European House Skopje

The European Commission welcomes the reforms achieved in Macedonia in the last year, however it notes to the Government that it should speed up the judicial and internal affairs reforms and to reinforce the measures for fight against organised crime and corruption. This is indicated in the European Commission Progress Report on Republic of Macedonia in the EU accession process, which was published on 8 November 2006. “Republic of Macedonia has continued to make progress over the past year – since the granting of candidate status a year ago – but at a slower pace”, the Enlargement Commissioner, Olli Rehn during today’s presentation of the EC Report. The report also states that the Parliamentary Elections might be one of the reasons for the slower implementation of the reforms. The Head of the Delegation of the European Commission to the Republic of Macedonia, Erwan Fouéré has officially handed over the European Commission’s report to the Government of Republic of Macedonia. “This Report...

The integration of the Republic of Macedonia in the European Union represents a clear and categorically expressed strategic interest and a priority goal in the policy of the Macedonian Government. The bilateral Stabilization and Association Agreement signed in April 2001 is the last stadium before Macedonia’s admission to the family of developed European democracies. The agreement, as part of the stabilization and association process, initiated by the European Union, represents its major contribution to the Stability Pact for Southeastern Europe. By the end of 2002, the agreement was ratified by the parliaments of Germany, Denmark, Ireland, Austria, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands and United Kingdom. In 2003, the parliaments of France, Portugal, Greece and Luxembourg also ratified the agreement. Macedonia is the first country in Southeastern Europe that successfully brought to an end the negotiations for signing of such an agreement. Another detail of this accord is interesting, and tha...

The European Mission in Macedonia is seeking proposals for small-scale financial support for initiatives aimed at promoting and protecting human rights, as well as, democracy and governance strengthening with financial assistance from the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), micro-projects programme of the European Communities.

The British Embassy in Skopje seeks proposals from government institutions and civil society for projects to be funded under the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s “Global Opportunities Reuniting Europe” Fund in the financial year 2007/08. The deadline for submission of project concepts is 6 November 2006. Only selected projects will be required to submit full bids by the 21 January 2006 deadline. Macedonia is eligible to bid for the Global Opportunities Fund Reuniting Europe Fund. The objective of this programme is to bolster and extend the success of enlargement by supporting countries through the EU integration process, particularly in the field of improved governance and economic growth. The overall budget for Macedonia is £550,000 for the financial year 2007/2008. Interested implementers are encouraged to submit multiyear projects ranging from £80,000 - £100,000 per year. The Project Appraisal Committee of the British Embassy Skopje will consider proposals that meet at least one of...

On 25 October 2006, the new Draft-Strategy for Public Information and Communication in the Process of European Union Integration of the Republic of Macedonia 2006-2010 was presented. The presentation took place in the building of the Government of Republic of Macedonia.The event was opened by the Deputy Prime Minister responsible for European Affairs, Gabriela Konevska Trajkovska. She stressed that the EU membership is not a strategic priority of the government only, but also of the citizens of the Republic of Macedonia, which is confirmed by the support of 90 % for EU accession.“The goal of this Strategy is to raise the general level of knowledge abut the EU Integration Process. This Strategy will inform, educate, unite and mobilize towards the fulfilment of the EU idea. This approach is in line with the EU documents on public communication”, Konevska-Trajkovska outlined.“The government needs a clear strategy and a consistent message to convince the people at home that the short term ...

Clare Morgan, Media Relations Manager for the Objective One Partnership of Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly are well known in the UK as a place for traditional bucket and spade holidays. British families have stayed in bed and breakfast accommodation and sunbathed on beaches. This led to seasonal, low paid jobs and while the holiday image is known nationwide, the region as a place for successful business is a new message. The message that the Objective One Partnership is tasked with getting across is that the region has a burgeoning knowledge-based economy as well as top quality food and drink producers. The obstacles to relaying this message include distance; Cornwall is about five hours by road or train from London. National journalists will often not travel yet the best way to challenge preconceptions is by demonstrating the evidence. Because the next generation of European funding is likely to be different the Partnership also wants to demonstrate ...

Rough road through the way of public procurement after the EU accession László Velikovszky Head of Unit Hungarian Development Office – Unit for Procurement Coordination and Control Deák F. u. 5. 1052 Budapest Hungary Phone: +36-30-2227428 Email: velikovszky.laszlo@cfcu.gov.hu Web: www.cfcu.hu/ekke The new Hungarian Act on Public Procurement entered into force on 1 May 2004, on the day of Hungary’s EU accession. But it’s important to emphasize that those parts of the new Act which regulate contract award procedures for public procurement with support from European Union structural funds and Cohesion Fund entered into force on 1 January 2004. The main purpose of the Act was to ensure the total harmonization of the Hungarian regulation to the Community Law. This purpose has come to fruition. Furthermore the purpose was to provide for transparency and extensive public control in the reasonable use of public monies, ensure the fairness of public competition in the course of public procur...

Albert van der Horst Researcher CPB, Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis Van Stolkweg 14 2585 JR The Hague The Netherlands Phone: +31 703383402 Email: vanderhorst@cpb.nl Web: www.cpb.nl/nl/general/org/homepages/avdh/ Countries might converge, unlike provinces The European Union is one of the most prosperous parts of the world. Yet there are large regional disparities in productivity, wages, and employment, and they have only increased with the recent enlargement. Thus, there seems to be ample justification for helping lagging regions to catch up, both at the national and the European level. Unfortunately, regional policy appears to be ineffective. Well known are the fruitless attempts of Italy to bridge the gap between the Mezzogiorno and the North, of Germany to bridge the gap between the Neue Länder and the West, and of the European Commission to reduce regional disparities in general. This study validates one explanation of the ineffectiveness of regional policy. We set...

By Johannes Flensted-Jensen, County Mayor of Aarhus and Chairman of the Jutland–Fyn Business Cooperation Scheme e-mail: jfj@ag.aaa.dk www.aaa.dk and www.jylland-fyn.dk The Jutland–Fyn Business Cooperation Scheme The Jutland–Fyn Business Cooperation Scheme was set up in 1998 by the 8 counties and 173 municipalities in the region, along with the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs. Just over 50% of the Danish population live within the Jutland–Fyn region. Long before 1998, these Danish counties and municipalities had observed that Greater Copenhagen was developing at a much faster rate than their own region. They also noticed that this rate of development was intensifying over time. A significant reason for this was that state funds were being spent to a greater degree in Greater Copenhagen than in the rest of Denmark. Until 1998, the individual counties and municipalities competed for investments from both the state and private sectors. This meant that it became much too ...