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Opening Conference of the SELDI network
Ms. Caroline Frieh-Chevalier, Attaché at the EU Delegation in the Republic of Croatia noted that corruption is harmful not only economically and financially, but also socially. It undermines the rule of law and affects the everyday lives of the citizens. The EU accession negotiations present Croatia with an opportunity for the country to increase its anti-corruption capacity, raise awareness and improve its legal framework. Ms. Frieh-Chevalier noted that the CSO cooperation in fighting corruption is irreplaceable. According to Ms Violeta Stanicic, Head of the newly opened Information Office of the European Parliament in Croatia, the CSOs are the most important stakeholders in the fight against corruption. She underlined that in 2012 the Bulgarian CSOs have been extremely active in petitioning the EP. She reminded that 2013 is the year of the European citizens - they should know their rights and be active in protecting their rights, including when corruption is involved. During the first panel of the event, Mr. Ruslan Stefanov, Center for the Study of Democracy, Bulgaria presented the EU Stockholm Programme and the EU Anti-Corruption Report. He noted that corruption has already been elevated to a main issue and common EU policy. It already sets indicators for measuring corruption, and thus provides an instument for preassure and initiating reforms. The SELDI initiatives can also make a difference in the fight against corruption, by using the triangulation approach - involvement of CSOs, policy-makers, and the EC. Ms. Jovana Marović, Research Coordinator at the Institut Alternativa, Montenegro, highlighted the positive effect of the negotiations for EU accession on strengthening the anti-corruption legal framework in her home country. The Government of Montenegro also adopted risk assessment of corruption in several areas. It engaged the civil society in a public debate related to the development of a number of strategy documents. The work in this respect however is far from over. There is still a need for improving the capacity of the anti-corruption institutions, especially in terms of financial investigations. There is also insufficient legal base related to the public-private partnerships. And most importantly - in Montenegro there is still not enough commitment for countering corruption. According to Ms. Marija Đorđević, Researcher at the Center for Liberal-Democratic Studies, although in recent years the administrative corruption decreased, the government neglects the problem of corruption at the political level. At the same time CSOs’ activities are related mostly to human rights rather than corruption. Mr. Munir Podumljak, Executive Director of the Partnership for Social Development, Croatia stressed that CSOs are in high risk of becoming tools of the policy-makers’ agenda. According to him there is a need for integrity and accountability mechanisms for the CSOs themselves. The CSOs should provide real solutions and push for a change in the system. He underlined that the CSOs should also build their capacities, and work with the research and academic community to obtain knowledge. The conference was concluded by presentations of two partner networks in South East Europe, which are part of the DG Enlargement’s efforts to increase civil society capacity in the region to participate more actively in public policy-making. Mr. Garret Tankosic-Kelly, Principal of the South-East Europe Change Net think tank underlined that the EU energy policy is not transparent and corruption is one of the main reasons for the inefficient energy markets in the countries of the region. The high levels of corruption in the energy sector drive the investors away, which make the EC and the EBRD the only sources of funding. Agenda (Adobe PDF, 215 KB) Press Release (Adobe PDF, 991 KB) Presentation by Mr. Ruslan Stefanov, Center for the Study of Democracy, Bulgaria (Adobe PDF, 234 KB) Presentation by Ms Ayşe Üstünel Yırcalı, TESEV, Turkey (Adobe PDF, 271 KB) Presentation by Ms. Jovana Marović, Institut Alternativa, Montenegro (Adobe PDF, 256 KB) Presentation by Ms. Alba Cela, House of Europe, Albania (Adobe PDF, 231 KB) Presentation by Ms. Daniela Mineva, Center for the Study of Democracy, Bulgaria (Adobe PDF, 183 KB) Presentation by Ms. Marija Đorđević, Center for Liberal-Democratic Studies, Serbia (Adobe PDF, 211 KB) Presentation by Mr. Munir Podumljak, Partnership for Social Development, Croatia (Adobe PDF, 158 KB) Presentation by Ms. Biljana Pejović, Center for Democratic Transition, Montenegro (Adobe PDF, 158 KB) Presentation by Mr. Garret Tankosic-Kelly, South-East Europe Change Net, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Adobe PDF, 744 KB) Presentation by Mr. Miodrag Milosavljevic, Transparency, Accountability and Public Integrity, Open Society Foundation, Serbia (Adobe PDF, 531 KB) Kick-Off Meeting of the 2012 IPA Financed Projects, 21 January 2013 Photo Gallery |