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201. Does Government Support for Private Innovation Matter? Firm Level Evidence from Turkey and Poland

Author:
Krzysztof Szczygielski, M. Teoman Pamukcu, Sinan Tandogan, and Wojciech Grabowski
Publication Date:
08-2013
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Center for Social and Economic Research - CASE
Abstract:
Mediterranean and EU member countries consider enhancing innovation and R&D an important policy objective. In order to improve economic competitiveness and increase their citizens’ welfare, these countries have been formulating and implementing innovation policies. In recent years, the volume of resources allocated to such policies has considerably increased and the number of instruments used in this framework has widened. Nevertheless, a relatively limited number of studies have been conducted to assess the effectiveness of innovation policies in these countries and formulate proposals for those aspects of policies that are in contradiction with the aims.
Topic:
Government, Economy, Social Policy, and Innovation
Political Geography:
Europe, Central Asia, Turkey, Poland, Mediterranean, and European Union

202. Tableau de bord des pays d’Europe centrale et orientale et d’Eurasie 2013 (Volume 1 : Europe centrale et orientale)

Author:
Jean-Pierre Pagé, Anne De Tinguy, Jacques Sapir, Julien Vercueil, Hélène Clément-Pitiot, Matthieu Combe, Vitaly Denysyuk, and Raphaël Jozan
Publication Date:
12-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:
Dans le Tableau de bord d’Europe centrale et orientale et d’Eurasie de 2009, nous écrivions que les pays de l’Europe centrale et orientale étaient « touchés mais pas coulés » par la crise mondiale. Quatre ans après, ce diagnostic est toujours valable. Si l’Union européenne reste pour eux un idéal et si l’adhésion à cette union demeure un projet clairement balisé pour les Etats qui n’en sont pas encore membres, celle-ci, engluée dans ses contradictions, paraît trop souvent absente, silencieuse. Aux populations qui lui demandent un meilleur niveau de vie et plus de justice sociale, elle répond par des exigences de réformes et d’austérité et alimente ainsi dangereusement leurs désenchantements. Savoir leur répondre, c’est le défi majeur de l’Union européenne aujourd’hui. Les pays de l’Eurasie, s’ils sont moins directement touchés par la crise de la zone euro et conservent, en conséquence, une croissance nettement plus élevée, ont d’autres préoccupations. Fortement sollicités par la Russie qui entend consolider sa zone d’influence avec la concrétisation de l’Union économique eurasiatique, ils sont aussi l’objet de l’attraction qu’exerce sur eux l’Union européenne – comme en témoignent éloquemment les évènements survenus en Ukraine – et, de plus en plus, la Chine. Cet espace est donc actuellement dans une recomposition qui conditionne les possibilités de son développement.
Topic:
Economics, Energy Policy, Markets, Nationalism, Natural Resources, European Union, Finance, Multilateralism, Europeanization, and Multinational Corporations
Political Geography:
Poland, Lithuania, Kosovo, Estonia, Serbia, Bulgaria, Balkans, Romania, Macedonia, Hungary, Albania, Croatia, Latvia, Montenegro, Czech Republic, Western Europe, Slovenia, Slovakia, European Union, and Bosnia and Herzegovina

203. Le transfert d’expérience de l’Europe centrale et orientale vers le voisinage européen : rhétorique ou réalité ? Les cas polonais et tchèque (The transfer of experience of East and Central European countries to the Eastern neighbourhood : rhetoric or reality ? Poland and the Czech Republic)

Author:
Elsa Tulmets
Publication Date:
05-2013
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:
After joining the European Union in 2004 or 2007, all Central and Eastern European countries have expressed their will to transfer their experience of democratization, transition to market economy and introduction of the rule of law to other regions in transition. They have influenced in particular the launching of an EU policy towards the East, which was so far rather absent, and of the European Neighbourhood Policy in 2003. The rhetoric developed is particularly strong and visible, but what about the implementation of the aid policies to transition? Which reality does the political discourse entail, both in its bilateral and multilateral dimensions? Central and Eastern European countries do not represent a homogeneous bloc of countries and have constructed their foreign policy discourse on older ideological traditions and different geographical priorities. Despite the commitment of a group of actors from civil society and reforms in the field of development policy, the scarce means at disposal would need to be better mobilized in order to meet expectations. In the context of the economic crisis, the search for a concensus on interests to protect and means to mobilize, like through the Visegrad Group and other formats like the Weimar Triangle, appears to be a meaningful option to follow in order to reinforce the coherence of foreign policy actions implemented.
Topic:
Civil Society, Economics, Politics, Europeanization, and Transnational Actors
Political Geography:
Eastern Europe, Poland, Czech Republic, Central Europe, and European Union

204. La fabrique politique d’une frontière européenne en Méditerranée. Le « jeu du mistigri » entre les Etats et l’Union (The political fabric of a European frontier in the Mediterranean: The “jeu du mistigri” between the States and the European Union )

Author:
Evelyne Ritaine
Publication Date:
07-2012
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre d'Etudes et de Recherches Internationales
Abstract:
The political determination of the Mediterranean border of the European Union seen from the perspective of the Southern European countries (Spain, Italy, Greece, Malta) illustrates the symbolic and political importance for these nations of maintaining control of the border. It has a significant impact on the types of controls that are enacted and the interplay between national and European decisions. Placing this question on the agenda brings to light a Mediterranean perspective regarding the exterior borders of the European Union that is largely determined by the conditions of integration of the different countries into the Schengen area. This new border regime is the result of complex political games and is seen as a security issue. The actual set of controls seems to be less planned and legal-rational than simply erratic and the result of tensions between internal tactics, nation state strategies and attempts at bringing within the ring of EU.
Topic:
Security, Migration, European Union, Regulation, Borders, and State
Political Geography:
Greece, Balkans, Spain, North Africa, Italy, Western Europe, Mediterranean, European Union, and Malta

205. Case Study Report: Does Media Policy Promote Media Freedom and Independence? The Case of Turkey

Author:
Ceren Sözeri and Dilek Kurban
Publication Date:
12-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
Media policy in Turkey has shaped the media-state relationship since the establishment of the first newspaper in the late Ottoman period. While regulations were often employed as an effective disciplinary tool against the press in processes of state formation and modernization, opponent journalists have constantly been suppressed by state and non-state actors who claimed to act in the name of ‘state interests’. The coup d’état in 1980 and the concomitant economic liberalisation changed the ownership structure of the media sector with the entry of new investors. Following the abolishment of state monopoly on broadcasting in the 1990s, big conglomerates expanding through vertical and horizontal mergers have dominated all fields of the media. The high concentrated market structure in the media was made possible due to the inadequacy of legal barriers to crossmergers, as well as the lack of measures that would prevent media conglomerates from participating in public tenders in other sectors of the economy. The shortcomings of the regulatory framework to promote press freedom and diversity in the media has encouraged big corporations to regard themselves as legitimate political actors that can bargain with the government. Media ownership was restructured following the economic crisis in 2001. Big media groups, which had investments in the financial and banking sectors, were particularly affected by the crisis; some being completely wiped out of the market, while others were seized by the state. Shortly after the Justice and Development Party (Adalet ve Kalkınma Partisi- AK Parti) came to power in 2002, the mainstream media was reconfigured ideologically as either ‘opponent’ or ‘proponent’ to the government. Notwithstanding the limited positive effects of the EU accession process on media freedom, there are dozens of ECtHR judgments regarding freedom of expression and freedom of the press waiting to be executed by the Turkish state. Journalists who are powerless vis-à-vis the owners and political power are particularly affected by the political polarisation in the media. The structural obstacles to unionization and the lack of solidarity in the profession lead to labour exploitation, low quality content and violations of media ethics. The lack of a strong pro-democracy social movement; the ideological conservatism of the judiciary; the institutional weakness of the parliament; and the lack of democracy within political parties render the government – and future governments – too powerful vis-à-vis the society and the media. On a positive note, however, there is a growing awareness on the need for social monitoring of the media. In the absence of a widely accepted and established selfregulatory framework, various non-governmental organizations and activist groups started to watch the media in order to expand the culture of diversity and to reduce discrimination, racism and hate speech. MEDIADEM is a European research project which seeks to understand and explain the factors that promote or conversely prevent the development of policies supporting free and independent media.
Topic:
Democracy, Media, Freedom of Expression, and Journalism
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, and European Union

206. Foreign Policy Perceptions in Turkey

Author:
Aybars Görgülü, Enis Erdem Aydın, Mensur Akgün, and Sabiha Senyücel Gündoğar
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV)
Abstract:
This report contains the results of a survey conducted on 6-14th December 2010 by KA Research that has been evaluated by TESEV Foreign Policy Programme. Based on a sample size of 1,000, the survey aims to understand the perception of foreign policy in Turkey. A first of its kind for TESEV, the survey includes striking findings that may be of interest to decision-makers in Turkey and those following Turkey around the world. This report finds many results for the opinion on the foreign policy vision of Turkey concerning the Turkish government, the US government, the EU and the Middle East.
Topic:
International Relations, Foreign Policy, and Geopolitics
Political Geography:
Turkey, Middle East, Cyprus, United States of America, and European Union

207. Dış İlişkiler Kapsamında Avrupa Birliği'nin Tüzel Kişiliği ve Lizbon Antlaşması

Author:
Derya Büyüktanir
Publication Date:
10-2010
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
This paper examines the European Union’s legal personality in terms of external relations. The developments from the onset of the European integration till the Lisbon Treaty and the structural characteristics of the Union are analyzed in this paper. The Union’s participation and representation in international organizations and the third countries and the problems encountered during the implementation process are examined. The legal personality of the former European Community was abolished with the Lisbon Treaty which took force in 2009. Treaty also contains a catalogue of competence that has brought about some structural changes. As a legal entity the European Union after the Lisbon Treaty will no longer be the object of some problems related with its legal personality. But the extent to which these changes can lead to orchestrated behavior in external politics and solve the problems of representation is highly doubtful.
Topic:
International Relations and European Union
Political Geography:
Europe and European Union

208. Türkiye Kamuoyu ve Avrupa Birliği 2001- 2008: Beklentiler, İstekler ve Korkular

Author:
Özgehan Şenyuva
Publication Date:
09-2009
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Institution:
Uluslararasi Iliskiler
Abstract:
This study examines general trends of Turkish public opinion towards the European Union between 2001 and 2008. It uses the Euro Barometer data of the European Commission. The main research question focuses on overtime stability of the support for Turkey's membership to the EU. In parallel to the support for membership, the main contours of Turkish public perceptions towards EU and European identity are also examined. When the main attitudes towards the EU between 200 and 2008 are analyzed, it appears that the EU is significantly losing its credibility and support among Turkish citizens. The support for Turkish membership is also in decline and going through major fluctuations.
Topic:
Public Opinion
Political Geography:
Turkey and European Union