EU-funds efficiency and the first National Development Plan in Hungary 2004-2006

The author highlights the importance of the difference between the efficiency and effectiveness of using the EU-subsidies. If Hungary cannot use the financial means of the EU efficiently and effectively, then the goal of cohesion and convergence to the level of the old, developed countries of the EU, will be much more difficult and slower. The efficiency of the EU-subsidies involves a quantitative approach, where the ratio of the obliged and disposable amount of EU-subsidies can be measured. The effectiveness of EU-subsidies, on the other hand, requires a much more complicated and complex approach, than the efficiency. The effectiveness of the usage on a project level can be measured by the “added value” of the project; on program level it can be measured by the added GDP growth or employment. The article presents the results of research carried out in the Research Group of Professor Tibor Palánkai at Corvinus University of Budapest, Hungary.

Reluctant Donors? The Europeanization of International Development Policies in the New Members

The EU played an instrumental role re-starting the international development policies in Central and Eastern European member states, but questions remain about how far this policy area has been Europeanized since accession. Focusing on the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia, the paper investigates why the new donors have been reluctant to adopt the EU’s development acquis more fully. The paper traces the process of the EU’s development policy rulemaking and subsequent national rule implementation to understand the socialization opportunities these processes offer. The conclusions reveal thrre reasons why socialization has been weak: (1) perceptions among the new member states on the development acquis’ procedural legitimacy; (2) low domestic resonance with the development acquis; and (3) inconsistencies in the activities of norm entrepreneurs. The paper contributes to our understanding of development policy in the EU, in particular how decision making takes place within the Council and its Working Groups post enlargement.