In 1996, the South-East European Cooperation Process (SEECP) was launched on Bulgaria's initiative laying the foundations for regional cooperation to create trust, good neighbourly relations and stability. 

What is unique about this initiative is that it comes from within the region itself and is not an initiative of other international organisations or countries. Founding members are Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Greece, North Macedonia, Romania, Serbia and Turkey, followed by Croatia (2005), Moldova (2006), Montenegro (2007), Slovenia (2010) and Kosovo (2014).

Inspired by the EU's Europe 2020 Strategy, southeastern European countries have launched the SEE 2020 Strategy in 2011. It aims at improving living conditions in the region and bringing competitiveness and development back into focus.

As requested by the region's Ministers of Economy in November 2012, under the auspices of the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC), national administrations, regional bodies and relevant initiatives have prepared this Strategy that consisted of eleven targets grouped in six clusters:

• Overall targets

• Integrated Growth

• Smart Growth

• Sustainable Growth

• Inclusive Growth

• Governance for Growth

Some of the goals have been achieved satisfactorily so far, others still have room for improvement. However, since the beginning of 2020, the Covid 19 pandemic has contributed to restrictions, especially in international trade, which the figures reflect. The infographic shows the extent to which the targets set have been achieved by 2020.
 

Following the lessons learned from SEE 2020 Strategy, in 2019, the leaders of SEECP tasked the Regional Cooperation Council (RCC) at the SEECP Summit to develop a long-term strategy for the upcoming decade for the South-East European (SEE) region.

This new SEE 2030 Strategy seeks to promote and advance through regional cooperation the implementation of UN SDGs within the SEE region across the three dimensions of sustainable development: 

• Prosperity, 

• People and Peace and 

• Partnerships 

The Strategy was adopted at the SEECP Summit in Antalya in June 2021.