Brussels, 29/06/2009 (Agence Europe) - Strengthened by the mandate conferred upon it by the European Council of June 2009, the European Commission says it is prepared to flesh out an EU strategy for the Danube region. In a speech at the Donauforum 2009 conference in Linz, Austria, on Monday 29 June, EU Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Hübner stressed the “signficiant challenge” of implementing programmes for the Danube region, which have to be submitted before the end of next year in order to give the Hungarian Presidency of the Council of the EU, which will take the reins in the first half of 2011, enough time to make the strategy tangible.
The commissioner's speech was attended by Josef Pühringer, Landeshauptmann for Upper Austria, and Michael Spindelegger, Austria's foreign minister. She stressed the need for the countries and regions along the Danube to cooperate with one another and the crucial need for a joined-up approach and a very strong partnership system. In other words, said the commissioner, a comprehensive strategy is required. She explained that the Danube region is different from the Baltic Sea region because the Danube is a river and the Baltic a marine basin. Politically, the Danube region comprises more countries that are not members of the EU. Danuta Hübner said this highlighted the fact that any strategy for a macro-region has to be specially tailored to the specific needs of the region in question. She said positive aspects of the EU's strategy for the Baltic Sea could, however, serve as examples for the Danube Strategy. Danuta Hübner explained that a wide, inclusive approach was required covering all stakeholders involved in the process. The partnership dimension will provide value-added, as has been witnessed with the EU's strategy for the Baltic Sea. Finally, priorities will need to be turned into tangible projects. People will need to work together for several years rather than simply several months as this is a long-term strategy. The commissioner stressed the importance of strong visibility for the Danube region. The EU's strategy for the Baltic Sea has led to greater cooperation in a wider regional context due to high visibility, and this has made it possible to get stakeholders and interested parties more greatly involved, alongside the standard stakeholders usually covered by the Structural Funds, for example. For the Baltic Sea Region, coordinators have been appointed reporting directly to prime ministers, which gives a suitable level of political backing for the process. This is an important lesson for the EU's policy for the Danube, which is one of the Swedish Presidency of the EU's priorities, added the commissioner.
Danuta Hübner explained that at the Directorate-General for Regional Policy at the European Commission, a small group in the Territorial Cooperation Unit, was already working on issues relating to the Danube region. She explained that an intergroup department would rapidly be set up to examine all dimensions of the Danube Strategy from the outset. A range of priorities, including transport, the environment and enlargement, are crucial to the Danube region and transport policy will clearly be a top priority. The commissioner explained that the Danube is both Pan-European Transport Corridor VII and also part of the Priority 18 project in the trans-European transport network (the Rhine/Meuse/Maas - Maine/Danube section). She said river transport in the EU needed to be increased and this required planning and coordination from one end of a river to another. Danuta Hübner added that the environmental aspects were equally important because the Danube region is often hit by uncontrollable floods. (G.B./transl.fl)