Details

09.00 - 09.05Opening remarks by Dr.Peter Weilemann, Director for the Brussels Office, Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung

09.05 - 09.10Introductory remarks by Ioannis Varvitsiotis MEP, Chairman of the Constantinos Karamanlis Institute for Democracy and Member of the European Parliament Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs, former Greek Minister for Defense

09.10 - 09.30Keynote Address by Olli Rehn, EU Commissioner for Enlargement

Session I

09.30 - 11.00ARE THE BALKANS BECOMING PART OF THE EUROPEAN ECONOMY?

How much store should we set by signs that the economies of the Western Balkans are at last leaving behind them the economic doldrums of recent years? Growth averaged more than 5% last year in all five of the region’s countries, and direct inward investment by foreign companies totalled a healthy $6bn for 2003-4. Are Balkan countries poised to become a high-skilled, low-cost part of the wider European economy?

Ahmet C. Bozer President of Coca-Cola Eurasia and Middle East Division

Kolinda Grabar KitarovicMinister for Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Croatia

Milo DjukanovicPrime Minister of the Republic of Montenegro

Olli RehnEU Commissioner for Enlargement

Moderated by Carl Bildt, Member of the International Commission on the Balkans and former Swedish Prime Minister

11.00 – 11.30Coffee Break

Session II

11.30 - 13.00WHICH BALKAN COUNTRIES ARE HEADED FOR EU MEMBERSHIP?

The EU membership outlooks, and indeed ambitions, of Balkan countries differ widely. With the EU now digesting the implications of the French and Dutch ‘No’ votes for the Constitutional treaty, what are the prospects for the Union’s enlargement in South East Europe? How effective are the EU’s efforts to promote convergence in the region and what are the risks of a split developing between those countries likely to join and those that are not? Is Croatia’s waning enthusiasm for EU membership a passing phase or a significant pointer to public opinion elsewhere in the Balkans?

Werner FasslabendMember of the Austrian Parliament, Chairman of the Standing Subcommittee on European Union Affairs and Chairman of Modern Politics

Mladen IvanicForeign Affairs Minister, Bosnia-Herzegovina

Doris Pack MEPChairwoman, European Parliament Delegation for Relations with the Countries of South-East Europe

Ricardo Pascual Bremon Head of Unit, Enlargement Strategy Coordination, Directorate General for Enlargement, European Commission

Musa XhaferriDeputy Prime Minister of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM)

Moderated by Ioannis Varvitsiotis MEP, Chairman of the Constantinos Karamanlis Institute for Democracy and Member of the European Parliament, former Greek Minister for Defense

13.00 - 14.00Buffet Lunch

14.00 - 14.10Introductory remarks by Giles Merritt, Secretary General of Friends of Europe

14.10 - 14.30Keynote Address by Boris Tadic, President of the Republic of Serbia

Session III

14.30 - 16.00WHAT ARE THE DO’S AND DON’TS OF BALKAN RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT?

The EU is now cautiously pointing to the successes that have accompanied its step-by-step approach of bilateral “Europe Agreements” to consolidate Balkan peace and prepare the region’s countries for EU and NATO membership. The European Investment Bank says that last year’s 20% jump to €460m in its funding of transport, energy and environmental projects, is opening the way for more private sector assistance. What are the policies that have been most effective, at both national and EU levels?

Giuliano AmatoChairman of the International Commission on the Balkans and Former Italian Prime Minister

Genc PolloMinister of Education and Science of the Republic of Albania

Goran RadmanChairman of Microsoft South-East Europe

Bajram RexhepiMember of Parliament and former Prime Minister of Kosovo

Jean-Louis SixMember of the Board of Directors, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD)

Ivan VejvodaExecutive Director of the Balkan Trust for Democracy, German Marshall Fund of the United States

Moderated by Giles Merritt, Secretary General of Friends of Europe

16.00Break

16.10 - 17.00SOUTH EAST EUROPE TV PREVIEW: “GREETINGS FROM KOSOVO”

Join us for the preview of Greetings from Kosovo, a 50-minute SEETV documentary film which will be released concurrently with the start of talks to settle Kosovo’s future. It the result of a joint collaboration of Serbian and Albanian reporters.

The film features not only the key decision makers, but also ordinary people from both the Albanian and Serb communities. There are radically opposing views on what the future status of Kosovo should be, but all agree that the current situation needs to change.

Key personalities interviewed in the documentary include Javier Solana, EU High Representative for Common Foreign and Security Policy, Richard Holbrooke, former US Ambassador to the UN, Bajram Kosumi, Prime Minister of Kosovo, Vuk Draskovic, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia and Montenegro, and many others.

17.00End of the European Policy Summit