European House Skopje

"We need to see a convincing track record of reforms on the ground", including police reforms and the fight against corruption and organised crime, said European Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn when he met Gabriela Konevska-Trajkovska, Deputy Prime Minister in charge of European Integration of the Republic of Macedonia in Brussels on April 16. The Commissioner described the talks as friendly and constructive, and he re-confirmed the EU perspective for the country. "There is a need to improve the political climate in the country, and to demonstrate a clear commitment to the Ohrid framework agreement", said Rehn. He insisted that developing understanding and dialogue between the government and the opposition is essential to ensure the proper functioning and stability of key institutions. "I encourage all parties to make further efforts to find compromises, to walk the last mile, so that this political dialogue which has been intensified in last couple of days

Making your voice heard Citizens’ Perspectives on the Future of Europe adopted in 27 EU member states “Ever since the constitution was voted against in the Netherlands and France, we have gradually understood that the EU is a top-level-project. A project that is not supported by the citizens will not survive. That is why the European Citizens’ Consultation process is so important,” said Margot Wallström, Vice-President of the European Commission in charge of Institutional Relations and Communication Strategy, in a video conversation with the participants of the Swedish citizens’ consultation last weekend. Parallel to the celebrations of 50 years of the Treaty of Rome, the weekend of 24-25 March saw the fourth and final round of the European Citizens’ Consultations with national consultations in 10 EU-Member States. Over the last two months about 1500 randomly selected citizens from all EU member states reflecting the diversity of the European population came together in 27 national con

The European Standing Conference of Co-operatives, Mutualities, Associations and Foundations (CEP-CMAF) and the European Disability Forum (EDF), with the support of the Social Economy Category of the European Economic and Social Committee (EESC), are organising a European Seminar on Social Economy and Equal Opportunities on April 17th 2007 from 10.00 to 17.00 at the Seminar on Social Economy and Equal Opportunities on April 17th 2007 from 10.00 to 17.00 at the EESC headquarters in Brussels. The seminar will explore the role of Social Economy in the areas of non-discrimination and equal opportunities with a particular focus on disability. The seminar is being held within the context of the European Year of Equal Opportunities for All, which aims to give momentum to the fight against discrimination and the promotion of equal opportunities in the EU by stimulating the debate and exchange of good practice; raising public awareness of citizens’ rights in these areas; celebrating diversity a

The Summer School for Young Professionals 2007– Introduction into Security Policy, with the topic GLOBAL SECURITY CHALLENGES OF TODAY as the main theme, takes place on 30 June – 8 July 2007 at the National Academy of Defence (NAD) in Liptovský Mikuláš, Slovakia. It is a weeklong forum that is focused on the current issues of the security policy - the structure of the teaching is aimed to provide the students with the basics of the security policy background, including main actors of the security policy in Europe, main security threats of today such as terrorism, proliferation of WMD, illegal migration and those regions of the world that are posing risks to the global security. One of the main objectives of this international summer school is the preparation of young professionals – future leaders from below mentioned regions – to act in the foreign and security policy. Interactive discussions and lectures led by top speakers from various international and Slovak organizations will ther

ACADEMIC NETWORK FOR LEGAL STUDIES ON IMMIGRATION AND ASYLUM IN EUROPE A NETWORK FOUNDED WITH THE FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF THE ODYSSEUS PROGRAMME OF THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION, RESEAU ACADEMIQUE D’ETUDES JURIDIQUES SUR L’IMMIGRATION ET L’ASILE EN EUROPE UN RESEAU FONDE AVEC LE SOUTIEN FINANCIER DU PROGRAMME ODYSSEUS DE LA COMMISSION EUROPEENNE ______________________________________ EUROPEAN SUMMER SCHOOL 7th EDITION European Union Law and Policy on Immigration and Asylum COURS D’ETE EUROPEEN 7ème EDITION Droit et politique de l’immigration et de l’asile de l’Union européenne ______________________________________ 2 - 13 JULY / JUILLET 2007 UNIVERSITE LIBRE DE BRUXELLES ______________________________________ A Network coordinated by the Institute for European Studies Un Réseau coordonné par l'Institut d'Etudes européennes of the / de l’Université Libre de Bruxelles and composed of academics of the following institutions/ et composé d’académiques des institutions suivantes: Université c

The CORE TOPICS are: - Module I: European Integration (2 residential weeks in September 2007, Bolzano, Italy) - Module II: EU Law (2 residential weeks in November 2007, Luxembourg) - Module III: Federalism and Regionalism (2 residential weeks in January 2008, Graz, Austria) - Module IV:Regional and Social Cohesion (2 residential weeks in April 2008, Barcelona, Spain) - Module V: Minorities and Diversity (2 residential weeks in June 2008, Bolzano, Italy) Applications can be made either to the full Programme or to single modules. In the latter case attendance of a module will lead to the award of a certificate. DEGREE Successful participants of the Master Programme will be awarded by the University of Graz the academic degree of a "Master of European Studies" (M.E.S.). TARGET GROUP - Civil servants from local, regional or national administrations who are dealing with EU affairs and therefore require both theoretical and practical training in EU and regional issues; -

Invest in Macedonia - New Business Heaven in Europe is the name of the campaign, which the Government launched on January 19 in order to promote Macedonian business potentials. - The campaign for Macedonia's promotion as an investment destination will be implemented until March 1, by 50 leading newspapers in 35 countries, out of which 24 will be EU countries, in 24 languages. Total circulation of these printed media is over 9 million, whereas their readership surpasses 30 million, Prime Minister Nikola Gruevski told journalist at Wednesday's news conference. Macedonia 's opportunities will be presented on 20 on-line editions of the aforementioned newspapers. The printed media include Financial Times, New York Times, Economist, Wall Street Journal, Herald Tribune, Banker, Figaro, Die Presse, Australien, Sunday Telegraph, 24 Hours, Irish Times... According to Gruevski, Macedonia offered investors the following advantages: lowest profit tax of 10%, lowest income tax of 10%, 0%

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