iconannual 2015 - The European Business and Investment Magazine

Central European Initiative
Central European Initiative:
26 years
Immediately after the fall of the Berlin wall in
1989, Italy, Austria, Hungary and the former
Yugoslavia established – what is known today
– the Central European Initiative (CEI). Since its
inception, the CEI has taken root, grown and
finally blossomed into the largest and oldest
regional intergovernmental forum, committed
to supporting European integration through
cooperation among its Member States and the
European Union (EU).
Currently counting eighteen Member States 1 , the
CEI has become a recognised promoter of EU/non-
EU-country partnership and regional cooperation,
assessing what can be achieved when countries
make efforts to implement internationally agreed
frameworks.
The CEI strategic objectives, outlined in the CEI Plan
of Action 2014-2016, will ever more focus on supporting
its Member States on their path towards European integration;
promoting the alignment of the CEI Member
States to EU standards; implementing small and medium-sized
projects and converting constructive ideas
into innovative results. In order to offer a solid contribution
to European integration the CEI combines political
dialogue (multilateral diplomacy) and project management,
both as donor and recipient, while also bridging
European macro-regions. Through its project-oriented
working method, the CEI is also a flexible basis for regional
cooperation of its Western Balkan countries and
the three Eastern Partners (Belarus, Moldova and Ukraine).
The CEI is paying special attention to its non-
EU Member States’ need for capacity building through
know-how transfer and exchange of experience with its
EU countries, thus also providing sound evidence of the
permanent validity of its mission in these difficult times
of political turbulence and economic crisis.
Its unique geographical position makes the CEI the
only regional international organisation connecting the
Baltic, the Danube, the Adriatic-Ionian, the Black Sea
and the Alpine regions. It is the only organisation providing
a peer-to-peer environment for bridging experience
and synergising the new added values of the macro-regional
approach to the complexity of transnational governance
and programming.
1
CEI Member States and accession date: Albania (1996), Austria (1989), Belarus (1996), Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992), Bulgaria (1996), Croatia (1992), Czech Republic (1993), Hungary (1989), Italy (1989),
Macedonia (1993), Moldova (1996), Montenegro (2006), Poland (1991), Romania (1996), Serbia (2000), Slovakia (1993), Slovenia (1992), Ukraine (1996)
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