News
The Committee of National Coordinators, which gathered in Trieste on 12 June 2012, has decided to extend the deadline of the Calls for Proposals of the CEI Cooperation Fund and the CEI Know-how Exchange Programme (KEP). The new deadline is 20 July 2012.
The Meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the CEI Member States (Trieste, 13 June 2012), was dedicated to the topic “Regional Cooperation for European Integration and Bridge between Macro-regions”. The Ministerial meeting was chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Mr. Kostyantyn Gryschenko and offered the opportunity to assess recent developments in the region. All participants underlined the crucial role of the CEI as political forum in support of the European integration process and economic reforms of the countries of South-Eastern and Eastern Europe.
During their meeting in Trieste, on 12 June 2012, the CEI Committee of National Coordinators approved five technical cooperation projects for financing through the CEI Fund at the EBRD - entirely financed by the Italian Government. The overall commitment roughly amounts to 900,000 EUR.
Under the motto “Regional Cooperation for European Integration and Bridge between Macro-regions”, the CEI Ministerial Meeting in Trieste on 13 June 2012 will be chaired by H.E. Mr. Kostyantyn Gryshchenko, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, which holds the CEI Presidency for 2012, and envisages the participation of Foreign Ministers and State Secretaries of the 18 CEI Member States.
Amb. Gerhard Pfanzelter, CEI Secretary General, and Amb. Elena Kirtcheva, the Secretary General of the Vienna Economic Forum met at the CEI Headquarters in Trieste on 4 June 2012 in order to sign a Memorandum of Understanding for enhancing cooperation between the two organisations and developing joint activities.
A delegation from 4 Municipalities from Serbia (Smederevo, Užice, Novi Kneževac, and Knjaževac) participated in a study tour in Slovenia, on 24-26 May 2012, organised within the Project “System of Harmless Disposal of Animal Waste in 4 Municipalities in Serbia”, financed by the CEI within its KEP AUSTRIA programme.
Representatives of 31 Business Support Organizations (BSOs) from Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine participated in the training seminar held in Kiev on 24-25 May within the framework of the project Financial Facilities for SMEs: Training and Capacity Building for Business Support Organisations in non-EU Member States of the Central European Initiative - FIT4SMEs II.
The meeting of the Parliamentary Committee of the CEI Parliamentary Dimension on "Tourism and Mobility of Citizens as Important Components of Interaction of the Countries of the Central European Initiative. Legislative Support: Experience, Cooperation, Challenges and Problems" was held at the Verkhovna Rada, the Ukrainian Parliament, on 24 May 2012.
Transport and infrastructure ministerial representatives of Albania, Austria, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Montenegro, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Ukraine (SEETAC partner countries), the European Commission (DG Enlargement and DG Mobility and Transport), the European Investment Bank (EIB), regional organisations (RCC and SEETO) and transport operators (International Road Union, Trainose, the Hellenic Railways Organisation and the Hellenic Regulatory Authority for Railways), gathered in Athens on 22 May, to discuss investment coordination in transport inf
Donor representatives from Austria to the United States met at the EBRD's Headquarters in London on 17 May ahead of the Bank's Annual Meeting and Business Forum.
A project developing a dedicated videoconference network and appropriate training addressed to a broad spectrum of institutional users was presented by the Central European Initiative (CEI) at the World Summit on the Information Society in Geneva (14-18 May). Organised by four United Nations organisations (ITU, UNESCO, UNCTAD, UNDP), the event has attracted over 1500 participants from governments, the business sector and civil society, either present in person at the UN Palais de Nations or involved through remote participation.
7 post-graduate level courses, taking the form of summer schools and seminars, have been approved by the CEI University Network Executive Board.
The Network, entirely funded by Italy, is an instrument dedicated to higher education in order to foster the mobility of students and teaching staff among universities and other institutions of higher learning in Central, Eastern and South Eastern Europe.
The CEI Fund at the EBRD will be replenished in 2012 with 2 million EUR: the official announcement was released by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on the occasion of the last CEI Steering Committee Meeting on 27 April at the EBRD Headquarters in London.
The Central European Initiative (CEI) held its annual Steering Committee meeting on Friday 27 April 2012, at the Headquarters of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in London.
The CEI Know-How Exchange Programme (KEP) aims at facilitating the know-how and best practices transfers between institutions in EU and non-EU Member States of the CEI. By co-financing capacity building and technical assistance projects, the KEP offers grants to institutions willing to share their experience with their partners in non-EU CEI Member States, thus helping non-members to advance on their path towards EU standards and policies.
Revitalising the “CEI Instrument for the Protection of Minority Rights” elaborated in 1994; promoting the exchange of best practices; inviting the governments to consider the protection of minority rights as a fundamental peace tool. This is what the Parliamentarians of the 18 CEI Member States of the Central European Initiative (CEI) are calling for. They gathered today, on 27 April, in Bolzano in order to hold discussions about the fact that autonomy, minority rights and cultural heritage are instruments of peace among peoples. The meeting, promoted by Sen.
The CEI participated in the kick-off meeting of the EU Project “SEEMORE – Sustainable and Energy Efficient Mobility Options in tourist Regions in Europe”, held in Madeira (Portugal) on 23 - 24 April 2012.
The Report "Life in Transition: After the Crisis (2011)" is a joint project of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the World Bank aimed at investigating the impact of the economic crisis on households in the EBRD countries of operation.
The CEI Cooperation Fund, contributed by all CEI Member States, co-finances the implementation of small-scale projects (i.e. Cooperation Activities) usually taking the form of conferences, seminars, workshops and festivals. These projects are aimed at capacity building through know-how transfer and sharing - in particular from EU CEI Member States to non- EU CEI Member States - as well as through exchange of experience and good practices among all CEI Member States.