Wednesday, 20 may 2015
ADDRESS OF MS. SUSANNE KURZ, HEAD OF THE AUSTRIAN DELEGATION AND PREVIOUS CEI PD PRESIDENT
Dear Mr. Chairman,
dear Members of the Parliament of Macedonia,
dear colleagues
As last year's Chairperson of the parliamentary dimension I am very glad to be here today and grateful to our hosts for organising this meeting, for choosing such an important topic for our deliberations and last but not least for your remarkable hospitality.
Last year we have celebrated the 25th anniversary of the Central European Initiative and in the final declaration of the Parliamentary Assembly we have noted that the CEI has to constantly prove its added value in a difficult and changing environment. We therefore strongly emphasized the importance of the CEI as a strong partner in fostering regional integration and macro-regional cooperation in Europe.
Following this logic, a Networking Meeting was organised by the Macedonian CEI Presidency, in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry for Europe, Integration and Foreign Affairs on 4 May of this year in Vienna, where – and let me quote the press release: "The CEI’s rising role as a bridge between macro-regions was also discussed, thanks to its geopolitical position connecting both the existing and upcoming macro-regional strategies i.e. for the Baltic Sea Region, the Danube Region, the Adriatic-Ionian Region and the Alps".
Macro-regional strategies have become an important cooperation tool but these strategies rely on active networks of partners in order to function properly. They do not have fixed budgets per se but they can tap into various EU funds if they manage to design convincing projects and if they have the necessary expertise of how to access these funds.
This is where the CEI does provide the knowledge and experience it has gathered over the course of a quarter of a century in promoting cooperation amongst its member states. The CEI must become a bridge between the different strategies, between member states within a strategy and to the extent possible between project partners. Thereby the CEI can bring true added value to our countries.
And by CEI I mean all the dimensions and especially us, Members of Parliament, where those of us that have been here longer can exchange views with those of us that have joined our assembly within the last couple of years in order to find the best ways of helping regional strategies to develop their full potential. Fruitful discussions and networking during our meetings and also during the social programmes will ensure that we focus on the CEI well beyond the meetings we have twice a year. We must see ourselves as multipliers as we can spread information about the know-how of the CEI amongst our colleagues back home and amongst our networks.
Very often it is difficult to create a successful network that will be able to design and implement projects. As a consequence our Parliaments and we as Members can act as facilitators when it comes to bringing partners together within the macro-regional strategies. Each one of us has a network of contacts and the more we are able to bring knowledgeable and experiences partners together, the more we will contribute to the success of such a strategy.
In my view the relevant macro-regional strategies and the role of the CEI must become a fixed topic whenever Presidents and Members of Parliament of CEI-member states meet, no matter in which format. At every such meeting both sides should discuss hurdles and challenges that macro-regional strategies face and then actively seek solutions within a follow-up process.
Last but not least we should regularly be in touch with our governments in order to ensure the best possible access to funding for both the CEI and for the activities within the macro-regional strategies. Furthermore our Governments and the CEI-Secretariat should keep us informed about activities related to these strategies and about any challenges they face.