It is a great pleasure for me, on behalf of the European Commission and together with my co-chairman, Johannes Linn of the World Bank, to welcome you here today for this donor co-ordination meeting. I would like to extend a particularly warm welcome to deputy Prime Minister Labus, who is leading the FRY delegation, and to his colleagues, Mr Pitic, Minister for International Economic Relations of Serbia, and Mr Ivanisevic, Minister of Finance of Montenegro.

We have been waiting for and working towards this moment for a long time. Since the momentous changes following the Presidential elections in September the new democratic forces in the FRY have received a lot of international support and the country is being welcomed into many international organisations. Today’s meeting is part of that process, another step along the road of integration of the FRY into the international family. As you all know, the European Commission and the World Bank have a special mandate to co-ordinate donor activity in South East Europe. We wanted to have this meeting as soon as was practicable, both to show publicly the extent of international support for the newly democratic FRY and to ensure that the authorities, and the donor community, are aware of what is happening so they can plan their work together on a coherent basis.

Today, we will focus on how best to meet urgent needs, to help the population through the winter in reasonable conditions. This is important, not only for obvious humanitarian reasons, but also to preserve and accelerate the dynamic for change which must be sustained over the coming years. The FRY is now clearly embarked on a long-term process of political and economic change.

As you know, the EU has developed an integration framework for this reform process. The historic meeting, in Zagreb on 24 November, between the EU’s Heads of State and Government and the Presidents and Prime Ministers of Albania, Bosnia, Croatia, the FRY and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia confirmed the shared desire of all present for ever closer relations leading to integration into the EU and for strong regional co-operation among the countries in South East Europe.

The EU has confirmed that all five countries are potential candidates for EU membership. This is important for the people of these countries, as it gives a clear prospect of full integration into the European family. It is also important for their leaders and administrations, as legislative and administrative change, over time, should be designed to bring them closer to EU standards and norms, and for their economies as economic and social change should be geared to living and competing in the wider Europe. The introduction, wherever possible, of EU-compatible rules and practices will enhance the attractiveness of the region as a location for inward investment, while the status of the countries as "potential candidates" should also encourage increased private investment flows and accelerate their integration into the world economy

The EU's Stabilisation and Association process provides the framework for relations between these countries and the EU, giving concrete shape to the partnership. Commitments and obligations must be fulfilled on both sides - by the EU and by FRY - as an important investment in our common future. In light of the clear focus on future EU membership, non-EU countries and international organisations wishing to support reform in the region are also encouraged to plan and implement their assistance on the same basis.

Later this morning, after we have heard from the FRY delegation and from the UN agencies, the Commission will make a short presentation on our €200 million emergency aid programme which is now being implemented in Serbia, and share with you our first reflections on the priorities of our next assistance package, which will focus on more medium term objectives.

I would like to conclude these opening remarks with some information on how we intend to organise today’s meeting and its follow up. This is a donor co-ordination meeting, not a pledging conference. The aim of the meeting is firstly to invite the FRY authorities to present their needs and priorities to the international community. Secondly, by way of information exchanges, the this meeting will allow the international community to see clearly how promised assistance is covering these priority needs and if we can find ways of dealing with any gaps which remain. We are grateful to all of you who have provided information in advance of today’s meeting on what you are doing or planning to do. This information will facilitate our discussions today. It is important that all donors co-ordinate what they are doing and ensure continuing transparency. This co-ordination is vital for the FRY government in making the best use of scarce resources and will help ensure that all assistance is used to best effect.