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Preparing South East Europe for EU accession

WPS05/11 Wilton Park Conference
Skopje
Thursday 29 – Friday 30 September 2005

Hosted by the Secretariat for European Affairs of the Government of the Republic of Macedonia

In Association with the British Presidency of the EU

Additional Sponsorship from the Foreign and Commonwealth Office

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INTERNATIONAL ARRIVAL DAY WEDNESDAY 28 SEPTEMBER 2005
1930		WELCOME COCKTAIL DRINKS Hosted by Radmila ŠEKERINSKA Deputy Prime Minister, in charge of European Integration, Skopje
2000		BUFFET DINNER
THURSDAY 29 SEPTEMBER 2005
0915-0925	1	WELCOME CONFERENCE AIMS AND OBJECTIVES Chris LANGDON Director, South-East Europe, Wilton Park
0925	1	CREATING A MOMENTUM FOR SOUTH EAST EUROPE Vlado BUČKOVSKI Prime Minister, Skopje [On the record]
1045-1115		PHOTOGRAPH & COFFEE BREAK
1115-1215	2	PREPARING FOR CANDIDACY - MACEDONIA’S STRATEGY Making it happen: What are the practical steps countries of SE Europe need to take now to prepare for EU accession? How has a consensus been built up in Macedonia on key reforms required for EU integration? What have been Macedonia’s biggest areas of weakness - how can they be practically addressed? Radmila ŠEKERINSKA Deputy Prime Minister, in charge of European Integration, Skopje
1215-1315	3	PREPARING FOR EU NEGOTIATIONS - CROATIA’S STRATEGY As Croatia addresses the EU’s conditions for starting negotiations, what is Croatia’s strategy in concrete terms? How does it engage with public opinion at home and with enlargement fatigue in EU member states? Kolinda GRABAR KITAROVIĆ Foreign and EU Affairs Minister, Zagreb
1315-1430		LUNCH
1430-1600	4	TOWARDS A BREAKTHROUGH? THE EUROPEAN INTEGRATION OF SERBIA What precisely would the start of SAA negotiations mean for Serbia’s reform programme? Miroljub LABUS Deputy Prime Minister, Belgrade Ivan VEJVODA Director, Balkan Trust Fund, Belgrade
1600-1630		TEA/COFFEE
1630-1800	5	ADDRESSING ENLARGEMENT FATIGUE WITHIN THE EU: WHAT CAN THE COUNTRIES OF SOUTH EAST EUROPE DO? The contribution of enlargement fatigue to the “no” votes in the referenda is often contested. What is not in doubt is that that public concerns about enlargement have to be directly addressed. What can the countries of South East Europe do to make their cases more effectively? Do actions speak louder than words? Gerald KNAUS President, European Stability Initiative, Istanbul Axel WALLDÉN Western Balkans Directorate, DG Enlargement, European Commission, Brussels Chair Tim JUDAH Journalist and Writer, London
1815-1930		EXCURSION
20 00		DINNER Hosted by HM Ambassador on behalf of British Presidency of the EU Robert CHATTERTON-DICKSON

FRIDAY 30 SEPTEMBER 2005

0915-1045	6	SOUTH EAST EUROPE AND THE EU: HOW CAN ECONOMIC CONVERGANCE HAPPEN? Addressing the weak state of the economies in the region requires consistent and stable policies. Integrated development planning and policy co-ordination will be essential factors determining progress. What are the key political and practical steps that are necessary? How will the IPA (Instrument for Pre Accession) encourage structural reforms and economic development? Fatmir BESIMI Minister of Economy, Skopje John BRADLEY Research Professor, Economic and Social Research Institute, Dublin
1045-1130		COFFEE/TEA
1130-1300	7	USING EUROPEANISATION AS THE MOTOR OF REFORM - AGRICULTURE Agriculture and rural development are vital to the economies of South East Europe. They are also central to the EU accession process given that agriculture takes 40% of the EU budget. The Agricultural Chapter is a major part of the acquis of the EU. How precisely could the tools used by the EU in previous enlargement rounds be applied to future candidates? What are the lessons from Bulgaria? Kristof BENDER Senior Analyst, European Stability Initiative, Vienna Miroslava GEORGIEVA Director, Rural Development Directorate, Rural Development Directorate, Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry, Sofia
1300-1430		LUNCH
1430-1600	8	USING EUROPEANISATION AS THE MOTOR OF INSTITUTIONAL REFORM How can domestic reformers use Europeanisation as a motor for institutional reform? What are the lessons from regional and national level in Poland and Greece? Loukas TSOUKALIS Special Adviser to the President of the European Commission; President, Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP), Athens Jacek SZLACHTA Warsaw School of Economics, Warsaw *Janusz ZALESKI Director, Wroclaw Regional Development Agency (WARR), Wroclaw
1600-1630		TEA/COFFEE
1630-1730	9	THE EU AND SOUTH EAST EUROPE: SCENARIOS FOR 2006 Vessela TCHERNEVA Project Coordinator, International Commission on the Balkans, Centre for Liberal Studies, Sofia Nicholas WHYTE Europe Program Director, ICG, Brussels Borut GRGIC Director, Institute for Strategic Studies, Ljubljana
1730-1830	10	CONCLUDING SESSION HOW CAN SOUTH EAST EUROPE BECOME A EUROPEAN SUCCESS STORY? Alain LE ROY Former EU Special Representative, Mission of the European Union to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia; Director for Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Paris Michael SAHLIN EU Special Representative, Mission of the European Union to the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Skopje Radmila ŠEKERINSKA Deputy Prime Minister in charge of EU integration, Skopje
1930		DINNER
SATURDAY 1 OCTOBER 2005
0915		International participants depart for airport

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About us

Photo credits

Alan Grant is an Irish photographer who travelled extensively in the Balkans and other countries and regions of the world. Thanks to him, ESI is able to show fascinating pictures of the Balkans: the facades of Tirana, the painted mosques of Travnik, the fabulous old houses of Plovdiv and the spectacular blue of water - dark in the Bay of Kotor, emerald in the river valleys of Bosnia, deep blue in Ohrid, twinkling in the Aegean Sea and on the Bosporus.

You can find out more about Alan Grant on his websites:

Jonathan Lewis lives between London and Istanbul. He moved to London and spent many years studying photography and now specialises in photojournalism, documentary photography and commercial work for a wide variety of private and commercial clients in the UK, Europe and Turkey. His work has appeared in a number of magazines and publications and is used on the ESI website as well.

You can find out more about Jonathan Lewis on his website www.jonathanlewisphoto.com