Budget consolidations in Visegrád countries, which followed European financial and debt crisis, were mainly driven by external factors such as EU fiscal governance. Since the Visegrád countries have accomplished their consolidation effort, it seems topical to study their experience and assess the efficiency of consolidation measures. Involving descriptive statistical analysis, the authors posit that supranational impact on national budgets of Visegrád countries was quite efficient, as all economies concerned have accomplished a relatively sizeable fiscal consolidation. This happened largely due to the fact that the governments did not intend to lose vast amounts of funds from the EU budget. Such an option was quite feasible as a part of possible sanctions related to excessive deficit. The Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and the Slovak Republic run different consolidations as to scale, structure and measures taken, though one could highlight some similarities. On the one hand, consolidations were to a great extent carried out through the means of indirect taxation, because they have a less distortive nature, given the structural characteristics of countries at issue. On the other hand, the governments refrained from raising direct taxes due to their distortive character. Hungary was the only country, which took some active measures in the field of corporate taxation, and subsequently suffered from drop in tax collection. The Visegrád countries did cut government expenditures, but strived to use the most effective instruments such as curbing employment in public sector. Further, there were some subsidiary factors at place that influenced consolidation pace. For example, three of four Visegrád countries are not members of a currency union, which inter alia contributed to monetizing government debt. At the same time, some measures taken by the countries, were of a quite formal nature. For instance, Hungary totally nationalized pension system in order to increase budget revenues. Nevertheless, all Visegrád countries reached deficit target without any revolutionary changes to main fiscal aggregates, which means that consolidations were at least nominally effective. However, cumulative deficit change was not fully accompanied by lowering debt and was by several times less than cumulative transfers from the EU budget. At the same time the budget consolidations in Visegrád countries could be called efficient as GDP growth rates restored, as did investors’ confidence and exports.
In the article, the party system of the Netherlands is examined in the focus of two key factors: the historically inherent pillarization system that shaped the current party segmentation, and the European integration that left its impact on the party programs (the authors’ intention was to analyze especially Euroscepticism of several Dutch parties). The Dutch party system was shaped under the influence of the early 20th century corporatism, and, unlike other elements of the pillarization that was eroded in 1960-1970 years under the pressure of exogenous and endogenous factors, it is still based on the pillars backbone. This backbone largely remains as a form of institutionalization, while the party ideologies (except for orthodox Calvinist parties) moved to the center; it should also be noted here that, as a part of the depillarization process and the pan-European tendency of antiestablishment party formation, several “new type” and “new wave” parties were created. The European integration, intensively institutionalized after 1992, left an impact on the programs of all parties, old and new; soft Euroscepticism is inherent in all of them, being largely a reflection of the fear that small EU countries have towards supra-nationalization and the loss of sovereignty (in the case of clerical parties, it is also fear of the further liberalization of societal order). However, in most cases, Euroscepticism is just a background element (except for right-wing populist parties); programs are largely focused on socio-economic aspects, and the Eurosceptic features do not influence directly electoral mobilization.
INSTITUTE OF EUROPE RUSSIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCE SOCIAL AND POLITICAL RESEARCH JOURNAL EST. JANUARY 2000 CONTENTS GROMYKO Al. New Populism and the Post-Cold War Order in the Making JESZENSZKY G. 25 years of the Visegrad Group SHISHELINA L. Four presidencies of The EU Council and foreign policy of V4 VAGNER P. Opportunities and limitations of the Visegrad Cooperation POTEMKINA O. Visegrad Group and Flexible Solidarity DRYNOCHKIN A., SERGEEV E. Benelux and Visegrad countries: comparative analysis BOLGOVA I. Eastern partnership-ambiguous results KOTULEWICZ-WISI SKA K. Visegrad Assistance to the Eastern Partnership Countries DRYNOCHKIN A. Economic relations between Russia and Visegrad countries LISIAKIEWICZ R. Geo-economics in the trade relations of Poland and Russia HABARTA A. Characteristics of Foreign Trade and Investment Policy of Poland JAKIMOWICZ R. Polish-Russian economic relations in 2004 2016 WEINER Cs. New Forms of Russian Investments in Hungary VOROTNIKOV V., HABARTA A. The Influence of Labour Migration on Poland and Baltic States Development BUNEVICH D. Perestroika in the Soviet Union and the transformation of the Polish foreign policy REVIEWS SCHOLARLY LIFE INHALT GROMYKO Al. Neuer Populismus und Aufbau der post-bipolaren Weltordnung JESSENSKIJ G.25 Jahre der Visegrad-Gruppe SCHISCHELINA L. Vierdes Vorsitzes im Rat der EU und die Zusammenstellung der Außenpolitik der Visegrad-Gruppe WAGNER P. Möglichkeiten und die Beschränkungen der Zusammenarbeit der Visegrad-Gruppe POTEMKINA O. Visegrad-Gruppe und «die flexible Solidarität» DRYNOTSCHKIN A., SERGEEW E. Benelux und die Visegrad-Gruppe in vereinigtem Europa: die Erfahrung der Gegenüberstellung BOLGOWA I. «Östliche Partnerschaft»: die mehrdeutigen Ergebnisse KOTULEWITSCH-WYSCHINSKAJA. Visegrad-Hilfe den Ländern der «Östlichen Partnerschaft» DRYNOTSCHKIN A. Außenwirtschaftsbeziehungen Russlands und der Visegrad-Gruppe LISJAKEWITSCH R. Geo-Wirtschaft in den Handelsbeziehungen Polens und Russlands GABARTA A. Besonderheiten der Außenhandels-und Investitionspolitik Polens JAKIMOWITSCH P. Polnisch-russische Wirtschaftsbeziehungen in den Jahren 2004-2016 WEJNER Tsch. Neue Formen der russischen Investitionsaktivität in Ungarn WOROTNIKOW W., GARBATA A. Einfluss der Arbeitsmigration auf die sozial-ökonomische Entwicklung Polens und die Baltische Länder BUNEWITSCH D. Perestrojka in der UdSSR und die Transformation der polnischen Außenpolitik REZENSIONEN WISSENSCHAFTLICHES LEBEN
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