”Cross-border cooperation is vital for stability, growth and development in Europe”, the declaration adopted at the 2nd Forum on Cross-Border Cooperation in a Wider Europe states.
Stronger integration between the EU and its neighbours can play a crucial role in providing new stimulus for economic development and for positioning EU countries in a competitive way within the global economy, the participating organizations stressed at the conference which took place in Kaliningrad (Russia) and Elblag (Poland) in late November. The conference participants also presented a number of concete proposals on how to strengthen contact and cooperation across the Schengen border, the main dividing line between the EU and its eastern neighbors. Among the proposals is the need for accelated and better coordinated border management allowing faster and better quality of cross-border movement of people and goods
The Forum on Cross-Border Cooperation in a Wider Europe took place in Kaliningrad and Elblag on 17-18 November 2011 (photo: Atle Staalesen)
The declaration adopted at the conference calls for better use of modern IT technologies to quicken border crossings, the creation of joint check points at the external EU border and the improved coordination and cooperation between the state agencies working on the common borders, as well as improved coordination between national, European and international regarding legal norms.
Read the whole Declaration here
The Forum participants also propose to use the preparation for the new EU budgetary period (2014-2020) as an opportunity to provide a higher political priority and more financial resources to promoting cross-border cooperation in the European Neighbourhood.
The Forum on Cross-Border Cooperation in a Wider Europe was attended by a major number of expert organizations on cross-border cooperation, as well as representatives of state and regional authorities engaged in the field.
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The Forum on Cross-Border Cooperation in a Wider Europe is an annual conference initiated and supported by several expert organizations cooperating in the European Border Dialogues Network. Among the organizations involved are the Institute of Stability and Development (Czech Republic/Slovakia), the Kaliningrad Development Agency, the Jefferson Institute (Serbia), the Institute of Trans-Frontier Cooperation (Ukraine) and the Norwegian Barents Secretariat.
The first Forum was held in 2010 in the border areas between Slovakia and Ukraine. In 2012, the forum will be organized in Moldova.
