Ms. Rositsa STOEVA - Executive Manager in PERMIS in charge of the BSEC-EU Cooperation
E-mail: rstoeva@bsec-organization.org; Tel: +90 (212) 229 63 30-35 ext. 127
The European Union (EU) enjoys the status of Permanent Observer with the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC) as of 2007.
BSEC is the oldest, most representative and institutionally mature intergovernmental organization in the wider Black Sea area, as recognized by the special references in the Black Sea Synergy Communications of 2007, 2008, 2015, as well as in the recently published Joint Staff Working Document “Black Sea Synergy: review of a regional cooperation initiative – period 2015-2018”.
Cooperation and synergy between the two entities remains high on their respective agendas and during the last couple of years this cooperation matured into a dynamic and project-oriented phase.
BSEC celebrated its 25th anniversary with its last Summit meeting in Istanbul in June 2017; the adopted Summit Declaration highlighted the importance of enhancing cooperation with the EU, as well as the renewed commitment of the BSEC Member States to foster pragmatic, effective and mutually beneficial cooperation. The EU is invited and participates in BSEC Ministerial and Senior Official meetings, as well as in those of various Working Groups, during which specific agenda items referring to BSEC-EU interaction are included.
A special Ad-hoc Working Group of Experts on BSEC-EU Interaction was established in 2005 meeting twice annually; coordinator of this Group is the International Center for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS).
BSEC representatives participated in all annual stakeholder high-level conferences on Blue Economy that have taken place so far in Bucharest (2014), Sofia (2015), Odessa (2016) and in Batumi (2017).
BSEC PERMIS was actively involved in the drafting of the Common Maritime Agenda for the Black Sea (CMA). In this regard, BSEC participated in the Burgas Ministerial Meeting for the endorsement of the “Burgas Ministerial Declaration towards the Common Maritime Agenda for the Black Sea” that took place on the European Maritime Day on 31 May 2018. The CMA was endorsed in 2019. BSEC PERMIS is also member of the group of experts from all Black Sea littoral countries plus the Republic of Moldova, developing the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda for the Black Sea (SRIA) basin.
PERMIS will continue contributing actively to the implementation of the above-mentioned significant regional developments through its participation in the Black Sea CONNECT CSA project and as a Member of the Steering Group of the CMA.
The tradition initiated in 2007 of informal meetings in Brussels between the BSEC open Troika and the members of the COEST working party continue taking place annually in late November.
During the last couple of years, a number of further bilateral meetings and consultations between the BSEC PERMIS and the EU took place in Brussels and Istanbul.
An ad hoc High-level Conference on BSEC-EU Cooperation took place for the first time ever in June 2019 in Brussels with the participation of many Ministers of Foreign Affairs from the Member States of both entities; participants underlined the importance of further enhancing cooperation in a flexible and result-oriented manner and proposed holding the event every second year. It is envisaged to consider the possibility of hosting the next event in Istanbul, headquarters of the BSEC Organization, if the Covid-19 situation permits it.
For further information kindly contact the Executive Manager in charge.