EUROPEAN COMPETITIVENESS: SPECIFIC EVOLUTIONS, TRENDS AND CHALLENGES

Ana Maria Raluca COJOCARU, PhD. Candidate

Faculty of Entrepreneurship, Business Engineering and Management, University Politehnica of Bucharest

ABSTRACT: The European Union is part of an ongoing changing landscape. The new era is shaped by globalization, technological changes, growing population and by the overall impact of these factors on state governing models. In the context of globalization, nations are competing to attract investments; on the other hand they increasingly depend on the general terms of the supportive business environment. In order to increase the competitiveness of the European enterprises, supporting trade activity is essential to fundament a strong market able to thrive in a globalized economy. This article aims to analyze the directions that are shaping a firms activity, such as: the access to financial resources, externalizing operations to new markets and the role of innovation that finally result in terms of turnover, number of employees, market share and contribution at developing the economy, which in the end will reflect the effectiveness of the public policies and the quality of investments.

KEYWORDS: competitiveness, economic growth, innovation, entrepreneurship, Europe 2020.

OUTSOURCING ACCOUNTING FUNCTIONS VERSUS ORGANIZATION'S OWN ACCOUNTING

Florentina ISTRATE, PhD. Candidate

Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Craiova

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Ersilia CATRINA, PhD. Candidate

Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Craiova

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Marin MIREA, PhD. Candidate

Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, University of Craiova

ABSTRACT: The reliability of financial information is a prerequisite for security of assets and proper assessment. This reliability lies in the quality of accounting information, financial security available to the company, the latter being confirmed by the audit. Internal audit should oversee management of the company to verify statements were made legal, according to records, if they are carried out regularly and if valuation of assets was done according to the rules established for preparing and presenting financial statements. In an environment in which the company committed to achieving high standards of corporate governance, the latter appearing as a concept around which this pressing requirement is built, to present a true and fair view of the assets company at a time. Despite legal constraints, there is still a mismatch of information regarding the quality of financial statements.

KEYWORDS: information asymmetry, outsourcing, accounting expertise services - managerial accounting.

SYSTEM AIR DEFENSE OF THE AREA OIL PRAHOVA IN THE YEARS 1941-1942

Vasile-Virgil COMAN, PhD. Candidate

Doctoral School of Economic and Humanistic Sciences, “Valahia” University

ABSTRACT: The aviation of the Red Army was the first to bomb our refineries, thus recognizing the importance of Ploiești. On July 13, 1941, nearly a month after it was invaded by the Nazis, the Soviet Union sent planes against Ploiești, hoping they will be forced to transfer Luftwaffe fighter on the frontline units in Romania, to defend the oil fields. On 5 June 1942, the US responded the declaration of war made by Romania. Seven days later, on June 12, 1942, the American aviation made its first combat mission in Europe, aiming at Romania, especially the oil region Prahova. The effects of the air attack called “Halpro” were insignificant. Prahova oil zone was the target of another air strike on the night of 13/14 September 1942, this time executed by Soviet military aviation.

KEYWORDS: World War II, oil, oil area Prahova, refineries, air defense system.

CHILDREN’S RIGHT TO PARTICIPATION AS CITIZENSHIP PERSPECTIVE

Rareș Alexandru MIRON, PhD. Candidate

Faculty of Philosophy and Socio – Political Sciences, "Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University,

POSDRU Scholar: POSDRU/187/1.5/S/155397

Beneficiary Institution: “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University

ABSTRACT: Children have an unclear and ambiguous relationship with the status of citizenship, being given some rights, opportunities, possibilities and some responsibilities for participation, while denied others. If citizenship is conceived and designed as a practice, children can be firmly seen as citizens in the sense that they are social actors, negotiating and contributing to relationships of social interdependence. This article discusses the understanding of children’s right to participation as citizenship and some of the different ways in which children’s actions enact them as interdependent citizens. How do children practice citizenship? - Some authors have reached the conclusion and showed that children’s citizenship is intertwined with participation. But in the European contexts, youth participation tends to also include taking part in collective activities focused on social integration. This article investigates child participation from the sociology of action perspective. There is an important literature on child participation following the adoption of The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. There is still a consistent theory of child participation missing. The distinction between the child seen as a subject of rights and the child seen as a social actor draws attention to the cumulative and systemic nature of action.

KEYWORDS: UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, children’s right, participation of children, citizenship, right to participation, development of right, right as a social necessity.

HERMENEUTICS OF THE ONEIRIC SYMBOLS IN SALVADOR DALI'S PAINTING

Diana-Elena VIZITIU, PhD. Candidate

Faculty of Philosophy and Social-Political Sciences, “Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University

POSDRU Scholar: POSDRU/187/1.5/S/155397

ABSTRACT: The symbol represents that kind of sign which enriches the visual world. In every area of our days, we are dealing with various kinds of symbols; from the Christian symbols, Masonic symbols, symbols of different logos, to the symbols that are represented on different visual arts: painting, sculpture, architecture. All these elements help us to understand better everyday life. If the meaning of a common symbol can be known without any special analysis because of its fame, the meanings of one symbol that is found in a painting, can be known through an intense analysis and, in some cases, even after that, the symbol and implicitly the message of the artwork, may not be decoded by the art consumers. One of the most innovator painter, who used very bizarre symbols in his creations, is Salvador Dali; therefore, this paper aims to discover a new way of seeing the pictorial symbols by researching Salvador Dali`s oneiric symbolism. If these symbols will be decoded, every painting of Dali`s creation will gain new meanings. The relation between dream and art will be taken into account, in order to identify how Dali transformed the normal painting, the conscious painting in unconscious painting by using the oneiric symbolism.

KEYWORDS: symbol, dream, psychoanalysis, Dali, meaning.

OUTSIDERS IN THE GERMAN SOCIETY

Alicia-Georgiana ZALUPCA, PhD. Candidate

Faculty of Communication and Public Relations, National School of Political and Administrative Studies

POSDRU Scholar: POSDRU/187/1.5/S/155589

ABSTRACT: In the last decade, the German society has witnessed an increase of discrimination attitudes towards immigrants that are coming either from Africa, Middle East or Eastern European countries. These attitudes are based on a divided society which is being poisoned by cons behaviors. Social disintegration has become dangerous due the the immigrants crisis from September 2015 and the latest events from New Year’s Eve 2015/2016 of violence against Germans. More and more segments of German society believe that they are more valuable than the others citizens who are living in Germany. The German government admitted to the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in Geneva in May 2015 that "Racism in Germany is not only found in extreme right-wing circles, but in all parts of society." The Germans fear not only about their own security, but also about the future of their country. In the last months, the Germans have questioned their politicians, and especially Chancellor Angela Merkel, about the direction in which their country is going since more than one million immigrants came to Germany in 2015. And the number could increase in 2016 due to the fact that the conflicts in Middle East are not about to end soon. Germans ask themselves why Merkel has allowed them to come to Germany so easily since they do not speak German. The lack of language knowledge, the differency between cultures, European versus Arabic, the different religions, Christianity versus Islamism, the different education level represent important factors who determine a reserved attitude when it comes to integrate and assimilate the immigrants in the German society. The Germans are afraid that their identity as a nation, as sovereign and dominant state will fade in time because of the assimilation of Muslisms in their country. It has been difficult to accept the Turks and the Eastern European citizens such as Russians, Polish, Romanians and Bulgarians in their society after 1990. And the tendency of rejection increases because the current immigrants who have come to Germany are violent and produce a huge prejudice to the entire population. Not a long time ago, it was totally safe to walk on the streets of Germany without fearing that something bad may occur. This situation has changed because the immigrants capture neighbourhoods in Germany and they basically form a little Muslim state in a German city. For sure, the political approach of Merkel from the last months will be reflected in the next elections results. Merkel’s main political ally, the CSU (Christian Social Union) party, is considering redrawing the political support of the current government. CSU is the leading party in the richest Germany’s region, Bavaria. Bavarian Prime-Minister and CSU leader, Horst Seehofer, tends to adopt a more and more eurosceptic attitude towards Merkel’s plans related to immigrants. Bavaria itself is the most significant contributor to the German overall economy, having the lowest unemployed rates, but also the biggest tax rates in all the country. Bavarians have recently stated that their region should introduce security controls again at their borders in order to prevent the terrorist acts and the immigrants run in Germany. This being said, it will be very interesting to analyze the current situation of the immigrants in Germany, the political approaches towards immigrants in the electoral campaings and the situation of the Muslims that are living in Germany. In this article, I also intend to overview the discrimination in the German society  from the Standard Eurobarometers perspectives which contain valuable information obtained directly from the German citizens.

KEYWORDS: immigrants, German society, discrimination, political party, electoral campaign.

VICTIM'S RIGHTS AT THE NATIONAL LEVEL AND THE REQUIREMENTS OF THE EUROPEAN UNION

JUDr. Jana KLESNIAKOVA, PhD. Candidate

Department of Criminal Law at the Law Faculty of Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic

ABSTRACT: The European Parliament and the Council adopted the Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and the Council of 25 October 2012 establishing minimum standards on the rights, support and protection of victims, and which replaces the Council Framework Decision 2001/220/JHA of 15.3.2001 on the position of victims in criminal proceedings. This regulation is an important guarantor of a higher standard of rights for victims of crime. The aim is to establish minimum standards for the rights of victims. My contribution deals with the current development of broadening and strengthening of the victim’s rights in criminal proceedings at the European Union level and in the legislation of the Member States of the European Union (mainly Czech Republic and Germany) The Directive, and the victim's rights package of which it is part of, recognises the needs of victims of crime as a central requirement for the attention of national criminal justice systems. That adjustment has suffered several changes leading to a guarantee of protection of the victim’s identity in criminal proceedings furthermore to the protection from secondary victimization and providing specific help as well as the right to give and receive information. The question is whether these rights of victims at the Member States level (in the Czech Republic, Germany) meet the requirements of the European Union.

KEYWORDS: Directive 2012/29/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council, victims of crime, victim’s rights, criminal proceedings, national criminal justice systems.