CEP together with the leading EU think-tanks organised a round table “Perspectives for the Western Balkans in the European Union” 28 March in Ljubljana, following a preparatory meeting for the Reflection Forum event to be held in Trieste 26-27 June 2017.
The round table is now available online, watch it on the link below:
In the framework of the project ‘Assistance to Albanian municipalities in the preparation of the EU and other international projects’ between 18 and 21 April 2017 Centre for European Perspective (CEP) will conduct the first workshop in Albanian Vlora.
The first workshop is intended to present a variety of financing options, the whole project cycle and project design. Particular emphasis will be placed on project design whereas Slovenian experts will share their experiences in the preparation and implementation of such projects. The workshop will be attended by representatives of the Albanian municipalities, regional development agencies and regional youth centres. In the workshop, participants will present their own project ideas as well and with Slovenian experts they will look for possibilities for their realization. The second workshop within the above mentioned project will take place in May.
CEP is preparing a training in cooperation with the Balkan Center for Cooperation and Development (BCCD), the American development agency USAID and the Embassy of the Republic of Slovenia in Tirana.
The project is part of the CEP program activities financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the scope of international development cooperation.
Napoved: CEP z delavnico za pripravo EU in drugih projektov za predstavnike albanskih občin
Center za evropsko prihodnost (CEP) bo v okviru projekta ‘Pomoč albanskim občinam na področju priprave EU in drugih mednarodnih projektov’ med 18. in 21. aprilom 2017 v albanski Vlori izvedel prvo delavnico.
Prva delavnica je namenjena predstavitvi različnih možnosti financiranja, razumevanju in izvajanju projektnega cikla ter zasnovi projektov. Poseben poudarek bo namenjen zasnovi projektov, slovenski strokovnjaki pa bodo ob tem predstavili konkretne izkušnje s pripravami in prijavljanjem tovrstnih projektov. Delavnice se bodo udeležili predstavniki albanskih občin, razvojnih agencij in regionalnih mladinskih centrov. V okviru delavnice bodo udeleženci predstavili tudi lastne projektne ideje in s strokovnjaki iskali možnosti za njihovo uresničitev. Nadaljevanje usposabljanja bo potekalo z drugo delavnico v mesecu maju.
CEP pripravlja usposabljanje v sodelovanju z Balkanskim centrom za sodelovanje in razvoj (BCCD), ameriško razvojno agencijo USAID in Veleposlaništvom RS v Tirani.
Projekt je del programskih aktivnosti CEP, ki jih financira Ministrstvo za zunanje zadeve iz sredstev za mednarodno razvojno sodelovanje.
CEP together with the leading EU think-tanks organised a round table “Perspectives for the Western Balkans in the European Union” 28 March in Ljubljana, following a preparatory meeting for the Reflection Forum event to be held in Trieste 26-27 June 2017.
Round table discussion was part of a series of events within a ‘Reflection Forum’ initiative, which aims to discuss the relevance of a European dialogue of research and policy institutions on issues related to the Western Balkans and their European integration in the run-up to the Conference of Heads of State and Government from the Western Balkans countries in Italy as part of the Berlin Process. The first conference in Berlin was followed by a second one in Vienna in 2015, third one in Paris in 2016 whereas fourth one will be held in Trieste 12 July 2017.
Following speakers shared their views regarding Western Balkans and the EU:
• Peter Grk, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ljubljana
• Zoran Nechev, EU ISS, Paris
• Eleonora Poli, IAI, Rome
• Florent Marciacq, Franco-Austrian Centre (CFA), Vienna
Moderator: Tobias Flessenkemper, CIFE, Nice
Event addressed questions like what is left after Rome declaration in terms of the enlargement, where do the Western Balkan countries stand today in terms of the accession process and their progress, whether the enlargement could serve as an inspiration to EU in order to stand together more firmly, especially in current atmosphere with refugee crisis and Brexit. Further on debate addressed the expectations from the member states, Slovenian, German and Italian perspective, outcomes of the Berlin process so far and the final goals of it.
Interesting questions serving as a basis for further discussion were posed, asking whether the EU is just pretending to be enlarging while the Balkans are pretending to be reforming and what are the alternatives to the EU.
Round table concluded with a fruitful discussion with various questions from the audience, while all the panellists agreed that we need to keep in mind all the challenges, but also serve as an example to the Western Balkan countries and find ways to keep them inspired for changes and trespassing borders, while a structural change of all parts of the society will be needed there.
On Wednesday, March 29, CEP organized a workshop for young entrepreneurs from Kosovo. The event was organized in the Innovation Centre Kosovo in order to promote our project that enables 20 youngsters to attend PODIM Conference. It is the leading regional start-up conference, where 800 people of various backgrounds convene – big corporations, start-ups, investors and others.
The workshop attracted a number of young entrepreneurs, who want to launch their own start-up and embrace their entrepreneurial idea. The executive director of CEP dr. Gorazd Justinek presented the source of financing for the project and explained the framework of Slovenia’s Development Cooperation funds, devoted also to job creation and youth development in the region.
Representative of PODIM Conference Matej Rus introduced the leading start-up event in Slovenia and in the region and presented the speakers, moderators, investors and mentors that participated in the previous years and mentioned a couple of names from this year’s itineration. He briefed young Kosovo entrepreneurs about the PODIM Challenge, through which 10 best entrepreneurial ideas will be selected and 20 participants from Kosovo will be awarded with transportation, accommodation and participation at the conference free of charge as a result of cooperation between CEP and PODIM.
ABC Accelerator representative Milan Lazarevič presented the accelerator that supports the start-ups in Slovenia from the very first phase of development through an intermediary phase in Germany and then the latter stages in Silicon Valley. Young entrepreneurs had numerous questions about the conference and the challenge and the speakers were able to give them advise about the application process, presentation of the ideas and pitching in front of the investors.
The workshop followed a similar workshop that we organized in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina on 22 March.
The project is part of our program activities, financed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Republic of Slovenia in the framework of Slovenia’s development cooperation.
Kosovski podjetniki v pripravah na iskanje investicij v Sloveniji
V sredo, 29. marca, se je v Prištini v Innovation Centre Kosovo odvila delavnica za mlade podjetnike s Kosova, katere namen je promocija projekta preko katerega Center za evropsko prihodnost pomaga 20 mladim, da se udeležijo konference PODIM. Gre za vodilno regionalno konferenco za start-upe, kjer se sreča okoli 800 ljudi iz različnih okolij – velike korporacije, start-upi, investitorji in ostali zainteresirani.
Na dogodku se je zbralo veliko število mladih bodočih podjetnikov, ki želijo ustvariti svoj start-up in se podati na pot podjetništva. Direktor CEP dr. Gorazd Justinek je izpostavil, da se celoten projekt izvaja v okviru Razvojnega sodelovanje Republike Slovenije, kjer so mladi in ustvarjanje novih delovnih mest ključna dejavnika.
Predstavnik konference Podim Matej Rus je predstavil osrednji start-up dogodek v Sloveniji in regiji ter izpostavil govorce, moderatorje, investitorje ter mentorje, ki so se v preteklih letih konference udeležili ter nekatere, ki so že potrdili sodelovanje v letu 2017. Kosovske mlade podjetnike so seznanili s prijavo na PODIM Challenge, preko katerega se mladi lahko potegujejo za tridnevni paket, ki vključuje kritje stroškov prevoza, nastanitve in participacije na konferenci PODIM. Udeleženci morajo prijavo podati do konca meseca marca, izbranih pa bo 10 najboljših projektnih predlogov oziroma mladih start-up podjetij.
Predstavnik ABC pospeševalnika Milan Lazarevič je predstavil delo njihove organizacije, ki podpira start-upe vse od začetne faze v Sloveniji, preko napredne v Nemčiji do zrele faze v Silicijevi dolini.
V razpravi so mladi predstavnike iz Slovenije s številnimi konkretnimi vprašanji, predstavniki pa so podali odgovore in napotke glede prijave na izziv, predstavitve ideje ter predstavitve podjetniške zasnove pred investitorji.
Delavnica je sledila podobnemu dogodku, ki ga je CEP izvajal 22. marca v Sarajevu v Bosni in Hercegovini.
Projekt je del programskih aktivnosti CEP, ki jih financira Ministrstvo za zunanje zadeve Republike Slovenije iz sredstev za mednarodno razvojno sodelovanje.
The European Integration Office, adjacent body of the Government of Serbia, presented the development projects in year 2016. Among others projects, the internships promotion project that was organized by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) and CEP was presented.
In the framework of the project, a printed Internship Manual was developed in order to guide the organisations that aim to establish the internship and traineeship programmes in the countries that share the perspective to join the European Union. Its objective is to inspire both the sending institutions and the institutions who are recipients to develop such programmes and contribute to the regional education and cooperation on the way to the EU.
CEP was selected as a programme partner who served as a contact point in Slovenia, intermediary between the European Integration Office in Serbia and the institutions, and the identifier of the organisations that are eligible to take part in the programme.
Find the manual here: GIZ SEIO Internship Manual
Last week the European External Action Service (EEAS) published the Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) Annual Report that provides an overview on how CSDP operations and missions are operating related to the priorities they are focused on.
An important aspect of the activities in the framework of the CSDP are also the civilian missions and the support that is provided to the mission staff, who are the backbone of the missions and ensure to deliver the missions’ mandates. Establishing and maintaining such missions is an enormous task for the EU. In order for the CSDP missions to function professionally, trainings are of crucial importance. Pre-deployment trainings are provided in Brussels each month through the European Security and Defence College (ESDC). One of the providers in the ESDC’s network of training organisations is also the Centre for European Perspective (CEP).
CSDP Annual Report, published 16 March 2017 is available here.