The Parliamentary Assembly of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (PABSEC - http://www.pabsec.org/) was created on 26 February 1993 in Istanbul. At present, PABSEC is composed of 76 parliamentarians representing twelve Member States of the Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC - http://www.bsec-organization.org/): Albania, Armenia, Azerbaijan, Bulgaria, Georgia, Greece, Republic of Moldova, Romania, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Turkey and Ukraine.
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:
- 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 legislation needed for the implementation of decisions taken by the Heads of State or Government or by the Ministers of Foreign Affairs;
- to provide assistance to national parliaments so as to strengthen parliamentary democracy;
- to promote cooperation with other international and regional organisations.
On the occasion of its 20th Anniversary to be celebrated in 2013, PABSEC is organising, in partnership with the Black Sea Universities Network (BSUN – www.bsun.org), a student essay competition on the topic “The Black Sea Region 20 years from Now”. The competition aims to involve students from the 12 BSEC Member States in shaping the vision for the future of our region in cultural, political and economic terms. They will be provided with a unique opportunity to take part in a regional educational project and to express their views, dreams and expectations for the future.
The deadline for submission is December 1st, 2012. Details regarding submission, eligibility and writing guidelines are available on the Black Sea Universities Network 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 March 1st, 2013. The winners (one from each Member State) will be invited to the PABSEC Summit to be organized within the framework of the 41st General Assembly in May/June 2013, where they will be awarded a diploma. Their travel, accommodation expenses and per diem will be covered by PABSEC. The 12 winning essays shall be published in a special volume on the 20th Anniversary of PABSEC, as well as in a special issue of the International Journal “Letters from the Black Sea” (BSUN).
Prof. Eden Mamut
Secretary General
Black Sea Universities Network
BLACK SEA UNIVERSITIES NETWORK
INTERNATIONAL PERMANENT SECRETARIAT
Address: 124, Mamaia Avenue, 900527 Constanta, ROMANIA
Phone / Fax: +40 241 614 983
Mobile: +40 748 142 615
E-mail: bsun@univ-ovidius.ro
Web: http://www.bsun.org