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In its recommendation on the 2004 update of the Broad Economic Policy Guidelines (BEPGs), the European Commission (2004) issued country-specific recommendations for fiscal policy in the Central and Eastern European (CEE) countries that have recently joined the European Union (EU) (henceforth the EU-10 countries). All countries except Estonia and Slovenia were urged to reduce their general government deficits, or to pursue low budget deficits in a credible and sustainable way within the multi-annual framework of EU budgetary surveillance. Some countries have received additional recommendations (the Czech Republic to reform its health care and pension systems, Estonia and Lithuania to avoid pro-cyclical policies, and Poland to reform its pension system). Most new Member States will consequently have to reduce their fiscal deficits and/or will have to avoid pro-cyclical fiscal policies to comply with the BEPGs, but also because of the required convergence within the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). Bearing in mind that the government balance for the new Member States was –5.7 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2003, the required reduction of fiscal deficits will not be easy. This has been acknowledged by the Commission, which has argued that the need to reach and maintain sound budgetary positions will require an appropriate time path between the necessary consolidation and the appropriate fiscal stance supporting the transition. Particular attention will also need to be given to country-specific circumstances, in particular to initial budgetary positions, to ongoing structural shifts in the new Member State economies, and to the possible risks resulting from current account imbalances and strong credit growth.

This chapter provides a framework for organisational analysis of the newly created position of ‘independent’ Commissioner, especially whether it is sufficiently backed by administrative capacities.

In the many variables that determine organisational behaviour (Mintzberg, 1989), this approach follows Olsen (2005) in its analysis through communication structures and strategic directions, and adds procedures (networks) and personnel to this. The chapter is primarily based on interview data in addition to literature and document analysis.

This chapter acknowledges the ‘stickiness’ of institutions and the difficulties in reorganising (formal) institutions. The conclusion shows that there are multiple problems in the current process of institutionalisation of the independent Commissioner. Generalising the findings to the use of an administrative approach, the frugal framework used here indicates that ‘independence’ cannot simply be proclaimed but also demands attentions for organisation design. Organisational analysis helps to understand the organisation and the organisational weaknesses behind the policy objective.

As is often the case with MLG it gives a perspective on governance, but must be complemented with an approach for analysis, in this case organisational design. In the chapter the approach is limited to organisational values, personnel and communication lines. It provides a basic framework to evaluate one of the key elements of European integration – independence. However, additional work is needed to further develop this framework as well as other components of the organisational behaviour of the Commission.

This chapter comes up with suggestions for organisational redesign of the Commission in order to restore trust in its tasks and responsibilities. With the instalment of the new Juncker Commission these findings might provide useful insights for the ongoing process of reorganisation of the Commission.

The new economic legislation and the role of the independent Commissioner have a direct impact on member state budgets (cuts), with a far reaching societal impact. Therefore, the level of (public) trust is critical in the acceptance of the process. Trust is established inter alia by the organisational implementation of principles of good administrative behaviour such as transparency, capability, independence, etc.

The chapter uses the MLG perspective in order to get a comprehensive picture of the organisational implications to effectively embed the ‘independent’ Commissioner in the organisation. The added value is based on the extensive amount of interviews over a longer period of time (2011–2014) during the operationalisation of the European semester.

The study examined the roles of fiscal and monetary policy in reducing poverty in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), while accounting for macroeconomic disruptions. In particular, the study examined the complementarity of fiscal and monetary policy to mitigate shocks and reduce poverty in SSA.

The study adopts the fixed effect (within regression) model to account for country-specific characteristics, and a cross-sectional dependence – consistent model to control for the potential cross-sectional in panel data modelling. The study used the dummy variable approach to account for the macroeconomic shocks. The authors assigned 1 to the following years – 2008, 2014 and 2020; and 0 otherwise to take care of the global financial crisis, commodity terms of trade shocks and the COVID-19 pandemic respectively.

The study found that fiscal policy (particularly, government spending on health and education) has the greater capacity to reduce the level of poverty in SSA. The results also indicate that fiscal policy and monetary policy can work in tandem to reduce the negative effects of a pandemic. However, the study found an optimal threshold level of monetary policy beyond which monetary policy reduces the effectiveness of fiscal policy to reduce poverty in SSA. The research and policy implications are discussed.

The study, unlike previous studies, accounts for the impact of macroeconomic shocks in the monetary/fiscal policy and poverty literature.

This chapter summarises the role of EU actions in supporting healthcare policies in the EU Member States, both looking at implemented actions and describing current priorities for the future. It argues that these coordinated actions can be beneficial for EU Member States by helping them to avoid duplication of effort and to attain economies of scale. Moreover, data sharing with proper safeguards can unleash vast amount of ‘learning what works’ both for medical treatments and for healthcare sustainability measures. The need for this common learning appears ever more urgent while facing the health and economic consequences of the present pandemic.

From the 1990s to the present, decision-makers around the world have sought to identify the most appropriate legal framework to support the energy transition. This research aims to analyze the institutional dynamics of renewable energy promotion, focusing on regulatory aspects at the European and national level and emphasizing the case of Romania through several comparative approaches. In the context of the conflict in Ukraine, we focused on the issue of coal, which was reconsidered given the dependence of some European countries on this resource. The main research methods used in this study are comparative analysis and analysis of chronological information in a historical context, with correlations being made. The study was structured in three stages, the first from the 1990s until the European Energy Union formation, the second during the COVID-19 pandemic, and the third from the emergence of the conflict in Ukraine, which determined the recalibration of previously adopted measures. Starting from the hypotheses formulated and considering the regulatory scenario conducive to the transfer of public funds to achieve climate neutrality, the results of the study show the fact that, at this stage of the research, the states of the European continent are determined to fight for zero carbon by 2050. One result we found interesting is that almost a year after the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine, less than a quarter of European states have moved past their assumed deadline for phasing out coal in the national mix.

In the aftermath of the 2021 Financial Action Task Force Mutual Evaluation Report, legislators, supervisory bodies, law enforcement and the like are focusing on preventing South Africa from being greylisted. This paper performs an analysis of the 2021 South African Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Mutual Evaluation, specifically Recommendation 8 and Immediate Outcome 10. The purpose of this paper is to address the concerns raised and assist those tasked with implementing remediation measures.

Secondary sources such as legislation, case law, textbooks and peer-reviewed publications are used in addressing the concerns. A major focus is placed on the evaluation itself, with an analysis of Recommendation 8 and Immediate Outcome 10.

Despite the non-compliance rating and a low level of effectiveness received regarding non-profit organisations, authorities might not place a large focus on remediating this, as more pertinent issues arise in the report. The lack of focus in this area adds to the likelihood of grey listing by FATF. However, with co-operation from the relevant stakeholders, these low ratings can be improved.

Since the Mutual Evaluation’s release in October 2021 there have not been any papers addressing the highlighted issues in the non-profit sector in South Africa, to the best of the authors’ knowledge. This paper will be the first of its kind and will be of use to authorities as regards mitigating the concerns raised by FATF.

This paper aims to identify the differences between African and European students with regard to their entrepreneurial intentions, attitudes towards entrepreneurship, role models and entrepreneurial experience. It also aims to set the scene for future comparative research between developing and developed countries in the area of graduate entrepreneurship.

A quantitative empirical research design was applied, using self‐administered questionnaires. Questionnaires were distributed to first‐year business students at universities in three African countries that are either developing (Uganda and Kenya) or emerging (South Africa) and four European developed nations (Finland, Germany, Ireland, and Portugal).

The results indicate that students from developing/emerging economies are more likely to envisage future careers as entrepreneurs and are more positive towards entrepreneurship than their industrialised European counterparts, even though motivators for employment/self‐employment are similar across the samples. The type of role models used and the extent of entrepreneurial experience varied between individual countries.

Limitations include the use of a convenience sample and its restriction on the use of statistics, a single data collection point and a sample across seven countries on two continents.

The results lead to universal and country‐specific recommendations relating to the improvement of student‐oriented entrepreneurship activities within universities.

The paper extends research on graduate entrepreneurship by providing an international comparison of entrepreneurship intentions, attitudes and experiences between developing/emerging and developed nations, leading to suggestions on how to foster an entrepreneurial spirit and assist new‐venture creations for students.

This chapter explores the notion of the European Social Model (ESM) and examines the EU-level social policy reforms that have taken place since the 1950s. ESM is taken to be distinct from but intimately related to the web and patchwork of rules explored in this volume. After sketching out the development of ESM since the 1950s, up to and including its near-death experience in the context of the Great Recession and the EU's turn to austerity, the chapter considers the social and political consequences of the EU's lurch to austerity as well as the consequences this might have for the web and patchwork of rules. The chapter ultimately reflects on whether another ESM might be possible in the context of the EU's response to the economic and social consequences following the onset of COVID-19, particularly in the context of the EU's Next Generation EU programme whereby the EU provides financial assistance directly to the regions worst affected by the pandemic.

The purpose of this paper is to provide quantitative estimates on the impact of active labour market policy (ALMP) on youth unemployment in Europe based on a macroeconomic panel data set of youth unemployment, ALMP and education policy variables and further country-specific characteristics on labour market institutions and the broader demographic and macroeconomic environment for all EU-Member States.

The authors follow the design of an aggregate impact analysis, which aims to explain the impact of policy on macroeconomic variables like youth employment and unemployment (see Bellmann and Jackman, 1996). This follows the assumption that programmes, which are effective in terms of improving individual employment opportunities, are going to make a difference on the equilibrium of youth unemployment.

The findings show that both wage subsidies and job creation are reducing aggregate youth unemployment, which is in contrast to some of the surveys of microeconomic studies indicating that job creation schemes are not effective. This finding points towards the importance to assist young people making valuable work experience, which is a benefit from job creation, even if this experience is made outside regular employment and/or the commercial sector.

In terms of the variables to model public policy intervention in the youth labour market, only few indicators exist, which are consistently available for all EU-Member States, despite much more interest and research aiming to provide an exhaustive picture of the youth labour market in Europe. The only consistently available measures are spending on ALMP as a percentage of gross domestic product (in the different programmes) and participation stocks and entries by type of intervention.

The different effects found for the 15–19 year olds, who seem to benefit from wage subsidies, compared to the effect of job creations benefitting the 20–24 year olds, might relate to the different barriers for both groups to find employment. Job creation programmes seem to offer this group an alternative mechanism to gain valuable work experience outside the commercial sector, which could help form a narrative of positive labour market experience. In this way, job creation should be looked more positively at when further developing ALMP provision, especially for young people relatively more distant to engagement in regular employment.

Improving the situation of many millions of young Europeans failing to find gainful employment, and more generally suffering from deprivation and social exclusion, has been identified as a clear priority for policy both at the national level of EU-Member States and for EU-wide initiatives. With this study, the authors attempt to contribute to the debate about the effectiveness of policies which combat youth unemployment by estimating the quantitative relationship of ALMP and other institutional features and youth unemployment.

To research the relationship between youth unemployment and ALMP, the authors created a macroeconomic database with repeated observations for all EU-Member States for a time series (1998–2012). The authors include variables on country demographics and the state of the economy as well as variables describing the labour market regimes from Eurostat, i.e. the flexibility of the labour market (part-time work and fixed-term employment as a percentage of total employment) and the wage setting system (level and coordination of bargaining and government intervention in wage bargaining).