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The second EUSAIR Governing board was held on October 7th in Zagreb, under the Co-Chairmanship of the European Commission and the Republic of Croatia
The GB standing members took stock of the first two rounds of the four “ Thematic Steering Groups “ meetings, highlighting the opportunity to effectively link them with the overhauled AII Round Tables that, in line with the Declaration of the Adriatic and Ionian Council of May 2015, represent a “new auxiliary” tool for TSGs. Some shortcomings on the functioning of the Steering Groups were noted and will have to be tackled by partners in the coming months.
On the basis of the indications of the AII Committee of Senior Officials, held on the previous day, the decision to connect the Adriatic and Ionian Council and the EUSAIR political level was endorsed . There was general agreement that pooling resources will be more and more crucial, both for AII and EUSAIR. A joint meeting of AII/EUSAIR Ministers of Foreign Affairs will be held on the occasion of the EUSAIR Annual Forum and will issue a joint EUSAR/AIC Declaration.
Discussions among National Coordinators, Pillar Coordinators and the EU Commission focused also on the ADRION Programme and the Facility Point which will support the EUSAIR Strategy.
The 1st EUSAIR Annual Forum will take place at the end of May 2016, most probably in Dubrovnik .
In the framework of the " Festival Adriatico Mediterraneo " the AdMed Prize was awarded to writer and journalist Paolo RUMIZ on 2 September.
The award ceremony took place in Ancona at the Seat of the AII Permanent Secretariat and was attended by Damir Grubisa , Ambassador of the Republic of Croatia ( currently holding the Annual rotating AII Chairmanship ) ,by the President of The Marche Region , Luca Ceriscioli , and by other representatives of the Fora of civil society engaged in the EUSAIR Strategy.
While awarding the Prize , the AII Secretary General , Ambassador Pigliapoco , recalled that Paolo RUMIZ , born in Trieste and well known for his knowledge and expertise in the history and current situation of the Balkan area , was the ideal winner of a Prize which emphasizes the values of dialogue , cooperation and solidarity among the Countries and the people of the Adriatic and Ionian basin.
Fondazione Marche, the Chamber of Commerce of Ancona, the "Università Politecnica delle Marche", the Municipality of Ancona and ISTAO launched a Call for Ideas for the "ECAPITAL CULTURE Adriatic Start-up School" aimed at promoting the creation of start-ups in the cultural field in the Adriatic and Ionian Region.
The School is aimed at young people (under 40) coming from the Adriatic and Ionian countries motivated to put into practice their business ideas in the field of culture.
The call is open from 15th June to 20th July and candidates are invited to apply on the following web-site: www.ecapital.it.
All admitted participants will be granted a scholarship covering the costs of the training course as well as room and board.
Please find more information on the enclosed document.
The ADRIPLAN (a project funded by DG MARE under the theme "Maritime Spatial Planning") Final Conference was held in Venice last 10 July. The Conference was intended to present the outcome and activities of the ADRIPLAN project, which is aimed at supporting commonly-agreed cross-border Maritime Spatial Planning in the Adriatic – Ionian Region.
The AII Secretary General, Amb. Pigliapoco, took the floor in the framework of the morning session dedicated to EUSAIR, along with two Pillar Coordinators (Pillar 2 – Transports; Pillar 3 – Environment Protection).
The debate was held only few days after the end of the first round of meetings of the Thematic Steering Groups which were mainly aimed at establishing rules, methodologies and criteria for their works and activities. They also highlighted the necessity of a proper attendance by the designated members of TSGs in order to guarantee an effective implementation of the EUSAIR .
The XVIII Adriatic and Ionian Council (AIC) closing the AII Chairmanship of Bosnia and Herzegovina was held last 13 May in Brussels at the premises of the Baden Wuttemberg State. The venue was chosen to signal the possible synergies among the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) and the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR). After the meeting, the Heads of Delegations of the two strategies met for a joint lunch at the presence of High level representatives of the European Commission.
The XVIII Adriatic and Ionian Council was chaired by the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Bosnia and Herzegovina Mr. Josip Brkić.
The Heads of Delegations discussed about the possible evolution from AIC to a joint AIC/EUSAIR Ministerial meeting without losing the intergovernmental character of the AII, but coordinating the political ownership of the two exercises. They decided to "further enhance the interlinks between the AI Council and the EUSAIR, fully recognizing AII's role of intergovernmental anchorage of the EUSAIR". Such coordination is also evident from the Council's endorsement of the overhaul of AII Round Tables that transformed them into an auxiliary body at disposal of EUSAIR Thematic Steering Groups.
The AIC ended with Mr. Brkić handing over the AII Chairmanship to Croatia starting from June 2015. Mr. Hrvoje Marusić, on behalf of Croatia informed the audience about the significance that his Government attach to the AII and the EUSAIR and briefly described the priorities of its program for the year of Chairmanship.
The Brussels Declaration and the overhauled Rules of Procedure of the AII Round Tables are enclosed