Do  you  ever  wonder  what  is  doing  heir  of  the  Habsburg  monarchy?  Well , Austrians are  define  themselves  as  the  heir  of  the  Habsburg  monarchy  and  have  an  incredibly  eventful , imprtant  history. Now the  country  is  a  democratic  republic  with  8,956  million  population. It  takes  place  in  central  europe  between  Germany, Italy  and  Hungary  that  is  pretty  apparent  Austria  has  an  important  location. And  my  personal  view  is  that  behind  all  these  important location and  marvelous  history Austria has  a  well  working    parliamentary representative democracy.

 

 

Republik Österreich  in  other  words  Republic  of  Austria became  a  federal  representative  democratic  republic  through  the  Federal  Constitution  of 1920. Federal  president  who  is head  of  the  state  is  directly  elected  by  popular  majority  vote  for  a  6  years  term. The  process  contains  two-round  system. The  second  round  is  held  between  two  highest ranking  canditates  if  any canditate  can’t  take  the majority in first round. 

 

 

Österreichisches  Parlament  is  federal  legislature  of  the  state  which  evaluates  bills  and  passes  them  into  laws. It  seperates into  two  chambers, The National Council  -which is  known  as  the  lower  house-   and  Federal Council -which  known  as  the  upper  house-  .  Both  chambers  has  their  seats  at  the  Austrian  Parliament  Building  in  Vienna.

 

 

The National  Council  elections  are  held  by  open-list  proportional  representation  in  every  five  years . The  requierment  for  the  ability  to  vote  in  the  elections  is  being  an  Austrian citizen  who  is  older  than  16  years  old. Council  has  183  seats  and  %40.44 percentage  of  the  members  are  women . At  least  4%  of  all  valid  votes  cast  nationwide  must  be  obtained  in  order  for  parties  to  take  place . Majority  of  members  are  from  Austrian  People’s  Party . And  the  other  parties  are   The Greens – The Green Alternative ,  Social Democratic  Party  of  Austria ,  Freedom  Party  of  Austria  ,  The  New  Austria and  Liberal  Forum . 

 

As  can  be  understood  from  the  party  names  diversity is all around the parliament. This  means  diverse  groups  can  be  represented  in parliament  however  sometimes  it  may  cause  difficulties  beacuse  of  different  perspectives. If   you  ask  me , I find  the  opportunity   to  be  represented  very  valuable  so  different  parties  with  different ideologies  may  be  very  beneficial.

 

 

Federal  Council  of  Austria  represents  the  country  at  the  federal  level. It  has  61  indirectly  elected  members  and  it  is  less powerful  than  The  National  Council. 25  of  the members  are  women  while  the  rest  36  of  them  are  men. Federal  Council  also  has  electoral  quota  for  women  just  like  The  National  Council. Similar  to  The  National Council , Austrian  People’s  Party  makes  up  the  majority  in  the  Federal  Council . The Greens – The  Green  Alternative  stands  by  Austrian’s  People  Party  and  together  they  constitute  Nehammer  Government  which  named  after  Karl  Nehammer  who  is  Chancellor  of  Austria . Opposition  consists  of  Social  Democratic  Party  of  Austria , Freedom  Party  of  Austria , The  New  Austria and  Liberal  Forum. 

 

It  seems  to  me  that, bicameral  legislature  has  some  advantages . One  of  them  is  the  second  chamber  may  correct  any  faulty  legislation  coming  from  the  first  chamber . Another  one  is ,  as I  mentioned  before ,  Legislatures  may  guard  minority  groups'  interests  with  a  two-chamber  system.

 

Habsburg Monarchy, Holy  Roman  Empire , German  Confederation , Austria-Hungary, starting  of  WW1 , Adolf  Hitler … Austria  has  connections  with  all  these  occurrents  happened  in  the  past . Like  I  have  mentioned  before , Republic  of  Austria  has  a  history full  of  splendiferous . And  now  the  country  is  represented  democraticly  and  peacefuly. As  the  time  passed  , Austrian  people  managed to get used to the new order and by that they  left  a mark  on  history  no  matter  which  century  it  was.


-Gül Başak Arıkök

 

On January 1, 2023 Euro will be the official currency and that transition covers three phases: preparation period, dual circulation period and the period after the completion of the dual circulation. Beginning with the evaluation of the past economic conditions and determining the proper ways integrating the new currency, those three phases play a vital role in the process.

The preparation period which has begun by the official decision comprises the time starting from The EU Council’ s official decision ending with the transition of the currency. In this period, dual circulation has implemented. Consequently, in order to spot the unjustified price recalculations, a Code of Ethics was launched by The Croatian Chamber of Economy, Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development and the Croation National Bank aiming the reporting of transitions to be legible and explicit. This here shows why Croatia is amongst the developed countries because they implement laws to protect justice. These ethics documanted as “the National Changeover Plan” clarify that retailers, other service providers and entreprenuers will be invited to join ethical code; and report that 370 business entities have already joined the code. The smooth application of the process despite all the possible problems and issues should set an example for candidate countries which may enter the EU later on.

            Despite the precautions aiming the faultless conduction of dual circulation process, a few concerns and possible problems tend to show up recently as it brings some challenging obligations for both business entities and people in rural areas. All financial reports must be prepared both in Euro and Kuna and by the beginning of 2023. Banks and other payments are obliged to make transitions at the fixed conversion rate stated as 1 euro= 7,53450 kuna, surely free of charge. Dijana Dolusic, a senior consultant, says “We can support you in implementing your business transactions correctly and on time during the key phases” indicating the efforts of the authorities to ensure that the process is conducted properly. 

            The second prominent problem is caused by cash payment models.While the dual circulation period continues, business entities and places that service goods such as markets are compelled to have both Kuna and Euro on hand to give change.. “We invite the citizens to give priority to our elderly citizens in the first days of dual circulation, when paying at the cash registers, but also to show understanding towards the workers at the cash registers, for whom the obligation to receive two currencies and their conversion will represent an additional challenge.“ (Croatian Chamber of Economy. (n.d.). "In the period of dual circulation, use cashless payment models." Retrieved from https://glashrvatske.hrt.hr/en/economy/croatian-chamber-of-economy-in-the-period-of-dual-circulation-use-cashless-payment-models-10520033) emphasises the importance to be understanding, said by the director the Croation Chamber of Economy Trade Sector Sanja Smoljak Katic.

            However, serious attempts have not been made as a solution regardless from a few explanations and warnings made by authorities ignoring the significance of the problem in rural areas. Insufficient cash stock and hardship to reach banks and atms would probably spoil the payment transactions and therefore daily routines of the inhabitants.

             Leaving beyond all the preparation processes, actual dual circulation period lasts for two weeks beginning on January 1, 2023. By the end of the two weeks, all payments and transactions will be conducted with Euro. However, till the end of June in 2023, currency exchanges could be made from Croation Banks and FINA without transactional fees regardless the amount. 

            Tourism is on of the greatest income channels for Croatia, accounting nearly 20% of its GDP. And 70% of the revenue from tourists is from the tourists whose country’s currency is Euro. That brings an important advantage, reducing the conversion costs. Also, after transitioning to Euro; Croatia is expected to appeal more investors and new entreprenuers as it seems to ensure a higher financial stability and increasing resilience of the economy. 

            Renouncing the independence of the financial policy and concluding with an official decision affecting people from all strata and finance policy are challenging processes to be conducted. Indeed, for a country facing a risk of depopulation and high inflation, the profits of the decision would be seen in the future. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

https://www.ecb.europa.eu/euro/changeover/croatia/html/index.en.html#:~:text=Croatia%20has%20been%20a%20member,rate%20for%20the%20Croatian%20kuna.

https://www.euronews.com/my-europe/2022/07/12/croatia-gets-final-approval-to-adopt-the-euro-on-1-january-2023 


-Özgür Zengin 2021300054

https://www.marketresearch.com/Williams-Marshall-Strategy-v4196/Fiji-Bottled-Water-Impact-COVID-13621114/
https://tradingeconomics.com/fiji/imports#:~:text=Fiji%20mainly%20imports%20fuel%2C%20telecommunications,57%20percent%20of%20total%20imports).