Venue / Brussels
Date / 27 May 2013
Distinguished Ministers,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I wish to express my gratitude to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, H.E. Mr. Karl ERJAVEC, and to the Secretary General of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative (AII), Amb. Fabio PIGLIAPOCO, for the warm hospitality and excellent organisation of the XV Adriatic Ionian Council.
I have recently taken over the position of Secretary General of the Central European Initiative (CEI) with great pleasure and enthusiasm, and I believe that, in this decisive moment for the advancement of European and Euro-Atlantic integration, regional organisations may offer a solid contribution towards fostering reconciliation, dialogue, stability and prosperity.
Indeed, regional cooperation has been attracting renovated interest during the last years: a number of macro-regional initiatives were launched at EU level, thus multiplying the options for synergies and cooperation among national and sub-national actors, as well as the civil society. Due to its specific membership in Central and South-Eastern Europe - including countries targeted by the Black Sea Synergy, the Eastern Partnership, the EU Strategies for the Baltic Sea, the Danube and the Adriatic Ionian Macro-Regions - the CEI is well placed to play a bridging role between such cooperative schemes.
Based on its long experience as the oldest forum for regional cooperation, the CEI is fully committed to this process, and is ready to actively participate in the elaboration, and future implementation, of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic Ionian Macro-Region. I wish to emphasize that Trieste and Ancona both share the bond of the Adriatic Ionian basin, a connecting hub between countries, peoples and institutions: joint efforts to promote sustainable development of such an important common resource is needed, also because this will offer a structured framework for promoting further regional cooperation among EU members, candidates and potential candidates.
In line with its core mission, the CEI intends to promote “regional cooperation for European integration” through its unique working methodology, which can be defined as a combination of project management and multilateral diplomacy.
Originally conceived as a platform for high-level consultations among 18 participating countries, the CEI has, in the meantime, developed a strong project-oriented approach giving us a comparative advantage for achieving our mission.
Indeed, the CEI has specific capacities to translate strategic objectives into concrete actions, an asset that will turn out particularly useful once the Action Plan of the Strategy for the Adriatic Ionian Macro-Region will be finalized. The CEI project-oriented approach is composed of two mutually reinforcing elements: the CEI is both a donor institution - providing resources from its funds and instruments – and a recipient institution – competing at EU level in order to attract additional resources for its Member States.
Our expertise in the implementation of EU projects gives us an added value, particularly in view of the fact that EU macro-regional strategies do not envisage additional funds. On the contrary, a better and more targeted use of existing financial facilities will be encouraged.
In the next programming period 2014 – 2020, a funding programme dedicated to this area, namely the “South East Europe Gateway”, will be operational and will represent a great opportunity for the countries targeted by the Adriatic Ionian macro-regional strategy: I am convinced that the CEI experience in the field of EU project management will be crucial, not only to correctly administer EU funds, but also to lead international consortia consisting of both governmental and non-governmental stakeholders, a pre-condition for effective multi-actor and multi-level cooperation.
Dear colleagues,
Since EU macro-regional strategies certainly do not imply the creation of new institutional structures, existing organisations such as the CEI or the AII represent the ideal partners to complement and put in practice the provisions of these strategies, while encouraging coordination and synergies towards good neighbourly relations and a climate conducive to jointly address cross-border, transnational and interregional issues which cannot be effectively tackled from a national perspective.
This is an ambitious goal for a regional organisation such as the CEI: a goal that can be achieved only by constantly improving our records, while quickly adapting to the fast changing circumstances of the European political landscape. The CEI has been able to do so during its 25 years of life: this notwithstanding, I do believe that further efforts are needed in order to fully exploit our potential and make our organisation an even more flexible, innovative and practical tool for a result-based and project-oriented regional cooperation.
We are currently elaborating the new CEI Plan of Action that will enter in force in 2014: this exercise is giving us the unique opportunity to reflect on past achievements and upcoming challenges, with the aim to agree on a shared strategy able to guide us in the near future, increase the impact of our activity and streamline the whole CEI structure. The successful implementation of the Plan of Action will be the main objective of my mandate.
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