Latest News
 Commission on the Black Sea publishes Final Report “A 2020 Vision for the Black Sea Region”, Ankara, Athens, Bucharest, Gutersloh, 17 May 2010. Read more…
Tedo Japaridze represents the ICBSS at the Official Presentation of the Report of the Commission on the Black Sea, Istanbul, 17 May 2010.
Tedo Japaridze and Panagiota Manoli participants at the Expert Hearing "Perspectives on qualitative growth from the Black Sea Region" organised by the Commission on the Black Sea, the Bertelsman Stiftung, the Federal Ministry for European and International Affairs of Austria, and Kadir Has University, Istanbul, 16-17 May 2010. Commission on the Black Sea publishes Policy Report IV “Democracy and Good Governance in the Black Sea Region” by Franz-Lothar Altmann, Johanna Deimel and Armando Garcia Schmidt, April 2010. Download. Commission on the Black Sea publishes Policy Report III “Reinvigorating Black Sea Cooperation: A Policy Discussion” by Panagiota Manoli, March 2010. Download. Commission on the Black Sea publishes Policy Report II “Security in the Black Sea Region” by Mitat Çelikpala, February 2010. Download. Dimitrios Triantaphyllou and Tedo Japaridze speakers at International Conference “The Black Sea - Current and Future Prospects” of the Commission on the Black Sea jointly organised by the Bertelsmann Stiftung, The Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States, the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV), and the ICBSS. Panagiota Manoli and Yannis Tsantoulis participants at the aforementioned conference, Berlin, 24-25 January 2010. Commission on the Black Sea publishes Policy Report I “The Current State of Economic Development in the Black Sea Region” by Panagiotis Gavras, January 2010. Download.
About the Commission on the Black Sea
The Commission on the Black Sea is an initiative which aims to contribute to a joint vision and common strategy for the Black Sea region* by developing new knowledge on areas of key concern. Throughout 2009, the Commission will carry out a policy-oriented study on the future of the Black Sea region to be presented in a comprehensive report. At the same time, the Commission will also make related policy recommendations addressed to the main actors in the Black Sea context. The four core themes to be addressed are: democracy, socio-economic welfare, regional cooperation, and security.
* The Commission defines the “Black Sea region” as constituted by the following ten countries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Moldova, Romania, Russia, Turkey, and Ukraine.
Project Initiators
The Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, a project of the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMFUS BST), Romania; the Bertelsmann Stiftung, Germany; the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey (TEPAV), Turkey; and the International Centre for Black Sea Studies (ICBSS), Greece; jointly developed the project and launched it in January 2009. All partners have extensive expertise on the region and have previously collaborated in the frame of other projects. This core group of partners jointly implements the project whilst actively seeking the involvement of further experts and actors.
Project Context
The Black Sea region is increasingly becoming a priority on the international agenda. In fact, a regional approach is gradually developing as actors understand that common problems need to be addressed jointly in order to find effective solutions. However, cooperation efforts are seriously hampered by a number of factors such as uneven economic and political development within and among countries, nationalist forces, and longstanding animosities between regional players. The August 2008 events in Georgia have clearly demonstrated the potential for violent escalation of unresolved conflicts and the negative impact of such events on the local population but also on the entire region. The same can be said of the winter 2008/2009 gas crisis between Ukraine and Russia.
In this context it is imperative to foster dialogue and devise cooperation policies so as to contain and ultimately resolve conflicts with peaceful means. However, little policy oriented research exists on the challenges and opportunities for cooperation in the Black Sea region, meaning that it is harder to develop sound, evidence-based policies. Moreover, existing research tends to focus on specific topics (e.g. energy, transport, the environment, etc.), and/or be based on a rather one-sided view (national or Western/Euroatlantic).
Project Objectives and Expected Outputs
The Commission on the Black Sea aims to redress this imbalance by developing a comprehensive, policy-oriented study on the future of the Black Sea region which will be produced jointly involving scholars and stakeholders from the region as well as from countries beyond the Black Sea region, with a view to be as comprehensive and balanced as possible. The goal is to present not just short term, sectoral or stakeholder-specific interests, but to provide input for a new vision and long-term strategy addressing key aspects of the overall development of the Black Sea as a region.
To facilitate the mainstreaming of the study’s results, the Commission will produce by early 2010 a joint report with an executive summary as well as policy recommendations addressed to key stakeholders. The project will be accompanied by targeted dissemination activities and a project website is available at http://www.blackseacom.eu/
Contact
For further information on the Commission on the Black Sea project and on how to get involved
please contact Mr. Yannis Tsantoulis via our Contact Form.
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