Transcript Slovak republic

The Slovak Republic
Summer School in Bratislava
Associate Prof. JUDr. Vlasta Kunová, PhD
Jean Monet Chair
Geographical location:
Central Europe
BRATISLAVA – the capital city
Bratislava’s location on the banks of the River Danube
and at the crossroads of ancient trading routes right at
the heart of Europe predestined it to become a meeting
point of various cultures
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half a million inhabitants
and a leading centre of the
economy
nowadays, Bratislava is one
of the most rapidly growing
urban regions of Europe
COMENIUS UNIVERSITY
Šafárikovo sq.6, 815 05 Bratislava
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founded on June 27th, 1919 and follows
the university tradition of the Academia
Istropolitana which was established in
Bratislava by Matthias Corvinus, the
Hungarian King, in 1465
the largest and the oldest university in the
Slovak republic with full acreditation
consists of 13 faculties, including Faculty of
Law
Institute of International Relations
and Approximation of Law
Jean Monnet Chair
Šafárikovo sq.6, 815 05 Bratislava
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established in 1992 for training and
education of diplomatic service employees,
for education in international relations and
European Union issues
provides three-semester postgraduate
study, not depending on the previous
specialization
STUDY INFORMATION
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the study is realised according to the Act
No. 131/2002 Coll. on Universities and Act
No. 3861996 Coll. on Continuing Education
and Study Regulation of Institute of
International Relations and Approximation of
Law, Faculty of Law, CU Bratislava
beginning of the study is identical with the
academic year
STUDY INFORMATION
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according to the current schedule for
specific semester, the study is focused on:
- International Relations
- Diplomatic and Consular Agenda
- History
- Legal Disciplines
- Geopolitics
- Two foreign languages
courses in English and French Language
are included
Additional students´ activities
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Conferences
Non-formal meetings with diplomats and
interested personalities of public life
Traineeship at Ministry of Foreign Affairs SR
and other institutions of civil service
Possibility to publish
Foreign Traineeships
Graduate career realization
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Civil Service Institutions
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Diplomatic Service
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Bank Sector
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International Trade
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EU Institutions
General information on the
Slovak Republic
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Area: 49 035 km2
Population: 5 447 502
Currency: Slovak crown (SKK)
Official language: Slovak
Capital: Bratislava
General information on the
Slovak Republic
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Date of state establishment:
1.1.1993
Parliamentary republic with
president and prime minister on the
top
Power allocation: executive,
legislative and judiciary
MACROECONOMIC
OVERVIEW
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GDP for 2007: SKK 1.851,8 billion –
10,4% higher than in year 2006
Unemployment rate in 2008 according
to Eurostat: 9,9%
19% flat tax, including 19% VAT; no
tax on dividends
MACROECONOMIC
OVERVIEW
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International Membership:
– OSN
– OECD
– WTO
– Visegrad Group
– NATO
– EU
MACROECONOMIC
OVERVIEW
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Slovakia is generally recognized as an
open market economy whose ability
and willingness to pay its liabilities
puts it, pursuant to prestigious rating
agencies, into the investment level
one of the most progressive
economics within European Union
MACROECONOMICS
OVERVIEW
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Cheap and skilled labor force
liberal labor code
stable economic indicators
new regulations for the product,
capital and labor markets
structural reforms
LEGAL SYSTEM
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The private and commercial law is based on the
continental law system – binding are the
legal provisions, not the case law
Decentralized public administration
The principal act governing the state system is
the Constitution of the Slovak republic under the
supervision of the Constitutional Court
LEGAL SYSTEM
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Two-level court system:
- District courts are competent for proceedings
at the first instance
- Regional courts hear cases as appeal courts
- The Supreme Court of the Slovak Republic
has the function of an appellate review court.
Being the supreme judicial body the Supreme
Court of the Slovak Republic never acts as a first
instance court
COURT SYSTEM
Constitutional
Court
Supreme Court
8 Regional Courts
54 District Courts
Special Court
Slovak republic and the
European Union
Accession: 1 of May 2004
 Number of representatives in
European Parliament: 14
 Voices in the European Commision: 7
 Representative in EC: Ján Figeľ 
commisary for education and culture
 Planed Euro adoption: 1.1.2009
Economic and Monetary
Union (EMU)
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the process of
harmonising the
economic and monetary
policies of the Member
States of the Union with
a view to the
introduction of a single
currency, the euro
Euro area Member States
Non-euro area Member States
Three stages of EMU
EMU was achieved in three
stages:
1. First stage (1 July 1990 to 31
December 1993):
- free movement of capital
between Member States, closer
coordination of economic policies
and closer cooperation between
central banks
Three stages of EMU
2. Second stage (1 January 1994 to 31
December 1998):
- convergence of the economic and
monetary policies of the Member
States (to ensure stability of prices
and sound public finances) and the
establishment of the European
Monetary Institute (EMI) and, in
1998, of the European Central Bank
(ECB)
Three stages of EMU
3. Third stage (from 1 January 1999):
- irrevocable fixing of exchange
rates and introduction of the single
currency on the foreign-exchange
markets and for electronic
payments; introduction of euro
notes and coins
Economic and Monetary
Union
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three Member States did not adopt the
single currency: the United Kingdom
and Denmark, both of which have an
opt-out clause, and Sweden,
following a referendum in September
2003
Economic and Monetary
Union
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the States which joined the Union on 1
May 2004 and 1 January 2007 are
required to adopt the euro as soon as
they meet all the convergence criteria.
They were not granted opt-out clauses
during the accession negotiations
The Convergence Criteria
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price stability: the rate of inflation may
not exceed the average rates of inflation of
the three member states with the lowest
inflation by more than 1.5 %;
inflation: long-term interest rates may not
vary by more than 2 % in relation to the
average interest rates of the three member
states with the lowest inflation;
The Convergence Criteria
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deficits: national budget deficits must
be below 3 % of GDP;
public debt: this may not exceed
60 % of GDP;
exchange rate stability: exchange
rates must have remained within the
authorised margin of fluctuation for
the previous two years
Process of accession
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to join the European Union, a state needs to
fulfill the economic and political conditions
generally known as the Copenhagen
criteria:
the candidate country has to achieved
stability of institutions guaranteeing
democracy, the rule of law, human rights
and respect for and, protection of
minorities, the existence of a functioning
market economy as well as the capacity
to cope with competitive pressure and
market forces within the Union
Process of accession
membership presupposes the candidate's
ability to take on the obligations of
membership including adherence to the aims
of political, economic and monetary union
political, economic and legal reforms within
the terms of EU model are reaquired
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According to the EU Treaty, each current
member state and also the European
Parliament have to agree to any
enlargement
ASSOCIATION TREATY
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4.10.1991 SR signed the
‘Association Treaty’, wich came
into effect 1.2.1995
it set out the legal frame for
aproximation of Slovak law with the
law of European Commuities
ASSOCIATION TREATY
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Article 69:
„The contracting party recognize that the
major precondition for the Slovak
Republic’s integration into the Community
is the approximation of the Slovak
Republic’s existing and future legislation
to that of the Community. The Slovak
Republic shall endeavor to ensure that its
legislation will be gradually made
compatible with that of the Community.”
ASSOCIATION TREATY
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the Constitution was amended in the
year 2001 and it included the so called
“integration clauses”:
Article 7(2) reads: “The Slovak republic
may, by an international treaty ratified
and promulgated as stipulated by law, or
on the basis of such treaty, transfer the
execution of a part of its rights to the
European Communities and European
Union.
ASSOCIATION TREATY
Legally binding acts of the European
Communities and European Union
shall take precedence over the laws of
the Slovak Republic. Undertaking of
legally binding acts that require
implementation shall be carried out by
law or a statutory order pursuant to
Article 120 Section 2.”
Association Proceedings
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December 1999 – European Counsel
decided at the Helsing summit to
invite Slovak Repbublic on negotiations
for joining EU
March 2000 – official negotiations in
Brussels took part; Slovak Republic
negotiated in 31 negotiating sections
ACCESSION TREATY 2003
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The Treaty of Accession 2003 was the
agreement between the EU and 10
countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Cyprus,
Latvia, Lithuania, Hungary, Malta, Poland,
Slovenia, Slovakia), concerning these
countries' accession into the EU. At the
same time it changed a number of points
which were originally laid down in the Treaty
of Nice
The treaty was signed on April 16, 2003 in
Athens, Greece and it entered into force on
May 1, 2004 the day of the enlargement of
the European Union
ACCESSION TREATY 2003
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The Treaty of Accession 2003
modifies:
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the Treaty of Rome (Treaty establishing the
European Community)
the Euratom Treaty and
the Maastricht (Treaty forming the
European)
as well as other acts which together form
the current legal framework (acquis) of the
EU
ACCESSION TREATY 2003
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changes include the way that the
Qualified Majority Voting is handled in
the Council of the European Union
COMENIUS UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF LAW
Institute for International
Relations and Law Aproximation
Bratislava