Regional police cooperation in the changed Balkans (Abstract)

The eleventh priority area in the Danube Strategy which is formulated in January 2012 is the promotion of the security and the fight against cross-border organized crime. Enhanced intensity of the regional police relations is essential in order to combat security threats, but also for the construction a stable region. The Balkans is one of the major importers of “soft” security threats within the EU, as well as the well-known route used by organized criminal groups for various criminal activities. Balkan route is the main route for smuggling heroin into which are the most used waterways and land routes. In the future regional security in the Balkan countries will depend on mutual cooperation between states and governments in fighting organized crime.

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On Trans-Regional and Trans-Border Cooperation

The fact is that we are today still far from that Hugo’s vision of Europe where the battlefield would be exchanged for market and spirit would become open for ideas. Perhaps nowadays when we discuss at the most about united Europe we are as far from being united as we were after the Second World War, or at the time of the so-called Cold War. Undoubtedly, however the fact is that for South-Slavs this period is much more baleful. The most painful geopolitical pre-structuring of powers in this present Europe were happening on the Balkans

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Role of CSOs to support regional initiatives in implementation of EU directives in the Danube Region and Western Balkan countries

pregled proizvodnje, uvoza i izvoza azbesta u zemljama Zapadnog Balkana

Number of civil society organizations (CSOs) in the Western Balkans is growing rapidly year by year. Civil society is vital pillar in a general shift towards more transparent and accountable society. Progressive policies indispensably involve civic participation as essential element for creation of sustainable local environment. Cooperation between national governments (or their institutions and agencies) and civil society is growing year by year. It is projected that cooperation will strengthen in the future in areas addressing environmental priorities indicating challenges and improvements in fields such as energy efficiency, waste management, climate change, sustainable transportation, water protection, food safety, sustainable consumption, public health. Social entrepreneurship and green economy is on the agenda of many CSOs in South-East Europe as a high priority for possible path in economic empowerment.

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Regional Cooperation within the Sava Commission for Sustainable Development of B&H – Conclusion

Most na Savi kod Brčkog

The Sava River Basin represents a major drainage basin in the South Eastern Europe and one of the most important sub-basins in the Danube River Basin, with a high potential for development activities such as the waterway transport, tourism and recreation. The Sava River represents a unique ecosystem with high a biodiversity providing habitat for the most diverse fauna and flora. In the Sava River Basin occur 167 protected area including Natura 2000 sites and six Wetlands of International Importance, so-called Ramsar Sites. Wetlands provide a vast array of ecosystem services that contribute to human well-being and play an important role in the regulation of global climate change and in the diminishing the destructive nature of flooding. At the same time, wetlands offer a wide range of opportunities for tourism and recreation that could generate considerable income.

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New Phase of Cooperation in the Sava River Basin

The positive developments have taken place in the co-operation processes initiated within the Stability Pact for South Eastern Europe over the years. The South-Eastern Europe countries began the new phase of “regional ownership and responsibility” for regional cooperation. The Stability Pact has been transformed into the Regional Co-operation Council (RCC), in order to reflect the increased maturity of the region. This new regionally owned cooperation framework, the RCC, was officially launched at the joint session of the final meeting of the Stability Pact Regional Table and inaugural meeting of the Regional Co-operation Council, in Sofia, on 27 February 2008. The Joint Declaration on the Establishment of the RCC was adopted and the RCC first Annual meeting took place on 28 February 2008, with the support from South Eastern European countries, donor countries and the European Commission. The main task of RCC is to be a facilitator of regional co-operation and support the European and Euro-Atlantic integration. With Secretariat located in Sarajevo, Co-operation Council focus its activities on six areas which the countries of the region have already identified as those where regional co-operation will be beneficial to all: Economic and social development; Infrastructure; Justice and Home Affairs; Security Co-operation and Building Human Capital (BHC) with Parliamentary Co-operation being an overarching theme that is linked with each of the other areas.

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Economic Basis for Cooperation in the Sava River Basin

According to the Labor Force Survey in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the structure of employees by activity in 2011 shows that 51,5 % were employed in services, 28,9% in non-agricultural sectors (industries), and 19,6% in agriculture. The number of unemployed persons in 2011 was 310.947. The percentage of unemployed in 2011 compared with 2010 increased by 0,4% and thus the unemployment rate in 2011 was 27, 6%. The highest unemployment rate of 39,0% was in Brčko District, than in the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina was 29,2%, and the lowest unemployment rate of 24,5% was in Republika Srpska

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Legal Framework for Cooperation in the Sava Basin

The establishment of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe (SP) in 1999, provided a solid basis for the cooperation in the region. Mutual negotiations of the Sava countries, conducted under the auspices of the SP, resulted in the signing of the Framework Agreement on the Sava River Basin (FASRB) and the Protocol of Navigation, on December 3rd 2002, in Kranjska Gora (Slovenia), between Republic of Slovenia, Republic of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (the later State Union of Serbia and Montenegro and than only the Republic of Serbia).

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Regional Cooperation within the Sava Commission for Sustainable Development of Bosnia&Herzegovina

Karta basena Save

Regional cooperation between countries of South-Eastern Europe has made a qualitative shift from externally guided actions towards the active and responsible engagement, with the aim of the sustainable development of the region. This change was accompanied with transformation of the Stability Pact for South-Eastern Europe into the Regional Cooperation Council. The formation of the Regional Cooperation Council, with the Secretariat in Sarajevo, marks a major shift in policy towards the region of the international community. These countries began a new phase of “regional ownership and responsibility” for regional cooperation. In this regard, the Framework Agreement on the Sava River Basin, concluded between Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Republic of Slovenia and Republic of Serbia, is of particular importance. Therefore, this agreement includes all the functions of water resources management – the establishment of an international regime of navigation on the Sava River and its tributaries, the establishment of sustainable water management and prevention or limitation of the hazards in the basin effects of floods, ice, droughts and incidents substances that are harmful to water. International Sava River Basin Commission (Sava Commission) was formed as a permanent body in charge of implementation of the Framework Agreement on the Sava River Basin, development of the Action Plan for the Sava River Basin and the adoption of necessary legal acts and the Protocols. Cooperation in the Sava Commission is based on the application of EU directives in the field of water and harmonization of the legislation with the EU legislation.

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Čenćanska Lakes – The Gate of Banat and the Middle Tamis Basin (Abstract)

jezero

This presentation is based on the idea of civil environmental association “ECO-WAVE“ from Tomasevci for the formation of the project: “Čenćanska Lakes – Gate of Banat and the Middle Tamiš Basin” through Local Action Group “Tamiš Development Initiative” (LAG-TRI). As noted in the source material area LAG-TRI covers the territory of nine settlements in the area of the middle flow of the river Tamis: Tomaševac, Orlovat, Farkaždin, Idvor, Sakule, Baranda, Čenta and Opovo. It spreads over parts of three municipalities: Zrenjanin, Kovačica and Opovo, as well as two districts: Central Banat and South Banat.

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