Rome, 19–23 January 2026
Regional cooperation among parliaments in South-Eastern and Eastern Europe continues to grow under the Know-how Exchange Programme (KEP) project, funded by Italy through the CEI Fund of the EBRD and implemented by the Italian Chamber of Deputies.
The project CEI Support to Strengthening the Parliaments of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and Ukraine, in the Context of the EU Accession aims to enhance the legislative, oversight and administrative capacities of the parliaments of seven CEI EU candidate countries, contributing meaningfully to their EU accession process.
Launched as a platform for peer-to-peer learning and institutional dialogue, the initiative supports parliamentary administrations in sharing good practices and reinforcing their contribution to the EU integration process. Within this framework, representatives of the beneficiary parliaments and the Italian Chamber of Deputies defined priorities for cooperation and engaged in thematic exchanges focusing on parliamentary management, democratic governance and the transposition of EU law.
In this context, CEI Secretary General Franco Dal Mas noted that “the initiative reflects the role of the CEI Parliamentary Dimension as a key pillar of the Organisation, capable of translating interparliamentary dialogue into concrete, project-based cooperation, as demonstrated by this project”.
The activities concluded with a study visit to the Italian Chamber of Deputies held from 19 to 23 January 2026, involving thirteen parliamentary officials from the beneficiary countries. The visit represented the final phase of the capacity-building programme and provided an opportunity to consolidate knowledge and further exchange experiences on aligning national legislation with the EU acquis communautaire.
A final follow-up phase will include reporting and dissemination activities within each national parliament. The project is expected to foster deeper interparliamentary cooperation, build strong regional networks among parliamentary administrations, and support institutional development and democratic governance across the CEI area.
For more info: dovier@cei.int