Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2012-10-25-Speech-4-468-000"
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"en.20121025.33.4-468-000"2
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"Mr President, I will start with the statement that the Danube strategy is very important for the European Union, because the Danube region covers 14 countries – eight Member States and six non-Member States – which are home to more than 100 million citizens. Since the introduction of the strategy I think we have been even more convinced about the interdependence of these states and about how much they can benefit from the improved cooperation and coordination of their actions.
I would like to recall that there was a clear request from the Council and the European Parliament to evaluate the concept of the macro-regional strategies by mid-2013. This will be a very important moment in terms of assessing how successful this concept is.
To conclude, I would like to thank the European Parliament for very instrumental work and support, and for its technical assistance to the Danube strategy, which is very much appreciated by the recipients and by the Commission.
We have witnessed how their competitiveness could be improved if joint action is taken together, especially in the fields of SME support, labour market policies, education and security. Finally, we know very well that the Danube region has been the hot spot of the two last rounds of enlargement, and we are now using the Danube strategy to reach out to our potential new candidates in the Western Balkans.
As you know, the Communication on the EU Danube strategy was presented by the Commission in April 2011. We based it on four pillars: connecting the Danube region, protecting the environment, building prosperity and strengthening the Danube region. How far have we come after one year of implementation? The Commission is currently drafting its first report, which will be adopted early in 2013, but I would like to share with you a short preview of our current assessment.
As you know, my colleague, Commissioner Hahn, travelled in the region and visited several initiatives which have been started thanks to the Danube strategy. It was quite clear that with the strategy we have produced a new dynamic: new cooperation at various levels – those of political actors, the business-to-business relationship and research communities. For the first time we have seen how countries are looking for joint solutions to the common challenges and how the strategy is very quickly becoming a long-term cooperation platform.
What is very important for the future is how we can coordinate national and EU policies together. A clear example of how this could be done was the joint work of the Ministers of Transport, who adopted a declaration on the maintenance of the Danube waterway, which is a commitment to very concrete actions to improve the situation on the Danube.
The EU is helping with providing new possibilities for renewing the Danube fleet, how to make it more modern and greener. We are helping to set up a Danube research and innovation fund to help researchers. The Joint Research Centre is currently setting up a Danube-wide set of data to improve decision-making for these actions and the gathering of environmental data. We are very pleased that police cooperation is also becoming a key priority for the Member States in the Danube region. And what must not be overlooked is how we can jointly promote a Danube tourism brand for the European Union.
These are only some examples. Yesterday Commissioner Hahn opened a new bridge between Romania and Bulgaria, the Calafat-Vidin Bridge. I think it is very important to say that this is only the second crossing point at the border, which is longer than 600 kilometres.
I believe that in the future we will see far more concrete transnational projects, because there are already more than 50 projects which have been studied and labelled as the Danube regional projects and now they are waiting for the decision on how they will be financed and implemented in the future.
The issue of financing is of course crucial to further success. The strategy cuts across different Commission policies, and therefore we are trying to introduce the element of the macro-region into our future common strategic frameworks, partnership contracts and operational programmes, where we would need to see how financing could also be targeted at these very important Danube projects."@en1
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