In addition to participation at the informal meeting of the Directors of the Schools and Institutes of Public Administration (DISPA) Network hosted by the European School of Administration and devoted to the transformational leadership, the ReSPA Director also had several meetings with the representatives of the European Commission, Directorate General for the Neighborhood and Enlargement Negotiations (DG NEAR). On 21 October 2016, the ReSPA Director met Mr. Simon Mordue, the Director for Strategy and Turkey and Ms. Genoveva Ruiz Cavalera, the Director for Western Balkans. Both Directors strongly supported ReSPA as an important instrument for the regional cooperation of the Western Balkans (WB) countries. It was emphasized that ReSPA shall perform as a center of excellence for Public Administration Reform (PAR) in the WB countries, as a part of the EU integration process. Through the synergy and complementarity with the SIGMA initiative, ReSPA activities shall, in particular, derive from the recommendations of the European Commission country reports.  The Directors also welcomed the extension of the Agreement Establishing ReSPA for additional period, emphasizing the importance of the support of all ReSPA Members, as well as the efforts of Kosovo* to finalize the accession process to ReSPA at the earliest convenience. In addition, on 19 October 2016 the ReSPA Director met the Policy Officers responsible for PAR and IPA from the Unit A.3. – Thematic Support, Monitoring and Evaluation, while on 20 October 2016 the ReSPA Director met Mr. Bernard Brunet, Head of Unit A.3.

* This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244 and ICJ Advisory opinion on the Kosovo Declaration of independence