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1 If the cannot be displayed, follow this link please. Issue 01/2015 Dear Sir or Madam, Welcome to the first issue of our GIZ compass newsletter in which we will report regularly about the work of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH in Europe and around the globe. We are dedicating our first issue to countries with perspective to join the EU. The European Union, which today has 28 Member States, remains as attractive as ever, despite its economic difficulties and currency crisis. Shared values, a common internal market and common policies promise security, stability and longterm prosperity. Six countries are currently official accession candidates, while two more have the prospect of EU accession. However, moving closer to the European Union poses major challenges for these countries. In this issue, we will show how GIZ on behalf of the German Government and the EU brings accession candidates and partnership countries closer to the EU, for example in Serbia, Albania and Moldova. We hope you find our newsletter interesting. To continue receiving it, please register here. The GIZ compass editorial team In this issue: In focus Serbia: Well prepared for accession negotiations Albania: Hands-on assistance for agriculture Moldova: More efficiency and transparency in the justice sector

2 Panorama Mediterranean: Lowering energy consumption, improving climate protection Turkey: Run for the sun Europe: Safe and healthy food In brief: Bonn Conference for Global Transformation kicks off in May Recently published Cooperation Management for Practitioners akzente app At your beck and call Serbia: Well prepared for accession negotiations GIZ is assisting Serbia as it prepares to join the European Union Official EU accession negotiations with Serbia started in early But behind the scenes, the government of this Western Balkan state has long been gearing up to join the EU. GIZ is assisting Serbia in this process. The country has to prove it is harmonising national legislation with EU legal directives. To do so, Serbia s ministries are developing concepts for the transition phase, for example, for its financial, economic and agricultural sectors, and for regional development. Above all however, they have to agree on a common approach that will enable them to competently represent their country s interests in negotiations with the EU. On behalf of Germany s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), GIZ is advising the Serbian Government on the negotiation process, with a view to securing successful EU accession. This involves assisting the government to develop its negotiation architecture, map out negotiation strategies and hone its negotiation skills. Some 35 negotiation groups have already been formed and a new set of regulations is helping the individual institutions cooperate more efficiently with each other. In specially tailored training seminars, coaching sessions and simulations, the negotiators are readying themselves for the actual process of negotiation. The system used to train Serbia s civil servants has also been successfully professionalised. Moreover, GIZ enables the negotiation groups to exchange lessons learned with other accession candidates and fledgling EU Members such as Croatia and Slovenia. To date, negotiations are going to plan: The Serbian Government s negotiator groups give the project the thumbs up for improving internal coordination. Almost 90 per cent of staff that have helped prepare for the negotiations confirm they are able to do their work more efficiently and competently thanks to the further training and improved procedures Contact: andrej.horvat1@giz.de Albania: Hands-on assistance for agriculture A pilot project rolls out EU standards in agriculture

3 En route to the EU, Albania, which officially became an EU accession country in June 2014, will have to implement some extensive reforms. A key factor here is agriculture which, despite conducive conditions, is reliant on expensive imports and, hampered by a lack of modernisation and low productivity, is slow to develop. To access funding from the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance in Rural Development (IPARD) a mechanism set up specifically to assist accession candidates Albania will have to reform its administrative and control systems in line with EU specifications. On behalf of the German Government, GIZ has been assisting the Albanian Ministry of Agriculture with this reform process since It is preparing agricultural agency staff to disburse and manage EU funding. In practice-oriented training sessions, employees are learning how to apply European regulations and procedures in their day-to-day work. They are also being equipped with better technical resources. At the same time, the pilot project, which is being cofinanced by the European Union and the Albanian Government, is enabling agribusinesses and food-processing companies to apply for subsidies, which they can invest in modernisation. Companies can expect subsidies of up to 65 per cent of the investment value, if they put the money into food safety, animal protection or environmental conservation. The Albanian authorities are processing the applications in line with EU criteria, demonstrating that they have the capacity to comply with EU standards. The aim is to get official accreditation for Albania with the EU Rural Development Programme IPARD. Albania s agriculture sector is already reaping the benefits and investment subsidies amounting to some EUR 5.5 million have been disbursed. Of the 255 applications for assistance made within the first two years of the project, around 35 per cent have been successful. And the success rate increases with every call for applications, as more and more agribusinesses are meeting the legal and formal funding criteria. Contact: birgit.schaefer@giz.de Moldova: More efficiency and transparency in the justice sector GIZ is advising the Moldovan Ministry of Justice on rolling out reforms In June 2014, Moldova signed an Association Agreement with the European Union. The government hopes that closer ties with the EU will shake up the economy, create more jobs and help in the fight against corruption. The EU is assisting this Eastern Partnership country to roll out its national justice reform strategy and align the justice sector with EU standards, rendering Moldova s courts more efficient, independent and transparent. It has earmarked around EUR two million for this purpose. GIZ started implementing the project in Together with its European partners, the Center for International Legal Cooperation (CILC) and Justice Coopération Internationale (JCI), it is advising the Moldovan Ministry of Justice on implementing specific stages of reform, for example, honing the justice sector s Code of Conduct, improving management of the courts, boosting their efficiency and making them accessible to the public. Capacity building in the IT sector is also important, as complaints about corruption can only be processed quickly if data is managed efficiently. The project is supporting Moldova s judges as they familiarise themselves with EU legislation and apply reference cases from international law. Special training sessions are being held to introduce them to Englishlanguage legal texts and literature. To make the people of Moldova more aware of these reforms, the project is cooperating with civil society organisations and the media. In the long-term, this is to help build people s trust in their courts. GIZ has been working in Moldova for more than 20 years on behalf of the German Government, promoting the process of transformation in the field of governance and democracy as well as in

4 business and employment. Contact: Mediterranean: Lowering energy consumption, improving climate protection On behalf of the EU, GIZ is helping save energy An intelligent current control system, energy-saving lamps and effective roof insulation: Since it was refurbished, the Centre Hospitalier du Nord in the Lebanese city of Zgharta saves around EUR 45,000 in energy costs each year. A low-energy building in Aqaba, Jordan, consumes less than 20 per cent of the primary energy resources a comparable conventional house does. Designed not to heat up in the sun, its greened terraces have a cooling effect, while an air ventilation system prevents warm air from accumulating and the cavity walls are filled with sand and straw. These are just two of the ten pilot projects implemented by a GIZ-led consortium. More energy-saving buildings have been constructed, for example, in Algeria, Egypt, Jordan and Morocco. The European Union has commissioned this regional project which will cost EUR 6.5 million to boost energy efficiency and disseminate renewable energies in the construction sector. The project relies on modern, energy-saving building technologies but also takes account of traditional Mediterranean construction techniques that are optimally adapted to the climatic conditions. At the same time, GIZ advises these countries on drafting laws and regulations to promote energy efficiency and the use of renewables. Lebanon, Jordan and the Palestinian territories have all developed energy-efficiency plans that pave the way for their future energy policies. GIZ also gets the private sector on board, offering training and feasibility studies for architects, engineers and construction companies. There is not only vast potential for saving energy in the construction sector energy efficiency also drives job creation. Rendering entire neighbourhoods energy efficient optimises job creation, and this is therefore the objective of another project assisted by GIZ in the region since early 2015 on behalf of the EU. Contact: kurt.wiesegart@giz.de Turkey: Run for the sun Turkey s tourism sector is gearing up to beat the competition Located on the Bosporus, around 35 million foreign tourists visited Turkey in 2013, making it one of the world s top 10 tourist destinations. Behind the scenes, however, this success poses challenges for local businesses: hotels and restaurants want to satisfy their guests every need. To do this, and at the same time remain competitive, they have to operate as efficiently, economically and environmentally soundly as possible. Turkey s tourism sector needs well-trained managers and qualified staff.

5 On behalf of the European Union, GIZ is setting up a new range of training services for Turkey s tourism sector, which are geared to and easily accessible by employers and employees alike. Around 3,000 licensed tourism companies are benefiting from these services which include training programmes for hotels, hygiene, occupational health and safety, environmental protection and quality management. To enable smaller companies to access training swiftly without having to wade through red tape, GIZ has developed a shortterm training voucher system that benefits around 1,500 employees. An online training platform is also being set up that all companies in the Turkish tourism sector can use to download training videos, presentations and specialist documents, for example, for internal training. The aim is to strengthen companies willingness to engage in further training while promoting environmental awareness in the hotel management sector and making the companies more competitive. Contact: basak.isbir@giz.de Europe: Safe and healthy food GIZ has been commissioned by the EU to strengthen consumer protection in Europe Contaminant-free soils, healthy animals and natural animal feed: the safety of the food we eat depends on a wide range of factors. Consumers in the European Union are protected by consumer protection codes and regulations. In practice, however, the way Member States implement and monitor EU directives varies. The programme Better Training for Safer Food by the Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (SANTE) and the Consumers, Health and Food Executive Agency (CHAFEA) aims to change this. The EU has earmarked around EUR 4.5 million to improve food and feed safety in the EU. GIZ designs and organises the training courses that have been running, mainly in Europe, since Training is open to food experts from EU Member States, accession countries and from countries that export products to Europe. So far, more than 130 seminars have been run and over 4,000 participants have already undergone training, which will gradually help harmonise compliance with analysis and testing standards for the food and feed sector, and for animal and plant protection, across the EU. GIZ implements the training programme as part of a consortium with European institutions and agencies. (PDF; 0,55 MB) Contact: sergio.ninotti@giz.de Bonn Conference for Global Transformation kicks off in May International Conference Series for Sustainable Action On 12 and 13 May, GIZ and the German Federal State of North Rhine- Westphalia will launch a new series of conferences. The Bonn Conference for Global Transformation 2015 will discuss the United Nations post-2015 Sustainable Development Goals. Under the banner

6 From Politics to Implementation, the conference will focus on practical approaches and solutions. It offers experienced practitioners and decision-makers from around the world an opportunity to exchange strategies and solutions and to forge new networks and alliances. Beside Jeffrey D. Sachs, Special Advisor to UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on the Millennium Development Goals, the list of speakers includes the Indian environmental activist and holder of the Alternative Nobel Prize, Vandana Shiva, and the Executive Director of the IASS Institute for Advanced Sustainability Studies, Klaus Töpfer. Contact: Recently published Cooperation Management for Practitioners GIZ presents its management model Capacity WORKS In the recently published manual Cooperation Management for Practitioners, Managing Social Change with Capacity WORKS, GIZ shows how to make social change processes successful and sustainable. Whether in health care, education or legal systems, or even the reduction of government debt, these days the complexity of social change calls for interaction between various actors from politics, business and civil society, across national frontiers and continents, too. GIZ s Capacity WORKS management model pools experience of designing reform processes throughout the globe over more than 50 years. The new manual provides a broad insight into the methodology and includes a large number of practical examples. It is geared to managers, executives and advisors in the fields of business, politics and civil society and is available in English, French, German and Spanish. Contact: karin.heymann@giz.de akzente app At your beck and call GIZ s magazine now available in the App Store You can now read GIZ s akzente magazine which contains reports, photographs and interviews that highlight the wide range of work that GIZ does on your tablet. Our journalists and photographers visit projects on climate change, youth promotion, energy, water supply and many other topics, giving you an idea of what goes on behind the scenes. The magazine is issued every three months in German and English, and has been honoured with a number of awards for its highquality journalism and design, most recently in 2014 when it received a prestigious Gold and Silver Fox Award. You can download the new app free of charge from your App Store.

7 itunes.apple.com/gb/app/akzente/id ?mt=8 play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=de.giz.akzente&hl=de apps.microsoft.com/windows/de-de/app/akzente/b311e29a-a455-48cf-b048-70a95701dd82 Contact: Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH Registered offices Bonn and Eschborn, Germany Friedrich-Ebert-Allee Bonn, Germany Phone: Fax: Responsible: Dorothee Hutter, Director of GIZ Corporate Communications Editorial office: Carolin Bansbach, Christina Gewehr, Hannes Utescher Dag-Hammarskjöld-Weg Eschborn, Germany Phone: Fax: Internet: Registered at Local court (Amtsgericht) Bonn, Germany: HRB Frankfurt am Main, Germany: HRB VAT no.de Your newsletter options: Change your profile Contact the editorial team Unsubscribe Recommend