European Integration

Since the day of its establishment it endeavourers to create prosperity and stability for its citizens – the citizens that are directly or indirectly affected by the Ex.'s policy and its actions. The aim of this Union is a Just society with an attitude of solidarity that promises to support economic prosperity and to create vacancy by making their enterprises more competitive and providing their employers with new abilities and skills. The European Union represents the world's greatest economic power and revised great financial and technical support to poorer countries. The EX. is still in progress when it comes to its composition.There are countries that are – due to their economic situation and their attitudes – a challenge when it comes to integration into the Union. On the other hand there are countries that do not want to be a member. Norway is one of them. The reasons why Norway rejected the membership to the EX., after being asked twice, may be discussed i n the following. The essay shall provide an overview of Norway pros and cons and the reasons why they still have not Joined the EX. as member. WoosГ Kola economies a management Lecturer: Peter Hamlet 2. History The human settlement of Norway goes back at least 11000 years.The first Norwegian lived by fishing, hunting and by farming. (see Allegorists) A period which was significant for expansion is called the Viking Age. During this period, Norwegian sailed to Scotland, England, Ireland, France and also Spain. The Danes and Swedes sailed abroad, too. This is the time when Scandinavia really became a part of Europe. The Vikings were famous for: strong warriors, prisoner taking, slaves dealing, efficient merchants, craftsmen and farmers. In the Freakish Empire they were known as the Northern. This name arose, when Norway and Denmark explored this area for trade and plunder.Norway gained more and more importance in this time. In the middle ages Norwegian population increased (about 400. 000). In the eleventh century the whole country were controlled by the church, the king and the overlords and they converted to Christianity. The inhabitants felt very unhappy in the next century and there were plenty of fighting in the inside of the country, that's why it is called the Civil War Period. Followed by the â€Å"Golden Age†, the king of Norway ever owned more Lana tan ever. One Tanta AT ten population was put on eat the â€Å"Black Death†, a plague in 1349. See Multiple) Between 1396 and 1536 Norway was part of Kalmia Union. The Union was formed in 1397 in the town of Kalmia on the Swedish east coast. A relative to Queen Margaret, Erik of Pomeranian, was elected king over Denmark, Sweden and Norway (see superstring) Sweden broke away 1523, but Norway remained united with Denmark. 1814 Denmark was forced to surrender Norway to Sweden. From now on, 1905, Norway is a free country, the union with Sweden ended and decided to give Prince Carl of Denmark th e throne. During the years 1914 till 1918, First World War period, Norway stayed neutral and also in the first time of the Second World War.In the late asses the Norwegian accepted Marshall Plan and Joined the NATAL, after abandoned their past neutrality. The current king, King Hookah, died and got replaced by Loaf V and he got replaced by his son, King Herald V. , in 1991. The economic policy was very important for the postwar history for Norway. In this time economic planning was introduced and several state-owned enterprises have been established. (see Inconsiderableness) 3. Norway – An Overview 3. 1. Economical With a GAP per capita of Ð ²?64,600 in 2008 (2nd highest in the EYE after Luxembourg) and an estimated national budget surplus the Norwegian economy is very sound.Norway belongs to the leading group of the richest countries in the world measured by GAP per capita. Public finances are boosted by significant revenues from the petroleum sector. Traditional economic a ctivities are shipping (fourth largest fleet in the world), fisheries and fish farming. The oil and gas sector constitutes around 25% of the Norwegian GAP and 52% of Norwegian exports (35 times higher than the export value of fish). Norway is a very important exporter of metals. Norwegian companies are major producers of ferry-alloys and, in particular, of aluminum.Norway is the main source for the EX. of primary aluminum. 60% of our total imports AT alloys Ana AT inwrought metal relegate In Norway. Norway Is rarely anew with natural resources such as oil and gas, hydrophone, fish, Marshall Plan: The Marshall Plan, known officially following its enactment as the European Recovery Program (ERP), was the main plan of the United States for the reconstruction of Europe following World War II. The initiative was named for United States Secretary f State George Marshall. NATO: Military alliance formed between 26 nations to enforce the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949.NATO was originally form ed to combat the spread of communism, but has grown since then to provide a mutual defense from external threats. 2 1 forests and minerals and timber. Despite intensive technological and industrial developments that have taken place in Norway, natural resources still account for the bulk of Norwegian exports. The construction and operation of the largest offshore installations on earth has led to the establishment of a substantial offshore technology industry. Traditional economic activities are shipping (fourth largest fleet in the world) and fisheries, along with fish farming.Shipping represents also an important source of export revenues for Norway. In addition, Norway is one of the top three seafood-exporting nations worldwide. Around 95% of production is exported. In recent decades, Norway has been in the forefront of Western countries' growth performance. Over the last decade, Norway sustained economic expansion was underpinned by strong macro-economic policies, the commitment to low inflation and fiscal restraint, and the strategy of investing the bulk of oil revenues abroad. The adoption of inflation targeting and fiscal policy guidelines, have further strengthened the policy framework.After having experienced a cyclical downturn of its economic growth due mainly to high wages, high interest rates and a strong currency, a very tight monetary policy made Norway recover. As expected, household demand is making a considerable contribution to the cyclical upturn as well as higher petroleum investment. In the period ahead, the global upturn will also stimulate Norway exports of traditional goods. The situation for internationally exposed industries has improved, not least thanks to what appears to be a stabilization of the crone exchange rate and a moderate wage settlement. (see European Commission) 3. . Political As mentioned in the first chapter and like you can extract from the Interpreting â€Å"Encyclopedia of the Nations†, Norway followed a pol icy of strict neutrality from 1905 until 1940. In 1940, Germany invaded Norway and carried out an exacting occupation until 1945. The German occupation left behind a bitter experience. That's the reason of Norway long dominant political sentiment for neutrality and let them Join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in 1949. (see Inconsiderableness) Norway is a constitutional monarchy. In the country the head of the state enjoys not unlimited power.The monarch has the power in the direction of Starting (Applicant), he designates the chief of the government (prime Minster). The parliament has the real power. The Starting has 165 seats, split among eight parties in the elections of 2001. Elections are held every four years. The parliamentary system is not like the most, an election is not called if a government loses a vote of confidence, although the prime minister may change. Due to the large number of parties and a system of proportional representation, coalition government s are the rule in Norwegian politics.Changes of government are a relatively frequent occurrence, even by the standards of European parliamentary systems, because most governments over the past decade have been minority governments. The ability to build consensus is thus a key to success for politicians and for parties. Ideological parties tend, therefore, to be small because they are often exclusive. Women play a greater role in Norwegian politics than in any other European country. For many years, a woman, Grog Harlem Borderland of the Labor Party, dominated Norwegian politics and served intermittently as prime minister. European Integration The following paper will provide an overview on the importance of the regional union of Balkans countries before joining European Union. Initially the paper will describe the main forms of integration and the main benefit for each of them. Furthermore, the paper will explain the main barriers of political integration of the Albania, Macedonia, Kosova and Montenegro. The essay will be based in the daily political development of the region and the theory given from deferent scholars of economics and business. Regional integration principlesRegional alliances to promote liberalization trade are important features in the second half of the 20th century. Today there are close to 100 agreements although not all of them have a practical implementation. Countries are trying to integrate their economies and open to new markets for their domestic firms and lower prices for their customers. According to Lundby & Jeffrey (2010), the characteristics of most important of international business are the extent of economic integration among the member countries.The economic integration affects exporting and investment opportunities among members and non-member countries. According to Warne &Nicholas (2005), there five different economic integration like free trade area, custom union, common market, economic union and political union. Following Bennett (2002), free trade area eliminates trade barriers among member countries like the NAFTA agreements between Canada, Mexico and United state. Custom union refers to the elimination of the trading barriers among members with common external trade policies for non-member countries.The best example of the custom union is the agreement between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. According to Gelfand, & Brett (2004), common union has the same characteristics as the custom union with the additional element the elimination of the barriers that inhibit the movement of production factors labor, capital and technology among members. Econ omic union represents full integration among countries. It includes the common union integration with additional economic policies integration among members. The best example of economic integration is the European union.The last form of integration is the political integration where countries follow a full political and economic integration. The best example of political union is the united state of America. Regional integration between Albania, Montenegro, Kosova and Macedonia. Albania has a favorable geographical position since it links the west developed Europe with the postcommunist European countries, East Europe. According to INSTAT (2009), Albanian population is close to 2. 8 million inhabitants.Neighbor countries are Montenegro with 0. 7 million inhabitants; Kosova with 1.8 million inhabitants; Macedonia with 2 million inhabitants. All these countries separately are not attractive from global companies because of their small size. According to Krishna (2005), economic integ ration or trade blocs are preferential trade agreements between numbers of countries to reduce or completely remove the barriers between members. Trade blocs increase the market power for each of the trading members. It increases productivity and companies take advantage of economies of scale. Also, it increases the competition between members of the market.Low costs will make the member countries firms more competitive in the non-member countries market. Small countries are the ones who take more advantage from the trading blocs than the large members of the agreement, by opening their product to a larger market. Companies take the decision to expand the business in foreign countries by considering the trading blocs and its main benefits. However, elimination of the trade barriers exposes the firm's home market to competition of other member and non-member countries, thus threatening the less efficient firms.A regional economic integration attracts the foreign investments from non- member countries as firms outside the bloc seek the benefits of insider status by establishing manufacturing facilities within the bloc. In order for these countries, to attract global companies and increase the foreign direct investments needs and economic integration among all countries and effectively make them one country. Integration of Albania, Montenegro, Kosova and Macedonia will create a market of 6. 2 million customers.Also, the integration will standardize the import and taxation policy toward the non-member countries by eliminating the differences among countries. According to Yoshino & Rangan (1995), economic integration and opening to new markets there are challenges like differences in culture, political and economic environment, and regulation between countries. Cultural and economic changes product customization. In case of the economic integration between Albania and its neighbor countries, there are limited cultural differences. All countries have almost the same philosophy of the living, tradition and customs.The similarities between countries will help companies to minimize their costs by using the same brand, same advertising strategy and message across markets. Furthermore, countries show similarities in the economic situation. They are all low-income countries with the same needs and resources to accommodate those needs. This situation increases the demand for fast moving goods by representing big opportunities for global companies operating in these industries. There is not much to say about legal restriction since they do not exist.Legal and regulatory framework is in favor of foreign investment in the region. Typically, each form of economic integration confers benefits on the national economy but hurts particular sectors and communities within that economy. As a result, negotiating any form of the economic integration is not easy. According to Koyuturk et al. (2012), strategic alignments within a company are production, marketing, f inancial and research and development alliances. Production alliances happen when two different companies create a joint venture to produce a common product or facility.Marketing alliances between companies consist in sharing of the marketing services or consultancies. Financial alliances consist in sharing the risk of investment with other partners. R&D alliances refer to joint research with partners for developing new product or services. The above strategic alignment can be managed through shared management agreements where all the involved parties participate in the shared agreement fully and actively. Strategic alignments will decrease the company cost but will have an issue for the employees.Therefore, sharing of some of the functional services many companies will cut their labor force. Local government should create defense policies to mitigate the risks of the integration. Also, political instability, high level of corruption and previous conflicts are the most difficult int egration barriers. The suggested form of integration that will strengthen the position of these countries in the region and drive a competitive advantage is the political integration. It relates to cooperation between states and formation of state based regime.Also, it refers to the constitution of new political entities with a certain degree of independent from the individual states. Regional integration strengthens the political system the scope and the capacity of its decision making process. Furthermore, legal integration it is closely related to the political integration and involves the establishment of common legal rules and common legal systems for citizens of different states. The disadvantages of regional integration are, to begin with that to achieve it, you must sacrifice some degree of sovereignty.This could negatively affect conflict resolution. This loss of flexibility in creating solutions to problems is a huge disadvantage. Conclusion Following the main forms of int egration the political integration is the most efficient one for the analyzed countries. Political integration of Albania, Kosova, Macedonia, and Montenegro will create new opportunities for these countries. It will increase the market power for each of the trading members and increase productivity and companies take advantage of economies of scale.Also, it increases the competition between members of the market. Lower costs for the member countries will make the member countries firms more competitive than the non-member countries market. Also, regional integration allows strategic alignments within a company in production, marketing, financial and research and development alliances. However, the political integration will strengthen the position of these countries in the region and drive a competitive advantage for the group of countries. European Integration IntroductionThe following paper will provide an overview on the importance of the regional union of Balkans countries before joining European Union. Initially the paper will describe the main forms of integration and the main benefit for each of them. Furthermore, the paper will explain the main barriers of political integration of the Albania, Macedonia, Kosova and Montenegro. The essay will be based in the daily political development of the region and the theory given from deferent scholars of economics and business.Regional integration principlesRegional alliances to promote liberalization trade are important features in the second half of the 20th century. Today there are close to 100 agreements although not all of them have a practical implementation. Countries are trying to integrate their economies and open to new markets for their domestic firms and lower prices for their customers. According to Lundby & Jeffrey (2010), the characteristics of most important of international b usiness are the extent of economic integration among the member countries. The economic integration affects exporting and investment opportunities among members and non-member countries. According to Warne &Nicholas (2005), there five different economic integration like free trade area, custom union, common market, economic union and political union.Following Bennett (2002), free trade area eliminates trade barriers among member countries like the NAFTA agreements between Canada, Mexico and United state. Custom union refers to the elimination of the trading barriers among members with common external trade policies for non-member countries. The best example of the custom union is the agreement between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay.According to Gelfand, & Brett (2004), common union has the same characteristics as the custom union with the additional element the elimination of the barriers that inhibit the movement of production factors  labor, capital and technology among members.Economic union represents full integration among countries. It includes the common union integration with additional economic policies integration among members. The best example of economic integration is the European union. The last form of integration is the political integration where countries follow a full political and economic integration. The best example of political union is the united state of America.Regional integration between Albania, Montenegro, Kosova and Macedonia. Albania has a favorable geographical position since it links the west developed Europe with the postcommunist European countries, East Europe. According to INSTAT (2009), Albanian population is close to 2.8 million inhabitants. Neighbor countries are Montenegro with 0.7 million inhabitants; Kosova with 1.8 million inhabitants; Macedonia with 2 million inhabitants. All these countries separately are not attractive from global companies because of their small size.According to Krishna (2005), eco nomic integration or trade blocs are preferential trade agreements between numbers of countries to reduce or completely remove the barriers between members. Trade blocs increase the market power for each of the trading members. It increases productivity and companies take advantage of economies of scale. Also, it increases the competition between members of the market. Low costs will make the member countries firms more competitive in the non-member countries market. Small countries are the ones who take more advantage from the trading blocs than the large members of the agreement, by opening their product to a larger market. Companies take the decision to expand the business in foreign countries by considering the trading blocs and its main benefits.However, elimination of the trade barriers exposes the firm's home market to competition of other member and non-member countries, thus threatening the less efficient firms. A regional economic integration attracts the foreign investmen ts from non-member countries as firms outside the bloc seek the benefits of insider status by establishing manufacturing facilities within the bloc. In order for these countries, to attract global companies and increase the foreign direct investments needs and economic integration among all countries and effectively make them one country.Integration of Albania, Montenegro, Kosova and Macedonia will  create a market of 6.2 million customers. Also, the integration will standardize the import and taxation policy toward the non-member countries by eliminating the differences among countries.According to Yoshino & Rangan (1995), economic integration and opening to new markets there are challenges like differences in culture, political and economic environment, and regulation between countries. Cultural and economic changes product customization. In case of the economic integration between Albania and its neighbor countries, there are limited cultural differences. All countries have alm ost the same philosophy of the living, tradition and customs. The similarities between countries will help companies to minimize their costs by using the same brand, same advertising strategy and message across markets.Furthermore, countries show similarities in the economic situation.They are all low-income countries with the same needs and resources to accommodate those needs. This situation increases the demand for fast moving goods by representing big opportunities for global companies operating in these industries. There is not much to say about legal restriction since they do not exist. Legal and regulatory framework is in favor of foreign investment in the region.Typically, each form of economic integration confers benefits on the national economy but hurts particular sectors and communities within that economy. As a result, negotiating any form of the economic integration is not easy. According to Koyuturk et al. (2012), strategic alignments within a company are production, marketing, financial and research and development alliances.Production alliances happen when two different companies create a joint venture to produce a common product or facility. Marketing alliances between companies consist in sharing of the marketing services or consultancies. Financial alliances consist in sharing the risk of investment with other partners. R&D alliances refer to joint research with partners for developing new product or services. The above strategic alignment can be managed through shared management agreements where all the involved parties participate in the shared agreement fully and actively.Strategic alignments will decrease the company cost but will have an issue for the employees. Therefore, sharing of some of the functional services many companies will cut their labor force. Local government should create defense policies to mitigate the risks of the integration.Also, political  instability, high level of corruption and previous conflicts are the most difficult integration barriers.The suggested form of integration that will strengthen the position of these countries in the region and drive a competitive advantage is the political integration. It relates to cooperation between states and formation of state based regime. Also, it refers to the constitution of new political entities with a certain degree of independent from the individual states.Regional integration strengthens the political system the scope and the capacity of its decision making process. Furthermore, legal integration it is closely related to the political integration and involves the establishment of common legal rules and common legal systems for citizens of different states. The disadvantages of regional integration are, to begin with that to achieve it, you must sacrifice some degree of sovereignty. This could negatively affect conflict resolution. This loss of flexibility in creating solutions to problems is a huge disadvantage.ConclusionFollowing the main forms of integration the political integration is the most efficient one for the analyzed countries. Political integration of Albania, Kosova, Macedonia, and Montenegro will create new opportunities for these countries. It will increase the market power for each of the trading members and increase productivity and companies take advantage of economies of scale. Also, it increases the competition between members of the market.Lower costs for the member countries will make the member countries firms more competitive than the non-member countries market. Also, regional integration allows strategic alignments within a company in production, marketing, financial and research and development alliances. However, the political integration will strengthen the position of these countries in the region and drive a competitive advantage for the group of countries.