Author: Ioannis Stribis

The launch of the Black Sea Synergy initiative by the European Union brought into the discussion the concept of the Black Sea Sectoral Partnerships as tools for the effective implementation of this policy, linking stakeholders from the region (the European Union, the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and their member states) and beyond. The exact modalities of such Partnerships remain however unclear. After a short presentation of the relevant experience acquired in the framework of the Northern Dimension, the Policy Brief endeavours to identify the main elements that are necessary in order to develop effective Black Sea Partnerships. In this respect a Partnership should therefore be project- or programme-oriented, ensure the participation of and ownership by all interested stakeholders, provide for meaningful funding opportunities and have a smooth and efficient governance scheme. Particular attention should be paid as well to the process of the generation of ideas that would eventually be developed as concrete Partnerships.

The edition is available here.

The post Policy Brief n.14 appeared first on ICBSS - International Centre for Black Sea Studies.

Author: Argyro Spyridaki

Transport has had a prominent position in human history because it is tightly connected with the existence of human life and activity. The need for communication and the trade development, especially in the globalized economy, have boosted the transport industry to become one of the most dynamic sectors and play a key role for the distribution of the freight flows globally. In addition to this, the traveling from one end of the earth to another has been significantly facilitated by the existence of the trains, airplanes, ships, cars and the combination of the above modes of transport. In the past, transport also contributed to the shape of the human geography as the transportation networks played an important role in the military conflicts as well as the heyday and decline of major cities.

The edition is available here.

The post Policy Brief n.30 appeared first on ICBSS - International Centre for Black Sea Studies.

Monitoring and Policy Research This task includes monitoring political and economic developments in the Black Sea region including the relevant EU policies and initiatives; reporting on current regional cooperation structures; preparing policy proposals. 

In this framework, the ICBSS has published the following policy briefs: 

- Japaridze, Tedo, Panagiota Manoli, Dimitrios Triantaphyllou and Yannis Tsantoulis. “The EU’s Ambivalent Relationship with BSEC: Reflecting on the Past, Mapping out the Future.” ICBSS Policy Brief, no. 20. Athens: ICBSS, January 2010. 
- Gavras, Panayotis and Ghinea Arminio Iorga. “The Impact of the Current Economic and Financial Crisis on the Black Sea Region.” ICBSS Policy Brief, no. 18. Athens: ICBSS, October 2009. 
- Stribis, Ioannis. “Pooling Forces in Protecting the Black Sea Marine Environment: Actors and Actions.” ICBSS Policy Brief, no. 17. Athens: ICBSS, October 2009. 
- Stribis, Ioannis. “Black Sea Sectoral Partnerships: A Tentative Model.” ICBSS Policy Brief, no. 14. Athens: ICBSS, April 2009. 
- Tsantoulis, Yannis. “Black Sea Synergy and Eastern Partnership: Different Centres of Gravity, Complementarity or Confusing Signals?” ICBSS Policy Brief, no. 12. Athens: ICBSS, February 2009. 
- Japaridze, Tedo. “A Memo on How to Make the EU-BSEC Relations Relevant and Productive.” ICBSS Policy Brief, no. 11. Athens: ICBSS, February 2009. 
- Manoli, Panagiota and Stelios Stavridis. “An Emerging Euro–Black Sea Parliamentary Dimension: Contributing to the Black Sea Synergy.” ICBSS Policy Brief, no. 9. Athens: ICBSS, December 2008. 

Media Monitoring 

Media monitoring is carried out through the systematic review of foreign press and policy publications. An output of this activity is the Black Sea News Update (BSNU). 

The BSNU is a fortnightly brief of political and economic developments covering the Black Sea region. 

The BSNU pdf files are available for download.


Visa Policy Monitoring 

Monitoring developments in the European context regarding visa issuing for citizens of the Black Sea states. 

Visa Brief No. 4 - January 2010 
Visa Brief No. 3 - September 2009 
Visa Brief No. 2 - June 2009 
Visa Brief No. 1 - March 2009 

Networking Networking will be ongoing and includes promoting the organisation of the International Black Sea Symposium. 

The Symposium is targeted at young experts and professionals from the Black Sea region. 

Duration: 12 November 2008 – 11 November 2010 (24 months) 

Funding Source: Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs

The post EU – Black Sea Observatory appeared first on ICBSS - International Centre for Black Sea Studies.

Author: John Roberts

Energy security is one of the most important priorities of the European Union. In this context Azerbaijan is capable of playing two key roles in helping to ensure stable gas supplies to Europe: as a producer in its own right and as a prospective entry point for the supplies from the southern shores of the Caspian Sea. But there are both political and commercial complications. This Policy Brief explores Azerbaijan’s complex energy relations with other regional actors such as Russia, Iran, Turkmenistan and Greece. For Azerbaijan (and also Turkmenistan), establishing a direct connection between Turkey and Austria is likely to prove the key element for increasing their gas exports to the European market.

The edition is available here.

The post Policy Brief n.15 appeared first on ICBSS - International Centre for Black Sea Studies.

Black Sea Symposium: a chance for extroversion of the Black Sea area as an influential crossroad between east and West, by Dr. Zefi Dimadama

The post Black Sea Monitor 23 appeared first on ICBSS - International Centre for Black Sea Studies.

Author: Eleni Fotiou

Since the start of the Justice and Development Party (AKP) government’s second term in office (July 2007 to date), which coincided with an upgrading of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s Senior Advisor Ahmet Davutoglu’s role, Turkey’s foreign policy has begun to pursue a regional “soft power” role. The Georgian-Russian war of August 2008 served as a catalyst for Turkey’s immediate quest for security in pro-active terms; in the context of the “zero-problems with neighbours” policy (“komşular arası sıfır problem”) and “rhythmic diplomacy” (“ritmik diplomasi”), the Turkish leadership proposed the establishment of a “Caucasus Stability and Cooperation Platform”. In this paper, the author attempts to assess the potential of this initiative by looking at the motives and the leverage of Turkish foreign policy, and by analysing the real position, the perceptions and intentions of the various regional and external stakeholders, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Russia, the United States and the European Union. Essentially, the author seeks to present the limitations of the initiative and the opportunities that emerge through alternative frameworks for regional cooperation.

The edition is available here.

The post Policy Brief n.16 appeared first on ICBSS - International Centre for Black Sea Studies.

Author: Seven Erdoğan

Each enlargement process of the European Union (EU) brings along new neighborhoods and alters the old ones. This motivates EU to develop a way to deal with the new or old neighborhoods to transform them in line with European values and to protect the zone of security, peace and stability in Europe. This paper aims to deal with the EU’s involvement in the Black Sea region. In this scope, firstly, the EU policy mechanisms, namely the European Neighborhood Policy (ENP), the Black Sea Synergy and the Eastern Partnership (EaP), will be considered to be used in the relations with the Black Sea countries. Secondly, strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of the EU in its engagement to the Black Sea region will be identified. The paper finally, will conclude that the EU has to devote more resources and efforts for the Black Sea region to enhance its strengths, to mitigate its weaknesses, to utilize the opportunities and to protect itself from the threats of its new neighborhood.

The edition is available here.

 

The post Policy Brief n.31 appeared first on ICBSS - International Centre for Black Sea Studies.

Authors: Matteo Bocci, Frédérick Herpers, Thanos Smanis, Christophe Le Visage Thodoros E. Kampouris, Andrew Kennedy, Nataliia Korzhunova, Emmanouil Nikolaidis,  Natalia Zubchenko

Preface by: Georgios Mitrakos

Managing Editor: Georgia Chantzi

Blue economy has always been high in the agenda for policy stakeholders and researchers over the years, however through scarce and uncoordinated actions. Therefore, it is optimistic that over the past years, there are coordinated efforts from all parties involved, to implement a result-oriented strategy with targeted policies related to the sustainable development of the marine and maritime sectors.

The concept of Blue Growth is evaluated positively by the Black Sea countries, as it addresses a significant potential of the wider region that remains untapped. Besides, the inter-connectedness of the seas and of the maritime activities demands for enhanced cooperation and coordination of actions among stakeholders for the optimum results.

The edition is available here.

The post Xenophon Paper No.16 appeared first on ICBSS - International Centre for Black Sea Studies.

Author: Ioannis Stribis

The starting point of this Policy Brief has been the call of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of the BSEC Member States (Ankara, 25 October 2007) to strengthen the cooperation among international institutions for the protection and rehabilitation of the Black Sea marine environment. After a succinct reminder of the natural facts impacting on the state of the Black Sea marine environment, the paper goes on to present the international legal framework that regulates the protection and preservation of the marine environment, in order to identify the main principles of the international cooperation in this field. It then identifies the international organisations, institutions and programmes that develop activities relating to the protection of the Black Sea marine environment and analyses their relevant competences and operations. The paper explores the existing institutional and working interaction of these organisations in activities aimed at the protection of the Black Sea marine environment and studies ways and means that such a cooperation can be strengthened, and enlarged to cover international actors that have been so far not involved in the joint effort to protect, preserve and rehabilitate the fragile and vulnerable marine environment of the Black Sea.

The edition is available here.

The post Policy Brief n.17 appeared first on ICBSS - International Centre for Black Sea Studies.

Authors: Zefi Dimadama, Boris Videv

Renewable energy sources (wind, solar energy, hydropower, ocean energy, geothermal energy, biomass and bio fuels) are the main alternatives to fossil fuels that successfully contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, diversification of energy supplies and reduce the dependence on unreliable and volatile markets of fossil fuels, especially in terms of oil and gas. The EU has been estimated as a leader in the development of renewable energy sources. It holds 40 percent of the world's patents in the field of renewable energy sources and in 2012 almost half (44%) of global capacity to produce energy from renewable sources (excluding hydropower) was located in the EU. Currently, the sector of energy production from renewable sources in the EU employs about 1.2 million people. EU legislation on the promotion of renewable energy sources has evolved considerably in the recent years. As a main priority in the “Horizon 2020” the EU has included the intelligent transformation of European cities into smart energy hubs. Around 200 million euros would be provided as a program budget for research and innovation in the framework of “Horizon 2020” for funding the smart cities.

The edition is available here.

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