happen, but an effective action from the European institutions and the member states of the Union could
accelerate the process and hence avoid further problems and increase the effectiveness of the Union.

At the moment there are 23 official languages in the EU, and 3 working languages: French, German and English. It is an inefficient system where almost all the documents are translated into so many languages instead of having all the documents just in English. At the moment there are many offices in charge of the translation and interpretation work in the different institutions of the Union. The European Commission has the Directorate-General for Translation, where around 2500 people work translating texts for the European Commission into and out of the EU's 23 official languages. It is one of the largest translation offices of the world and is located mainly in Brussels and Luxembourg. The oral translations are done in the Commission by the DG Interpretation, with around 1000 interpreters working there. The European Parliament has its own translation office with around 700 staff translating the written documents of the Parliament plus 3000 freelancers, and for the oral speeches and interpretation there is a staff in the European Parliament of 430 interpreters and 2500 freelancers.

The main point of this large body of civil servants in the European Parliament is increasing the communication and understanding between the members of the Parliament. Officially with this service, everybody can intervene in the sessions of the Parliament, and hence take part in the discussions avoiding obstacles for the good communication on decisions that have a direct effect on the European people. Finally, the EU Parliament stresses the idea of the members of the parliament being experts in their fields and not linguistics with high knowledge in other languages. The reality on the other hand, shows that most of the discussions and decisions are taken out of the plenary and commission sessions and hence are done by a direct contact between the leaders of the European Parliament. These contacts are widely done in English and it is a real handicap for those who do not speak it. The countries with less skills in English, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Hungary are less influential than other nations because they cannot communicate with their colleagues; they are isolated in the Parliament because of their lack of English language.

There is also a translation and interpretation service in the European Court of Justice, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and Court of Auditors, and other European agencies, increasing the dependence of the translation service of the Union. All this services since 1994 are coordinated by the Translation Centre for the Bodies of the European Union. It makes thousands of people working in the European Union in translation and interpretation, making the organization slow and ineffective expending a huge amount of time and money, reducing the integration between the members of the EP, as they have the obstacle of the language for communicating.<fnref n="1" />

BENEFITS OF ENGLISH AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

1. The first and more obvious consequence of having English as the official language of the Union is expending less time and money from the interpretation services. As the agents involved in the European integration could communicate directly between them, the interpretation service would not be as big as it is. Of course it will be still needed for conferences and visits of personalities and head of governments from outside the territory of the Union, but its size will be much more reduce. It means an important saving in terms of money. Nevertheless, it will be more important the matter of time and effectiveness. As the politicians, civil servants and other groups involved in the management and development of the Union could communicate directly it will increase the understanding of each other plus a faster decision making. It will save a precious time to the Union, basic for succeed in the current global world, where the timing of the decisions means the difference between right and wrong.

2. Following the previous idea, the translation service of the Union could also be reduced, but not as much as the interpretation service, as the European legislation has to be translated in all member states languages. The translation office should focus on the legislation field, keeping the rest of the documents in English, reducing hence its size and productivity. In the middle term all the papers of the Union could remain in English, being the member states in charge of the translation of the legislation into their own

<footnote n="1">¹ http://ec.europa.eu/dgs/translation/index_en.htm</footnote>
languages. It will make more effective the European Union, reducing the cultural gaps between the different nations included in the European Union.

3. The adoption of English as the sole official language of the Union will improve the communication inside the European Commission, the largest administration body of the Union. At the moment there are three working languages, English, French and German, but the first is more spread among the European civil servants. Nevertheless, there are some units of the Commission where the presence of French citizens is historically higher than any other nationality and their work is basically developed in French, breaking the unity of the working language of the Commission. This is the case, for example, of the agriculture DG, historically dominated by France. The dichotomy here is obvious, English cannot be the common language because all the Europeans have the right to communicate in their own language, and in French and German in the EU institutions. The real discrimination comes from the inclusion of French and German as working language of the Union, because most of the European citizens have English as their second language, and less European speak German or French. So this decision mainly benefits Germans and French over the rest of the European citizens. The historical development of the European integration shows us France and Germany as the center of the process, French as the cultural and partly international language of the beginning of the XX century and hence it is normal French and German were the working languages of the Union. The current situation has dramatically changed the role of both languages in the Union, and there is an overwhelming predominance of the English language, and hence the European institutions should adapt to the new situation, should adapt to the social reality. The main obstacle is the nationalism of France and Germany, but the European Integration is a supra national project, and hence should be able to break the national chains. Then the European Commission could work with a single language and become faster, more effective and closer to the European citizens.

4. There is another institution where the inclusion of a common language could improve in an outstanding way its effectiveness, the European Parliament. It is supposed that this institution represents the European people in the European level dealing with European issues that affect the life of the European citizens. But the communication is a big barrier between the members of the EU parliament and hence decreases the potential benefits of the institution. As each member of the Parliament has the right to intervene in the plenary sessions in their own language, the debates are long and boring, as the level of attention of the MP decrease after long hours listening the interpret. The debates in the parliament have the barrier of the language, where each speaker uses a different language and debate with himself and the other members of Parliament sharing the same nationality or mother tongue. Nevertheless, this is not the main problem in the European Parliament, because the most important decisions are taken in the commissions of the Parliament, the meetings of the political groups and the discussions in the corridors. None of these can be done with effectiveness without direct contact between the members of the Parliament. The inclusion of English as official language will sweep those barriers. It will also have some negative effects, as the marginalization of those European politicians who does not speak English as they could not be members of the Parliament. But as have been said before, if the Parliament is European, represents European people and have a direct effect on the life of the Europeans, it should be manage by European representatives, and hence able to communicate in a European level. The politicians who can just communicate in their own native language can play a role in their national parliaments, or regional institutions, because their language skills do not allow them to intervene in the supranational level. On the other hand, the inclusion of English as the sole official language of the Union and consequently of the European Parliament could have beneficial side effects, as the closeness between the institution and the European citizens. At the moment the MP mostly are just able to communicate with their fellow citizens, and their contact with other Europeans is much reduced. The inclusion of a common language in the Union and in this institution will make closer the contact between the Parliament and the European citizens, and it will open the possibility for creating European political parties and real European elections with a combination of different nationalities with a common language, English. Currently seems unrealistic the possibility of choosing in a European level the members of the EP because the European elections are merely the sum of the national elections. Most of the European states discuss about domestic problems in the European elections, instead of discussing about
common problems to the European people, and hence the gap between the citizens and the Parliament is huge. The use of a common language will reduced this gap, increasing the European role in the elections.

5. Creation of European political parties, in the European elections the language of the campaign English. This idea is linked with the previous point of the European Parliament. The creation of European political parties is a necessity for the democratic representation of the institution, but nowadays the national barrier blocks this possibility. The inclusion of English as the official language of the Union should be accompanied with the inclusion of English as the co official language of the member states for the Union and the promotion of the education of this language among the common citizens, not just the European elite. Once it is achieved, the European elections could be developed with English as its main vehicle, with a direct contact between the different members of the European political parties and the European citizens. On the other hand, a common language will be also needed in terms of internal organization of these European political parties, as working language, and to increase the multi nationality of them.

6. Uniting the European people. Currently the main way of communicating between Europeans is English, but there are still many million citizens who cannot speak this language and hence reduce their political scope to the national level. In order to promote the European integration and the European identity, English should be promoted to the official language of the Union and the co official language of all the member states. It does not mean any discrimination to any European language, or destroying the great diversity of Europe. It will be just an action to promote the communication between the European people, currently based on travelling and economic relations. The most常用 language by tourists is far English, the vehicle used to communicate outside your national state, it is also the most language used in the economic relations between companies or economic agents in the frame of the European Common market. It means that tourists and economic agents are already using English as the communication language, but still there are big parts of European population not included in these two groups. The political participation of the European citizens is granted in all the members of the Union as democracy is a pillar of the membership of the organization. Including English in the political field will lead to the inclusion of all the Europeans in a community, not just tourists or economic agents.

7. Breaking the nationalism based on the idea of one language, one nation and one state as rule of social behavior. Nationalism has been pointed out as the responsible of many conflicts in the world, especially in Europe, and following the main intellectuals of the XX century, even the IIWW can be blamed on the aggressive nationalism of many European states. The European Union was originally a peace system thought to break the national barriers between the European states, especially between France and Germany. The idea developed in the Schumann declaration by Jean Monnet, the so called father of Europe, was very simple. As much as we share, the more united we will be, and the possibilities of a conflict will be reduced. It is clear the European integration was a big success in this field, as the possibilities of a conflict between the members of the organization are really small nowadays, even impossible within the current system. Nevertheless, nationalism still threats the integration and all the benefits the EU has provided to Europe, as we can see with some member states that are blocking the way for further integration and could provoke the collapse of an organization that needs reforms in order to survive. As nationalism is still a driving force in Europe and in the world, the best way to combat it is by education, by understanding between different people and nationalities, and the best way to do it in Europe would be the promotion of a common vehicle of communication, a common language, English. There have been examples in the past, and even nowadays of multinational political structures, but most of them shared a common official language, so it will not even be a novelty in political terms, it will be just wider than other political projects and more democratic. The revolution of the communications currently makes possible the enlargement of multinational political projects to wider entities, as the European Union, and hence it makes possible the adoption of a single common language for the whole Union. The main opposition for a single common language in Europe comes from nationalist forces, because they see this measure as an attack to the national identity, something that is partly true. It will establish communication links between the European people above their national identity, ending with the exclusivity of the nation as the ultimate representation or identification of the people. It will not mean the end of the nation as a cultural expression, that will use the language as a cultural vehicle, but it will reduce the role of the nation as the main political power in Europe. Of course, the
nationalists never mention this differences and point out that the inclusion of English as the single official language of the Union will have mainly a cultural effect on Europe, abolishing the nations as cultural identities, making all of us the same, instead of speaking about the political consequences of the integration as a whole, and the English language in particular.

8- The creation of a more united Europe with a single voice in the world. The integration of Europe is also a consequence of the globalization of the world affairs, and the necessity of the Europeans of having a saying in the development of the world. As the states of the continent where used to play predominant role in the international arena, with European empires all over the globe, as the Spanish Empire, the French Empire, The British Empire, the German influence in many parts of the world, or even the Russian expansion in Asia. After the IIWW the world was divided in two areas of influence dominated by USSR and USA, none of them properly European states, even when their links with Europe are undeniable. The European states used to spread with their political dominance over the world their own languages. And hence Spanish is the mother tongue of millions of Americans, French is the lingua franca of important parts of Africa, and English was used in the worldwide British Empire as the official language. The victory of USA in the Cold War and the current domination of the North Americans in the international affairs mean the substitution of UK as an important global player, but the continuity of English as the common language of the world, the real international language. The importance of the European states currently is much reduced and their capacity of influencing the international arena is based on common decisions in the framework of the European Union, making good the motto of united we stand. The external relations of the Union are mainly conducted in English, French and Spanish depending on the area of the world, and it will follow in this way in the context of bilateral relations. Nevertheless, in the world institutions, the Union should work with English as its only official language in order to have a good communication between the European Union officials, and also to increase the effectiveness of the European actions. In the middle term, the creation of a Common Defense Policy depends on the development of a common language. This is the most obvious case, if a soldier cannot understand the commands of an officer; the result will be a catastrophe. There has been a long debate about the necessity of a Common European Army in order to increase the international influence of Europe, as an alternative to the American dominance of the world, or the rise of other powers as China. The inclusion of English as the sole official language of the Union will be a necessary step for the consecution of this project.<fnref n="1" />

## CONCLUSIONS

The development of English as the only official language of the Union should be done in a progressive way, step by step, but with a firm tendency to this goal. It is clear this necessity for the European Union in particular and for the European people in general, so it is an action needed in order to improve the integration and the benefits of it. The main opponents to this important reform of the Union are the nations and the incapability of a wide part of the European population to speak this language. The nation will try to keep the political power in the national level, and hence will combat aggressively the introduction of a common language in Europe, even when the benefits will be bigger than the losses for the common citizens. And the strategy used will be moving the debate from a political perspective to a cultural ground. The only way to defeat this opposition will be increasing the powers of the European institutions and wait for their determination in the European building process. For the problem of the European population who does not speak English, the solution is easier, education. The member states should increase their investments in education and promote the English language with different measures. Obviously there are reasons for the widely use of English in Denmark, and the small portion of population who is able to speak the language in Spain, and they are merely educational reasons. So, the member states should investigate and use the knowhow of the most developed states in terms of learning English to implement similar measures all over Europe.

<footnote n="1">¹ http://www.stirringtroubleinternationally.com/2010/01/25/european-union-common-everything/</footnote>
Another problem could be the predominance of the British and Irish citizens in the political arena as they have English as their native language in a political Europe with English as official language. Nevertheless, here could be debated the role of the British English and the continental English in the European relations.

Another complains will be the representation in the European level of the best linguistics of each member state instead of the best technicians or politicians, in other words, the politicians who speak English and the ones who do not. The inclusion of English should be gradual, adapting to the current reality, but fostering the learning of English for the future. It cannot be done at once, because certainly will left outside the European integration an important group of population, but it should be promoted with a clear deadline for those interested in participating in the European level for learning and communicating in English. The best way to deal with a common language would be the definition of this language as the sole official language of the organization, the promotion of the education and the learning of this language and the inclusion of this language as co official language in the member states following the current model of many European States where there are more than one official language, as Spain, France or United Kingdom. It just need a political push in order to increase the communication among Europeans and increase the effectiveness and development of the European Union and create some kind of European identity, basic for the challenges of Europe in the XXI century.

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<figure><img src="image_34.png" /></figure>
European Higher Education Reforms
in the Light of the Autonomy of Universities

DR. TANEL KERIKMÄE

Jean Monnet Professor, Tallinn Law School, Tallinn University of Technology

AIVI REMMELG

Tallinn University of Technology

**Abstract:** The basis for EU competitiveness in the global market depends directly from qualified labor market that depends on quality of universities. Recent reforms in several member states are shaking one of the ground principles in the higher education i.e the autonomy of universities. As education is not the exclusive competence area of the European Union and the strategies of the member states differ, the standards, expectations in higher education may also be very different. The authors analyse the role of university autonomy as a prerequisite for efficiency and sustainability of educational reforms.

**Key words:** European higher education, university autonomy, educational strategy, educational policy, educational reforms, quality in higher education

# 1. INTRODUCTION: REASONS FOR REFORMS

The reforms during last decades in field of higher education have contributed to significant changes in European higher education system. Although the education has never been an area belonging under *Rechtsgemeinschaft* of European Union, the need for such reforms was inspired from the objective of turning the EU into world's most competitive knowledge oriented economic area. The obvious purpose of the changes was to increase effectiveness and flexibility, relying on practical administrative experience of the private sector,<fnref n="1" /> whereas allowing the universities more autonomy should contribute to more efficient use of national facilities.<fnref n="2" /> The “Europe 2020” emphasizes that a better education will contribute to improvement of current employment situation and shall help to reduce poverty; moreover given strategy will be used in every EU Member State as a foundation in accordance with local conditions.<fnref n="3" /> The substance of the higher educational management is the formation of previously EU level accepted strategies and policies, with the further aim to create opportunities to put given experience into practice on national level.

Already in 1988, the rectors of European Universities formally signed the *Magna Charta Universitatum*<fnref n="4" /> in Bologna with the intention of assigning the common values of European universities as well as intensifying the cooperation between the universities. The compilation of the declaration was based on the need to “modernize” the universities in order to ensure that Member States would be prepared to contribute to contemporary globalized and knowledge-oriented world. Remarkably, the *Magna Chartas Universitatum* enacts the universities’ institutional autonomy as well as independence from the political, economical and ideological power.<fnref n="5" />

The UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education in Paris, 1998, adverted that in order to improve the living standards, it is relevant to develop alternative study possibilities and “new types of higher education institutions”.<fnref n="6" /> The UNESCO conference adopted initial declarations which were

<footnote n="1">¹ Varghese, N.V. (2000). Incentives and Institutional Changes in Higher Education. *Higher Education Management and Policy*, Vol 16, No 1, 32.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Salter, B. Tapper, T. (2000). The Politics of Governance in Higher Education: The Case of Quality Assurance. *Political Studies*, Vol 48, 66-87.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Europe 2020.“ Available: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020, 20.03.2012.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ *Magna Charta Universitatum*, Available: http://www.aic.lv/bolona/Bologna/maindoc/magnaCarta_univ_.pdf.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵ Magna Charta Universitatum.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶ *Higher Education in the Twenty-First Century: Vision and Action*, 9 October 1998. Available: http://www.unesco.org/education/educprog/wche/declaration_eng.htm, 12.01.2012</footnote>
prerequisite to reforms in European higher education system with the purpose of ensuring competitive and qualified higher education in the international level. As to realize such goals, the Bologna Declaration was adopted more than a decade ago, with further aim to adopt education systems based on two cycles, comparable degrees and qualifications, as well as to guide the assessment of curricula capacity and advancement in European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS).<fnref n="1" /> Further important objectives include supporting the mobility and ensuring the quality.<fnref n="2" /> The Bologna declaration initiated the so called Bologna Process, by giving an important impulse to developments of a common European higher education system. The further aim of what was the creation of a single higher educational area by the year 2010.<fnref n="3" />

The European University Association (EUA), has been observing the success of the reforms in different universities, and presented public reports including analysis and comparisons. EUA has, by prioritizing the importance of autonomy, enacted numerous declarations: the Salamanca Declaration (2001), pinpointing that autonomy and accountability are the main principles which need to be ensured by legal regulations; the Graz Declaration (2003), highlighting the cooperation of different parties; the EUA Lisbon Declaration (2007), defining main components of autonomy – the academic, economic, personnel and organizational autonomy; while the Prague Declaration (2010) identified the 10 factors of success for the European universities for the next decade, including autonomy.<fnref n="4" /> By several authors, universities need more autonomy in order to serve the society better with the means of shaping inner structures, choosing and educating personnel, creating new *curricula* and using monetary means in accordance with actual needs.<fnref n="5" />

The Bologna process is furthermore being supported by the Lisbon Strategy (2000), however, the expected success was not achieved and thus the process has been recommenced repetitively, while setting new goals.<fnref n="6" /> In 2005, the focus was on achieving economic growth and creating new and better working places with special focus on knowledge, innovation and valuation of human resources.<fnref n="7" /> There are also national strategies: for example, the Estonian Lisbon Strategy Action Plan<fnref n="8" />, emphasizes that the education must be qualitative, ensuring readiness for lifelong studying, taking into account the needs of economy and employment market as well as considering the interests of the student.

The changes in field of higher education have contributed to significant increase in the number of students and are turning higher education from elite education to mass education. Developments brought by market economy led to establishment of numerous new universities, new curricula were opened, and in addition to common curricula, study opportunities were created to non-traditional target groups (e.g. distance education, further education or retraining, rise of average age of students, etc.). The competition requirements put the universities in situation where they had to prove the efficiency of their activities; making changes in administration and financing have turned universities into market oriented organizations.<fnref n="9" /> “Activists in field of higher education must be economically rational and sustainable. The economical indications have become primary in order to evaluate the sustainability of universities and level of educational institutions.”<fnref n="10" />

The primary aim of universities – qualitative study and research activities are not always taken
account those who plan national educational reforms although inspired from high-minded ideas deriving

<footnote n="1">¹ ECTS - *European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System*.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² *Progress Towards the Lisbon Objectives in Education and Training*, (2006).</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Praque communique. May 2001. Available: www.ehea.info/aricle-details.aspx?ArticleId=43, 10.01.2012.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ Estermann,T., Nokkala, T., Steinel, M. *University Autonomy in Europe II. The Scorecard*. EUA Publications 2011.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵ Estermann,T., Nokkala, T., Steinel, M. *University Autonomy in Europe II. The Scorecard*. EUA Publications 2011.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶ Andoura, S., Timmermann, P. Governance of the EU: The Reform Debate on European Agencies Reignited. European Policy Institutes Network. Working Paper, No 19, 2008.</footnote>

<footnote n="7">⁷ *Ibid*.</footnote>

<footnote n="8">⁸ Eesti majanduskasvu ja tööhõive kava 2008-2011 Lissaboni strateegia rakendamiseks. 2008. Available:
http://www.riigikantselei.ee/failid/MTTK_2008_2011_EST_kujundusega3.pdf.</footnote>

<footnote n="9">⁹ Gumport, P., Sporn, B. (1999). *Institutional Adaption: Demands for Management Reform and University Administration*. NCPI Technical Report no 1-07. Available: www.stanford.edu, 20.01.2012.</footnote>

<footnote n="10">¹⁰ Kerikmäe, T. Õigushariduse ja juristikutse ühtlustamise probleemid Euroopa Liidus. 2007. Available:
http://www.iuridicum.ee/public/files/30paevad/30Kerikmae.rtf, 2.02.2012.</footnote>
from consensual EU level. The quality depends on control mechanisms and supervision, the regulations of which are in the competence of domestic law. The authors claim that frequent reforms and increasing financial control, regulated by Member States, are not in conformity with the resolution of the representatives of the EU Member States governments, in which it is emphasized that in order to organize higher education, higher education institutions must be able to adapt with changing situation, they need to be supported in elaboration of administration, and that is done by ensuring them sufficient autonomy. <fnref n="1" />

Lack of resources which followed the economic crisis, has led to stricter control over the budget of universities; likewise, it has increased administrative burden as well as reduced economical autonomy of academia; nevertheless, it is exactly during the economic crisis when the universities need new challenges and accepting that necessity needs extensive support from the government.<fnref n="2" />

The respect to autonomy as well as academic freedom have played a significant role in applying the Bologna Process. In 2001, the Salamanca Declaration provided that the European universities have the right to act in accordance with principles of autonomy, as is enacted in the *Magna Charta Universitatum*.<fnref n="3" />

“Freedom in research and training is the fundamental European value, and governments and universities; each as far as in them lies, must ensure respect for this fundamental requirement. The Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU declaims in Article 13 that “[t]he arts and scientific research shall be free of constraint. Academic freedom shall be respected.”<fnref n="4" /> However, mere declarations do not guarantee the autonomy if the national strategies ignore it directly or indirectly. The authors shall investigate factors, emerging from reforms that have the most influence on autonomy of universities.

## 2. REGULATING EMPLOYMENT MARKET

Since the 1990s, both the financing and administration of higher education institutions have been changed. Mainly State regulated and financed higher education system has been turned into rather market-oriented organization, by virtue of which increases the proportion of financing of private sector and inclusion of universities to national policy making,<fnref n="5" /> which is satisfying the needs of employment market according to what society demands.

The higher education system, must take into account the current situation of the employment market, whereas the demand for the former grows gradually in parallel with economical and technological developments.<fnref n="6" /> Assuredly, human resources progressively become more crucial in the development of world economy; and therefore, it become important to contribute to improvement of quality of human resources, by improving the quality of education.<fnref n="7" /> According to Lomas' conception,<fnref n="8" /> improving the quality of higher education contributes to socio-economic development of the states – the universities must adapt to new circumstances, whereby, one the one hand, they have an obligation to ensure qualitative higher education and on the other hand, they must also take into account the market demand. Thus, the needs of the parties (state, employment market, universities and students) must be balanced or as one of the authors has concluded, “If the market demand is the absolute indicator, then the academic freedom has been taken away, the innovation has been constrained. If the university teaches according to a curriculum which ignores the market demand or students’ vision, then the graduates cannot find a job. If

<footnote n="1">¹ Resolution C 292, 24/11/2005, p 0001 – 0002.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Bologna process– reforming universities during next decade. Brussels 22.04.2009. IP/09/615. Available: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/09/615&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=fr, 10.01.2012.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Karran, T. (2007). Academic Freedom in Europe: A Preliminary Comparative Analysis. *Higher Education Policy*, no 20, 289–313.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ *Ibid*., 290.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵ Andoura, S., Timmermann, P. *Governance of the EU: The Reform Debate on European Agencies Reignited*. European Policy Institutes Network. Working Paper, No 19, 2008.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶ Kanep, H. (2005). „Analüüs erinevate koolitusvaldkondade lõpetanute seisundite kohta tööturul ametialade, haridustasemete ja majandusharude lõikes.” Poliitikauuringute Keskus Praxis, Tallinn.</footnote>

<footnote n="7">⁷ *Learning for All. Investing in Peoples Knowledges and Skills to Promote Development*. World Bank Education Strategy 2020. Available: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EDUCATION/, 20.03.2012.</footnote>

<footnote n="8">⁸ Lomas, L. (2004) „Embedding quality: the challenges for Higher education.” *Quality Assurance in Education*, Vol. 12, No. 4, 157-165.</footnote>
the student has an excessive freedom of choice of study according to market demand, the employer shall most likely be disappointed.”<fnref n="1" />

A survey conducted by PRAXIS indicates that people with higher education are more successful in the employment market; moreover, it confirms the hypothesis based on human resource theory, claiming that people with higher education have a higher salary.<fnref n="2" /> Several surveys demonstrate that in the richest countries of the world, proportionality of people with higher education is significantly bigger than in poorer countries.<fnref n="3" /> Even though the economic crisis has increased the unemployment among people with higher education, the unemployment rate, especially as compared to people with lower education, is relatively low. For example, according to Statistics Estonia, approximately 9100 people with higher education were unemployed in 2009, thus, the unemployment rate in given group is 5,1%.<fnref n="4" />

Market orientation has increased the number of students, which in turn is associated with the issue of quality. The World Bank report raises a need to pay closer attention to issues of quality, connected with inefficient quality control over curricula.<fnref n="5" /> Insofar as higher education is globalized and the competitiveness of universities in the employment market defines their teaching quality in an international context,<fnref n="6" /> it is clear that the curriculum should rather meet the needs of the employment market, which presupposes more efficient cooperation between different parties. UNESCO directs attention to the fact that the expeditious increase in educational services exceeds the existing infrastructures and might have a negative outcome on quality of study results, especially since the primary goal is not only to increase the number of students but rather to develop a thoroughly functional system.<fnref n="7" /> Despite the apparent fact that proportion of people with higher education is very good in rate of employment, the substance of curricula does not meet the needs of the employment market. This concern has, for example, examined in Estonia. The Estonian Human Development Report accentuates that the presentation of number of students graduating is deceptive, and might differ from the actual situation.<fnref n="8" /> Big proportion of CEO-s and high officials conduct the work of regular office workers, whereas the area of technology uses workforce with low qualifications.<fnref n="9" />

Increase in number of students acquiring higher education in the early years of reforms enhanced radically government's spending on higher education, which in turn brought about competition with other related national spheres (e.g. basic education, health care, environmental protection).<fnref n="10" /> The aforementioned raised a need to limit the national funding of universities and since the resources were being reduced, it was important to find new opportunities.<fnref n="11" /> National reforms contributed to greater independence of universities, which allowed them to receive additional financial resources from tuition fees and from the private sector.<fnref n="12" />

<footnote n="1">¹ Kerikmäe, T. (2011). Prerequisites for European higher education in the context of Globalized Market. European Conference on "Higher Education in the Framework of the 2020 European Union's Strategy", Lisbon, 10th and 11th November. (Toim.) Prof. Fausto de Quadros, 2011.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Kraut, L. (2005). „Kõrghariduse omandanute ja õpingud katkestanute võrdlus töötasult laekunud tulumaksu põhjal.” Poliitikauuringute Keskus Praxis, Tallinn.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Lundvall, B. (2007). *Higher Education, Innovation and Economic Development*. World Bank's Regional Bank Conference on Development Economics, Beijing, January 16-17, 2007.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ Ülevaade kõrghariduspoliitika arengutest 2006-2009. Haridus ja teadusministeerium. Kinnitatud Vabariigi Valitsuse poolt 16.09.2010.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵ Lundvall, B. (2007).</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶ Altbach, P.G. (2004). Globalisation and the University: Myth and realities in an Unequal World. *Tertiary Education and Management*, Vol 10, No 1 3-25, 5.</footnote>

<footnote n="7">⁷ UNESCO (2005).</footnote>

<footnote n="8">⁸ Eesti inimarengu aruanne 2007</footnote>

<footnote n="9">⁹ Eesti inimarengu aruanne 2007.</footnote>

<footnote n="10">¹⁰ Johnstone, B., Arora, A., Experton, W. (1998). *The financing and Management of higher Education: A Status Report on Worldwide reforms*. Available: http://www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/educ/postbasc.htm, 20.01.2012.</footnote>

<footnote n="11">¹¹ Sporn, B. (1999). Towards More Adaptive Universities: Trends of Institutional Reform in Europe. *Higher Education in Europe*, Vol 24, No 1, 23-33.</footnote>

<footnote n="12">¹² Gumport, P., Sporn, B. (1999). Institutional Adaption: Demands for Management Reform and University Administration. NCPI Technical Report no 1-07. Available: www.stanford.edu, 20.01.2012.</footnote>
Higher education reforms put the emphasis on regulation of previously centralised and state oriented higher education system by increasing the autonomy of universities as well as shifting them to be more market oriented.<fnref n="1" /> Such tendency has an effect of turning universities into enterprises close to private sector, which in turn creates a new contradiction. The higher education policy is nationally an important sphere (teaching and scientific developments), whereas at the same time, the universities need to, according to the market situation and market principles, earn profit and finance themselves effectively.<fnref n="2" /> The aforementioned contradiction has created a situation where the state's national reforms are delegating the responsibilities to universities, and the state is losing control over a sphere very important to society as a whole.<fnref n="3" />

The higher education reforms have not, despite numerous new tendencies, had the expected economical effect. Increasing the autonomy of universities implies greater responsibility, yet, the frequent reforms have drawn the attention to economical well-being of universities. The state has ceded the decision-making and liability to universities, and consequently is losing the control over formulation of national employment policy and thus, according to the authors, the balancing of needs of the employment market is being delayed. In order to find out what the employment market actually needs and expects, it is vital to conduct thorough analysis and research, so as to accurately shape national policy in this regard.

As emphasized in the introduction speech to "Europe 2020" by J. M. Barroso, every Member State is responsible for their own education system, the policies of the union are meant to support national activities in satisfying the needs of the employment market as well as to increase competitiveness in an international level.<fnref n="4" />

### 3. "QUALITY" AS A GOAL OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION REFORMS

Derived from the Bologna Process, the purpose of universities is to ensure qualitative education as a parameter of what society expects. Next to reforming higher education, the importance of ensuring qualitative education and scientific research has also been underlined, whereas more attention should be paid to qualifications of lecturers, suitability of curricula, improving evaluation and selection of students.<fnref n="5" /> Granting the universities greater authority goes hand-in-hand with giving them greater responsibility, accountability of their own actions as well as national surveillance over universities' actions. In educational institutions, evaluation of quality is being done on the basis of autonomy and since the government has not established a formal control, the procedures are being inspected formally.<fnref n="6" /> The basic right of universities is autonomy, hence, besieging such right by strict precepts and controlling mechanisms may lead to negative results.<fnref n="7" />

Global educational reforms done for the purpose of improving quality are based on different paradigms and theories, which could be observed in three stages. Since 1970, the reforms were mainly determined to organizations' internal effectiveness with focused studies and teaching methods as well as processes.<fnref n="8" /> Since 1990-s, in addition to previously mentioned, in virtue of accountability in public and conformance of quality to what the parties had expected, the internal and external parties' contentment

<footnote n="1">¹ King, R. (2007). Governance and accountability in the higher education regulatory state. *Higher Education*, 53, 412.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² King, R.P. (2007), 415.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Johnstone, B., Arora, A., Experton, W. (1998). *The financing and Management of higher Education: A Status Report on Worldwide reforms*. Available: http://www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/educ/postbasc.htm, 20.01.2012.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ Europe 2020. Available: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020/documents/president-barroso-on-europe2020/index_en. Johnstone, B., et al. (1998)..htm, 20.01.2012.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵ Johnstone, B., Arora, A., Experton, W. (1998). *The financing and Management of higher Education: A Status Report on Worldwide reforms*. Available: http://www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/educ/postbasc.htm, 20.01.2012.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶ Eesti avalike ülikoolide õppetegevuse ühtne kvaliteedijuhtimise süsteem. Kvaliteedikäsiraamat (2004). MTÜ Rektorite Nõukogu, Haridus- ja teadusministeerium.</footnote>

<footnote n="7">⁷ Srikanthan, G., Darlymple, J. (2007) „A conceptual overview of a holistic model for quality in higher education.” *International Journal of Educational Management*, Vol. 21, No. 3, 175.</footnote>

<footnote n="8">⁸ Cheng, Y., C. (2003) „Quality assurance in education: internal, interface, and future”. *Quality assurance in education*. Vol. 11, No. 4, 202-213.</footnote>
was to be added.<fnref n="1" /> Future quality assessment shall put the emphasis on lifelong learning, global networking, internationalism and wider usage of information and technology.<fnref n="2" />

Quality is an important term in higher education and it is also situated in midst of reforms, however, in order to manage and control the quality, it first needs to be made clear, what is the quality in higher education. Definition of quality in higher education institutions is different. According to the assessment criteria of higher education quality by OECD and UNESCO, quality stands for certain fixed standards or it is attributed via quality control.<fnref n="3" /> In context of education it is understood as conformity of institutional processes and policy quality assurance with basic standards.<fnref n="4" /> Many universities have found that the definition of quality “in conformity with standards” is too narrow, and it has been replaced by the term “client satisfaction,” thus, more attention is being paid to processes of quality administration and to relationships with clients.<fnref n="5" /> Emphasis on quality in education is a dialogue between teacher and student with the aim to achieve learning outcome, while other parties are interested in its performance as well.<fnref n="6" />

Interpretation of quality as transformation is derived from changing expectancies and needs of students.<fnref n="7" /> Due to the fact that more and more students are studying in international programmes (over the last 25 years, mobility has risen over 300%), higher standards are set for the quality of what is taught and thus it motivates universities to accentuate the issue of quality.<fnref n="8" />

Difficulties in defining quality are in many ways related to differences in public and private sector. In education system, not only quality assessment but also organisational management is relying on quality management principles, which, in private sector, stresses satisfaction of the client and hence has given exceptional results.<fnref n="9" /> The central idea of quality management is consumer orientation, which in private sector is defined with the satisfaction of end consumer of certain product or service.<fnref n="10" /> In scientific communities, there is still no consensus concerning the issue of who is the client in higher education. Mintzberg stresses that “consumers of education service as consumers of certain public service cannot be regarded as clients; they are rather taxpayers and citizens with citizenship rights, to whom a state is providing services.”<fnref n="11" />

In education sector, it is important to firstly identify potential parties so as to take into account their expectancies of quality.<fnref n="12" /> From one side, the students, academics and personnel; and on the other side, employers, government, administration of a university, potential future students as well as their parents, etc., who might have different anticipation of the quality.<fnref n="13" /> In order to conduct a quality assessment in public sector, all parties are being involved, whereas in fact, the proficiency of each consumer and service provider is different. Since the evaluation of quality largely depends on consumer awareness and perception, the aforementioned has a special meaning in education sector.<fnref n="14" /> The impact on quality, derived from different value judgments<fnref n="15" /> occurs while making practical decisions concerning development

<footnote n="1">¹ Cheng, Y., C. (2003).</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² *Ibid*., 210.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Mizikaci, F. (2006) „A system approach to program evaluation model for quality in higher education.” *Quality assurance in Education*, Vol. 14, No. 1, 39.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ *Ibid*., 40.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵ Brigham, S., E. (1993). „Lessons we can learn from industry”. *Change*, Vol. 25, No. 3, 42-46.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶ Redmond, R., Curtis, E., Noone, T., Kennan, P. (2008) „Quality in Higher Education. The Contribution of Edward Deming’s principles”. *International Journal of Educational Management*, Vol. 22, Issue 5, 436.</footnote>

<footnote n="7">⁷ Srikanthan, G., Darlymple, J. (2007) „A conceptual overview of a holistic model for quality in higher education.” *International Journal of Educational Management*, Vol. 21, No. 3, 175.</footnote>

<footnote n="8">⁸ Parthasarathy, M., Rapur, N., Krishnan, P. (2005) *Criteria That Influence The Quality of Higher Education – A Student’s Perspective*. ITHET 6th Annual International Conference, July 2005, Dominican Republic.</footnote>

<footnote n="9">⁹ Hewitt, F., Clayton, M. (1999) „Quality and complexity – lessons from English higher education”. *International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management*, Vol. 16, No 9, 838-858.</footnote>

<footnote n="10">¹⁰ Oakland, J. (2006) „Terviklik kvaliteedijuhtimine.” Tallinn, Külim.</footnote>

<footnote n="11">¹¹ Mintzberg, H. (1996). „Managing Government.” *Harvard Business Review*, May-June 1996.</footnote>

<footnote n="12">¹² Parthasarathy, M., *et al*. (2005).</footnote>

<footnote n="13">¹³ Becket, N., Brookes, M. (2005) „Analysing Quality Audits in Higher Education”. *Brookes e-Journal of Learning and Teaching*, Vol. 2, Issue 1, 3.</footnote>

<footnote n="14">¹⁴ Walsh, K. (1991). Quality and Public services. *Public administration*. Vol 69, Winter 1991.</footnote>

<footnote n="15">¹⁵ Walsh, K. (1991).</footnote>
of subjects and curricula (feedback), providing reports on self-evaluation and accreditation (biased presentation of data), applications for national support (money!), etc.<fnref n="1" /> Meanwhile, individual differences on quality requirements also have an impact, which could be regarded as one of the specifics of educational services<fnref n="2" /> - namely, some students, since they contribute to quality in accordance with their motivation and interests, regard their studies differently, as well as do some participants of evaluation process.<fnref n="3" /> Based on previously mentioned, interdependence of parties becomes detectable, on one side, in elaboration of curricula, evaluation, etc., while on the other, in alteration of roles. Inasmuch as students are future representatives of the society, their interests and values might change.

By virtue of specificity of education sector, quality, in terms of education, is most often handled as a sum of elements, which fully satisfies the expectations and needs of the parties, whereas their indicators of quality expectations might differ.<fnref n="4" /> In academic communities, people are being unanimous – the approach to quality assessment must be based on scientific methods.<fnref n="5" />

Educational quality is a dynamic conception, which represents the relationship between educational purposes,<fnref n="6" /> the final parameter of which is “the end result of students’ actual capabilities,” what the graduates truly know and what they can use; therefore, the emphasis is on assessment of education by learning outcomes,<fnref n="7" /> as well as “promotion of high quality studies and teaching” and “accountability of higher education institutions.”<fnref n="8" />

Granting the universities greater autonomy, goes hand-in-hand with giving them greater responsibility and control over fulfilling the results. In terms of accreditation, it is important to apply quality management system, which needs special attention on strategic processes (e.g., action plan for courses, realization and division of resources in order to fulfil the purposes).<fnref n="9" /> In order to achieve the aim, the management must conduct continuous supervision, leadership, cooperation and feedback between all the parties,<fnref n="10" /> nonetheless, scientific literature approaches the educational strategies in a narrow sense and from a systematic position, which arises from differences of management in business sector as well as identifying the approach with strategic leadership and management.<fnref n="11" />

## 4. INTEREST-GROUPS ATTRACTED TO SHAPING OF THE HIGHER EDUCATION POLICY

In support of the European Commission, the European Parliament and the Council, the purpose of the reforms is to achieve compatibility and comparability of European higher education systems, as well as improving their competitiveness throughout the world. Given process has attracted and it is being influenced by several noted world organizations;<fnref n="12" /> international and regional working groups; in the same way, providers of higher education; local governments; accreditation bodies and assurers of quality; student unions, etc.,<fnref n="13" /> the aforementioned is, on analysis of the author, the cause of large variety of different approaches.

<footnote n="1">¹ Becket, N., Brookes, M. (2005), 2.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Walsh, K. (1991), 509.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Becket, N., Brookes, M. (2005), 3.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ Robinson, D. (2005) „GATS and the OECD/UNESCO Guidelines and the Academic Profession.” *International Higher Education*, Spring 2005, No. 39, 1-5.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵ Eacott, S. (2008) „Strategy in educational leadership: in search of unity.” *Journal of Educational Administration*, Vol. 46, No. 3, 353-357.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶ Mizikaci, F. (2006), 40</footnote>

<footnote n="7">⁷ *Progress Towards the Lisbon Objectives in Education and Training*. (2006).</footnote>

<footnote n="8">⁸ *Progress Towards the Lisbon Objectives in Education and Training*. (2006).</footnote>

<footnote n="9">⁹ Harvey, L. (1995) „Beyond TQM.” *Quality in Higher Education*, Vol.1, No.2, 123-146.</footnote>

<footnote n="10">¹⁰ Friedman, A., A. (2004) „Beyond mediocrity: transformational leadership within a transactional framework.” *International Journal of Leadership on Education*, Vol. 7, No. 3, 203-224, 214.</footnote>

<footnote n="11">¹¹ Eacott, S. (2008), 358.</footnote>

<footnote n="12">¹² *World Trade Organization (WTO), General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), Organization for Economic Coopertaion and Development (OECD) ja United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).*</footnote>

<footnote n="13">¹³ Robinson, D. (2005); Kenny, A. (2006) „The emergence of Quality Assurance in Irish Higher Education. A review of European and national policy and description of the Dublin Institute of Technology practice.” *Social Science Research Network*. Level 3, No 4, august 2006.</footnote>
Over the last decade, the comprehension of classical university model has gradually shifted towards consideration of a university as an organisation of interest groups, and thus it presupposes taking into account interests of different parties.<fnref n="1" /> At university level, inclusion of external staff is mostly done due to their participation in governing body; the latter is especially frequent in states with two-tier governance systems.<fnref n="2" /> It does not mean that they merely have advising tasks, on the contrary, they are also able to fully participate in the decision making process.<fnref n="3" /> Therefore, the state enacted university autonomy might be suppressed by interest groups of external parties, which indicates that in the classical sense, the universities are no longer autonomous and independent.<fnref n="4" /> Inclusion of external parties presupposes mutual understanding and will of cooperation; such decisions cannot be made by supremacy.<fnref n="5" /> The quality control has an effect of changing the assessment of external parties more objective, it contributes to changes of formal quantitative indicators.<fnref n="6" /> According to OECD experts, during revisions of curricula and school-adjusted standards, it is detectable that they emphasize qualitative aspects, whereas enactments of legislation focus on formal and quantitative measures.<fnref n="7" />

Even though judicially, the Bologna Declaration may be considered as non-binding,<fnref n="8" /> it is still being used as a magic argument by adversative interest groups to argue for their point of view.<fnref n="9" /> The higher education reform being carried out in Estonia is an example of how different parties are trying to reach a consensus in amending the law. Different interest groups, such as rectors of universities, students as well as the public are included in the debate; whereby the most debated issue is limitation of autonomy of universities. The president refused to proclaim the Universities Act, claiming that it was in contravention of the constitution and limited the autonomy. Neither the Government of the Republic nor the minister has the right to limit the legal capacity of a university, or to regulate issues which are in the competence of the university.<fnref n="10" />

Diversity of different starting points is on the one hand related to numerous parties with different interests, and on the other hand, to aims and instruments of higher education policy, what issues and how they need to be solved. Inclusion of external parties in the administration of the universities or in the quality assessment might have an effect on the autonomy since the decision making process defines their actual awareness and motivation. According to the authors, in order to satisfy the needs of the community, it is of utmost importance to take into account viewpoints of different interest groups and thus to reach a consensus.

## 5. CONCLUSION: CONFLICTS IN HIGHER EDUCATION POLICIES

According to their characteristics, changes in education policy are enduring;<fnref n="11" /> therefore, all the decisions must be especially well-reasoned.<fnref n="12" /> Discontentment with the reforms is usually a result of them being unreasoned and inefficient. In order to synchronize the process, most attention needs to be paid to

<footnote n="1">¹ Bleiklie, I., Kogan, M. (2007). Organization and Governance of Universities. Higher Education Policy, No 20, 478.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Karran, T. (2007). Academic Freedom in Europe: A Preliminary Comparative Analysis. *Higher Education Policy*, no 20, 289–313.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Huisman, J., Santiago, P., Högselius, P., Lemaitre M., J., Thorne, W. (2007) OECD kolmanda taseme hariduse temaatiline ülevaade. Eesti. Tartu 2007, 51.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ Caughey, D., Chatfield, S., Cohon, A. (2009). Defining, Mapping, and Measuring Bureaucratic Autonomy. University of California, Berkeley. Midwest Political Science Association Annual Conference.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵ *The shift to learning outcomes Conceptual, political and practical developments in Europe.* European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training, 2008.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶ Huisman, J., et al., (2007), 55.</footnote>

<footnote n="7">⁷ Huisman, J., et al., (2007), 55.</footnote>

<footnote n="8">⁸ Garben, S. (2010). The Bologna Process: From a European Law Perspective. *European Law Journal*, Vol 16, no 2.</footnote>

<footnote n="9">⁹ Kerikmäe, T. Öigushariduse ja juristikutse ühtlustamise probleemid Euroopa Liidus. 2007. Available: http://www.iuridicum.ee/public/files/30paevad/30Kerikmae.rtf, 2.02.2012.</footnote>

<footnote n="10">¹⁰ Merusk, K. (1995).</footnote>

<footnote n="11">¹¹ Aher, G., Heinaru, A. (2005) *Haridus*. Available: http://www.agenda21.ee/, 26.01.2012.</footnote>

<footnote n="12">¹² Walsh, K. (1991), 511.</footnote>
the national level, where harmonization is most uneven.<fnref n="1" /> Amongst other things, the main cause of problems is limited autonomy of universities, increasing of which should help the universities to adjust to changing environment with more flexibility.<fnref n="2" />

Applying the education system based on two cycles also contributed to reforms of curricula; in that matter, both the students and tutors have been critical, experiencing the reforms as being suppressed on them and as being too formalized.<fnref n="3" /> The OECD has criticized Estonia in its Review of Tertiary Education for its unwillingness to pay attention to one of the sub-topics of social dimension – creating equal opportunities to access education.<fnref n="4" /> Purpose of given dimension is to reduce dropping out and to provide equal opportunities to access higher education irrespective of students socio-economic background. Alas, the review of practicing higher education policy specifies that higher education with social dimensions has not made any progression so far.<fnref n="5" /> “In order to even the impacts of economic crisis, [–].”<fnref n="6" />

According to UNESCO, one of the most dramatic developments over the last decade in many countries regarding higher education is swift tendency to turn educational services into “international commerce.”²⁷ Propagation of free commerce in educational services guarantees market access to all service providers, which in turn may allow access for diplomas of doubtful value.<fnref n="8" /> With the intention of excluding such behaviour, and so as to support rapid internationalism, it is vital for the strengthening of quality of higher education to create similar assessment criteria and standards, comparable degrees and requirements to capacity of evaluation of studies, which are important to protect the students,<fnref n="9" /> not done for commercial purposes.<fnref n="10" />

Critique of reinforcement of quality is based on, for example, lack of determined objective, laying emphasis on short-term results, evaluation of outcome, lack of consistency in administration as well as highlighting quantitative indicators in outcome assessment, etc.<fnref n="11" /> Emphasis on ensuring qualitative learning activities<fnref n="12" /> must draw the attention of supervisory authorities from administration to reason why students are studying in the first place.<fnref n="13" /> Administration has not proved its cost-effectiveness or reasoned how a university, which has passed external evaluation, has turned out to be more successful.<fnref n="14" /> Quality assessors do not share given point of view,<fnref n="15" /> deeming it necessary to apply assessment based on international standards, so as to ensure comparable quality and to avoid manufacturing flaws of “diploma factories.”<fnref n="16" /> Regardless, research in innovation field stresses the need to shift from bureaucratic

<footnote n="1">¹ Huisman, J., et al., (2007), 7.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Kerikmäe, T. Õigushariduse ja juristikutse ühtlustamise probleemid Euroopa Liidus. 2007.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Kährik, A. Öppekavade toimimise uuring. Tartu Ülikool, Avatud ülikooli keskus, 2007.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ Huisman, J., et al., (2007), 7.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵ Bologna protsess Eestis 2004-2008. SA Archimedes, 2008.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶ Ülevaade kõrghariduspoliitika arengutest 2006-2009. Haridus ja teadusministeerium. Kinnitatud Vabariigi Valitsuse poolt 16.09.2010.</footnote>

<footnote n="7">⁷ UNESCO (2005).</footnote>

<footnote n="8">⁸ UNESCO (2005).</footnote>

<footnote n="9">⁹ Parthasarathy, M., et al. (2005).</footnote>

<footnote n="10">¹⁰ Robinson, D. (2005).</footnote>

<footnote n="11">¹¹ Badri, M., A., Selim, H., Alshare, K., Grandon, E., E., Younis, H. (2006). „The Baldridge Education Criteria for Performance Excellence Framework.” *International Journal of Quality & Reliability Management*, Vol. 23, No. 9, 1118-1157; Verlet, D., Devos, C. (2008) *Evaluation of performance in the public sector: end or mean*. Conference of the European Group of Public Administration. September 2008, Rotterdam.</footnote>

<footnote n="12">¹² Mizikaci, F. (2006), 39.</footnote>

<footnote n="13">¹³ Harvey, L. (1995), 128.</footnote>

<footnote n="14">¹⁴ Bradley, W., J., Schaefer, K., C. (1998) *The Uses and Misuses of Data and Models: The Mathematization of the Human Sciences*. SAGE Publications, Inc. Thousand Oaks London, New Dehli, 1-212.</footnote>

<footnote n="15">¹⁵ Biggs, J. (2001). „The reflective institution: assuring and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning.” *Higher Education*, No. 41, 221-238;
Kinght, P., Trowler, M. (2000). „Department-level cultures and the improvement of learning and teaching.” *Studies in Higher Education*, Vol. 25, No. 1, 69-83.</footnote>

<footnote n="16">¹⁶ Eaton, J., S. (2004) „National Leadership and International Quality Review in Higher Education.” *International Higher Education*, Winter 2004, No. 34, 1-3.</footnote>
organization to learning organization,<fnref n="1" /> which is characterized by constant improvement, willingness of change and willingness to learn.<fnref n="2" />

Multiplicity of viewpoints in academic discussions regarding management processes of higher education policy is perplexing; thus, in the author's standpoint there is no common approach in different countries.

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<figure><img src="image_35.png" /></figure>
# L'école, la république, et l'Union Européenne (UE) : le triangle des efforts. Comment batailler contre le décrochage scolaire ?

DR. HEDI SAIDI

Historien (France), Chevalier de la légion d'honneur
Chevalier des Palmes académiques

**Abstract:** This scourge throughout Europe is a matter of concern to European political leaders. School plays an important role in the lives of today's societies. It also contributes to social mobility. European states give much importance to the school and future citizens in the EU. Despite a great deal of investment and school projects, many young people leave school too early, without a diploma and without qualification. The European or even global phenomenon of early school leaving is a matter of concern to the EU leaders. Which strategy should we adopt? What measures to take urgently? What should we do to prevent milliards of young people from leaving school very early? What place must be given to learning? What European examples should we follow?

**Keywords:** school, education, early school leaving, European Union.

## INTRODUCTION

<figure><img src="image_36.png" /></figure>

En théorie l'école contribue aux trois dimensions, politique, culturelle et sociale. Elle est elle-même une structure contraignante et conditionnante, la première que les jeunes fréquentent sur la base d'une obligation de vivre ensemble et non sur celle d'une communauté de naissance ou d'affinités, le fameux *melting pot*, pré-figuration et modèle réduit de la nation,

par la transmission d'une même langue, elle permet aussi de construire le sentiment d'une appartenance solidaire à un même ensemble ; par l'apprentissage de normes et la formation professionnelle, elle contribue également à l'insertion sociale.

On pourrait s'en tenir à ce constat. Mais les mots ont aussi leurs charges idéologiques et, il faut le reconnaître, l'assimilation de nos jours n'a pas très bonne presse. Cette notion parait entachée d'un soupçon d'immoralité, en tout cas d'illégitimité. Assimiler, on le sent, ce n'est pas bien, c'est nier les particularités de l'Autre.

Pourtant comme le montre beaucoup de sociologues, l'assimilation culturelle continue de fonctionner, et l'école y a sa part.

La France, grande puissance, connaît un échec scolaire massif qui se traduit par la sortie du système d'environ 150.000 jeunes sans diplôme chaque année. Fortement inégalitaire, cet échec scolaire menace la cohésion sociale, à une époque où la réussite scolaire est un sésame de plus en plus indispensable à l'insertion sociale et professionnelle.

Au-delà des chiffres, c'est une réalité très difficile que vivent dans leur rapport à l'école, des milliers d'enfants et leur famille et dans une autre mesure les enseignants eux-mêmes. Le système scolaire est en effet caractérisé par une forte pression sur les élèves et leurs parents et par une compétition qui créent de la souffrance et nuisent à son efficacité.

Les spécialistes de l'éducation pensent qu'il faut passer d'un système de sélection à un modèle de promotion, d'où chaque enfant, quelles que soient ses difficultés et ses appétences, pourra sortir avec la qualification et les compétences nécessaires à son futur parcours, avec un rapport confiant aux apprentissages et une image positive de soi.

Ils ajoutent que ce ne sont pas des mesures, ni même des réformes aussi audacieuses soient-elles, qui suffiront à redonner à l'éducation son rôle premier et son efficacité.

Il faut aujourd'hui définir ensemble le modèle éducatif que nous souhaitons pour la société française.

C'est l'un des enjeux des prochaines années.
## UN APPRENTISSAGE COMPLEXE

On constate en France une hiérarchie historique entre savoir et savoir faire, théorie et pratique, concept et application et bien entendu entre enseignement général et enseignement professionnel. Elle n'est pas aussi marquée chez certaines voisines et parfois elle n'existe pas comme en Allemagne et dans les pays scandinaves.

Au moment de l'orientation de fin de la 3ème (collège), la hiérarchie entre le lycée général et le lycée professionnel est telle que celui-ci est voué à accueillir des élèves qui sont sélectionnés négativement en raison de leurs incapacités à satisfaire les critères scolaires. On s'oriente vers la voie générale, mais lorsqu'il s'agit d'aller en lycée professionnel on est orienté.

Cette orientation concerne davantage les élèves issus de milieux sociaux défavorisés et d'origine étrangère surtout. Le fonctionnement par élimination, par exclusion génère de grandes difficultés dans les lycées professionnels (violence, désintérêt, absentéisme...) d'autant qu'un nombre important d'élèves vont y suivre des spécialités de formations qu'ils n'ont pas choisies.

Que doit connaître un (e) élève d'aujourd'hui, de l'histoire nationale et universelle, de l'histoire de l'art, de la littérature mais encore du chant, du dessin, des sciences naturelles, de la géographie dans l'école, d'aujourd'hui ?

À vrai dire, les programmes actuels sont exigeants, ils sont jugés par certains élèves étouffants, noyant l'essentiel dans la routine. La tâche des enseignants est toujours de ramener leur enseignement à la clarté et à la simplicité, et sans perdre de vue l'éducation du jugement.

Aujourd'hui chacun le sait, l'école n'a plus la même situation dans la société actuelle qu'il y a trente ans Actuellement. Les élèves sont d'avance « éduqués » (ou déséduqués, selon le point de vue que l'on adopte), en dehors de l'école, par un système de communication dont ils sont les consommateurs privilégiés, à leur insu. L'école est tenue de faire ce qui a été défait par ce bain d'images et de bruits (parfois à tendance communautariste, il ne faut pas le négliger). Elle doit relativiser les idoles, construire l'attention, la concentration, la mémoire, la considération d'autrui. Il faut doter l'élève de cette arrière-boutique -au sens où l'entendait Montaigne- où il puisse prendre du recul vis-à-vis de la grande machine à émotions préfabriquées, de situations victimaires, tsunamis compassionnels et téléthons ethniques.<fnref n="1" />

## UN GRAND PRECURSEUR DE L'ECOLE: MONTAIGNE (1533-1592)

Humaniste, il apprend le latin qui devient sa langue maternelle. Entre au collège où il apprend le grec, le théâtre, le français, la rhétorique. Il a son bac. Fait des études de droit et de philosophie. En 1568, Montaigne s'enferme dans une tour (Rez-de-chaussée: Chapelle, 1er étage: chambre, 2e étage: bibliothèque.) et consacre son temps à l'étude et à la réflexion. Il voyage alors qu'il est atteint d'une maladie, en Allemagne, Autriche, Italie...

Essais : C'est en 1572 que Montaigne rédige les écrits cependant la première édition ne paraît qu'en1580. Ils contiennent en tout trois livres (107 chapitres) dans lesquels Montaigne examine de nombreux sujets. Dans un premier temps, il s'agit de réflexions tirées d'écrits anciens (Sénèque, Horace, Platon, Virgile...); puis ensuite, d'idées que présente et propose Montaigne. Dans le chapitre 26 « *De l'institution des enfants* », il écrit à Madame Diane de Foix, Comtesse de Gurson, qui attendait un enfant. Il lui propose une « bonne éducation » à la comtesse pour son enfant. Il critique l'éducation traditionnelle basée l'apprentissage par cœur. Dans le chapitre 14 il écrit qu'« *On ne cesse de criailler à nos oreilles, comme qui verserait*

<footnote n="1">¹ Pour beaucoup de parents étrangers, l'école représente une attaque de leurs représentations, une attaque, tellement forte qu'ils adoptent une attitude méfiante envers cette institution. Eux qui jadis auraient magnifié d'ordinaire l'école et adopté une position de fascination à l'égard des enseignants. C'est ce changement de repères qui est dérangeant pour ces parents. Les étapes sont brouillées et les espaces sont mal définis. On passe alors de la sphère privée (transmission, famille, éducation de l'enfant, transmission...) à la sphère publique (école, rapports avec l'administration scolaire, avec l'assistance sociale...) In « *Les élèves et leurs implications dans l'histoire* », 140 p. L'Harmattan, Paris, 2010.</footnote>
dans un **entonnoir**. Comparaison entre l'apprentissage et un entonnoir = « bourrage de crâne » « *Qu'il ne lui demande pas seulement compte des mots de sa leçon, mais du sens et de la substance* »

Montaigne et l'éducation collective

« D'une même leçon, régenter plusieurs esprits de si diverses mesures et formes »1.34 antithèses : une / plusieurs et même/diverses.

Montaigne critique l'éducation collective, d'après lui chaque esprit n'apprend pas la même quantité de choses, de la même façon.

L'éducation par le gain

Il écrivait que « *qui cherche des lettres, non pour le gain ni tant pour les commodités externes (...) habile homme* ».

Les buts de l'éducation refusés par Montaigne : le gain, la vanité c'est-à-dire, tout ce qui pourrait servir pour le futur.

Ce que propose Montaigne comme éducation est une éducation adaptée à chacun. Il disait :« *Il est bon qu'il le fasse trotter (...) pour s'accommoder de sa force* », *il ajoute : « trotter » + « train » = Métaphore cheval / élève*.

Montaigne est pour le système du précepteur = un maître pour un élève.

Sur une ouverture d'esprit par soi-même Montaigne écrivait : « *Et qu'il juge du profit de ce qu'il aura fait, non par le témoignage de sa mémoire, mais de sa vie* ».

Le seul but de l'éducation pour Montaigne : s'enrichir soi-même.

Montaigne et la volonté : Il ; avance les différentes argumentations suivantes :

Argument d'autorité. Montaigne s'en sert pour appuyer sa **proposition d'éducation**. Dans un subjonctif ayant valeur d'ordre on peut lire : « *je veux qu'il fasse* », « *qu'il invente* » , « *qu'il écoute* ».

Les images données par Montaigne

Les images visant la critique : « *comme qui verserait un entonnoir* »

Comparaison de l'élève ave une oie = idée de « *gavage de savoir* »

« *C'est témoignage de crudité et indigestion que de regorger (...) donné à cuire* ».

Métaphore indigestion / par cœur = critique l'apprentissage par cœur.

Les images illustrant l'éducation que propose Montaigne.

« *Mettre sur la montre (direction d'un cheval) *» ; « *trotter* » ; « *juger* » ; « *allures* »

Métaphore élève / cheval = renvoi à l'apprentissage autonome.

« *Quelques fois lui ouvrant le chemin, quelques fois le lui laissant ouvrir* ».

Métaphore chemin / savoir = renvoi à l'apprentissage autonome.

Pour conclure nous pouvons dire que c'est un texte polémique dans lequel Montaigne remet en cause l'éducation traditionnelle et en propose une autre ; système du précepteur.

## L'ECOLE ET LA REPUBLIQUE

La IIIe République a rendu l'école obligatoire (l'Angleterre en 1870), laïque et gratuite. Elle a mis en place un corps de spécialistes, avec pour mission la recherche de la vérité historique et son inscription dans la légalité républicaine. Ces spécialistes seront chargés de l'enseignement moyennant un salaire versé par l'Etat. Ces historiens devenus professionnels ont pour objectif de produire des connaissances sur le passé, des connaissances non partisanes.<fnref n="1" />

La grandeur de l'enseignement et l'intérêt qu'on lui porte résident pour une part, dans une transmission rigoureuse intergénérationnelle des valeurs républicaines assurée à la fois par ceux qui en ont été témoins et des enseignants scrupuleux, tous conscients de la valeur sociale et civique de leur discipline. Ces derniers ne se proclament ni censeurs ni gardiens du temple mais cherchent à revitaliser l'histoire en ramenant au jour tous les pans muets du passé comme le sont encore actuellement les temps de la colonisation et de la décolonisation ou encore de l'esclavage.

Deux principes doivent guider le travail de l'école : le premier est celui de la légitimité des appartenances multiples (familiale, religieuse, régionale, politique...), le deuxième est celui de la hiérarchie

<footnote n="1">¹ Conclusions du Conseil européen des 25 et 26 mars 2010.</footnote>
de ces appartenances. C'est l'appartenance à la France qui primera sur les autres appartenances légitimes. Nos jeunes ne sont pas en premier lieu, chrétiens, musulmans, juifs, immigrés ou de telle ville, de tel quartier. Ils sont d'abord Français.

## LA BATAILLE CONTRE LE DECROCHAGE SCOLAIRE EST UNE PRIORITE EUROPEENNE

L'abandon scolaire est un phénomène complexe, et sa réduction nécessite un engagement politique fort. Pour le comprendre il est utile voire nécessaire d'analyser les répercussions de l'abandon scolaire sur les personnes, la société, et les économies, en décrit les causes et donne un aperçu des mesures qui sont ou seront prises au niveau de l'Union Européenne (UE) pour traiter le problème.<fnref n="1" />

## L'ABANDON SCOLAIRE : UN HANDICAP DIFFICILE A SURMONTER

Le futur de l'Europe dépend en grande partie des jeunes européens par l'intermédiaire de sa stratégie Europe 2020 ; l'UE vise mieux à soutenir les jeunes et à leur permettre de développer pleinement leur talents, dans leur propre intérêt mais également dans celui de l'économie et la société.

L'un des objectifs phare approuvés par le Conseil européen est de réduire le taux d'abandon scolaire à moins de 10% et de garantir qu'au moins 40% de la jeune génération dispose d'un diplôme de l'enseignement supérieur ou d'un équivalent.<fnref n="2" />

L'amélioration des résultats scolaires des jeunes répond à la fois à l'objectif de « croissance intelligente » en améliorant les niveaux de compétences et à l'objectif de « croissance inclusive » en s'attaquant à l'un des plus importants facteurs de risque de chômage et de pauvreté.

L'une des initiatives phare d'Europe 2020, souligne la nécessité d'améliorer la qualité et l'équité dans l'éducation et la formation, afin de fournir à davantage de jeunes les compétences pour devenir des apprenants tout au long de la vie et la possibilité de faire l'expérience de la mobilité à des fins d'apprentissage. La réduction sensible du nombre de jeunes quittant l'école prématurément est un investissement essentiel non seulement pour l'avenir de chacun de ces jeunes mais également pour la prospérité et la cohésion sociale futures de l'UE en général.

La réduction de l'abandon scolaire ouvre également la voie à la réalisation d'autres objectifs d'Europe 2020. Par son impact direct sur l'employabilité des jeunes, elle contribue à accroître l'intégration sur le marché du travail et donc à atteindre l'objectif phare d'un taux d'emploi de 75% pour les femmes et les hommes âgées de 20 à 64 ans. Dans le même temps, elle contribue de manière significative à rompre le cycle de la misère qui mène à l'exclusion sociale de tant de jeunes. La réduction de l'abandon scolaire représente donc une mesure essentielle pour atteindre l'objectif visant à réduire de 20 millions le nombre de personnes menacées par la pauvreté selon les conclusions du Conseil européen du 25-26 décembre 2010.

En 2009, plus de 6 millions de jeunes, 14,4% de tous les jeunes de 18 à 24 ans, ont quitté l'éducation ou la formation en n'ayant accompli que le premier cycle de l'enseignement secondaire ou un niveau inférieur. Plus inquiétant encore, 17,4% n'ont suivi qu'un enseignement primaire.

L'abandon scolaire est synonyme de chances perdues pour les jeunes et de perte de potentiel pour la société et l'économie de l'UE dans son ensemble.

Au niveau des individus, les conséquences de l'abandon scolaire influent sur les personnes tout au long de leur vie et réduisent leurs chances de participer à la vie sociale, culturelle et économique de la société. Elles augmentent leur risque de chômage, de pauvreté et d'exclusion sociale et se répercutent sur les rémunérations perçues au cours de leur carrière et sur leur bien-être et leur santé ainsi que ceux de leurs enfants. En outre, elles réduisent les chances de leurs enfants de réussir à l'école.

<footnote n="1">¹ Eurostat, Enquête sur les forces de travail (EFT), 2010.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Eurostat, communiqué de presse 162/2010, 29 octobre 2010.</footnote>
Dans un communiqué de presse du 29 octobre 2010, le chômage des jeunes s'élève actuellement à 20% et l'abandon scolaire y contribue directement. L'employabilité dépend fortement du niveau de qualification atteint.

En 2009, 52% des jeunes ayant abandonné l'école prématurément dans l'union étaient sans emploi ou exclus du marché de l'emploi. Même lorsqu'ils travaillent, ces jeunes gagnent moins, ont tendance à exercer des emplois plus précaires et sont plus souvent dépendants des aides sociales. Ils participent moins à l'apprentissage tout au long de la vie et donc à des mesures de recyclage. Leur retard scolaire peut représenter un handicap croissant.

Pour l'économie et la société dans leur ensemble, des taux élevés d'abandon scolaire ont des effets à long terme sur l'évolution de la société et sur la croissance économique. Les personnes ayant abandonné l'école prématurément ont tendance à moins participer aux processus démocratiques et sont des citoyens moins actifs. L'innovation et la croissance se fondent sur une main-d'oeuvre compétente, non seulement dans les secteurs de haute technologie mais également dans l'ensemble de l'économie.

L'initiative phare d'Europe 2020 intitulée « une stratégie pour des compétences nouvelles et des emplois » insiste sur la nécessité de mieux armer les personnes en leur permettant de développer leurs compétences tout au long de la vie, et d'améliorer la participation au marché du travail. Le fait de réduire de seulement un point de pourcentage le taux européen moyen d'abandon scolaire permettrait à l'économie européenne de disposer chaque année de presque un demi million supplémentaire de jeunes travailleurs qualifiés potentiels.

Depuis 2000, le taux européen moyen d'abandon scolaire a diminué de 3,2 points de pourcentage, mais les progrès ont été insuffisants pour atteindre l'objectif de réduction de 10% pour 2010 initialement adopté par le conseil. En outre, cette moyenne masque des disparités importantes entre les Etats membres. Sept Etats membres ont déjà atteint l'objectif de 10%, alors que trois autres ont des taux supérieurs à 30%.Eu égard à la performance relative des Etats membres, il existe toutefois des raisons d'être optimiste : depuis 2000, tous sauf trois ont réduit leurs taux d'abandon scolaire, certains de manière très significative.<fnref n="1" />

## LES MOTIFS DU DECROCHAGE

Les raisons pour lesquelles les jeunes quittent prématurément l'éducation ou la formation dépendent fortement des individus. Toutefois, il est possible de déterminer certaines caractéristiques récurrentes. L'abandon scolaire est fortement lié au handicap social et à un milieu peu instruit. Les enfants de parents à bas niveau d'éducation et issus de milieux

Socialement défavorisés sont plus susceptibles que les autres jeunes de quitter l'éducation ou la formation avant la fin du deuxième cycle de l'enseignement secondaire.

Certains groupes dans la société sont particulièrement touchés par l'abandon scolaire, notamment les personnes issues des milieux socio-économiques les plus pauvres et des groupes vulnérables, comme les jeunes provenant de l'assistance publique, les personnes souffrant de handicaps physiques ou mentaux ou ayant d'autres besoins spécifiques en matière d'éducation (SEN). Les jeunes issus de l'immigration étant souvent concentrés dans des groupes socio-économiques défavorisés, leur taux moyen d'abandon scolaire est le double de celui des jeunes autochtones (26% contre 13,1% en 2009). Ce taux est encore plus élevé pour les populations roms, qui ont tendance à compter parmi les membres de la société les plus socialement exclus.

Ces groupes ont tendance à pâtir d'un soutien familial plus faible, à subir une discrimination dans le système éducatif et à disposer d'un accès plus limité aux possibilités d'apprentissage non formelles et informelles en dehors de la scolarité obligatoire.

L'abandon scolaire est influencé par des facteurs éducatifs, des situations individuelles et des conditions socio-économiques. Plutôt que d'un événement isolé, il s'agit d'un processus. Celui-ci débute

<footnote n="1">¹ Conclusions du Conseil européen des 25 et 26 mars 2010.</footnote>
souvent dès l'enseignement primaire, avec les premiers échecs scolaires et une distanciation croissante vis-à-vis de l'école.

Les transitions entre écoles et entre différents niveaux d'éducation sont particulièrement difficiles pour les élèves menacés de décrochage scolaire. Les inadéquations entre les programmes d'éducation et de formation et les besoins du marché du travail peuvent augmenter le risque d'échec scolaire puisque les élèves disposent de perspectives limitées dans le parcours éducatif qu'ils ont choisi. Souvent, les systèmes d'éducation et de formation ne fournissent pas un soutien suffisamment ciblé pour que les élèves puissent surmonter leurs difficultés émotionnelles, sociales ou éducatives et poursuivre leur éducation ou leur formation.

S'adapter aux différents styles d'apprentissage des élèves et aider les enseignants à répondre aux besoins variables de groupes d'élèves dotés de capacités diverses représente toujours un défi pour les écoles. Des systèmes d'apprentissage personnalisés et flexibles sont particulièrement importants pour les élèves qui préfèrent «d'apprentissage par la pratique» et qui trouvent leur motivation dans les formes actives d'apprentissage.

L'abandon scolaire soulève également des questions d'égalité des sexes qui requièrent plus d'attention. Dans l'UE, 16,3 des garçons quittent l'école prématurément, contre 12,5% des filles. Dans l'enseignement obligatoire, les garçons ont tendance à rencontrer plus de difficultés que les filles pour s'adapter à l'environnement scolaire et ont généralement des résultats plus faibles. Ils sont surreprésentés parmi les élèves handicapés (61%) et ont une plus grande propension à souffrir de problèmes émotionnels et comportementaux, ou à rencontrer des difficultés d'apprentissage spécifiques (65%).<fnref n="1" />

Les Etats membres font face à différents défis concernant l'abandon scolaire. Dans certains d'entre eux, l'abandon scolaire est un phénomène majoritairement rural fréquent dans les régions excentrées et qui peut être lié à un accès insuffisant à l'éducation. Dans d'autres Etats membres, l'abandon scolaire touche surtout les zones défavorisées des grandes villes. Certains marchés régionaux et saisonniers de l'emploi (par exemple le tourisme ou la construction) peuvent pousser les jeunes à quitter l'école pour des emplois peu qualifiés offrant peu de perspectives. La disponibilité de ces emplois et la perspective de gagner de l'argent plus tôt, pour améliorer la situation économique de la famille ou gagner en indépendance, incitent de nombreux jeunes à quitter prématurément l'éducation ou la formation. Certains pays sont confrontés à des niveaux élevés d'abandon scolaire dans certains filières professionnelles, alors que d'autres enregistrent, par exemple, des niveaux plus faibles dans les filières d'apprentissage.

Il convient de prendre en compte toutes ces conditions dans le soutien des élèves menacés de décrochage scolaire. Toutefois, seuls quelques Etats membres appliquent une stratégie cohérente et globale pour réduire l'abandon scolaire. De nombreuses initiatives contre ce phénomène ne sont pas suffisamment liées à d'autres mesures visant les jeunes. Bien souvent, on constate également l'absence d'une analyse solide des problèmes spécifiques au sein d'une région ou d'un groupe cible.

## COMMENT Y REMEDIER ?

Les stratégies de lutte contre l'abandon scolaire doivent s'appuyer sur une analyse des spécificités nationales, régionales et locales du phénomène.

Les données devraient permettre d'analyser les principales causes de l'abandon scolaire pour différentes catégories d'élèves, régions, localités ou écoles particulièrement touchées par le phénomène. De fortes disparités entre les niveaux de décrochage scolaire peuvent révéler des problèmes structurels dans certaines zones géographiques ou certaines filières éducatives.

La conception des stratégies doit reposer sur des informations précises, de façon à mieux cibler les mesures ; un système de suivi de l'évolution de l'abandon scolaire peut contribuer à l'adaptation constante des stratégies, sur la base d'information telles que les raisons individuelles liées à l'abandon de l'éducation ou de la formation.

<footnote n="1">¹ GHK (2005), *Study on Early Leavers, Final Report*, p.77 sally Kendal, Kay Kinder (2005), *Reclaiming those disengaged from education and learning-a European Perspective*, p.15.</footnote>
Numéros d'étudiant individuels

En 1997, le Royaume-Uni a introduit le « numéro d'élève unique » « unique pupil number »-UPN, qui offre une précieuse source d'analyse et aide à cibler plus efficacement la politique scolaire, également dans des domaines autres que l'abandon scolaire. D'autres pays ont introduit des «numéros d'éducation individuelles», des collectes de données basées sur des données relatives à chaque élève ou des registres d'étudiants nationaux (par exemple les Pays-Bas, l'Allemagne et l'Italie).Pour les Pays-Bas, l'introduction du « numéro d'éducation individuel »et la surveillance en ligne de l'abandon scolaire sont considérés comme les principaux facteurs de réussite dans la réduction du phénomène.

Les politiques globales de lutte contre l'abandon scolaire devraient mettre l'accent sur la prévention, l'intervention et la compensation.

LES POLITIQUES PREVENTIVES

La prévention a pour but d'éviter l'instauration des conditions susceptibles de favoriser le déclenchement de processus aboutissant au décrochage scolaire. Un renforcement de la participation à une éducation et un accueil préscolaires de bonne qualité a été reconnu comme l'une des mesures les plus efficaces pour fournir un bon départ aux enfants de développer leur résilience. Toutefois, il convient d'améliorer l'accès à l'éducation et aux services d'accueil préscolaires de qualité. D'autres mesures préventives concernent le soutien linguistique systématique des élèves issus de l'immigration, une politique de déségrégation active qui améliore la diversité sociale, ethnique et culturelle dans les écoles, permet un meilleur apprentissage par les pairs et favorise l'intégration, ou encore le soutien ciblé aux écoles défavorisées. D'autres obstacles potentiels à la réussite du parcours scolaire peuvent être éliminés par l'augmentation de la perméabilité des parcours éducatifs et par l'amélioration de la qualité et du statut des filières d'enseignement professionnel.

Les politiques de déségrégation visent à modifier la composition sociale des écoles « défavorisées » et à améliorer le niveau d'instruction des enfants issus de milieux socialement défavorisés et à bas niveaux d'éducation. Des programmes de déségrégation active en Hongrie et en Bulgarie ont amélioré, au niveau régional, les résultats scolaires des élèves roms en soutenant les écoles qui intègrent les élèves roms et favorisent dans le même temps la qualité scolaire, notamment par des activités périscolaires et un soutien scolaire ciblé.

Les mesures de discrimination positive comme les zones d'éducation prioritaires (Chypre) et les programmes qui apportent un soutien ciblé aux écoles dans les zones défavorisées (France, Espagne) améliorent l'offre pédagogique des établissements concernés, fournissent un soutien supplémentaire à leurs élèves et créent des environnements d'apprentissage novateurs adaptés à leurs besoins spécifiques. Les mesures de discrimination positive sont souvent combinées à une mise en réseau active et à une coopération étroite entre les écoles concernées.

Les parcours éducatifs flexibles combinant l'enseignement général, la formation professionnelle et une première expérience professionnelle pratique sont destinés aux élèves qui pourraient être découragés par des résultats scolaires faibles et souhaiteraient commencer à travailler le plus tôt possible. Ces parcours leur permettent de continuer simultanément à suivre un enseignement général. Plusieurs Etats membres (par exemple le Luxembourg, l'Italie et le Danemark) ont eu recours à ce système pour aider des élèves qui ne suivaient plus d'études à obtenir un diplôme de fin d'études tout en acquérant une expérience professionnelle précieuse et motivante.<fnref n="1" />(7)

L'intervention s'attaque aux difficultés émergentes à un stade précoce et vise à empêcher ces dernières de provoquer un décrochage scolaire. Les mesures d'intervention peuvent être centrées sur l'ensemble de l'école ou de l'organisme de formation où peuvent s'adresser individuellement à des élèves

<footnote n="1">¹ Tous les exemples de politiques sont tirés du document de travail de la Commission intitulé *Reducing Early School Leaving (SEC(2011)96)*. Celui-ci contient des informations supplémentaires sur les exemples de politiques ainsi que des informations plus détaillées sur l'abandon scolaire, ses causes et les stratégies qui contribuent à réduire le phénomène de façon satisfaisante.</footnote>
risquant d'abandonner l'éducation ou la formation. Les mesures concernant l'ensemble de l'école visent à améliorer le climat scolaire et la création d'environnements d'apprentissage favorables.

Des systèmes d'alerte rapide et une meilleure coopération avec les parents peuvent constituer une forme efficace d'aide aux élèves à risque. En outre, la mise en réseau avec des interventions en dehors de l'école et l'accès aux réseaux d'aide locaux s'avère hautement efficaces pour apporter les soutiens adéquats. Les mesures centrées sur les élèves sont axées sur le parrainage et le tutorat, les méthodes d'apprentissage personnalisées, une meilleure orientation et un soutien financier, par exemple des allocations scolaires. Les organismes chargés du marché de l'emploi devraient également s'occuper davantage de l'orientation professionnelle des jeunes.

Les écoles sont des « communautés d'apprentissage » qui adoptent une conception, des valeurs fondamentales et des objectifs communs en matière de développement scolaire. Elles accroissent ainsi l'engagement des élèves, des enseignants, des parents et des autres parties prenantes et soutiennent la qualité et le développement des établissements.

Les « communautés d'apprentissage » poussent les enseignants et les élèves à chercher à s'améliorer et à s'approprier leurs processus d'apprentissage. Elles créent également des conditions favorables pour réduire l'abandon scolaire et pour aider les élèves menacées de décrochage scolaire.

La mise en réseau avec les intervenants extérieurs à l'école permet aux écoles de mieux soutenir les élèves et de s'attaquer à toute une gamme de problèmes qui mettent les enfants en difficulté, y compris la consommation d'alcool ou de drogues, le manque de sommeil, les violences physiques et les traumatismes. Des programmes tels que le *School Completion Programme* (programme d'achèvement de la scolarité) en Irlande favorisent fortement les approches intercommunautaires et intersectorielles. Les écoles sont en liaison avec les agences pour la jeunesse, les services sociaux, les agences de développement local, les équipes spéciales de lutte contre la drogue, etc.

Une plus forte implication des régions dans l'élaboration de mesures de lutte contre l'abandon scolaire, par l'octroi d'un soutien financier et la mise en œuvre de mesures d'incitation, s'est révélé être une stratégie payante dans certains pays, notamment aux Pays-Bas. Les municipalités, écoles et établissements d'accueil peuvent eux-mêmes décider des mesures à mettre en œuvre. Par l'intermédiaire des administrations locales, les écoles peuvent également faire appel aux services d'établissements d'accueil, à la police et aux autorités judiciaires.

Les écoles ouvertes, comme les *scuole aperte à Naples* (Italie), visent à lutter contre le désengagement des élèves en organisant un large éventail de projets en collaboration avec la société civile locale. Les activités sont organisées en dehors des heures d'école et sont ouvertes à tous les enfants, y compris ceux qui ont déjà abandonné l'enseignement ordinaire. Elles représentent un moyen de réinsérer ces enfants, ainsi que de nombreux autres qui étaient menacés de décrochage.

Les mesures de compensation offrent des opportunités d'éducation et de formation aux élèves qui sont sortis du système d'enseignement et de formation. Elles peuvent prendre la forme d'aides financières ou d'autres types de soutiens et visent à favoriser la réinsertion des jeunes dans l'enseignement ordinaire ou à proposer une « seconde chance ». Les approches fructueuses dans les dispositifs de la deuxième chance différent donc considérablement de celles des écoles ordinaires en s'attaquant aux difficultés rencontrées par les élèves dans l'enseignement général. Toutefois, il a été démontré que la prévention de l'abandon scolaire a de meilleurs résultats que la compensation des effets négatifs liés à cet abandon. L'expérience de l'échec, le manque de confiance en soi en matière d'apprentissage et la multiplication des problèmes sociaux, émotionnels et éducatifs qu'entraîne un abandon scolaire réduisent les chances d'obtenir une qualification et d'achever des études avec succès.<fnref n="1" />

La reprise d'une scolarité ordinaire nécessite souvent une période de transition entre un précédent échec scolaire et un nouveau départ plus réussi. Les programmes durent de trois mois à un an, en fonction des attentes et de la motivation des participants. En raison des problèmes multidimensionnels complexes rencontrés par le groupe cible, il convient d'appliquer des méthodes alternatives de pédagogie et de conseil

<footnote n="1">¹ Active inclusion of young people with disabilities or health problems. Background paper, Fondation européenne pour l'amélioration des conditions de vie et de travail, 2010.</footnote>
pour aider les participants à réintégrer un enseignement ou une formation. L'un des facteurs de réussite est la mise à disposition d'un environnement d'apprentissage individualisé et favorable et l'application d'une méthode flexible adaptée aux besoins de chaque jeune. Des programmes tels que le «projet d'apprentissage pour jeunes adultes »en Slovénie, les classes de transition en France ou les centres SAS en Belgique offrent la possibilité aux jeunes à risque de reprendre progressivement confiance en eux, de rattraper leur retard et de réintégrer l'enseignement ordinaire.

Trop souvent, les projets et initiatives visant à réduire l'abandon scolaire existent parallèlement, sans lien avec d'autres initiatives. En dépit des succès, l'impact de ces projets et initiatives reste trop souvent local ou régional. Compte tenu de l'urgence qu'il y a à réduire l'abandon scolaire, il convient avant tout de passer de mesures individuelles à l'introduction d'une politique globale contre l'abandon scolaire. Les éléments d'une telle politique doivent être adaptés à la situation concrète au sein de l'Etat membre.

Les expériences des Etats membres, les données comparatives et la recherche analytique suggèrent que la nature intersectorielle de la collaboration et la globalité de l'approche constituent des aspects essentiels de politiques efficaces. L'abandon scolaire ne concerne pas uniquement l'école, et ses causes doivent être combattues dans toute une gamme de politiques concernant la protection sociale, la jeunesse, la famille, la santé, les communautés locales, l'emploi et l'éducation. Des concepts pédagogiques élargis, tels que l'éducation culturelle, la coopération avec les entreprises ou d'autres intervenants extérieurs à l'école et le sport, peuvent également jouer un rôle important dans la réduction de l'abandon scolaire par la promotion de la créativité, de nouvelles manières de penser, du dialogue interculturel et de la cohésion sociale.

## COMPARAISON DES METHODES PRATIQUEES POUR LUTTER CONTRE LES DECROCHAGES<fnref n="1" />

### L'Allemagne

Les services d'orientation dans les écoles et le service psychologique scolaire sont organisés de manière transversale au niveau des collectivités locales. Dans les cas d'absence injustifiée et de décrochage scolaire avéré, une coopération rapprochée s'opère entre les écoles ; le service d'assistance sociale de jeunesse et d'autres institutions. De plus le programme »refus scolaire-la deuxième chance »soutient les jeunes à risque dans leur retour dans le système scolaire général

### L'Espagne

Le nouveau « plan scolaire 2.0 » vise à réduire le nombre de décrocheurs scolaires en introduisant les TICE à l'école. L'idée est que tous les élèves de 10 ans aient leur propre PC portable et la formation appropriée pour l'utiliser.

Des séances de conseils en face-à-face ont principalement lieu dans les départements de conseils des collèges d'enseignement général publics. Les écoles avec un haut pourcentage d'échec scolaire bénéficient de programmes spéciaux. Il existe aussi des programmes alternatifs pour les élèves qui ne peuvent pas achever les deux dernières années d'enseignement secondaire obligatoire.

### Les Pays-Bas

Au pays -Bas, le sujet du décrochage est abordé selon une approche intégrée à travers le programme »lutter contre le décrochage», qui place l'orientation en son cœur (fournir la meilleure orientation professionnelle et des informations qui aident les étudiants à choisir la filière d'étude la plus juste). Les pays -bas ont également développé des programmes « sur mesure » pour les décrocheurs scolaires âgés de 18 à 23 ans en prenant en compte « les compétences acquises ailleurs » et en concluant des conventions avec de grandes entreprises afin d'aider ces élèves à obtenir une qualification de base. L'engagement des professionnels dans les territoires (écoles, collectivités locales et services de jeunesse, milieux économiques, etc.) est ici essentielle pour une attaque ciblée sur le taux des décrocheurs scolaires.

<footnote n="1">¹ Ministère de l'Éducation nationale- Programme national de réforme français, 2011.</footnote>
## Le Royaume Uni

La loi de responsabilisation des parents a été promulguée en 1998 avec l'arrivée au pouvoir du *New Labour*. Donnant lieu à un jugement civil initial, le jugement devient pénal dès lors que les parents ne se plient pas aux décisions de justice.

Des *parenting orders* (ordonnances parentales) qui peuvent être appliquées à des enfants entre 10 et 17 ans condamnés pour des délits, mais également en cas d'absentéisme scolaire, ont été mis en place en Angleterre et aux pays de galles. Elles prévoient un suivi hebdomadaire ou un soutien sur une période de trois mois, afin d'accompagner les parents dans le contrôle de leurs enfants et de les aider à mieux les éduquer.

Le refus d'exécution des décisions de justice est susceptible d'entraîner une amende allant jusqu'à 1000 livres. Les *parenting programs* reposent quant à eux sur une base volontaire, des injonctions à comparaître pouvant néanmoins être adressées aux parents.

## UNE NECESSAIRE COOPERATION ENTRE LES ETATS EUROPEENS

Dans le cadre de la stratégie Europe2020, les Etats membres ont convenu au plus haut niveau politique de fixer des objectifs nationaux pour la réduction de l'abandon scolaire, en tenant compte de la situation de départ et de la réalité nationale de chaque Etat membre. Les Etats membres intégreront la question de l'abandon scolaire à leurs programmes nationaux de réforme (PNR), en décrivant les stratégies et actions qu'ils entendent mettre en œuvre pour atteindre les objectifs nationaux. Les objectifs nationaux sur la réduction des taux d'abandon scolaire favorisent l'élaboration de mesures en la matière et accentueront la pression en faveur de politiques efficientes et efficaces. Le travail de compte rendu sur les objectifs nationaux d'Europe 2020, par l'intermédiaire des enquêtes annuelles sur la croissance, donnera plus de poids au suivi de l'efficacité des politiques, de leurs succès et de leurs faiblesses.

Le cadre stratégique pour la coopération dans le domaine de l'éducation et de la formation, « Education et formation 2020 », ses instruments et ses mécanismes de compte rendu soutiendront la mise en œuvre de politiques efficientes et efficaces de lutte contre l'abandon scolaire. Il constituera une plateforme permettant de faire apparaître les progrès réalisés par les Etats membres, qui sera appuyée par la disponibilité de statistiques solides et comparables via Eurostat.

Afin de mieux soutenir les Etats membres dans l'élaboration de politiques nationales efficientes et efficaces pour lutter contre l'abandon scolaire, plusieurs mesures et instruments, offrant une approche globale face à ce défi à multiples facettes, seront mises en place :

La proposition de recommandation du Conseil concernant les politiques de réduction de l'abandon scolaire, accompagnée d'un document de travail des services de la commission, vise à aider les Etats membres à innover et à mettre au point des stratégies ayant un impact important et un rapport coûts-bénéfices satisfaisant. Il est proposé que la recommandation fixe un cadre européen commun pour des politiques performantes et efficaces de lutte contre l'abandon scolaire d'ici à 2012, conformément à leurs objectifs nationaux.

La prochaine communication de la Commission sur l'éducation et l'accueil de la petite enfance, qui sera adoptée en 2012, soulignera le fait que les systèmes d'éducation et d'accueil des jeunes enfants peuvent contribuer à poser les bases de l'apprentissage tout au long de la vie comme meilleur moyen de lutter contre les inégalités par l'éducation, et donc à prévenir efficacement un bon nombre d'abandons scolaires. La communication définira des points clés pour le renforcement de la qualité et de l'accès à l'éducation et à l'accueil de la petite enfance.

La commission a présenté en décembre 2012 une communication sur une nouvelle stratégie européenne pour l'intégration destinée à appuyer les politiques des Etats membres en matière d'intégration. Afin d'améliorer les résultats scolaires des élèves issus de l'immigration, la nécessité de lutter contre l'abandon scolaire devrait également être prise en compte dans ce contexte.

L'enseignement et la formation professionnels (EFP) peuvent constituer des instruments de choix pour éviter la sortie précoce des jeunes du système d'enseignement. A la suite à la communication de la commission intitulée « Donner un nouvel élan à la coopération européenne en matière d'enseignement et
de formation professionnels pour appuyer la stratégie Europe 2020 », les ministres de l'éducation se sont entendus sur une stratégie ambitieuse de modernisation de l'EFP, qui inclut une action spécifique visant à réduire la sortie prématurée de l'éducation ou de la formation professionnelle.

Un critère de référence pour mesurer l'employabilité des jeunes sera proposé par la Commission fin 2013.L'augmentation de l'employabilité des jeunes est essentielle à l'amélioration de leurs perspectives d'emploi et de leur future carrière, et donc à leur totale implication dans l'éducation et la formation. Le critère de référence offrira de meilleures possibilités de contrôler la situation et de soutenir l'échange de bonnes pratiques et d'expériences des Etats membres.

Afin de cibler plus efficacement l'élaboration de mesures et d'accélérer le processus d'apprentissage mutuel, un groupe de décideurs au niveau européen, représentant différents Etats membres, accompagnera la mise en œuvre de la recommandation du Conseil et soutiendra la Commission et le Conseil dans le suivi des évolutions dans les Etats membres et au niveau européen. Le groupe aidera à déterminer des mesures et pratiques efficaces pour faire face aux défis communs des Etats membres, soutenir l'échange d'expériences et contribuer à la formation de recommandations politiques mieux ciblées.

En outre,les débats ministériels et les discussions officielles de haut niveau se poursuivront et des événements à haute visibilité tels que les conférences de la commission ou de la présidence continueront à être organisés. Ils contribueront de manière importante aux discussions en cours et favorisent l'adoption de nouvelles stratégies et mesures efficaces et met en place des fonds structurels européen notamment le Fonds social européen et le fond européen de développement régional. Les débats, discussions et conférences permettront de faire apparaître les bonnes pratiques dans les Etats membres et d'améliorer la compréhension des différences entre les performances nationales par rapport aux objectifs,et donc de soutenir les Etats membres dans leurs efforts.<fnref n="1" />

## CONCLUSION

Pour conclure nous pouvons dire que le décrochage est un processus qui conduit un jeune en formation initiale à se détacher du système de formation jusqu'à le quitter avant d'avoir obtenu un diplôme.<fnref n="2" /> En France, un décrocheur est un jeune qui quitte prématurément un système de formation initiale sans avoir obtenu le diplôme de niveau V (BEP ou CAP) ou de niveau supérieur.

Les raisons pour lesquelles les jeunes quittent prématurément l'éducation ou la formation dépendent fortement des individus. Toutefois, il est possible de déterminer certaines caractéristiques récurrentes comme nous avons tenté de le démonter dans cet article.

Plutôt que d'un évènement isolé, il s'agit d'un processus. Celui-ci débute souvent dès l'enseignement primaire, avec les premiers échecs scolaires et une distanciation croissante vis-à-vis de l'école. Les transitions entre écoles et entre différents niveaux d'éducation sont particulièrement difficiles pour les élèves menacés de décrochage scolaire. C'est pour ces raisons (entre autres) que l'UE a déclaré que le décrochage scolaire est sa priorité.

La lutte contre l'abandon scolaire est une préoccupation essentielle à la stratégie Europe 2020.

Le programme pour l'éducation et la formation tout au long de la vie et les programmes connexes pour la recherche et l'innovation seront plus intensivement utilisés pour soutenir l'expérimentation et les approches innovantes en matière de réduction de l'abandon scolaire. Cela permettra l'échange d'expériences et de bonnes pratiques au niveau des organismes d'enseignement et de formation et

<footnote n="1">¹ Eurostat, EFT, 2010.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Dans certains quartiers, l'itinéraire de l'enfant qui a réussi est celui de l'isolement. Traité d'»intello » de « traître » de « bouffon » dans le quartier, il vit douloureusement cette situation de rejet. les jeunes du quartier pensent que si ce dernier a réussi c'est parce qu'il est vendu, car il s'est identifié aux français. En conséquence on provoque chez lui un sentiment de culpabilité. Un mouvement d'éloignement et de séparation s'effectue entre celui-ci et son groupe d'origine, le quartier qui valorise l'échec scolaire. Dans un souci d'une stratégie identitaire, l'identification et la loyauté aux quartiers poussent certains élèves au suicide scolaire à seule fin de réintégrer leur groupe d'appartenance. In « les élèves et leurs implications dans l'histoire » op cit.</footnote>
favorisera le développement de mesures de soutien efficientes et efficaces pour les élèves menacés de décrochage scolaire.

Les priorités de financement pour 2012 comprennent la réduction de l'abandon scolaire, l'amélioration de l'apprentissage des élèves issus de l'immigration et la valorisation de l'égalité des sexes et des méthodes d'enseignement inclusives.

Les fonds structurels européens, notamment le Fonds social européen et le Fonds européen de développement régional, constituent de très importantes sources de financement des mesures prises au niveau national et régional pour la réduction de l'abandon scolaire. Le cadre politique européen commun contenu dans la recommandation du Conseil rendra les investissements au titre des Fonds structurels européens plus précis et plus rigoureux et renforcera donc leur rapport coût-efficacité dans la lutte contre l'abandon scolaire.

**Bibliographie sélective :**

- Actes de la journée d'études du 22 janvier 1997, *L'intégration, une mission pour l'école,*

- BRAUN (Frank), *Schulabbruche und Ausbildungslosigkeit*, Munich, 2007

- Bulletin officiel (B.O) no 7 du 14 février 2008

- Commission européenne- Représentation en France. Secteur communication/partenariat et Réseaux.

- Conclusions du Conseil européen des 25 et 26 mars 2010.

- Diversité (revue), CNDP-CRDP, n° 162, septembre 2010.

- Eurostat, enquête sur les forces de travail (EFT), 2010

- Le Nouvel Observateur, du 19 décembre 2011 .L'UE à l'école « Dites monsieur, y a combien de pays dans l'Europe » par Emilie Bronze.

- Manuel scolaire d'histoire-géographie- Classe de quatrième, Paris, édition Nathan, 2006.

- Ministère de l'Éducation nationale, programme national de réforme français 2011, DARES

- SAIDI (Hedi), *Les élèves et leur implication dans l'histoire*, Paris, l'Harmattan, 2010.

<figure><img src="image_37.png" /></figure>
# The Ongoing Public Debt Crisis in the European Union: Impacts on and Lessons for Vietnam

DR. NGUYEN ANH TUAN

Assoc. Prof.<fnref n="1" />
Nguyen Linh<fnref n="2" /> (Vietnam)

**Abstract:** The current public debt crisis in the (European Union) EU began in Greece in November 2009, quickly spreading to Ireland (September 2010), Portugal (January 2012), Spain (June 2012), Italy (November 2012) and most recently, Cyprus (March 2013). This crisis has not only impacted on Europe but also on the entire global economy, including that of Vietnam. This article will analyze the causes of this crisis, its impacts on the economy of Vietnam and lessons for Vietnam to avoid a potential public debt crisis and guarantee sustainable development.

**Keywords:** EU, Vietnam, economic crisis.

## 1. THE PUBLIC DEBT CRISIS IN THE EU.

### a. Public debt and public debt crisis

<figure><img src="image_38.png" /></figure>

Public debt is a relatively complex concept that most current approaches agree to refer to the sum of debt whose obligation to repay falls on the government of a country<fnref n="3" />. According to the World Bank (WB)'s approach, public debt is understood as the liability of four main groups of institutions: (i) Central government liability, (ii) Local government liability, (iii) Central banking institution liability, and (iv) Liabilities of independent organizations, state-owned enterprises of whose capital the state owns more than 50%, or other organizations whose debt the government has the responsibility to settle should they fails to do this<fnref n="4" />.

Owing to the widespread nature of public debt and the fact that countries can easily fall into public debt crisis – especially since the 80s of the 20th century – the global community had created a number of criteria to supervise and warn countries about to, or in the middle of a public debt crisis<fnref n="5" />. However, the criteria most commonly used to estimate a country's public debt situation is public debt as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). This figure reflects the size of a country's public debt as a fraction of the economy's income and is calculated as of the 31st December each year.

According to a 2010 research of the American National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a survey of more than 44 countries showed that when the public debt/GDP ratio exceeds 90%, it will negatively impact on economic growth and reduce the economic growth rate of the country in question by around four percent on average. In particular, for newly emerging economies like that of Vietnam, the healthy public debt/GDP ratio threshold is 60%, and exceeding this threshold will stall annual economic growth by around 2%. However, the ratio between public debt and GDP alone is not a comprehensive

<footnote n="1">¹ Editor-in-Chief, Journal of International Studies, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Master of Financial Management, Australian National University.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ The public sector as defined by the United Nations System of National Accounting (SNA) includes public service (government) and state-owned enterprises. Hence, the term “public debt” is also taken to mean the same as such terms as “governmental debt” (United Nations, System of National Accounts 2008, para. 22.15, http://unstats.un.org/unsd/nationalaccount/docs/SNA2008.pdf: “the public sector includes general government and public corporations”). However, public debt differs from national debts in that the latter refers to a country's debt obligation in its entirety, including both governmental debt and private debts. In other words, public debt is only a component of national debt.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ This definition is similar to that of the Debt Management and Financial Analysis System (DMFAS) of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD).</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵ Supervisory criteria for a country's public debt and foreign debt includes: (i) Public debt as a percentage of GDP, (ii) Foreign debt as a percentage of GDP, (iii) National debt as a percentage of GDP, (iv) Foreign debt as a percentage of gross export value, (v) Public debt as a percentage of state budget revenue and so on.</footnote>
estimate of the safety or riskiness of a country's public debt – we need to examine public debt in a more comprehensive manner, in its relation with the system of macroeconomic criteria of a national economy<fnref n="1" />.

Public debt crisis refers to an escalated public debt situation – or worse, public insolvency – that damages the economy resulting from an imbalance between national budget revenue and expenditure. The typical scenario arises from an excess of governmental expenditure over revenue, forcing the state to borrow money in many ways such as government bonds, debentures or credit agreements. This results in the state's inability to repay its debt obligations. Persisting budget deficit will increase public debt. Should the state be unable to settle these debts in a timely manner will lead to an accumulation of interest, further exacerbating the problem.

Hyman Minsky (1986)<fnref n="2" /> gave an explanation to what would cause the serious crisis starting in 2007, a flaw of the financial-credit system. According to him, the financial-credit system plays a key role in a financial crisis: It led to a large amount of risky and speculative borrowing by firms and the public alike (borrowing far more than their existing assets, for instance) to seek profit from appreciating assets. However, if and when assets depreciates instead (the credit bubble pops), these speculators will lose much - if not all - of their solvency, resulting in the insolvency of the entire financial and credit system, leading to a financial crisis<fnref n="3" />. This happened because there was not yet the necessary systems to control and reduce these speculative and highly risky activities.

## b. Cause of the EU public debt crisis

The current public debt crisis in the EU began in Greece when the Greece Prime Minister announced in November 2009 that the country's budget deficit for the year would be 12.7% of GDP, twice as high as a previously announced figure (Lane, 2012), and that he would try to save Greece from insolvency. In reality, the country's public debt had peaked at €300 billion (around US$440 billion), equal to 124% of the country's GDP, twice as high as the level permitted by the Maastricht Treaty. Immediately, on December 22nd 2009, Moody's Investors Service had reduced Greece's public debt credit ranking from A1 to A2 because of its rising budget deficit. Previously, Fitch Group an Standard & Poor had reduced Greece's credit rating below investment grade. In April 2010, Greece's budget deficit had risen to 13.6%, followed by a spike in government bond interest rate; Standard & Poor reduced Greece's credit rating to “junk status” - the lowest possible rank<fnref n="4" />. Ireland followed Greece with a budget deficit of 32% GDP (September 2010), Portugal (January 2012), Spain (June 2012), Italy (November 2012) and presently Cyprus (March 2013), all fell into debt crisis<fnref n="5" />. Why did this debt crisis happen? There were several causes as follows:

### i. Root causes:

First, the problem arises from inefficiencies of an economic model based heavily on banking and financial services<fnref n="6" /> as well as shortfalls in the EU and Eurozone's management system. Every time an

<footnote n="1">¹ These criteria are: (i) rate and quality of economic growth; (ii) total factor productivity; (iii) capital utilization efficiency (via the Incremental capital-output ratio – ICOR); (iv) budget deficit ratio; (v) domestic saving rate and gross domestic investment; and (vi) a number of other criteria. Additionally, such criteria as public debt structure, weight of different debt classes, interest structure and payment period also require in-depth analysis when addressing the sustainability of public debt. For instance, a public debt worth 100% of Greece's GDP caused its bankruptcy, while Japan's public debt is worth around 200% of its GDP and is still considered sustainable. Another example, Argentina, has a public debt ratio to GDP less than 60% yet is still undergoing public debt crisis. According to the Maastricht Treaty in 1992, the European Union countries are not allowed to have their public debt exceed 60% of their GDP.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Hyman Minsky, 1986, *Stabilizing an Unstable Economy*, Yale University Press, Yale.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Minsky classified borrowers into three categories: (i) hedge borrowers, who can repay their both principal and interest from their investment flows; (ii) speculative borrowers, who can repay interest but has to regularly roll over principal to stay afloat; and (iii) Ponzi borrowers, who operates on the basis of borrowing money from one creditor to repay another. His view was that a crisis would happen if the last two categories outnumbers the first.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ On the 2nd May 2010, the Prime Minister of Greece had accepted the aid package worth €110 billion (US$143 billion) from Eurozone and IMF, which would come into effect over the following three years.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵ At the end of 2009, typical countries of the EU had the high public debt-GDP ratios such as Greece – 124%; Portugal – 84,6%; Italy – 120,1%; Germany – 84,5%; Ireland – 82,9%; France – 82,6%.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶ Two energetic crises in 1973-1974 and in 1979-1980 pushed countries in Europe and America into recession. That was the time when Europe and America restructured and transformed their economies from industrial production into banking and financial services with the boom of portfolio investment.</footnote>
economic recession occurs or an election takes place, public debt would spike as governments have not brought forward long-term solutions to the public debt problem and instead focusing on short-term solutions. The accumulation of this problematic management and failure to solve the problem at its root results in an eventual loss of control of the public debt burden.

*Second,* the problem also owes to the rapid development of the financial and banking services based on exploiting market inefficiencies and based heavily on speculation and speculative investment of the early 90s, leading to a “fake prosperity”. This caused much instability in the labor structure, big gap of wealth and increasing unemployment and welfare dependencies. This development of the financial system also, paradoxically, stabilized the supply of credit, making it easier and promoting borrowing and rapid growth of credit. These contributed greatly to increasing public debt.

*Third,* the global financial crisis in 2008 was greeted with old policies – borrowing to sponsor credit funds, firms and unemployment support, while government bonds had come to maturity. This caused an overload as several decades' worth of debt obligation fell on these governments at the worst possible timing. While governments have realized the unsustainability of an economy heavily stilted towards financial services, they have been unwilling to give up the old habit of a “false” economy, instead they were opting for a short-term solution of borrowing new funds to repay old debts and keep insolvent banks afloat.

*Fourth,* owing to structural problems, the European Union is heavily restricted in managing its economy as a whole, lacking mechanisms that would enable the governments of member countries to reduce budget deficit (Guillen, 2012). This leads to monetary policies not being consistent with fiscal policies, especially tax reform and labor policies. While the EU has a limit on member countries' budget deficit and public debts, the managing and supervisory institutions remain lax, making it easier for countries to borrow and much harder for the group to control said borrowing. The EU and the European Central Bank had responded too slowly when the crisis struck. When the politics of opposing national interests is taken into the equation, the mechanism becomes even more complicated and self-defeating (Bastasin, 2012).

*Fifth,* this was the emergence of the Euro (€). This allowed smaller countries to attract a huge amount of foreign investment owing to the common currency<fnref n="1" />. However, this also caused a major challenge: When the capital flow exceeds the economy's capability to sustainably absorb it, the excess capital would easily be wasted on activities that do not efficiently benefit the economy, leading to an increase in bad debts among banks, causing an even faster outbreak of a debt crisis. This is one of the ways the sovereign debt crisis is linked to the banking crisis in Europe (Shambaugh, 2012).

*Sixth,* the monetary flows into smaller economies in the EU were too great, resulting in a huge monetary supply and an increase in price level, causing a far higher rate of inflation in smaller economies compared to larger ones, sometimes even greater than the rate of interest (causing, among others, the value of debts to decrease with time, causing borrowers to gain rather than lose). The consequence of taking advantage of external monetary flows was a long-term current account balance deficit, yet countries were unable to control this by their own monetary policies because of the common currency. Additionally, the use of an external monetary flows would further increase budget deficit (for want of stimulating domestic production), exceeding the 3% of GDP as allowed by the EU. This long-term budget deficit plays a contributing role to exacerbating public debt.

## ii. Direct causes

**First and foremost, causes pertaining to interior characteristics of countries undergoing crisis:**

First, all of the countries currently undergoing public debt crisis have lax fiscal discipline. End-of-year spending realization of budget would always exceed the expenditure decision of their respective Parliaments as announced at the beginning of the year. In addition, these countries had

<footnote n="1">¹ For instance, the small countries of EU like Greece, Ireland were allowed to borrow money with interest rates equal to that of Germany, France. In other words, the small countries took advantage of the whole EU for their benefit.</footnote>
undergone a missed opportunity to tighten fiscal policies throughout the earlier part of the last decade, owing in no small part to their poor analytical framework (Lane, 2012).

Second, the distribution of capital, in many cases, is influenced more by political rather than economic goals. (For example: defense and security expenditure, social welfare, retirement wages, interest subsidy of banks for social welfare projects, governmental protocols or celebrations and so on.)

Third, state projects generally are not completed in a timely manner. This causes an increase in interests payable over the borrowed funds.

Fourth, low capital utilization efficiency (often lower than that of private projects with commercial loans), since the borrower in the state sector are not directly held responsible for its repayment. This is to say borrower responsibility is not high as those in charge of borrowing are not necessarily those who have to settle the debt, especially if they have a slim chance of being reelected into office.

Fifth, these governments have the capability to hide problematic issues of the country's public debt situation over an extended period (up to ten years), making it impossible to make readjustment in a timely manner. In fact, the severity of the crisis can be attributed to the governments' lack of initiative in the years leading up to, as well as during the 'lulls' in between the crises (Lane, 2012). Coupled with the complex and overlapping nature of this crisis (Shambaugh, 2012), this inactivity has proven to be extremely damaging.

## 2. SECOND, CAUSES PERTAINING TO EXTERNAL FACTORS:

First, credit rating and risk analysis firms like Standard & Poor, Moody's and Fitch Group is a contributing factor to the instability of the market and the crisis itself, owing to their announcement of lowering the credit rating of these government bonds, thereby decreasing investors' confidence in these markets<fnref n="1" />.

Second, political pressure from speculators, major financial organizations and economic powerhouses managed to persuade governments to adjust rather than reform their financial institutions. Governments had to spend many billions of Euros to bail out banks and on stimulus packages to save banks and the economies from collapse. This would invariably lead to an increase in public debt. At the same time, private banks received funds from central banks at a low interest rate (around one percent) to finance enterprises for production, but instead, they used these funds to repurchase government debts and debentures at a higher interest rate (4 to 5 percent).

Third, arbitrage activities with an aim to raise government bond interest to the highest possible level for maximum arbitrage profit. In practice, public debt is usually negotiated through private banks and priced by these private institutions. Such financial institutions like Alpha Bank, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, ING Group and so on have ample opportunities to artificially raise government bond interest<fnref n="2" />.

### - The Vietnamese economy under the impact of the EU public debt crisis.

The public debt crisis in the EU in addition to the current problems of the Vietnamese economy may have a number of negative impacts on it:

First, an increased difficulty in exporting to the EU market. According to the General Office of Statistics of Vietnam, EU has been Vietnam's largest export market (the EU alone consumed around 17.5% of all products produced in Vietnam in 2012, worth US$20 billion)<fnref n="3" />. In 2012, difficulties in the

<footnote n="1">¹ At the beginning of 2009, the long-term interest of EU countries' government bonds reached an all-time low by the time the governments issued new bonds, but within a few weeks the bond market had undergone significant changes. As S&P's Ratings Services and Fitch Group began to examine Greece's debt and ranked her bonds as junk, their bond interest stated to increase dramatically while the stock market index went down quite as dramatically.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² For example, IMF's report on the 22nd of April 2010, stating that the economy of Portugal that was deteriorating, would grow less than forecasted and would not be able to reduce her deficit. This caused the interest on Portugal's 10-year bond to increase significantly, and as at present Portugal, Spain, Greece, Ireland and Italy are countries that are almost certain to meet with extreme difficulties reducing their public debt.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Nguyen Sinh Cúc, "An overview on the economy of Vietnam in 2012 and a forecast for 2013", *Communist Magazine*, Hanoi, Jan 2013, pp 69-73. The impact of the European public debt crisis on Vietnam's export goods are not very large owing to Vietnam's</footnote>
Eurozone economies (high inflation, lowered income, increase in unemployment) resulted in a general tendency to reduce spending among EU consumers, giving rise to the demand of goods and services – including those from Vietnam – not rising. Additionally, EU countries have been increasing protectionist measures to protect domestic industries, resulting in greater difficulties for Vietnamese exports, in addition to competition from other exporters. While the major relatively inexpensive export products such as agricultural and forestry products, seafood and foodstuff experienced a low drop in demand, the other products like furniture, handicraft, textile and footwear suffered a major demand hit.

*Second,* there was an increase in domestic market competition. In the backdrop of the ongoing public debt crisis and the difficulties challenging the entire global economy, Vietnamese firms are under pressure from foreign investors looking to diversify their market and hedge risks. These foreign firms are additionally granted advantageous borrowing rates (in many foreign countries, interest rates of commercial loans for their own firms are very low), and have greater competence and stronger trademarks than Vietnamese products, making Vietnamese firms being severely disadvantaged all but inevitable.

*Third,* foreign investment and investors' confidence in Vietnam decreased. The crisis had forced European firms to constrict production and lay off employers owing to a decrease in consumption in both the EU and the world. The most obvious countermeasure is decreasing inefficient foreign investment. As a result, foreign direct investment flow from both Europe and the world into Vietnam has decreased. In 2009, Europe's FDI into Vietnam took up 18% of total FDI. This figure was reduced to 11% in 2011, continued to decrease in 2012 and seems to continue on this downward trend in 2013.<fnref n="1" />

*Fourth,* according to the evaluation of WB, Vietnam's business environment index is on the decrease (in 2011, Vietnam's business environment ranked 98th out of the 183 ranked economies, falling eight ranks compared to 2010), showing the faltering confidence of foreign investors on the Vietnamese business environment. The main reason behind this is that the public debt crisis in Europe had caused investors and credit ratings services firms pay greater attention to the public debt issue. The three groups of main criteria used as early warning are: (i) excessive debts, reflected in a high public debt over GDP ratio; (ii) excessive spending, reflected in a high budget deficit over GDP ratio; and (iii) a continually decreasing GDP growth rate. In 2011, Vietnam's public debt was 106% of GDP (see Table 1), state budget deficit was 4.9% of GDP (see Table 3), the GDP growth rates continually decreased<fnref n="2" /> (see Table 2), making it the riskiest economy in the ASEAN region, with a S&P credit rating of BB- (a deterioration from the BB rating at the beginning of the year). This not only negatively impacted on the ability to attract foreign investment and borrowings, but also increased the cost of borrowing from international financial organizations owing to a higher interest.

exports mainly being necessaries. In 2012, the amount of goods exported did not decrease, yet did not increase as much as expected.

<footnote n="1">¹ In addition, according to general analysis, global FDI in general and of the EU in particular into Vietnam, aside from the present crisis, are subject to a number of limiting factors: (i) low general effectiveness of FDI, still mainly being assembly and processing projects with little value added and low capability to participate in the global value chain; (ii) low ratio of disbursed to registered capital, small project scale, many projects slow on the execution; (iii) the majority of technologies attracted via FDI is not modern and is only average compared to the world, very few firms bringing high technology; (iv) the number of employment created by FDI is not high, as is the living quality of FDI firm employees, as well as an increasing number of labor disputes, (v) there appear many cases of price transfering and tax evading in FDI firms with an increasing level of sophistication (falsely raising the capital value, input costs, overheads, education and so on) to create “real profit, false losses”, (vi) low diffusion value to ofther economic sectors, and (vii) a number of projects cause environmental pollution and waste of resources.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² In 2012, GDP growth rate of Vietnam economy that was only 5.03% compared with that of 2011, was lowest growth rate since 2000 (Nguyễn Sinh Cúc, 2013, Ibid). In 2010, although GDP growth rate was 6.8%, but this rate attributed to estate bubble and consequence of economic stimulus packages of 2009 whose utilization was not strictly controlled and supervised, therefore was not used in proper manner.</footnote>
<table><caption>Table 1: Vietnam's public debt, 2011</caption><thead><tr><th>Figure</th><th>Billion VND</th><th>Billion USD</th><th>Percentage of GDP</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Public debt according to Vietnam's definition</strong></td><td><strong>1,391,478</strong></td><td><strong>66.8</strong></td><td><strong>55%</strong></td></tr><tr><td>State debt</td><td>1,085,353</td><td>52.1</td><td>43%</td></tr><tr><td>State guaranteed debt</td><td>292,210</td><td>14</td><td>12%</td></tr><tr><td>Local government debt</td><td>13,915</td><td>0.7</td><td>1%</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Public debt according to the international definition</strong></td><td><strong>2,683,878</strong></td><td><strong>128.9</strong></td><td><strong>106%</strong></td></tr><tr><td>Public debt according to the Vietnam definition</td><td>1,391,478</td><td>66.8</td><td>55%</td></tr><tr><td>State-owned enterprise debts</td><td>1,292,400</td><td>62.1</td><td>51%</td></tr></tbody></table>

Source: Vù Quang Việt, “Public and banking debts of Vietnam at a glance”, Forum Magazine, Hanoi, 25/11/2011.

Fifth, there was an increase in exchange rate risk. In the short term, the appreciation of the US$ relative to the € will decrease Vietnam's export goods into the Eurozone owing to Vietnam's export goods being valued in USD. In addition, recently the USD are also appreciating relative to the VND (Vietnamese currency) owing to high inflation in Vietnam from 2008 to 2011 (see Table 3), creating a pressure to adjust exchange rate, yet Vietnam has maintained the same rate. This causes a risk of existing two interest rates and the potential risk of smuggled import owing to cheaper import. This will put a greater pressure on Vietnam's national foreign exchange reserve.

### 3. LESSONS FOR VIETNAM IN PUBLIC DEBT CRISIS PREVENTION

#### a. Current difficulties of the Vietnamese economy.

The main reason causing Vietnam's current difficulties began to emerge in 2006 and was rooted before that. To promote high growth, Vietnam had promoted investment very strongly and over an extended period had had an investment-to-GDP ratio, rating second only behind China (see Table 2). The rate of increase in money and credit supply was also among the world's highest and consequently the rate of inflation was record high in the world. This can be clearly seen when comparing Vietnam's exceedingly high investment-to-saving ratio from 2005 to 2011.

<table><caption>Table 2: GDP growth rate and the rate of investment and saving of Vietnam (2000-2011)</caption><thead><tr><th>Figure<br>Year</th><th>2000-2004</th><th>2005</th><th>2006</th><th>2007</th><th>2008</th><th>2009</th><th>2010</th><th>2011</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Investment/GDP (%)</td><td>33</td><td>38</td><td>41</td><td>43</td><td>40</td><td>38</td><td>39</td><td>33</td></tr><tr><td>Saving/GDP (%)</td><td></td><td>28</td><td>28</td><td>26</td><td>23</td><td>23</td><td>23</td><td>24</td></tr><tr><td>Difference between investment and saving (%)</td><td></td><td>10</td><td>13</td><td>17</td><td>17</td><td>15</td><td>16</td><td>9</td></tr><tr><td>GDP growth rate (%)</td><td>7.1</td><td>8.4</td><td>8.2</td><td>8.5</td><td>6.3</td><td>5.5</td><td>6.8</td><td>5.9</td></tr></tbody></table>

Source: Vu Quang Viet, *Crisis and the financial-credit system: Practical analysis in regard to the American and Vietnamese economy*, Washington D.C., February 2013; Nguyen Anh Tuan; *Vietnamese External Economic Syllabus*, National Political Publisher, Hanoi 2005.

The rate of investment was much higher than saving; some years up to 16-17% of GDP (see Table 2). To achieve this there were only two ways: (i) borrowing from foreign sources, or (ii) extensive (excessive) issuing of credit lines, resulting in bad debts and very high inflation as of the last few years (see Table 3). As a result of high inflation while the government did not adjust the exchange rate between the VND and the USD, import was highly stimulated, resulting in an unprecedented trade balance deficit, some years as high as US$18 billion (See table 3). This excessive investment while efficiency was low
resulted in an excessive public debt. As shown in Table 1, Vietnam's public debt could have reached US$129 billion, equal to 106% of GDP in 2011, in which state-owned enterprises' were US$62.1 billion (see Table 1).

<table><caption>**Table 3.** Increase in money supply, credit, CPI, trade balance deficit and state revenue-expenditure of budget in Vietnam (2006-2011)</caption><thead><tr><th>Figure</th><th>2006</th><th>2007</th><th>2008</th><th>2009</th><th>2010</th><th>2011</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Year</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Increase in money supply (%)</td><td>34.0</td><td>46.0</td><td>20.0</td><td>29.0</td><td>33.0</td><td>12.0</td></tr><tr><td>Increase in credit (%)</td><td>25.0</td><td>50.0</td><td>28.0</td><td>46.0</td><td>32.0</td><td>14.0</td></tr><tr><td>Inflation (CPI) (%)</td><td>7.1</td><td>8.3</td><td>23.1</td><td>5.9</td><td>10.0</td><td>18.6</td></tr><tr><td>Change in exchange rate (%)</td><td>0.9</td><td>0.7</td><td>1.2</td><td>4.7</td><td>9.1</td><td>10.1</td></tr><tr><td>Balance of trade (billion USD)</td><td>-5,1</td><td>-14,2</td><td>-18,0</td><td>-12,9</td><td>-12,6</td><td>-9,8</td></tr><tr><td>State revenue (Trillion VND)</td><td>na</td><td>na</td><td>357.4</td><td>390.6</td><td>456.0</td><td>590.5</td></tr><tr><td>State expenditure (Trillion VND)</td><td>na</td><td>na</td><td>398.9</td><td>441.2</td><td>581.0</td><td>725.6</td></tr></tbody></table>

*Source:* ADB, *Annual Report 2011*, Manila 2012; General Office of Statistics of Vietnam, *Annual Report 2012*, Hanoi 2013.

## b. Lessons and suggestions for public debt crisis prevention in Vietnam

### i. Basic Guidelines

In order for the Vietnamese economy to avoid negative impacts from the public debt crisis, we need to examine intrinsic factors within the Vietnamese economy as well as the causes of the public debt crisis in the EU and its existing impact on Vietnam as previously analyzed. There are a number of suggestions:

First, in order to manage and prevent public debt crisis, the most pressing requirement is an effective governmental regulatory mechanism in order to control financial activities and the flows of financial sources. This includes transparency of information, the effective maintenance of macro-level supervisory mechanism, while guaranteeing the needs for social welfare and mobilizing and combining resources to develop the country in a sustainable manner.

Second, it is necessary to properly manage and improve efficiency of state investment. In the long term, state investment needs to be actively reduced while investment from non-budget sources needs to increase relative to total social investment; shift the focus of state investment outside of economic activities so as to concentrate on social and infrastructural investment. In the same time, there is also a need to reform and standardize the state investment process in an appropriate manner so as to serve as a selection and standardization criteria for public projects<fnref n="1" />.

Third, state-owned corporations and enterprises diversifying investment outside of their main business and production must cease. State-owned enterprises should be concentrated on key industries of the national economy, mainly those related to and dealing with socio-economic infrastructure, public services and those pertaining to macroeconomic stability.

Fourth, systemic stability, prevention of side effects and debt “traps” and practical efficiency in both SOE and financial-banking sector restructuring should be ensured. At the same time, proper care should be taken to effectively handle such matters as firm acquisitions and mergers, unemployment insurance and social welfare.

<footnote n="1">¹ In particular, there is a need to distinguish between two classes of goals and criteria for assessing the efficiency of public investment (for- and non-profit investment), alleviate the confusion between capital for profit and for non-profit activities as well as the social responsibility of state-owned enterprises.</footnote>
## ii. In-depth suggestions and areas for attention

On the basis of the guidelines above, we can draw a number of in-depth lessons and suggestions for public debt crisis prevention in Vietnam.

First, there are a number of issues pertaining to state-owned enterprises (SOEs), as followed: (i) cease excessive investment into SOEs and only maintain a minimal, manageable number of SOEs (between one to two dozen)<fnref n="1" />; (ii) put an end to diversification outside of expertise (especially letting a SOE own a bank, or vice versa)<fnref n="2" />; (iii) every decision to found new SOEs must be carefully discussed and approved by the National Assembly. The government needs to stop spending more than the budget previously approved by the National Assembly (notably, in a number of countries this is considered illegal)<fnref n="3" />.

Second, the government should not continue to have the State Bank issue money for spending and credit distribution, especially for SOEs as a spearhead for development owing to its lack of efficiency and also owing to the very large existing budget deficit (from 5% to 7% of GDP, while in these times a 3% of GDP deficit is already seen as a warning threshold in some countries). Stimulation of demand through budget deficit is only a temporary solution and should only be used when there are no other options when the economy – for any reason – falls into a crisis owing to plummeting demand. It should never be used as a method for stimulating economic growth because it will lead to high inflation and loss of stability, since budget deficit would invariably be remedied by printing money. The reason for Vietnam's current economic situation is the stimulation of demand via credit growth (which increased from 35% to 125% of GDP between 2007 and 2011), but without good control of the utilization of credit flow.

Third, it is necessary to raise the ratio of equity (paid-up or owner's capital) in both private firms and SOEs to ensure stable development. Currently, in Vietnam the debt-to-equity ratio is 1.77, much higher than in the United States or Europe (around 0.7). This high ratio of debt can very quickly lead to financial distress and insolvency should the interest rate rise.

Fourth, there is a need to focus the power for development investment into seven regions of Vietnam instead of on a provincial basis in order to avoid waste owing to overlapping construction investment, as well as to reduce the influence of the locality on the central organs located in provinces<fnref n="4" />. In addition, management of territory, forests, rivers and seas needs to be stratified between central, regional and local government so as to concentrate power for infrastructural development. Local governments should not be permitted to issue their own bonds to foreign markets. Furthermore, local government bonds should be tightly regulated so as to avoid uncontrollable layering of debts.

Fifth, it is worth noting that the excessive expansion of credit in Vietnam (See Table 3) is because the State Bank lacks the independence according to the standard of a market economy and of a central bank. Because of this, it had acted not on the ultimate goal of maintaining market price stability, but according to the government's directive to print money for SOEs to become as spearheads for the economy (that, in reality, was quite inefficient), but consequence of that was the detriment of the economy. The difficulties facing the Vietnamese economy occurred when the government began to execute stimulus packages but did not closely supervise them. Hence most of those funds were not

<footnote n="1">¹ This can be achieved by promoting equitization of SOEs, reduce the weight and number of SOEs of which the state owns controlling shares, only maintaining SOEs with 100% state capital in industries and fields that the state needs to maintain a monopoly, or hold a key role in the economy, or that the private sector cannot or is unwilling to take part in. Additionally, this can also be done by promoting a multi-owner corporations where SOEs play a key role that can take on the role as the economy's lead, while operating according to economic laws, on the basis of voluntary agreement and cooperation between independent legal entities.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² At present, the Credit Law of Vietnam permits this.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Since 2007 the government of Vietnam has been spending more than the amount approved by the National Assembly on a yearly basis: In 2007, exceeding 31%; 2008 - 29%; 2009 - 46% and 2010 - 11%. (calculation based on the statistics on budget estimates approved by the National Assembly and the budget liquidation at the end of each year).</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ In other words, all branches of central organs like the State Bank, the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the General Office of Statistics and so on would be stationed on a region rather than provincial basis, as they are at the moment.</footnote>
invested on production but on stocks and real estate. When the bubble pops, this caused great difficulties for the financial-banking system with an increasing ratio of bad debts.<fnref n="1" />

*Sixth*, according to the Credit Organizations Law (2010), many banks that had been given permission for establishment but whose sole purpose was to help local governments and clientelos to carry out rent seeking activities because the Law does not distinguish between commercial and investment bank. According to the experience from the EU and the US, commercial banks use deposits from clients to lend, while investment banks mainly implement portfolio investment using their own money, or serve clients to invest in portfolio for the service fees. Hence, in order to avoid risks for the financial-banking system and crisis, there is an urgent need to amend this law to emphasize on the difference between the role and function of these two categories of banks, as well as stopping allowing a bank to own a non-financial enterprises, or conversely, a non-financial enterprises founding a bank to serve itself.

*Seventh*, the state bank should establish a standard for minimum capital for each category of banks, as well as set up and announce basic statistics of each bank in particular and the financial-monetary system in general to serve both policy-makers and users of financial services. The Vietnamese financial-banking system has (i) 101 banks and foreign bank branches including (a) 5 national commercial banks, each of which having more than US$1 billion in chartered capital and total assets of between US$15 to US$25 billion, (b) 39 private commercial banks, of which only a few banks are large like Eximbank with chatered capital of US$630 million, Sacombank - US$550 million, ACB - US$470 million<fnref n="2" />; (c) 53 foreign bank branches and banks with 100% foreign capital; (d) 5 foreign joint banks; (ii) 18 financial firms, 12 financial-lease firms and 1,202 public credit funds, (iii) 105 stock companies, 47 investment funds, 43 non-life insurance and 10 life insurance firms<fnref n="3" />. This financial system is a very complicated, overlapping that was not properly supervised and controlled <fnref n="4" />.

4. CONCLUSION

As the public debt crisis in Europe continues, casting further doubts on the already tumultuous and shaky macroeconomic and financial system worldwide, two questions demand a satisfactory answer. The first, what should be done to save those economies already engulfed in it and bring them back to financial healthiness. The second, what should be done for economies not yet in the crisis to avoid its ripple effect, or worse, being involved in its own crisis. This paper seeks to find an appropriate answer for the second question in a manner that is relevant to the Vietnamese economy.

As has been discussed, the macro-economy of Vietnam is currently displaying a number of worrying issues and symptoms. The crisis has struck in the wake of Vietnam's rapidly changing economy and exposed a number of key weaknesses in the country's macro-economy such as inflation, state budget deficit and the inefficient use of SOEs as spearhead for the economy, to name a few. This article has named a number of suggestions to restructure the economy so as to alleviate these deficiencies at the root, while avoiding a potential public debt crisis.

<footnote n="1">¹ Until the 31st of May 2012, the total outstanding debts of the banking system of Vietnam are around VND2,500 trillion. If we assume 10% of this figure is bad debt, it would have an absolute value of 250 trillion. According to senior banking expert, Mr Nguyen Tri Hieu, bad debts in Vietnam are around 15% (VND370 trillion) of which 50% (VND190 trillion) is irretrievable (according to international precedences), which is very large compared to the banking system's provident fund (VND70 trillion). At the same time, State Bank Governor of Vietnam Nguyen Van Binh insinuated that the rate of bad debt is only 4.47% (around VND117 trillion) and 84% of all debts have collaterals worth 135% total outstanding debts. On the other hand, according to the banking inspectional body, the rate of bad debts is closer to 8.6% of outstanding debts (VND202 trillion).</footnote>

<footnote n="2">²According to the 141-ND-CP decree dated the 22th November 2006, up to 31st December 2010, each private commercial bank has to have a minimum chartered capital of VND3 trillion (more than US$150 million). However, at that time there were 21 banks with a chattered capital less than VND2 trillion, 9 banks having a chartered capital between VND2 to VND3 trillion, and only 9 banks with a chartered capital of above VND3 trillion. At the meantime, the average global commercial bank has a typical chartered capital of US$1 to US$2 billion.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Vũ Quang Vif, *Crisis and the financial-credit system: Practical analysis in regard to the American and Vietnamese economy*, Washington D.C., February 2013.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ *Labor (Người lao động)*, Market-dominating financial group, 23/1/2013, (http://nld.com.vn/20130123104917462p0c1002/tap doan tai chinh lung doan thi truong.htm)</footnote>
While a number of issues underlying the European crisis – one may even say key issues – are inapplicable to Vietnam, namely the dependence on a shared currency and fiscal policies and the political costs thereof, the situation in Europe has proven that weaknesses in government budget, in the banking system and low growth are inseparable and one cannot be examined or solved without the other. Considering the present state of the Vietnamese banking and financial sector and its many issues, how these three problems interact and how to tackle them is an important area that policymakers and future researchers should pay attention to.

**References:**

* Bajrektarevic A., (2013), *Future of Europe (Of Lisbon and Generational Interval)*, Crans Montana Forum, 2013, Geneva, Switzerland.

* Bajrektarevic, A., (2004), *Europe beyond 2020: Three-dimensional Challenge*, 13th OSCE Economic Forum, Trieste Italy, November 2004.

* Bastasin, C (2012), *Saving Europe: How National Politics Nearly Destroyed the Euro*, Brookings Institution Press.

* Guillen, A (2012), *Europe: The Crisis Within a Crisis*, International Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 41, No. 3 (Fall 2012), pp 41-68Jolly, D. (2011), *European Agency Sells Billion in Bonds to Rescues Ireland*, The New York Times, January 5, 2011 in http://nytimes.com

* Lane, P. (2012), *The European Sovereign Debt Crisis*, The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 26, No. 3 (Summer 2012), pp. 49-67

* Minsky, H. (1986), *Stabilizing an Unstable Economy*, Yale University Press, Yale.

* Manasse, P. and Roubini, N (2009), *Rule of Thumb for Sovereign Debt Crises*, IMF: Journal of International Economics.

* Le, N. M., (2011), *Public Debt: Impacts on Economic Growth and Burden of Next Generation*, Banking Academy of Vietnam, Hanoi 2011.

* Reinhart, C.M. and Rogoff, K.S., (2010), *Growth in a Time of Debt*, American Economic Review.

* Shambaugh, J; Reis, R and Rey, H (2012), *The Euro's Three Crises*, Brookings Papers on Economic Activity (SPRING 2012), pp. 157-231

* Le, S. K (2013), *The World Economy After Crisis: Implications and Prospects*, Publisher of Social Sciences, Ha Noi 2012.

* Vu, V. Q., (2013), *Crisis and the financial-credit system: Practical Analysis in Regard to the American and Vietnamese Economy*, Washington D.C., February 2013.

* Vu, V. Q., (2011) "Public and banking debts of Vietnam at a glance", *Forum Magazine*, Hanoi, 25/11/2011.

* Dinh, T. C., (2012), *EU in the First Two Decades of 21 Century*, Publisher of Social Sciences, Ha Noi 2012.

* Nguyen, T. A. , (1999), *Asian Monetary-Financial Crisis: Reasons and Impacts* (ed.), National Political Publishing House, Hanoi 1999.

* Nguyen, T. A, (2006), “East Asian Financial Cooperation After 1997-Crisis: Experience From EU”, *Seminar Proceedings in China*, May 2006.

* Nguyen, T. A., (2009), “Global Financial Crisis: Experiences of Australia and Lessons for Vietnam”, *Review of Communist*, No 169, January 2009

<figure><img src="image_39.png" /></figure>
E. National and European issues
in a world of complex interdependence

European Union's Bizcommunication Value
in the Economics of Globalization Context

DR. NICOLETA VASILCOVSCHI

JiangSu Xishan Senior HS, WuXi, China

Motto: *People who have knowledge have the power to change the world* (Paul Rosner)

**Abstract:** Communication is the principal form to understand others and to make you to be understood by them. For a globalized economy, communication is more than a simple instrument, is a manner to attract new customers and partners from around the world. We present in this work a new method of communication for the European Union that we studied for first time in Norway and Spain from 2006-2007. This method is based on the art of communication transmitted by a business channel to create the economic collaboration between different companies at economic globalization standards. Bizcommunication is a concept that can describe the European Union communication in the global context.

**Key words:** European Union bizcommunication, economic globalization, art of communication, global influence.

FROM THE DEFINITION OF COMMUNICATION TO UNDERSTANDING GLOBALIZATION

<figure><img src="image_40.png" /></figure>

Communication is a complex activity that involves mastering the art of conversation, the ability to negotiate, to talk and to teach the others<fnref n="1" />. Briefly communication can be defined as being the process of sending and receiving messages. Any act of communication is a response to a previous act of communication and it is open to change<fnref n="2" />. There are different analyzes of globalization, some purely abstract, others overly pragmatic, but to a lesser extent they can address to understand how globalization can be improved by **bizcommunication**, a concept which we consider being an important value for the communication role on the global influence nowadays. We tried to point out in this study that economic globalization is viewed from different perspective and we explain how it can be influenced and how can become more dynamic.

We present the communication as a very commented field, but also we are trying to show more the impact that it can have on the economic globalization, on its analysis and how it can be transformed in a sustainable communication. Bizcommunication involves the concept of sustainable communication that allows us to believe that will be a concept with a large importance integrated in economic analyses of the future.

Technological progress and market interaction actors in European Union are not sufficient for increasing economic globalization, there is the need of support and cooperation between Europe, Asia, America, but also there is the need to create a very well structured business communication, that represents the basis for the development of exchanges and interactions in an effective manner for all participants at the new *glocal* commerce exchange. We are trying to show why communication is so important for the economy of European Union and how can be used to increase the economic

<footnote n="1">¹ Kate Keenan, *Ghidul managerului eficient. Cum să comunici*, Ed. Rentrop & Sraton, București, 2002, p.5.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Denis Mcquail, *Comunicarea*, Ed. Institutul European, Iași, 1999, p.42.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Glocal- global adapted to local commerce.</footnote>
collaboration between European Union 28 countries. We consider that communication involves change, and is very important to be developed an efficient system through the values of bizcommunication, through with the economics systems can cause major changes worldwide, affecting the economic activities and the collaborations between different corporations.

Global economic society is a living organism whose development in a positive way is not guaranteed and predetermined. Bicommunication is not only a source of understanding in the global economy, but also a way to improve the collaboration between economies of European and other economics systems, a value that can give to European Union a new place in the economics globalization context.

## PRO AND AGAINST ECONOMIC GLOBALIZATION

### Point of support

If after 1945, the postwar world become largely a creation of America<fnref n="1" />, the everyday world must become, in our opinion, the creation of freedom in communication for a future world that will allow the business communication to develop its values through the creation of bizcommunication.

„Making Globalization Work” is one of the best works about globalization, a book published by Joseph Stiglitz in 2006. The Nobel Laureate for Economics, Stiglitz, presents in his analyses the way that economics has to take to deal with globalization<fnref n="2" />. Communication in international business can be, in our opinion, one of the tools that may cause other approaches to globalization toward achieving better living standards and a new way to understand the globalization. Our research aims to demonstrate that in order to understand and to promote the global economy, European Union and other international powers should be more open to dialogue and should develop an effective bizcommunication and promote „an open global economy.”<fnref n="3" /> From analyzing communication at a company level and in the system of economic policies, we can observe that communication can be constructively and promptly if it is used in the best way and with enough resources. To achieve the effective economic globalization, multinational companies and institutions have to create a globally direction to allow interaction and to create connections in time and space<fnref n="4" />, recognizing the legitimacy of each collaboration in different business fields. Bizcommunication can allow unity among companies, in terms of collaboration between them, and between companies and other institutions or local communities. Over time there have been different perceptions of globalization, according defenders globalization means free trade, more wealth and growing need for freedom, but viewed from critically, globalization means loss of sovereignty, and at the same time a „social disintegration, economic and aesthetic”<fnref n="5" />. Samuel Huntington says that: „The Cold War was followed by the clash of civilizations”<fnref n="6" />. There can be a clash of civilizations that it has the beginning in misunderstanding, but with the time and with the developing of a modern society, based in mutual respect and open mind system, politic powers and economic organizations will be able to create a new model of business and society. This could have result in shocks for beginning, but also is an invitation to dialogue and advantages or disadvantages for different economic systems, but involve also new standards of competition and the new standards of life.

### What is an effective bizcommunication?

Bizcommunication is effectively based on the art of communicating and actively receive of a message that is sent through a business chain. In the era of economic globalization, different economic analyses can take into account different aspects that can be structured in function of the bizcommunication system. These aspects can be observed very well during the business trips, where first

<footnote n="1">¹ Henry Kissinger, *Diplomacia*, Ed. All, Bucureşti, 1998, p.47.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Joseph Stiglitz, *Making Globalization Work*, Ed. PenguinBooks, 2006.</footnote>

<footnote n="3">³ Robert Gilpin, *Economia mondială în secolul XXI. Provocarea capitalismului global*, Ed. Polirom, Bucureşti, 2004, p.259.</footnote>

<footnote n="4">⁴ Remi Brague, *Europa, calea română*, Ed. Idea Design & Print, Cluj, 2002, p.165.</footnote>

<footnote n="5">⁵ Roger Scruton, *Vestul şi Restul*, Ed. Humanitas, Bucureşti, 2004, p.120.</footnote>

<footnote n="6">⁶ Samuel Huntington, *Clash of civilizations*, “Foreign Affairs”, sept.1993.</footnote>
the managers have to be informed about the local taboos, they have to accept and understand the multiculturalism and they have to be understood also, they have to find the way in which the free exchange provides mutual benefit. Multinational corporations must operate under the collaboration and interaction with the governments and other economic or social actors involved in international trade. The prosperity and consumer society must not enslave the consumers, but must provide the necessary conditions of living around the world.

In the figure 1 we describe the system of the bizcommunication, that can be a value promoted in European Union. This process begins with the art of communication which is transferred by a business channel to support the economic activities.

<figure><img src="image_41.png" /><figcaption>Figure 1 The system of Bizcommunication</figcaption></figure>

Source: Own representations

Through bizcommunication different management functions can be utilized in the business activities. The lack of communication can cause bad function or failure in international relations, but also the delay of implementation of objectives and especially non-election timing to achieve a partnership agreement and disadvantage parties to reach agreement. The implementation of collaborative exchanges and dialogue, the market analysis on feasibility studies allow the companies and customers to collaborate on the market. Among multiple partners can be a mutual benefit if they operate under conditions commonly established and developed accordingly.

Communication involves change, and can cause major changes when bizcommunication value can affect positively the economic activities in the context of globalization which requires an opening and mobilizing interaction between firms. Globalization it is the result of the multinational corporation's competition and cooperation. And business communication is an exchange of information between partners, resulting in high value of new information, that can be based on promoting the value of bizcommunication. Due to technological development, communication has become a special scale, space and time are no longer obstacles, European Union business at this level is not just inside the 28 members, but has to be open to a real cooperation on the global level. Bizcommunication involves exchange of information and experiences that may cause change mentalities and attitudes worldwide.

The importance of bizcommunication may result from several theories and analyses of communication, from the analyses of communication system and communication species.

### General communication system and communication species

In 1941 the New York James Burnham published „The Managerial Revolution”, a book that explains what the „new managerial society” <fnref n="1" />, that holds all economic and political power. Claude Elwood Shannon in 1948 the book called „The Mathematical Theory of Communication” proposes a scheme of general system of communication. Communication problem „is to reproduce a given point, either exactly or approximately a message selected at another point” <fnref n="2" />.

<footnote n="1">¹ http://www.george-orwell.org/James_Burnham_and_the_Managerial_Revolution/0.html.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Armand și Michèle Mattelart, *Istoria teoriilor comunicării*, Ed. Polirom, 2001, p.44.</footnote>
Communication is based on source which produces a message, encoder or the transmitter, which converts the message into signals, the channel and decoder, the destination. Whether you refer to relations involving machines, beings, social organizations, the communication responds linear scheme that makes communication a process affected by random phenomena between a send, free to choose the message that you send and the recipient. Source, which is the starting point of communication gives the message form, turned to the broadcaster information it encodes, is received at the other end of the chain. Mathematically speaking communication source gives a message from the sender to the receiver. Economists use the language and communication to develop a message that is send to different consumers. Companies encode messages to make their products or services allowing them positive feedback from the costumers.

In France, Abraham Moles launches the „ecology of communication”. For the author, the ecology is the science of communication, of interaction between different species within a given area and different ideas that are analyzed in this context<fnref n="1" />.

The spatial communication can be close or distant, personal or anonymous, is a message transferred from a point to other point in the Earth. These approaches to communication analysis have impact for the logical structure of communication between firms.

## LOGIC OF EFFECTIVE COMMUNICATION

The researchers of Palo Alto School are trying to explain the overall situation of interaction, and not just to study several variables taken in isolation. They are based on three assumptions:

1. the essence of communication resides in relational and interactional processes;

2. any human behavior has communicative value, successive messages ;

3. vertical context will emerges communication logic.

In 1959 Edward T.Hall published book „The Silent Language”. Hall presents the silent language of each culture, the language of time, space, material properties, and ways to develop the friendship, to negotiate and to create agreements. All these languages are based on informal *cultural shock*, which begin with misunderstandings between people, who have not the same codes, rules of organization and time management. Also for different people around the world, the space has not the same symbolic meaning. In European Union from a country to another we can observe the difference between cultures and the difference between people attitude.

Managers and employees have many opportunities to learn different languages at multinationals level; they can use the system of bizcommunication to improve the global communication in business. If Europe starts to use the value of Bizcommunication, to develop more words from Economic lexicon, the economic crisis effects will start to be reduced and people will start to understand their importance in the new context of tomorrow business systems.

## COMMUNICATION-POWER

To study and to understand the power of communication, there is important to analyze two groups of concepts: signifier-signified and denotation-connotation. Language is an organized system of signs. Each sign has a double aspect: a perceptible and audible-signifier, other content, first, signified. From denotation-connotation could result almost-mythical correlation.

Communication-power may be based on a successful negotiation, but also is developed with different strategies. Successful negotiation involves *training, strategy development, negotiations and declaring positions*<fnref n="2" />. Providing power through communication, the strategy must be done by a coherent plan and joint choice of tactics and techniques that provide the best chance of achieving the goals.

<footnote n="1">¹ Samuel Huntington, op. cit.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Ștefan Prutianu, *Manual de comunicare și negociere în afaceri*, vol. II, Negocierea, Ed.Polirom,Iași, 2000, p.163.</footnote>
Communication that is based on power has influence to change people attitudes and to develop new products that attract the consumers from the entire world. In this context, the economy of information has an important impact on the economic activities, on the marketing decisions and attitudes. Developing new ways to speak through business communication in European Union, the value of Bizcommunication can be a way to develop the dialogue between companies around Europe and outside Europe and can provide a new structure of collaboration between European Union and its partners.

## CONCLUSIONS

The bizcommunication methode is the instrument of communication that can be used in the global relations between different companies or states. Bizcommunication value can be an important determinant of attending the interests in the international business communication. Through the concept of **Bizcommunication**, the communication in European Union can open the door to the globalized economic world more developed and more productive in the terms of collaborations between the international networks of manufacturers and customers. The bizcommunication is the system of management of a productive communication between manager and employers, between a transformational leader and his partners.

The bizcommunication value is the future of the global business and is a solution for European Union economics development on the beginning of XXI century.

## References:

* Gilpin, Robert, *Economia mondială în secolul XXI. Provocarea capitalismului global*, Ed. Polirom, București, 2004, p.259.

* Huntington, Samuel, *Clash of civilizations*, “Foreign Affairs”, sept.1993.

* Keenan, Kate, *Ghidul managerului eficient. Cum să comunici*, Ed. Rentrop & Sraton, București, 2002, p.5.

* Kissinger, Henry, *Diplomația*, Ed. All, București, 1998, p.47.

* Labori Michel et Costea, Simion, *Le management des politiques européennes*, Paris, Prodifmultimedia, 2011.

* Mattelart, Armand and Michèle *Istoria teoriilor comunicării*, Ed. Polirom, 2001, p.44.

* Mcquail, Denis, *Comunicarea*, Ed. Institutul European, Iași, 1999, p.42.

* Prutianu, Ștefan, *Manual de comunicare și negociere în afaceri, vol. II, Negocierea*, Ed.Polirom, Iași, 2000, p.163.

* Remi Brague, *Europa, calea romană*, Ed. Idea Design & Print, Cluj, 2002, p.165.

* Roger Scruton *Vestul și Restul*, Ed. Humanitas, București, 2004, p.120.

* Stiglitz, Joseph, *Making Globalization Work*, Ed. PenguinBooks, 2006.

<figure><img src="image_42.png" /></figure>
# EU Legal Area and Legal Person in Public Law as a Versatile Subject of Law in Estonian Legal Space

MADIS KALLION

Lecturer, Tallinn Law School, doctoral student at Estonian Business School

**Abstract:** This article discusses legal person in public law as a subject of law in Estonian legal space. The article aims to find answers to the following questions: What are the criteria under which the state should decide to establish a person in public law for performing public administrative duties? How is the legal person in public law connected with EU legal area? Is it necessary to unify the regulation for the legal arrangement of the management and activity of persons in public law, and to what extent?

**Keywords:** European Union, European Union law, European System of central banks, Estonian legal system, decentralised administrative systems.

## 1. INTRODUCTION

<figure><img src="image_43.png" /></figure>

With regard to the implementation of a decentralised administrative arrangement model in Estonia, the creation of legal persons in public law that operate on the basis of an Act pertaining to them and perform the administrative functions assigned to them by the state has played an important role. In deciding for a person in public law as an institution, the legal policy emphasises above all their independence and self-accountability. At the same time, there is no consensus in legal theory as to why it is necessary to establish legal persons in public law, in particular. The state has a number of different options at its disposal, after all: functions can be delegated to the private sector, for example; various forms of co-operation between the public and private sector can be developed, etc.

This article is not intended to judge the practice of founding persons in public law as it has been applied thus far. The selection of the topic was motivated by two reasons. Firstly, the establishment of persons in public law has not been grounded in a unitary legal-theoretical concept. Secondly, the regulation level of the Acts serving as a basis for the activity of these persons varies greatly.

Hence, the article aims to find answers to the following two questions:

* What are the criteria under which the state should decide to establish a person in public law for performing public administrative duties?

* Is it necessary to unify the regulation for the legal arrangement of the management and activity of persons in public law, and to what extent?

## 2. CRITERIA FOR ESTABLISHING A PERSON IN PUBLIC LAW

### 2.1 Desirable level of decentralisation

It is not always possible or even practical for the state to perform all of the public law functions through its own agencies (government agencies or state authorities managed by government agencies). Therefore, some of the public administrative duties are transferred by law to independent subjects of law, persons in public law, who thereby become bearers of public administration.<fnref n="1" /> When administrative duties are transferred to legal persons in public law, this process is called decentralisation. Decentralisation means the transfer of the final power of decision to independent subjects of law and it involves important democratic values. Decision-making is thereby taken as close as possible to those whom the decisions affect.<fnref n="2" />

<footnote n="1">¹ Eesti Vabariigi põhiseadus. Kommenteeritud väljaanne (Republic of Estonia Constitution. Commented edition). Tallinn 2008, p. 502.</footnote>

<footnote n="2">² Eesti Vabariigi põhiseadus. Kommenteeritud väljaanne (Republic of Estonia Constitution. Commented edition). Tallinn 2012, p. 606.</footnote>