Academic literature on the topic 'Financial services industry – European Economic Community countries'

Ukraine, choosing its strategic course of integration into the European Union, took the time to accelerate the reform of various spheres of socio-political and economic life of the country, in particular, the sphere of tourism services, transforming it into the standards of the European Union. The world-wide experience of progressive management gives tourism the first place among other sectors of the economy in terms of exports of goods and services. In conditions of development of the Ukrainian state, tourism becomes an effective means of forming a market mechanism of management, the receipt of significant funds to the state budget, one of the forms of rational use of free time, conducting meaningful leisure, studying the history of the native land, attracting the general population to the knowledge of the historical and cultural heritage. Current experience and scientific research show that accelerated development of rural green tourism can play the role of a catalyst for structural adjustment of the economy, provide demographic stability and solve urgent socio-economic problems in rural areas. It is important for Ukraine to overcome the gap in this area and realize the existing rich tourism potential through an elaborate policy of state regulation, including at the regional level. One of the reasons for the rapid development of rural green tourism in Europe is the crisis in the agricultural sector. Today, the process of productivity and automation of agriculture leads to jobs reduction. In fact, in many rural regions of Europe, agriculture has ceased to be the most important form of land use and the most important activity of the rural community. The rural green tourism is closely linked with other types of tourism, primarily with recreational, cultural, specialized tourism types – relief, gastronomy, ethno-tourism, etc. All this allows rural tourism to be included in combined tours, increasing the demand for a traditional tourist product. The rural green tourism in Ukraine is a holiday of the inhabitants of the city in the countryside in guest rooms created by a village family on the basis of its own residential house and private plot. As entrepreneurial activity, rural green tourism develops rather heterogeneously in different regions of Ukraine. Systematization of motivational interests of the rural green tourism activation in the regions of Ukraine showed that the dominant motives for diversification of activities in agricultural sector in the current conditions of rural areas development are: increase of incomes of rural population and increase of employment level, the possibility of diversification of income sources of peasants, significant investments and additional training, opportunities for self-realization of rural inhabitants. Priority directions of development of green tourism in these regions in the near future should be: reception and accommodation of tourists; rental of tourist equipment; production and sale of tourist goods of folk crafts; provision of tourist services (bicycle, gastronomy, agrotourism, cultural and historical tourism, organization of recreational recreation, mountain and ecological tourism); organization of tasting and culinary excursions; active development of the hotel business, camping (construction of agricultural cottages, fishing houses, farmhouses, horse farms); organization of historical and ethnographic events; distribution of religious tours; providing a complex of widely distributed services (fishing, hunting, picking berries and mushrooms, medicinal plants, etc.); development and popularization of water sports (kiting, windsurfing). The research of the current conditions for the development of green tourism in the regions of Ukraine allowed to outline the area of the key problems that hinder the active expansion of this type of activity: - disorderly legislation on key aspects of tourism business regulation in rural areas; lack of a law regulating this type of activity; - low level of development of the infrastructure of the market of green tourism services and social infrastructure of the village; - outdated stereotypes of rural residents, which hinder the active development of the newest types of tourism industry, the pronounced unsystematic and irregular nature of services; - absence of state programs supporting development of green tourism and limited amount of their financial, consulting and information-marketing support; - low level of informatization and popularization of green tourism in the regions of Ukraine among the population of European countries; - lack of political stability and social tension in society, deterioration of the world image of Ukraine. Thus, Ukraine has a rather powerful potential for the development of green tourism as an alternative type of agribusiness in the regions of Ukraine. In the context of modern economic conditions, solving key problems of development of green tourism forms the fundamental framework for addressing the most important socio-economic issues of rural areas: overcoming unemployment, promoting employment, raising incomes and quality of life for rural inhabitants.

Abstract. Introduction. Active recreation tourism is more effective for physical, emotional, intellectual recreation than passive recreation tourism. Active forms of tourism give dosed in terms of volume and intensity of physical activity for participants, which is the main factor in their recreation and effective recovery. Active tourism is becoming an increasingly important segment of the tourism industry. Active tourism includes more and more types of recreational and tourist and tourist and sports activities. It performs several functions - health, prevention, rehabilitation, training, and education. World experience shows that recently the share of active, extreme, and adventure tourism is growing rapidly. Therefore, the study of current trends in the world and domestic experience of organization of active tourism is relevant. Purpose. The article aims to study current trends in the world and domestic experience in the organization and functioning of active tourism. In the long run, this will help improve the tourist image of the country, region, community and increase tourist flows. Results. International practice shows that, at the present stage of the development of economic systems, tourism is the most dynamically developing area. It is also worth noting that international tourism for some developing countries is the main export ofservices and one of theprincipalsources of foreign exchange in these countries; acts as a stabilizing lever for the formation of their budgets and credit and financial relations with other states. At the beginning of the XXI century, international tourism became one of the most important economic activities in the world, and its history begins long before the invention of the word tourist in the late 18th century. According to the Western tradition, organized trips can be found in ancient Greece and Rome, which claim origins as "heritage tourism" (historical monuments of recognized cultural significance) and beach resorts. Analysis of global trends in active tourism shows that there is a growing interest in more extreme travel "nomadic recreation"; familyextreme trips; immersion in the ocean; space travel; micro-trips or weekend tours; extreme-recovery. In response to the growing demand, travel agencies in the European Union offer a wide range of cycling tours, hiking, rafting, diving, sightseeing, and fauna. Analysis of the development of tourism in Ukraine shows that due to the fast pace of life, inactive, addiction to gadgets, more and more tourists today have begun to prefer active recreation. This holiday will be especially interesting for citizens who live in highrise buildings, among the asphalt and want to change their everyday life for a while for the beauty and splendor of nature. Each region of Ukraine has potential opportunities for the development of each type of tourism: hiking, biking, car, water, fishing, hunting, horseback riding, and mountaineering. In recent years, there has been an increasing number ofspecialized tour operators and guides offering relevant services. Also, the network ofspecialized shops, suppliers, points of hire, and service of modern tourist equipment, establishments, various tourist information, maps, guides are expanded. Conclusions. It is claimed, thatthe word demand is growing for active, extreme tourism because humanity is increasingly suffering from overwork and digital dependence. Given that most areas suffer from overtourism new concepts of recreation are becoming increasingly popular, where it is possible to restore inner peace, mental and spiritual condition. In addition, the identity of local culture and the identity of territory have a significant influence on interest among tourists. Ukraine has the potential for the development of active types of tourism. Also, the world experience will help diversify the range of ideas for the development of tourism.

Companies in turbulent economies are required to face several difficulties, mainly related to the specific features of an extremely volatile environment. Although a similar, hypercompetitive context can be considered a global condition today, it is not perceived in the same way worldwide. Thus, international development could be the best method for exporting to different locations and getting the best opportunities to survive in this unstable environment. Italy is one of the European Union countries affected the most by turbulence and the financial crisis with a loss of competitiveness compared to other countries in the Union. The economic system has changed considerably, rising the bankruptcy cases and lowering reported earnings. This paper claims to give an overview of the Italian situation inside the European Community as Italy is recognized as one of the most industrialized areas of northern Italy; the province of Brescia is home of one of the two Italian districts devoted to the iron kitchenware industry—an industry in which Italy held a leading position worldwide for a long time. Ten years after the financial crisis, and supported by exports flows analysis, we evaluate the Italian competitive position in this industry compared to that of the country’s European competitors. Export data (inside and outside the European Union) in three years (2007, 2010, and 2014) show Italy’s leading global role in this industry but also the negative effect of the crisis on the country, witnessed by the strong rise of other competitors.

AbstractThis article examines the relationship between the global financial crisis and Corporate Social Responsibility reporting of financial services firms. We challenge the view in existing studies that firms, when faced with economic hardship, tend to jettison CSR commitments. Instead, and building on insights regarding the institutional determinants of CSR, we argue that firms are constrained in their ability to abandon CSR by the extent to which they are subject to intense public scrutiny by regulators and the news media. We test this argument in the context of the European sovereign debt crisis drawing on a unique dataset of 170 firms in 15 different countries over a six-year period. Controlling for a battery of alternative explanations and comparing financial service providers to firms operating in other economic sectors, we find considerable evidence supporting our argument. Rather than abandoning CSR during times of economic hardship, financial industry firms ramp up their CSR commitments in order to manage their public image and foster public trust in light of intense public scrutiny.

The European Economic Community is overshadowing the great market potential of the emerging, newly liberated Eastern Bloc countries. Entering these formerly communist markets is challenging because of a lack of sound economies and weak currencies. This paper develops a model whereby North American businesses enter these markets and accept local currencies for products and services, purchase local goods with the local currency and then sell these goods through international commodity exchanges.

Services are a dynamically developing economic sector in all countries. The paper focuses on public services, evaluated from the perspective of fiscal decentralization. It aims to evaluate the level of fiscal decentralization of expenditures in selected categories of public services in European countries. For this purpose, government expenditures by the local government sector are analyzed in the set of the selected 28 European countries in the period 2010-2018. Cluster analysis has been carried out in order to determine four clusters of countries based on their level of decentralization of expenditures on services. The results show differences in the extent of decentralization between the European countries in the provision of specific public services and reflect the form of financing of local public needs. A low level of fiscal decentralization of expenditures on services (public order and safety; housing and community amenities; recreation, culture, and religion) was observed in the majority of the countries. However, the majority of the countries failed to prove a high level of fiscal decentralization of expenditures on services (social protection, health, education) and a medium level of decentralization of expenditures in terms of general public services and services of economic affairs. These findings demonstrate that the degree of decentralization of public services is determined, to a certain degree, determined by country history and its geographical location, as well as by the different roles of sector-specific public policies. The findings can be helpful for creators of local public policies, strategic plans, and financial concepts.

The purpose of the paper is to analyse the relationship between digitalisation of public services (e-government) and ESG factors (environmental, social and economic factors). As public administration is a major stakeholder influencing sustainable development and state governments are aiming to digitise their services, there is a need to better understand the effect of the digital revolution on ESG. This article aims to study the relationship between the E-Government Development Index (EGDI) and ESG factors in 26 European countries. The linear ordering method TOPSIS (Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution) was used for the study, followed by the Perkal index and the method of optimal predictors’ selection—the Hellwig method. The study is based on the Eurostat data (in the period 2003–2020), and the analysis includes ten variables: Share of environmental taxes in GDP; Exposure to dust air pollution; Greenhouse gas emissions by source sector—carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, etc. (energy, industry, agriculture, forestry, waste management) (thousands of tonnes); Passenger transport volume in relation to GDP; At risk of poverty or social exclusion; Percentage of people satisfied with their financial situation among people aged 16+; Share of the ICT sector in GDP; Unemployment rate of people aged 20–64; Research and development expenditure in all sectors; GDP per capita. The in-depth analysis offers a matrix that represents the relationships between environmental taxes and the development of e-government. The main finding reveals statistically significant relationships between the EGDI and aggregate variables representing the environmental, social and economic spheres. It indicates a genuine, positive impact of digitalised administrative processes on sustainable development. It also seems to confirm that investments in digital infrastructure and government e-services bring multiple long-term benefits and contribute directly to all three domains relevant to the sustainability of modern development. The results of the analysis can be found useful by governments and governmental institutions as informing digitalisation strategies aimed at balancing the development of e-services and their support infrastructure. Nowadays, when planning strategic actions, one should take into account the social, economic and environmental impact of the digitalisation processes.

It is recognized that the financial crisis, which was the symbolic beginning of the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in September 2008, first hit the most advanced countries. A common phenomenon in European countries has become a trend reversal in the labour market, manifesting a decrease in the number of employees. The decline in employment was almost two times higher in developed countries than in developing countries. In developing countries the crisis hit the hardest into export-oriented industries, while in developed countries, into manufacturing industries and trade. Dismissals in building industry relate to a similar extent to different regions of developed countries and developing countries. Economists note that the economic crisis and the differences in pace of its impact on the economy of individual units reduced in recent years the gap between rich regions and those lagging behind. The study was an attempt to present regional differences in the impact of financial crisis of economy in France on the basis of data characterizing the change in general employment and industry, services and trade. The particular attention was directed to the relationship between the extent of the impact of the crisis on employment size and the degree of economic development.

Abstract. The aim of the conducted research is elaboration of conceptual statements and formulation of practical recommendations aimed at development of the methodological bases of state financial support for small business. On the basis of the existing theoretical statements, discovery of essential characteristics, peculiarities and systematisation of the obtained results of the research, conceptual approaches to interpretation of the features of state financial support for small business during the coronavirus crisis have been suggested. Small business is an important component of the economic system of any country. It ensures formation of the complex structure of the market for goods and services, development of efficient competition and promotes addressing the needs of consumers in conditions of formation of their sovereignty. State financial support for small business in European countries is at different stages of development. In the EU countries, financial policy of small business regulation is an example of state intervention in the mechanism of market self-regulation in order to solve social and economic problems by changing the economic behaviorur of small enterprises. The formational process, strategic priorities of state financial support for small business in European countries and macroeconomic instruments for its implementation during the coronavirus crisis have been studied. Changes in the concern of the world community in forms of state financial support for small business have been detected. A comparative and analytical examination of the instruments for macroeconomic financial regulation, which are being used during the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe, has been conducted. The research shows the importance of small business in terms of solving economic and social problems of social development, outlines the situation of state financial support in the EU countries in comparison with Ukrainian small enterprises, determines the general features and differences in state regulation of entrepreneurship. The practical significance of the obtained results consists in the fact that the main scientific statements of the article can be used in practice of state and regional management of small business. Keywords: small business, state regulation, financial support, financial policy, coronavirus crisis. JEL Classification H12, D21, E61 Formulas: 0; fig.: 2; tabl.: 1; bibl.: 12.

The aim of the paper is to identify differences in enterprises’ capital structure and its determinants in Poland and Portugal. The research applies statistical methods to the financial data of 22,775 Polish enterprises and 36,625 Portuguese enterprises for the years 2010–2017. The research results show that: (i) despite several years of ongoing economic integration in the EU differences in enterprises’ capital structure in old and new countries of the community still exist, (ii) in Portugal representing the old EU enterprises are more likely to use debt than in Poland being an emerging EU economy, (iii) in Polish enterprises, tangibility, profitability, liquidity and non-debt tax shield exert a negative impact on debt; while growth and size have a positive impact; in Portugal tangibility and a non-debt tax shield show the opposite, (iv) in both countries industry growth decreases indebtedness of enterprises while financial risk results in higher debt; in addition, in Portugal the capital intensity of industry increases the share of debt in capital structure.

Supervisor: F. Snyder
Defence date: 6 March 1992
First made available online on 10 September 2013.
This research is an interdisciplinary approach to the EEC banking harmonization process. The methodology employed consists in focusing the subject from the legal, economic and political Science perspectives. Therefore, the underlying purpose of the research is to study the legal outcomes within their context. The research is subdivided in several parts. The first part is a legal approach to both the first and second Banking Directives as the cornerstones of the EEC banking harmonization process. The detailed analysis of both Directives from an EEC legal perspective is a condition precedent for the understanding of how is being shaped the Community Financial Policy. The Second Part is a political science approach to the role of interest within the EEC decision making process. More specifically, it is an attempt to show how banks can influence legislators for the achievement of their objectives. An additional study to this second part, is constituted by the analysis of the Community policies in consumer protection. This sector provides us with comparative information for an estimation of the importance of "interest” within the shaping of regulatory policies within the EEC. A socioeconomic approach to credit institutions strategies1 for the controlling of financial markets is the subject of the third part. Through the study of the United States current "deregulatory" trends, we show the interrelationship between the world financial markets. A second stage of this part connects the European context with the other representative world financial markets. Thus, similar behaviours can be remarked, which leads the author to the conclusion that neither national governments, nor the European Institutions are currently capable to regulate financial markets without a previous “consensus" with the financial institutions. The fourth part of the research consists in a critical approach to the institutional behaviour of the Community as regards policy-making for the achievement of an integrated financial market by 1992. This analysis shows that credit institutions, whose profits are greatly affected by public policy, have an extraordinary capacity to innovate and adapt, notably as a way of lawfully avoiding the effects of "public Controls”. Each of the four parts of the research used the same methodology. First, there is an introduction to establish the guidelines of the research approach to the subject. Secondly, there is a detailed analysis of the main issues constituting the field of the study. Thirdly, we draw some conclusions from the research.

The Czech Republic (CR) has been ranked the 1st among the countries of the European Union (EU) countries in the growth rate of broadband access. The Internet penetration rate has increased by 48 percent between 2005 and 2011. This high growth rate is driven by the entry of new operators and the proliferation of Community Wireless Networks (CWNs). The CR holds the first place in EU in the number of newly entered operators. There are 1150 companies providing Internet access in 601 Czech towns and 5645 villages. In addition, a number of community wireless networks have emerged as an alternative of these commercial Internet Service Providers (ISPs). Their main purpose is to increase the affordability and penetration of broadband Internet in the country. This chapter discusses the contribution of CWNs to the proliferation and affordability of broadband access in the CR, focusing on the reasons for their success and popularity. Their key success factors include obtaining a non-profit status, engaging academics, and cooperating with government entities. They formed the CZFree.net forum for experts and volunteers to exchange information and best practices with respect to new technologies, design considerations, and technical and social issues. It also articulates on technology options and best practices for building low-cost CWNs. Furthermore, the chapter discusses the role of the Netural czFree eXchange association in aggregating their technical, financial, and personal resources of individual CWNs. Thanks to this association and the CZFree.net forum, CWNs in the CR have become influential competitors in the local telecommunication industry.

A country has always been an important factor in the economic processes of a county. With its activity, mechanisms for provision of services, consumption and investment system, its role in the allocation and distribution process of income and wealth, a country directly or indirectly establishes certain relations in the social reproduction process. Because of that it can be said that the country activity reflects on the public, but also on the private sector of a social community. No government, no county, can afford the ease of economic and any other activity taking place past it. A country must take on a lot of tasks, to establish the necessary harmony in all spheres of social activities in a social community. For realization of numerous tasks that are entrusted to one country, it needs certain funds that it collects either with the monopoly of its sovereign authority or in some other way. With the change and development of the county the tax system which is necessary to fulfil its role also changed and developed. In the field of taxation, the Republic of Serbia has no limitations on the scope of its tax jurisdiction. The constitution regulates the subjective financial law of the country, i.e., the right to introduce and collect taxes and prescribe the duty of natural and legal entities to act in accordance with tax regulations. Modern constitutions have established the principle of legality of taxes, which can be expressed by the maxim ‘nullum tributum sine lege’ (‘there is no tax without law’). Thus, Article 91, paragraph 1 of the Constitution of Serbia prescribes that the funds from which the jurisdiction of the Republic of Serbia, autonomous provinces and local self-government units are financed, are provided from taxes and other revenues determined by law. Paragraph 2 of the same article proclaims the rule that the obligation to pay taxes and other duties is general and is based on the economic power of the taxpayer. Therefore, the basic postulates on which the financial right is built are contained in the constitution. It follows that financial law cannot exist without constitutional norms. On the other hand, through tax law, the constitution gained its concretization and realization. The science of financial law is exhibited in numerous monographs, textbooks, studies, discussions, articles, and other publications. Several authors have made a great contribution to the development of this scientific discipline in Serbia, among which the most important are Milan Todorović, Jovan Lovčević, Aleksandar Perić, Miodrag Jovanović, Miroslav Petrović, Dejan Popović, Božidar Raičević, and others.

This study is devoted to a generalized analysis of modern public processes for the formation of new mechanisms of crisis management and the regional management reform practice in the field of education, which are gradually carried out in the context of general reform and new strategies. The special relevance of modern education management practices is noted, among which are formation of new management concepts in the conditions of emergencies and crisis; redistribution of areas of responsibility between the region and territorial communities; revival of partnership interaction of public authorities with civil society institutions; implementation of state policy through new contexts of forming a network of educational institutions, resource provision and budgeting; strategy for the development of the educational sphere through the implementation of investment infrastructure projects; expanding the scope of educational services in accordance with community requests, etc. European experience in active decentralization, which will stimulate sustainable community development, successful overcoming of crises and building a strategy for regional development shows the development of a systematic vision of the local situation in education and other social spheres that prevent socio-economic crises; active and effective communicative action “state-community”, which is aimed at deep democracy, sustainable development, unity, transparency of public institutions; humancenteredness on the basis of social democracy, involvement of citizens in various government procedures in communities; impact on the sustainable development of local democracy and financial self-sufficiency of the community; sustainable development of the public sector of the community, improving the quality of life / activities / human education. The basis of public activity of the authorities is a consistent communicative action that will promote the in-depth development of mutual trust, openness and efficiency. The subject of the study was the management vertical of the region and education management. The research methodology can be outlined as follows: understanding and worldview, which outline the operating environment of self-discipline analysis, forecasting, modeling, diagnosis and work with information, models, algorithms, cognitive, practical and evaluative, which complement each other in real life. The purpose of the study: to systematically generalize modern management processes of public authorities in anti-crisis strategies and new relevant mechanisms of organizational activities of public institutions of Dnipropetrovsk region, which are aimed at sustainable development of society and man, soft overcoming of growth problems through mechanisms of organizational and managerial overcoming of educational crises. areas in the region. The study found that the systematic activities of public institutions in the region, models of involvement of public institutions contribute to sustainable community development and form effective resilience to crises, restore confidence in government by citizens, improve the quality of local infrastructure projects in education, strengthen positive social trends – economic indicators of the community.

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) are playing an increasingly vital role in the daily lives of all communities by revolutionizing their working procedures and rules of governance. ICTs offer a unique opportunity for governing elite to overcome the crisis of representative democracy, as ICT and the Internet empower civil society to play its role more effectively and facilitate the performance of governments’ main function-serving the people who elect them (Misnikov, 2003). In the realm of government, ICT applications are promising to enhance the delivery of public goods and services to common people not only by improving the process and management of government, but also by redefining the age-old traditional concepts. Community networking groups and local government authorities are well placed to campaign for greater inclusion for all members of the community in the information society. Possible areas to target include the provision of technology at low or no cost to groups through community technology centres or out of hours school access. There are many possibilities and local government must take a significant role in these activities (Young, 2000). Information society is based on the effective use and easy access of information and knowledge, while ICT for development (or ICTD) is not restricted to technology itself but focusing on manifold development and diverse manifestations for the people to improve their well-being. ICTD has deep roots in governance, is part of governance and has effects on governance patters and practices at both central and local level. By recognizing these facts, UNDP focuses on technologies to end poverty at WSIS Cyber Summit 2003, and emphasizes on ways that new technologies can help lift more than one billion people out of extreme poverty (UNDP, 2003). Apart from the four Asian IT giants (Korea, Rep., Hong Kong, China, Taiwan, China, and Japan), most of the Asian countries have fallen under the “low access” category of the Digital Access Index. This has also been referred in the WSIS Cyber Summit 2003, until now, limited infrastructure has often been regarded as the main barrier to bridging the digital divide (ITU, 2003). Among the countries with ICT spending as share of their GDP, Sweden, UK, The Netherlands, Denmark, and France (8.63, 7.97, 7.39, 7.19, and 6.57% respectively during 1992-2001) remain at the top (Daveri, 2002, p. 9), while countries like Bangladesh, Greece, Mexico, Niger, and many more remain at the bottom (EC, 2001; ITU, 2003b; Miller, 2001; Piatkowski, 2002). In a similar research it has been found that in terms of average share of ICT spending GDP, New Zealand, Sweden, Australia, USA, and UK (9.3, 8.4, 8.1, 8.1, and 7.8% respectively during 1992-1999) were among the highest (Pohjola, 2002, p. 7), though most of the countries in the Asian and African regions remain below the average of 5%. The disadvantaged communities in the countries staying below average in ICT spending seem to be lagging in forming appropriate information-based economy and eventually fall behind in achieving proper e-government system. The e-government system in those countries need to enhance access to and delivery of government services to benefit people, help strengthen government’s drive toward effective governance and increased transparency, and better management of the country’s social and economic resources for development. The key to e-government is the establishment of a long-term dynamic strategy to fulfill the citizen needs by transforming internal operations. E-government should result in the efficiency and swift delivery and services to citizens, business, government employees and agencies. For citizens and businesses, e-government seems the simplification of procedures and streamlining of different approval processes, while for government employees and agencies, it means the facilitation of cross-agency coordination and collaboration to ensure appropriate and timely decision-making. Thus, e-government demands transformation of government procedures and redefining the process of working with people and activities relating to people. The outcome would be a societal, organizational, and technological change for the government and to its people, with IT as an enabling factor. E-government should concentrate on more efficient delivery of public services, better management of financial, human and public resources and goods at all levels of government, in particular at local level, under conditions of sustainability, participation, interoperability, increased effectiveness and transparency (EU, 2002). ICT brings pertinent sides more closely by prioritizing partnerships between the state, business and civil society. A few East European countries have became economically liberal with the high level of foreign direct investment per capita and at the same time became ICT-advanced regional leaders in terms of economic reform. These countries also present the region’s most vivid examples of partnerships and collaboration. They have clearly manifested the importance of the public-private partnerships, transparent bottom-up strategies, involvement of all stakeholders, total governmental support, capturing economic opportunities, and enabling electronic mediated businesses, responding to the challenges of globalization.

When things go well then often it is because they conform to standards (ISO, 2005). According to the Oxford Dictionary of Modern English, there is a lot of explanation of what standard means, but, in context of the first sentence, the best meaning is «standard is a thing or quality or specification by which something may be tested or measured». Personal computer is a standardized computer. It means that any of its components is made according to strictly defined specification. Consequently, it does not matter who produces components and where they are produced. Industry put the first demand for standards. Especially standardization is extremely important for electronics, for information and communication technology (ICT), and its application in different areas. Nowadays developing of standards is organized on global, international level, but it exists also on national level, well harmonized with international one. Developers of standards are organizations and groups working on this matter. The leading standard developer in the world is International Standards Organization (ISO). ISO is a nongovernmental organization established on 23 February 1947. Its mission is to promote the development of standardization and related activities in the world with a view to facilitating the international exchange of goods and services, and to developing cooperation in the spheres of intellectual, scientific, technological and economic activity (ISO, 2005). ISO collaborates with its partners in international standardization, the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), a non-governmental body, whose scope of activities complements ISO’s. The ISO and the IEC cooperate on a joint basis with the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), part of the United Nations Organization and its members are governments. The ISO standard can be recognized by the ISO logo, ISO prefix and the designation, “International Standard”. European developer of standards is the European Committee for Standardisation (Comité Européen de Normalisation – CEN). It was founded in 1961 by the national standards bodies in the European Economic Community and EFTA countries. CEN promotes voluntary technical harmonization in Europe in conjunction with worldwide bodies and its partners in Europe and the conformity assessment of products and their certification (CEN, 2005). CEN cooperates with the European Committee for Electrotechnical Standardization (CENELEC), and the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Product of this cooperation is the European standard which can be recognized by the prefix EN. Any added prefix to the existing one, for both ISO and CEN standard, means that this standard is result of cooperation with other standardization group or organization. The prefix ENV in European standardization means that this standard is not yet a full standard (it is under development by CEN). ISO and CEN have Technical Committees working in the specific areas. ISO/TC215, established in 1998, and CEN/TC251, established in 1991, are corresponding technical committees working on standardization in health and medical informatics in ISO and CEN. Both standardization bodies, the ISO and CEN cooperate, and they mutually exchange their standards. There are also a variety of organizations and groups developing standards, cooperating with ISO and CEN or acting as administer and coordinator in standardization. For example, there are Health Level 7 (HL7), Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM), American National Standards Institute (ANSI), non-profit organization that administers and coordinates the U.S. voluntary standardization and conformity assessment system, etc.

Over the recent decades, the changes in the paradigm of international trade have been observed. As the result of decreasing of trade barriers as well as the reduction in trade costs allowed companies to divide their production into stages and to locate it in different countries according to their competitive advantage. Eventually, the production process has become more fragmented, both geographically and vertically. It means that intermediate products are shipped across boarders many times and every exporting economy provides some value added according to its competitive advantage. As a result, global value chains have become one of the most important feature of international trade. Following (Gereffi & Fernandez-Stark, 2011), in this study global value chains are defined as “the full range of activities that firms and workers do to bring a product from its conception to its end use”. Humphrey and Schmitz (2002) pointed out four types of upgrading in global value chains: product, process, functional and chain. Product and process upgrading involve companies retaining their positions in global value chains by enhancing productivity gains through adopting new product processes or “new configurations of product mix”. Thus, functional upgrading involves a slicing up the global value chains into new activity which generates higher value added, e.g. own brand manufacturing. In turn, chain upgrading involves a going up to new activity, which needs higher skills and capital and value added. Milberg and Winkler (2013) offered similar classifications of upgrading. Production fragmentation has caused a rapid increase in trade in intermediate goods as often companies offshore an intermediate stage of production process. Offshoring production has been typical to manufacturing (Timmer, et al., 2012), however, services have been often overlooked, but play a major role, especially in supporting global value chains (Kommerskollegium 2013). In turn, Digital Silk Road, announced in 2015, has become a significant part of Chinese Belt and Road Initiative strategy. China has implemented this strategy as a part of its long-term technological plan, under which China provides support to its exporters, including many well-known technology companies and builds a network of cooperation with selected countries in the field of technology, including ICT infrastructure, services, 5G networks, e-commerce, etc. China's rapid technological changes must not go unnoticed by trading partners, including analysed European countries, which, to maintain international competitiveness, are increasing the technological advancement and enhancing market protection against Chinese technology. Until recently, the value added from China to European countries was concentrated mainly on medium technology industries and value added from Europe to China focused more on advanced goods and services. Nowadays, there is a redirection of Chinese value added to high-tech activities (including service activities), which reflects China's ambition to build an economy that leads to innovation and industry 4.0. The transition of the CEE states’ economic and political systems initiated in the early 1990s, earned them the EU membership in 2004. The accession to the EU’s structures meant that these countries achieved the free-market economy status and they should be treated as the full member of the global business networks. Moreover, the decline in trade costs (transport and transaction), greater openness of their market and the removal of trade barriers have all helped the CEE states to join global value chains. Hence, the CEE economies are going to be more heavily involved in global production linkages. Many empirical studies have presented the close and dynamic integration of these countries with the EU market (especially the EU-15) and in a more limited scope with the whole global economy as well (Behar and Freund 2011). Generally, democratisation, the strengthening of political and economic relations (particularly with the EU), and the modernisation of many sectors (including financial sector, more advanced industries), were common elements of the CEE countries long-term development policies. One of their priorities was the redirection of foreign trade towards the EU and joining the global production linkages where China has become the core producer. Recently, the role of the economy in global value chains is more determined by the advancement of value added that it offers. Companies move toward services and innovations in the business model (Nenenen & Storbacka, 2010) and introduce industry 4.0 (Bundesministerium fur Bildung und Forschung, 2016). A symptom of these novelty is a concept of servicification of manufacturing (Neely et al. 2011) and cross-sectoral connections, which have reconstructed traditional global value chains (Naude et al. 2019) and, together with Industry 4.0, is expected to change the landscape of global manufacturing. As a result of facilitation of manufacturing, economies placed in the downstream market can improve their role in global value chains. In Europe, this can be an opportunity for most Central and Eastern European countries. Analyzing changes in CEE’s role in technological global value chains, we should take into account its two most important value-added suppliers: China and Germany, as well as their most important value-added buyer - Germany. These three economies established a sort of value added flows triangle. The regional supply chains built by Germany in the CEE allowed it to maintain a comparative advantage in sectors important for the economy, while helping the CEE countries join global value chains, positively influencing economic growth, but also reducing them to entities operating in less advanced stages of production (Jacoby, 2010; Fortwengel, 2011). Today, Germany also cooperates strongly with China (as a result of Digital Silk Road), and the CEE economies (especially the Visegrad Group) are increasingly dependent on Chinese value added, still linked to German value added. The most visible connections can be found in automotive and electronics. Hence, the question is: how strong are these links in servicification of manufacturing and whether there are visible trends in value-added flows in between this triangle in the era of industry 4.0 and Chinese Digital Silk Road. The research question seems to be relevant, thus in the subject literature, little is known about the mentioned relations (Roland Berger, 2021). The research method based on the analysis of data from the OECD Trade in Value Added databases, containing the world input-output tables for the period 2005–2018. The system of balance equations in the input-output model for one economy has been adopted to a multi-economy model. The model is described in more detail in (Koopman et al. 2013 or Hummels et al, 2001) and is based on the decomposition of gross exports. The method includes not only estimates of total value added in global value chains, but also calculations at both the mezoeconomic level and cross-sectoral flows of value added (including servicification of manufacturing). The results of analysis showed that most relations between economies continued to deepen the imbalance in flows of value added. The CEE economies are making their manufacturing increasingly dependent on advanced services (both from Germany and China). On the other hand, the share of CEE services to Chinese and German manufacturing is decreasing or remains steady. However, some trends could be observed in the last years, especially between Germany and China. German manufacturing is starting to rely more on Chinese value added (information and communication technologies services and the subgroup computer programming, consultancy and information services activities in manufacturing, information and communication technologies services' value added in transport equipment), although previously Germany provided more of these services to China. In telecommunications in manufacturing between CEE and Germany, the trend has turned against CEE. However, there was no direct compensation between pairs of economies, but the decrease in German value-added flows to China resulted in a much larger increase in value-added from China in German manufacturing. If the presented changes in flows were to reflect the effectiveness of Chinese industry 4.0 and Digital Silk Road. These strategies serve their purposes and increases not only the advancement of Chinese value-added exports, but also makes important economies dependent on this added value. On the contrary, the industry 4.0 strategy in CEE has not improved its position in the triad. Germany has still a strong position as a provider of value added, but its dependence on foreign value added is high, which derives from the links with CEE.