Experience of international development cooperation has shown that local institutional and personnel capacities are crucial in order to achieve sustainable development and poverty reduction. On a global level, however, the gap between industrial and developing countries in terms of technological and scientific capacities tends to widen rather than to narrow. Consequently, capacity development has [...]

The current commodity price boom in combination with high price volatility is historically unprecedented even in the volatile price history of commodities. After two decades of low commodity prices in the 1980s and 1990s, many commodities had registered steep price increases since 2002 reaching a peak in mid 2008. In the second half of 2008 prices fell sharply across commodities but they began to [...]

As a candidate country for European Union membership, the Republic of Serbia faces persistent challenges related to youth unemployment. At times, Serbia’s youth unemployment rates have been nearly double those of the EU. The peak was recorded in 2013, when the unemployment rate among young people aged 15 to 29 reached 41.6% (Eurostat, 2024). Since then, the trend has been declining, reaching a low [...]

A few weeks before the Brexit date of 31 October 2019, the big questions remain unanswered: Will Britain withdraw from the European Union? And if so, with or without a deal? These decisions not only affect the European Union and the United Kingdom itself, they also have consequences for the 79 countries of the ACP group, which have many links with both partners. Above all, a 'hard brexit' would [...]

The EU has recently concluded or is currently in the process of negotiating a number of bilateral free trade agreements with both industrialized countries, e.g. Japan, and developing as well as developing and emerging economies. Negotiations with the latter group include Tunisia, where negotiations on the Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement (DCFTA) were formally launched in October 2015. [...]

The EU has recently concluded or is currently in the process of negotiating a number of bilateral free trade agreements with both industrialized countries, e.g. Japan, and developing as well as emerging economies. Negotiations with the latter group also include Vietnam, where negotiations were formally concluded in December 2015. After completing the legal review of the text of the agreement, [...]