High-level Ministerial Representatives on Transport and Infrastructure from Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, the European Commission (DG Mobility and Transport), regional organisations (CEFTA, RCC and SEETO) and the South East Europe Joint Technical Secretariat (SEE JTS), gathered in Bled on 29 August 2012, in order to discuss the outcomes and results accomplished by the cooperation among the partners of the SEETAC project - South East European Transport Axis Cooperation. This project was implemented over a three-year period by the CEI as the Lead Partner within the South East Europe (SEE) Cooperation Programme co-funded by the European Commission.
The event was organised by the Slovene Ministry of Transport and Spatial Planning in cooperation with the Central European Initiative (CEI), as Project Lead Partner. The Final SEETAC Transport Ministerial Conference was opened by Mr. Bostjan Rigler, Director General of the Slovene Ministry of Transport and Spatial Planning and by Amb. Gerhard Pfanzelter, CEI Secretary General.
Mr. Bostjan Rigler underlined the importance of the SEETAC project since the institutional cooperation established over the years under its umbrella could greatly contribute to the development of the transport system in the SEE region.
Amb. Gerhard Pfanzelter, stressed the satisfaction of the CEI with the SEETAC final results and outcomes reached: institutional cooperation, comprehensive transport analysis of the SEE area, assessment of the transport multimodal present and future scenarios. The project also contributed to enhancing the CEI’s cooperation with the EC, already established on various levels and in different fields.
Ms. Roberta Calcina, Project Manager from the Joint Technical Secretariat of the EU “South East Europe” Programme, emphasised their full support for the project, underling that it represented a flagship project for the Secretariat: SEETAC provided a strong institutional cooperation to respond to the need of an improved accessibility of the whole SEE region.
Among others, the Deputy Minister of Transport of Croatia Mr. Zdenko Antesic expressed full appreciation for the experience gained by Croatia through an active participation in the project. Furthermore, Mr. Nenad Nikolic, General Director of SEETO expressed deep satisfaction with the CEI cooperation hoping for continuation also in view of the future coming into force of the agreement establishing the EU-sponsored Transport Community for the region.
During the second session, Mr. Giorgio Rosso Cicogna, CEI Alternate Secretary General pointed out that the CEI was ready to play a strategic role in the implementation of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) in the transport sector. In particular, the SEETAC experience coupled with the numerous CEI initiatives in the field of transport and logistics could provide a proactive contribution to the relevant Steering Group of the EUSDR with highly qualified inputs as is the case for the priority areas on Science and Technology and Energy.
The SEETAC Ministerial conference consisted of three sessions dedicated to findings and results of the project in terms of international transport cooperation, to the SEE transport system in the region in the light of the TEN-T policy and the EU Cohesion policy and Danube Strategy.
The SEETAC Project is co-financed by the EU through the South East Europe Cooperation Programme with a total budget of 2.38 million EUR. The project aimed at analysing a possible integration between the Western Balkans (WB) and the EU transport systems in order to generate transport continuity and infrastructure development in the European area and beyond, thus implicitly leading to a rising competitiveness and economic development with the ultimate objective of integrating the WB countries in the European single market. The aim was to reach the EU's objectives of (i) transparency and information reliability; (ii) a harmonised and efficient institutional framework and; (iii) a rapid implementation of the transport priority projects. The project runs from 1 April 2009 to 30 September 2012.
For more information: www.seetac.eu
