Abstract:

This paper reflects the outcome of the Research Project I have coordinated in 2009/2010 entitled Improving the common policies adopted in the Central American Integration System in the light of the European Union's experience between the Rey Juan Carlos University (Spain) and UNED (Costa Rica). Along the paper, the main outcomes in terms of achievement of the objectives and dissemination of the results are highlighted. The main aim of the paper is to analyse the experience of dealing with a transatlantic team and how to use the internet to disseminate the outcomes.

The Research Project attempted to provide with reflections and recommendations on the development of common policies in the Central American Integration, including the harmonisation of public education systems in Central America. The Research Project (PCI AECID N° A/016639/08) entitled Improving the common policies adopted in the Central American Integration System in the light of the European Union's experience, was funded by the Spanish Agency of Cooperation and Development.

The project took place from January, 1st 2009 until April, 30 th 2010, and involved two different universities: the University Rey Juan Carlos (Madrid-Spain) and the University Estatal a Distancia – UNED (Costa Rica).

As for the project background, it must be said that since 1991 with the adoption of the Tegucigalpa Protocol, the Central American Integration System (known for its acronym in Spanish as SICA) has undergone different periods.Despite all the modifications operated recently, SICA is still an incomplete custom union which intended to become a common market. Besides, the economic integration process is mainly inter-governmental and its decision making process is based on the rule of consensus. At the moment, SICA is facing the implementation of common or coordinated policies in the different Member States. The succesful implementation of such policies will lead to the strengthening of the integration. In this regard, the European Union's experience constitutes an important source of best practices which utility or adaptability may be assessed by scholars and practitioners.

In this framework, the project Improving the common policies adopted in the Central American Integration System in the light of the European Union's experience was conceived as a contribution to the implementation of the SICA common policies. The specific objetive of the project was to analyse each field in which SICA develops its activities and assessing the degree of implementation of a common or coordinated policy.

As for the expected outcomes of the project, our goal was to compilate the research outcomes in a book including these different analysis and offer, at the same time, a set of recommendations to be evaluated and implemented by practioners. The book, edited by Prof. Dr. M. Belén Olmos Giupponi and Prof. Dr. L. Arnoldo Rubio, entitled The adoption of policies in the Central American Integration System. Proposals for the improvement, was published by Plaza & Valdés. To further disseminate the outcomes of the research a webpage was launched: http://www.opc-sica.org.

Keywords:

International projects, SICA education and research policies, joint-reasearch programmes.