Trieste, Italy - The first in 2009 training for
civil servants of sixteen participating states on "Policies on the protection
and social integration of immigrants, and their implementation at the
international, national and local level" has been held from 26 July to 2 August
2009 at the Palazzo del Ferdinandeo, Largo Caduti di Nasirya n° 1.
The UniDem – Universities for Democracy -
Campus project was initially established as a part of the Council of Europe’s
contribution to the Stability Pact as adopted in Cologne on 10 June 1999 and was
launched in 2000 by the Venice Commission with the financial support of
the Region Friuli-Venezia Giulia government. Since, it has been a great success:
nearly 3000 civil servants have been trained. Its
main goal is to strengthen efficient administration and good governance, as well
as democratisation and human rights, including the rights of persons belonging
to national minorities, law enforcement and institution building.
Public administrations and civil services
are of paramount importance for guaranteeing the democratic stability. Citizens
and other users of publicly should have confidence in the state structures, and
notably in the public policies and public administration.
It is therefore essential that, on the one
hand, appropriate public structures operate on the basis of clear rules and
transparent procedures set out in accordance with the principles of rule of law.
On the other hand, public officials should enjoy adequate legal status and
working conditions, and be aware not only of their rights, but also of their
responsibilities and duties towards the public they serve.
The one-week seminars (campus)
are intended for
officials from national administrations of 16 Eastern European countries who are
invited, following the seminar, to pass on the insights they have gained to
their colleagues in their respective countries.
The UniDem Campus programme aims at
providing to civil servants legal training in subjects such as the protection of
fundamental rights, including the rights of national minorities, the principle
of good governance and the rule of law, as well as the issues raised by
accession to the European Union.
The teaching staff is composed of experts
with practical experience in the field concerned (civil servants, judges), as
well as university professors, from various countries (5-7 lecturers per
seminar).
The languages of the seminars are the
official languages of the Council of Europe, i.e. English and French, each
seminar being held in one language only.
These seminars are provided at no cost to
selected officials who receive formal certificate of their participation.
The UniDem CAMPUS seminars take place in
Trieste, Italy, in Palazzo del Ferdinandeo, five times per year. They are run by
the Venice Commission of the Council of Europe, with the financial support of
the Region Friuli-Venezia Giulia.
The duration of each seminar is from three
to five days.
The seminars are organised on the basis of
an interactive method, which includes:
a. lectures introducing the
subject, followed directly by questions from participants.
b. discussions of practical
examples proposed by the lecturer. This exercise aims to help public servants
coming from different countries identify common European values that can be
applied in their respective States.
c. exchange of experience. Indeed,
during each seminar, two or three national delegations are charged with making a
short presentation on the specific situation in their respective countries
related to the topic of the seminar. This exercise is intended to stimulate a
discussion of practical situations that participants have come across in their
work as well as to identify areas where legislation and/or practice should be
improved in order to satisfy common European standards fully, and to find ways
of adapting such legislation and/or practice to these standards.
The target group can be defined in general
as civil servants who in their daily work have to apply law in conformity with
European standards. This group includes civil servants at a level of some
responsibility, as well as civil servants at the start of their career and
judges.
The UniDem Campus is aimed at the
officials from the following countries: Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina,
Bulgaria, Croatia, Georgia, “the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia”, Moldova,
Romania, Russian Federation, Slovenia, Serbia and Montenegro and Ukraine.
The selection of participants (three
persons per country) is made by the Venice Commission on the basis of a list of
candidates proposed by the “national co-ordinators” of the participating
countries (nominated by the authorities of each participating state).
It is the
north-easternmost region in Italy, lying between the Alps and the Adriatic Sea.
Due to its geo-political situation, this Region is mainly cross-border oriented.
Indeed, the importance given to international relations constitutes one of the
fundamental elements of its “regional specificity”. This activity not only
allows this autonomous Region to highlight its unique advantages with regard to
other Italian regions, but also represents an important opportunity for the
socio-economic development for the entire regional territory.
The legislative bases for the Region’s
international activities are Article 47 of the Statute of the Region, Law n°19
of 1991 (concerning the “frontier areas”), and the newly amended Chapter V of
the Constitution, that assigned more competences to the regions in the field of
international relations.
The Region aims to strengthen its role on
the international scene, and to benefit from every possibility to develop its
relations with neighbouring countries and regions of Central and Eastern Europe.
The Region Friuli-Venezia-Giulia is also
the seat of other international institutions, such as the Central European
Initiative, the Research Area, the Light Laboratory “Synchrotron”, the
International Superior School of Advanced Studies, the Technical Secretariat of
the Pan-European Corridor n°5, and the Universities of Udine and of Trieste.
