European Researchers’ Night is a Europe-wide public event that brings researchers closer to the public. The purpose of the event is to showcase the diversity of science and its impact on citizens’ daily lives, stimulating interest in research careers – particularly among young people.
This year, the event will take place in 29 countries on Friday 24 September.
In 2020, European Researchers’ Night attracted over 2 million visitors in Europe and beyond. Participants were able to meet researchers and discover the fascinating world of science in a fun and interactive environment – with their families or on their own.
European Researchers’ Night is funded under the European Commission’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.
Lilyana Pavlova, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank (EIB) – the lending arm of the European Union – reaffirmed the Bank’s support for faster recovery in North Macedonia and the country’s green and digital transition. Vice-President Pavlova recently visited Skopje and participated in the Ministry of Finance’s annual conference and met with Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, Finance Minister Fatmir Besimi, EU Ambassador David Geer and the management board of the Development Bank of North Macedonia. At these meetings, she confirmed the EIB’s unwavering commitment to North Macedonia, announcing support for new investments directed towards the recovery of small and medium-sized enterprises, a renewable and diversified energy supply, digitalisation and major infrastructure projects.
At the meeting, Prime Minister Zaev emphasised the exceptional cooperation with the EIB in supporting capital investment in infrastructure and other projects that are complementary to his government’s reform policies and North Macedonia’s process of integration into the European Union. Finance Minister Fatmir Besimi expressed gratitude for the support given by the EIB on the country’s path to EU accession and confidence that cooperation will continue.
The EU4BusinessRecovery project funded by the EU and the German government has launched a public call for project proposals in the metal and wood-processing sectors in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The project will ensure business continuity for small and medium-sized enterprises that have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, the call will support the creation of start-up companies.
The overall funding available through this call is €3 million while the funding amount per project is €48,000. The funding will be available for activities including the implementation of industry standards, purchase of state-of-the-art energy efficient machinery, dual or multi-source strategies in purchasing, development of a market entry strategy, and digital marketing innovation.
The EU4BusinessRecovery project was launched at the beginning of this year to support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises in Bosnia and Herzegovina to continue their business activities and preserve jobs. The total value of the project is €13.7 million, jointly funded by the European Union (€13 million) and the German government (€0.7 million euros). EU4BusinessRecovery is jointly implemented by GIZ (the German Corporation for International Cooperation), the International Labour Organization, and the United Nations Development Programme, and runs from 2021 to 2023.
On 7 September, the EU Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, in cooperation with the EU High Representative/ Vice-President of the Commission, Josep Borrell, Commissioner for Neighbourhood and Enlargement, Olivér Várhelyi, and the Slovenian Presidency of the Council, hosted a videoconference meeting of EU and Western Balkans Foreign and Home Affairs Ministers on countering firearms trafficking. The meeting also included EU agencies as well as regional and international organisations such as the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime.
Participants discussed the implementation of the 2020-2025 EU action plan on firearms trafficking with a focus on the actions concerning South-East Europe, and the implementation of the Regional Roadmap for comprehensive Small Arms and Light Weapons control in the Western Balkans. The meeting was an opportunity to discuss further action on the remaining challenges across the region, including gaps in the criminal law frameworks and data exchange between law enforcement, courts and prosecution offices.
Achieving the EU product quality mark has helped a construction company access international markets and improve standards at the same time.
The construction industry in Kosovo is booming, and is a major contributor to economic growth. This is partially due to the demand for housing in and around the capital Prishtina/ Priština, as well as in other major cities. And as demand continues to grow, so does the need for skilled labour and construction materials. Yet as with so many products, most of the materials used in construction are imported, creating a negative trade balance for Kosovo. But change is on the horizon!
Some domestic producers have seen that they can increase their market share by improving the quality of their products to meet EU standards – which, in turn, opens access to lucrative EU markets.
“The quality of concrete paving we produce matches what you’d find anywhere in the EU.”
Meet Shalaj, a family-owned business operating from Istog in western Kosovo. They have been investing for years to be ready for a share of this industry worth hundreds of millions of euros. Shalaj have always claimed that their paving materials are of German quality.
“The quality of concrete paving we produce matches what you’d find anywhere in the EU. Our company has been investing in technology and internal processes for many years to bring our products up to EU standards,” says Endrit Shalaj, the company’s Quality Control Manager.
Achieving proof of quality
However, it was only earlier in 2021 that the Shalaj company could back up their claim with a certificate. With support from an EU-funded project, Free Movement of Goods (FMG), they were able to understand what they needed to do to obtain the ‘CE’ marking. Coming from the French term ‘conformité européenne’, the abbreviation is the EU conformity mark used to certify that a range of products meet EU safety standards. FMG guided the company through the year-long conformity assessment procedure to prove that their product meets the requirements to gain access to the EU market.
“We cannot stress enough how happy we are to get the CE marking – something that we have been working to achieve for a very long time,” says Shalaj about the achievement that will pave the way to enlarging their share of the domestic market and will open new international opportunities.
But the learning didn’t stop there. All the experience and knowledge gained about the certification procedure, as well as domestic and EU legal requirements for construction materials, was shared with other manufacturers as part of the FMG project. One of the specialists involved in the process highlighted how this can give a boost to this important sector of the economy. “The FMG project showed that it is possible for Kosovo companies to achieve the CE marking. Now, the government and individual companies need to continue the work,” says Adam Pinney, a specialist in this field.
Sharing know-how and expertise from specialists like Mr Pinney as part of the three-year FMG project also helped improve product legislation and train enforcement agencies on making the market safer for workers and consumers. This included drafting legal texts, adopting European standards, accrediting conformity assessment bodies, obtaining calibration certificates, and training.
“The FMG project showed that it is possible for Kosovo companies to achieve the CE marking.”
About the project
The aim of the ‘Support to the Free Movement of Goods (FMG)’ project was to develop quality infrastructure, market surveillance and consumer rights in order to improve production processes and increase product quality and safety.
This is part of a wider goal to support the government of Kosovo in creating a more sustainable business-friendly environment aligned with EU standards and body of law – known as the ‘acquis’ – as required by the Stabilisation and Association Agreement.
This is part of Kosovo’s efforts to bring its legislation into line with EU laws, and to gradually develop a free trade area between the EU and Kosovo, where free movement of goods, services and capital are mutually guaranteed. Kosovo and the EU signed a Stabilisation and Association Agreement (SAA) in 2016 setting out mutual rights and obligations.
Achievements such as the CE marking for the Shalaj company are a clear sign that companies are more competitive, products are better and safer, and business partners can trust each other – true testimony as to how new roads are being paved between Kosovo and EU markets.
Open City Mostar Festival opened its doors on 1 September with a classical music performance and a rock concert. For three weeks, the festival will bring exhibitions and public discussions to this city in the south of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The festival supports the culture and tourism sectors, which have been badly affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as using culture to promote dialogue and inclusivity and bring down the barriers dividing communities in Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and the region.
EU Special Representative and Head of the EU Delegation to BiH Johann Sattler commented that cultural events can be a powerful medium to demonstrate that there is more that people have in common than that divides them. Such events also offer new ways of thinking and opportunities to understand different perspectives.
Funded by the EU, the Open City Festival is organised by the Mostar Rock School in cooperation with the City of Mostar. In addition to musical acts, and theatrical and audio-visual performances, discussions on the future of the city, ecology and BiH’s EU path also feature in the programme.
The European Investment Bank (EIB), the lending arm of the European Union, and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will finance a project to modernise urban transport in the city of Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Initially, this will cover the purchase of 15 new trams to replace the existing outdated tram fleet. The overall modernisation of the public transport network includes replacement of city’s trolley buses as well as construction of new roads.
The EIB has already allocated €40 million for this project, which will help with air pollution, traffic congestion and safety tackle – some of the daily challenges faced by people in Sarajevo. More efficient and reliable public transportation will encourage a shift from private to public transport, improving for the quality of city life and the environment alike.
To date, the EIB has invested €1.6 billion in the modernisation of transport infrastructure in the country, contributing to the construction of safer modern roads, primarily along Corridor Vc – a major north-south transit road in the Western Balkans through Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Young people from the Western Balkans attended a five-day summer school to discuss the region’s future by looking into history. The main aim of this initiative was to allow participants to examine the legacies and historical narratives of the Western Balkans through a critical lens. At the same time, the summer school provided participants with an open and safe space for dialogue.
The summer school enriched young students’ knowledge and understanding of the past and encouraged them to explore topics of regional reconciliation and peacebuilding. They learned how to start social campaigns in their home communities and to address issues relevant to their peers. They were also helped to develop the skills that are vital to active citizenship, intercultural learning and dialogue, and solidarity in society.
The summer school that took place in Kovačica, Serbia is part of the “Challenge History – React for the Future” project, which welcomed participants from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia. The project is supported by the Regional Youth Cooperation Office (RYCO) and co-financed by the European Union.
The Council of the European Union has recommended that the EU Member States gradually lift the travel restrictions at the EU external borders for residents of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Serbia, starting from 30 August 2021.
At the same time, it decided to revoke such recommendation for Kosovo and North Macedonia.
The EU Member States retain the discretion to lift the temporary restrictions on non-essential travel to the EU for fully vaccinated travellers.
Albania and North Macedonia started construction works on the first electricity interconnector between the two countries. The project is financed by the European Union (EU) and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and is part of the EU’s initiative to establish an East-West electricity transmission corridor between Bulgaria, North Macedonia, Albania, Montenegro, and Italy. The section between Bulgaria and North Macedonia, financed by the EBRD, has already been completed, and a new 400kV line between Albania and Montenegro as well as a submarine cable between Italy and Montenegro is also operational.
The new transmission line will provide improved and affordable energy supply to residents and businesses in North Macedonia by standardising voltage levels, stabilising load flow and frequency fluctuations, and decreasing technical losses in the overall transmission system. This project is important for the integration of European electricity markets and is a Project of Energy Community Interest (PECI) since 2013. It is included in the Strategy for Energy Development of North Macedonia until 2040 and is funded under the EU’s Connectivity Agenda.
The project, financed through the EU-led Western Balkans Investment Framework (WBIF), is expected to be completed in 2023.
