WELCOME TO SEE !

Under the slogan "Jointly for our common future" the South East Europe Programme has been officially launched in Budapest on 27-28 March 2008.

The two-day event gathered approximately 500 participants from 18 countries; comprising representatives of the national authorities, European Commission and other international organisations, experts in the fields of innovation, environment, accessibility and sustainable growth areas, and last, but not least, interested applicants from a wide range of organisations.

OPENING

Another important message of Danuta Hubner was that South-East Europe provides a political dimension to transnational co-operation which is unique in Europe: ?with all the candidate and potential candidate countries for membership of the European Union in the region, there is a strong moral obligation to take co-operation forward, to build links between authorities and organisations, and to create projects and results which will deliver real benefits to all the people in the region. In this way, the South-East Europe programme becomes a bridge to the Union, a link to the EU?s Cohesion Policy and a tool for disseminating good practice to the candidate countries.? Although the transnational cooperation programmes are perhaps small compared to Convergence programmes - they offer multiplier effects that can only come from cooperation.Last, but not least, the Commissioner has emphasised the river Danube as one specific element which offers a number of possibilities for the region.

PLENARY SESSION

The plenary session continued by expanding the political dimension of the programme, with Professor Peter Balasz, from the Central European University introducing the main elements of the future of the cohesion policy, with a focus on the SEE area. Roland Arbter, the current Chair of the Monitoring Committee, mentioned the importance of complementing existing transnational activities in South East Europe? and described the new programming period 2007-2013 as ?No mere studies and networking ?but focus on implementation!?

Furthermore, the representative of two international organisations with extensive experience in the Programme area spoke about their activity and the importance of creating synergies between the various actors in the region. Ambassador Harald Kreid, - Central European Initiative Executive Secretariat addressed the Opportunities of Regional Cooperation in the SEE Area, while Jean-Yves Barcelo ? UN-Habitat mentioned the challenges and innovative practices for sustainable urban and regional development in South East Europe.

The session dedicated to the presentation of the programme framework was opened by Moray Gilland - DG Regional Policy, who stressed ?the need to develop a more concrete, relevant dimension? of transnational cooperation by supporting larger projects with better visibility as well as with greater physical and political impact.

The same idea was transmitted through the messages of Flórián Szalóki, on behalf of the Managing Authority, who has highlighted the experience of the National Development Agency in the management of various cooperation programmes.

Imre Csalagovits, on behalf of the Joint Technical Secretariat, summarized the programme history and evolution and stressed the active and positive contributions that the partner states have brought to the programme preparation phase.

Ivan Curzolo - SEE Joint Technical Secretariat - presented the specific elements of the first call: documents, process and expectations. Mr. Curzolo called for ?joint concrete co-operation projects with a result oriented approach (not simple ?exchange of experiences? or ?know-how transfer?) and for a clear transnational focus on the SEE area.

PRESENTING THE PRIORITIES

WORKSHOPS

EXHIBITION