Last week the CEI Committee of National Coordinators approved ten projects to be co-financed in the framework of the CEI Know-how Exchange Programme (KEP) for an overall commitment of more than 320,000 EUR (295,000 EUR by the CEI Fund at the EBRD - financed by Italy, and 25,000 EUR by Poland). The projects were selected within the 2012 KEP Call for Proposals launched by the Office for the CEI Fund at the EBRD.
The 10 projects are fully in line with the strategies of the CEI Fund at the EBRD and with the mandate of the KEP to support the transfer of know-how from an organisation in an EU Member State to peers in non-EU countries within the CEI region.By employing a wide range of project activities and know-how transfer tools, the 10 assignments aim to tackle issues such as the conservation of environment, use of natural resources and reduction of natural risks hindering economic development; good governance in local administration and NGOs; stimulation of technical research and innovation; harmonisation of public sector accounting with international standards and best practices; improved territorial management and sustainable use of natural resources; ecotourism development and investment; and fine-tuning policy for the growth of the SME sector. The beneficiaries are from almost the entire CEI region, assuring a wide dissemination of expertise and benchmarks. The projects target in particular institutions in all of the countries of the Western Balkans, with particular focus on Albania and Macedonia – three projects each. Know-how recipients are also in Ukraine (three assignments) and Belarus (one assignment). As for the know-how providers, Italian organisations remain at the top of the list with four assignments, followed by Polish institutions (two assignments). The remaining projects will disseminate the know-how of organisations from Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, and Slovenia, as well as the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). This clearly demonstrates the trend of the willingness of emerging donors among the new EU Member States to share t lessons learnt - during their own EU integration processes -with peers from the rest of the CEI Member States. A detailed description of projects approved in 2012 is available here For more information: biadene@cei.int
*** In 1992, Italy signed an Agreement with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) on the establishment of a CEI Fund at the EBRD “to assist the Bank’s countries of operation in central and eastern Europe in their economic and social transformation process”. The Fund, towards which the Italian Government has solely made a total contribution of €36.5 million, mainly provides grant-type assistance for specific components of Technical Cooperation (TC) projects. Since its inception, the Fund has provided more than €22 million for funding TC projects. The CEI Fund has also contributed more than €1.2 million to the Know-How Exchange Programme (KEP), its second most important instrument and specific CEI tool.