The President of the Republic of Albania, H.E Ilir Meta started his keynote speech by declaring that the Berlin Process has facilitated a more effective interconnection and interaction between the Six Western Balkans countries with the EU Enlargement Agenda. He added that ‘The summits of Berlin, Vienna, Paris, Trieste and London are significant evidence of this attention of EU toward Western Balkans. The geographic position of these Summits speaks clearly of the engagement and interest of the major European Union actors that carry a history of their strategic involvement in the Balkans.’

As a good example of the results of Berlin Process, he mentioned the attention devoted to youth, start of important initiatives related to closer recognition and regional reconciliation, vocational education, educational exchange programs, and so on. But he also added that there is much more to be done to increase employment opportunities and especially to stop the brain drain that is affecting our countries massively.

He closed his speech by saying that ‘Albania and Macedonia have all the opportunities to start accession negotiations next year and we should better focus all the energy in implementing the key reforms. I also believe that by maintaining focus on strategic objectives and reform agendas, the whole Western Balkans region has all the opportunities to advance faster towards full membership in the European Union’– he continued. ‘Let us be inspired by the philosophy of the youngsters who are born in the era of peace and who want ‘everything and now’, but in the meantime we should remain realistic because this process requires a lot of work and efficient cooperation.’

H.E. Luigi Soreca, EU Ambassador in Albania, started his speech by stating that 2018 has been an important year for the Connectivity Agenda in South-East Europe and the Commission’s Strategy for the Western Balkans stressed the importance of connectivity and regional co-operation for the European integration of the region. He highlighted the importance of the investments in transport and infrastructure and the importance of complementing it by  regional, institutional and regulatory measures which open markets, create a transparent regulatory framework, build investor confidence and remove barriers in order to have connectivity in the region.

He stated that ‘The European Commission estimates that about 80.000 new jobs could be created across the region if the respective economies are more closely integrated. And for energy, just as with transport, operating under EU-compatible rules such as unbundling utilities or allowing third-party access is an essential element of the connectivity agenda.’ – he continued – ‘First, CEFTA’s additional protocol on trade facilitation came in force in April – a clear step towards eliminating trade barriers in region; Second, a regional Investment Reform Agenda was adopted to harmonise investment policies on international best practices; and Third, progress has been made on removing obstacles to mobility of researchers and recognition of diplomas.’

He ended his speech by saying that ‘Youth embodies everything our connectivity agenda stands for: not only connecting infrastructure and economies, but connecting people, promoting reconciliation and facilitating everyday mobility.’

2020

Implementing Large Infrastructure Connectivity Projects in the Western Balkans – The Case of Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) in Albania

STUDY REPORT

2020

Connectivity Agenda and Structural Weaknesses of EU Candidate Countries

Report

Cooperation and Development Institute (CDI) is very happy to announce that the 6th edition of Tirana Connectivity Forum will take place on 1-2 October 2020.

World connectivity has suffered the most from Covid19 pandemic. Infrastructure projects, p2p exchanges, supply and value chains, and institutional cooperation have all been halted in their progress, and in some cases even retracted.

In the South East Europe Six (SEE6) the lockdown of cities and countries has severed the supply lines; the social distancing stopped the social contact; the quarantine drastically slowed the work of public institutions and of private businesses; the emergency situations have altered the democratic processes and slowed the pace of reforms.

The public management of the health crisis and of recovery measures have exposed the structural weaknesses proper to the Western Balkans states. At the same time, in this time of adversity SEE6 regional cooperation has come up with success stories such as the successful establishment of “Green Corridors”.

In case of a 2nd wave this Fall, a widespread quarantine will hardly be applicable. The SEE6 economy will not be able to support it and citizen may revolt – as the Serbian July riots show. We will need to be accustomed to live with this virus, and adapt. But if this de-connection trend becomes a permanent fixture, how the SEE6 development model can cope with it? How the Reforms and Enlargement will be affected?

This natural disaster has demonstrated that everything is connected. Infrastructure, political, economic, social, ecological systems are changing, and impacting each other in the process. Disasters as this, constitute a litmus test of what matters and what doesn’t, what’s corrupt and what’s healthy, what’s strong and what’s weak. They take of the veil of interpretation from what’s around us.

Yet, throughout history disasters and cataclysmic moments have also offered opportunities of systemic change. Being in a crossroad, our task now is to understand de-connection consequences, identify new possible scenarios, and what is required from us to cope, resist and develop.  Enriched with this sense of knowing what’s important, we need to reassess the criticality of our relations, and the resilience of our connections. 

In this regard, we at CDI believe that TCF2020 will be the opportunity to carry such an exercise.

Under the theme “Connectivity in Pandemic Times: Threats and Opportunities”, this edition will be composed by two blocks: i) stock-taking of Covid19 pandemic on the implementation of EU Connectivity Agenda in SEE6, and on its winners and losers; and, ii) how SEE6 space and socio-economic fabric should develop to face and also profit from this situation, and how local institutions would need to be reformed towards EU set of standards and values.

TCF 2020 is part of the official calendar of activities of the German Presidency of the European Union. The forum will gather experts, researchers, academicians, CSO, Western Balkans Summit coordinators and other policy-makers involved in EU Enlargement in SEE6, in Regional Cooperation, and in Connectivity dynamics. Due to the challenges presented by the global pandemic Covid19 and its restrictions, this year, TCF will take place online, in partnership with Euronews Albania. 

This edition will continue to be organized in partnership with our long-term partners: Konrad Adenauer Stiftung, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung and Hanns Seidel Stiftung. Since 2015, these three German political foundations remain the key supporting institutions of Tirana Connectivity Forum, the only such event covering connectivity, reforms and enlargement in the South Eastern Europe region.

More info on Tirana Connectivity Forum and how to participate or follow it can be found here. You may also contact us directly at info@cdi.connecting-youth.org. 

2021

CONNECTIVITY AND CONVERGENCE IN SEE6:
A Blueprint for an EU Membership-Based Development Model

Report