Organization of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation-20 Years of a Successful Regional Cooperation

The BSEC, a relatively young organization, is the one that has covered the most ground and the most remarkable one due to its dynamic structure. This feature derives from the importance of the region in terms of security and stability and the ambitious tasks assumed by the Organization in a region stretching from the South East Europe and East Europe including the BSEC basin to Caucasus and even to the Central Asia.
The Black Sea Economic Cooperation - established in 1992 under the leadership of Turkey - is a multi-lateral regional economic cooperation organization. The main objective behind the organization is to contribute to the economic development, prosperity and regional political stability by improving commercial and economic relations among the countries in the Black Sea basin.
The countries of the region leagued together around a possibility to direct and accelerate economic processes among themselves. The reasons behind regional cooperation are, in essence, of economic nature. A political process could not be this effective considering certain disagreements among certain member countries. The organization was born as a regional organization reflecting the common economic interests of the countries in the region at its core and their search for common interest at the least.
BSEC continued to exist as a cooperation scheme between 1992 and 1998 based on 1992 Istanbul, 1995 Bucharest Summit and 1996 Moscow Summit Declarations; and later became an Organization with international legal identity with the adoption of the BSEC Charter in 1998 Yalta Summit.
The Organization agreed upon and implemented various cooperation schemes primarily on economy, trade, transportation, environment, and fight against organized crimes. The organization set out certain measures to strengthen its structure and increase integration among member states.
The BSEC states established the BSEC Parliamentary Assembly, Black Sea Trade and Development Bank and International Center for Black Sea Studies to form the parliament, finance and academic pillars of the cooperation.
BSEC acted as an Organization fulfilling its international obligations and sought to develop cooperation with other international and regional organizations. The Organization formed cooperation notably with international organizations such as the United Nations and its affiliated organizations, OECD and World Bank and regional organizations such as the CEI. It maintained continuous contact with the EU and its institutions but failed to form a cooperation mechanism at the desired level.
The Organization supported the efforts of other initiatives working towards deepening integration among the countries in the Black Sea basin.
There are numerous international organizations and states with observer status following the works of the Organization. Additionally, the Organization carries out cooperation through Sect oral Dialogue Partnership and Dialogue Partnership mechanisms with most of them.
The first chapter of the book provides information on the significant developments since the establishment of the BSEC. The second chapter details the bodies and the functioning of the Organization. The third chapter explains the parliamentary assembly, trade and development bank and think-tanks - other important elements of the cooperation among member states. The fourth chapter touches upon the relations of the Organization with the European Union, United Nations, OECD, World Bank and Central European Initiative and various other developments in the Black Sea basin. The last chapter addresses the need for reform in the Organization and steps towards this end.