The European Union Strategy for the Danube Region EN
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The European Union Strategy for the Danube Region EN The river Danube flows through ten countries, and on it lie B) Protecting the environment in the Danube Region four European capital cities. It is 3000 km long and its basin 4) To restore and maintain water quality covers 20% of EU territory and around 115 million people. 5) To manage environmental risks 6) To preserve biodiversity, landscapes and the quality This macroregion faces numerous specific challenges : big of air and soils socioeconomic disparities, underdeveloped potential of the Danube waterway, a unique environment threatened by C) Building prosperity in the Danube Region pollution – to name just a few. Furthermore, the integration 7) To develop the knowledge society through research, of its eastern portion since 2004 and 2007 into the EU education and information technologies has brought a dramatic change, which must be assisted 8) To support the competitiveness of enterprises and reinforced. There is a need for a stronger than usual 9) To invest in people and skills cooperation dimension and for an integrated cooperative response across borders. D) Strengthening the Danube Region 10) To step up institutional capacity and cooperation This is why the European Council of 19 June 2009 formally 11) To work together to tackle security and organised asked the European Commission to prepare an EU Strategy crime for the Danube Region by the end of 2010. We will also list examples of important projects, such as : Topics to be covered • Gas and electricity interconnections (missing TEN-E links) At this stage, it is envisaged that the Strategy will be • Danube floodplains restoration concentrated on the following four pillars and 11 priority • University and research link-ups areas : A) Connecting the Danube Region 1) To improve mobility and intermodality 2) To encourage more sustainable energy 3) To promote culture and tourism and people-to-people contacts Countries concerned The next steps 14 countries in the Danube basin are concerned by Once the documents have been adopted and ratified by the the strategy : eight Member States (Germany [Baden- Commission and the European Council, the implementation Würtenberg and Bavaria]), Austria, Slovak Republic, Czech of priority actions and projects can start. It is envisaged that Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania and six each priority area's implementation will be coordinated by non-Member States (Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, one or two Member States (possibly in cooperation with a Montenegro, Ukraine and Moldova). non-Member State). Where are we in the preparation of the strategy? During the first half of 2010, the Commission (with DG For further information, please consult our website : Regional Policy in charge of coordination of the Strategy) http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/cooperation/ consulted people in the region. Taking their suggestions danube/index_en.htm into account, it proposed a draft Communication and Action Plan that will be discussed by the relevant Commission services during the autumn. Both documents should be adopted by the Commission in December 2010 and ratified by the European Council during the first half of 2011. TeTerritorialrritorial co coverageverage o off t hthee DDanubeanube regionregion for the fDanubeor the D Regionanube Strategyregion s (regionaltrategy level) !\Praha Ostrava Ivano- Mannheim frankivIvska n o - Nurnberg Plzen fra n k iv s' ka Chernivtsi Beltsy B a y e r n Kosice Cherni vets 'ka Karlsruhe Brno Z a k a r p a t s ' k a O d e s ' k a Stuttgart Miskolc B a d e n - !\ Linz Wien Iaşi W ü r t t e m b e r g Kishinev Tiraspol München !\ !\Bratislava Debrecen Augsburg Cluj- Bacău Odesa Freiburg Budapest Napoca im Breisgau Salzburg !\ Oradea Tirgu mures Galaţi Braşov Graz Szeged Arad Sibiu Brăila Sj ever ozapadna Ploiesti !\ Hr vatsk a Pecs Timisoara Ljubljana Zagreb !\ Novi sad Constanţa Sred išnja i I st očna Pitesti !\ (Pan onska) Hrvat ska Beograd Rijeka !\ Bucureşti Craiova Ruse J a d r a n s k a Varna H r v a t s k a !\ Nis Burgas Split Sarajevo Sofiya !\ Stara Plovdiv Zagora !\ !\ Capitals Podgorica > 250 000 Inh. 200 000 - 250 000 Inh. 150 000 - 200 000 Inh. 0 320 Km REGIOgis.