The contribution of the Black Sea Economic Co-operation organisation to regional development
The contribution of the Black Sea Economic Co-operation organisation to regional development

Summary/Abstract: The Black Sea Economic Co-operation (BSEC) zone, formed in 1992, was one of the first formal initiatives that aimed to develop economic co-operation between countries that were once members of the two adversary alliances of the Cold War era. Greece and Turkey, the NATO-affiliated members of BSEC, became partners with their formerly communist neighbours: Albania; Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bulgaria; Georgia; Moldova; Romania; the Russian Federation; and Ukraine. The partnership required co-operation in quite a comprehensive list of areas, including trade, but without providing a basis for any preferential treatment for trade between members. BSEC has emerged as a regional initiative encouraging co-operation and improved market access rather than protection and preferential treatment. It has helped its members improve their ability to link with the global economy and has created welfare gains through increased trade between its members. Even though it did not emerge as a strong form of regional integration per se, the BSEC Summit Declaration reflected an early awareness of the potential role that regional co-operation could play in this area and assigned a high priority towards assistance to transition members struggling to connect with the world economy. With all these characteristics of its members, and its almost unique nature, BSEC certainly deserves more attention than it has actually received in the literature. BSEC experience must be studied further, and extensively, as the organisation could act as a role model for other regional initiatives.

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