Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania EUSDR National Coordinator EU Strategy for the Danube Region ROMANIA s EXPERIENCE - 2016 -
What is the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR)? A joint initiative of Romania and Austria, endorsed by the June 2011 European Council An innovative instrument to implement the cohesion policy, focusing on the territorial dimension One of the four current macro-regional strategies in the EU, adjusted to the particularities of the Danube region A platform for expanding and deepening cooperation among states (crossborder, transnational and interregional cooperation) The first macro-regional strategy which includes non-eu member states A platform of support for the non-eu participating states towards their EU integrative processes Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania Danube Strategy Unit
Why an EU Strategy for the Danube Region? Because: Many issues confronting the Danube Region require common action of the riparian states, through integrated trans-national and multi-sectoral cooperation The macro-regional approach responds to the challenge of adapting EU s regional policy mechanisms to the reality of a more diverse enlarged European Union. EUSDR stimulates the converging of the non-eu participating countries towards the EU s principles and standards. Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania Danube Strategy Unit
Which are the EUSDR participating countries? There are 14 participating countries, 9 of which are EU member states and 5 are non-eu states. EU MEMBER STATES GERMANY/ Bavaria and Baden Württemberg AUSTRIA HUNGARY CZECH REPUBLIC SLOVAK REPUBLIC CROATIA SLOVENIA BULGARIA ROMANIA NON-EU STATES SERBIA MONTENEGRO BOSNIA and HERZEGOVINA R. MOLDOVA UKRAINE Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania Danube Strategy Unit
EUSDR structure (1) 4 pillars 11 Priority Areas (PAs) 2 coordinating countries for each PA Connecting the Danube region PA 1a To improve mobility and intermodality of inland waterways AT and RO PA 1b To improve mobility and intermodality rail, road and air SI and RS PA 02 To encourage more sustainable energy HU and CZ PA 03 To promote culture and tourism, people to people contacts RO and BG Protecting the environment in the Danube region Increasing prosperity in the Danube region Strengthening the Danube region PA 04 To restore and maintain the quality of waters HU and SK PA 05 To manage environmental risks HU and RO PA 06 PA 07 To preserve biodiversity, landscapes and the quality of air and soils To develop the Knowledge Society (research, education and ICT) DE/Bavaria and HR RS and SK PA 08 To support the competitiveness of enterprises HR and DE/Baden- Würtemberg PA 09 To invest in people and skills AT and MD PA 10 To step up institutional capacity and cooperation AT and SI PA 11 To work together to tackle security and organized crime DE/Bavaria and BG Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania Danube Strategy Unit
EUSDR Structure (2)
Which are the principles of the Danube Strategy? 3 NOs 3 BETTERs No new institutions A better alignment of funding sources No new funds A better governance system No new legislation A better implementation of existing common policies Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania Danube Strategy Unit
Romania s vision on future steps for better cooperation Romania aims on increasing the cooperation among Priority Areas in order to better inter-connect different sectors and to achieve an increased integration of the Region. One of the examples is the Proposed Common meetings between Priority Area 3 (Culture and Tourism) and Priority Area 8 (Competiveness) where the participants may prospect new ways for an augmented development of SME in Culture and Tourism areas; Another aim is to expand the Priority Area Coordination on new type of economy as it is for example the Circular Economy. In this aspect, the aim of interconnecting Bio-economy and Tourism is one of the main Coordination projects we have for the following years.
Clusters EUSDR Clusters represent an enhanced cooperation tool for better cohesion in the region and EU The collaboration among different actors: National and local authorities, Universities and SMEs from different regions bring an added value to the development of common interests and better solutions for the economy; Having a wide area of development within EUSDR from regions like BW, Bavaria or Austria to Ukraine or the Republic of Moldova shows that it is more difficult to create harmonized policies in a smooth way therefore a need for closer cooperation is needed; Romania intends to better support clusters policies in EUSDR in the near future, making it a priority also during its EUSDR Presidency; Ministerul Afacerilor Externe Biroul Strategia UE pentru Regiunea Dunării
Clusters EUSDR Better connectivity between S3P and clusters; Better support from the state in the area of clusters activities; Create integrated value chains in areas such: bioeconomy, creative industries, phytopharmacy, logistics or tourism; Ministerul Afacerilor Externe Biroul Strategia UE pentru Regiunea Dunării
Success Story - Romanian Flagship Project The key to success of the Danube Strategy is represented by the number of useful and visible projects with a direct impact on the citizens of the Danube communities. One of the successful examples is the EUSDR flagship project, coordinated by Romania - the DANUBIUS RI - the International Centre for Advanced Studies on River Sea Systems, that will be a pan-european research infrastructure network dedicated to interdisciplinary studies of large river sea systems. It will enable and support research addressing the conflicts between society s demands, climate change and environmental protection in river sea systems worldwide. It aims to become operational by 2022. DANUBIUS-RI is being developed already by partners in eleven European countries, with expressions of interest and support from the scientific community in many others in Europe and worldwide. Detailed info on DANUBIUS-RI - http://www.danubius-ri.eu/ Ministerul Afacerilor Externe Biroul Strategia UE pentru Regiunea Dunării
Contact: E-mail: suerd@mae.ro Tel.: (021) 431 18 16 Web: http://www.mae.ro/strategia-dunarii