29 January 2007

Co-chaired by the Stability Pact and the SEECP Chairmanship-in-Office (Croatia), the meeting of the Institutional Working Group (IWG) on 23 January 2007 in Brussels brought together representatives of all South Eastern Europe countries and the donor/international community.

The Working Group had the first round of discussions based upon the five areas identified by the Stability Pact as the areas needing clarifications and legal definition:

• Mandate of the Secretary General of the Regional Co-operation Council (including the nomination procedure which will be covered by the SEECP Chairmanship-in-Office (Croatia)
• Designation of the seat of the Regional Co-operation Council Secretariat
• Mandate of the Regional Co-operation Council
• Structure of the Regional Co-operation Council
• Relationship between the Regional Co-operation Council and individual Stability Pact Task Forces and Initiatives

For each of the identified areas, a small Task Force has been established that will in the following weeks work towards presenting a draft text in the area covered that will be used as a base for discussion when the IWG meets next – on 14 February in Zagreb.

The identified areas should receive the backing from the group so that the drafts can be presented to the SEECP Foreign Ministers when they meet in Zagreb on 2 March.

• Background information [Link]