On the political climate in SEE:

"The Regional Table welcomed the perspective of EU membership for Bulgaria and Romania … and the reaffirmation of the European perspective for SAP countries at the Copenhagen summit.
The Table valued the Greek Government's (EU-Presidency) intention to host the second Summit meeting of the Heads of States of the EU and countries of the Stabilisation and Association Process, in Thessaloniki in 2003.
Along with complementing the EU's Accession and Stabilisation and Association Processes, … the Stability Pact should move steadily toward a leadership role for South Eastern Europe, by promoting regional ownership of the activities within the Stability Pact. On regional ownership, the South East European Co-operation Process (SEECP) has an important role to play as a
co-ordinated voice of South Eastern Europe."

On SP structures and working methods:

"The Table welcomed the emphasis placed by the Special Co-ordinator on an operational and
thematically oriented structure for the Stability Pact Secretariat, with the goal of reducing the number of Stability Pact related events while
ensuring maximum effectiveness of the Working Tables, such as:

• to hold on the same occasion and back to back, i.e. separately, the Regional Table and Working Table meetings, twice a year at an agreed location, with a view to holding them preferably in the region;
  
• to strengthen co-ordination and co-operation of Task Forces or Initiatives that work on related subjects;
  
• to install an internal advisory panel for enhanced coherence of SCSP activities.
  

Participants valued the intention of the Special Co-ordinator to increase the focus on the horizon-tal aspects of Stability Pact's work and encou-raged further progress in enhancing co-operation and co-ordination among the regional initia-tives."

The two existing Stability Pact Initiatives (Migra-tion & Asylum MAI - Refugee Matters RRI) will be integrated as part of a future regional popula-tion movement management. The new Initiative has been approved by the Thessaloniki Regional Table, 16 December 2002, and is known as Migration, Asylum, Refugees Regional Initiative (MARRI).

MARRI - The new Migration, Asylum, Refugees Regional Initiative

So far, displacement matters were the responsibi-lity of the Regional Return Initiative (RRI -Working Table I) while migration and asylum
issues fell under Justice and Home Affairs in the Migration and Asylum Initiative (MAI - Working Table III). Soeren Jessen-Petersen, in his capacity as chairman of both initiatives has outlined a streamlined and integrated approach, which was endorsed by Justice and Interior Ministers in
Tirana (12 December 2002) and by the SP Re-gional Table in Thessaloniki (16 December 2002).
MARRI will cover:

• Asylum
  
• Legal Migration
  
• Illegal Migration
  
• Border Management
  
• Visa Policy and Entry Policies
  
• Return / Settlement of Refugees / Displaced Persons
  

In the months to come a regional roadmap for action will be developed. Due attention will be paid to co-ordinate closely with activities already underway elsewhere, inside or outside the Stability Pact. It has to be explored, whether the geographic scope of MARRI will be extended beyond the five SAP countries (Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, fYR Macedonia, Serbia and Montenegro) to include neighbouring candidate countries Bulgaria and Romania, as well as Moldova.

On 5-7 December 2002, the Task Force Education and Youth organized a Senior Officials Meeting from SEE with over 40 key policy-makers from South Eastern Europe, other European countries and representatives of different international organisations, where it proposed the "SEE Educa-tion Reform Implementation Initiative in view of the Accession and the Stabilisation and Associa-tion Processes". The Initiative aims to link the national education reform processes in the SEE region with European trends, as outlined in the "EU detailed work programme on the follow-up of objectives of education and training systems". This Initiative is complementary to the activities of the European Commission within the Acces-sion process and strengthens SAP in the field of education.

Participants from SEE countries identified coun-try-specific priority areas of education develop-ment and reform, which will not only support their ongoing education reform efforts but in this way accelerate the progress towards European standards. There was widespread support for the idea of including SAP countries in the consulta-tion process with regard to the EU Work Program. The aim is to keep SAP countries up-to-date on different implementation instruments and the overall progress in order to facilitate their reforms.

At the 2nd Senior Officials meeting, scheduled for 29-30 March 2003 in Bucharest, a detailed action plan will be finalised. On the initiative of the Greek EU-Presidency, SEE countries will sign a Memorandum of Understanding on the Initiative, in June 2003, in the margins of the Education Minister Conference in Nicosia.

The overall co-ordination is designed to be transferred to the region by beginning of 2004.

http://www.stabilitypact.org/stabilitypactcgi/catalog/cat_descr.cgi?subcat=1&prod_id=6

• Workshop in Romania:
  On 25-27 November 2002, the international work-shop "Environmental Legislation, Safety Engi-neering and Disaster Management ELSEDIMA", took place at Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
  The workshop's objectives were to examine options for co-operation in order to implement the EC SEVESO II Directive (96/82/EC-SEVESO II) related to major industrial accidents prevention and technological disaster management. A publication with all presentations and conclusions is forthcoming.
  The workshop with region-wide participation was organized by the University of Cluj-Napoca, SP/DPPI, the Ministry of Waters and Environ-ment Protection, Romania, the Command of Civil Protection Romania, the Regional Centre for Ma-jor Industrial Accidents Prevention Cluj-Napoca, and the Research Centre for Analytical Instrumentation Cluj-Napoca.
  
• UNDP Regional Conference Bratislava, Slovakia:
  The UNDP Regional Conference, "Building Transnational Crisis Management Capacity", held from 23-25 January 2003, was an example of
  viable ways to improve civil security in South Eastern Europe.
  The conference offered a platform to learn from mutual experience in building crises management capacity. To this effect, representatives from EU, NATO, OSCE, UNDP, SP/ DPPI reviewed their efforts to the benefit of the 18 participating
  countries.
  
• Working Meeting of the Project "Disaster Management Training for SEE" lead coun-tries/organisations representatives and Stability Pact DPPI, held at RACVIAC, Croatia, on 16 January 2003.
  The "DPPI Disaster Management Training for SEE" Project Program for 2003 has been agreed upon. The list of training events/ Workshops and courses can be found on our web-page (http://www.stabilitypact.org/stabilitypactcgi/catalog/cat_descr.cgi?subcat=1&prod_id=48)
  The 2003-plan out of this 4-year project was agreed upon. The lead countries for project
  implementation will be Slovenia and Croatia. Based on an annual rotating principle, the lead country for 2003 to 2005 is Croatia along with Slovenia for 2004 to 2006.
  

One of the Pact's Working Group on Trade priori-ties for 2003 is the identification and progressive elimination of non-tariff barriers, as such barriers can easily give rise to trade disputes between countries. If such disputes are not properly dealt with, they can damage relations between the coun-tries concerned, and have a negative impact on the investment climate throughout the region.

The Commercial Law Development Program (CLDP) of the US Department of Commerce, in close co-operation with the Stability Pact's Trade Working Group organised a weeklong workshop on Trade Disputes - Prevention and Resolution in Brussels at the end of January. The Workshop was attended by trade policy officials from the eight South Eastern European Countries including representatives from customs and standards
bodies - i.e. those officials who will implement the Free Trade Agreements on a day-to-day basis.

This workshop demonstrated the potent combina-tion of regional and international resources,
experience and expertise that the Pact can bring to improving the trade environment in South Eastern Europe. Over the course of the week, participants had the opportunity to work with experts from the USA, the European Commission and the World Trade Organisation as well as with each other. Thus, they were able to learn from the experience of implementing other regional trade initiatives as well as identifying potential "flash points" that could give rise to disputes in South Eastern Europe. The workshop concluded with some
recommendations for the forthcoming meeting of the Trade Working Group end of February.
Following the success of this workshop - inclu-ding much praise for the highly interactive format, CLDP has agreed to host further specialised workshops later in 2003.

Activities such as this workshop reflect the fact that the Trade Group is now turning its attention to the challenging and complex task of facilitating implementation of the free trade agreements. The elimination of non-tariff barriers will ensure that all can exploit the full benefits of the FTAs and improve the investment climate in the region.

Moldova will organize a stolen car conference in Chisinau.

The conference will be structured on four main sections: judicial co-operation, law enforcement, car manufacturers and insurance companies.
Discussions will focus on the national legislations, regional co-operation, best practices and actions needed. The main objective is to adopt an Action plan that will include some specific measures which will be agreed by the participants.

The Moldavian organizers will invite the repre-sentatives from all the interested countries, car and insurance companies, international organisa-tions such as Interpol, Europol, Bucharest-based Transborder Crime Fighting Centre, as well as lo-cal authorities and specialized NGO's. Moldova is organizing the conference as part of their co-chairmanship of the Security Working Table.

A start-up meeting of the eSEE working group to implement the South Eastern European Agenda for the Development of Information Society was hosted by the Macedonian Telecom Directorate (Ministry of Transport & Communications) in Skopje 4 February 2003. The eSEE Agenda for the Development of Information Society was signed in Belgrade on 29 October 2002. The progress in implementing it was reported as follows in Skopje.

• The eSEE WG started work on the prepara-tions of common policy guidelines for the development of Information Society. National Strategies for the Development of Information Society are to be adopted by the Signatories of the eSEE Agenda by 1 November 2003.
  
• The eSEE WG is preparing unified terms of reference for cabinet level bodies for the development of Information Society. These bodies are to be set up in all signatory coun-tries by the 1st of November 2003.
  
• A First step in benchmarking on the development of Information Society based on eEurope+ practices will be a workshop to be held in Belgrade this May organized by the Serbian Internet Agency in association with the EU Commission's Directorate on Information Society.

Progress on the outlined activities is expected to meet with the deadlines of the eSEE Agenda. An eSEE WG progress report will be prepared that would serve as contribution of the Group to the meetings of the Stability Pact Working Table II and Regional Table in Zagreb 26-27 May 2003.

The meeting showed strong commitment of the Signatory countries (UNMIK participated for the first time) to the eSEE Agenda and to the suppor-ting countries and organisations: UNDP, Greek INA (Telecommunications and Research Institute), EC DG Information Society, US Commercial Law Development Program. Other countries such as Slovenia, Hungary and Turkey are also supporting its implementation.

The next meeting of the SEE Business Advisory Council will be in Sarajevo on 18-19 March 2003. As at its last meeting in Skopje, the members of the BAC Board will also organise an exchange of views between BAC members, representatives of the BiH business community and key BiH Government officials.

Initiative against Corruption SPAI

Ugo Draetta has been appointed Chairman of the Stability Pact Initiative Against Corruption (SPAI). Draetta succeeds Judge Giuseppe di Gennaro, who chaired the Initiative from April 2001 to December 2002. Ugo Draetta is at present Professor of International Law and Law of the European Union at the Catholic University of Milan. He also represents the Italian Government in the OECD Working Group on Bribery.

SEESAC - Small Arms and Light Weapons

The Belgrade based SEESAC (Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe Clearinghouse for the Control of Small Arms and Light Weapons); a joint SP/UNDP initiative will have a new team leader, Adrian Wilkinson. Wilkinson is an ex-British army disposal expert and has been the head of the Geneva International Centre for Humanitarian Demining. Wilkinson will succeed Henny van der Graaf by 1 April 2003.

Initiative on Organized Crime SPOC

Gabriela Konevska (FYR of Macedonia) has been appointed Executive Secretary of SPOC. She was director (Head of the Legal Department) within the SECI Centre in Bucharest. The SPOC
Secretariat she is heading is collocated with the Bucharest based Centre for Combating Transbor-der Crime (SECI Centre), which in its turn has
received a new Director, Yalcin Cakici.
Mine Action
The Budapest-based Reay-Group on Mine Action has a new chair as of 3 February 2003.
Ambassador Sergiu Celac, a Romanian career
diplomat, succeeds Dijana Plestina (Croatia).
Police Forum
The Police Forum initiative, created as a regional framework for the police training, has two new Co-Chairs: Iver Frigaard (Norway), Assistant Na-tional Commissioner responsible for International Police Co-operation within the National Police Directorate, and Mario Rosic (Croatia), Head of Section for International Police Co-operation.

The Stability Pact started a reconciliation initia-tive, as announced by SC Busek at the Regional Table in December 2002 in Thessaloniki. The first steps included getting an overview of existing activities by consulting with (donor) governments and international organisations. The SP activities are designed to help develop effective mecha-nisms and strategies that would change some of the persisting pattern of hostility and conflicts into co-operation and mutual respect of common as well as differing values. Operationally two activities are under way:

• A Database to catalogue the various initiatives dealing with reconciliation currently active in SEE. This will provide a way to analyse existing initiatives, to avoid duplication in planning future work, and to exploit synergies in support of any larger initiative.
  
• The Internet Forum that pursues the
  following aims:
  - collect information in order to start up a regional data-base;
  - identify projects and advocate them to potential donors; and
  - enhance a youth forum that will give a voice to the new generation.
  

The Internet Forum has started on 21 January 2003: http://www.reconcilingforthefuture.org. Wide participation is appreciated.
An open-ended working group has been established, focusing on operational aspects of this process, with the Stability Pact, Greece,
Sweden, SEECP-Chair, US, Germany, Norway, Switzerland and the Centre for Democracy and Reconciliation in SEE (Thessaloniki).

Donor countries of the Investment Contact, 7 February in Paris, reiterated their support for the strategy and work-program 2003/2004, as
approved by the previous Investment Compact Project Team (ICPT) meeting in November 2002. They also pledged the necessary financial support for the next two years.

The ICPT as steering body of the IC also recom-mended raising the level of the Country Economic Teams within the various civil services in order
to have the much-needed governmental access. It was agreed to invite UNMIK as observer, starting with the next ICPT meeting. A second Conference of Trade and Economics ministers is scheduled to take place in Vienna on 11 July 2003 to review progress made since the last ministerial of summer 2002, which was dedicated to invest-ment promotion in SEE. The ICPT also agreed to interlink their activities with the trade initiative (as the free trade agreements are being imple-mented) and the newly enhanced SEE Business Advisory Council, especially for any business promotion events.

SEE Ministers agree to Legalise the Status of Trafficked Persons

The 3rd Regional Ministerial Forum of the Task Force in Tirana, 11 December 2002, introduced a victim-centred approach in the anti trafficking procedures by refraining from immediately
deporting victims of trafficking in certain cases. Instead, by granting an extended stay in the
country, prosecution and court procedures should be facilitated. Another reason for this change is that up to 50% of those repatriated immediately are re-trafficked.
In the interest of combating organised crime,
the new approach also has obvious advantages. Signatories agreed, that victims of trafficking must be granted legal status, in order to differen-tiate them from criminals. Granting at least tem-porary residence status increases the confidence of victims and their willingness to collaborate with the authorities, even though not all of them might be ready or able to testify.

The 5th Stability Pact Task Force on Trafficking in Human Beings Meeting will take place on 28 March 2003 in Slovenia. Discussions will
focus on child trafficking and the implementation of victim/witness protection following the Tirana agreement. Participating states of the Stability Pact, international organisations, NGO`s and the Governmental Anti-Trafficking Co-ordinators from South Eastern Europe are invited to partici-pate.

Prevention of child trafficking and victim/witness protection form a crucial part of the Task Force's activities in 2003. Information from across the region suggest that children under 18, specially adolescent girls, are being trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation and forced labour, particularly from Albania into Greece and Italy. An increasing number of children, mostly Roma, begging on the streets in all SEE countries is a cause for concern and warrants further investiga-tion particularly in relation to internal trafficking.

Victim/witness protection is one of the main preconditions to victims` testimony, hence to successful intelligence, prosecution and court
proceedings, in order to combat such severe crimes and human rights violations. The Task Force on Trafficking in Human Beings aims to streamline different approaches in witness protection, to develop relevant projects and monitor their implementation.

On 6-7 February 2003 in Luxembourg, the EIB hosted a high level meeting on infrastructure in South Eastern Europe. The main focus of
the meeting, which was chaired by the EU Commission, was the interim report on the EC-financed Regional Balkans Infrastructure Study-Transport (REBIS), which aims to develop an agreed investment plan for a regional transport network and thereby facilitate the development and approval of future investment projects in South Eastern Europe.

The study concentrates on the Western Balkans and the meeting brought together senior officials from ministries of transport and finance in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia and the Union of Serbia and Montenegro with representatives from all the international organisations on the Infrastructure Steering Group (European Commission, EIB, EBRD, Council of Europe Development Bank, World Bank and the Stability Pact). Representatives from UNMIK also attended the meeting.

Intensive discussions on the findings and prelimi-nary recommendations of the REBIS study gene-rated agreement on the next steps to be taken to finalise a core transport network in the region. The final report on the study will be presented in June and it is hoped that a ministerial agreement on the core network will follow. Agreement will also expedite the availability of the forthcoming EC-financed project preparation facility that will fast-track feasibility studies for priority projects.

It was announced that 5 new projects have been added to the current list of approved regional infrastructure projects under the auspices of the Infrastructure Steering Group. The specific projects are:

• Croatia Motorway rehabilitation project (EIB/EBRD) - Euro 125 million
  
• Zagreb Air Traffic Control (EIB/EBRD) - Euro 55 million
  
• FYR Macedonia Civil Aviation upgrading project in (EBRD) - Euro 11.20 million
  
• Union of Serbia and Montenegro Air Naviga-tion Services modernisation (EIB /EBRD) - Euro 130 million
  
• Union of Serbia and Montenegro Power II project (EBRD) - Euro 100 million
  

Taken together, these five projects have a value of euro 421.2 million and increase the list of ap-proved projects from 46 to 51 projects with a total cost of euro 3.82 billion (up from 3.46 billion).
For further information and to view the full list of projects: http://www.seerecon.org/infrastructure/infrastructure-feb03.htm

Special Co-ordinator Busek paid a visit to SEESAC on 11 February 2003 and was informed by team leader Henny van der Graaf about their program for 2003:

• Support to governments of the region (estab-lishment of National SALW Commissions will be a priority)
  
• SALW legislation
  
• Focus on practical cross-border control projects in the key areas of South Serbia, fYR Macedonia, Kosovo and Albania
  
• SALW destruction (SEESAC will continue to prioritise projects in BiH, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro)
  
• Continuation of public awareness raising
  
• Information collection and sharing / dissemi-nation
  

26 projects (covering government SALW mecha-nisms, SALW legislation, border management, destruction & storage, voluntary surrender of wea-pons, public awareness, information) have been prepared by SEESAC for the Donor Conference in Geneva (November 2002). Some projects have found donor support and are being implemented. Fundraising activities will continue in 2003.

Launched in Belgrade on 8 May 2002, SEESAC is a joint SP/UNDP initiative. UNDP has respon-sibility for the management and execution of
its activities. Political and strategic guidance is provided by a Regional Steering Group, whose next meeting is scheduled to take place in Tirana in spring.
Check www.undp.org.yu/seesac for the Progress Report.

Within the framework of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe, the Council of European Development Bank (CEB) and the World Bank (WB) have joined forces to prepare a high-level conference on housing policies in SEE. The conference will take place on 23-24 April 2003, at the World Bank Paris office.

Several countries from the region have already undertaken serious reforms in the housing sector. Some other countries are still examining the possible reform pattern. This momentum has to be maintained and sustained from economic, social, fiscal and legal points of view.

The main purpose of the conference will be to give impetus to the reform process in the housing sector in all of the countries concerned, to learn fromthe experiences and actions of other countries in this sector, to identify the major reform challenges that all countries are facing jointly or individually, and to interlink the efforts of the countries in the region with those of the international community.

The conference is intended for high-level policy-makers from both the finance and housing ministries.

In the presence of SC Erhard Busek, the Foreign Ministers of the four riparian countries of the Sava River Basin - Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia,
Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and Slovenia have signed a Framework Agreement in Kranjska Gora (Slovenia) 4 December 2003. A newly
established Sava River Commission will hence-forth be in charge of preparing an integrated management plan for the Sava River Basin and of co-ordinating activities such as navigation, sustainable water management, hydro-electricity and environmental protection. In a number of
areas, particularly to ensure safe navigation, the Commission will be empowered to issue unified rules. This fully integrated river management
approach is one of the first worldwide and starts a process to achieve the following goals:

• Establishing a international navigation regime on the Sava river and its main tributaries in the form of the Protocol signed today and in accordance with the international regime of the Danube Commission;
  
• Promoting sustainable management of the Sava Basin waters and related resources;
  
• Fostering integrated economic development while preserving the environment in the Sava Basin region and the well being of its people; and
  
• Establishing the proper institutional frame-work to fulfil these objectives.
  

The Agreement also includes the statute for the Commission, a process for resolving disputes, and a protocol for the regime of navigation.
An Action Plan for the Sava Basin in the areas of navigation, integrated water management, envi-ronmental protection, and economic development is being developed and will be presented at the Sava Basin Conference with Interested Parties on 12 March 2003 in Brussels in order to secure the necessary finances and technical assistance.
Among the most urgent tasks will be implemen-ting measures to re-establish navigation on the Sava and to set up the necessary infrastructure for the Sava Commission to start its work.

On Security Sector Reform, York University Cen-tre for International Security Studies in Canada has prepared an Inventory and Gaps Analysis with the double aim of obtaining a clearer picture of the security sector reform activity in the region and determining gaps where Stability Pact can be of added value.

An important output of the Research carried out by the York University has been the creation of an Inventory of Security Sector Reform Initiatives in South Eastern Europe. This database, currently containing information on roughly 600 initiatives, can be found at http://ssr.yciss.yorku.ca/.

The main objective of this inventory is to encour-age transparency and information sharing in secu-rity sector reform, and to provide an accessible decision-making tool for those countries and in-ternational organizations involved in this process.

The implementation of EU-compatible media legislation in Southeast Europe is moving ahead:

• In fYR Macedonia, a new broadcast law is being drafted. In a joint effort, media out-lets, union representatives and NGO's co-operate closely with governmental bodies and the lawmakers in Parliament. An agreement was reached to introduce the new law in par-liament in early summer 2003.
  
• In Moldova, a complete review of the legal framework for the broadcast media has been carried out, identifying necessary changes to be made in particular to the inde-pendence of the public broadcaster and the regulatory body for the media.
  
• A Freedom of Information law is being drafted in Montenegro, since access to public information can increase transparency and is a powerful tool against corruption. In countries that already have such a law (Bulgaria, Ro-mania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Albania) activi-ties focus on improving access to the re-quested information.
  

Region-wide activities to improve and decriminalise defamation legislation include litigation, amendments to penal and civil codes and monitoring. The aim is to introduce legisla-tion in line with European standards. Improvements for the working conditions of journalists can be obtained by putting the burden of proof with the claimant, not giving special protection to politicians and heads of state and removing defamation from the penal code.

A roundtable, jointly organised by the European Commission and the Stability Pact for Southeast Europe and hosted by the Czech Government will bring together a distinguished group of representa-tives from the energy industry to discuss the business opportunities brought about by the emerging competitive electricity market in South Eastern Europe.

The roundtable in Prague, 21 February 2003, aims at assessing the consequences of the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding by the
energy ministers of Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, fYR Macedonia, Romania, Turkey and FR Yugoslavia in Athens on 15 November, 2002 to create a regional electricity market and to integrate it into the internal electri-city market of the European Union by 2005.

The implementation of the MoU (the so-called "Athens process") is likely to open up interesting business opportunities for companies of the energy industry and this roundtable is a first step in ensuring that the business community is informed about the fundamental changes in this market.

Susann Weissel is the new Personal Assistant of SC Busek, succeeding Tuende Huber. Ms Huber has taken up the position of Executive Assistant to the Special Co-ordinator, replacing Vera Budway, who in her turn joined WT I and deals mainly with Local Democracy/Cross Border issues. She remains the contact point to the Business Advisory Council and the SP liaison to SECI. Maria Jadot has left the SP; the Parliamentary Dimension is now dealt with by Laszlo Glatz. Nives Malenica has left the Pact and rejoined the Croatian diplomatic service.

In WT III the Disaster Preparedness and Prevention Initiative has a new Executive Assistant, Isabel Van Meeuwen. Bernd Hemingway has left and the Police Co-operation and Organized Crime files are now attended by Sorin Sterie.

Haje Schuette, on temporary secondment from German KfW, has completed his assignment with the Pact in the field of energy. Oswald Hutter has joined WT II on a temporary secondment from the private sector.

Alex Talmon-l'Armée has been seconded to the SP (MARRI) as Housing specialist for Housing-issues related to all Working Tables.

Birgitta Bechtold has succeeded Muriel Cottave-Claudet as Management Officer in the Administrative Unit.