why this approach to law has not fully taken hold in Europe while being quite popular in the United States not only in academic circles but in (legal) practice as well. Concluding remarks point out potential deficiencies in this approach to law; nevertheless they can encourage further research in this exceptionally interesting scientific discipline. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper starts from the thesis that the institutional and economic efficiency of a state i.e. society depend on its historical heritage (path dependence), strategic interactions and the international surrounding. Estonia and Slovenia are considered to be not only economically, but also institutionally assertive and relatively successful post-communist states i.e. new member states of the European Union. However, they have developed two completely different — in some important aspects even diametrically opposite — regulatory rules and different political and social arrangements. The paper particularly emphasises the ideological and strategic significance of the élites and their infl uence on the course of reforms and transitions, and on the form of capitalism at the end of the transition. It can be claimed that the political élite in Estonia encouraged the formation of the state that is close to the liberal-minimalist model, while Slovenia is close to the corporatist model of welfare. With regard to including the former into the liberal-market economies (LME) and the latter into the coordinated market economies (CME), certain specific features and local modifi cations should be pointed out. In both cases, some dysfunctional consequences ensued, and they represent a new challenge to the élites, at the same time serving as the test of their credibility and competence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents some of the hitherto rather little-known examples of liturgical polyphony, the so-called ßsimple poliphonyÇ Ñ from the Croatian regions. The research presented here follows on from the first systematic examination of these sources by Rudolf Flotzinger: ßMittelalterliche Mehrstimmigkeit in Dalmatien und SlowenienÇ, Revista de musicolog.a, vol. XVI, Nr. 3, Madrid, 1993, pp. 29-49. Occurrences of the ßsimple polyphonyÇ in the Croatian liturgical practice are to be found in the liturgical manuscripts from the period between the late 13th and the 19th centuries.Among about one hundred Ñ mostly two-part Ñ liturgical chants, a predominant number are those for the mass ordinary. The author focuses on her own insights into some of the earliest examples of simple polyphony from Dalmatia: a two-part troped Sanctus from the Cartulary of the Benedictine monastery of St Mary in Zadar (late 13th century) and a group of two-part Benedicamus domino chants, now kept in the Dominican monastery in Stari Grad on the island of Hvar, and compares them with the chants from similar Italian sources. Other examples discussed here are: a two-part chant Tota pulchra es from the manuscript by the friar Frane Divniæ from Zadar (17th century) and a Requiem from the codex now kept in the Benedictine monstery at Cres (18th century). In addition, the paper contains a brief discussion of the sociological context of these sources. A preliminaryconclusion may be reached that the monastic communities in Croatia, in particulary those of the Franciscans, Dominicans and Benedictines, were the main bodies responsible for the long survival of this medieval phenomenon in the Croatian regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper the author analyses the possibility of 'creating' a European political people and forming a European political identity and a European political community. In the first, theoretical part of the paper, the author defines two concepts of people -- demos and ethnos -- and describes problems in identity building on purely political grounds of people as demos. By examining the references on a European political people in the EU legal foundations, the author illustrates dual premises of legitimacy for the Union and the Union's identity referents which are generally of a universalist nature. In the second, empirical part of the paper, the author presents how the European identity is formed, in line with classic distinction between 'civic' and 'ethnic' identity. Since the Eurobarometer survey showed a low level of European identification of EU member states' citizens, the author presents concepts which aim to overcome the low level of European afiliation. In the final part of the paper the question which is examined is whether the existence of a European political people is necessary for the future of the European integration. To this end, the author uses various theoretical approaches to the 'creation' of a European political people: economic/market approach, communitarian/ statist approach, 'constitutional patriotism' of Habermas, Weiler's 'multiple demoi' and pluralism/particularism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the different traditions with regard to performing public services (services of general interest), the continental-European and the Anglo-Saxon ones, the paper determines basic characteristics of public services. Special attention is paid to the evolution of the concept of public services and their basic characteristics and classification, the protection of public interest and the special role of the public authorities with regard to the services of general interest. The paper analyses the evolution of the concept of "services of general interest" that has been developed within the European Union, and that has been stimulated by the release of several European Union documents (Announcements from 1996 and 2001, the Green Paper from 2003 and White Paper from 2004). The significance of this concept lies in the fact that it reflects the main conflict related to the development of the so-called European Model of Society, which attempts to reconcile the demands resulting from the welfare state on the one hand, with making provisions for the uninterrupted functioning of the common market on the other. Basic elements for the development of the concept of social services of general interest are proposed, attempting to point out to their specificities with regard to the category of economic services of general interest. Special attention is given to the critical analysis of the judicial practice of the European Court of Justice with regard to social services that this Court has issued decisions on. Due to specificities of social services, their special treatment in the process of reform that those services are undergoing is recommended. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Proceeding from the fact that the organ of the Split Cathedral was sold in 1901 to the Order of the Sisters of St Clare in Split, the author presents in this paper four previous assumptions about the builder of that organ. In the continuation of the paper, he provides a completely new slant on the technical data concerning the organ in St Clare's Church in Split. The data are the result of careful study, measurement and comparison and enable a reliable approach to the solving of two important issues: when the organ was built and who built it. By careful reading of papers to date and, above all, by detailed analysis of the instrument itself, the author proves the assumption that this organ is the work of the distinguished organ builder, Petar Nakić from Šibenik, and that it was built at the mid-18th century [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Being one of the theoretical approaches to the study of the EU, the goal of the analysis of policy networks is to identify the policy process actors, both governmental and non-governmental, and the structure of their interaction in order to describe, explain and predict the outcomes of the European public policy. Many authors claim that the exceptionally rapid development of this approach in the last thirty years (and its intensive EU application since the 1990s) can be attributed to the changes in the contemporary practice of governance. Namely, although public policy is above all related to the accountability of authorities in securing public goods, the tasks are increasingly allocated to a growing number of non-governmental actors, especially in the EU. In its analysis of policy networks the paper offers the typology of the actors and an array of the concepts which define the structuring of their interaction (in the policy literature the term policy network is used generically and also when referring to the EU). It also outlines the continuum of the types of EU policy networks which as independent variables affect the outcomes of the European public policy. The paper identifies which approach within the analysis of policy networks the application to the EU belongs to. In the EU research policy networks are understood as an instrument of the policy analysis that explains the decisions shaping public policy at the subsystem level of decision-making, which makes it necessary to combine it with other theoretical approaches for the other levels of decision-making and for the other types of decisions to grasp the entirety of the manner in which public policy in the EU is shaped. The policy network analysis contributes most to improving the understanding of everyday events in the process of creating European public policy, the events that change the environment in which key decisions are made as well as the actors' perceptions of their own interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, political leaders throughout Europe are facing a real paradox. On the one hand, Europeans want them to find solutions to the major problems confronting our societies. On the other hand, people increasingly distrust institutions and politics or are simply not interested in them. The problem is acknowledged by national parliaments and governments alike. It is particularly acute at the level of the European Union. Many people are losing confidence in a poorly understood and complex system to deliver the policies that they want. The Union is often seen as remote and at the same time too intrusive. The Irish ‘no’ highlights the impact of these problems on many people. This was reflected not only in the final outcome of the referendum, but also in the low turnout and quality of the debate which preceded it. Yet people also expect the Union to take the lead in seizing the opportunities of globalisation for economic and human development, and in responding to environmental challenges, unemployment, concerns over food safety, crime and regional conflicts. They expect the Union to act as visibly as national governments. Democratic institutions and the representatives of the people, at both national and European levels, can and must try to connect Europe with its citizens. This is the starting condition for more effective and relevant policies. The Commission identified the reform of European governance as one of its four strategic objectives in early 2000. Political developments since then have highlighted that the Union faces a double challenge: there is not only a need for urgent action to adapt governance under the existing treaties, but also for a broader debate on the future of Europe. The White Paper proposes opening up the policy-making process to get more people and organisations involved in shaping and delivering ELI policy. It promotes greater openness, accountability and responsibility for all those involved. This should help people to see how Member States, by acting together within the Union, are able to tackle their concerns more effectively. Having been passed in July 2001, this document attracted comments by many participants within public consultations, and the realisation of the principles laid down in it was one of the four crucial determinants of the European Commission activity in the period between 2000 and 2004. The White Paper on European Governance represents one of the foundations of the contemporary development of the European governance models, which is the reason why we are publishing its translation here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores Habermas's political philosophy of personal and collective identity and the role of constitution in building a post-national constellation in his political writings. Habermas's stances on European identity and the role that the European constitution-making process could have on the formation of aforementioned identity are reviewed, with responses to the no-demos thesis through his concept of constitutional patriotism. Author argues that constitutional patriotism and proceduralism in his political and legalistic observations seems to be the more realistic part of his discourse, while his search for European identity as pre-political viewpoint through the model of European political spheres still remains part of the idealistic vision. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the general principles of the imposed plastic bags issue and the manner in which the attempts are made to resolve it - high taxes or bans. Special attention has been paid to the occurrence of plastic bag bans and the imposition of high taxes on plastic bags all around the world. An overview of the current situation in the world is presented at the end of the article series. In this article, we have given an overview of the situation in Europe, North America and the Balkan region. The possible conclusion is that bans or high taxes are the result of unregulated waste management systems in respective countries or the unreasonably environmentally inferior solutions that are being imposed in order to protect specific interests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses laws on landscape protection by providing an analysis and evaluation of the status of landscape protection in Croatia, regulated by four laws, and its comparison to that of other European countries. As a result, it provides guidelines for improving landscape protection and for an efficient application of European Landscape Convention in Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper attempts to assess the power of visions in the struggle against injustice. It is argued that the Revelation of John is itself a struggle that advocates for a just spiritual and physical society. The genre of apocalyptic literature, with its symbolic language, and its presence and relevance in Medieval Europe in the writings of Hildegard von Bingen suggest that the power of a vision lies in the capability of the author to detect a problem and creatively provide a solution to emancipate society in the struggle against spiritual and physical injustice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the phenomenon of identity in the age of technology, especially the one in the so-called virtual space, which is characheristic for a progress of digital technology. In this regard, the notion of identity is brought into direct connection with the „post human" society and its implications on the problem of freedom. On the other hand, freedom is considered at the new context of sociality and more intensive dialogue on European identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In last 15 years the EU almost doubled the number of its member states, and enlargement became almost continous phenomena in the EU. Article 49 of the Treaty on European Union, supplemented by the Copenhagen criteria, provides the framework for enlargement. In this sense, the paper discusses the process of EU enlargement in the context of the new Lisbon solutions, conecting with the possibility of forthcoming EU enlargement in the Western Balkans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses influences on the Bosnian medieval law development, its role and importance in context of the European ius commune. Adopted Roman law influenced the law of the Duchy of Bosnia, then the Kongdom of Bosnia, primarily through the law of Mediterranean cities, where a legal transaction was the liveliest. The influence of the Hungarian law and the Sasks law was also visible, but the impact of canon law, which was developed and sirens from the Franciscan monastery was not negligible either. Revewing the elements of the Bosnian medieval law, it is evident that the Roman law had the greatest impact on contries of the former European area, where the Bosnia as a whole shared the fate of the legal development of neighboring countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on a survey conducted among the students of the Polytechnic in Pozega (Administrative Study, Accounting, Commerce, Viticulture-Oenology-Pomology and Food Technology) the paper deals with students' attitudes towards foreign language acquisition during their education, their views on the acquired knowledge, as well as the importance of the foreign language for their future employment. The main aim of this survey was to determine the opinion of students on benefits of learning the foreign language in course of their schooling. The second aim was to determine if there was a difference in the opinion between students of different study groups towards foreign language learning, and if there was a different perception of the importance of foreign language. Taking current promotion of student mobility in European HE institutions into consideration, the opinion on prospects of a semester study abroad and the possibility of employment abroad have been presented in the light of knowledge of foreign languages. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Agency contract on hotel services is sui generis a contract, regulated through business practices (lex mercatoria): 1) in Croatian law- Particular usages in catering (1995), 2) in European law - Code of Conduct ECTAA-HOTREC (1996) and 3) in international law - Code of Practice IH&RAUFTAA (1999). The subject of the paper is the analysis of contractual liability of caterers for breach of agency contracts on hotel services in Croatian, European and international business practice. Caterers are liable for damage to property and non-proprietary damage deriving from the breach of contractual obligations to double subjectivity - both tourist agency and its guests (individual or group). The results of the research are the answers to set theoretic and practical issues as well as the synthesis od solutions on every liability of caterers especially through the analysis of codification of Croatian, European and international business practice. As a conclusion, Croatian business practice has embodied all essential solutions of European and international business practice regarding contractual liability of caterers in agency contract on hotel services with some specific features. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the paper, the author compares the legislation that regulates the Croatian pension insurance system with the obligations from acquis communitaire in the context of the harmonisation of the legislation in the process of the accession of the Republic of Croatia to the European Union (EU). The author is not merely limited to the formal adjustment of the Croatian legislation with acquis communitaire, but also questions the adjustment of the Croatian pension system with the European social model which is applied in the pension system area, and which derives from acquis communitaire, as well as the practice in Western European countries. In the concluding part, the author determined the adjustment of the legislation that regulates the Croatian pension system with acquis communitaire, but also points out that a part of this system is not adjusted to the European social model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work the trends of development and implementation of the VoIP system are presented in comparsion to the traditional technology. There is an emphasize for the statistics of some European countries, the increased number of VoIP users and a forecast of development in the near future. In addition, this paper has shown the application of open source systems in dial call procedures. Analysing the existing system, comparing the standard procedures as well as, available technologies, one dial call method has been proposed based on a specific open source switchboard system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the complex and dynamic man - vehicle - environment system, alongside human and environmental factors, a significant factor for traffic safety is the proper functioning of various means of transportation and their equipment, in other words, the functioning of certain components of basic vehicular systems. Proper functioning of these components depends on specified project and operational features and conditions of installation and use, as well as control procedures before and after their placing on the market. The air brake system is an especially important vehicular system which integrates a large number of different positions. From a safety perspective, one of them is particularly important: the air tank, a pressure vessel which poses a security risk in both its working phase and its idle phase. For this reason air brake system tanks of motor and rail vehicles fall into the category of products that require harmonization of pertinent national legislations in order to protect the internal European market from unsafe and hazardous products. This paper analyzes essential safety requirements as stated in the Directive 87/404/EEC and in harmonized standards of the EN 286-1 to 4 series, which support this Directive and refer to serially manufactured pressure vessels used in air brake systems and auxiliary systems of motor and rail vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims at establishing if judicature of the European Convention has contributed to the protection and improvement of freedom rights of the persons of unsound mind - referring to the institute of enforced hospitalisation. Methodology - a survey and analysis of relevant material and judicial practice of the Convention referring to the enforced psychiatric hospitalisation. Results - before the judicial bodies of the Convention the protection has been sought for infringement of Art. 5 paragraph 4 of the Convention, referring to procedural aspects of enforced psychiatric hospitalization. These claims have also been the most successful. Conclusions - legal standards of Strassbourg judicature in interpretation of Art. 5 paragraph 4 referring to procedural standards of extrapunitive enforced hospitalization institute have greatly contributed to protection and improvement of rights to freedom of the persons of unsound mind. This could, however, decrease in future since members of the Council of Europe haveeither implemented this procedural standards into their legislature on enforced hospitalization or are in the course of implementing it. It is therefore reasonable to expect faster development of new legal standards in the area of interpretation of Articles 3, 6 and 8 of the Convention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last ten years in Serbia, garlic has been produced on about 9,000 ha annually. Although this makes Serbia a major European producer of the crop in terms of area planted, the total production of garlic in the country is still very low. The increase of average yield and production of garlic in Serbia requires the introduction of modern varieties and the use of certified planting material. The present paper discusses the main biological characteristics of garlic, with special emphasis on the principles of planting material production. The advancement and expansion of garlic production in Serbia could make garlic one of the country's major exports to European markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The subject of paper is one of the Assistance Programmes in the area of social security. The Social Institution Support Programme (SISP) has started with its preliminary activities in 2004, and it was finished at the beginning of 2008. The programme was intended for CARDS members — states from South East Europe, and it comprises the areas of pension insurance, health insurance, unemployment insurance and family benefits. The aim of the Programme is a preparation for co-ordination of social security schemes in the region of South East Europe, which co-ordination will later be extended to all Members States. Another aim of the Programme is the adjustment of social security schemes to the European standards. During the Programme, 62 activities have been undertaken, among them two Ministerial Conferences, three Summer schools for social security, the publication of Glossary of Social Security Terms on national languages, installation of the SISP website within the website of Council of Europe, establishment of social security expert network and organisation of national trainings with the aim of educating civil and public servants who will deal with the co-ordination matters in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responding to criticisms and discussions about the non-existence of European Union's human rights policy, the article claims that this policy exists although it has been developing inconsistently both at the level of the Union's internal affairs and at the level of its relations with third countries. The second key hypothesis of the article refers to the institutional implementation mechanisms of the Union's human rights policy which, according to the author, require new positioning and better coordination. The article firstly analyses the development of the human rights policy in the Union's internal affairs from the Stauder Case in 1969 to recent discussions on the legal force of the Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights and the accession of the Union to the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms. The second part of the article gives an overview of human rights policy development in the Union's external relations from the Fourth Lomé Convention to the European Neighbourhood Policy. The paper ends with an analysis of the features common to the Union's human rights policy implementation mechanisms focusing on the role of the Commission, the Parliament and the Council of the Union. The article points to the lack of institutional harmonisation using the European Instrument for Democracy and Human Rights as an example and sees in the establishment of the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights the need to introduce changes in the implementation of the human rights policy. In a conclusion, the author identifies the complexity and fragmentation of the Union as a system on the one hand and, on the other hand, the omnipresence of human rights protection and promotion in the Union's public policies as the key factors encumbering the control over the human rights policy implementation and the cause of its perceived deficit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the intention to make a geo-traffic analysis of the situation and to forecast the global container traffic flows, the paper aims at analysing the rapid development of the container traffic and its respectable participation in the maritime and total world trade. The regional position of the world container traffic is analysed in particular, indicating the most important container traffic regions and the world container traffic flows. Analysing the container traffic intensity and the dynamics in the world container ports, as referent nodes of the container traffic flows, the main world, Asiatic, American and European container ports are defined. Based on the current data and relevant forecasts of the container traffic flow dynamics and development, some predictions of the container trade development as well as the distribution of the container traffic volume towards the leading market regions are analysed too. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The processes of Europeization have invaded the public policy sphere and introduced into it, among other things, the altered views of the roles of policy players and their relationships in the processes of the formation and the implementation of public policy. As soon as these new developments had been detected, numerous political science debates understandably ensued about the changed roles and competences of the actors who operate at different political levels in the European Union. The paper begins with the definition of the policy actor in the research of the EU policy process. The usability of the traditional and the contemporary understanding of the policy actor in the EU policy system is looked into by means of the indicators of (non)statehood and the existing view of the role of the state, thereby articulating the dilemmas and the prospects for the potential new taxonomies of policy actors that might emerge as a consequence of the policy activity at the EU level, since the newly identified features breed suspicion in the unequivocal adequacy of the existing taxonomy of the actors. Also, the appropriateness of the categorization of the players according to their political level or to the structuralfunctional character of their activities is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The turmoils in international relations following the fall of the Berlin wall represented a serious challenge for the overall concept of European political unity. In its first international assignment outside the context of the Cold war, traditional national interests and animosities surfaced, and they demonstrated rather precisely all the complexity of the project promulgated by the Maastricht Agreement. At the time there was no common European approach to the solution of the crisis on the territory of the former Yugoslavia and no consent regarding the key issues, such as the recognition of the former Yugoslav republics as sovereign entities i.e. defining the criteria for their recognition. The paper focuses on this very specificity of the new approach to this problem, since it has increasingly been a subject of discretionary political decisions rather than the issue of international law in the traditional sense of meeting certain criteria for state recognition. And finally, concerning the degree of encroaching upon national sovereignty, there is a marked difference between the nature of the process of shaping a common foreign and security policy and shaping policies in other areas (e.g. transport, science and education, and so on). Also, the importance of developing an awareness of this difference as the main precondition for the realization of the project of the EU political integration is pointed out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following the fall of the Berlin wall, the foreign policy priorities of the former socialist countries have been the EU and the NATO rapprochement as a guarantee of their economic, military, and political stability. The least progress has been made by the countries of Europe's south-east due to that region's specific circumstances. The combination of unresolved national issues, historical grievances and, above all, the bloodshed and the war crimes committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia have pushed this region further from the European integrations. Incoherent policies of international actors, and particularly the disunited Europe, have not helped to resolve the conflicts besetting this region. After the cessation of the armed hostilities, the international community and especially the EU, wishing to stabilize the region, have designed a plethora of aid programs; they have also promoted the rapprochement with the European integrations. This paper provides a detailed analysis of the stabilizational frameworks for the region as well as their success in the promotion of regional cooperation and the process of reform in all areas, as well as in accelerating the overall progress of the countries of this region on their way to the full EU membership. The authors also dwell on the necessity of resolving the other crucial problems (especially the statutory issues between Serbia and Montenegro and in Bosnia-Herzegovina) in this decisive moment for the future of this region, and the key role and responsibility of the EU thereof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Andrija Paltašić (b. around 1450, Kotor [Croatia] -- d. around 1500, Venice [Italy]) and Dobrić Dobrićević (Boninus de Boninis, B. Raguseus) (b. 1457, Lastovo [Croatia] -- d. 1528, Treviso [Italy]) are the oldest Croatian typographers who earned their reputation outside Croatia. This paper presents the less familiar segment of their printing activities -- the printing of missals. Missale Romanum (Venice, 1485/1486) is the only known music publication by Paltašić, while Dobrićević printed three music books, two incunabula and one cinquecentina: Missale Ordinis Carmelitanum (Brescia, 1490), Missale Cabilonense (Lyon, 1500) and Missale Bellicence (Lyon, 1503). The true value of Paltašić's and Dobrićević's music publications is discussed within the context of the earliest European music publications, emphasizing their impact on Croatian Renaissance music. The article also offers a list of preserved music incunabula in Croatia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper is about the analysis of the general structure and the coherence of the historical consciousness of young people in five groups of European countries, using the results of the international study Youth and History of 1995. The analysis suggests there are two main patterns of historical thinking and the construction of historicopolitical identity that the author calls the driving force of historical progressivism and the smelting-plant of patriotism. These modernist schemes of thought, grounded in the competing perceptions of the nation, democracy and Europe, make the historical consciousness ambivalent. Regarding the coherence of historical consciousness, it is somewhat lower in the countries of Eastern Europe, which can be explained by the impact of the "neuralgic spot" of the collapse of socialism and the discontinuity in social, political and cultural aspects as expressed in the ideological cleavages of that time. In the postsocialist Central-European countries on the other hand, this coherence is the highest, the fact that the author attributes to the radical shift from the ideology of socialism and the domination of the cleavage traditionalism--Occidentalism [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ages ago, Plato understood justice as the purport and the essential purpose of the very existence of the state. Though Plato distinguishes between the political justice of the state and the personal justice of the individual soul, it was Aristotle who in his practical philosophy developed, apart from the general justice, an appropriate understanding of the special or particular justice and its significance for social progress. The first part of this paper deals with the different types of justice, and the second with civil society. In order to understand the contemporary theories of political justice and the roles of civil society in its realization, the author looks into the history of the European political thought and "civil society", since "civic" or "civil society" ("societas civilis"), was originally a political society. In modernity, Hegel began differentiating between the state as a political community and the "civil society" as a non-political society; his intention was not to separate but to integrate them by means of the public scrutiny and the citizens' governance. Thus Hegel linked Locke's and Montesquieu's opposing definitions of the relationship between the civil society and the state. This is all the more important since Hegel's philosophy is often misinterpreted as the state totalitarianism since we overlook the dangers coming, especially today, both from the civil society reduced to economy and the absolute state, the dangers that Hegel, with his concept of customariness, detected and avoided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The author describes the models of the professionalization of armed forces in today's world. The paper highlights three basic topics: 1. similarities and dissimilarities among the patterns of professionalization i.e. a possible emergence of a uniform, broad European model and its potential similarity with the existing Western models, 2. the ways in which various factors shape the patterns of professionalization in Central and Eastern Europe and the determination of their relative importance and role, 3. the influence of Western politics on the professionalization of armed forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]