15/10/2012 (Agence Europe) - Alpine micro-region? Attending a conference of the Alpine states and regions in Innsbruck on Friday 12 October, European Commissioner for Regional Development, Johannes spoke in favour of the option to create a macro-regional strategy for the Alps. He added, however, that this would have to be an initiative under the exclusive responsibility of the countries and regions in question, and that the Commission would have no formal role. He said that “lesson number one is that it is best to start with a limited number of priorities for action, that cannot be achieved at regional or national level, and where the macro-regional approach has a clear added value”. He also said that there was no obligation to copy the models of the Baltic Sea and the Danube strategies: “there is nothing to stop the Alps designing its own model”. (MD/transl.fl)