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Purpose: In this paper, we lay out the analysis and provide an overview of the functions carried out by the national competition authorities in the Western Balkan countries and demonstrate their compliance with EU rules. We deal with the level of implementation of competition rules on prohibited agreements, abuse of dominant position, notification of concentration and state aid. Design/Methodology/Approach: We provide an overview of the stage these countries have arrived at in fulfilling their obligation on competition issues based on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement, which is a step forward for EU integration. We do this by carrying out a comparative analysis of the data collected from both primary and secondary sources, in order to demonstrate the current situation on competition in the Western Balkan countries and determine the most appropriate means to build strong and efficient National Competition Authorities. Findings: Findings show that competition in Balkan countries is still in a phase of development and more needs to be done in order to create an adequate competition regime. Practical Implications: We propose measures in order to ensure the effective implementation of the law on the protection of competition and the market economy. Originality/Value: When going through a phase of transformation, political change and integration, it is important to refer to other experiences, especially when trying to form part of the EU integration. ; peer-reviewed

In 2003, in Salonica, Balkan countries were told that "their future lies in the EU". The Berlin process in 2014 provided a framework for a period of four years. In 2017, President Juncker, speaking of all non-EU Balkan countries except Turkey, estimated the first accessions would potentially take place in 2025! The Berlin process seeks to restore stability in the Balkans by leading to reconciliation. It includes new fact-finding commissions to establish the real facts in order to restore friendly relations, efforts to build economic links in transport and communication and new roads, establishment of a Western Balkan Common Market as a new partner for the EU, EFTA, and the EEA, and a new partnership among its member countries. The European Council will meet the Balkan heads of state in Sofia, Bulgaria, in April 2018. Without stability in the Balkans, there cannot be a stable Europe. In this paper we look at how to keep the Berlin process open and successful, possibly to accelerate it, and how to overcome current challenges. Notably, we look at the "deterioration of democratic standards" in some countries, which will have to be stopped and reversed. The conclusions support positive decision-making outcomes at all levels.

In 2003, in Salonica, Balkan countries were told that "their future lies in the EU". The Berlin process in 2014 provided a framework for a period of four years. In 2017, President Juncker, speaking of all non-EU Balkan countries except Turkey, estimated the first accessions would potentially take place in 2025! The Berlin process seeks to restore stability in the Balkans by leading to reconciliation. It includes new fact-finding commissions to establish the real facts in order to restore friendly relations, efforts to build economic links in transport and communication and new roads, establishment of a Western Balkan Common Market as a new partner for the EU, EFTA, and the EEA, and a new partnership among its member countries. The European Council will meet the Balkan heads of state in Sofia, Bulgaria, in April 2018. Without stability in the Balkans, there cannot be a stable Europe. In this paper we look at how to keep the Berlin process open and successful, possibly to accelerate it, and how to overcome current challenges. Notably, we look at the "deterioration of democratic standards" in some countries, which will have to be stopped and reversed. The conclusions support positive decision-making outcomes at all levels

Cover -- Contents -- List of Figures, Tables and Boxes -- List of Abbreviations -- Acknowledgements -- Introduction -- 1 History -- The ebbs and flows in EU-Turkey relations -- Explaining Turkey's tortuous path to Europe -- Virtuous and vicious interactions between the EU and Turkey -- Conclusions -- 2 Turkey as an Enlargement Country -- An overview of Turkey's EU accession process -- Debating Turkey as an enlargement country -- Conclusions -- 3 Turkey as a Neighbour -- An overview of Turkey in its neighbourhood -- The rise of Turkey as a regional player from the EU perspective -- Conclusions -- 4 Turkey as a Global Actor -- An overview of Turkey as a global actor -- Turkey in the world -- Turkey in multilateral fora -- The rise of Turkey as a global actor from the EU perspective -- Conclusions -- 5 The Economy -- Why does the economy matter? Instability and growth of the Turkish economy and ties to the EU -- When does the economy matter? The three lenses for EU-Turkey relations -- To whom does the economy matter? The stakeholders in the EU-Turkey debate -- Conclusions -- 6 Security -- How does security matter in EU-Turkey relations? -- When does security matter? The three lenses for EU-Turkey relations -- To whom does security matter? The stakeholders in the EU-Turkey debate -- Conclusions -- 7 Migration and Mobility -- How do migration and mobility matter in EU-Turkey relations? -- When do migration and mobility matter? The three lenses for EU-Turkey relations -- To whom do migration and mobility matter? The stakeholders in the EU-Turkey debate -- Conclusions -- 8 Democracy and Human Rights -- How do democracy and human rights matter? The cyclical EU-Turkey relationship -- When do democracy and human rights matter? The three lenses for EU-Turkey relations -- To whom do democracy and human rights matter? The stakeholders in the EU-Turkey debate.

Introduction: The influence of external actors in the Western Balkans / Florian Bieber and Nikolaos Tzifakis -- Security co-operation in the Western Balkans : cracks and erosion of Euro-Atlantic integration? / Tobias Flessenkemper and Marko Kmezic -- The economic development of the Western Balkans : the importance of non-EU actors / Matteo Bonomi and Milica Uvalic -- Serbia : looking East, going West? / Florent Marciacq -- Bosnia and Herzegovina : abandoned by the West, embraced by the East? / Adnan Huskic -- Kosovo : between western and non-western states / Gëzim Visoka -- Macedonia : a fertile ground for external influences / Zoran Nechev and Ivan Nikolovski -- Montenegro : always at a crossroads / Jovana Marovic -- Albania : new geopolitics and shifting linkages / Enika Abazi -- Russia : playing a weak hand well / Dimitar Bechev -- China : a new geoeconomic approach to the Balkans / Anastas Vangeli -- Turkey : forced marriage or marriage of convenience with the Western Balkans? / Ahmet Erdi Öztürk and Samim Akgönül -- UAE : sultanism meets illiberal democracy / Will Bartlett and Tena Prelec.

At the end of the current millenium the best description of Europe's relations with the developing countries of the South is: all change. Since 1957 the European Community has operated special policies for developing countries, many of which were formerly European colonies. However, neither the policies for Central and South America, the Lome Convention for the African, Caribbean and Pacific States, nor successive policies for the Mediterranean countries reflect a unified Europe. The European Union and the South begins by investigating the prospects for a common European foreign policy. It arg

These reports describe the data protection laws of the European Union (Part I) and of selected foreign countries (Part II). They describe the legal framework for the collection, use, and transfer of data, and examine whether existing laws are adequate to deal with online privacy in an era of rapid technological development and globalization

The Balkan question is both a historical and a political one. With the coming together of some European countries to form the European Union (EU); it became necessary for these countries to forge head both on the economic and the political fronts. This in essence has accentuated the gains made by these European countries but it has had its attendant ramifications. This notwithstanding, the idea of European integration on the principle of peace, common history, cultural and economic development cannot be fully realised since some sectors of Europe is neutral or isolated. The literature on the nature of such integrations especially the need for the integration of the Balkan regions should continue to be discussed and implemented. This paper however, looks at the literature from a social and political history point of view and projects the necessary turns that Europe has made and the need to come to a useful end in the discourse that leads us to observing or witnessing a united Europe whose socio-economic, political and military complex holds its own against the odds but also for the common good of humanity.

"This book critically examines the process of statebuilding by the EU, focusing on its attempts to build Member States in the Western Balkan region. This book analyses the European Union's policies towards, and the impact they have, upon the states of the Western Balkans, and assesses how these affect the nature of EU foreign policy. To this end, it focuses on the tools and mechanisms that the EU employs in its enlargement policy and examines the new instruments of direct intervention (in Bosnia and Kosovo), political coercion (in the case of Croatia and Serbia in relation to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia), and stricter conditionality in the Western Balkan countries. The book discusses the key aim of this special form of statebuilding, which is to establish functional liberal-democratic states in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Serbia in order for them to join the EU and to cope with the responsibilities and pressures of membership in the future. However, the authors argue that while the EU sees itself as an international actor that promotes and protects liberal-democratic values, norms and principles, its experiences in the Western Balkans demonstrate how the EU.