On the 26th February 1993 in Istanbul, the Speakers of the Parliaments of nine countries – Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Romania, Russian Federation, Turkey and Ukraine – adopted the Declaration on the Establishment of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC). At present, PABSEC is composed of 76 parliamentarians representing twelve Member States of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), including Bulgaria, Greece, Serbia.
Being an inter-parliamentary consultative body of the BSEC, the Assembly has been uniting the efforts of national parliaments to pursue the following aims, as stated in the preamble of the PABSEC Rules of Procedure:
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to secure the understanding and adoption by the peoples of the ideals and aims of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation;
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to provide a legal basis for economic, commercial, social, cultural and political cooperation among the member countries;
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to enact legislation needed for the implementation of decisions taken by the Heads of State or Government or by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs;
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to provide assistance to national parliaments so as to strengthen parliamentary democracy;
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to promote cooperation with other international and regional organisations.
On the occasion of its 25th Anniversary to be celebrated in 2018, the PABSEC is organising, in partnership with the Black Sea Universities Network (BSUN), a student essay competition on the “Views and Perspectives for the Future in the Black Sea Region”. The competition aim is to bring together young people’s views on the future development of the BSEC Region and shaping the vision for the future of our region in cultural, political and economic terms. The participants will have the unique opportunity to take part in a regional educational project and to express their views, dreams and expectations for the future.
The topic proposed for the competition is:
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“Twenty-five years of the Parliamentary Cooperation in the BSEC Region – Views and Perspectives for the Future” – The parliamentary cooperation in the region has a long tradition. But, after the adoption of the Declaration on the Establishment of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC) on 26th February 1993, in Istanbul, the Parliamentary cooperation entered in a new pace by uniting the efforts of the national parliaments to pursue the following aims: to secure the understanding and adoption, by the peoples, of the ideals and aims of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation; to provide a legal basis for economic, commercial, social, cultural and political cooperation among the member countries; to enact the legislation needed for the implementation of the decisions taken by the Heads of State or Government or by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs; to provide assistance to the national parliaments so as to strengthen the parliamentary democracy; to promote the cooperation with other international and regional organizations. Which are the most significant achievements up to now and what kind of future perspectives have to be taken into consideration?
The deadline for submission is 31st March 2018. The details regarding submission, eligibility and writing guidelines are available on the BSUN website at the following address: www.bsun.org/PABSEC_Essay_Competition.
Entries will be evaluated and selected by national committees in every Member State, by May 2018. The winners will be invited to the PABSEC 51st General Assembly to be held during 19th-21st June2018 in Tirana, where they will be awarded a diploma. Their travel and accommodation expenses will be covered by the PABSEC. The winning essays shall be published in a special issue of the BSUN International Journal “Letters from the Black Sea”.
Technical requirements:
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The essay must be written in English language
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The essay should be between 6,750 and 9,000 words.
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The essay must be written with Times New Roman font size 12 points.
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The composition must reflect the competitor’s own writing and original thinking and any quotations or copyrighted material used in the essay must be identified properly.
Competition schedule:
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STAGE I – Announcing of the competition - January 2018
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STAGE II - Closing date for submitting the essays - 31st March 2018
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STAGE III – Evaluation – May 2018
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STAGE IV – Announcement of the winners – June 2018
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STAGE V – Prize awarding at a special ceremony during the 51st PABSEC General Assembly, in Tirana, on 21st June 2018.