Results country programmes in EU-12 countries

Promoting renewable energy, creating employment and strengthening civil society: the final review of Switzerland's enlargement contribution summarises the results of the Swiss-backed projects.

Swiss Enlargement Contribution: Annual Report 2017

The ten countries that joined the EU in 2004 have completed their projects under the enlargement contribu-tion. SECO and the SDC have taken stock of the last decade and published the results in their 2017 annual report. The projects have made a significant contribution to reducing economic and social disparities in Europe. Switzerland was also able to use its expertise to make a meaningful contribution to a number of projects.

The Swiss Enlargement Contribution

The Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation SDC and the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs present an interim balance sheet on the first five years since the approval of the Enlargement Contribution to the new 10 EU-Member States. The projects are to be implemented within another five year period, i.e., by 2017.

Enlargement Contribution: Country Information Latvia

NGO fund in twelve EU member states

Boosting research in ten EU member states

Microcredit financing for micro enterprises and the self employed in Latvia

Swiss Enlargement Contribution: Annual Report 2017

Swiss Enlargement Contribution: Annual Report 2017

Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter to visit the Baltic countries to deepen bilateral relations and discuss relations with the European Union

29.07.2013 – Press release
From 29 July to 1 August, Mr Burkhalter, the head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), will pay an official working visit to Lithuania and then to Latvia. He will make the traditional 1 August speech to mark Switzerland's national day in Riga. The main aims of this official working visit are to deepen bilateral relations, to discuss the importance of relations between Switzerland and the European Union (EU) and to present Switzerland's priorities for its chairmanship of the OSCE in 2014. Mr Burkhalter will also visit a number of projects that are part of the Swiss enlargement contribution. This contribution is a key element in the bilateral relationships between Switzerland and each of these two countries.

Switzerland

31.05.2013 – Press release
More than 200 projects are now being implemented as part of the enlargement contribution. At the annual conference of Swiss Cooperation with Eastern Europe on 31 May 2013 in Bern, government representatives and experts from Switzerland and abroad discussed the importance and the impact of these projects. About 750 people took part in the annual conference in the Hotel National, an exceptionally high turnout.

Official visit by Latvian Foreign Minister Edgars Rinkēvičs

21.03.2013 – Press release
On 21st March 2013, Federal Councillor Didier Burkhalter, Head of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA), received his Latvian counterpart Edgars Rinkēvičs for an official working visit. In addition to bilateral relations, the talks in Bern covered the European policy of both countries, aspects of multilateral cooperation, and current international issues.

Switzerland’s Enlargement Contribution to Latvia fully committed

05.03.2012 – Article

The signing of the last project agreement in the frame of the Swiss Enlargement Contribution to Latvia took place in Riga on 1 February 2012. This event means that the entire amount of the CHF 60 million of Switzerland’s Enlargement Contribution earmarked for Latvia has now been fully committed.

Latvia: Easier access to microcredits

21.06.2011 – Local news

Switzerland contributes 7.48 million Swiss francs to support a microcredit programme in Latvia. The programme agreement was signed on 21 June 2011. The microcredit programme will make it easier for small-sized companies and self-employed workers to obtain microloans, which in turn should spur the creation of up to 900 new jobs.

Latvia: Improving the quality of water and removing waste

17.03.2011 – Local news

A project agreement on infrastructure with Latvia was signed on 17 March 2011. Switzerland contributes 13 million Swiss francs to improve the quality of water and help clean up the heavily polluted industrial port of Riga.

Modernisation of the Latvian Judicial System

26.06.2009 – Article

As part of its contribution to EU enlargement, Switzerland has pledged CHF 8 million to co-fund a project aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of Latvia’s judicial system. The joint project agreement was signed by the two countries on 25 June 2009.

The Swiss contribution in brief

Information on Switzerland’s contribution to the enlarged EU: a brief presentation including project examples.

Latvia: The power of microcredit