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Although both theoretically and methodologically controversial, measuring competitiveness at sub-national level remains an exciting challenge for analysts. The paper starts with the review of the recent theoretical and empirical literature on regional competitiveness in the European Union, followed by empirical analysis of competitiveness of Croatian regions, tackling differences between the hard data and the survey data as well as clustering the Croatian regions based on their main competitive strengths and weaknesses. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Since its inception, in 1992, the Black Sea Economic Cooperation has developed comprehensive and functional legal and institutional structures, which have enabled it to take up an increasing number of tasks for promoting regional cooperation in a variety of spheres and forging a distinct identity of its own in the emerging complex of a new European architecture. Building security and stability in the region, while ever present in the thinking and action of the Member States, was not originally a primary object of BSEC work but was rather seen as an outgrowth of its core business in the economic domain, hopefully resulting in increased mutual understanding and confidence among the nations of the region. The BSEC Decennial Summit Declaration (Istanbul, 25 June 2002) in its paragraph 4 marked a conceptual watershed by putting the security and stability concerns firmly on the Organization’s agenda and charging the Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs (CMFA) to develop policy proposals to that effect. On the strength of that political mandate, the Seventh Meeting of the CMFA (Tirana, 25 October 2002) agreed to assign to the International Center for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS), as the acknowledged BSEC think‐tank, the task of organizing the meetings of an ad hoc Study Group bringing together experts from Member States and partner international organizations for the purpose of producing a Working Paper on the ways and means of enhancing the BSEC contribution to strengthening security and stability in the region. The ad hoc Study Group held four brainstorming sessions in Athens (26–27 March 2003, 10–11 July 2003, 26–27 February 2004 and 21–22 June 2004). This draft Working Paper was elaborated on the basis of individual written contributions from participants and collective debates at the ad hoc Study Group sessions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents an overview of regionalism as is being developed within the framework of the Organization of Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC). It examines the character of BSEC regionalism arguing that significant diversification of its core business (i.e., trade facilitation) towards non‐economic issues has occurred since BSEC’s conception in 1992. The article further concludes that given BSEC’s limitations and its members’ priorities, it becomes vital for the future of the Black Sea regionalism that the BSEC develops a structured and constructive relationship with other regional and international actors, particularly the EU, which possesses both the resources and the expertise to move ahead with regional projects. Turning the BSEC into a credible partner with a clear strategy will give a new meaning to the notion of Black Sea regionalism in a united Europe. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Over the last decade, most of the new independent states in the Black Sea region have staged steady and buoyant economic growth thanks to their rich natural resource endowments and to the positive attributes of their human resources. Such growth, supported by international financial institutions (IFI), has proved quite resilient to cyclical downturns in the global economy. Still, much of the region remains short of the physical and institutional infrastructure to create optimal conditions for long‐term income growth. These characteristics implicitly assign regional IFIs the tasks of providing long‐term development finance to key economic sectors and of establishing effective transmission mechanisms between ‘deficit’‐ and ‘surplus’‐generating sectors. This article seeks to highlight the role of the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank as a regional IFI in elevating and sustaining economic growth and development in the Black Sea region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since its inception the BSEC has had economic goals aimed at strengthening the economic cooperation among its members. The present article argues that despite this clear finality the developments in the BSEC environment propelled security among the concerns of this regional economic structure. This has happened gradually, starting from the adoption of soft security measures in the field of combating crime. The 11 September attacks in the United States inaugurated a shift in the BSEC approach towards security. The fight against terrorism became a growing concern of the BSEC. Moreover the debate over a more active BSEC contribution in security in the region has been launched. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of the oil and gas reserves of the Caspian Sea region and the emergence of the transportation projects of these reserves to world markets have generated an increased competition among oil companies, regional countries and key international actors. Although the commercial perspective remains important, political considerations and competing geopolitical concerns prevail and therefore tend to underestimate market needs and economic realities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]