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The role of networks and clusters in rural development
57-62Views:61The development of rural areas is a key role for the European Union and its member states as well. The rural development primarily achieved through the development of agriculture, because the main beneficiaries of the grant are the farmers. Hungary today is close to 1 million units in agriculture, but only 10% are competitive. Agriculture as an industry according to its economic characteristics needs closely managed decentralization, where the autonomy of the units remain, but there is a central governing body, which constitutes a proffesional manager function. This is a superorganization, which stay above agricultural units, called cluster.
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Conceptions regarding sustainable agriculture – the national sustainable development strategy
42-51Views:77The task of the national sustainable development strategy is to provide a long term conception for the economy and society, so that this might function and develop in harmony with the environment. Creating the conditions for sustainable agricultural production requires the elaboration and implementation of long-term programs spanning generations. The objective is to find a compromise between the conceptions appearing in the long-term and the short-term programs.
In Hungary, several principles, conceptions and proposals have been suggested regarding sustainable agriculture. In the present study, I intend to systematize the above mentioned principles and conceptions, and compare them to the conceptions regarding agriculture in the national strategies of the EU member states. Furthermore, I examine to what extent the agricultural policy of the European Union supports the conceptions regarding agriculture in the strategies. This topic deserves special attention, as the Hungarian national sustainable development strategy is being prepared and is supposed to be finished by the end of 2005. -
Application fields of wood as a renewable energy source in Europe
31-35Views:119Fuelwood, and wood wastes provide almost half of the renewable energy production of the European Union. Enhancing the use of wood in renewable energy production has more constraint than wind- or solar energy. Forests in the EU member states are sustainably used, they are increasing both in terms of area, and growing stocks. There are possibilities to enhance the fallings and use more fuelwood. Short rotation coppices could fulfill the long term demand for fuelwood; because these plantations surpass the dendromass yield of forests.
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The role of Local wine administration bodies in creating social and cultural capital and in the preservation of local identity
181-191Views:74the target for the European Union to make Europe the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world. In this process, the education and training are of great importance for the member states. The restructuring of higher education, the modernization of the universities cannot be achieved without new financial resources. They should be ensured by increasing contribution of the private sector. However it is not enough to invest sufficient funds in the educational and training system, they must be expended efficiently. The free higher education itself does
not necessarily guarantee the equal access and maximal participation. The quality of higher education and equal opportunity can be improved, if the rising funds are expended on infrastructure development and creating an efficiently working student support system.
Quality, equal opportunity, efficiency – they are the most important views for the decision-makers in the higher education reform. In my paper, I would like to interpret definitions relating to higher education and in this way I attempt to evaluate the financing systems of the Hungarian higher education formed since the change of the regime, with special regards to the normative financial system combined with the payment of tuition fees. For classification, it is necessary to present the different basic financial models. Furthermore, on the basis of the above criteria, I try to make recommendations on how to improve the present financial model in order to achieve the Lisbon objectives.
The topic is important in our days, because tuition fees will be introduced in Hungary from 2008. The problem is very complex, although the analysts in most cases tend to approach the topic with prejudice, depending on their financial and political interests. My analysis may contribute to discernment in the tangle of the pros and cons. -
Regional innovation: State of the art in the Észak-alföld region
139-143Views:84Innovation and innovation performance is gaining increasing importance in European policy, as the targets determined by the Lisbon priorities related to innovation seem to be still far away from the reality in some European countries and at EU level as well. Although the economic crisis determined the priorities of economic development and made it more complicated to dedicate more budget of Research and Development, one of the five ambitious objectives of the EU’s growth strategy for the coming decade: Europe 2020: A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth is still focusing on innovation. As the Lisbon Strategy determined the paths for national targets in the given areas, Europe 2020 will be adopted as well by the Member States.
In this context, the current work would like to give a short overview how Lisbon Strategy effected the national and regional innovation system in Hungary and will analyze its impact on Észak-Alföld’s region Research, Development and Innovation performance in the recent years and the transition of regional innovation governance system. -
Open Method of Coordination in the European research policy
182-187Views:86Research, development and innovation (R+D) are of great importance nowadays as regards the competetiveness and economic growth of any given country. In the European Union the Lisbon Strategy considers R+D as a crutial means to enhance european competetiveness. The EU is substansially lagging behind its main competitors (USA, Japan) in this domain, furthermore developing countries (China, India) have recently been making
great progress, thus posing additional challanges to our continent. The EU needs to assess the present situation as soon as possible and meet the latest challenges in the most efficient way. In order to achieve this objective, the concept of the European Research Area (ERA) has been elaborated with the aim of reorganising, regrouping and integrating existing structures. The open method of coordination (OMC) is playing an important role in the implementation of this common area. It constitutes an alternative policy-making merthod to pure „intergovernmentalism” and the
„community method”. The OMC in the field of research policy is coordinated by the Scientific and Research Committe (CREST), which provides a forum for member states to share their experience and reach their common goals. -
A simple but powerful tool for the assessment of financial progress in EU co-funded grant programmes – Simple Progress Overview Tool (SPOT)
67-72Views:126Mid-term evaluation of grant programmes always aim to assess the financial progress of the programme. Progress to date assessment is conducted via addressing three issues: by overviewing progress so far, by exploring the reasons behind the current level of progress, and by answering the specific evaluation questions formulated as a result of progress overview. The Simple Progress Overview Tool is a method and a tool facilitating the overview of financial progress, supporting the exploration of reasons behind the current level of progress and enabling the identification of targeted further evaluation questions. The methodology applies the Du Pont approach of division to factors, in which the variable describing a phenomenon is divided into the multiplication of factors (milestone stages of the process) influencing the variable. Also, this division to factors facilitates the identification of reasons behind progress. The factors carry individually meaningful information to the evaluation of progress. This method was used by many EU member states including the Czech Republic, Romania, and Malta for the evaluation of progress in the course of the mid-term evaluation of their National Strategic Reference Frameworks.
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Hungary’s employment policy from the point of view joining the European Union
189-197Views:66What is a place of work? Is it a commitment to work, or continuous pressure under work, or hunting for income? This article is a brief review about the main milestones of the employment history of the European Union and Hungary. In 1989, the Social Charta about the social principles of employee was issued. In 1997 the employment policy became the part of the acquis communautaire. Finally, in 1998, the European
Employment Strategy was developed, which contains the community employment guidelines. In the year of millennium, the new long term concept of the EU, the Lisbon Strategy was approved. In this document the EU was targeted as the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economy in the World till 2010. The Tens joint to the EU in 2004, and a bit later it became clear, that the EU is light-armed against some of the world economy challenges. As a consequence, many objectives of the Strategy could not be reached. Recently member states of the EU have to develop the national action plan for employment year by year. The hungarian plans were developed as well, but the wrong labour market’s parameters haven’t been changed since 2004. -
Regionalism in the organisation of traffic in Hungary
15-19Views:116In the member states of the European Union, especially in Germany and Austria, regionalism has a growing importance by the organising of public services. At the field of public transport services the regional organising methods will be realised through the establishment of public transport associations in interest of coordinating the local, suburban and regional public transport interests. In the period since the 90’s there are a not a lot of best practices regarding the regional organisation of public transport services in Hungary. The study goals to present the position of the local and regional interest in the public transport organisation in Hungary, and deals with the reason the lack of best practices also.
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Hungarian total foreign trade after the change of regime
145-154Views:76Hungary’s total foreign trade has changed a lot since the change of regime. Several factors played a role in this process. The collapse of COMECOM, set of the world economy, WTOagreement, Agreement of Accession and CEFTA-agreement and accession to the EU affected this situation. After the change of regime Hungary had to react rapidly to these new events: one of the most goals was to find new markets. Hungary’s total foreign trade balance is negative but this deficit has declined after EUaccession. The foreign trade in agriculture has realised positive balance for a long time. This balance is declining after 2004, in spite of that the agricultural export grows, but the import grows more dynamically.
Share of the Visegrad countries – join at the same time to the European Union as Hungary – from Hungarian agriculture exports gets higher, especially in the case of Poland.
Hungary’s trading partners of exports and imports are stabile and they come from old Member States. One hand is positive, but the other hand is not acceptable. It is important to get markets, because we strongly depend on Europe.
The situation of Hungary’s external trade is determined by the future of CAP and WTO Doha Round (reducing of agricultural customs, ceasing of export subvention system and etc.).
Hungary can keep in competition, if it extends its competitiveness, diminishes of costs, and improves of quality, logistic and marketing. -
Harvesting system established for the utilisation of Miscanthus sinensis ‘tatai’ “energy cane” in biomass power plants
143-150Views:145The increasing demand for energy worldwide and the resulting environmental impacts of fossil fuels forced many countries to turn to renewable energy resources as a clean and sustainable alternative. More than a third of Europe’s binding renewable energy source target of 20% by 2020 will come from solid biomass for electricity and heating according to the National Renewable Energy Action Plans submitted by member states of the European Union (EU) to the European Commission. To achieve this goal long-term yield studies in renewable energy plants are important to determine mean annual biomass and energy yield, and CO2 emission. Field experiments worldwide and also in Europe have demonstrated that Miscanthus, a fast-growing C4 rhizomatous grass can produce some of the highest biomass and energy yield per hectare of all potential energy plants. Miscanthus is a plant that originates from the southern slopes of the Himalayas. It was bred for the Hungarian climatic conditions in 2006 under the name of Miscanthus sinensis ‘Tatai’ (MsT). The species has high frost and drought tolerance and high energy value. This is why there is growing demand for the biomass (lignocellulose) produced by growing this plant. The biomass, produced from the high yield energy reed, can be transported to power plants in large quantities, in forms of bales. Its household consumption is not yet significant. This study presents the external features, characteristics, propagation and plantation process of MsT energy reed. The study also demonstrates the harvest technology of the species worked out between 2009–2012 in Tata, Hungary and the options of supplying to biomass
power stations.