Brussels, 13/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - The Black Sea should be a priority of the European neighbourhood policy and integrated maritime policy. This is the message sent out by the Balkan/Black Sea Commission of the Conference of Peripheral Maritime Regions of Europe (CPMR) to the European institutions, at its meeting on 8 July in Varna (Bulgaria). Pavlos Damianidis, Deputy Regional Governor of Western Macedonia and Thrace (Greece), was elected President of the Balkan/Black Sea Commission. His challenge will be to encourage the regions to give fresh impetus to the necessary cooperation activities in this geographical area, states the CPMR in a press release.
At this meeting, the president of the CPMR, Jean-Yves Le Drian, said that the CPMR was following the promising developments of the macro-regional approaches, particularly the Danube strategy, with great interest. “But in this context we should not forget about the Black Sea, which deserves a strategy of its own”, he warned. The secretary general of the CPMR, Eleni Marianou, recalled that it is necessary to “make an assessment of the goals, actions and partnerships agreed in Varna to make sure that the regions are involved more in neighbourhood policy and in preparing a Black Sea strategy”.
The regions also expressed their approval of a partnership with the national authorities, particularly with the European Parliament, which was represented by Vladko Panayotov. Coordination between the MEPs of the Black Sea and the CPMR's regions will be a key factor in ensuring the success of this future strategy. The European Commission, for its part, was represented by Georges Kremlis, Director at DG Environment, who strongly encouraged the different stakeholders to work together to protect marine and coastal ecosystems. For more information: http://www.balkansblacksea.org (G. B./transl.fl)