Albanian Institute for International Studies

Albanian Institute for International Studies - European Program

HOME ABOUT US AREAS OF RESEARCH PUBLICATIONS NEWS & EVENTS EUROPEAN PROGRAM

AIIS DONORS
European Commission's Delegation in Albania

Embassy of United States of America, (Tirana, Albania)

National Endowment for Democracy, USA

The Balkan Trust for Democracy

...and more

AIIS PARTNERS
Center for Strategic & International Studies

Austrian Institute for International Affairs

Hellenic Foundation for European and Foreign Policy

...and more

AREAS OF RESEARCH
Euro-Atlantic Integration

Democracy, Security and Transition

Regional Security and Cooperation

GET INVOLVED
Internship

Partnership

Sponsorship

FORUM
Launched as the Albanian Forum initiative in 1999, the Forum evolved into the Foreign and Security Forum in 2004 due to the enlarged scope of the themes under discus-sion. Since its founding, the Forum has benefited from the financial support of: Open Society Founda-tion for Albania (SOROS) in 1999, EC Delegation in 2000, US Emba-ssy in 2001, and EC Delegation in 2002 to June 2003... ...read more

AIIS European Program

MISSION

European Program (EP) is the AIIS research and policy center which focuses on contemporary issues of the European / EU policy debate. The AIIS - European Program mission is to facilitate Albania's EU integration process by providing the policy-making community with relevant expertise and assistance.

To achieve its mission, EP will:
• Support the European Integration process and the implementation of EU driven reforms.
• Promote innovative (ground-breaking) public debate and increase public awareness on challenges and opportunities of European integration.
• Conduct policy impact research on governing practices in Albania and promote the principles of good governance.
• Strengthen the country's capacities to comply with EU membership criteria through the implementation of capacity building measures and human resources development.

WHY AIIS EUROPEAN PROGRAM?
Noting the increased complexity of the integration process, AIIS decided to set up EP in 2005 as an independent research center that is administratively related to the Institute. EP' formation follows a long experience of AIIS and its expert team in this research area, which has been demonstrated through the successful implementation of several program activities. The AIIS projects in this context have put emphasis on:
• Increasing public awareness and strengthening the knowledge on the European integration process and the European Union, by bringing "Europe" closer to Albanian citizens.
• Providing expertise / know-how to policy-makers and strengthening Albania's capacities in facing the challenges of the stabilization and association process.
• Advocating and promoting European principles and values.
• Promoting the Albanian policy debate on European issues in progress and encouraging civil society participation and assistance on Albania's path towards Europe
• Providing in-depth analysis and recommendations on acute issues challenging the country's development and the EU driven reforms.

As long as EP activities broadly conform to the AIIS mission statement, EP is operationally free to formulate and implement its day-to-day policy goals.

MONTHLY BULLETIN EUROPA

"EUROPA" is a monthly review whose main goal is to bring the country's European integration process and "Europe" closer to Albanian citizens. The newspaper is a contribution towards "Europeanization" of the Albanian society through strengthening its knowledge on the EU, our country's efforts towards EU membership, on challenges and opportunities of the enlargement process in general, etc. EUROPA's target audience involves: civil society representatives, media and business community, academia (university professors and students, researchers, high school teachers, undergraduates), civil servants (at both, local and central level) and the Albanian public in general. This publication is financially supported by Friedrich Ebert Foundation (office in Tirana) and by a modest contribution of AIIS.

Contact Person:
Marsida Gjoncaj
Researcher
Tel: +355 42 488 53
Fax: +355 4270337
E-mail: aiis@aiis-albania.org
mgjoncaj@aiis-albania.org

EP ACTIVITIES

Albanian - EU
Research & Information Center

This is a project of the Albanian Institute for International Studies supported by the EU Delegation in Albania in the framework of Enhancing the Role of Civil Society in the European Integration Process under CARDS 2005.

The project aims the greater involvement of the Albanian business community in the European integration process through awareness-building, improved access to information and capacities for managing information flow.

This page is a virtual portal that seeks to not only disseminate information and the recommendations of our studies on the issues related to business in the context of European integration, but also the promotion of successful communication and exchanges between the representatives of the business community, the researchers of the Albanian Institute for International Studies, as well as other relevant stakeholders. The Challenge of Integration and the
Pre-accession Aid
On 22nd of April 2005, the Open Society Foundation - Soros (Albania) and Albanian Institute for International Studies organized a national conference, gathering representatives from the most prominent think-tank non-governmental institutions in the country to discuss the EU assistance for the Western Balkan in 2007 - 2013. The European Commission adopted in 2004 a Proposal for establishing an Instrument for Pre-accession Aid (IPA) under which the Western Balkan countries do not receive financial assistance for regional development, human resources development and rural development. The national conference was intended not only to articulate the Albanian civil society's concern on this issue, but also to serve as a starting point for a larger debate and for an intense lobbying process with the ultimate goal to modify the Commission's proposal.
The 2006 - 2008
Strategy for
European Integration
Responding to the request of Soros Foundation (Albania), made early this year, Albanian Institute for International Studies proposed a three-year Strategy for European Integration (2006 - 2008) and the respective Implementation Plan. The main purpose of the Strategy is to increase public awareness on the integration process by encouraging civil society participation and contribution in monitoring the reforms' implementation. The strategy foresees four key components which have been coupled by AIIS with appropriate project activities:
• Information and awareness building campaign on the European Integration Process.
• Supporting the (inter)national institutions through research, policy papers and advocacy.
• Training and capacity building measures.
• Publications.

The AIIS - European Program will be directly involved in the implementation of the foreseen project activities starting from 2006. As the Soros Foundation provides only 50% of the funds, EP will raise funds with other donors in order to ensure successful implementation of the Strategy.

USEFUL LINKS:

Last updated 2/4/08• webmaster@aiis-albania.org