XV Adriatic Ionian Council held in Brussels

The XV Adriatic Ionian Council, concluding the Slovenian AII year of Chairmanship, was held on May 27 in Brussels.

The representatives of the eight Governments of the AII, chaired by the Slovenian Minister of Foreign Affairs Erjavec, approved the Brussels Declaration 2013 which welcomed the significant progress of regional cooperation in the Adriatic Ionian basin achieved with particular regards to the progress in the process of establishing the "EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region".

High level officials of the European Commission informed Ministers about the ongoing procedures and process that will bring to the final approval of the EUSAIR by the end of 2014.

Furthermore, the establishment of an "Integrated Secretariat" between the AII Permanent Secretariat and the Executive Secretariats of the Adriatic Ionian Fora of civil society, as well as the prosecution of the Regional Cooperation Programme approved last year, were highly appreciated by Governments.

The text of the 2013 Brussels Declaration is enclosed.