State Secretary at the MFAEI Marija Pejčinović Burić opened the international conference “Learning about the EU – Diversity of education aspects for the European integration”

Present at the opening of the conference, along with state Secretary Pejčinović Burić, were UK Ambassador to Croatia Sir John Ramsden and Head of the Political Section of the European Commission’s Delegation to Croatia Christos Makridis.

Folowing the success of the first two conferences, “Learning about the EU – Education for European integration” from 2003 and “Learning about the EU – Preparations for the challenges of approaching and joining the EU” from 2004, it is the wish of the organisers, the MFAEI and the Konrad Adenauer Foundation to go on with the debate on the specific areas of the European integration, offer the ideas on how to address different target groups and stimulate further co-operation development in the region.

Based on the one-year EU membership experience of the 10 new members and in the light of Croatia’s preparations for the accession negotiations, the MFAEI is fully aware of the necessity of further education about the European integration. It is precisely the recognition of this necessity and its implementation that are the first step in creating an efficient state administration prepared for functioning within the EU.

This year’s conference will see the participation of a 100 or so representatives from 20 countries (EU members, accession and candidate countries, and SAP countries) coming from different sectors – local and central state administration, institutions for the education of civil servants, private and non-governmental organisations participating in the education in European integration. The conference will serve as a forum for exchanging knowledge and experiences from the field of education in European integration throughout Europe.