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Kao važan odgovor na financijske krize te eksploziju deficita i javnih dugova diljem svijeta, porasla je važnost primjene i raširenost fiskalnih pravila i fiskalnih odbora, kako bi se ograničile tekuće fiskalne politike, smanjili deficiti i dugovi te poboljšalo stanje javnih financija i fiskalna disciplina. No, pravila djeluju u političko-ekonomskom okruženju. Učinkovitost i fiskalna ograničenja ovise o spremnosti političara da ih se pridržavaju, a ustrajnosti financijske konsolidacije te sprječavanju budućih fiskalnih kriza može se pridonijeti odgovornijim, transparentnijim i održivijim javnim financijama. U disertaciji je potvrđena hipoteza kvalitativnom metodom istraživanja (literature, političko-ekonomskog i medijskog konteksta) da je globalna financijska kriza dovela do preoblikovanja i daljnje regulacije financijskog sustava u najrazvijenijim zemljama svijeta, dok je primjena pravila i djelovanje odbora važan, ali nedovoljan, korak za ograničavanje političke moći koja je pridonijela dužničkoj krizi. U daljnjoj razradi teorije hipoteze H1 (fiskalna pravila moraju postojati da bi se dugovi država zadržali na nekim održivim razinama) i H2 (fiskalna pravila pokazuju prekomjernu potrošnju država) potvrđene su kvalitativnom metodom istraživanja temeljenom na teorijskoj analizi (istraživanje literature i paralelno dokazivanje teorije o primjeni pravila i djelovanju odbora u zemljama EU, te političko-ekonomskog i medijskog konteksta). Pokazalo se da su pravila u EU dobro postavljena u teoriji, ali da u praksi ne daju očekivane rezultate i nisu dovoljna za uspostavu fiskalne discipline. Vidljivost i visina prekomjerne državne potrošnje ovisi o fiskalnoj transparentnosti i odgovornosti (političara*) u proračunskom procesu na što mogu utjecati mediji. Značajnim preklapanjem različitih primijenjenih (deskriptivnih, korelacijskih i krostabulacijskih) analiza rezultata upitnika provedenog među 18 odbora u EU i primjerima šest odbora, potvrđena je pretpostavka da utjecaj odbora H3 (na prekomjernu potrošnju upozoravaju fiskalni odbori, a preko medija to saznaje javnost koja može prisiliti političare, utjecajem na njihov rejting na izborima i reputaciju, na transparentnije i odgovornije ponašanje) postoji te da ga se uspjelo izdiferencirati i objasniti. Naime, sve iz upitnika ekstrahirane i u disertaciji mjerene kategorije pojedinačno imaju značajan utjecaj i sinergijski djeluju na transparentnost i odgovornost (političara) u proračunskom procesu. Uz to, utvrđeno je da sustav pravila i odbora utječe na fiskalnu transparentnost i odgovornost (političara) u proračunskom procesu nadzorom poštivanja pravila, zakonodavnom regulativom i komunikacijom s javnošću. Također, da se većom medijskom vidljivosti poštivanja pravila i učinkovitijom komunikacijom odbora može pridonijeti transparentnosti i odgovornosti (političara) u proračunskom procesu. Parlamenti, za razliku od odbora, su političke institucije i tako ih se percipira u javnosti. Odbori su jedinstveno pozicionirani za jačanje transparentnosti i odgovornosti te izazivanje utjecaja na reputaciju političara procjenama i analizama s medijskim utjecajem, ali i vlastitim djelovanjem kao modeli transparentnosti. Potiču reakciju javnosti i vlada te transparentnije i odgovornije upravljanje javnim financijama, ako su mediji slobodni i visok stupanj demokracije u nekoj zemlji. Stoga, pravila i odbori mogu postati snažna sredstva komunikacije. Pritom je važno da odbori ulože više napora u komunikaciju s javnošću i imaju u vidu predloženu logiku medijskog utjecaja samih odbora, kako bi se znatnije povećao njihov utjecaj na transparentnost i odgovornost (političara) u proračunskom procesu. * Odnosi se na političare u izvršnoj vlasti., As an important response to the financial crisis and the explosion of deficits and public debts around the world, the importance of applying fiscal rules and spreading fiscal councils has increased, in order to limit current fiscal policies, reduce deficits and debts, and improve public finance and fiscal discipline. However, the rules function in a political and economic environment. The efficiency thereof, as well as fiscal constraints, depends on politicians’ readiness to adhere to them, while more responsible, transparent and more sustainable public finance may contribute to the persistence of financial consolidation and the prevention of future fiscal crises. The hypothesis that the global financial crisis has led to the transformation and further regulation of the financial system in the most developed countries in the world, while the application of the rules and functioning of the councils remains an important but inadequate step to limiting the political power that contributed to the debt crisis, has been confirmed in this dissertation by the qualitative research methodology (research of the literature, political-economic and media context). In further elaboration of the theory, hypothesis H1 (fiscal rules have to exist to keep debts of the state at some sustainable levels) and H2 (fiscal rules show excessive government spending) are confirmed by a qualitative research method based on theoretical analysis (literature research and parallel proving of the theory of the rules application and the councils activities in the EU countries, and the political-economic and media context). It has been shown that EU rules are well-placed in theory, but in practice they do not provide the expected results and are not sufficient to establish fiscal discipline. The visibility and the amount of excessive government spending depend on fiscal transparency and (politicians*) accountability in the budget process, which the media can have an impact on. Significant overlapping of the results of the various applied analyses (descriptive, correlation and cross-tabulation analyses) of the results of the questionnaire conducted among the 18 councils in the EU and the examples of six councils confirmed the assumption H3 (fiscal councils give warning about excessive government spending, and the media inform the public of it which itself can then force politicians, by having an impact on their rating at the elections and on their reputation, to behave more transparently and responsibly). More precisely, all of the categories extracted from the questionnaire and measured in this dissertation, each have a significant impact and synergistically have an effect on the transparency and (politicians’) accountability in the budget process. In addition, it has been established that the system of rules and councils influences fiscal transparency and (politicians’) accountability in the budget process by monitoring the adherence to the rules, legislative regulation and communication with the public, as well as that greater media visibility and more effective communication among councils can contribute to transparency and (politicians’) accountability in the budget process. Parliaments, unlike the councils, are political institutions and are thus perceived in the public. The councils, on the other hand, are uniquely positioned to enhance transparency and accountability and to provoke the influence on the politicians’ reputation by the assessments and analyses having the media-impact, but also by their own actions serving as models of transparency. They encourage the public and the government responses as well as more transparent and accountable public finance management if the media can speak freely and the degree of democracy is high in a country. Therefore, the rules and the councils can become a powerful means of communication, whereby it is important that the councils put more effort into communicating with the public and take into account the proposed logic of media influence of the councils themselves in order to significantly increase their impact on the transparency and (politicians’) accountability in the budget process. * refers to politicians in executive power

Kao važan odgovor na financijske krize te eksploziju deficita i javnih dugova diljem svijeta, porasla je važnost primjene i raširenost fiskalnih pravila i fiskalnih odbora, kako bi se ograničile tekuće fiskalne politike, smanjili deficiti i dugovi te poboljšalo stanje javnih financija i fiskalna disciplina. No, pravila djeluju u političko-ekonomskom okruženju. Učinkovitost i fiskalna ograničenja ovise o spremnosti političara da ih se pridržavaju, a ustrajnosti financijske konsolidacije te sprječavanju budućih fiskalnih kriza može se pridonijeti odgovornijim, transparentnijim i održivijim javnim financijama. U disertaciji je potvrđena hipoteza kvalitativnom metodom istraživanja (literature, političko-ekonomskog i medijskog konteksta) da je globalna financijska kriza dovela do preoblikovanja i daljnje regulacije financijskog sustava u najrazvijenijim zemljama svijeta, dok je primjena pravila i djelovanje odbora važan, ali nedovoljan, korak za ograničavanje političke moći koja je pridonijela dužničkoj krizi. U daljnjoj razradi teorije hipoteze H1 (fiskalna pravila moraju postojati da bi se dugovi država zadržali na nekim održivim razinama) i H2 (fiskalna pravila pokazuju prekomjernu potrošnju država) potvrđene su kvalitativnom metodom istraživanja temeljenom na teorijskoj analizi (istraživanje literature i paralelno dokazivanje teorije o primjeni pravila i djelovanju odbora u zemljama EU, te političko-ekonomskog i medijskog konteksta). Pokazalo se da su pravila u EU dobro postavljena u teoriji, ali da u praksi ne daju očekivane rezultate i nisu dovoljna za uspostavu fiskalne discipline. Vidljivost i visina prekomjerne državne potrošnje ovisi o fiskalnoj transparentnosti i odgovornosti (političara*) u proračunskom procesu na što mogu utjecati mediji. Značajnim preklapanjem različitih primijenjenih (deskriptivnih, korelacijskih i krostabulacijskih) analiza rezultata upitnika provedenog među 18 odbora u EU i primjerima šest odbora, potvrđena je pretpostavka da utjecaj odbora H3 (na prekomjernu potrošnju upozoravaju fiskalni odbori, a preko medija to saznaje javnost koja može prisiliti političare, utjecajem na njihov rejting na izborima i reputaciju, na transparentnije i odgovornije ponašanje) postoji te da ga se uspjelo izdiferencirati i objasniti. Naime, sve iz upitnika ekstrahirane i u disertaciji mjerene kategorije pojedinačno imaju značajan utjecaj i sinergijski djeluju na transparentnost i odgovornost (političara) u proračunskom procesu. Uz to, utvrđeno je da sustav pravila i odbora utječe na fiskalnu transparentnost i odgovornost (političara) u proračunskom procesu nadzorom poštivanja pravila, zakonodavnom regulativom i komunikacijom s javnošću. Također, da se većom medijskom vidljivosti poštivanja pravila i učinkovitijom komunikacijom odbora može pridonijeti transparentnosti i odgovornosti (političara) u proračunskom procesu. Parlamenti, za razliku od odbora, su političke institucije i tako ih se percipira u javnosti. Odbori su jedinstveno pozicionirani za jačanje transparentnosti i odgovornosti te izazivanje utjecaja na reputaciju političara procjenama i analizama s medijskim utjecajem, ali i vlastitim djelovanjem kao modeli transparentnosti. Potiču reakciju javnosti i vlada te transparentnije i odgovornije upravljanje javnim financijama, ako su mediji slobodni i visok stupanj demokracije u nekoj zemlji. Stoga, pravila i odbori mogu postati snažna sredstva komunikacije. Pritom je važno da odbori ulože više napora u komunikaciju s javnošću i imaju u vidu predloženu logiku medijskog utjecaja samih odbora, kako bi se znatnije povećao njihov utjecaj na transparentnost i odgovornost (političara) u proračunskom procesu. * Odnosi se na političare u izvršnoj vlasti. As an important response to the financial crisis and the explosion of deficits and public debts around the world, the importance of applying fiscal rules and spreading fiscal councils has increased, in order to limit current fiscal policies, reduce deficits and debts, and improve public finance and fiscal discipline. However, the rules function in a political and economic environment. The efficiency thereof, as well as fiscal constraints, depends on politicians’ readiness to adhere to them, while more responsible, transparent and more sustainable public finance may contribute to the persistence of financial consolidation and the prevention of future fiscal crises. The hypothesis that the global financial crisis has led to the transformation and further regulation of the financial system in the most developed countries in the world, while the application of the rules and functioning of the councils remains an important but inadequate step to limiting the political power that contributed to the debt crisis, has been confirmed in this dissertation by the qualitative research methodology (research of the literature, political-economic and media context). In further elaboration of the theory, hypothesis H1 (fiscal rules have to exist to keep debts of the state at some sustainable levels) and H2 (fiscal rules show excessive government spending) are confirmed by a qualitative research method based on theoretical analysis (literature research and parallel proving of the theory of the rules application and the councils activities in the EU countries, and the political-economic and media context). It has been shown that EU rules are well-placed in theory, but in practice they do not provide the expected results and are not sufficient to establish fiscal discipline. The visibility and the amount of excessive government spending depend on fiscal transparency and (politicians*) accountability in the budget process, which the media can have an impact on. Significant overlapping of the results of the various applied analyses (descriptive, correlation and cross-tabulation analyses) of the results of the questionnaire conducted among the 18 councils in the EU and the examples of six councils confirmed the assumption H3 (fiscal councils give warning about excessive government spending, and the media inform the public of it which itself can then force politicians, by having an impact on their rating at the elections and on their reputation, to behave more transparently and responsibly). More precisely, all of the categories extracted from the questionnaire and measured in this dissertation, each have a significant impact and synergistically have an effect on the transparency and (politicians’) accountability in the budget process. In addition, it has been established that the system of rules and councils influences fiscal transparency and (politicians’) accountability in the budget process by monitoring the adherence to the rules, legislative regulation and communication with the public, as well as that greater media visibility and more effective communication among councils can contribute to transparency and (politicians’) accountability in the budget process. Parliaments, unlike the councils, are political institutions and are thus perceived in the public. The councils, on the other hand, are uniquely positioned to enhance transparency and accountability and to provoke the influence on the politicians’ reputation by the assessments and analyses having the media-impact, but also by their own actions serving as models of transparency. They encourage the public and the government responses as well as more transparent and accountable public finance management if the media can speak freely and the degree of democracy is high in a country. Therefore, the rules and the councils can become a powerful means of communication, whereby it is important that the councils put more effort into communicating with the public and take into account the proposed logic of media influence of the councils themselves in order to significantly increase their impact on the transparency and (politicians’) accountability in the budget process. * refers to politicians in executive power

Croatia, as a relatively new member state of the European Union, has an interest to find a niche in foreign policy. The importance of specialization of Croatian foreign policy is emphasized by current trends in the world, and by the need to distinguish itself in the international community. Ecological issues and the protection of the sea and rivers, the preservation of the marine – so-called blue economy – and terrestrial environment, as well as organic farming, are the areas in which Croatia needs to find its niche in foreign policy. Consequently, it is extremely important that Croatia’s foreign policy plays an active role in promoting ecological issues in both the European Union and in the whole Mediterranean region. The foreign policy of specialization in the field of ecology is supported by Croatian recognition in the world for its natural beauty and for it being one of the most ecologically preserved countries in Europe.

U globalnoj financijskoj krizi, kojoj se još uvijek ne nazire kraj, u središtu pozornosti našle su se, ne prvi put, agencije za dodjelu kreditnih rejtinga. Naime smanjenje rejtinga izaziva zabrinutost država o njihovoj kreditnoj sposobnosti, a postavlja se pitanje i o načinu mjerenja od strane rejting-agencija. Ključna zabrinutost odnosi se na nestabilnost koju smanjenje rejtinga unosi na financijska tržišta, a posebice kada smanjenje ocjena prelazi u kategorije neinvesticijskog razreda. Složenost financijskih tržišta i raznolikost dužnika s vremenom su porasli, a ulagači i regulatori sve se više oslanjaju na stavove rejting- agencija. Istodobno, broj agencija za kreditni rejting koje rade u SAD-u i drugim zemljama snažno je porastao. Sve to, a posebice aktualna financijska kriza, potaknulo je sudionike tržišta i donositelje političkih odluka na preispitivanje djelovanja agencija i adekvatnosti javnog nadzora nad rejting- industrijom. Isto se dogodilo i tijekom azijske financijske krize, što otvara pitanja moći rejting-industrije i njezina utjecaja na financijska tržišta u budućnosti.

Kao ključni odgovor na financijske krize te eksploziju deficita i dugova vlada porasla je važnost primjene te raširenost fiskalnih pravila u svijetu kako bi se ograničile zemlje u tekućim fiskalnim politikama, smanjili deficiti i dugovi te poboljšale njihove fiskalne pozicije i fiskalna disciplina. No pravila djeluju na raskrižju politike i ekonomije, i taj je odnos bilateralan. Učinkovitost i fiskalna ograničenja ovise o spremnosti političara da ih se pridržavaju, a ustrajnost na stazi financijske konsolidacije može pridonijeti odgovornijim, transparentnijim i održivijim javnim financijama te sprečavanju budućih fiskalnih kriza. Sve to odnosi se i na Hrvatsku, za koju je važno da prati promjene i primjenu fiskalnih pravila u Europskoj Uniji., As key response to financial crises and to the explosion of government deficits and debts, the importance of application and prevalence of fiscal rules throughout the world has been heightened in order to constrain the countries in their current fiscal policies, reduce deficits and debts and improve their fiscal positions and fiscal discipline. However, the rules are employed at the juncture of politics and economics, and this relationship is bilateral. The efficiency and fiscal restrictions depend on political willingness to adhere to these rules, while insisting on the strength of fiscal consolidation may contribute to more responsible, transparent and sustainable public finances, and to the prevention of future fiscal crises. This refers to Croatia as well, for which it is important to follow the changes and application of fiscal rules in the EU.

U globalnoj financijskoj krizi, kojoj se još uvijek ne nazire kraj, u središtu pozornosti našle su se, ne prvi put, agencije za dodjelu kreditnih rejtinga. Naime smanjenje rejtinga izaziva zabrinutost država o njihovoj kreditnoj sposobnosti, a postavlja se pitanje i o načinu mjerenja od strane rejting-agencija. Ključna zabrinutost odnosi se na nestabilnost koju smanjenje rejtinga unosi na financijska tržišta, a posebice kada smanjenje ocjena prelazi u kategorije neinvesticijskog razreda. Složenost financijskih tržišta i raznolikost dužnika s vremenom su porasli, a ulagači i regulatori sve se više oslanjaju na stavove rejting-agencija. Istodobno, broj agencija za kreditni rejting koje rade u SAD-u i drugim zemljama snažno je porastao. Sve to, a posebice aktualna financijska kriza, potaknulo je sudionike tržišta i donositelje političkih odluka na preispitivanje djelovanja agencija i adekvatnosti javnog nadzora nad rejting-industrijom. Isto se dogodilo i tijekom azijske financijske krize, što otvara pitanja moći rejting-industrije i njezina utjecaja na financijska tržišta u budućnosti., During the global financial crisis, the end of which cannot yet be anticipated, the focus of attention has been, not for the first time, on rating agencies. More precisely, the reduction in country ratings gives cause for concern over the credit-worthiness of countries, but there is also the question of the way in which these rating agencies measure the ratings. The key concern refers to the instability brought to financial markets through reduction in ratings, especially when the reduction in ratings falls under non-investment categories. The complexity of financial markets and the variety of debtors have increased over time, investors and regulators rely more and more on the opinions of rating agencies. At the same time, the number of credit rating agencies that operate in the USA and other countries has risen significantly. All of this, and especially the current financial crisis, has lead market participants and policymakers to question the functioning of the agencies, as well as the adequacy of the public supervision over the rating industry. The same thing happened during the Asian financial crisis, which raises the issue of rating agencies’ power and their influence on financial markets in the future.

Kao ključni odgovor na financijske krize te eksploziju deficita i dugova vlada porasla je važnost primjene te raširenost fiskalnih pravila u svijetu kako bi se ograničile zemlje u tekućim fiskalnim politikama, smanjili deficiti i dugovi te poboljšale njihove fiskalne pozicije i fiskalna disciplina. No pravila djeluju na raskrižju politike i ekonomije, i taj je odnos bilateralan. Učinkovitost i fiskalna ograničenja ovise o spremnosti političara da ih se pridržavaju, a ustrajnost na stazi financijske konsolidacije može pridonijeti odgovornijim, transparentnijim i održivijim javnim financijama te sprečavanju budućih fiskalnih kriza. Sve to odnosi se i na Hrvatsku, za koju je važno da prati promjene i primjenu fiskalnih pravila u Europskoj Uniji.

Dvije velike krize u posljednjih stotinu godina pokazuju da problemi uvijek nastaju kad neobuzdana potražnja i potrošnja dođu u nesklad sa raspoloživim gospodarskim resursima i rastom gospodarstva. Državni intervencionizam i preraspodjela nacionalnog bogatstva imaju vrlo ograničeni učinak u rješavanju problema. Unatoč tome, svjedoci smo kontinuirane globalne kreditne ekspanzije kako bi se nacionalna gospodarstva održala postojeće razine zaposlenosti, cijena proizvoda, razine potrošnje i kamatnih stopa. Drugim riječima, umjesto otplate ranijeg duga sve više posuđuju iz budućnosti, samo da bi ostali na istom mjestu.

Human resources management (HRM) as a function providing organizations with workforce and thus assisting the achievement of organization’s business strategy is an inevitable element of contemporary organisation’s arrangements. Passing through different stages from conventional one to strategic service, HRM has transformed its concept, content, philosophy and scope of services affecting the way of understanding and role of the HR function in the organization. Becoming one among most important organizational functions, HRM was transiting from reactive function, over independent function towards the integrative and supportive function. This paper is aimed in contributing to the better understanding of contemporary challenges of HRM function and HR services in organizations, analysing various concepts and describing development and nature of different aspects and recent approaches to the HRM in terms of their influence to achieving and maintenance of organizational business strategy and competitive advantage. In that sense, the objective of the paper is to provide the overview of HRM contemporary challenges, and assess its impact to modern organization in context of organizational performance and organizational effectiveness.

There are many definitions of Web 2.0 which, however, do not exclude each other. Tim O’Reilly and Dale Dougherty first used the term in 2004 when they came up with an idea of conference about Web technology development. Today, we have different numbers of Web 2.0 tools on the Internet with different purpose, and many of them are implemented in education. The education system is subject to a number of changes to ensure the quality of the studies. Thus, the introduction of new technology that allows better communication, research and access to lectures alone creates a better learning environment and easier to study. The presence of new technologies provides an entirely new approach to the education system. In this paper we will present a few Web 2.0 tools and also how they affect in Croatian education on polytechnics. By polling of the students we want to determine how much they are familiar with web technologies in a way to examine their current habits and how they should be altered to accept new technologies in education and educational systems. With results of the survey will be shown the impact of technology at polytechnics in Croatia and in the discussion we will to explain why this is so because we assume that Web technology underutilized in higher education. This work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

Recently the term Cryptocurrency is a frequently used in the mainstream media. The main reason for that is a bitcoin occurrence with reference to the technology and cryptographic inventions that stand behind the bitcoin. Cryptocurrency is legal in region because the European Union has liberal monetary regulations and it can be seen that region successfully follows the world trends in this field. The goal of this paper is to indicate a strong relationship between the value of Bitcoin and expressed interest for it in 11 South-East Europe region countries. The last four and half years will be analysed on a monthly base and data from service Google Trends will be used. Spearman’s rank correlation between the expressed interest and bitcoin values for the last four and half years will be calculated. Comment on strong relationship between those variables will be given at the end. This work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.