Governance

At his recent press conference at the Thessaloniki International Fair, PM Alexis Tsipras referred twice to the way in which government decisions are taken. The first time he was asked about the possibility of a cabinet reshuffle.

It has been a rather popular discussion for decades. Is the European Union a geographic zone or an area of norms and values? With the Copenhagen criteria, the EU partly provided an answer to that question by setting a web of values and norms as the sine qua non (absolute requirements) of eligibility for membership.

Many Turkish institutions cannot operate with transparency and a participatory approach to governance because of the long shadow cast by the executive, according to a new report by Transparency International Turkey after an in-depth analysis of 15 institutions. 

Turkish Deputy Prime Minister Cevdet Y?lmaz has joined Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Secretary-General Angel Gurria to present the newly revised G20 Principles of Corporate Governance.
      
Corporate governance is a set of rules to ensure that companies are run fairly and equitably.
      

I am not a fan of conspiracy theories at all. In fact, even the London pub Grenadier?s famous Bloody Marys were not enough to convince me of some of the more plausible conspiracies during my last trip to the city. However, I am also a numbers-guy and some data I recently stumbled upon are forcing me to believe the unbelievable.

Democracy in Bulgaria has been in decline for the past 8 years, according to an annual report of US-based NGO Freedom House.

Bulgaria's democracy score registers a minor change from 3.25 to 3.29 on an annual basis, according to the Nations in Transit 2015 report of Freedom House.

Bulgaria is ranked as a semi-consolidated democracy.

Good public governance is significant for improving the quality of life, Y?lmaz Argüden, the founder of the Argüden Governance Academy and chairman of ARGE Consulting, told a conference titled ?Good Governance in the Public Sector - Policies and Implementation? recently held in Ankara. 

The European Commission has approved operational programs Good Governance and Science and Education for Smart Growth for the 2014-2020 programming period, according to the press office of the Bulgarian government.

Operational program Good Governance, which is the successor of the Administrative Capacity OP and the Technical Assistance OP, is worth over EUR 335 M.

The Bulgarian Cabinet adopted on Wednesday the government's programme on stable development of the country for the period 2014-2018.

The governance programme has been devised in accordance with the coalition agreement for the formation of a pro-European reformist government for the sustainable development of Bulgaria, the government's press service reports.

Good governance in Romania includes civil society

NGOs have expertise to assist authorities in the battle against corruption, analysts say.

Romania joined the EU in 2007, and is still facing scrutiny from the Union on corruption. [AFP]