Albania receives further assistance from the EU

TIRANA, Nov. 16 – Albanian officials were among more than 70 participants from the Western Balkans and Turkey at the latest Instrument for Pre-accession Assistance (IPA) Multi-Beneficiary Programme Coordination Meeting on regional cooperation held in Sarajevo, Bosnia Wednesday.
During the two-day meeting the European Commission tried to identify strategic interventions in a number of priority sectors for the new 2012 programme as well as preliminary outlines for the programme in 2013.
The programme supports regional cooperation in several key political and economic sectors. The 131 million euro projects discussed, relate to higher education, public administration reform, parliamentary cooperation, fight against organized crime and corruption, statistical cooperation, Western Balkans Investment Framework, civil protection, youth action, and improved governance and management in the region.
The meeting provided an opportunity to reflect on the latest Enlargement Package 2011-2012, brief beneficiaries on their role and responsibilities in the programming exercise considering the current transition towards a more strategic sector wide approach (SWAP), and report on the preparations of the next IPA regulation.
The meeting contributed to associating all stakeholders in the preparation of the programming process of Multi-Beneficiary IPA for 2012 and 2013, which will ensure regional ownership and an overall more efficient implementation of the EU assistance.
In another conference also held in Sarajevo the strengthening of independence and sustainability of public service media in South East Europe was discussed.