Austria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Slovakia, and Slovenia have been holding regularly regional conferences of civil servants since 1997. The key objectives of these conferences are close cooperation among neighbouring states in educational matters and – along with the implementation of specific joint projects – the exchange of expertise and good practice on the administration level in all areas of lifelong learning. Joint conferences, seminars and expert workshops are being held on a regular basis in order to promote continuous mutual learning and last but not least to create financial synergies.This initiative also promotes increased content-related and organisational cooperation on the EU level, especially in the implementation of the strategic framework for European cooperation in the field of education and training (ET 2020). Since 2004 the cooperation between the five neighbouring countries of the region has been based on a Memorandum of Understanding, which was last renewed in 2007. In 2013, the education ministers of the region in a new Joint Memorandum expressed the intent to continue and further their regional and EU-related cooperation in education and training.In 2015, the rotating informal CeCe-Presidency is held by Slovakia, to be followed in 2016 by the Czech Republic.