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The "XIII Conference of the Speakers of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative" took place last April 23 in Neum (Bosnia and Herzegovina).
The Conference was chaired by the Speakers of the two Chambers of the Parliament of BiH, Mr. Šefik Džaferović for the House of Representatives and Mr. Bariša Čolak for the House of People.
All participants expressed great satisfaction for the improvements in regional cooperation in the area particularly thanks to the newly endorsed "EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region" and expressed their wish to actively contribute to its implementation phase. The participants stressed the leading role governments had in such a process and expressed the belief that through political and legislative initiative, Parliaments could foster concrete developments in the Strategy.
The topic covered by the Conference was: "Connecting the Region in order to strengthen sustainable tourism", which is commonly understood as one of the most important economic asset of the region, as well as the engagement of parliaments in achieving the aims of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative and the EUSAIR.
Concluding, the heads of AII Parliaments decided to "establish a constant and more efficient flow of communication with the AII Chairmanship in Office, by appointing in the coming months a High Official from each National Parliament, in charge of liaising with the national Senior Official and the AII Permanent Secretariat on intergovernmental and EUSAIR issues".
The Joint Statement of the Conference and a list of the Head of Delegations is enclosed.
The European Commission has published a Study on Parliamentary Cooperation.
The Study consists of two documents:
• Mapping of international parliamentary institutions in the Western Balkans and South East Europe;
• Overview of parliamentary capcity building with EU Member States and Potential Member States.
Both documents have been published on these links:
http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/enlargement_process/2015-02-17-mapping_and_analysis_report.pdf
(Chapter 4.3.8 is dedicated to the Parliamentary Dimension of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative)
http://ec.europa.eu/enlargement/pdf/enlargement_process/2015-02-17-capacity-building-report.pdf
Preparatory Meeting of the future AII Presidency by the Republic of Croatia ( June 2015 – May 2016 )
On March 13, the AII Permanent Secretariat met the "EUSAIR/AII Team" of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Croatia led by Amb. Tonči Staničić, in Zagreb.
The meeting was devoted to the preparation of the forthcoming AII Chairmanship by the Republic of Croatia ,starting from June 2015 , with an eye on the future Calendar of events and priorities of the Presidency.
After the launch of the EUSAIR on November of last year Croatia - as the Country holding the AII Chairmanship - will , at the same time , co- chair the Governing Board of the Strategy with the European Commission .
During the meeting , the awareness that the future AII Croatian Chairmanship falls in a very delicate period for regional cooperation was quite tangible.
The upcoming Presidency , supported by the Permanent Secretariat , is preparing to meet the needs of the EUSAIR implementation phase and to make sure that the AII intergovernmental activities be at the service of the goals of the Strategy.
The AII ad hoc Round Table on Flood Relief was held in Sarajevo on March 26.
After the disastrous floods of May 2014 that hit Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Croatia, the question of how to prevent natural disasters and how to act in such cases is a priority of regional cooperation.
Besides exchanging information and bringing the example of the best practices of transnational cooperation during the floods in BiH, the ad hoc Round Table was the occasion to discuss on how the recently approved EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region could contribute to simplify and make more efficient cooperation in this field.
The ad hoc Round Table was chaired by a representative of the Ministry of Security of BiH and attended by representatives of AII Participating Countries, local authorities and the AII Permanent Secretariat
A Delegation of the AII Permanent Secretariat led by the Secretary General, Amb. Pigliapoco attended the International Conference "Adriatic and Ionian Region: New Opportunities for Development and Cooperation . The Role of the Chambers and Other Stakeholders" in Zagreb on March 13th .
The Conference was organized by the Croatian Chamber of Economy in the framework of the AIC Forum and was aimed at raising awareness about the "EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region" with Croatian Stakeholders.
Among others, the meeting was attended by Mr. Rodolfo Giampieri, President of the AIC Forum, Mr. Hrvoje Marušić Assistant Minister for the Croatian MFA and Mr. Andrej Plenkovic, Croatian MP at the EU Parliament.