Slovenia

Slovenia has been one of the cleanest post-communist countries, helped by its high human development capital, and remains a top achiever on good governance. The euro crisis and the instrumentalization of anticorruption for political ends took some shine away from the small Central European nation. Some of its past achievements, like the online tracking public expense system need sustaining, as in the field of public procurement less information seems available than on the average in Europe, according to Europam.eu, posing a risk to government favoritism.

Is East-Central Europe Backsliding? EU Accession Is No “End of History”

In the textbooks on democratic transition, Central and Eastern Europe provides the model of success. Yet in Brussels concern over the politics of the new EU members has been mounting. The day after accession, when conditionality has faded, the influence of the EU vanished like a short-term anesthetic. Political parties needed to behave during accession in order to reach this highly popular objective, but once freed from these constraints, they returned to their usual ways. Now we see Central and Eastern Europe as it really is—a region that has come far but still has a way to go.