Programme

09:00 | Registration of participants 

09:30 | Welcoming addresses

• Séamus Boland, President of the EESC
• Wolfgang Katzian, President of the Austrian Trade Union Federation and the President of the European Trade Union Confederation
• Marilena Raouna, Deputy Minister of European Affairs, Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU (video message)

09:45 | Opening session - The Western Balkans on the Road to the EU: Trust, Democracy, Civil Society

Moderator: Corina Stratulat, European Policy Centre (EPC)

• Séamus Boland, President of the EESC
• H.E. Ulrike Hartmann, Special Envoy for Southeast Europe and EU-Enlargement, Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of the Republic of Austria
• Eva Liebmann, Deputy Secretary General, Austrian Federal Economic Chamber 
• Thomas Waitz, Member of the European Parliament
• Wojciech Kowalski, Advisor on the Western Balkans, Directorate-General for Enlargement and Eastern Neighbourhood, European Commission
• Andi Dobrushi, Director of Open Society Foundations - Western Balkans

DISCUSSION

11:00 | Coffee break and press conference

11:30 | Enlargement and European Security: Public Expectations, Political Readiness and Civil Society’s Role

Moderator: Corina Stratulat, European Policy Centre (EPC)

• Patrick Lobis, Head of the European Commission Representation in Austria
• Danijela Gacevic, Head of the Programme Department in the Secretariat of the Regional Cooperation Council
• Frauke M. Seebass, Associate Researcher at the Hellenic Foundation for European & Foreign Policy (ELIAMEP) and Visiting Fellow, SWP Brussels
• Veronika Móra, Co-President of the European Civic Forum
• Andreas Accardo, Head of Unit, Institutional Cooperation and EU Charter, EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA)

DISCUSSION

13:00 | Lunch offered by the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC)

14:30 | Reform Momentum and the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF): Opportunities for Civil Society

14:30 | Session I: Civil Society and the Growth Plan: Best Practices from the Region

Moderator: Violeta Jelić, President of the EESC's Western Balkans Follow-up Committee 

• Andrej Zorko, Vice-President of the EESC's Western Balkans Follow-up Committee
• Simonida Kacarska, Reform Monitor for the EU Growth Plan for the Western Balkans – TEN network (Director of the European Policy Institute – Skopje)
• Srđan Majstorović, Chair of the Governing Board, European Policy Centre Serbia
• Jorida Shytaj, Executive Director of Europe Plus
• Uroš Bulatović, President of the Young the Entrepreneurs Union of Montenegro

DISCUSSION

15:45 | Session II: The Next MFF: Funding Civil Society and Accelerating Socio-Economic Convergence

Moderator: Ionuţ Sibian, Vice-President of the EESC's Western Balkans Follow-up Committee

• Umur Gökçe, Deputy Head of the OECD's South East Europe Division
• Branimir Jovanović, Economist at the Vienna Institute for International Economic Studies (wiiw)
• Agon Nixha, Senior expert on Competitiveness, Regional Cooperation Council (RCC)
• Egzona Shala, Executive Director, Youth Ecological and Security Zone-EcoZ
• Klotilda Kosta, Board Chair, Balkan Civil Society Development Network (BCSDN)
• Aida Daguda, Director, Center for Civil Society Promotion (CPCD)

DISCUSSION

17:00 | Key Takeaways and Closing Remarks

• Violeta Jelić, President of the EESC's Western Balkans Follow-up Committee