Co-funded by the European UnionNews Archive
Bregu: This year marks one of the most impactful ones for the Western Balkans when it comes to regional cooperation
04 Jun 2023
Budva - "This year marks one of the most impactful ones for the Western Balkans, marking the long-awaited turning point towards commitments taken by the economies of the region, through the Common Regional Market (CRM). With integrity, collegiality and competence - three words of tradition ...
Bregu: Digitalisation momentum in Western Balkans calls for improvement e-service accessibility improvement and reduction of digital divide
28 Mar 2023
Sarajevo – Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and European Investment Bank (EIB) gathered region’s ministers and other high ranking government officials, local and international experts in digital projects, key donors and ...
All-inclusive regional cooperation and Common Regional Market deliver results
21 Oct 2022
Berlin/Sarajevo – The Western Balkans (WB) Foreign Ministers approved three regional agreements - on Freedom of Movement with Identity Cards, on Recognition of Higher Education Qualifications, and on Recognition of Professional Qualifications for Doctors of Medicine, Dentists and Architects ...
RCC to award six best innovative solutions from the Western Balkans
26 Jun 2022
Sarajevo/Tirana – The winners of the first Butterfly Innovation Award competition the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) launched in April this year are to be presented on Monday, 27 June 2022 in Tirana, Albania, on the side-lines of the Ministerial Meeting of the Western Balkans Steering ...
Bregu: Support of Western Balkan citizens to regional cooperation remains stable at 76%
24 Jun 2022
Brussels – “While many things change, our public and business perceptions surveys remain a truthful source of sentiments across the region. At times, the results surprise us, sometimes they serve as a wake-up call, while on other occasions they confirm that our efforts are not in ...
Champion of Regional Cooperation to round off 14th RCC Annual Meeting
08 Jun 2022
Sarajevo/Thessaloniki – Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is to hold its 14th Annual Meeting on Thursday, 9 June in Thessaloniki. RCC Secretary General Majlinda Bregu will present the RCC Annual Report and major accomplishments and results of the organisation in the past year while putting ...
Bregu: Removing barriers is the first step in positioning Western Balkans at the world tourism map
12 May 2022
Tirana – “Tourism has a vast potential as a major catalyst for job creation and a driving force for economic growth and development especially for tourism dependent regions like ours. In 2019 more than 12 million people visited Western Balkans, which brought us a profit of 7.2 billion ...
Bregu: It is crunch time to deliver on reducing roaming costs between the EU and Western Balkans
06 Oct 2021
Brdo pri Kranju/Sarajevo – “As the agendas of regional cooperation build in intensity and challenges get bigger, we witness daily that the process of cooperation among Western Balkan Six cannot afford a stalemate,” said Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Secretary General, ...
Bregu: Balkan Barometer reveals human uncertainty and vulnerability are main concerns followed by some goodish news on benefits of regional cooperation
24 Jun 2021
Tirana – “This, seventh in a row, Balkan Barometer shows human uncertainty and vulnerability are the main concerns followed by some goodish news which is the consciousness about the benefits of regional cooperation. For 49% of Western Balkan citizens, unemployment is the biggest ...
RCC to Present Balkan Barometer 2021 - Public and Business Viewpoints on Situation in our Region
22 Jun 2021
Tirana – The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is to present the 2021 edition of Balkan Barometer on Thursday, 24 June 2021, starting at 10:00, in Tirana. This is the 7th edition of annual public and business opinion survey commissioned by the RCC which examines Western Balkan citizens ...
Bregu: Voice, concerns, hopes & expectations of the people from the region are core of the RCC work
17 Jun 2021
Antalya – Leaders of the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) approved the RCC-developed strategy for socio-economic development of South East Europe (SEE) in the next decade – SEE2030 Strategy, at their Summit held in Antalya, Turkey today.
Adapting Tourism Products for New Priority Markets webinars
05 Mar 2021
Elite Travel Group in association with RCC Triple P – Tourism Development and Promotion Project funded by the EU started a series of free webinars on 3rd March 2020 aiming to provide a rapid response for the post-pandemic Western Balkan tourism sector to restart.
CRM is a stepping stone for the WB to align with EU single market rules
22 Oct 2020
Belgrade/Sarajevo – “Some estimates say that regional economic integration in the Western Balkans could generate up to 2.5% of GDP growth should the level of integration reach the level of EFTA, and should it reach the EU level of integration, it could generate 6.7% of GDP growth. ...
Economic integration among the Western Balkans 6, and with the EU, is the most important in this moment
01 Oct 2020
Tirana/Sarajevo – “I believe that closer relations in the process of European integration of the region, especially economic integration among the Western Balkans (WB) 6, and with the EU, are the most important in this moment. Because regional economic integration of the WB is not ...
Bregu: With joint border crossing points Western Balkans could save 800 mil euro a year – we should set them among WB but also with EU
22 Sep 2020
Sarajevo/Skopje/Belgrade – “If we would have more joint border crossing points and if those would be working 24/7, with all the regulation in place, phytosanitary proc
25 Jun 2020
Tirana/Sarajevo/Prishtina – The two meetings have been held today within the South East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) - the meeting of the SEECP Ministers of Foreign Affairs and the RCC Annual Meeting, which RCC co-organised with the outgoing Kosovo SEECP Chairmanship-in-Office ...
23 Jun 2020
Sarajevo – The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) will present 2020 edition of Balkan Barometer on Wednesday 24 June 2020. This annual public and business opinion survey of the RCC examines the perception and expectations on life and work, prevalent socio-economic and political trends & ...
06 May 2020
Sarajevo/Tirana/Zagreb - Now, almost 4 years after we initiated the work on Regional Economic Area (REA) the region is ready to embark on the next phase of deepening regional economic cooperation assure the WB6 economies to have ownership first, and bringing the region closer to the EU internal ...
08 Mar 2020
Sarajevo – “We are in the 3rd decade of 21st century and yet the tales of successful business women are not frequent but rather breaking news. In the Western Balkans even more so as only 1 in 5 women owns a business. And not only that – employment rate of women in the region in 2018 was ...
21 Feb 2020
Tirana – “Without a strategic innovation function that can enhance the capacities to incubate and accelerate new technologies, companies in the Western Balkans will continue to stockpiling undeveloped inventions and this will not return in an investment. We risk falling into the trap of ...
22 Nov 2019
Durres – “Today, with presenting the results of the completed 12 and awarding 16 new grants for the tourism development and promotion in the Western Balkans, we are showing you a part of the success story from this region, and it is not a success of policy-making or GDP but of the people. ...
08 Jul 2019
Sarajevo – „A year behind us was a dynamic one and we are prepared to continue just as dynamic in the next one. We, at the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) are ready and keen to embark on any challenges ahead of us but we cannot do it without the full support of our regional and European ...
04 Jul 2019
Poznan – “Two years since the endorsement of Multi-annual Action plan on Regional Economic Area (MAP REA) in Trieste and one year since London our region can show only a mixed track record at best. Western Balkans (WB) did not fully embrace Regional Economic Area (REA) and as a result ...
04 Jul 2019
Poznan – “There's no better way to stress the need for stepping up the regional cooperation than quoting the citizens and businesses of the Western Balkans (WB) who overwhelmingly, with 74% and 67% respectively, believe in regional cooperation. The recent success with dropping of roaming ...
18 Jun 2019
London – “Share of the European Union (EU) in both Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) and exports in the region is well over 70%. For all the talk about the growing Russian and Chinese economic clout in the Western Balkans six (WB6), only 3% of exports in 2018 went to Russia, and less than ...
24 May 2019
Brussels – “Western Balkans (WB) is a welcoming environment for investments, with corporate profit tax rates ranging from 9% to 15%, being among the lowest in Europe and monetary and financial systems strongly dependent on euro. And yet, one of our the strongest assets is human resource ...
09 May 2019
Sarajevo – “Western Balkan economies are united by need and a sense of emergency and awareness that there is a clear reason why regions come together in the world. Divided we cannot stand, because we are small economies, each one with its own problems. But all together we could be an interesting ...
26 Mar 2019
Brussels – “Upcoming second WB Digital Summit in Belgrade, as well as the Poznan Summit are our chances to showcase that we can deliver together as a region,” said Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Majlinda Bregu, at the meeting of the Multi-Annual Action Plan ...
21 Mar 2019
Sarajevo – Coordination Board of the Regional Cooperation Council’s (RCC) South East Europe’s growth Strategy (SEE 2020) has met in Sarajevo today, to reflect on the implementation results, identify potential action synergies for further cooperation as well as post-2020 regional priorities ...
20 Mar 2019
Tirana – The Western Balkan Six (WB6) Component Contact Points (CCPs) in charge for implementation and monitoring of the Multi-Annual Action Plan for Regional Economic Area (MAP REA) reflected on the results of MAP REA implementation during the period July-December 2018, at their third meeting, ...
07 Mar 2019
Trieste – Majlinda Bregu, Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) visited the seat of the Western Balkans Six Chamber Investment Forum (WB6 CIF) in Trieste today, where she met with Safet Gerxhaliu, Secretary General, Marko Čadež, President of the Governing Board of ...
11 Dec 2018
Podgorica - The third meeting of the Western Balkans Six 6 (WB6) Working Group on Capital/Financial Markets, organised by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), took place in Podgorica today, deliberating on the possibilities of advancing this work towards the overall financial markets ...
11 Oct 2018
Sarajevo – The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) began operationalisation of the Regional Investment Reform Agenda (RIRA), with a series of consultations with Western Balkans Six (WB6) economies, on the development of their individual-economy Investment Policy Reform Action Plans (IRAPs), ...
09 Oct 2018
Brussels – The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) hosted the 3rd meeting of Coordinators of Multi-Annual Action Plan (MAP) on Regional Economic Area (REA) in Western Balkan Six (WB6), discussing the implementation results, next milestones, the most pressing challenges and reiterating commitments, ...
05 Jul 2018
Brussels – Governing Board of the Regional Cooperation Council’s (RCC) South East Europe 2020 Strategy (SEE 2020) endorsed the 2018 Annual Report on Strategy’s implementation (ARI), at its fifth meeting held in Brussels today, in the eve of the presentation of the RCC’s Balkan barometer ...
03 Jul 2018
Brussels – The Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) is to present the implementation results of the region’s growth strategy, South East Europe 2020 (SEE2020) on 5 July 2018 in Brussels, and day after, on 6 July also in Brussels, the RCC will reveal the results of its 4th edition of the public ...
17 May 2018
Sofia – The Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council, Goran Svilanovic, took part at the EU-Western Balkans Summit hosted by the Bulgarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, in Sofia today. The Summit is dedicated to strengthen links between the EU and the Western Balkans in ...
15 May 2018
Tirana - Component Contact Points (CCPs) of the Multiannual Action Plan for the Regional Economic Area (MAP REA) for the Western Balkans Six (WB6) met for the second time at the meeting convened by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), in Tirana today, to discuss monitoring results and ...
12 Mar 2018
Brussels – Representatives of the South East Europe’s (SEE) economies participating in implementation SEE 2020 Strategy endorsed the Programming Document for the period 2018-2020, at the 6th Meeting of the SEE 2020 Programming Committee held in Brussels, under auspices of the Regional ...
30 Jan 2018
Trieste – The second meeting of the Coordinators for the RCC’s Multi Action Plan (MAP) for a Regional Economic Area (REA) in the Western Balkans six (WB6) took place in Trieste today. The meeting provided an overview on the key developments in MAP implementation in each of the WB6 economies ...
19 Dec 2017
First Meeting of the Western Balkans Six Capital Market Authorities Vienna - In line with its activities on the implementation of the Multi Annual Action Plan (MAP) for a Regional Economic Area (REA), the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) organised the first meeting of the Western Balkans ...
03 Nov 2017
Vienna - The Western Balkans Six (WB6) Multi-Action Plan (MAP) for Regional Economic Area (REA) in the area of investments’ policy reform was in the focus of the regular meeting of SEEIC-CEFTA Joint Working Group on Investments (WGI), organized by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) in ...
31 Oct 2017
Brussels - Following the Trieste Western Balkans (WB) Summit and the endorsement of the RCC’s Multi Action Plan (MAP) for a Regional Economic Area (REA) in the WB6, the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) and the Western Balkans Chamber Investment Forum (CIF), organized the first Meeting of ...
12 Oct 2017
Geneva – The first regional meeting of the South East European (SEE) International Investment Agreements (IIAs) Negotiators was held in Geneva today under the umbrella of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), and in cooperation with the UN Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), aiming ...
RCC boosting competitiveness in South East Europe
09 Dec 2015
BUDVA/SARAJEVO - Ministers for Economic Affairs of the Western Balkans gathered today for a conference in Budva and expressed their commitment to continue regional cooperation based on principles of accountability, participation, solidarity and good neighbourly relations. In this way, they ...
26 Jan 2011
Secretary General of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), Hido Biščević, and the President of the Foreign Trade Chamber of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Veselin Poljašević, on behalf of the Association of Balkan Chambers (ABC), signed today at the RCC premises in Sarajevo a memorandum of ...