European House Skopje

Application deadline: 27 January 2006 The Open Society Institute (Budapest), Foreign and Commonwealth Office and Staffordshire University Business School are offering 1-year MSc and 4-year PhD scholarships in Economics for qualified candidates form Bosnia-Hercegovina, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, Albania and Croatia. MSc scholarships are offered in the first fourcountries/regions and PhDs in all six.Details of the scholarship programme can be found on the University's Business School website at http://www.staffs.ac.uk/business . For all further information please contact Mrs. Jenny Herbert at j.herbert@staffs.ac.uk

Application deadline: 9 January 2006 Organised by the Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe, the course aims to develop the competence of trainers in working with human rights education at national and regional level and to enable them to act as trainers or multipliers for human rights education, especially through national or regional training courses and local pilot projects organised by its partners. For more information on the TC please click here

Application deadline: 31 January 2006 The Directorate of Youth and Sport of the Council of Europe has been running a European youth programme on human rights education since the year 2000, aiming to bring human rights issues in the mainstream of youth work practice. This programme is designed to achieve wide synergies between human rights education and youth work in the Council of Europe member states and beyond. The Council of Europe welcomes proposals and expressions of interest from non-governmental youth organisations, other non-governmental and governmental organisations and institutions interested in human rights education with young people. For all further information please click here

Information concerning support activities organised by SALTO SEE in 2006 on our website has been updated. In particular, you can now find calls for participation and application forms for the following activities: Training Course on the financial management of YOUTH programme grantsDates and venue of the activity: 17 - 20 March 2006, Sarajevo (BiH)Deadline for applications: 6 February 2006 National Agency staff training and YOUTH programme evaluation workshop on Cooperation with South East EuropeDates and venue of the activity: 24 - 28 May, Mostar (BiH)Deadline for applications: 20 March 2006 Full information can be found or downloaded under http://www.salto-youth.net/tcsee/

Application deadline: 25 January 2006 The SALTO SEE Resource Centre is issuing a second call for YOUTH Programme Contact Points in South East Europe to complement the existing Contact Points which were set up in September 2005. Following a public call for applications in spring 2005, a total of 12 YOUTH programme Contact Points were nominated by the SALTO SEE Resource Centre in consultation with the European Commission, and set up in September 2005 in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, the fYR of Macedonia and Serbia and Montenegro. The SALTO-YOUTH SEE Resource Centre is issuing this second call to invite NGOs from specific regions in South East Europe, which could not be covered after the first call, to apply for this role, in particular: Albania: Up to 3 YOUTH Contact Points can be established in different parts of the country. Eastern part of Croatia (Slavonia,...) : One YOUTH Contact Point should be set up to complement the work carried out by the two already existing Contact Points ...

Did you know that the EU got its own '. eu' internet domain on 7 December? On the eve of the registration day, about 100 000 '.eu' requests had already been registered If you want to know all about this new saga, pay a visit to the Information Society website of the European Commission! A general fact sheet , a technical fact sheet and the Frequently Asked Questions will keep you up-to-date with all the '.eu' news. The registration process will happen in three stages : during the first two months – called 'sunrise' period – the registration of '.eu' names will be reserved to trademark holders and public bodies. From 7 February to 6 April 2006 registration will be open to other applicants, f.i. company names, unregistered trademarks or works of art. Registration will be open to all from 7 April. How can you register? It is a piece of cake. You just need to get in touch with one of the 779 registration offices around the world, from the United ...

The enlargement strategy presented in November by the European Commission received strong endorsement from European Union foreign affairs ministers at their December 12 General Affairs and External Relations Council in Brussels. In its formal conclusions, the Council welcomed the Commission’s Communication on Enlargement presented on 9 November 2005, and the reports, recommendations and partnership proposals that accompanied it. At the request of several member states, the EU is planning a major reflection next year on the direction, speed and scope of enlargement, in the context of the broad reflections on the future of Europe. The Commission strategy is a good basis for "a necessary, further discussion on enlargement in 2006", the Council concluded. Meanwhile, careful attention was needed to anchor and develop support for the enlargement process across the EU, taking particular account of the views of EU citizens and the absorption capacity of the Union, the Council said. ...

Inclusion - Breaking the barriers of social and physical disadvantages through voluntary service: a contact making seminar to establish partnerships between the organisations from the EU, and Pre-Accession Countries, that will trigger new volunteer exchange projects, enhancing the young peoples' mobility and promoting their participation and inclusion in the development of civil society. Bulgaria 9-12 March 2006. Course Description Out! - summercamp 2006: Summercamp for young people, aged 16 to 25. The theme will be "Living in a group is not easy". This theme came up due to the many questions OUT! receives about it. Living in society can be difficult, especially when you are gayminded or face some other identity. This can raise even more questions when you are dealing with different cultures. Who am I within an intercultural group? The Netherlands 27 July-8 August 2006. http://www.outinfo.nl - summercamp@outweb.nl

No Offence , 3-10 April 2006, Belgium (Flanders) - A Training Course for youth workers (social workers, peer educators,...) working with young ex-offenders, offenders who are currently in prison or youth at risk of offending - about how to use the European YOUTH programme as a tool to create meaningful projects for this target group. This course will be organised according to the SALTO Inclusion Quality Charter for organising training courses - check them out online at www.SALTOYOUTH.net/InclusionQualityCharter/ . This way you know what you can expect when applying for a SALTO Inclusion Course, and maybe you can get inspired by this Quality Charter for the training activities that you are organising, to make them (even) better. The SALTO Inclusion Resource Centre organises this TC No Offence, within its strategy to promote the inclusion of a variety of specific target groups with fewer opportunties in the YOUTH programme. Read course description and apply now (www.salto-youth.net/appli...

Early today, the European Council in Brussels decided to grant Republic of Macedonia candidate status for membership of EU. The Heads of States and Governments of EU Member States thus recognised the progress that Macedonia has made in meeting the Copenhagen criteria.Following this decision Macedonia has joined the candidate countries Croatia and Turkey.

01.02.2006 (up to 01.11.2006. Deadlines vary according to Action and National Agency.) Budget line / available budget 15.05.01 / 108.445.000 EUR Objectives and supported actions in the field of ENARґs work The YOUTH programme is the EU’s mobility and non-formal education programme targeting young people aged between 15 and 25 years. It offers young people opportunities for mobility and active participation in the construction of Europe. It aims to create a European arena for cooperation in the development of youth policy, based on non-formal education. It also encourages the concept of lifelong learning and the development of skills and competencies which promote active citizenship. The Programme pursues the following objectives: Facilitating the integration of young people into society at large and encouraging their spirit of initiative. Helping young people acquire knowledge, skills and competencies, and recognising the value of such experience. Allowing young people to give free exp...

European liberal leaders have attacked plans to block Macedonia's EU candidate status if there is no budget deal, but showed optimism that a finance breakthrough is near. See more >

Macedonia, the EU budget, and the destabilisation of the Balkans Executive Summary France has declared that it is prepared to veto the approval of Macedonia’s candidate status, recommended last month by the European Commission. Instead, it has proposed a new debate as to whether there should be any further EU enlargement at all. The United Kingdom has proposed a new budget for the EU that would preclude any serious pre-accession assistance for the Western Balkans for the next 7-year budgetary period. The UK proposal could shut the door on further enlargement just as forcefully as a French veto. Between France and the UK, there is now a distinct possibility that the European Council meeting beginning on Thursday (15th December) will not just deny candidate status to Macedonia, but throw the entire European strategy in the Balkans into confusion. This would be a disastrous policy error. For this reason, ESI is calling on EU member states not to forget their commitments to the countries o...

The aim is to promote tolerance under the banner “together for youth”. The EU will provide €900,000 over the next 18 months for the project, which is managed by the European Agency for Reconstruction. “Youth projects are very important for a country already on its way to reaching European standards and values,” said the country's prime minister, Vlado Buckovski, at the campaign launch in Skopje. “This campaign is an excellent opportunity to show the full potential of our young generation and to ‘Europeanise’ it in its way of thinking and acting.” The campaign will include television spots, billboards, posters, brochures and other materials, targeting people aged 15–24, and will spotlight the most pressing issues faced by the country’s youth. “This project will contribute to the improvement of inter-ethnic understanding and collaboration among young people throughout the country,” said the EU Special Representative and Head of the European Commission Delegation to the country, Erwin...

Olli Rehn, European Commissioner for Enlargement, lent his strong support on December 8 to the Commission's proposal that it should be considered a candidate, but without any date set for the start of negotiations. And the EU-former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia Joint Parliamentary Committee meeting in Brussels on December 5-6 also backed the idea, arguing that it would "not only encourage the country to achieve further results in the reform process, but also strengthen stability in the region and send a clear message that progress made is rewarded". Meanwhile, the Austrian Presidency of the EU – which will run from January to June 2006 - has already included the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in its priorities.

Strengthen your search for funds with the Foundation Center's Grants for Children & Youth. Descriptions of 28,930 recent grants of $10,000 or more Over $3.2 billion in distributed grants Grants from 1,029 foundations This new Guide is a great resource for grantseekers who focus on any of these areas: adolescent parent services adult/child matching programs child development children's museums child welfare, including adoption, foster care, and prevention of child abuse neonatal care pediatrics and children's hospitals pregnancy counseling and prevention programs prevention of youth violence and rehabilitation for youth offenders scouting organizations youth centers and clubs youth development Easy-access indexes help you quickly find the information you need. The subject index helps you locate funders for your specific project...the geographic index shows which grantmakers fund programs in your state or country...and the recipient index allows you to track grants awarde...

The Secretariat for European Affairs has started to publish “Bulletin Europe” , in the line with the efforts to inform the public administration, local self-government and the wider public about the process of integration of the Republic of Macedonia in the European Union. Bulletin Europe will be published on a monthly bases on Macedonian language and will be distributed to the public administration and the units of local self-government.The Secretariat for European Affairs also prepares electronic edition of the bulletin in Macedonian and English. These issues will be accessible for the entire Macedonian public via internet, and will be distributed to the EU bodies and institutions, international organisations, embassies, think-tanks and international media. If you want to be added to the distribution list, please register at the following link: contact@avis.gov.mk Секретаријатот за европски прашања почна да издава гласило со име Билтен Европа како дел од напорите за информирање на д...

The text here below is the first chapter of a paper entitled ‘Comparative Lobbying Practices: Washington, London, Brussels written by Mr. Conor Mc Grath, Lecturer in Political Communication and Public Affairs at the University of Ulster, Newtownabbey, Northern Ireland. The value of this presentation is that it is based on research as well as on the interviews conducted by the author. In the national context in particular, lobbyists are often seen in a negative light as “pullers off strings” to influence politics out of the public eye. In Brussels on the other hand, in as far as they are playing a constructive role, lobbyists are appreciated as experts. The lobbyist bringing good ideas and convincing arguments to the table is likely to receive undivided attention and positions himself as a proactive partner assisting in solving the problem at stake. Admittedly, there is a problem of definition. Today people in the industry are ‘European Public Affairs Specialists’, ‘EU Public Affairs...

This high-level international event, the sixth in a series of yearly events on reconstruction and economic development issues in South East Europe, will be held at the Palais d'Egmont in Brussels on Thursday 8 December 2005. The Summit will offer an ideal opportunity to debate the future of the Balkans before an audience of EU policymakers, government representatives, business leaders, NGO representatives, academia and members of the international press. The debates will be organised around three main questions: Are the Balkans becoming part of the European Economy? Which Balkans countries are headed for EU membership? What are the dos and don'ts of Balkan reconstruction and development? Please click here to see the full programme of the summit and download the registration form. The registration form has to be returned either by fax on 02 738 75 97 or by email at info@friendsofeurope.org . For more information please click here or contact the organizers at +32 2 737 91 45 o...

Application deadline: at least three months before a project is due to begin The East East Program: Partnership Beyond Borders is one of the initiatives implemented by the Open Society Foundation in London (a registered UK charity). The program supports international exchanges that bring together civil society actors to share ideas, information, knowledge, experiences, and expertise and to support practical actions that result from that networking. The programme provides financial and human resources that enable civil society actors to build and/or strengthen resources and expertise, share best practices/lessons learned in social transformation, collaborate on innovative solutions to common challenges, create and/or strengthen international advocacy coalitions. The program gives priority to long-term initiatives with clear goals and realistic potential for effecting positive change, for example, by empowering marginalized and/or vulnerable sectors of society, promoting cultural, ethnic...

Community Development Institute - Tetovo starts with implementation of the Balkan Caucasus program. This initiative of collaboration and building partnership between the Balkan and Caucasus region started in November 2002 during the discussion among the participants from the Balkans and Caucasus at the DLP forum organized by the Community Development Institute (CDI) - YIC. In August 2003, at the conference "Building Balkan and Caucasus NGO network" organized by the project partners, a declaration has been signed and the principles for further collaboration were established. The objectives of the programme are: to establish links and to forge more effective cross border collaboration between young leaders and NGOs from the Balkan and Caucasus countries; to provide training for the DLP alumnus and Balkan Caucasus NGO network Members in mediation and negotiation skills to be used in their further youth work; to create a comprehensive data base about methods, tools and case studi...

Application deadline: 10 January 2006 National Agency of the YOUTH programme from Luxembourg has published a Call for participants for the Training Course "Adventure Education", that will take place at the Youth Hostel Lultzhausen, Luxembourg, 8 - 15 July 2006.The Training Course will touch practical aspects of Youth Work through workshops, presentations, information space, exchange of experience, discussions, learning by experience, intercultural learning. The participants will have the opportunity to present their personal, professional and cultural backgrounds. They will also have the opportunity to share experiences about their work with young people and to see how to transfer their experiences of adventure education to the reality of their everyday work with young people. Working language of the TC: English. Objectives to provide a general introduction to theory and practice of experiential education, to enable participants to implement outdoor projects in their organisa...

A Europe-wide network of investigative journalists will today (1 December) launch a website with detailed information about the end-recipients of EU farm support.Last year, the European Union spent €43.5 billion on agriculture, more than 40 percent of the whole EU budget. But in most countries information on who gets the money is kept secret. The new website, FarmSubsidy.org is for the first time offering the public easy access to this information. Интересен WEB за тоа која земја колку пари добива од фондовита на ЕУ за земјоделство.