28. 6. 2017 | Erasmus+, PR, Youth
An international mobility project in the scope of Erasmus + programme of the European Union “Be Ready for European Values” under the title “Non-Formal Education System in Slovenia” has concluded yesterday with an awarding ceremony.
During the 10 days of the youth exchange on non-formal education through soft methods and non-formal approaches, the participants also got a chance to gain an insight into the system of non-formal education in Slovenia, provided by the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth, Employment Service of Slovenia, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia, Nefiks Institute, Youth Council of Slovenia, Slovenian Student Union, Movit Institute and Youth Office of the City of Ljubljana. Students also visited IEDC Bled School of Management, EMUNI University in Piran as well as Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana to learn about recognition of non-formal education on different faculties. Visit to the House of the European Union (EU) in Ljubljana highlighted the opportunities for youth in the EU and added the European perspective to the matter.
Throughout the youth exchange the participants underwent preparations for the European Parliament simulation exercise, which was held at the Ljubljana City Hall on Tuesday. Participants had to prepare their opening speeches and arguments for or against non-formal education’s recognition and validation comparable to formal education. The simulation was opened by Zoran Jankovič, Mayor of the City of Ljubljana and Katarina Gorenc from the Youth Office of the City of Ljubljana explained why is Ljubljana youth friendly municipality. The simulation exercise that was chaired by Sabina Carli began with opening speeches and continued with arguments pro and contra. At the end, the document on non-formal education’s recognition and validation comparable to formal education with few amendments was accepted by the great majority.
After the simulation conclusion, the participants were addressed by H.E. Mr Miodrag Mugoša, Ambassador of the Montenegro in Ljubljana, that awarded the certificates.
The project “Be Ready for European Values” contributes to active participation of youth in social, economic and political development of Montenegro through promotion of EU values, by improving the quality of youth work and non-formal education in Montenegro, and by fostering cooperation with Slovenia and practical transfer of know-how. The project aims to develop a non-formal educational system in Montenegro that would raise awareness and enhance practical skills that are needed for more marketable and proactive role in the labour market.
Centre for European Perspective is conducting the project in cooperation with the Centre for Monitoring and Research from Montenegro, Centre for International Studies from Croatia, University of Donja Gorica from Montenegro and Art Communications from Montenegro.
The program is funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the EU under the Key Action 2: Capacity Building in the Field of Youth – KA2: Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good Practices.
21. 6. 2017 | Erasmus+, PR, Youth
Centre for European Perspective is hosting an international mobility project “Be Ready for European Values – Non-Formal Education System in Slovenia” with 50 young participants from Montenegro. The mobility program, funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the European Union under the Key Action 2: Capacity Building in the field of Youth – KA2: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices, includes a week-long exchange in Slovenia.
Project aims to develop innovative non-formal educational system in order to raise awareness about democratic life and practical skills needed for marketable and proactive role in the labor market, opening perspectives for entrepreneurial ideas and work at the EU and national level.
Project activities in the scope of Youth non-formal education system in Slovenia are designed to support the development of knowledge and evidence-based youth policy in Montenegro. Participants will undergo intensive lectures, workshops, study visits in Ljubljana, Kamnik, Piran and Bled and simulation exercise, which they will plan and prepare throughout the week.
While learning about non-formal education through soft methods and non-formal approaches, the participants will also get a chance to gain an insight into the system of non-formal education in Slovenia, provided by the Office of the Republic of Slovenia for Youth, Employment Service of Slovenia, Ministry of Education, Science and Sport, and Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia. The interplay between formal and non-formal education will be further discussed at the IEDC Bled School of Management in Bled, EMUNI University in Piran and Faculty of Social Sciences in Ljubljana.
In addition, youth organisations, NEFIKS Institute, Slovenian Student Union, and National Youth Council of Slovenia, will indicate the role of civil society organisations and NGOs in the non-formal learning processes. The Information Office of the European Parliament and the European Commission in Slovenia, and MOVIT INSTITUTE will add the European perspective to the matter. The project will conclude with an address by the mayor of the City of Ljubljana, a presentation by the Office for Youth of the City of Ljubljana and an awarding ceremony with the Embassy of the Republic of Montenegro.
A special part of the exchange will be dedicated to the preparation of the simulation of youth-led decision making process, where youngsters will discuss the tools and mechanisms of recognition of non-formal education in the formal education institutions.
“Be Ready for European Values” contributes to active participation of youth in social, economic and political development of Montenegro through promotion of EU values, by improving the quality of youth work and non-formal education in Montenegro, and by fostering cooperation with Slovenia and practical transfer of know-how.
The project is conducted in cooperation with the Centre for Monitoring and Research (Podgorica, Montenegro), which is coordinating the umbrella project, Centre for International Studies (Zagreb, Croatia), University of Donja Gorica (Montenegro) and Art Communications (Montenegro).
The program is funded by the Erasmus+ Programme of the EU under the Key Action 2: Capacity Building in the Field of Youth – KA2: Cooperation for Innovation and the Exchange of Good Practices.
19. 6. 2017 | Development (ODA), Macedonia - Finance, PR
Macedonia will receive support for the accession to the EU in the Chapter 24 in the framework of the programme of Slovenia’s Development Cooperation and the focus of this support will in next two years (2017-2018) be to build capacities in the area of financial investigations. From 26 to 29 June 2017 a workshop will take place in Macedonia involving those in Slovenian and Macedonia who direct the work of investigation and suppression of organised crime and corruption.
They will exchange experiences and recognise differences, which can significantly influence the success of identification and confiscation of proceeds of crime and property of unlawful origin. Since the main motive of perpetrators of organised crime as well as means for their functioning, is to gain proceeds, financial investigations and confiscation of proceeds of crime are important tool in fight against organised crime and corruption. The project, managed by the Centre for European Perspective, is conducted in the cooperation with the Ministry of Interior/Police, Ministry of Justice, Specialised State Prosecutor’s Office for Organised Crime and Corruption and Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia.
The project is part of the programme activities funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia with funds for international development cooperation.
Makedoniji pomoč Slovenije na področju finančnih preiskav
Makedonija bo v okviru programa mednarodnega razvojnega sodelovanja Slovenije prejela pomoč pri približevanju EU v poglavju 24, pomoč pa se bo v naslednjih dveh letih (2017-2018) osredotočala na krepitev zmogljivosti na področju finančnih preiskav. Od 26.-29.6.2017 bo v Makedoniji potekala delavnica, na kateri bodo izmenjali izkušnje tisti, ki so v Sloveniji in Makedoniji vključeni v usmerjane dela pri preiskovanju in pregonu organiziranega kriminala in korupcije, in ugotavljali razlike, ki lahko pomembno vplivajo na uspešnost ugotavljanja in odvzema protipravno pridobljene premoženjske koristi in premoženja nezakonitega izvora. Ker je glavni motiv in hkrati sredstvo za delovanje storilcev organiziranega kriminala pridobitev premoženjske koristi, so finančne preiskave in odvzem premoženja nezakonitega izvora pomembno orodje v boju proti organiziranemu kriminalu in korupciji. Projekt, ki ga vodi Center za evropsko prihodnost, se izvaja v sodelovanju z Ministrstvom za notranje zadeve/Policijo, Ministrstvom za pravosodje, Specializiranim državnim tožilstvom in Finančno upravo Republike Slovenije.
Projekt je del programskih aktivnosti, ki jih financira Ministrstvo za zunanje zadeve iz sredstev za mednarodno razvojno sodelovanje.
14. 6. 2017 | PR, Reflection Forum
Reflection Forum on the run-up to the Summit of Trieste on the Western Balkans will convene the community of European experts working on Western Balkans’ EU integration to reflect on the challenges bedevilling the EU’s enlargement policy, once deemed the EU’s most successful foreign policy, and the contribution research can make to address these. Taking place on 26 – 27 June 2017 in Trieste, Italy, reflection forum will provide a platform for exchange of perspectives between experts working in national and European administrations and institutions as well as researchers affiliated to European think-tanks and universities in the EU and the Western Balkans.
This second reflection forum, dedicated to regional cooperation, will reflect on the enlargement and the Western Balkans among the policy community, the media and the general public. Three areas of reflection have been delineated: the resurgence of bilateral and regional tensions, the gap between regional cooperation in enabling security matters and the pitfalls of gendered models of economic development.
Speakers at the forum will not deliver their presentations ex cathedra but participate interactively in debates moderated by experienced experts. The reflection forum and reflection conference will set the basis for the elaboration of reflection papers, disseminated across the policy community. They will be followed up by a new series of outreach events (panel discussions), to be organised throughout the Western Balkans as well as in the Berlin Process countries in autumn and spring 2017-2018.
Centre for European Perspective is co-hosting one dinner in Portorož, Slovenia with the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The welcoming address will be delivered by Peter Grk, National Coordinator for Western Balkans at Slovenian MFA and Darja Bavdaž Kuret, State Secretary of Slovenian MFA.
Background of the Reflection Forum initiative
In 2014, in the wake of the 100th anniversary of the outbreak of the First World War, the Federal Chancellor of Germany, Angela Merkel, initiated an intergovernmental process with the countries of the Western Balkans (the so-called Berlin Process). Its aim is to improve cooperation throughout the region, put “fundamentals first”, and thereby reinvigorate European integration. The first conference, organised in Berlin, was followed by a second one in Vienna in 2015 and a third one in Paris in 2016. A fourth conference will be convened by Italy in 2017, before the process expectedly ends one year later, in 2018, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of the end of WWI.
In order to encourage a European dialogue amongst think tanks and academic institutions on the Western Balkans and their European perspective, the CIFE, CFA, IAI and IFRI, together with other institutions, including CEP, launched in 2015 an initiative that culminated with the organisation of a “reflection forum” on the Western Balkans in May 2016 in Paris. The reflection forum took place in the run-up to the conference on the Western Balkans hosted by President François Hollande on 4 July 2016. It created an open platform of exchange for more than 80 key experts coming from all over Europe. This first reflection forum addressed some of the topical challenges the EU and Western Balkan countries face, from socio-economic convergence or migration security to democratisation or geopolitics. In the weeks following the event, an expert report was elaborated in cooperation with the EUISS and transmitted to French authorities before the Paris Conference of July 2016. In the following months, a series of outreach events (panel discussions) were organised throughout the Western Balkans in order to nourish the reflection initiated in Paris on the European politics and EU enlargement.
This process of reflection and think tank mobilisation will be continued throughout 2017. On 5th April, a high-level reflection conference, organised under the patronage of the Italian MFA, started the process leading to the second edition of the reflection forum, organised on 26-27th June 2017, in the run-up to the next intergovernmental conference on the Western Balkans hosted by Italy in July 2017.
Organizers and supporters
Reflection forum is organised and supported by Istituto Affari Internazionali (IAI), Centre international de formation européenne (CIFE), Austro-French Centre for Rapprochement in Europe (CFA), French Institute for International Relations (Ifri), Stiftung Wissenschaft und Politik (SWP), Austrian Institute for International Politics (Oiip), European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), Balkans in Europe Policy Advisory (BiEPAG), Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso (OBC), Central European Initiative (CEI), Regione Autonoma Friuli Venezia Giulia, MIB Trieste School of Management, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Italy, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of France, Federal Ministry for European, Integration and Foreign Affairs of Austria, Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Germany, Friedrich-Ebert Foundation (FES), and Centre for European Perspective (CEP).
13. 6. 2017 | IECEU, PR
The analyses of the effectiveness of Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) – crisis management operations, implemented by the IECEU-project, also researched the current initiatives of pooling and sharing of capabilities (P&S) and how it is perceived at mission level. Firstly, an extensive desk research has been conducted, to uncover what initiatives are ongoing at EU-level and national level. It was followed by eight case studies in Europe, Africa, Middle East and Asia have been reviewed, covering 15 CSDP crisis management missions.
The results of this research are listed in the 6.1 Standardisation Review, that looked at training initiatives, common procurement initiatives as well as how P&S is perceived at mission/operation level. Three standardised questions were asked in all 15 researched CSDP crisis management operations (of which ten are civilian and five are military):
1. whether when establishing the mission pooling and sharing had been considered;
2. how did the pooling and sharing work in the field; was it considered, and;
3. were there existing practices of pooling and sharing (if any).
At statistical level, 8 out of 15 crisis management operations have recorded findings in terms of pooling and sharing. However, six of these operations reported there was no P&S activities, which means that there are only two positive findings for P&S at crisis management operations level. More specifically, the two recorded positive findings for practices of P&S are for the CSDP-missions EUFOR RCA and EULEX Kosovo.
In terms of what is pooled and shared, both crisis management operations display different results. EUFOR RCA pooled and shared airlift capacity, which makes sense as it is a scarce and expensive resource. The EULEX Kosovo mission shows more complex findings for pooling and sharing, as it mentioned different points, such as transfer of staff, mission support, standard operating procedures and sharing / joint use of resources. This could be partly explained by the length of the mission (9 years), giving more time to develop pooling and sharing initiatives.
These results have to be taken with caution, as factors such as timeframe (P&S was developed from 2010 onwards and thus does not fully apply to missions and operations that had been launched before that date) and links with the planning level (P&S at operations level depends on a large scale on previous planning and capability development. If there is already little pooling and sharing at those levels, it logically drops down to mission level).
The findings of P&S were discussed during an IECEU-policy dialogue held on 27 March 2017, in Brussels, with relevant stakeholders of EU institutions, member states, NGOs and academia. During the debate, the warning was expressed that pooling and sharing is not only about financial (saving) aspects, but also about what is available. Member states can only pool and share what they do have. Pooling and sharing is thus not replacing non-existing capabilities.
The discussion further on uncovered that much has been done in the military domain by projects led by European Defence Agency, however, it seems that the current trend is focusing on many small initiatives but lacking an overall approach. A broader understanding of the added value of joining forces and working stronger together among EU member states could be beneficial. To put it more strongly, there is a need for a continent of Pooling and Sharing and not many little islands of Pooling and Sharing in the European Union.
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Author: Mascia Toussaint
