Participation at the Conference on Transnational Programs for South East Europe and the Mediterranean, Budva April 14th, 2014.

Conference dedicated to transnational programs of South East Europe (SEE) and the Mediterranean (MED) was held on 14.04.2014. in Budva, organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration. The conference was attended by the representative of Expeditio that on this occasion presented the experience of working on the project Sostenuto .

The conference was opened by the State Secretary for European Integration and National Coordinator for Ipu · Ambassador Aleksandar Andrija Pejović and representative of the Delegation of the European Union - Donata Von Sigsfeld.

Ambassador Pejovic said that transnational cooperation contributes to sustainable and balanced development of the European territory, which is one of the goals of EU regional policy. He recalled the so far achieved results and pointed out that in the framework of South-East Europe and the Mediterranean was realized a total of 39 projects with a value of over four milion in Montenegro. For these reasons, he said, the realization of projects in the framework of these programs is very important as for the fulfillment of the objectives and policies of the EU, as well as to strengthen cooperation and exchange of good practice and innovative approaches. "Through participation in cross-border and transnational programs, as well as through cooperation with partners from the EU, Montenegro is preparing for an active use of structural funds that would be available when you become a full member of the EU", said Pejovic.

Donata Von Sigsfeld from the EU Delegation congratulated the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration on the organization of the conference, at which users of transnational programs in Montenegro and the region had the opportunity to talk about the results, successes, lessons learned and exchange experiences. She noted that participation in these programs is very important in the EU accession process, because in this way are established direct partnerships between EU member states, candidate countries and potential candidates. The importance and success of these programs is reflected in the fact that this cooperation between partners from different countries through the implementation of projects, continues to exist and improve even after their completion.

After introductory discussion there was a speech about SEE and MED programs for the period 2007-2013 and the experiences of Montenegro, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania and Macedonia in mentioned period. Conference participants were also addressed by the project beneficiaries from Montenegro presenting their experiences and results that were achieved through cooperation with partners from the region and the EU.

At the final of today's conference were presented transnational programs in the framework of the financial perspectives 2014-2020. In addition to the MED program that will be continued in the next cycle, Montenegro will participate in two new programs - the Danube and the Adriatic- Ionic, which, as pointed out by the speakers and panelists, bring new opportunities and funding to countries that aims at full membership in the EU.

SEE program includes 16 countries, making it the program with the largest programming realm. The MED program involves 13 states, Mediterranean EU member states and the countries of the Western Balkans. The priorities of the transnational programs are innovation, environment, territory accessibility and sustainable development.

The meeting was attended by representatives of the participating countries of the program, the control structures of the program, as well as representatives of institutions that implement SEE and MED projects in Montenegro.

Information is taken from the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration http://www.mvpei.gov.me/