EU money for cooperation with neighbors

TIRANA, Sep 5 – The European Commission has approved funding of more than 3.9 million Euros for cross-border cooperation programmes between Albania and Greece, Albania and Montenegro, Albania and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), and Albania and countries of the Union for the financing year 2009.
The Cross-Border Co-operation programmes between Albania and Greece, Montenegro, and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia seek to promote cooperation between people, communities and institutions in the border areas, aiming at sustainable development, stability and prosperity of these areas in the mutual interest of the citizens of the respective countries.
Albania will benefit from EU financial assistance in the amount of 1.6 million Euros for the programme with Greece, and of 0.85 million Euros for each of the programmes with Montenegro and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
The European Commission has also approved financial support of more than 600,000 Euros for Albania’s participation in the European Territorial Co-Operation Trans-national Programme “South-East Europe” and, for the first time, for its participation in the “Mediterranean” programme.
Both programmes aim to support the participation of partners from candidate or potential candidate countries in joint trans-national co-operation activities together with partners from EU Member States.
They also seek to familiarize the candidate or potential candidate countries with territorial co-operation programmes under the EU Structural Funds with a view to their implementation upon accession.
The main focus areas of “South-East Europe” and “Mediterranean” programmes are innovation, environment, accessibility (activities to improve access to and quality of transport and telecommunications services where these have a clear trans-national dimension) and sustainable urban development.