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SLOVAKIA |
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SLOVAKIA |
THE EUROPEAN AND COMPARATIVE DIMENSION
The European and comparative dimension is formally represented in the Bratislava University of Economics and Safarik University’s public administration programmes. Bratislava’s curriculum includes a course entitled “EU Comparative Public Administration,” an elective course representing comparative public administration focused exclusively on members of EU, and “Environmental and Territorial Policies of the EU,” a compulsory course focused on the EU as a political-administrative system. Both courses were introduced recently as a result of the pre-accession activities of Slovakia, and the role that the University of Economics will play in this process. Prof. Bucek has primary responsibility for these courses.
There are also regular courses in Safarik University that may be included in this summary. Associate Professor Spirko is the primarily responsible for these courses:
- European and EU Law, which will be replaced by EU law;
- International Organisations, which will be removed from the programme;
- European Policy, which also will be removed from the programme.
The relatively small number of EU-oriented courses is due to a lack of local experts trained to teach these subjects. In principle, there are no teachers who specialise in EU issues in Slovak universities or in departments involved in PA/PM education. There has been no effective effort to train such experts due to several factors. First, current professors focus on existing subjects and generally do not have the free time to start new courses, although some of them have the ability to, or they could introduce selected comparative issues into existing courses. The number of “high quality newcomers” is small, as academic posts are highly unattractive due to low salaries in comparison to the private sector.
It is unlikely that this gap will be filled in the near future, although a pressing need for EU specialists exists as a result of Slovakia efforts to join the EU. Foreign support in the form of external teachers from the EU could improve the situation.
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