ENPI
The European Commission has revealed which countries and regions will lead priority areas of cooperation under the EU’s Strategy for the Danube Region. A Commission press release said the announcement pinpointing the ‘priority area coordinators’, including Moldova and Ukraine, was made on 3 February in Budapest by Commissioner for Regional Policy Johannes Hahn.
In order to “drive implementation” of the Strategy within its eleven priority areas, these countries and regions are expected to agree a work programme and identify sources of finance with other countries involved as well as partners such as non-governmental organizations, the press release said.
“The Strategy brings a new and ambitious dimension to cooperation in the region By focusing on the most important issues, such as mobility, energy, pollution, innovation, jobs and security, I am convinced that the Strategy will make a real contribution to building a better future for this part of Europe,” Commissioner Hahn said prior to the announcement.
The Danube Strategy focuses on the following four pillars:
Connecting the region (improving mobility, boosting sustainable energy and promoting culture and tourism);
Protecting the environment (restoring water quality, managing environmental risks and preserving biodiversity);
Building prosperity (developing research capacity, education and information technologies, supporting the competitiveness of enterprises and investing in people’s skills);
Strengthening the region (stepping up institutional capacity and improving cooperation to tackle organised crime).
According to the press release, Moldova (together with Austria) will lead the priority area that will focus on investing in people and skills, while Ukraine has expressed interest in working on transport mobility, in particular on improving rail, road and air transport in the region.
The Strategy also involves Germany (Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria), Austria, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Bulgaria, Romania, Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro.
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EU Strategy for The Danube
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