The Regional CBC Consultative Forum facilitates communication and information sharing among IPA-IPA CBC stakeholders, with a view to maintain, in a community of good practice, a constructive and active dialogue regarding the implementation of the programmes. The CBC Forum also features a cross-cutting and region-wide nature, chiefly in CBC programming and implementation, with a view to promoting the harmonisation of effective procedures on aspects of common interest to foster generation of knowledge, exchange of experience and joint solutions.

Due to well-known limitations caused by Covid 19, no CBC Forum meeting took place as a gathering in person over the last three years. The 8th CBC Forum was organised as a virtual event on 30 May 2022. Being considered as the most powerful platform for regional interaction and networking, knowledge and exchange, the IPA-IPA CBC stakeholders have expressed high interest in restarting the practice of holding a regional event at least once per year somewhere in the Western Balkans, as it was the case until end of 2019.

The main goal of the 9th Forum was to bring together the IPA CBC community to discuss topics of regional interest, for instance, the state of play of IPA II CBC programmes’ implementation, IPA III CBC principles and changes (legal and policy framework, programming and implementation of CBC programmes, organisation of the commitments, contracting deadlines, launch of the first calls), new approach to communication & visibility and other issues of relevance at the present stage.

The event gathered more than 70 participants coming from

  • DG NEAR and EUDs/EUO, as well as representatives from DG REGIO
  • Operating structures representatives (including in the case of indirect management, the CBC body and the contracting authority);
  • Staffers of the joint technical secretariats;
  • A person representing an Interreg programme;
  • CBIB+4 team.

The Forum agenda revolved around two major topics, namely: the state of play of the IPA II CBC programmes and the implementation kick-off of the IPA III CBC programmes.