Border Crossing Facilitation: Actions to Overcome Operational Difficulties (Greece)

The problem of border-crossings was quickly identified as one the most important concerns for the region of South East Europe, since the onset of SECI. Long delays in transiting international borders were identified not only as an inconvenience to travellers, but also as a serious obstacle to economic development and trade. Such delays were found to be costly to those engaged in commerce as well as discouraging to potential new entrants. It was also known that these long delays can be shortened by the payment of bribes, a factor that further deters investment by reputable firms. Along with the technical support of the UN Economic Commission for Europe, SECI took the following steps to carry forward its border-crossing program:

Thirty-five border stations in the SECI region have been identified as in need of improvement. The countries concerned specified the nature of the desired improvements and their estimated cost. On the basis of the available data, loan applications from Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova and Romania have been submitted to the World Bank. Each country was responsible for its own application. The World Bank team leader developed a program for approximately 85 million USD including co-financing, loan and bank payment. Soft loans would go to Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Moldova, while the others were eligible for IBRD loans. An evaluation has been conducted by a special team from the Bank and a final report was presented to the Board when it considers the pending loan applications submitted within the SECI framework. SECI states participating in the Border Crossing Project have indicated their willingness to meet the World Bank’s criteria. It was decided that the SECI Project Group dealing with transport infrastructure and bottlenecks would assume oversight.

In its efforts to facilitate a program to upgrade the border services, SECI has organized an advisory team of customs officials and border police to aid participating states. Austria, Italy and Switzerland have agreed to join with the United States in offering possible programs to those SECI countries that wish to engage in comprehensive reform of their border services. The program reached beyond mere technical training of individual officers, in order to deal with more fundamental structural flaws in the border services. It foresaw a review of the basic laws governing the services, such as legal and operational interface between the customs service and the border police. The program also foresaw a review of how to provide guidance for border officials in setting appropriate salary levels that in the past may have prompted border officials to extort as a means of earning a living. The program also assisted in compiling an appropriate instruction manual.

The activities developed by this project group and in coordination with those of the Project Group on Transport Infrastructure Development and Private Sector Development contributed later on the establishment of the SECI Business Advisory Council (SECI BAC) and of the SECI PRO office in Thessaloniki, which is especially active in the field of removal of non-tariff barriers to trade and transport. The latter provided a framework for the consolidation and further development of the public private partnerships that were created within the region under the umbrella of SECI.

The activities undertaken in the framework of this project also generated closer cooperation on issues concerning organised crime issues. Thus, a new project group on combating cross-border crime and corruption was found necessary. The project proposal came from Romania and the activities undertaken in the framework of the project group resulted in the creation of the SECI Regional Centre for Combating Transborder Crime.

For an overview of the reports and the conclusions of the meetings related to this project click here.