The International Commission was chaired by the former Italian Prime Minister Giuliano Amato, and its members were 17 internationally renowned decision-makers from different countries of Europe and the United States.
The objective of the International Commission was to develop a vision for the integration of the countries of South East Europe into the European Union and other international structures highlighting the progress made to date, supported by recommendations for action to the governments of the region and to the international community. As Chairman Amato pointed out: "We intend to be helpful both to the decision makers and to the societies in South East Europe as well as to the incoming European Commission".
Plan of the International Commission was to undertake three study tours to the region. The efforts of the Commission resulted in a final report by the early spring of 2005.
Web Site: www.balkan-commission.org
List of Members:
Chairman: Giuliano Amato, former Prime Minister, Italy
Carl Bildt, former Prime Minister, Sweden
Avis Bohlen, former US Ambassador to Bulgaria, former Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for European and Canadian Affairs
Jean-Luc Dehaene, former Prime Minister, Belgium
Kemal Dervis, Member of Parliament, former Minister of Finance, Turkey
Mircea Geoana, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Romania
Kiro Gligorov, former President, Macedonia
Francois Heisbourg, Director, Fondation pour la Recherche Strategique, France
Istvan Gyarmati, Chairman of the Board, Center for Euro-Atlantic Integration and Democracy, Hungary
Bruce Jackson, President, The Project on Transitional Democracies, USA
Zlatko Lagumdzija, President, Social Democratic Party; former Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Bosnia and Herzegovina
Ilir Meta, former Prime Minister, Albania
Neven Mimica, Member of Parliament, European Integration Committee, Croatia
Dame Pauline Neville-Jones, Governor, BBC, United Kingdom
Janez Potocnik, Member of the European Commission, Slovenia
Alexandros Rondos, former Ambassador at Large, Ministry of Foreign Affairs & Advisor to the Greek Foreign Minister, Greece
Goran Svilanovic, former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Serbia and Montenegro
Richard von Weizsacker, former President, Germany
Executive Director: Ivan Krastev, Chairman of the Board, Centre for Liberal Strategies, Bulgaria
Project coordinator: Vessela Tcherneva, Program Director, Centre for Liberal Strategies, Bulgaria
Full text of report (Adobe, PDF)
Period: April 2049 - May 2006
Coordinators: Ivan Krastev, Vessela Tcherneva
Financing Organisations: Robert Bosch Stiftung; German Marshal Fund of the United States; Charels Stewart Mott Foundation; King Baudouin Foundation