Brussels, 04/07/2014 (Agence Europe) - An agreement at the Council on the Adriatic-Ionian macro-region should be possible as early as October, the Italian Presidency has pledged. In its priorities for the next six months, it is planning to devote much of its work to the question of the macro-regional strategies.
On Rome's wish list, therefore, is the approval, this autumn, of the communication presented by the European Commission in June on the macro-regional strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian basin covering Italy, Greece, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, Montenegro and Serbia. The Italian Presidency is also planning to hold an event during its term in office to launch this strategy, once the Council has given its green light.
Italy also has a stake in the macro-regional strategy currently being prepared for the Alps, a macro-region which brings together Germany, France, Austria, Slovenia and Lichtenstein. For this reason, Rome also hopes to make progress on preparations for an action plan on this subject, and to organise a final conference by the end of the year.
In general, the Presidency will ensure that the macro-regional strategies are properly taken into account when it comes to dividing up the European regional development funding available for the period 2014-2020. It will also make every effort to push forward the assessment of the cohesion policy for 2007-2013 and the launch of the programmes under this policy for 2014-2020. The Italian Presidency also plans to move forward talks on an urban agenda (Commission communication anticipated in mid July). (MD)