SARAJEVO – The 29 members of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) Board met in Sarajevo today to discuss RCC work in the last quarter of 2008 and the activities planned for 2009.

In his report to the Board members, the RCC Secretary General Hido Biscevic informed of the Secretariat’s main activities in the final quarter of 2008: an outreach campaign the RCC experts carried across the Southeast European capitals; the process of networking among RCC National Coordinators from Southeast Europe, the RCC Secretariat, the European Commission and relevant international financial institutions; the political consultations with RCC members from Southeast Europe and outside the region; and enhanced dialogue with other regional organisations and initiatives.

Secretary General Biscevic recalled the opening in Brussels in October of the RCC Secretariat’s Liaison Office, which will serve as a link between the countries of Southeast Europe and the Brussels based institutions, ensuring that the region features high on the agenda of the organizations such as the European Union.

In 2009, the RCC Secretariat will focus on project and result-oriented activities with a view to achieving overall economic and social progress in Southeast Europe, consolidating the region's European and Euro-Atlantic potential and perspective. This will include work on establishing the South East Europe Regional Fire-Fighting Centre and the Southeastern-Central Europe Catastrophe Risk Insurance Facility, and a project to promote sustainable use and integrated management of the region's inland waterways.

The regular quarterly report covers the period between 1 October 2008 and 5 December 2008. It is available HERE.

The RCC Board provides the organization with operational guidance and supervision. It consists of those RCC members contributing to the budget of the RCC Secretariat as well as the European Union, represented by the Troika, consisting of the EU Presidency, the European Commission and the EU Council Secretariat.