The course was held for 27 public officials of the Republic of Lithuania, in Rome from September 17 to October 20, 2001. Its main theme was “The development of relations between Lithuania, the European Union and Italy”. SIOI obtained ministerial financing for the construction of the course as established by Law 212/92 for cooperation with the countries of Central and Eastern Europe, thanks to a project, presented in 1998 at the MFA – DGAE – Coordination CEEC. The project, approved by the Lithuanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs partnered with the European Integration Studies Centre of Vilnius.