02.04.2015, 17:11
14th Meeting of the PCC SEE Expert Working Group
Budapest, Hungary - The 14th meeting of the PCC SEE statutory body - the Expert Working Group (EWG) - took place on 31 March and 1 April 2015 in Budapest, Hungary, under the auspices of the current Hungarian PCC SEE Chairmanship-in-Office and with support from the PCC SEE Secretariat. The two-day meeting brought together nationally appointed members from all eleven PCC SEE Contracting Parties and representatives from Cepol, Eurojust, Europol, DCAF, RCC and ICITAP. The EWG members strongly supported the development of the PCC SEE Secretariat’s role to assist the Contracting Parties with a more comprehensive use of PCC SEE tools for cross-border cooperation and agreed to include this topic for ministerial discussion at the upcoming meeting of the Committee of Ministers, to be convened on 5 May 2015 in St. Pölten, Austria. The EWG members also highlighted the relevance of monitoring and evaluation in the PCC SEE implementation process and agreed that the ministers should evaluate the progress and present their future expectations and needs. They also will welcome visits of the PCC SEE Secretariat, beginning with the Western Balkan countries, where in-depth interviews are planned to be conducted with all relevant key players on the national level. Among other issues, the EWG supported the 18-month Work Programme of the incoming PCC SEE Trio Chairmanship of Macedonia, Moldova and Montenegro, to be endorsed by the ministers in May.