(Sinaia, Romania, 8 – 9 December 2005)

Rapporteur: Ludmila SFIRLOAGA, Romania
Chamber of Regions
Political Group: SOC

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EXPLANATORY MEMORANDUM

1. Introduction

The 6^th Forum of Cities and Regions of South-East Europe was held in Sinaia on 8 and 9 December 2005. The Forum concentrated on the improvement of legislation concerning local authorities, the involvement of the citizen and providing public services in the cities and regions of South-East Europe.

The event has as target groups the representatives of local communities and experts from the Council of Europe member States, interested in knowing the situation of local democracy in South-East Europe and in establishing contacts with similar partners from this part of Europe. Thus, the invitations were addressed to Congress members, associations of local and regional authorities in the 46 member States, Presidents of Regions, Mayors of European cities, international and European organisations and NGOs, which are partners of the Congress.

This was the 6^th Forum of Cities and Regions of South-East Europe following those held in Skopje (November 2000), Istanbul (October 2001), Novi Sad (April 2002), Prijedor (September 2003) and Budva (October 2004).

These Forums fall under the continuity of the six Economic Forums of the Regions organised by the Congress in close co-operation with FEDRE (European Foundation for the Sustainable Development of the Regions) in Geneva (January 1996), Dortmund (June 1996), Moscow (November 1996), Vienna (September 1997), Bucharest (July 1998) and Weimar (May 1999).

The Sinaia Forum was organised by the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe and Prahova County Council, with the support of the Stability Pact for South-East Europe, and DEXIA, and took place under the auspices of the Romanian Presidency of the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe.

2. Participation and major items

Circa 250 people participated in the Forum in Sinaia, representing the local and regional authorities from 21 European countries, associations of local and regional authorities at European level, such as the Assembly of European Regions (AER) and the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS), local Romanian authorities associations (Romanian Local Authorities Federation and the National Union of County Councils of Romania), as well as representatives of the Romanian Government and Parliament.

Among the personalities taking part in the Forum were: Vasile BLAGA, Minister of Administration and of the Interior of Romania; Giovanni DI STASI, President of the Congress; Miljenko DORIC, Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; Konstantinos TATSIS, Member of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union; Viorel COIFAN, Councillor of the Prime Minister; Anton NICULESCU, State Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs; Mircea Nicu TOADER, State Secretary of the Ministry of Administration and Interior; and Liviu RADU, State Secretary of the Ministry of Administration and Interior.

The main subjects of the Forum (see Programme, Appendix II) were the following:

a. Local democracy and stability in South-East Europe: the role of the local and regional authorities;

b. Improving leadership, citizen participation and service provision in the cities of South-East Europe;

c. Strengthening the associations of local and regional authorities from South-East Europe;

d. Improvement of citizen participation at local and regional level in South-East Europe;

e. Development of the sustainable communities in South-East Europe – the reason for the financial sector integration in the investments strategy at local level;

f. Recent initiatives regarding the co-operation between the cities and regions of South-East Europe.

3. A brief summary of the discussion
3.1. Opening Session
After the opening of the Forum by Vlad OPREA, Mayor of Sinaia, and a welcoming address by Florin ANGHEL, President of the Prahova County Council, Viorel COIFAN (Councillor of State) – a former active member of the Congress and the Parliamentary Assembly – read a message on behalf of the Prime Minister of Romania. In particular, he emphasised the fact that the Congress gave constant support to the local authorities of Romania. He also stressed the importance of transfrontier co-operation as a major factor of stability in the region. 2005 is a very significant year for administrative reform in Romania. The main items of this Forum are particularly important in the context of the reform process in Romania.
On behalf of Terry DAVIS, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, Ulrich BOHNER, Chief Executive of the Congress, read a message in which the Secretary General welcomed and supported the Forum, aimed at fostering partnerships and co-operation between cities and regions in this part of Europe. He welcomed and encouraged the efforts of the Congress and of the Forum participants in developing networks of local and regional authorities across Europe, which were successfully illustrated by the creation of the Local Democracy Agencies and of the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe, NALAS, and strongly supported the creation of Euroregions of a new type. He also indicated that another important role to be played by the Forums was to enhance participatory democracy, especially the participation of young people in the democratic process.
Vasile BLAGA (Minister of Administration and of the Interior of Romania) presented major aspects of the reform undertaken in Romania. He stated that the legal acts projects would contribute to the consolidation of local self-government and to a real administrative and financial decentralisation, the main objectives being to:
a. fix a clear limit between the competences of the authorities situated at the different levels (local and county);
b. state that the competences of the local authorities are complete and effective, without being limited or constrained by another authority situated at a superior level (county or central);
c. state that the local authorities have the right to have their own resources, which they can use without constraints from central public authorities. These resources must correspond with the competences given by the law, as a consequence of the decentralisation process;

d. give the right to local authorities to co-operate and associate to find common interests, using their own financial resources and having the right to contract loans;

e. increase the management capacity at local level by introducing the task of a public manager (at the local and county level) and that of a prefect (with political independence).

He also stressed that efficient democracy and good administration at all levels are of fundamental importance in increasing security and stability, but also in preventing conflicts, ensuring the progress of a free and stable society and a proper level of economic growth in South-East Europe. The involvement of citizens in public life is a vital condition for improving the quality of public services. He recalled that this Forum was held 20 years after the adoption of the European Charter of Local Self-government and 25 years after the adoption of the Madrid Convention concerning Cross-border Co-operation, which opened the way to real benefits for the local communities.

He considered that the dissemination and promotion of good practices in public administration should be a priority for intergovernmental co-operation within the Council of Europe and underlined that co-operation must be achieved, respecting at the same time the diversity of structures and cultural traditions which characterise European inheritance. He finally proposed to the Congress and to the associations of local authorities in this part of Europe that they study the possibility of creating a Centre for local public administration reform. This could contribute to the development of democracies which would respect national, regional and local specifications and could reflect the different historic and cultural roots. Such an activity could obtain viable results for all citizens, within a strong, safe and stable community.

Miljenko DORIC (Croatia), Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, also emphasised the importance of trans-border co-operation and referred to the consequences for neighbouring countries of the future enlargement of the European Union to include Bulgaria and Romania. He also stressed the importance of better communication concerning European integration and of better ethics for politicians.

Anton NICULESCU, (Romania), State Secretary for Foreign Affairs, delivered a message on behalf of Minister UNGUREANU (President of the Committee of Ministers). He pointed out that Romania had for the first time taken on the Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers and had decided to develop its co-operation with the Congress. He alluded to the major conclusions of the last Summit of the Council of Europe (and the Action Plan adopted in Warsaw in May 2005) and stressed the major challenges that South-East Europe must face, especially concerning multi-ethnicity and stability. He raised the importance of setting up a Black Sea Euroregion.

In his statement, Giovanni DI STASI, President of the Congress, stated in particular that one of the major activities of the Congress was to prepare country-by-country reports on the situation of local and regional democracy in all member states and ensure that the principles of the European Charter of Local Self-government were implemented.

He summarised the activities of the Congress in South-East Europe and emphasised that the Congress is now advocating the creation of a Centre to develop the co-operation between regions in Europe with the support of the Russian Federation. At the present time, the regions in Europe have moved from observer to actor status and they should contribute to re-establishing the confidence of citizens in the European institutions and better explain what European co-operation is and what it does. This Centre would enable regions to co-operate better also in the important field of economic development; regardless of whether they belong to the European Union or not. He concluded by saying that “local and regional authorities have a key role to play in the development of stability and sustainable democracy in this part of Europe, which has suffered so much in the past. The local and regional authorities must contribute to create an environment which is favourable to economic development and innovation.”

On behalf of the Committee of the Regions of the European Union, Konstantinos TATSIS (Greece) emphasised the role played by the Council of Europe in developing local democracy in South-East Europe and stressed the importance of developing the co-operation between the Congress and the Committee of the Regions in this respect. He also pointed out the major challenges facing the EU after the results of the referendum in France and the Netherlands and the important role which local and regional authorities can play in overcoming the present crisis.

3.2. Role of local and regional authorities

The first session of the Forum, chaired by President DI STASI, allowed several representatives of South-East Europe to raise the major concerns of local authorities. It took the form of a Round Table managed by Bogdan CHIREAC, a well-known journalist in Romania, who broached such sensitive questions as the fight against corruption, the lack of infrastructure and the difficulties of being a mayor in the Balkan area.

Participants of the Round Table consisted of several members of the Congress (Yannis MICHAS, Vitalie VRABIE, Emil CALOTA, Cristian ANGHEL, Zeljko OZEGOVIC and Liviu Nicolae DRAGNEA) as well as our former colleague, Stefan SOFIANSKI. This was a very lively debate on the future of our cities and urbanisation, the role of the citizen, the transfer of resources in the process of decentralisation, the legislative process of reform in Romania, the role of local authorities in facing the eternal question of unemployment, protection of the environment, and the fight against excessive bureaucracy. In his conclusion, President DI STASI indicated that in this part of Europe a mayor should be regarded as a hero, judging by the problems with which he has to deal. He also stressed the importance of decentralisation with a real transfer of competences. Finally, he insisted on how important it was for the citizen to possess a good knowledge of the rules applied and the codes of conduct for elected representatives as well as their implementation, and on the need to pool our capacities for innovation.
3.3. Improving leadership, citizens’ participation and service provisions
The second session, chaired by Ion PREOTEASA (President of the Dolj County council), was devoted to the new capacity-building tools of the Council of Europe (leadership benchmark, best practice and performance mangement) and was led by two representatives of the Directorate General of Legal Affairs of the Council of Europe. This presentation turned into a very lively debate with the contribution of two local representatives from Croatia and Bulgaria, who are familiar with the implementation of these capacity-building tools.
3.4. Associations of local and regional authorities
The third session dealt with the role of the association of local/regional authorities in South-East Europe and, in particular, with one of the Congress’ most successful undertakings, namely the setting up of a network of associations called NALAS. The most recent developments and projects of this network were presented by its main leaders. Several of the principle donors of this network then presented their evaluation of this activity and expressed their demands for future support. For the Congress and for the NALAS network this provided an excellent opportunity to bring together both the donors and their counterparts with the aim of ensuring the continuing development of these activities of co-operation between associations of local authorities. As rapporteur of the Congress, I would like to thank the donors who have constantly provided financial support to the creation and development of the NALAS network, and, in particular, the Swiss and German authorities, as well as the Soros Foundation and the Dutch association (VNG).

3.5. Participation of citizens
Session Four, which I had the honour of chairing, gave us the opportunity of raising a very topical subject, namely, the participation of citizens at local or regional level. The coordinator for Romania presented the participants with the main objectives of “2005 – The European Year of Citizenship through Education” – Learning and living democracy. This was the Congress’ major contribution to the European Year. The Round Table which followed was very lively with statements from a young lady from Mitrovica North and Klaus KLIPP (Secretary General of the Association of European Regions), as well as the Deputy Mayor of a Romanian city (Baia Mara). This was an excellent opportunity for a group of young Romanians to exchange points of view on the importance of involving young people in local political life. In this context, the revised Charter adopted by the Congress has been confirmed as a major guideline for local authorities.

3.6. Financial sector and local investment – development of sustainable communities
During the fifth session, chaired by our colleague, Vitalie VRABIE (Moldova), two representatives of the DEXIA Bank noted that there were more bank loans in Europe, compared with the United States and Japan, and that communal banks were very powerful in most European countries. They also indicated how the communal banks could contribute to strengthening the capacity of local and regional authorities to finance local investments. Private contribution for the financing of local authorities through partnerships was also debated, particularly in Romania.
At the end of this session, Catalan CIPRIAN (Deputy Mayor of Baia Mara), Romania presented policies at local level to develop sustainable communities and Ibrahim SPAHIC (President of the Internal Peace Center – Bosnia and Herzegovina) made a strong plea in favour of stronger dialogue between communities at local level, the importance of such behaviour, and of new policies for the stability of South-East Europe. He also advocated intensifying strong relationships, particularly on cultural matters, with cities of South-East Europe.
3.7. Recent initiatives of co-operation between cities and regions in South-East Europe
During the last session of the Forum, chaired by our colleague, Constantin OSTAFICIUC (President of the Timis County Council, Romania), Klaus KLIPP informed the participants about the most recent activities of the Association of European Regions (AER) and Ulrich BOHNER read a message from Fabienne KELLER (Mayor of Strasbourg) on the objectives and major activities of the Club of Strasbourg, which develop a specific co-operation with the mayors of the major cities of the new Member Countries of the European Union. We were very pleased to welcome Miljenko DORIC (Member of the Parliamentary Assembly) who presented the most recent activities of the Parliamentary Assembly in South-East Europe, as well as the message from Jeremy SMITH (Council of European Municipalities and Regions) (CEMR). As rapporteur, I am particularly pleased that the Congress has established a sustaining relationship with the CEMR with a view to jointly promoting local democracy in South-East Europe.

The last part of this session was devoted to the presentation of major co-operation initiatives between local authorities in South-East Europe:

a. Euroregion Prespa/Ohrid was presented by our colleague from the Congress, Ioannis STRATAKIS (Prefect of Florina, Greece). He also summarised the conclusions of the conference held in Florina in September 2005, which proposed a network of cities in South-East Europe to develop cultural routes. Similarly, he pointed out the major challenges of, as well as the benefits to be gained from, the creation of a Euroregion in the Prespa/Ohrid area. He stressed the advantages of developing trans-frontier co-operation for the stability of the region and for the protection of the environment, tourism development and cultural exchanges.

b. Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA) by Dobrica MILOVANOVIC (Deputy President) and Per VINTHER (Vice-President). They gave the most up-to-date information on the development of the ALDA.

c. Forum for Ethnic Relations, presented by Dusan JANJIC, who emphasised the importance of multi-ethnicity in Voijvodina.

d. The Association of Multi-ethnic Cities of South-East Europe (PHILIA) was also presented, taking into account that the Congress was represented by the President of the Chamber of Regions, Yavuz MILDON, at their launching conference on 6 July 2005 in Zagreb.

e. Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) represented by Philippe CICHOWLAZ (Director), who proposed developing concrete co-operation between the Congress and its Committee on the Balkan/Black Sea area. He also presented the most recent programmes of the European Commission in South-East Europe at regional level, a major question being how to involve the regions in the various European funds (regional policy, neighbourhood policy . .)
f. Euroregion Skopje/Nis/Sofia, presented by our former colleague Stefan SOFIANSKI (former Mayor of Sofia), who stressed the importance of the personal links between the mayors of these cities in the fight against strong centralisation, which existed in former regimes. Concrete initiatives were launched such as economic forums, co-operation between universities and other technical co-operation on infrastructures, the environment and education.

g. Euroregion Siret/Prut/Nistru, presented by our colleague Vitalie VRABIE (Moldova).

3.8. Conclusions and adoption of the Sinaia Declaration

After discussion of several amendments, the final session, chaired by the Romanian Secretary of State, Mircea Nicu TOADER, led to the adoption by the participants of the Sinaia Declaration on 9 December 2005 (see Appendix I).

The major conclusions of the Forum are set up in this Declaration and are directed towards local and regional authorities in South-East Europe, the associations of local and regional authorities, the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS) and the governments of South-East Europe.

These conclusions are introduced in the draft Recommendation and Resolution, which are submitted to the Congress for adoption.

4. Final Remarks

This 6^th Forum in Sinaia, devoted to the situation of local and regional authorities of South-East Europe, was a new step for the Congress in the development of local democracy in this part of Europe. The major items were defined by the Ad Hoc Working Group of local and regional representatives of South-East Europe, created by the Bureau of the Congress. New priorities have to be defined by the Congess in the near future. As rapporteur of this Forum and as Chairperson of the Ad Hoc Working Group, I trust that the whole “network of friends” of South-East Europe who participated in the 6 Forums, as well as those who joined the Sinaia Forum (experts, elected representatives, civil servants, NGOs and sponsors) could continue to work together and take advantage of the links created, partnerships and opportunities, offered by this kind of gathering. Our main objective within the Congress is to continue to develop better co-operation with the cities and regions of South-East Europe and their counterparts in Europe.

The 6 Forums have tackled most of the major concerns that local and regional authorities have to face, each time with new priorities and sometimes repeating recurrent but very prominent items. I sincerely hope that the Sinaia Forum has been fruitful for those who attended and that new initiatives will be launched by the Congress in the future, following the invitation extended by the Albanian Delegation to organise a subsequent Forum in their country.

APPENDIX I

8-9 December 2005

SINAIA (Romania)

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FINAL DECLARATION
adopted on 9 December 2005

The participants at the 6^th Forum of Cities and Regions of South-East Europe meeting in Sinaia on 8 and 9 December 2005 at the invitation of Prahova County Council, under the Romanian Chairmanship of the Committee of Ministers and at the initiative of the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe, with the support of the Stability Pact for South-East Europe and Dexia,

1. Extend their thanks to Prahova County Council for its warm welcome;

2. Recognise that local and regional authorities in South-East Europe are to a high degree dependent on their geo-political framework and context and therefore:

a. congratulate Bulgaria and Romania on their imminent accession to the European Union;

b. welcome Croatia’s status as candidate for accession and the European Union’s recent favourable opinion on progress made in democratic reform by “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” which includes a recommendation that it be granted candidate status;

c. welcome the second round of talks on the Stabilisation and Association Agreement of the European Union with Serbia and Montenegro scheduled for December 2005, and the start of talks with Albania and Bosnia and Herzegovina;

d. express the hope that relations between the European Union and Moldova will be improved in the near future;

3.

a. Reaffirm the fundamental role played by local and regional authorities in South-East Europe in the promotion of democracy and stability, and therefore of economic development in the region;

b. welcome the positive developments in legislation relating to local and regional authorities that have taken place in South-East Europe in accordance with the European Charter of Local Self-Government and in particular expect that:

i. the constitutional reforms planned in Bosnia and Herzegovina shall reinforce the unity of the country, while developing local democracy;

ii. the process of decentralisation underway in “The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” will contribute to stability in this country;

iii. the talks resulting from the United Nations’ decision to start discussions on Kosovo’s future status – which they welcome – will lead to a peaceful solution, acceptable to all parties concerned and fully respecting human rights;

4. Welcome, as a positive example for other countries in democratic transition, the conclusion by the Government of Romania of a set of laws on public administration reform – the result of an active partnership between the associations of local public authorities and the Ministry of Administration and the Interior and following consultation with the main opposition party. Thus, the adequate legal framework for increasing the decision-making power at local level has been established;

5. With regard to associations of local and regional authorities of South-East Europe:

a. call for their strengthening, and recommend that these associations, in consultation with their members:

i. develop their role and capacities in strengthening local authorities’ leadership, service provision, community participation and public ethics;

ii. ensure that local authorities and citizens are aware of the responsibilities of transparency and accountability incumbent upon public officials through wide distribution and knowledge of relevant international instruments such as the European Code of Conduct for Local and Regional Elected Representatives ;

iii. promote on-going self-improvement and good governance throughout local government;

iv. research, plan, implement and evaluate capacity-building programmes, collect and disseminate best practice (high-quality models and service methods exist in a number of countries and can be shared at international level, thus enabling national and local authorities to learn from each other);

v. make the best possible use of the Council of Europe’s planned Centre of Expertise on Local Government Reform, its expertise and its Capacity-Building Toolkit(s) in developing their own capacity-building programmes;

vi. and, in particular in this respect, make full use of the expertise of the European Network of Training Organisations (ENTO) and support the project of a joint seminar between the Congress and ENTO in Osijek (Croatia) in 2006;

b. with regard to the Network of Associations of Local Authorities of South-East Europe (NALAS):

i. reiterate their backing for the newly-official network following its first General Assembly in Skopje, on 6 September 2005, and encourage it to reinforce the role of its member associations in relation to central government, improve their ability to provide services to their members and help to develop local self-government and financial and fiscal decentralisation in South-East Europe;

ii. invite NALAS members, following their active participation at the Conference on “Effective Democratic Governance at Local and Regional Level” (Zagreb, 25-26 October 2004), to work in close partnership with central government in the preparation of their respective National Work Programmes with a view to the follow-up conference in 2006;

iii. invite the network to consolidate their position by finding steadier sources of finance thereby ensuring their long-term sustainability;

iv. invite the Congress of Local and Regional Authorities of the Council of Europe to continue to support the network and to allocate funding, means permitting, at this crucial time in its development;

v. invite donors active in the region to grant financial support to the priority projects defined by the Network;

vi. recognise the importance of co-operation with relevant international associations such as the Council of European Municipalities and Regions (CEMR), the Assembly of European Regions (AER) and the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions (CPMR) and its Black Sea Commission;

vii. invite other local government associations in South-East Europe and, in particular, the Central Union of Greek Cities and Municipalities (KEDKE) and the Union of the Association of Towns and Association of Municipalities of Croatia to seek membership of NALAS;

viii. invite local government associations in other parts of Europe – notably the Caucasus – to be inspired by the NALAS model of co-operation and seek to join forces in an attempt to give local authorities in their region a voice;

ix. call on NALAS and the Congress to organise a conference on the situation of national minorities in Mostar in 2006;

6. Reaffirm the importance of the role of municipal banks in the strengthening of local and regional authorities’ capacity to finance local investments, and recommend that they:

a. operate on the basis of a long-lasting commitment with local governments;

b. assist in local institutional and legal development and help build a sound credit framework;

c. facilitate authorities’ access to long-term credit by raising resources on private financial markets;

d. provide local authorities with a wide range of services (long-term loans, project financing, liquidity guarantees, credit enhancement, budget planning and enhancement of management skills;

7. Emphasise the importance of giving young people, from an early age, the opportunity to influence and shape decisions, thus facilitating their social inclusion, the development of their socio-political awareness, and improving citizen participation at local and regional level in South-East Europe and recommend that:

a. the diverse needs, circumstances and aspirations of young people be taken into account by any policy or measure designed to promote youth participation, thus implementing the Revised European Charter on the Participation of Young People;

b. the lessons learned, at all levels, from the European Year of Citizenship through Education, be shared and fully implemented;

c. education for democratic citizenship and human rights be promoted by parliamentarians and local and regional elected representatives as one of the main tools for forming active and participative citizens and contributing to the sustainability of the Council of Europe’s project for democratic citizenship and human rights;

d. the parliaments of countries of South-East Europe sign and ratify the European Convention on the Promotion of a Transnational Long-Term Voluntary Service for Young People (ETS No. 175);

8. Affirm the importance, for true stability and democracy in the region, of developing sustainable minority communities in South-East Europe, and to this end believe that local and regional authorities should actively promote human rights and measures to counter discrimination against minorities and any population groups that may suffer from it, by:

a. promoting the development of sustainable multicultural communities through the integration of minorities;

b. not only taking account of minorities’ diverse needs and customs, cultures and lifestyles, but also using them as a springboard for co-operation;

c. encouraging initiatives enabling participation of minority communities in the political arena;

9. Recognise the sustained activities undertaken in the abovementioned fields by the Local Democracy Agencies (LDAs) both individually and as part of the network formed by the Association of Local Democracy Agencies (ALDA);

10. Encourage interregional co-operation in Europe, from the Baltic to the Mediterranean, and are convinced that the cities and towns of South-East Europe should work together with the whole of Europe to develop co-operation for the sake of stability and democracy;

11. Encourage associations and entities such as the Euro regions whose objective is the development of co-operation between municipalities and regions of South-East Europe to continue their work, and ask the Congress to further develop links with them and, in particular, to:

a. give its full support to the Adriatic Euroregion;

b. encourage the Romanian Chair of the Committee of Ministers to ensure that the Romanian accession to the European Union will serve as a bridge between the European Union and the countries of South-Eastern Europe and the Black Sea area, in order to promote a Europe without dividing lines as was requested by Heads of State and Government at the second Council of Europe Summit in 1997;

c. support, in this respect, the creation of the Black Sea Euroregion, which received the backing of the Romanian authorities, and contribute to the organisation of the first meeting which will take place in Constanta, Romania, in March 2006;

d. support the proposed creation of a Centre for interterritorial and transfrontier co-operation between regions in Europe – whether they are situated or not in the European Union. This centre, which has already received the support of the Russian Federation, will be a means of enhancing co-operation between regions in all priority fields of the Council of Europe and will also deal with regional economic development issues;

e. encourage the creation of a specific INTERREG programme in the Balkan and Black Sea area in synergy with the European Union regional policy and the new Neighbourhood policy.

12. Are grateful for the invitation to organise the 7^th Forum of Cities and Regions of South-East Europe in Albania in 2006/2007.

APPENDIX II

CG / Forum Sinaia (12) 1

8-9 December 2005

SINAIA (Romania)

PROGRAMME

Venue:
Sinaia Casino

Interpretation in

Albanian, English, French, German, Italian, Romanian and Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian