The current volume represents the outcome of the international conference “National and European Values of Public Administration in the Balkans,” organised in Bucharest on 15-16 July 2011. The conference has been organised by Jean Monnet research network dedicated to “South-Eastern European developments on the administrative convergence and enlargement of the European Administrative Space in Balkan states,” representing the third edition of the events organised under the above aegis. The research network, comprising the National School of Political Studies and Public Administration (NSPSPA), Bucharest, Romania, University of the Aegean, Mytilene, Greece, New Bulgarian University, Sofia, Bulgaria, University of Rijeka, Croatia and the European Public Law Organization (EPLO) with headquarters in Athens, Greece has developed and continues to develop studies and researches specific for the development of public administration in the Balkan states. The keynote speakers of the conference included Mw. Dr. Helena Raulus, EU Law Docent, Faculteit der Rechtsgeleerdheid, Erasmus Universiteit, Netherlands, Prof. Dr. Spyridon Flogaitis, Director, President of the BoD, European Public Law Organization, Greece and Prof. Dr. Lucica Matei, Dean, Faculty of Public Administration, National School of Politica Studies and Public Administration, Romania. The contents of the papers presented have been focused on the following topics: EU normative support for sustaining the process of administrative convergence; European Administrative Space principles - pillars for the mechanisms of evaluation of public administration reforms; Balkan priorities for European Administrative Space enlargement Other two sub adjacent topics have been added, aiming especially the doctoral students, emphasising the following themes: The process of administrative convergence at EU level; Efficiency, effectiveness and responsibility in the European Administrative Space; European Administrative Space. Priorities of the future. For the international conference, 88 abstracts were received, of which due to the first selection achieved by the Conference Scientific Committee, 56 papers were accepted After presentation, the papers have been improved and subjected to double review, so that there were accepted for publication 36 papers, having 46 authors from nine countries: Romania, Greece, Bulgaria, Netherlands, Albania, France, Croatia, Italy and USA and two European organisations: EPLO and EIPA. The general conclusion expected for the final of our conference could refer to the existence of a Balkan Administrative Space as part of the European Administrative Space. Even if the area of the Balkan Administrative Space is confined, we have to highlight the unity in diversity as a fundamental feature. The unity derives from the ideals of European integration of the Balkan states and the diversity derives from the national histories, cultural diversity and their national identity. The connections of the Balkan Administrative Space become day by day more powerful related to the European Administrative Space. They are determined by the development of the processes of convergence and administrative dynamics as well as by the internal developments induced by the administrative reforms in the mentioned states. In this context, we could assert that by means of the research proposed and achieved, our project has open new agendas of research, that partially have been expressed in our research reports, publications etc. At the same time, as remarked from the contents of this conference, the national and European values of the Balkan Administrative Space are substantiated on the regulatory framework of the European Union, the processes of convergence and administrative dynamics, as well as on the principles of the European Administrative Space. In fact, as it is well known, the latter becomes a non-formalised acquis of the European Public Administration, representing a standard for assessing the progress in the reforms of the national public administrations. Our conference has taken place under the auspices of this generous perspective.

Since the conceptual framework of the European Administrative Space (EAS) in 1990s, at least two convergent trends may be found out. The first trend refers to EAS operationalisation as instrument and mechanism for assessing the reforms of the national public administrations. Herewith, we refer to the deepness of EAS content, which has become more comprehensive, incorporating the most significant aspects on the public administrations reforms. The second trend refers to continuous enlargement of EAS area. The limits of this area are not the same with the EU limits and the internal processes of EAS do not have the same intensity as those of the European integration. Therefore, we may assert that the EAS reveals specific developments related to the traditions, history, administrative culture, national identity etc. of every state. The regional characteristics on the development of public administrations are decisive and the administrative convergence will take them into account. In this context, the current volume aims to reveal a few Balkan realities on EAS. Of course our approach is far from presenting the whole complexity of the phenomena and processes of public administrations in the Balkan states. The arguments on the above difficulty refer to: different stages for the Balkan states related to the European integration; diversity of the administrative models and cultures in the public administrations of the Balkan states; different levels of economic and social development in the Balkan area. Even in those conditions, as the reader may conclude after studying the current volume, the ideal of European integration gets closer or gathers the national efforts and actions, incorporating them in a convergent trend related to the EAS principles and values. The analyses and researches have aimed the following directions: EAS conceptualization and operationalisation in the Balkans; National experiences on the legal, administrative and institutional pillars of EAS; Convergence and Europeanization of the Balkan public administrations as premises of EAS development; Integrating the Balkan traditional administrative values into the EAS concept and practice. Those major research-oriented directions have represented the pillar for several specialists' studies and analyses, especially from academia, which have been selected for the actual volume. The debates on the topics announced have been achieved in the framework of the Workshop: “European Administrative Space - Balkan Realities”, organized by the University of Rijeka on 18 - 19 February 2011. At the same time, the content of the current volume completes the image of the activities and events organized in the framework of Jean Monnet project “South-Eastern European developments on the administrative convergence and enlargement of the European Administrative Space in Balkan states”, which has received funding from the European Community.

This research monograph consists of 31 papers related to the economy and business of the post-COVID-19 dynamics. The chapters of the research monograph deal with the relationship between the rapid changes in the social, economic and business context and new technologies, legal dilemmas, the state of affairs in certain sectors, the impact on tourism, financial and tax issues, and innovations in marketing. As our authors outline, the Covid-19 pandemic is having a significant impact on economies worldwide. To prevent the spread of the virus, governments have often been forced to take action and implement certain restrictive measures. The extent of the measures taken varies from country to country and between economic sectors in terms of the possibility of the virus spreading. On the other hand, modern information technology has brought changes to all areas of life and work. The degree of "digitalization of everything" is so great that some authors have called this process the "digital revolution" and the modern economy the "digital economy." Over time, this process is accelerating, and the changes are beginning to affect all areas of economic and social life. These changes are becoming increasingly complex, interacting and accelerating, and taking on a global character that raises new challenges, problems and issues that need to be addressed. However, due to the complexity of the globalization process, the development of technology, information systems and communications, and the related changes in all areas of economic and social life, it is currently difficult to accurately predict the future forms and content of economic activities. Therefore, the contributions in this monograph attempt to provide a transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary perspective on the outcomes and future prospects of the changes triggered by the pandemic shock. We recognize that 2022 will be challenging because of the many uncertainties arising from the lingering effects of the pandemic, as well as the risks posed by the impact of unprecedented fiscal and monetary measures and instruments to prevent the negative consequences of the crisis. However, we are confident that both scientists and practitioners have solutions to meet the future challenges, as we did with the pandemics COVID-19. We therefore hope you enjoy reading the contributions of our authors and that you will attend the next conference in June 2022.

The paper focuses on the process of liberalization of the electricity market and its functioning in the EU. The European electricity market is in the middle of its transformation from a monopolistic state-owned production and distribution to privatized markets with various competing firms. The basic objective of liberalization of the electricity market has been the optimization of economic performance and the increase in the efficiency of the electricity sector, with the primary purpose of enhancing the competitiveness of EU economy. The speed of liberalization differs widely across European countries and provides dissimilar results in each country separately. These results are seen in the diversity of electricity price and production efficiency, which covers for the lack of competitiveness. This research is based on the thesis that the liberalization of the EU electricity market will succeed in achieving some of the basic goals defined by EU Electricity Directives. Positive shifts have been achieved in raising the level of service quality, increased efficiency of the sector, reduction of the need for construction and maintenance of reserve capacities, and formal market opening. On the other hand, the realization of particular reform objectives did not result in success. Uniform market prices have not been achieved since there are still large variations in the electricity prices among EU countries, especially between old and new EU members. It seems that the EU internal electricity market is neither unified nor uniform, and there is no real convergence towards a single model. This article provides the research of the extent to which these liberalization goals have been achieved and/or are achievable and the degree of success of the shift from a monopolistic structure to a competitive market structure.