Electronic monthly magazine for European integration - No. 10, July 2006 EIC Bulletin FOCUS OF THIS ISSUE Are Montenegrin politicians ready to start learning again in order to be able to follow successfully developments of the complex accession process to the European Union INTERVIEW Dragan Tilev, State Counsellor for European Affairs of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia ANALYSES Does Montenegro have to join Partnership for Peace and NATO Alliancein order to become EU member state
Transcript
E l e c t r on i c mon th l y maga z i n e f o r Eu r op ean i n t e g r a t i on - No . 1 0 , J u l y 2 0 0 6
E IC Bullet in
FOCUS OF THIS ISSUE
Are Montenegrinpoliticians ready to
start learning again inorder to be able tofollow successfully
developments of thecomplex accession
process to theEuropean Union
INTERVIEWDragan Tilev,
State Counsellor forEuropean Affairs ofthe Government of
the Republic ofMacedonia
ANALYSESDoes Montenegro have to joinPartnership for Peace and NATO Alliancein order tobecome EU member state
European Commission adopted last week arecommendation to the Council of EU
Internal Affairs Ministers to issue a mandate forthe beginning of negotiations on visa facilita-tion with Montenegro, Serbia, and Bosnia andHerzegovina. According to the EC assessments,the Council should approve the beginning ofnegotiations in September or October, whichmeans that we can expect the agreement tobe signed by the end of 2006. or the begin-ning of 2007. The Council of Ministers shallthen, in line with the procedure, approve thisagreement and forward it for ratification to theEU member states.
The text of the mandate document is,according to the reporters in Brussels, very gen-eral and very broad. Only a few details havebeen specifically defined: visas free of chargefor students, scientists, researchers and teachers,and a 35 euros fee for all other categories ofthe population, as well as simplified, quickerprocedures for approval, with the collectiondeadline 10 days after the application date.
Other recommendations include reduc-ing the number of the required documents,which should automatically cut additional visaexpenses for the citizens. Multiple entry visasfor longer periods are also on the agenda.Citizens carrying diplomatic passports will beable to travel without visas.
There are two reasons for such open-ended approach of EC. The first lies in theirwish not to limit the number of possible visabenefits, which could, in the process of nego-tiations, become greater in scope. The second
is, that EC does not wish to alarm certainmember states who are traditionally scepticaltowards throwing wide open the doors ofSchengen, and these could cause some trou-ble in the Council of Ministers, as the negoti-ations mandate has to be endorsed unani-mously. France first of all, which alreadyundermined, at the very start, an attempt torelax the visa regime under the presidency ofLuxembourg in the first half of 2005.
"We are not talking about liberalisationhere, just relaxing the visa regime focusing oncertain categories of the population, the priceof visas and the procedure - number of doc-uments, length of the procedure…We fearmuch enthusiasm has been created aroundthis act, which could return as a boomerangonce the people realise that it's not about lib-eralisation", one of the EC officials said for thejournalists in Belgrade.
In the very text of the mandate it saysthat this is only the first step towards liberali-sation of the visa regime. The progress towardsthe real liberalisation will depend upon thespeed of reforms in the area of public admin-istration, fight against organised crime, corrup-tion, illegal immigration, strengthening of theadministrative capacities as regards efficientborder control and issuing new documentwhich are not easily falsified. Except for thoseconditions, which are set out in the EC doc-ument, another key element is to persuade thecurrent EU countries that these three Balkanstates are not to threaten them with a hugewave of immigration. N.R.
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FFFFOOOORRRREEEEWWWWOOOORRRRDDDDEuropean integrations, the main strategic
goal of the Government of Republic ofMontenegro, seem likely to reconcile theirreconcilable. Arguing that it may be neces-sary to expand the fronts and to engage allthe relevant forces which could contribute toa successful journey of Montenegro towardsEuropean Union, the ruling DPS has beencautiously probing the terrain for a big sur-prise initiative. After the elections, takingplace on the 10 September, it might inviteinto its governing coalition SNP - the biggestopposition party. Naturally, under the condi-tion that DPS manages to stay in power.
Prime Minister \ukanovi} nearly madeit a direct announcement a few days ago, andSNP so far has not say no. If the plotting ofDPS comes true, Montenegro might be set forthe so-called "broad coalition" in autumn. Theproclaimed goal is honourable, no doubt, butthe big question is whether these two parties,which until 1997 were one, are in any shapeto lead Montenegro towards European stan-dards. Is this to be the true goal, or are theyto forgive each other all their misdeedsbehind closed doors which is not unthinkable,given the experiences from our recent histo-ry. The smaller parties, which could also findtheir way into the broad post-electoral coali-tion, would remain mere spectators, unable tochange anything at all.
The European perspective of Monte-negro is not exactly the key reason for pon-dering such a broad coalition - it is anattempt on the part of the ruling party to dragSNP into the government, in order to "recon-cile" Montenegro, to lure the hard line oppo-sition supporters into accepting the results ofthe referendum and endorsing the Monte-negrin independence. Another goal worthy ofsacrifice. In any case, whoever makes it intothe Government - DPS with its current allies,of DPS and SNP plus a handful of smallerparties, the EU must be ready to pressure thenew government into conducting some gen-uine reforms. This is precisely the recommen-dation of the EU Institute for Security Studies(EUISS) in Paris, prepared by the Balkanexpert, dr Judy Batt, after a brainstorming ses-sion at the Institute in late June.
Due to the holiday season, Ms Batt willcontinue writing her regular column for EICBulletin in September. N.R.
The beginning of visa facilitation procedure
EUROPEAN COMMISSION ADOPTED RECOMMENDATION FORMONTENEGRO, SERBIA AND BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA ANDFORWARDED ITS OPINION TO THE COUNCIL OF MINISTERS
T H E C O U N C I L O F M I N I S T E R S A P P R O V E D , I N S H O R TP R O C E D U R E , T H E R E Q U E S T B Y M O N T E N E G R O A N D E C
MMoonntteenneeggrroo ttoo ccoonnttiinnuuee nneeggoottiiaattiioonnss oonn SSAAAAAlthough it was uncertain whether they will
manage to consider the proposal beforeSeptember, the Council of EU Ministersapproved, on the 24 July, the continuation ofnegotiations on the Stabilisation andAssociation Agreement with Montenegro.
The Council of EU Ministers has con-firmed a new mandate for negotiations withMontenegro and a modified mandate fornegotiations with Serbia, which are to contin-ue once "the government of Serbia has estab-lished full cooperation with ICTY".
Justice and Home Affairs ministersadopted the two mandates without discussion,just as they were proposed by EuropeanCommission in early July.
European Commission adopted, on 6
July, a modified mandate for Serbia and a newone for association negotiations with Mon-tenegro, explaining that now that Montenegrohas voted independence, it was necessary tocontinue with separate negotiations "based onthe results achieved so far".
The officials in Brussels, among whichthe European Enlargement Commissioner, OlliRehn, previously announced that the Councilof EU ministers will only adopt a new man-date in September.
Rehn welcomed the fact that the man-date was adopted long before it was expect-ed, and emphasised this was a proof of EU'scommitment to the European perspective ofthe Western Balkans.
N.R.
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Members of the Slovenian Par-liament had no interest in learn-
ing about European integrations in theearly stages of the transition. The firstdiscussions on European integrationsin the parliament of Slovenia tookplace only in mid-90s, once Sloveniahad completed the negotiationprocess on the Stabilisation andAssociation Agreement. Montenegrotoo, once the Agreement is signed,will get to the phase where both theGovernment and the Parliament willhave to get interested in the debateon European integrations.
This is how professor dr. RRaaddooGGeennoorriioo, who was in charge of almostthe entire process of Slovenian inte-
gration into EU, described the roadthat the Parliament of Slovenia hastravelled on its way to Brussels, the
same one that Montenegrin Parliamentand its members are yet to tread.
Genorio explains that the issueswhich are going to be set in theStabilisation and Association Agree-ment will have to be implementedword for word.
"When Montenegro signs thisdocument, joint bodies with EU willbe formed and their task will be tomonitor the implementation of theSAA. It is not only the Governmentwhich is included in that process, butthe Parliament since the joint body forthe monitoring of SAA implementationwill be formed with EuropeanParliament, as well. Montenegrin par-liamentarians will have to learn aboutand discuss European integrations, ifnot for any other reasons, then to savethemselves from appearing ignorantand uneducated in the eyes of theircolleagues at the European Parliament"stated Genorio.
Whether for wont of expertise orbecause they deem it politically moreprofitable to just ramble on aboutgeneral topics, often descending intopopulism, the members of the
A R E M O N T E N E G R I N P O L I T I C I A N S R E A D Y T O S T A R T L E A R N I N G A G A I N I N O R D E R T O B E A B L E T O F O L L O W S U C C E S S F U L L Y D E V E L O P M E N T S O F T H EC O M P L E X A C C E S S I O N P R O C E S S T O T H E E U R O P E A N U N I O N
From the session of the Parliament of the Republic of Montenegro
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If there is no will, the pride will force them to learn
One of the explanations of Slovenia's success in the EU accession process lies inthe fact that all parties in the Parliament of this sub-Alpine state endorsed the
European prospect and made no quarrels about it. Mr Genorio explains that the parties have signed an agreement in the early 1997,
following the conclusion of Stabilisation and Association Agreement between Sloveniaand EU, where they pledged to leave aside their differences in the matters ofEuropean integrations.
"This agreement is observed to this date. Every year the Parliament adopts aDeclaration on the activities of Slovene representatives in EU institutions, and this yearit has been adopted unanimously", states Genorio.
Speaking about the experiences of the Slovenian Parliament during the integrationprocess, Genorio reminded that already in 1996 he had launched and founded a proj-ect, titled "Coordination of European Integrations in Slovenia".
"This project had three elements - coordination of European integrations processwithin the Government and the Parliament, then a campaign to inform the publicabout integrations and finally a reform of the public administration. I managed to usethat money to involve actively the parliamentary committee for European integrations,as well as the administrative bureaus at the Parliament in the process of monitoringEuropean integration, to analyse the laws that the old member have been adopting,and the way they are implementing them. The result has been that the Parliamentfound it natural to be involved in all processes of European integrations, regardless ofthe outcome of the elections", Genorio explains.
Parliament of Montenegro are not atthe moment particularly concernedwith the issues relevant for Europeanintegrations.
An illustration of the worryinglylow level of interest and knowledge ofEU among the representatives ofMontenegrin citizens is the last year'ssurvey conducted by daily newspaper"Vijesti". It demonstrated that mostparliamentarians could not explain thefunction of different EU institutionsand quite a few could not even namethem.
Results of various opinion pollsshow that more than 80% of the cit-izens support Montenegrin accession
to EU. However, their representativesprefer to spend their time in theParliament's lobby rather than go inand join discussions on Europeanintegrations. The MPs which could bedeemed ready to conduct intelligibledebate on laws containing elementswhich are relevant to Montenegro'sjourney towards Brussels can becounted on the fingers of one hand.
This poses some grave concernsas to the readiness of MontenegrinMPs to question or amend certainlegal solutions where the ruling major-ity would prefer "to smuggle" somecompromises to their own benefit,regardless of the real national interests
or requirements from Brussels. A very good example is the Law
on the Prevention of Conflict ofInterests, which the ruling coalitionpassed quite "painlessly" through theParliament. The European and pan-European institutions responded imme-diately with criticism and demands forimprovements, and now again we arewasting time and energy, and slowingdown on our way towards EU.
The very example of this law isalready a good reason to force thepublic to question the capacities of theMontenegrin Parliament, bearing inmind that the MPs will have to (atleast) read almost 100.000 pages ofvarious laws which are necessary forthe harmonisation of Montenegrin leg-islation with the legal framework of EU.
One member of the Parliamentwhom nobody can reproach for thelack of zeal in doing his work isMMeehhmmeett BBaarrddhhii, from the DemocraticAlliance in Montenegro, who has beenproposing amendments to almostevery draft law in the Parliament.
According to him, the currentcomposition of MPs is under-quali-fied. As one of the reasons for this hepoints on the way they are chosen, asthe "parties in power and other biggerones" do not pay much heed to qual-ifications or capacities when draftingtheir party lists.
"They rather focus on making surethat the influential people from eacharea find their way into theParliament, and all they do is trans-form the parliamentary clubs into vot-ing machines", says Bardhi.
He suspects that only a few MPsever read the draft laws. Therefore, heproposes that perhaps it would bebetter if, instead of the Government,the MPs of the ruling coalition were incharge of presenting the laws.
"That should make them work",Bardhi says.
As a member of the ParliamentaryCommittee for European integrations,Bardhi estimates that the meetings ofthis Committee, as well as the roundtables, seminars and various consulta-tions on the subject of European inte-grations which are organised by eitherParliament or the civil sector should
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Representative of the People's Party in the Parliament, Dejan Vu~i}evi} hasno doubts about the intellectual capacities of the Montenegrin MPs to take
upon them the new responsibilities coming with the process of European inte-grations, but he has reservations as to their readiness to apply them in practise.
"However, instead of talking about the intellect or will, I would rather viewthis issue as a matter of requirements and commitments, which we will justhave to face. The European issues will thus be imposed upon the MPs as anobligation, regardless of their personal will or desires", says Vu~i}evi}.
Asked whether his colleagues and he have any fears as to the burden ofwork they will have to face in the future, Vu~i}evi} responds that "fear" is notthe right word.
"Of course we will have to work a lot harder, but in a way this is a chal-lenge, because we will encounter a lot of new things", he said.
He added that the MPs will need further education in the area of Europeanintegrations, which is why he would welcome more seminars and trainings.
"The seminar in Kumbor was a very good experience. We had interestinglectures and we obtained important information", Vu~i}evi} says.
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be more frequent. One such seminar, which gathered
among its participants about 30 MPs,was organised recently in Kumbor byEuropean Movement in Montenegro,with support of the German FriedrichEbert Foundation and in cooperationwith the Montenegrin Parliament. Theseminar, as part of the project"Parliament for Europe", is drawing onthe experiences of European Integ-rations School, which has been suc-cessfully conducted for several yearsalready by the Centre for CivicEducation, Centre for Development ofNon-Governmental Organisation andthe European Movement in Monte-negro, with support of foundationOpen Society Institute, RepresentativeOffice in Montenegro.
Judging by the impressions ofboth the lecturers and the participantsof the seminar, with respect to theEuropean issues in Montenegro, thethings are, however slowly, gettingbetter.
One of the lecturers, Dr. TTaannjjaaMMii{{~~eevvii}}, Head of the EuropeanIntegrations Office of the Governmentof Serbia, said she was "positively sur-
prised" by the Montenegrin MPs."They demonstrated high levels of
understanding of the subject, and Ihave to admit I was quite pleasantlysurprised, as we are trying to organisethe same thing in Serbia for our ownMPs, but we never managed to reachsuch a high level", emphasised Dr.Mi{~evi}.
To quote the MPs of DPS andSNP, MMiiooddrraagg VVuukkoovvii}} and VVuukkssaannSSiimmoonnoovvii}}, it was not "degrading" forthem to go listen to the lectures, nordid they feel uncomfortable to be sit-ting in a classroom again.
President of the Committee forEuropean integrations in the Par-liament of Croatia, NNeevveenn MMiimmiiccaa,said they have chosen two ways toinvolve their Parliament in the processof European integrations.
"The first step was to create polit-ical consensus on European integra-tions. The Parliament thus adoptedtwo resolutions. The first one wasadopted in the early 2002, and itcontained a general statement that allsides shall be working towardsEuropean integrations. The secondresolution was adopted in 2005,
before the opening of the negotiationswith EU, and it meant defining in pre-cise terms our priority goals. Then weformed a National Council for thenegotiation process with EU andintroduced an obligation of mutualdialogue between the Governmentand the Parliament on all Europeanissues", explains Mimica.
The second way to involve theParliament in the integration process-es, he said, was through its legislativefunction, harmonising the nationallaws with those of EU.
"We changed, for instance, theRules of Procedure of the Parliamentin order to accelerate the legislativeprocesses. The laws concerningEuropean integrations are dealt withseparately. The Government can askfor them to be placed on the agendaas a priority, and the Parliament,unlike in other cases, has no right torefuse such request from the executivepower", says Mimica.
He adds that when it comes tothe European integrations issues,regional cooperation and cooperationwith the European parliaments inorder to exchange experiences is animportant field.
But he also complained thatCroatian MPs "do little" for their owneducation in the matters of Europeanintegrations.
"Few representatives are trulyactive in the area of European inte-grations, and it mainly depends ontheir individual interests and inclina-tions", states Mimica.
Asked whether the CroatianParliament has any offices for profes-sional assistance to the MPs interestedin European integrations, Mimicaexplained that, within his committee,there are three people working asprofessional assistants, but that thecases of MPs asking for their help areextremely rare.
"We also have an information sys-tem in the library of the Parliament,with a couple of employees who canhelp the representatives find the infor-mation they are looking for", under-lines Mimica.
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According to Mehmet Bardhi, the financial assets are among the factors lim-iting further education and improved performance of the MPs. "The Parliament of the Republic of Montenegro should ensure the best pos-
sible conditions for the work of the MPs, give them offices and provide advisorsin certain fields, as is the case in the modern European parliaments. Realisticallyspeaking, with the current economic situation, each parliamentary club shouldhave one advisor who could help them out in the matters of European integra-
tions. These people could paid by the Parliament", suggests Bardhi.
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Mehmet Bardhi
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Global settings display a changingeconomic environment. In ten
years, the world economy will look alot different than it is today. Now thebig powers are the United States andperhaps Japan, but soon their placewill be taken by some very fastgrowing economies, such as China,or maybe even Brazil, which we tendto forget sometimes. European Unionis a strong player today, but with thechanging global environment, it willalso have to change, and adjust tothe new global scheme. EU willtherefore have to grow and integratein order to remain among the mostcompetitive economies of the world.This is why there is no doubt in mymind that the expansion, theenlargement, must continue, in orderfor EU to achieve this goal. It is upto us, of course, how fast this will
happen, because EU also needs fullyfunctional members, said in theinterview for EIC Bulletin DDrraaggaannTTiilleevv, State Counsellor for EuropeanAffairs of the Government ofRepublic of Macedonia.
There are enormous advantages,because once you complete thenegotiations, you will have the basicframework set, but the trade agree-ment which goes independentlyaside from Agreement will bedefined into the smallest detail. Theentire Stabilisation and AssociationAgreement will have to go through aprocess of ratification, which may last
- for Macedonia they took threeyears to ratify it - but the tradeagreement comes into force immedi-ately, up to six months after theagreement is signed.
Thus, for Montenegro, if you signSAA by the end of this year, it willalready come into force by beginningof 2007 or, at the latest, June 2007,and you will be able to use all theadvantages of this asymmetricalagreement: to export your productsto the European market freely, whilestill keeping your market protectedfrom the influx of European productswhich are, by definition, of a betterquality and more competitive. Thiswill give your economy andextremely positive climate forexports. Also, this agreement is todefine the financial assistance whichMontenegro will receive from EU for
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the association process. Here we arenot only talking about IPA pro-gramme, but of all other programmesof macroeconomic assistance. In thecritical areas, you can even get somebudgetary support, and you will alsoestablish a clear relationship with theEU financial institutions, namely theEuropean Investment Bank, whereMontenegro can apply for loans onvery favourable terms, for big infra-structural projects of great impor-tance for small countries (such asMacedonia or Montenegro), whichdo not have capacities to fund suchprojects on their own.
Well, of course it is up to you toget the maximum out of thisAgreement. The financial assistancedepends on the capacity for absorp-tion of these funds. EU has allocatedhuge sums through IPA for theWestern Balkans, mainly because ithad a surplus from other projects -
Turkey, for instance, has an extreme-ly low rate of absorption, some 7euros per capita and that is very lit-tle. You have to find the way to usethese funds.
Macedonia now has the possibil-ity of exporting to EU under veryfavourable conditions, but we have aproblem in finding the right productsthat could be competitive on theEuropean market. We also had toface the problem of financing theaccession process. The candidatecountry has to fund itself some 90%of the accession process, and that iswhy you need strong coordinationmechanism in order to ensure thatthe money is allocated where it ismost needed.
Nevertheless, once you have theagreement, when you define yourrelations with such an economicgiant, it gives you some time to takea deep breath. The Government will,on the one hand, be able to use thisbreak to build a legal system whichwould be conductive for businessdevelopment and attracting the for-eign investors to Montenegro. This is
something that the Government mustdo - create the right climate, but ithas to be done in cooperation withthe Chamber of Commerce, in orderto help your enterprises to adapt andto improve their capacities: increasethe quality and introduce new tech-nologies and standards, which arerecognised in the European market.The asymmetry of the agreementgives you enough time to do that,providing you with a space for invest-ments without additional burdens toyour producers and administration.
Unfortunately, it is difficult to say.You simply have a situation wherethe improvements are not felt. This isa process that brings small advantagesevery day, and only in the end, whenyou get one step to the membership,they become obvious. Until that day,you will only have a mosaic of smalladvantages which, individually, couldmean nothing to your people. Onceyou put them in the right place inyour mosaic, you can get a verypretty picture, which, in the end,everybody can feel. There is noprocess without winners and losers,and European integration is noexception. It is up to the state to bal-ance it out, so that majority are thewinners. There will be some losers,though, and they will feel threatenedby this process, but I can tell youfrom the experience, that the biggestlosers will be the criminals, or thosewho abuse their privileged position inan environment which is cosilyguarded from all sides. When youexpose yourself, when you open upto the European market, you have tobe ready to play by the rules: towork professionally, according to thestandards, to build your capacities insuch a way that you can not onlycommunicate normally with EU, butalso compete on their market.
VVeerraa [[]]EEPPAANNOOVVII]]
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What are your perceptions on the future of the Western Balkan coun-tries in the EU association process?
We all know that there is a debate going on whether any other countrywill be able to join any time soon once Bulgaria and Romania become mem-bers, whether Croatia will be able to join by 2010, whether Macedonia willbe able to catch up with Croatia, and whether the rest of the Balkans can fol-low in Macedonian footsteps. There are a lot of questions, and ten times asmany answers, and I would say a million of different opinions. We don't havea crystal ball and we don't know what will happen, but we know the criteriaand we all have our homework to do. Unless we do it, nothing will happen.
Macedonia today is a candidate state, and I would say it can be consid-ered a success story, although there have been many doubts as to our readiness.But we have made it, and we have shown to other countries that Macedonia,and any other state of the region can succeed if it only invests heavily in theprocess. You can do it too. Small states on the Balkans have really no otherchoice but to integrate, because they cannot survive the global and internal pres-sures on their own. I would also say one thing which we in Macedonia tend toforget: we are neither the cleverest nor the most beautiful, in the world or inthe region. There is a lot we can learn from Brussels, and from one another, butespecially from those countries who are a step ahead of us.
If it follows in the footsteps of Balticand Central and East European coun-
tries, the road is set - before applyingfor membership in the EuropeanUnion, which should happen in someten years at the earliest, Montenegromust first join the Partnership for Peace(PfP) and than the NATO alliance. Onthe other hand, there are some EUmembers who did not have - or didnot want to - join any militaryalliances. Malta is one, and some ofthe older EU members are still steeringclear of NATO - Austria, Ireland,Finland and Sweden.
The EU documents concerningthe accession conditions never men-tion PfP or NATO - therefore, theGovernment of Montenegro has noformal commitments in that respect.However, it seems it has made thedecision already, announcing Euro-Atlantic integration as one of its strate-gic goals. Simply put, Montenegrowants to join NATO.
This is also clear from the govern-ment's decision to keep the army andto establish a Ministry of Defence,although these may represent a hugefinancial burden for a small, impover-ished country. Every soldier is to beclad and armed according to theNATO standards, and even their bar-racks will have to be built identicallyto those in other NATO countries, thespecial polish for the floors included. Ifit doesn't succeed in benefiting fromits NATO membership in the sameway that the Czech Republic, Hungaryor Poland did, Montenegro could runinto a financial trouble.
The Central European Countriesmanaged to cash in their NATO mem-bership with a significant short-terminflux of foreign investors who broughtnew jobs and industry. The life of anordinary citizen improved thanks to the
fact that their countries stepped underthe NATO umbrella, and thus auto-matically ceased to be considered riskyinvestment places. Will the level of for-eign investment increase in Mon-tenegro once we join NATO, or do wealready have our investors coming,
regardless of the fact that Montenegrois not even a member of thePartnership for Peace? The governmentalready did its numbers, and theyjudge that joining the NATO will returnwhatever they invest in the army, oncethey managed to balance the thin line
D O E S M O N T E N E G R O H A V E T O J O I N P A R T N E R S H I P F O R P E A C E A N DN A T O A L L I A N C E I N O R D E R T O B E C A M E E U M E M B E R S T A T E
The Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme is a NATO initiative, opened in1994 for the purposes of extending military cooperation among the west-
ern countries to the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, in order to coor-dinate crisis management, as well as civil security, control of air traffic, etc.Membership in the Partnership for Peace, unlike NATO, gives no guarantee ofdefence in case the country is attacked. However, this is essentially the wait-ing room for NATO. Members of this programme can choose the activities inwhich they wish to participate with their own forces.
Biannual plans encompass some 2.000 different activities in 21 areas ofcooperation - anything from large military exercises to small working groups,from education in geo-strategic matters to foreign language courses.
The members are free to choose between the programmes according totheir own policies, special requirements and budget.
The programme was established at a NATO summit hoping to fill the secu-rity gap which arose with the dissolution of the Warsaw pact in 1991, and inorder to present East and Central European states with a clear set of condi-tions for joining the NATO.
According to the government of Montenegro, our country has already ful-filled all the political conditions for entering the Partnership for Peace, as wehave no unsettled disputes with countries near of far, and they are sure that"soon enough" he army will be able to assume its duties. These include train-ings, operative and action preparedness of the army according to the NATO stan-dards, equipment, and a transparent military budget which is easily controlled.
between NATO and Russia. If they manage to keep friendly
relationships with Russia, which areundoubtedly proven by the abundanceof (un)questionable Russian invest-ments, while at the same time becom-ing a member of PfP and NATO, thegovernment of Montenegro will man-age quite a feat. Especially consideringthe fact that certain authority represen-tatives have very cordial relationshipswith Russians, who already suggestedthey might be interested in buildingmarine bases on the coast. The NATOfound this out very quickly and wast-ed no time in informing theMontenegrin public about it.
The government insists that themembership in NATO and EU is stillthe main goal for Montenegro.
"Independent Montenegro hasfulfilled all the conditions to apply fora membership in Partnership forPeace, deputy Prime minister Dragan
\urovi} recently said.According to him, Montenegro
has no unsolved commitments to theHague tribunal, it already has its ownMinistry of Defence, it began reform-ing the Army, and finally, it becamean internationally recognised state andalready a member of UN and OSCE.
"We believe we have met all theconditions for Montenegro, as anindependent state, to initiate the pro-cedure and become a PfP membersoon. Montenegro is fully committedto the PfP goals - transparency in itsdefence strategy and budgetary allo-cations, ensuring democratic controlover the armed forces, and develop-ment and maintenance of our capac-ities to participate in peace missions",\urovi} said.
The NATO has no doubts either -they are the real future of the region.
Director of Euro Atlantic integra-tions and PfP, dr Jaroslav Skonje~ka
claims that now is "an excellentopportunity, after the independencehas been won, to think about NATO,PfP and future integrations'
"Those of us in Brussels, workingfor NATO, or the Euro AtlanticCouncil, we all firmly believe that thefuture of the region lies in EuroAtlantic integrations, an we think thisis the only way to ensure progress.People in Montenegro have decidedtheir destiny at the referendum, andnow is our turn to get down to work",Skonje~ka said.
The very procedure of PfP acces-sion is not complicated. Once thegovernment submits its application,the NATO will send an invitation, andthen Montenegro has to present itsnational programme encompassingpolitical, economic and militaryaspects. Montenegro has to explainwhat it will do in order to fulfil theNATO standards in all those segments,and which resources it can offer forparticipation in the peace supportmissions in the region and around theworld...Finally, we will sign a bilateralagreement between Montenegro andNATO, and a whole set of other bilat-eral agreements.
These agreements should allowMontenegrin military to receive educa-tion abroad, in order to get acquaint-ed with the NATO standards. They alsospecify trainings with foreign troops,trainings for the special peace opera-tions units, and the financial assistancein all aspects of reforms of the nation-al defence system and the Army.
Ne|eljko RUDOVI]
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J u l y , 2 0 0 6 . Ana ly s e s
Partnership for Peace (PfP) was established by NATO in 1994 as a programmeof concrete bilateral cooperation with individual PfP members, who pledged
to protect democratic standards of their societies and respect international law,refraining from the use of threats and force in relation to other countries; respectfor the existing borders and peaceful conflict resolution.
The purpose of PfP is to ensure stability, reduce threats to peace andstrengthen relationships between NATO and the members of this programme, aswell as those between the members themselves.
PfP members set their own biannual projects according to their ambitionsand abilities, defining the scope of military reform, military policy and strategy,civil-military relations, education and training, PVO, communicational and infor-mational systems, crisis management and civil protection, which they are readyto undertake.
All Central and East European, as well as Baltic members went through PfPbefore joining NATO, in two enlargement waves of 1999 and 2004.
Since 1994, partnership for peace includes Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan,Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldavia, Russia, Sweden,Turkmenistan, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Austria, Byelorussia, and Macedoniajoined in 1995, and so did Switzerland - in 1996. Ireland joined in 1999, andCroatia in 2000. The only European countries which are currently not in thepartnership are Serbia, Montenegro, and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
After their membership in the Partnership for Peace, Czech Republic, Poland,and Hungary joined NATO in 1999, followed by Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Ro-mania, Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, in 2003. Among the older members of NATOare the USA, Canada, Belgium, Denmark, France, Greece, Italy, Iceland, Luxem-bourg, Germany, Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and Great Britain.
J u l y , 2 0 0 6 . Eu r op ean ba r ome t e r i n Mon t en eg r o
May I have the honour, before Iplunge into sophisticated
Eurocentric analyses, to introducemyself to the respected reader as ajournalist who had his first passportissued at the age of 27. No big deal,it's an ancient wisdom of all writers:you don't have to be pregnant to beable to write about pregnancy. Europe,after all, is just as well seen throughthe eyes of Wenders' screen hero whorides from Germany to Portugal,watching the landscapes shift in hisrear mirror, with only the change ofstations on his radio to warn him thathe has passed another border.
Unfortunately, our TV never showsfilms by WWiimm WWeennddeerrss, and a decentDVD player costs half an averagesalary, leaving us mortals at the mercyof our news channels to absorb all theeducation available on Europe. Whichis the very news channel that ragedand thundered against the CroatianUstashas fifteen years ago, and pre-sented us all with pictures of a friend-ly gathering of SSttjjeeppaann MMeessii}} and FFiilliippVVuujjaannoovvii}} last week. And not a wordabout Prevlaka. Is it possible that it hasceased to be the very gateway to BokaKotorska, was there not a Serbianmonastery somewhere in those parts?Shush…
When NNaasseerr OOrrii}} asked his col-league, VVoojjiissllaavv [[ee{{eelljj, whether he stillbelieved in a Great Serbia with bor-ders running Karlobag-Karlovac-Virovitica, the latter replied:
"If I were to admit that I stoppedbelieving it, I would cease to be {e{elj".The touching reply of the wannabeduke brought tears of happiness to theeyes of us all who suddenly felt likeblessing thankfully our local boyarswho had mercifully decided to stopbeing [e{eljs. The European Union canbe proud of us.
After the referendum, the fascistfeelings have somewhat retreated even
from those nightly SMS messages inthe sub-lines of private TV stations.Some wiser heads are quickly beingrecruited by the political system of acountry which, ages back, in 1992,abandoned dozens to the enemy'sknives, their sole crime being that they,or their ancestors, believed once thatAllah was one. In those times evenDPS was one, and the rumours wouldhave it that, under the auspices ofBrussels, it may become one again.
It's not a bad thing for the processof identifying the culprit: to have allthe officials on the same address onceagain, should anybody remember tosend them a blue envelope one day,with at kind invitation to an informa-tive-retrospective interview. You putthem on a couch like FFrreeuudd used todo, and you ask, in the voice of MMii}}aaOOrrlloovvii}}: "Tell me about your child-hood….the one in politics".
(As this article is to be translatedinto English, let me explain to theEuropean reader that Mi}a Orlovi} wasa star figure of Serbian and YugoslavianTV journalism, the man who appearedin the first Yugoslavian news pro-gramme, and that in Montenegro,there is still nobody convicted for thepolice deportation resulting in deaths
of some thirty Bosniaks/ Muslims four-teen years ago).
But let us go back to the currentaffairs.
They go by the title of "Serbianlist". They are young leaders, and theyare committed to European integra-tions. "Serbia to Brussels", is a handyslogan which can be carefully distilledfrom their European eloquence - afterthe last week's briefing with TToommiissllaavvTToommaa NNiikkoollii}}.
Nobody can predict the numberof votes they will win in the upcom-ing elections, as their national targetgroup has proved to be rather volatile.In the 1981 census, Montenegro had3% of Serbs, ten years later there were9% of them, and in 2003 they alreadyaccounted for 33% of the popula-tion…
Pardon me, it is rude to speak ofpeople in numbers - especially in acountry with app. 650.000 citizens.
It's perhaps lucky that Montenegro(and the mountains) wouldn't needmore than an elderly JJuulliioo IIgglleessiiaass togather us all at a farewell stadium con-cert - by the measure and the quan-tity of it, every chauvinism here is nec-essarily reduced to a pitiable caricature- a joke with a few thousands voters.
Julio in party jawsby Brano Mandi}
Not that it should in any waydegrade Montenegro and its"master filter" which had siftedthrough as much ideological lit-ter in the history as the bigpowers could manage to pro-duce.
There's an ingenious obser-vation commonly ascribed toBBrraanniimmiirr [[ttuullii}}, that the war inthe old Yugoslavia was lead byMontenegrins and Herzegovians,which is not far from truth if welook at the historical destiny ofthese two peoples who carriedthe banner of Serbianhood (orCroatianhood), and if we studycarefully the genealogy of gener-als and criminals of the past war.
This is why I find liberatingthe referendum decision tofinally put Montenegro off thetrip of being someone's Sparta.Europe knows that, but thehonourable Mr Iglesias wouldalso know that in Podgorica hecould not gather even a 1.000 peoplefor his performance, unless he sangfrom the stage set by eitherDemocratic Socialist Party of SocialistPeople's Party...Partyocracy!
Here we fall for quite anotherkind of Casanovas...Expiry date fifteenyears, Mr Iglesias.
"Than go and vote for theMovement for Changes!", Julio wouldtell you, if by any chance he had pon-dered the stormy seas of Montenegrinpolitics.
The Movement for Changes wasrecently proclaimed from Cetinje,under the corny trade union symbol ofa clock whose hands are set in a sharpangle at five to mid...day.
Let us agree, it is at least polite togrant the new political party these fiveminutes before we start doubting theirlack of creativity based on a singlemarketing blunder. Still, five to twelve?Whoever came up with that one? Andprecisely among those who are theforerunners of a movement to pledgedto break away from the iconography ofmass rallies...May they take this as afriendly suggestion, because the cam-paigns are just about to begin, and theballot box is looming nigh...
Life in Montenegro is what hap-pens as we think about the elections,to paraphrase one best-selling authorwhich has recently made it in theguise of pages lite onto the bonnets ofvehicles commonly employed asbookstands...Which is some progress,to be sure: fifteen years ago we werestill selling referendum "lite", choosingthe future for our country from thebonnets of pick-up trucks.
Ever since, same politicians arechanging hands, although some newfaces are springing up too. To make acartoon sketch of them on the pagesof this pro-European magazine feels alittle blasphemous, but shall I defendmyself betting that they will all spendthe next few months brainwashingjournalists who will brainwash the cit-izens, with a handful of scleroticphrases threatening to reduce ourstruggle towards civilisation to someother form of self-government.
There goes a fact: to say"European and Euro-Atlantic integra-tions" is to bore to death a regular guy.Citizens have no clue what it standsfor, as was evident from the results oflast year's research by the MontenegrinMedia Institute.
And the MPs are no betterinformed, I found out withmuch sorrow, when I shoved arecorder in front of them andsaw gasp silently, when I askedthem to name the key EU insti-tutions or at least explain hedifference between the Councilof Europe and the EuropeanCouncil.
True, I had fun - I foundtheir discomfort at least asamusing as I find their igno-rance dangerous.
True, they have shownsome willingness to learn since,and began attending seminarsthe like.
But it doesn't change thefact that their pathetic Euro-peanism is only clouding thesights (whether the mists camefrom Kremane or Kremlin is be-side the point), distracting ourattention from the little individualstories which were the corner-
stones of Western empires, who pru-dently set aside the poisonous mega-lollypops of revelations. I kindly beg youwith all the humbleness of an abstinent- spare us your pre-electoral discover-ies of America...pardon, Europe.
Before you turn to your voterswith grand speeches on human rightsin Montenegro, remember those youngmothers on the news channels of theTelevision of Montenegro, who giveinterviews with their backs to the cam-era, because their husbands havemade them first pregnant and thensingle. Remember that student girl whospoke on the second public channelwith her face obscured by the nega-tive, and with a hat and a scarf on topof it, talking about the unfairness ofher professors as if she were witness-ing against MMllaaddeenn NNaalleettii}}-TTuuttaa.
When our students become freeto speak in their true colours, whenour single mother speaking in primetime turns around to face the audiencewith a smile - it will be Europe.
And after the news, they will showthe Lisbon Story, by Wim Wenders.
TThhee aauutthhoorr iiss aa jjoouurrnnaalliisstt ooff tthheeddaaiillyy nneewwssppaappeerr ""VViijjeessttii""..
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J u l y , 2 0 0 6 . F r om my p o in t o f v i ew
Why do I want to bea citizen of Europe?
Back in the days when the histo-ry was being made, when every
word was taken as a word of des-tiny, when many things were set"for eternity" (no less), I was won-dering if I, myself, by the mere factof being born in these times, and inthis overly historical mountain landof the Balkans, have become a partof that history and that eternity?Essentially, I don't believe anythingis eternal. We cannot create aworld under the auspices of some-thing eternal and immutable. Andthe nature, too, placed limits on thehuman aspirations towards theeternal existence. I don't believe inmaking the history either - historyhappened, and all we are now freeto create is the future: a "Europeanfuture", to quote those "who makehistory and eternity". In the linesthat follow, I will only try to explainmy views of this concept, of thisemblem, as it were, which isclaimed all around, all the time,often with no reason and withoutsupport, almost as a figure ofspeech.
"European future" - multiplemeanings of the expression are evi-dent at the first glance. Is it tomean the future of a continentwhich in the ancient times wasconsidered "a place where the sun
is setting"? Is it the future of thisCommunity created in the midst ofthe last century, which carried aprefix "European" in all of its guises(European Steal and Coal Com-munity, European Community forAtomic Energy, European EconomicCommunity and European Union) -a community of European stateswhich, however, never coincidedwith the geographical terms of thecontinent? And finally, what weusually mean when we use thisemblem in this country is to predictand wish for a new, modern, pros-perous future - to tell somebodythat he has a "European future"ahead of him/her is a complimentunmatched of late by any other. It'snot about a happy family, success inbusiness…Europe has become asynonym for all that. To bid a"European future is to bid a happymarriage (singing the EU AccessionTreaty), beautiful family (25 ofthem), and no worries about pro-fessional success - it can be boughtany time, with all the money youwill have - being European, ofcourse. Wither lies the sense of allthis? If in the irony, it may well be.
However, the words of "thosewho make history" are radiatingcertainty and belief that "aEuropean future lies ahead", that "itis the only road we have left", andthat "the European future will makeeverything better". Words that noone can disregard. Words ofimmeasurable weight, a self-evidentsign that we have finally rid our-selves of the shackles of conserva-tiveness and hopped onto the rightroad towards becoming a modernand, obviously, "European" society -
sweet music to our ears. Followingthe words there comes a greatapplause, displaying our enthusi-asm, our faith based on…never-mind. An argument to prove thesewords true is simple - "well, geo-graphically, we do belong toEurope". Indeed, unfortunately geo-graphically only.
This society needs EU. First ofall, because a society like oursshould always have a clear goal tokeep us on the track, an idea anda vision of our own future. For asociety like this, which in the pastyears has lost the touch with allvaluable, progressive things, thecontemporary European society is arole model. Now, there is the factthat we pay little attention to gen-uine implementation of Europeanideas, principles and values on theground. In fact, it seems to me weare improvising with Europeanstandards, as if desperately trying toprove to somebody that we are onthe road towards Europe after all(example: haphazard introductionof Bologna programme at ourUniversity, etc.) A particularly irri-tating thing for a young person whohas tied his own future toMontenegro and its prosperity is thefact that the first declared"Europeans" among us were pre-cisely those champions of dema-gogy who are using every opportu-nity to paint us a picture brightMontenegrin future ahead inEurope. Those have recently camefrom that Europe to check it all outhave quite a few objections to raise- concerning our administrativecapacities for accession, concerningthe necessity to form younger elites
by Vlado Dedovi}
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J u l y , 2 0 0 6 . F r om my p o in t o f v i ew
in Montenegro for this process,etc… No way that Europe too hasturned against us? No way that doesnot fit into "action plan" for creationof our European future?
Bearing in mind that more than80% of Montenegrin youth is per-fectly ignorant of the way EU func-tions, and that some 28% do noteven think about the need of beingbetter educated in these issues, wemay well question the oft pro-claimed certainty of the "brightEuropean future" lying ahead. Yeswe all agree that joining EU is apriority and a need of our society,but very few Montenegrins canboast of any clear understanding ofwhat it means to be a part of EU. Iam speaking from the standpoint ofthat generation which should reachits intellectual climax precisely inthese years when our country willbe on the brink of joining the greatEuropean family - my generation,which shows not the slightest inter-est in learning about the processesthat are about to take place in theupcoming years.
Obviously, we are far from hav-ing all the characteristics of amature, responsible society. Tobegin with, some sense of reality,some seriousness in approachshould suffice - to understand andaccept the well intended sugges-tions and objections raised byEurope. Only after we have passedthe stage of the famous "social con-solidation", we may proceedtowards Europe. Before that, wecan only play improvisations….whoknows, maybe we make it anyhow?
What do I mean by being a cit-izen of Europe?
I mean constructing a newidentity - European identity.Understanding and accepting theEuropean identity does not meancasting aside the national one. Ibelieve this new identity to bealmost as a good suit, which fitseveryone, no matter where they
come from and what they feel like.The cloak of the national comes asan ornament to that suit, as a traitthat we all carry inside, with pride,and with a sense of devotion forour country. If we really want tobecome a part of Europe, the ideaof Europe should be our guidingstar, which brings together everyonein our society. That's the way toforget the years of our past, thoseyears when all the basic values ofan individual were subdued tohis/her national, party or other formof affiliation. To be European is notto belong to somebody, to stand outand thus prove yourself different(which our mentality is particularlyprone to). Just the opposite, itmeans being everywhere at alltimes, feeling the simple, perfectsense of freedom that comes alongin accepting that identity.
The freedom inherent in theprivilege of being "European" is pre-cisely why I wish to be a citizen ofEurope. My wish to become a citi-zen of Europe is in fact my wish tosee the borderlines dissolve, thoseamong the people just as much asthose between countries. Europe -a vast playground offering to ayoung person a myriad of opportu-nities, challenges, adventures, and
innumerable memories. This is pre-cisely my own cradle of freedom, afreedom whose winds have beenblowing for centuries, but whichonly in the last couple of years hasbecome part of the everyday life ofits citizens.
The future is - in Europe, I'drather put it that way. This is thefuture I would bid all of our politi-cians, sportsmen, artists, academics,journalists, students, and all those(un)improvised Europeans living inMontenegro. It is only up to us tomake this future come true. Insofaras we accept the challenges that arecoming up, insofar as we grasp thefact that we are no priority for thatEurope, whereas the Europe is pri-ority for us, we will be able tomake that future ours.
Many would say that the histo-ry was made in the days that nowlie behind us. It is now our turn toforge a future for this society. Ihope we will not have to wait foranother referendum make it hap-pen.
N E V E N M I M I C A , P R E S I D E N T O F T H E C O M M I T T E E F O R E U R O P E A N I N T E G R A T I O N SO F T H E P A R L I A M E N T O F T H E R E P U B L I C O F C R O A T I A
In Croatia, we are often asked bythe public why we need all that,
what are the real advantages of EUaccession, what shall be better inCroatia once we reach that goal. Toooften, you will hear that "there is noother alternative". It is not true thatwe have no choice, but you mustweigh your alternatives. As an alter-native, the membership is probablyless expensive than others. Stayingalone, staying isolated, not havingaccess to the big markets, not beingcompetitive enough - these are veryexpensive alternatives, and therefore,I would say, not quite realistic. But inthe end, this is a matter of choice -says in the interview for EIC BulletinNeven Mimica, President of theCommittee for European Integrationsof the Parliament of Croatia.
"There are evident advantages inthe accession process: political anddemocratic stability, long-term sus-tainable economic competitiveness,and finally, social and legal order thatprotects individual interests. For acountry which had a very difficulthistory, went through war and aggres-sion, these advantages seem to meconvincing enough to seriouslyembark onto the process of Europeanintegration", underlines Mimica.
However, he warned that thisprocess would require total and notmerely rhetorical commitment of allstate institutions.
"European integration is at least athreefold process: it encompassesnegotiations, reforms and communi-cation with the citizens. Sometimesthe Government is too focused onthe negotiations - Montenegro madea very good start, just as Croatia did,and the governments can be pleasedwith their successes. But soon theissue of reforms will come up, and ifthe reforms are delayed than negoti-
ations will be delayed too. And ifwe're not good in communicatingwith the public, than the public willnot see the real benefits of Europeanintegrations. At the beginning, wehad a very idyllic picture that EU willresolve all of our problems, and wehad more than 80% of the people insupport of the integration. As soon aswe tackled the more concrete detailsof the reform, more and more ques-tions were posed by the public - andnow the overall support is bellow60%", states Mimica.
According to him, it is necessaryto sign the Stabilisation and Associat-ion Agreement as soon as possible, inorder to give Montenegro a soundlegal basis for cooperation with EU.
"This is in a way a list of com-mitments to begin the process of har-monisation with European standards.This contract brings great advantagesin the area of trade, as this is essen-tially a free trade document - a wayto prepare you for participating in theEuropean market. Another advantageis that it marks the beginning of seri-ous, systematic work on legal har-monisation, as the agreement willdefine the priority chapters for har-monisation, which will probably con-cern - just as in the case of Croatia
and Macedonia - the issues relatingto the legal framework for businessstandards, which, essentially, meanscreating the right potential for attract-ing foreign investments to Mon-tenegro", explains Mimica.
According to him, this Agreementwill also initiate the solution for somepriority political issues, among whichis the regional cooperation whichshould "put Montenegro in the posi-tion which it had before, and couldhave again, in development and sta-bilisation of the region".
"However, the SAA is unfortu-nately still an Agreement whichdefines relationships on the level ofstate administration and institutions,leaving aside those matters which areof interest for the everyday life of thecitizens, and those that could have adirect impact on individual concerns.Thus, the graves mistake the govern-ment can make is to use EU as analibi for reforms", considers Mimica.
"The worst thing is to blame allthe reforms and the hardships thatcome along them on EU policy, tosay "Brussels asked us to do that". Ifsuch signals are coming from thegovernment than the whole idea ofgetting closer to the European Unionwould not be accepted in the public.The policy has to be very clear: we'redoing reforms because of ourselves,not because of Brussels. The reformsare, of course, very difficult, there areproblems, there are negative reac-tions from the public, but in the endthis is something that we have to dobecause of our development. Thequestion is not "when will we join theEuropean Union?", but "when will webe ready to join the Union?". Onceyou are ready, everything else is justa formality", estimates Mimica.
Finland took over the presidencyof the European Union on 1 July,
for the second time since it joinedthe Union, in 1995.
The Austrian presidency endedin the same way it began - withMozart. The Finns marked thebeginning of their term in officewith less of a concert and more ofa bang - with the bandApocaliptica playing at the GrandPlace Brussels. Although everybodyhopes they will carry this level of
energy throughout the presidency,few would believe that the follow-ing six months are to be marked byrevolutionary reforms.
Austria set out quite a fewambitious targets at the beginningof its presidency - delivering "con-crete results", economic growth,furthering the process of EUenlargement, etc. At the end of itspresidency, the analysts believe that,despite some successes, theprogress has been rather modest,
especially insofar as it concernsunemployment and liberalisation ofthe labour market, which hasaffected the new member statesmost of all.
On the other hand, Austriamanaged to avoid major crises ofthe previous two presidencies - thebudget crisis, which was finallyresolved, and the crisis over theconstitutional treaty, rejected byFrance and the Netherlands.
Whatever the results of theprevious presidency, Finland nowhas the chance to "cool down" thetensions and to abandon the granddiscussions in favour of the little,everyday issues in the functioningof the EU. The constitutionaldebate has been postponed until2008, and the issue of energysecurity, which rocked EU at thebeginning of the Austrian presiden-cy, was solved with Russian prom-ises that they will continue withsteady supplies to the Europeancontinent.
It seems that Finns are wellaware of this, as they began theirpresidency with a few less contro-versial projects, such as the promisethat they will restore the credibilityof the Union in the eyes of its cit-izens, focusing on transparency andefficiency in the absence of a com-prehensive institutional reform.
The Finnish Prime Minister,
A F T ER AUSTR I A , F IN LAND TOOK OVER THE S I X -MMONTH PR E S ID ENCY OF THEEUROPEAN UN ION ON 1 JU L Y
Except for plotting a successful and memorable presidency over the Union,Finland is also having fun, publishing every Wednesday an update on
European news - in Latin. The first news bulletin on the webpage was writ-ten by university professors, and it read "Finnis Unioni Europaeae praesiden-tibus in morem venit" (The Finnish presidency of the European Union has start-ed), explaining that "the use of Latin is to pay homage to European civilisationand a reminder of the roots of European society, which go back to classicalancient times". The officials, however, admit that the whole thing is just a joke.
The witty Finns have, however, also announced some less joyful moveswhich are bound to wipe smiles off the faces of the representatives of Brussels'administration. For the purposes of increased efficiency, the Finnish presiden-cy proposed to reduce EU budget in various areas, with the administrationbearing the largest blow, as nearly 1700 eurocrat jobs are to be cut over thenext seven years, resulting in some 56 million euros of savings.
European budget commissioner Dalia Gybautskaite reacted angrily to theproposal, saying that it will automatically cancel the projected 800 recruitmentsfrom new EU members for next year. This would reduce a total of 3900 staffmembers, projected for when the EU enlarges from 25 to 27 down to 2200.
Poland, Spain and Italy were quick to raise objections, as negotiations onthe budgetary spending are to continue after the summer. Other proposedmeasures include, among other, cuts in regional aid for Europe's poorest areasand reductions to farm budgets.
MMaattttii VVaannhhaanneenn, said said he wouldwork towards more transparency ofthe EU's workings and institutions,and the promotion of innovationand competitiveness as well as thedefence of the environment.
According to the analysts,Finland would indeed be able toteach the rest of Europe a thing ortwo about running the economy -Finland spends more than 3% of itsGDP on research and development- which is much more than in Italyor France, and its education systemhas been assessed as one of thebest in Europe by the UN agencies.
The first step towards improvingtransparency was to introduce liveInternet broadcasts of the Councilof European Union meetings,reserving the possibility to switch offthe "audience" in certain sensitivemoments requiring secrecy or dis-cretion. The first meeting which hadthe honour to be "performed"before the eyes of the millions ofEU citizens was the 11 July gather-ing of the EU's finance ministers.However, except for a few high-
lights, like discovering that thefinance ministers casually call eachother by their forenames, few thingsfrom this meting could be of anyinterest to the wider audience.
Dutch finance minister GGeerrrriittZZaallmm, said that live broadcasting ofsuch "boring" meetings could becounterproductive, unless "a coupleof nice topics" were announced inadvance for future open sessions.
"Nobody will watch this kind ofdebates unless it gets really excit-ing," he said, adding that thechances are that those "exciting"discussions would remain behindclosed doors.
Given its geographical positionat the very northeast of the conti-nent, as well as the fact that EUimports more than a quarter of itsenergy from Russia, it is expectedthat the Finnish presidency willdevote significant attention to itsrelations with Moscow. An officialEU-Russia summit is scheduled forNovember, and President VVllaaddiimmiirrPPuuttiinn has been invited to attendsome of the informal EU meetings
already in October. The currentEU-Russia Partnership and Cooper-ation Agreement ends next year,and Finland will do its best to makesure that everything is in he mean-time ready for signing a new one.Except for cooperation withMoscow, Helsinki hopes to revivethe so-called Northern Dimension,an EU policy directed at north-western parts of Russia, which hasbeen was established by the EU inthe late 1990s, but has been large-ly neglected by the union's recentpresidencies.
The Prime Minister Vanhanenalso announced individual briefingswith EU member states about theenlargement policy, in order to testthe attitudes of individual membersand remove doubts about the"absorption capacity" of the EU.Other priorities include reopeningthe negotiation with Turkey, whichhave been stalled because of itstroublesome relationship withCyprus.
VVeerraa [[]]EEPPAANNOOVVII]]
Finland taking over the Presidency from Austria
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C A N M O N T E N E G R O B E N E F I T F R O M E U R O P E A N I N T E G R A T I O N S ?
How does a EU citizen feel whencoming for the first time to
Montenegro? The answer is, in mycase, quite at home. Not because ofthe Montenegrin government's pro-European stance but more on a sym-bolic level. Paying your everyday cof-fee in one of Podgorica's many cafesor bars in Euros is just one expressionof this symbolism.
When it comes to definingEuropean identity and giving argu-ments why it should be further deep-ened an often given answer is symbol-ism. The power of European symbolsand the narrative power of the bene-fits of a united Europe have turnedinto strong arguments for Europeanintegration itself in the last decade.
Anti-Europeanism is a part ofeveryday life in EU countries, as couldbe seen for example in the French andDutch referenda on the EuropeanConstitution. The European Parliamentitself hosts parties, which openly cam-paign for the retreat of their countryfrom the Union, like the UnitedKingdom Independence Party. Finally,in my home country Germany, the fearof Brussels taking away "our" sover-eignty is a recurrent theme as well."We" are one of the biggest net payersto the Union's budget, so it is rathereasy for politicians to discover scaremongering as a means of political
mobilization by asking: "What do weget back from the EU?"
Given the ongoing crisis of theEU, should Montenegro, which justregained its independence, be keen onjoining at all? The recently foundedGreen Party of Montenegro is not theonly one in the country sending warn-ing signals by saying "such a EU is ofno good to us".
Skepticism is usually grounded ongrowing inequalities within the EUmember states, the Brussels bureau-cracy, the divide between interests ofthe largest EU countries but as wellbetween long-time members and justrecently admitted countries, the loss ofnational sovereignty - the list could becontinued.
True, this divisions and shortcom-ings are often reality. We are still deal-ing with a European Union of nation-states and not with the United Statesof Europe. At the beginning of the 21stcentury, the strength of the idea of aunited Europe lies somewhere else -namely, in the symbolic narrativepower of European integration and itseffects. "We should unite, because it isgood and beneficial to unite". Thiscredo has been filled with contentover the last decades and it has builtquite some momentum, to a point ofshifting away form mere free-marketeconomy demands as a preconditionfor membership in the Union to alsopolitical and social requirementsallowing for common standards in thefields of human rights protection andhuman development.
The free flow and exchange ofideas, lived pan-Europeanism, thefeeling of belonging together as well asthe promotion of togetherness, thedefinition of common shared humanvalues - these are the fields in whicha united Europe is taking place alsoand in which a united Europe hassomething to offer already today.
The unification of Europe is, so tospeak, not only a political process but
also a dynamic social one, which hasbecome reality quite some time ago.Even if the Green Party of Montenegroopposes EU membership given thecurrent state of affairs inside the Unionitself, it still seeks to tie itself closely tothe movement of the European Greensand receive their moral as well asfinancial support. It draws its inspira-tion from their beliefs, and is influ-enced by debates going beyond thedomestic level.
Besides the classical benefits ofEU membership, such as financial sup-port for necessary reforms and visa-free traveling, the unifying strength ofstressing equalities in contrast tounderlining differences, on a continentshaken by terrible wars and divisionthroughout its history, Montenegro hasquite some reasons to take part in thepolitical and the social process ofEuropean integration.
In a country, where the averagesalary in June 2006 was around 250Euros and which faces quite somesocial problems, the symbolism andthe narrative power of European inte-gration may even have a bigger impactthen visa-free traveling or adapting itseconomy to EU standards, whichmight in the short-term lead to evenmore social hardships.
Communicating with Europe, tak-ing part in the debates relevant for allEuropean countries, and also thinkingEuropean will not only help to putMontenegro and its citizens back onthe map of Europe, from which it wasremoved during the years ofMilosevic's Yugoslavia and its after-math, but also contribute to shape thenewly independent country's identitywhich is still in the making.
The auuthorr iss a posstgrraduuate sstuu-dent at the Univerrssity of SSarrajjevo andUniverrssity of Bologna in the field ofhuuman rrightss and democrracy inSSouuth Easst Euurrope.. He iss cuurrrrentlyinterrn at the CCE..
The freedom of travel is not the only advantage
by Sebastian Saam
18E IC Bu l l e t i n N o 1 0
J u l y , 2 0 0 6 . P o l i c y
E U R E G I ONA L PO L I C Y - F I N ANC I A L M E AN S F ROM S T RUC TU R A L F UND S FO RR EG I ONA L D E V E LO PM EN T AND COH E S I ON A R E NO T ON L Y A V A I L A B L E FO R T H EM EMB E R S T A T E S , B U T A L SO FO R T H E COUN T R I E S I N T H E E U A C C E S S I ON P ROC E S S
AA cchhaannccee ffoorr llooccaall ccoommmmuunniittiieess
There is a special clause in theEuropean Union regional policy
requiring every state to adopt along-term plan for regional develop-ment. This speaks in favour of aconclusion that regionalisation is inmany ways an important policy anda condition for access to the EUstructural funds. This is precisely whya series of countries, which them-selves never had a tradition ofregionalism, began creating regions,primarily to be able to gain access tothese funds. An important thing forus is that the EU funds for regionaldevelopment and cohesion are notlimited to the member states - theyare also available for the countries inthe EU accession process.
Therefore, as in EuropeanUnion, in the South East Europe,Montenegro included, the perspec-tive of a European future should notbe reserved for the governmentsalone: it is also an opportunity forthe local communities to build part-nerships and create strategies forthe future.
Regional and euro-regional for-
ms of cross-border cooperation areboth aspects of a humane, but alsoof a possible practical solution to allissues which were left open inEurope as a legacy of the two worldwars. We are speaking of course, ofcommon interests in certain regionswhich are naturally bound together. Itis the way to create a new, entirelyand truly regional, identity - aware-ness of the common interests and ofa synergy which would bring betterfuture for all parties involved.
Closer cooperation betweentwo or more regions, i.e. local com-munities in the border areas splitapart by the national boundaries,resulted in the creation ofEuroregions, which turned out to bea good model for establishing coop-eration in the aftermath of greatconflicts. A glance at the currentmap of Euroregions would undoubt-edly show that a significant majority
of them is localised along the riverRhine, the site of some of thebloodiest clashes of the last century.
Today, these regions are cooper-ating in various ways, being held upas a role model of cross-bordercooperation in Europe and aroundthe world. In the years after the war,a number of Euroregions sprouted allacross Western Europe, including theborder regions encompassing territo-ries of several countries. NumerousEuroregions, some hundred of them,joined forces to create a network forcooperation in various fields, such asculture, transport, police control etc.
The entire enterprise begantaking into consideration the needof the citizens who inhabit a givensocial community. This is particular-ly true for the local communities, orlocal self-governments. Regionaland euro-regional cooperationmakes part of this natural and log-
by Emil Krije{torac
Of all European institutions, it was the Council of Europe who first realisedthe advantages of cross-border cooperation, clearly endorsing the impor-
tance of local and regional democracy from the very beginning of its existence.Its support gave impetus to the first Euroregions and the initial steps towardscross border cooperation. Arguing that the regional and local democracy mustaddress the needs of all Europeans, both in the cities and in the countryside,those a the centre and those at the periphery, as well as those across the bor-ders, the Council of Europe made the first step in establishing the necessary cli-mate and preconditions for linking and representing the local authorities. Thisinitiative was made already in 1957, and ever since its impact can be felt acrossthe European continent, from Island to Russia and from Norway to the Balkans.
The Council of Europe partially institutionalised some aspects of this coop-eration, through European Outline Convention on Trans-frontier Co-operationbetween Territorial Communities or Authorities, adopted on 21 March 1980 inMadrid, and published under the no. 106 in the series of European treaties. Anadditional protocol was adopted on 9 November 1995, and came into force on1 December 1998.
ical composition of individual needsand interests, as well as those ofcommunities and the entire localsociety. This manner of cooperationhas a long tradition, although in thelast two centuries its impact hasbeen significantly obscured by thedominant process of consolidationof the nation-states.
Today, nearly a third of the EUbudget is directed towards lessdeveloped regions. Some 90% of itare channelled through structuralfunds which are primarily used tolevel the rate of development of thericher and poorer regions throughvarious assistance programmes to thelatter. Certain subventions are avail-able for all regions whose GDP percapita is lesser than 75% of Europeanaverage, but also for other regions,e.g. those that are going through aprocess of economic and socialrestructuring, or those that sufferfrom high unemployment.
European Union regional policy
also prescribes a commitment for allmembers to introduce administrativeregional divisions according to aNUTS classification (Nomenclature ofTerritorial Units for Statistics). Thisdivision takes place on several levels,of which the NUTS 3 is deemed mostimportant (requires division in territo-rial units with 150.000 to 800.000
citizens per each), being the precon-dition for gaining access to the struc-tural funds.
Most of the time, the Euro-regions are created on the initiativeof municipal authorities in the bor-der regions of the states that wish toparticipate in the project. They formdistinct associations, which are thenmerged with similar associations inother countries in order to establishcross-border cooperation, usuallywith at common Secretariat to serveas an administrative tool for main-taining cooperation. Some of theseEuroregions are established throughinternational treaties, while aremerely registered as non-profitorganisations. There is also no ruleprescribing that cooperation must beconducted among equivalent aut--hority levels in different states. It isnot uncommon that one regionshould encompass a few counties inone state, and entire municipalitiesor provinces in another. In practice,it is even possible that a whole state(e.g. Luxembourg) is a member of aEuroregion. Areas of cooperationmay also differ according to theneeds.
European Union founded it regional policy (encompassing, in the terminologyof EU, both regions and other territorial units) upon financial solidarity and
desire to balance the level of development in different regions, with the goal ofattaining full economic and social cohesion within the Union. For this purpose,European Union created the Committee of the Regions (CoR), established by theTreaty of Maastricht in 1992 for the purpose of representing interests of region-al and local authorities on the European level.
Prior to that, recognising the lack of adequate regional and local represen-tation in EU, the Assembly of European Regions was formed as a free regionalassociation in Strasbourg, in 1985. However, once the Committee of the Regionsbegan its work in 1994, the Assembly lost much of its impact, although it stillacts as ferment for association of different regions in EU member states.
The key concern behind these initiatives was the fear that the citizens arebeing left behind in the integration process, and that development of EuropeanUnion will only further alienate the citizens from direct participation in thisprocess. Bringing into the process another level of governance, which is the clos-est to the citizens represented an important step in the direction of "creating anever closer union among the peoples of Europe, in which decisions are taken asclosely as possible to the citizen", as is stated in the Preamble of the Treaty onEuropean Union. The concept of a "Europe of Regions" gained importance in themid-eighties, and the demand for regional co-decisions entered the politicalpractice. It was in this period that the regions were transformed from "objects ofEuropean policy" to actors in the process with an equal right to participate inthe decision making on European issues.
J u l y , 2 0 0 6 . G e t t i ng a c qua in t e d w i t h Eur op ean Un i on
European Investment Bank is a non-profit financial institution of the
European Union, founded in 1957. Itsmission is to contribute to the balanceddevelopment of the common market, tothe benefit of the entire European Union.This task of the EIB is to be fulfilledthrough providing loans and guaranteeson most favourable terms, directedtowards a range of projects in differentfields: PPrroojjeeccttss iimmppoorrttaanntt ffoorr ddeevveellooppmmeenntt ooff
tthhee lleessss ddeevveellooppeedd rreeggiioonnss.. Financing theprojects that contribute to the regionaldevelopment and to economic and socialcohesion within European Union is one ofthe key tasks of the EIB. For this purpose,EIB has already delegated more than twothirds of its assets in individual or generalloans to the regions which are facing cer-tain difficulties in economic development(insufficiently developed industry, agricul-ture, etc.) PPrroojjeeccttss iimmppoorrttaanntt ffoorr mmooddeerrnniissaattiioonn,,
aaddjjuussttmmeenntt aanndd eessttaabblliisshhmmeenntt ooff nneewwbbuussiinneesssseess.. Financing projects that, as aresult of their scope and nature, cannotbe entirely covered by national fundingresources. This particularly concernsdevelopment of small and mediumenterprises which are recognised as animportant element of stability and one ofthe most efficient strategies to combatunemployment. PPrroojjeeccttss ooff ccoommmmoonn iinntteerreesstt ffoorr sseevveerr-
aall mmeemmbbeerrss ssttaatteess.. Financing projectswhich cannot be entirely funded bysources available to single Member States.
The EIB enjoys its own legal person-ality and financial autonomy within theCommunity system, with own capital andproperty, as well as distinct organs ofauthority, representatives, and certainprivileges and immunities. In order tofulfil its tasks adequately, EIB must beable to act independently in the interna-
tional capital markets. However, its activ-ities are conducted in close cooperationwith other EU institutions. The EuropeanCommission appoints one member to theEIB administrative committee, applica-tions for loans have to receive an opin-ion from EC before they are forwardedto the Bank, and the director of EIB canbe held accountable by member state orthe Commission for decisions takenwithin the Bank.
In order to meet the financing crite-ria of EIB, a project must fulfil the condi-tions dictated by the principles of region-al development and common interest ofEU members.
The above principles include:improving the quality of life, industrial andrural development, development of acommunication network among the EUcountries and with third countries, protec-tion of energy resources, protection ofenvironment, support to urban revitalisa-tion, development of small and mediumenterprises, as well as educational andhealth infrastructure.
The beginning of EIB involvement incountries of Central and Eastern Europedate back to the 1990. Following the ini-tial stages of transition towards democra-cy and market economy, the EIB directedits mission in east European countriestowards their preparation for EU acces-sion. For this purpose, it cooperatedclosely with European Commission (espe-cially within the PHARE programme). Ithas also established a regular, systematiccollaboration with the World Bank, as wellas European Bank for Reconstruction andDevelopment (some its shares are also theproperty of EIB).
EIB activities in this region arefocused on strengthening the infrastructur-al base, which is of key importance of theoverall economic development in this sideof Europe. A significant portion of its loanshave been directed towards the strength-ening and development of relations withEU, mostly in the area of transport, ener-gy and telecommunications.
More information about EuropeanInvestment Bank can be found at:wwwwww..eeiibb..oorrgg
DDrraaggaann SSTTOOJJOOVVII]]
European Investment Bank - EIBINTRODUCING THE EU INSTITUTIONS NON - GOVERNMENTAL
ORGANISATIONS IN EUROPEAN UNION
CONCORD is a European NGO Con-federation for relief and development. Its
main objective is to enhance the impact ofEuropean development vis-à-vis the Europeaninstitutions by combining expertise andaccountability. CONCORD is made up of 19international networks and 21 national associ-ations from the member states of the EuropeanUnion and the candidate countries. All togeth-er, more than 1600 European NGOs are rep-resented in the confederation.
Split into specific working groups depend-ing on their experience, they carry out the workof CONCORD. The task of these groups is tofeed the political debate and to contributetowards improving the formulation of Europeanpolicies affecting development co-operationand humanitarian aid.
A certain number of priorities have beenidentified for the next few years. According tothe confederation, these "were set with respectto their relevance and to the principles of goodgovernance in order to achieve concrete resultsthat favour developing countries".
Good governance describes a system inwhich public institutions conduct public affairs,manage public resources, and guarantee therealization of human rights in a manner essen-tially free of abuse and corruption.
Among these priorities are:- Active monitoring of member states to ensurethat they respect their commitment to spend0.7 % of GNP on development aid - To reformulate the role of Northern develop-ment NGOs towards their Southern partners inorder to reinforce the capabilities of Southernpartners and meet their needs- Monitoring and safeguarding the EU commit-ments to developing countries during theprocess of enlargement and EU Reform
CONCORD views its role notably inmonitoring and defending coherence betweendevelopment and EU policies regarding trade,security, or agriculture. The confederation alsomonitors the institutional structure and the placeof the EU development policy in the Union'sexternal relations.
On the educational level, CONCORDtries to provide what it calls "development edu-cation" and to create public awareness aboutdevelopment-related issues such as the new EUmicro-credit policy, which is targeted at peopleunable to obtain bank loans in the normal wayand which, by thus, aims at giving them themeans to set up their own micro-enterprise.
From 22 to 24 June, CEDEM organiseda training in `abljak for young judiciary
cadres - a training in the field of humanrights and freedoms. The priority targetgroup of the programme were the youngpeople working in courts, lawers' or pros-ecutors' offices. Facilitators at the seminarwere eminent Montenegrin jurists: judgesof the Supreme Court, Mrs. JJuullkkaa BBaaddnnjjaarr,Mr. PPeettaarr SSttoojjaannoovvii}} and Mr. MMiirraa{{ RRaaddoo-
vvii}}; President of the Basic Court inPodgorica, Mr. ZZoorraann PPaa`̀iinn; Mr. NNiikkoollaaMMaarrttiinnoovvii}}, a lawyer; and the coordinatorof the Centre for Human Rights, Mr. SSiinnii{{aaBBjjeekkoovvii}}. They introduced their young col-leagues to the importance and ways ofimplementation of international standardsin the field of human rights and freedoms.The seminar was implemented with sup-port of the Balkan Trust for Democracy.
Trainings for the judiciary
Centre for Civic Education, Centre forDevelopment of Non-Governmental
Organisations and European Movement inMontenegro, with support of the RoyalNorwegian Embassy in Serbia andMontenegro, published an announcementon 25 April 2006, regarding a study visitto EU, within the "Learn about EU person-ally" project.
Upon a careful consideration of allapplications and conducting interviewswhere necessary, a Committee made up ofrepresentatives of the organiser, in cooper-ation with the donor, selected an inter-sector delegation of ten members, whowill have the chance to learn about theEU institutions in Brussels, and representMontenegro in this visit. The selected par-ticipants are: professor Dr VVjjeerraa BBeeggoovvii}}RRaaddoovvii}}; professor Dr DDaanniijjeellaa JJaa}}iimmoovvii}};professor Dr MMaajjaa KKoossttii}} MMaannddii}};AAlleekkssaannddaarr DDaammjjaannoovvii}}, MA; OOlliivveerraaVVuukkaaddiinnoovvii}}; VViiddaakk LLaattkkoovvii}}; LLjjiilljjaannaaPPjjeerroottii}}; DDaammiirr [[eehhoovvii}}; VViiddoossaavvaaKKaa{{}}eellaann and SSrr||aann [[uukkoovvii}}.
The delegation will be received bythe European parliament members, andattend a series of meetings in differentDirectorates of the European Commission,Council of the EU, European Economicand Social Committee, Committee of theRegions, as well as in the permanent mis-sion of Finland, and a few leading non-governmental organisations in Brussels.
A total of 142 candidates applied forthis programme, coming from various
educational backgrounds - among them 5PhDs, 7 people with Masters' degrees, 97with Bachelor degrees, 2 with a complet-ed high school education, 3 high schoolpupils and 28 students.
Most candidates for the study visit toEU came from the government institutionsand from among the student population(19,72% each), followed by the NGOactivists (14,79%), entrepreneurs (9,86%),and finally those working for internationalorganisations and local governments(7,04% each). University and the mediawere represented in 4. 93 % of all appli-cants, while 4,23% came from among thepolitical party representatives, whoexpressed their wish to learn about the EUin this way. Among the other applicantswere also representatives of the judiciaryand independent professions.
The selection committee was guidedby the following criteria: substantial priorknowledge of European integrations,asserted motivation and ability to imple-ment the acquired knowledge relativelyquickly and a functional knowledge ofEnglish language. The intention was also tobring on a trip to Brussels those membersof delegation who would be visiting thecity for the first time. Due to high numberof applicants and their considerably highprofile, the selection turned out to be verydifficult, and organisers hope to be able toorganise a similar event again, in order togive another chance to all those who didnot make it to the final round of selection.
Centre for Civic Education, in coop-eration with Educational Bureau of
the Republic of Montenegro, and withsupport of the Organisation for Securityand Cooperation in Europe (OSCE),organised a study visit to Bosnia andHerzegovina for 30 elementary schoolteachers of Civic Education. Also, signif-icant support for this activity came fromCIVITAS, partner organisation in BH -who has been working on the establish-ment of Civic Education and relatedtraining programmes in BH already for adecade.
During the three-day visit toSarajevo, teachers from Montenegro hadthe chance to meet their colleaguesfrom BH, and to exchange their experi-ences in teaching this recently intro-duced subject, initiated by the Councilof Europe within the project "Educationfor democratic citizenship". Together,they attended the training modules"Methodology of Civic Education", leadby prof. dr NNaannccyy HHaaaass, from ArizonaWest University (USA) and "Democracy",facilitated by prof. dr. VVeeddrraannaa SSppaajjii}}VVrrkkaa{{, a Council of Europe andEuropean Union expert, from theFaculty of Philosophy of the Universityof Zagreb (Croatia).
The last day of the visit was dedi-cated to identifying the common obsta-cles for successful implementation ofCivic Education in Montenegro and theregion, and defining recommendationsfor development of regional cooperation.
The programme also includedintroduction to the cultural and histori-cal heritage of Sarajevo and Mostar.
Considering the success of thisproject, the organisers have announcedfurther, intensified cooperation withCIVITAS, emphasising the importance ofregional cooperation for the process ofEuropean integration.
C E D E M C O N T I N U E S W I T H S E M I N A R S F O R J U D G E S ,P R O S E C U T O R S A N D L A W Y E R S
SUCCESSFULLY COMPLETED CALL FOR APPLICATIONS BY CCE,CDNGOS AND EMIM, WITH SUPPORT OF THE ROYALNORWEGIAN EMBASSY, FOR A STUDY VISIT TO EU INSTITUTIONS
22E IC Bu l l e t i n N o 1 0
J u l y , 2 0 0 6 . Do cumen t s
Starting from the need for participation of all social forces in the process of Montenegrin integration into the systemof values and standards of the European Union,
Convinced of the need to intensify the development of democracy, rule of law and civil society,Believing that the non-ggovernmental organisations and the media must recognise new opportunities for more intensive
action and involvement in the processes of democratisation,Encouraged by the fact that the final resolution of the statehood issue of Montenegro will broaden the space for the pub-
lic dialogue and action concerning democracy, economy, social policy and other matters of citizen's life,Considering that it is our obligation to continue pointing at the important social issues and problems, offering alterna-
tives and solutions and influencing those who have formal power and legitimacy to effect social changes,
we are addressing this
INITIATIVEto the representatives of the legislative, executive and judiciary powers, political parties, University of Montenegro, trade
unions, media and other civil society organisations, business sector and the entire Montenegrin public
to engage in the necessary measures and activities in the following areas:
THE STATE AND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF MONTENEGROWe appeal to all the political parties and social actors to endorse publicly, but also in their programmes and polit-
ical platforms, the results of the referendum held on the state-status of Montenegro as legal and legitimate. We urge the Government of the Republic of Montenegro and the Parliament of the Republic of Montenegro to
efficiently and entirely implement the recommendations of the European Commission and to express their full dedicationto the process of European Integrations in Montenegro,
We urge the Presidents of the Parliament and Government of Montenegro to open the process of defining the newConstitution for adequate participation of political parties, University of Montenegro, and civil society organisations,
Starting from the fact that the current strategies of each sector are limited to their respective goals and are lackingharmonization, we appeal to the Government of Montenegro to create a comprehensive National Development Plan (NDP)as soon as possible, which would represent an integrated vision for Montenegro, stressing the need to accompany the eco-nomic reforms with democracy, overall social development and decrease of social tensions. We particularly stress the neces-sity to set, within the NDP, a long-term plan for sustainable development in order to protect two most valuable resourcesof Montenegro - its environment and its people. We urge the Government of Montenegro to open the process of draft-ing the NDP for participation by both the civil and the business sector.
DEMOCRACY AND THE RULE OF LAWWe urge the political parties to revise their programmes to address the current social and economic problems, to
offer their view on the solutions of these problems and to give their contribution to the creation of wide social consensuswith respect to the overall development of Montenegro and its road towards European integrations,
We call upon the political parties to acknowledge, without reservations, the importance of the role of non-govern-mental organisations for the promotion of democracy and the culture of human and minority rights in Montenegro,
We call upon the University of Montenegro, students and student organisations and groups to open up the Universityof Montenegro for intellectual debates on all social issues and concerns,
We appeal to both the Government of the Republic of Montenegro and the Parliament of the Republic ofMontenegro to enable all necessary organisational, technical and financial conditions for a free, independent, responsible,and effective functioning of the Council for Civic Control of the Police,
We call upon all the political parties, the Government of the Republic of Montenegro and the Parliament of theRepublic of Montenegro, as well as the religious communities, to approach, in good faith, consensus-building on the newLaw on religious communities, which would regulate the legal status of all religious communities, the legal security of theirproperty and the freedom of religious practice,
We urge the Government of the Republic of Montenegro and the Parliament of the Republic of Montenegro toprepare and adopt the Law on Transparency and Prevention of Media Concentration in the sectors of printed and elec-tronic media,
We demand urgent changes of the Law on Public Broadcasting Services "Radio Montenegro" and "TelevisionMontenegro", in order to secure as quickly as possible strong guarantees of the independence of the RTCG Council andgenuine representation of the broadest Montenegrin public,
We call upon the public broadcasting service of the RTCG to initiate, through its programmes, regular shows whichwould involve a broad circle of political, social and academic subjects, in order to promote intellectual debate on the burn-ing political, economic, social and other issues,
We appeal to the private media to strengthen critical, research journalism and thus give their full contribution tothe fight against corruption and organised crime, as well as to the public accountability of the civil servants.
HUMAN RIGHTS AND MINORITY RIGHTS We urge the Government of the Republic of Montenegro and other relevant bodies to apply in full extent all inter-
national and national standards regarding the protection of human and minority rights, enhance participation of the minori-ties in public service, and contribute to the creation of a sustainable and widely accepted vision of multiculturalism inMontenegro, contributing to the positive interaction of ethnic groups in Montenegro,
We appeal to the Government of the Republic of Montenegro to devote itself in a concrete manner to the inclu-sion of disabled in the Montenegrin society, especially in terms of financial stimulation and support to the education andemployment of this marginalised group, as well as to legally and financially stimulate and support adaptation of physicalenvironment to the needs of this population in line with the European standards,
We appeal to the Government of the Republic of Montenegro to devote itself in a concrete manner to the inclu-sion of Roma in the Montenegrin society, especially in terms of financial stimulation and support to the education andemployment of the representatives of this ethnic group,
We urge all social actors to engage in the process of facing with the past, and we appeal to the relevant judiciarybodies to conclude efficiently all the cases concerning deportation of the citizens of Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992, aswell as Strpci and Bukovica cases,
We urge the Government of the Republic of Montenegro to devote itself in a more intensive manner to the solu-tion of problem and securing rights of the refugees and displaced persons in accordance with international standards.
GOOD GOVERNANCE We urge the Government of the Republic of Montenegro and the Parliament of the Republic of Montenegro to
make the process of the creation of the national budget open for the civil society organizations and to provide the rele-vant information in a way that it would be available and understandable for the entire public,
We call upon the judicial bodies and the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Montenegro to apply, consistentlyand efficiently, the Law on Courts, especially insofar as it concerns random assignation of cases, functioning of theAdministrative Bureau, accountability of the Presidents of Courts and the right of the Ministry of Justice to oversee theworkings of the courts,
We call upon the Government of Montenegro to dedicate the maximum of its efforts to implementation of theAction Plan for Fight against Corruption and Organised Crime, and to adopt/implement as soon as possible the Law onPublic Procurements, Law on the Conflict of Interests, Law on the Financing of the Political Parties, and to urge the adop-tion of a Law on State Electoral Commission,
We urge the Government of the Republic of Montenegro to begin with profound reforms of the Agency for NationalSecurity (ANS), and we appeal to the Parliament of the Republic of Montenegro to exploit to the maximum its right tomonitor the work of the ANS, as well as to prepare and adopt a Law on Access to Dossiers which are kept with ANS,
We urge the Government and the Parliament of the Republic of Montenegro to prepare/adopt a Law on theProtection of Personal Data and a Law on State Secret, in order to implement as efficiently as possible the Law on FreeAccess to Information,
We urge the Government of the Republic of Montenegro and the authorities of local self-governments to worktowards consensus on the further steps in implementing genuine and sustainable decentralization of competences,
We call upon the Government of the Republic of Montenegro to start implementing its commitments from the doc-ument on the bases of cooperation with non-governmental organisations, to appoint coordinators for cooperation withNGOs on the level of both the Government of the Republic of Montenegro and the public administration bodies, and toprepare and adopt a Strategy on Relations with NGOs.
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL COHESIONWe appeal to the Government of Montenegro as well as to the local self-governments to devote themselves entire-
ly and through an active social policy to fight against poverty and social inclusion of the vulnerable groups, in accordancewith the previously endorsed commitments set forth in the Strategy for Development and Poverty Reduction, and to workfor the more paced regional development of Montenegro,
We urge the Government of Montenegro and the local self-governments to dedicate their full attention to the bestinterests of the state of Montenegro and its citizens in protecting the natural resources, and to implement in their entiretyprinciples of sustainable development, introducing new, and strengthening the existing regulations on the implementation ofecological standards,
23E IC Bu l l e t i n N o 1 0
J u l y , 2 0 0 6 . Do cumen t s
We appeal to the Government of Montenegro and trade unions to start drafting Law on Trade Unions that willaccomplish to the genuine pluralisation and better effects of trade union organisations,
We appeal for the creation of a Law on Transparency in Privatisation, which would guarantee genuine transparen-cy in all privatisation contracts, disclosing the ownership of the companies participating in the privatisation, and preventingunknown companies from participating in the privatisation of Montenegrin enterprises,
We urge all the private companies and entrepreneurs to endorse the concept of social responsibility of their enter-prises in increasing their participation the activities regarding charity and development, increase the quality and responsi-bility in their treatment of the employees, the environment, and the community in which they operate.
From their side, the signatories of this Initiative oblige themselves to commit the maximum of their human and intel-lectual resources in contributing to the fulfilment of the above stated goals, both in cooperation with the relevant actors,as well as through monitoring of the results achieved and issuing recommendations for their improvement.
Stevo Muk, Executive DirectorCentre for Development of non-governmental organisations (CDNGOs)
Daliborka Uljarevi}, Executive DirectorCentre for Civic Education (CCE)
Mom~ilo Radulovi}, Secretary GeneralEuropean Movement in Montenegro (EMiM)
\uro Stojanovi}, President of the Governing BoardCentre for Monitoring (CEMI)
Sr|an Darmanovi}, PresidentCentre for Democracy and Human Rights (CEDEM)
Aleksandar Sa{a Zekovi}, Executive DirectorFondation for Roma Scholarship (FRS)
Ivana Vojvodi}, President of the Executive BoardYouth Cultural Centre Juventas
[erbo Rastoder, Editor in ChiefAlmanah, association and magazine for reasearch, presentation and protection
of cultural and historical heritage of Bosniaks/Muslims of Montenegro
Biljana Zekovi}, Executive DirectorSOS telephones for women and children victims of violence - Podgorica
Vlado Dedovi}, PresidentEuropean Law Student's Association in Montenegro (ELSA)
Ru`dija Struji}, President of the Executive BoardNGO Bonum
Darko Pajovi}, Executive DirectorGreen Home
Dragan Stojovi}, Secretary GeneralAssociation of Political Scientists of Montenegro
Fadil Mu~i}, Executive DirectorUnion of Blind People of Montenegro
Zoran Rajkovi}, Executive DirectorAssociation of Paraplegics of Montenegro
Avdul Kurpejovi}, President"Matica Muslimanska"
Sanja Elezovi}, Executive DirectorFondation Open Society Institute, Representative Office Montenegro (FOSI ROM)
24E IC Bu l l e t i n N o 1 0
J u l y , 2 0 0 6 . Do cumen t s
25E IC Bu l l e t i n N o 1 0
J u l y , 2 0 0 6 . Edu ca t i on p r og rammes i n EU
FOR THIS ISSUE WE RECOMMEND:
NNEEWW EEUURROOPPEENNEEWW CCHHAALLLLEENNGGEESSJEF Serbia will organize seminar thisyear for the first time. We would liketo gather 30 young people in Belgrade,to talk with them about Europe, toteach them about Serbia and alltogether to show importance of under-standing and cooperation.All you need is to contact the organiz-ers on [email protected] send your personal data (name,age, address, passport number…) andsort motivation (5-10 sentences). Theywill send you short Application formand Programme of the seminar on yourrequest.Application will last till end of August.First few days of August you will beinformed about results.Eligible participants: all young peoplefrom Europe who are interested inthese topics can apply. We speciallyencourage people from Austria, Bosniaand Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia,Greece, Norway and Slovenia to apply,although we have few places for youcoming from other countries. Participants from Serbia should contactus as well to be informed about differ-ent conditions for them. Place and date: Seminar will be organ-ized in Belgrade, Serbian capital from
6-110. September 2006. Selected par-ticipants will be informed about alldetails.
PPHHDD VVAACCAANNCCIIEESS IINNTTRRAANNSS-NNAATTIIOONNAALLEEUURROOPPEEAANN HHIISSTTOORRYY IINNTTHHRREEEE AARREEAASS:: IINNFFRRAASSTTRRUUCCTTUURREESS,, CCOONNSSUUMMPPTTIIOONN,,TTOOUURRIISSMM AANNDD MMOOBBIILLIITTYYThe Foundation for the History ofTechnology sponsored by the TechnicalUniversity Eindhoven, DepartmentTechnology Management and in part-nership with Charles University, Prague(CZ) and the University of Plovdiv (BG),is inviting applications for four to fivePhD positions for students from theCentral, Eastern and South EasternEuropean countries of the former SovietBloc. The objective is to incorporateresearch from those regions into larger,ongoing research projects focused onTrans national European history, in par-ticular the role of technology in con-structing www.histech.nl/tensions/.
VVIISSIITTIINNGG IINNTTEERRNNAATTIIOONNAALLFFEELLLLOOWWSSHHIIPP IINN SSOOCCIIAALLRREESSEEAARRCCHH MMEETTHHOODDSSThe Institute of Social Research at theUniversity of Surrey, Guildford, UnitedKingdom, has established a VisitingInternational Fellowship to foster thedevelopment of sociological researchmethods. Between one and threeFellowships are awarded by competi-tion each year. The university is locat-ed thirty-five miles south-west ofLondon. The awards are open to thosewho would value the opportunity toadvance methodological understanding,for example by reflecting on methodsused in previous empirical research, byvalidating existing or new methodolog-ical procedures, or by reviewing andsynthesising methodological approach-es. 'Methods' may be interpretedwidely, to include, for example, statis-tical techniques and conversation and
discourse analysis. The departmentspecialises in social research methodsand has the highest 5** rating forresearch in the UK Research Assess-ment Exercise. www.soc.surrey.ac.uk/isr_vif
GGOOTTTTLLIIEEBB DDAAIIMMLLEERR AANNDDKKAARRLL BBEENNZZ FFOOUUNNDDAATTIIOONNFFEELLLLOOWWSSHHIIPP PPRROOGGRRAAMM""RREESSEEAARRCCHH AABBRROOAADD""The fellowships are intended to supporta new generation of academics. Theprogram therefore applies only to per-sons, not to projects. The program isopen to all disciplines, subjects andcountries. Germans wishing to pursue aresearch stay abroad and foreign stu-dents intending to work in Germany inconnection with their PhD may apply.Candidates may complete their entirePhD thesis in the host country if theyso wish. The support provided by theFoundation is for a maximum period of2 years.Deadlines for submitting completeapplications to the Foundation areMarch 1 and October 1 each year. Thepostmark is not valid! Applicationsarriving after these deadlines cannot beconsidered.www.daimler-bbenz-sstiftung.de/home/fellowship/en/start
26E IC Bu l l e t i n N o 1 0
J u l y , 2 0 0 6 .
EIC Bulletin is electronic magazine established within EIC programme, with the support of the Friedrich Ebert Stiftung.The publisher is Centre for Civic Education.
EIC Bulletin is registered with the Ministry for Culture and Media as item No. 578 Editor in Chief: Ne|eljko Rudovi}
Editorial Board: Vera [}epanovi}, Daliborka Uljarevi}, Dragan Stojovi}, Vladimir Vu~ini}Tehnical Editor: Bla`o Crvenica; Language Editor: Milena Milunovi}; English Language Editor: Maja Mugo{a; Translation: Vera [}epanovi}
Njego{eva 36 / I Tel / fax: + 381 81 / 665 - 112, 665 - 327 E-mmail: [email protected] Bulletin can be downloaded at the www.cgo.cg.yu
