News
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.
In the framework of its activities in the field of Renewable and Sustainable Energy, which represent a priority for the Organisation, the Central European Initiative has commissioned a Report to BLOOMBERG – NEW ENERGY FINANCE on “Next Generation Ethanol and Bioproducts: Opportunities in Central and Eastern Europe”.
The Central European Initiative (CEI), in cooperation with the South East Europe Media Organisation (SEEMO), has launched the Call for Proposals 2012 of the Award for Outstanding Merits in Investigative Journalism. The Award is open to nationals from all 18 CEI Member States who have acquired special merits in investigative journalism over the past three years and who are still active in journalism.
The International Workshop on “European Growth: Building Knowledge Society and Economy through Effective Business - Academia Partnership” - was held on 11 April at the leading Slovenian Research Institute in Ljubljana, the Jozef Stefan Institute. The gathering was organised in collaboration with the Knowledge Economy Network (KEN) and the CEI Secretariat.
Representatives of 26 Business Support Organizations (BSOs) and of companies in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Serbia attended the training event in Belgrade on 3-4 April 2012 within the framework of the project FIT4SMEs - Financial Facilities for SMEs: Training and Capacity Building for Business Support Organisations in non-EU Member States of the Central European Initiative.
On March 29, the CEI participated in the Inter-institutional Conference - Annual Meeting of the European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation (EGTC) at the Committee of the Regions in Brussels.
The event was attended by Members of the European Parliament, European Commission, representatives of the EU Member States in the Council, Members of the Committee of the Regions and delegates from the 26 already set up EGTCs.
The Committee of National Coordinators (CNC) gathered for its traditional meeting in Vienna at the Austrian Federal Ministry of European and International Affairs on 30 March 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.
On Monday 19 March, the afternoon proceedings of the Transport and Tourism Committee of the European Parliament, chaired by President Brian Simpson, were hosted by the CEI.
SARAJEVO, 16 March 2012 – More than 50 participants at the kick-off meeting for the project Improving Cooperation in South-East Europe by Actions for Strengthening the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) agreed in Sarajevo today that enhancing RCC role is vital for upgrading regional cooperation.
The Project on Sustainable Urban Goods Logistics Achieved by Regional and Local Policies (SUGAR), running from November 2008 to February 2012, focused on addressing the problem of inefficient and ineffective management of urban freight distribution, a critical component of the overall urban transport system and a primary source of vehicle pollutant emissions.
The High-level Forum on Tourism, held under the Ukrainian Presidency in Kyiv on 1 March, was opened by Olena Shapovalova, Chairman of the Ukraine State Agency for Tourism and Resorts. In her welcome speech she confirmed the commitment of the Ukrainian Government to further develop its tourism sector and stressed that EURO 2012 would be an extraordinary opportunity to reach this goal.
The formal decision of the European Council to grant candidate status to Serbia is warmly welcomed by the Central European Initiative (CEI) whose core mission is “regional cooperation for European integration”.
The First and Second Steering Committee meetings for the EU-funded project “Improving Cooperation in South-East Europe by Actions for Strengthening the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC)” took place in Sarajevo on 20- 22 February at the premises of Regional Cooperation Council (RCC).