STUDY ON MACROREGIONAL STRATEGIES AND THEIR LINKS WITH COHESION POLICY Data and analytical report for the EUSALP November 2017 EUROPEAN COMMISSION Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy Directorate D – European Territorial Cooperation, Macro-regions, Interreg and Programme Implementation I Unit D.1 – Macro-regions, Transnational, Interregional Cooperation, IPA, Enlargement Contact: Jean-Marc Venineaux E-mail: [email protected] European Commission B-1049 Brussels EUROPEAN COMMISSION STUDY ON MACROREGIONAL STRATEGIES AND THEIR LINKS WITH COHESION POLICY Data and analytical report for the EUSALP Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy 2018 EN Europe Direct is a service to help you find answers to your questions about the European Union. Freephone number (*): 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (*) The information given is free, as are most calls (though some operators, phone boxes or hotels may charge you). LEGAL NOTICE This document has been prepared for the European Commission however it reflects the views only of the authors, and the Commission cannot be held responsible for any use which may be made of the information contained therein. More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://www.europa.eu). Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2018 ISBN: 978-92-79-80348-2 doi: 10.2776/36171 © European Union, 2018 Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged. NOVEMBER 2017 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL REGIONAL AND URBAN POLICY STUDY ON MACROREGIONAL STRATEGIES AND THEIR LINKS WITH COHESION POLICY DATA AND ANALYTICAL REPORT FOR THE EUSALP ADDRESS COWI A/S Parallelvej 2 2800 Kongens Lyngby Denmark TEL +45 56 40 00 00 FAX +45 56 40 99 99 WWW cowi.com NOVEMBER 2017 EUROPEAN COMMISSION DIRECTORATE-GENERAL REGIONAL AND URBAN POLICY STUDY ON MACROREGIONAL STRATEGIES AND THEIR LINKS WITH COHESION POLICY DATA AND ANALYTICAL REPORT FOR THE EUSALP 4 STUDY ON MACROREGIONAL STRATEGIES AND THEIR LINKS WITH COHESION POLICY CONTENTS 1 Introduction to the Report 9 1.1 The EUSALP – Background 9 2 State of the Macro-Regions (Task 1) 14 2.1 Introduction to Task 1 14 2.2 Methodological Framework for Task 1 15 2.2.1 Macro-regions 15 2.2.2 Indicator Analysis 16 2.2.3 Composite Benchmarks 17 2.3 Macroeconomic Overview 22 2.3.1 Economic Performance 23 2.3.2 Employment 26 2.3.3 Social Progress Index 28 2.4 Macro-regional Economic Integration 30 2.4.1 Labour Integration 32 2.4.2 Trade Integration 35 2.4.3 Capital Integration 37 2.4.4 Energy Integration 39 2.4.5 Accessibility Potential 42 2.4.6 Transnational Cooperation 44 2.5 Competitiveness 46 2.5.1 Overall Competitiveness 47 2.5.2 Business 57 2.5.3 Transport 62 2.5.4 Tourism 66 2.5.5 Energy 68 2.5.6 Climate Change: Adaptation 75 2.5.7 Climate Change: Mitigation 78 2.5.8 Environment: Air Quality 82 2.5.9 Environment: Air Pollution 84 2.5.10 Environment: River Status 87 STUDY ON MACROREGIONAL STRATEGIES AND THEIR LINKS WITH COHESION POLICY 5 2.5.11 Biodiversity: Natura 2000 89 2.5.12 Diversity of Land Cover (Shannon Index) 91 2.5.13 Eco-Innovation Scoreboard 94 2.5.14 Resource Efficiency (composite of Eco Innovation Scoreboard) 96 2.5.15 Agricultural Impact 98 2.5.16 Forestry in the Alps 103 2.7 Political, Institutional & Governance Indicators 107 2.7.1 Governance 108 2.7.2 Public Institutions 110 2.7.3 Voice and Accountability 112 2.7.4 Human Trafficking 114 2.7.5 Number of Drug Seizures 116 2.8 Meta-analysis 118 2.8.1 Macroeconomic Indicators 118 2.8.2 Macro-regional Integration 119 2.8.3 Competitiveness 120 2.8.4 Institutions, Governance, Political 122 3 Review of the Macro-regional Strategies (Task 2) 125 3.1 Introduction to Task 2 125 3.2 Methodology for Task 2 126 3.3 Review of the EUSALP (Task 2a) – Summary 132 3.4 Achievements of the EUSALP (Task 2b) 135 3.4.1 Achievements – content-wise 135 3.4.2 Achievements – process-wise 139 3.5 Comparison of objectives of the EUSALP with achievements (Task 2c) 144 3.6 EUSALP and ESIF (Task 2d) 149 3.7 EUSALP AG 6 – factsheet 154 APPENDICES TASK 2a: Review of the EUSALP A.1 Introduction A.2 Methodological Framework A.3 Objective 1: Fair access to job opportunities A.4 Objective 2: Sustainable internal and external accessibility to all 6 STUDY ON MACROREGIONAL STRATEGIES AND THEIR LINKS WITH COHESION POLICY A.5 Objective 3: A more inclusive environmental framework for all and renewable and reliable energy solutions for the future List of literature STUDY ON MACROREGIONAL STRATEGIES AND THEIR LINKS WITH COHESION POLICY 7 List of Abbreviations Abbreviation Stands for AG Action Group AP Action Plan BSAP Baltic Sea Action Plan BSLF Baltic Sea Labour Forum BSN Baltic Science Network BSR Baltic Sea Region BSR Stars PA Innovation (EUSBSR) flagship BUP Baltic University Programme CBC Cross Border Cooperation CBSS The Council of the Baltic Sea States CEF Connecting Europe Facility CF Cohesion Fund CISE Common Information Sharing Environment DG Directorate-General EAFRD European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development EC European Commission ECTS European Credit Transfer System ECVET European Credit system for Vocational Education and Training EFTA European Free Trade Association EMFF European Maritime and Fisheries Fund ERASMUS+ EU Programme for Education, Training and Sport ERDF European Regional Development Fund ESF European Social Fund ESIF / ESI funds European Structural and Investment Funds ETC European Territorial Cooperation EU European Union EUSAIR European Union Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region EUSALP European Union Strategy for the Alpine Region EUSBSR European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region EUSDR European Union Strategy for the Danube Region EWTCA East West Transport Corridor Association HAC Horizontal Action Coordinator (EUSBSR) HELCOM Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission HLG High Level Group IALA Navigation in the IMO, International Association of Marine Aids to Navigation and Lighthouse Authorities 8 STUDY ON MACROREGIONAL STRATEGIES AND THEIR LINKS WITH COHESION POLICY ICPDR International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River IHO International Hydrographic Organisation IMO International Maritime Organisation MA Managing Authority MRS Macro-regional strategy/-ies MS European Union Member States MSFD Marine Strategy Framework Directive NCs National Coordinators NCM Nordic Council of Ministers NDEP Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership NEFCO Nordic Environment Finance Corporation NGO Non-governmental organisation NUTS Nomenclature of territorial units for statistics OP Operational Programme OVI Objectively Verifiable Indicators PA Policy Area / Priority Area / Pillar / Action area PA Education Policy Area Education (EUSBSR) PA Innovation Policy Area Innovation (EUSBSR) PA Nutri Policy Area Nutrition (EUSBSR) PA Safe Policy Area Safety (EUSBSR) PA Transport Policy Area Transport (EUSBSR) PAC Policy / Priority Area Coordinator RDP Rural Development Programme S2W School to Work (PA Education (EUSBSR) flagship) SG Steering Group SME Small and medium-sized enterprises SWD Commission Staff Working Document TEN-T The Trans-European Transport Networks TO Thematic objective TNK Transnational Component TSG Thematic Steering Group VET Vocational Education and Training WFD Water Framework Directive STUDY ON MACROREGIONAL STRATEGIES AND THEIR LINKS WITH COHESION POLICY 9 1 Introduction to the Report Data and analysis The 'Study on macro-regional strategies and their links with cohesion policy' report for Task 1 consists of four task, which are summarised and concluded upon in the Final and Task 2 Report. The first two tasks (Task 1 and Task 2) have been reported on individually, and the present report contains the data and analysis for these two tasks for the European Union Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP). Structure of the This report begins with a brief section presenting the EUSALP, followed by report › the first major part (section 2) of the report, which contains the data and analytical report for Task 1, i.e. a description and an analysis of the overall context of the Alpine macroregion; › thereafter, the second major part (section 3) contains the data and analytical report for Task 2, analysing the overall achievements of the EUSALP and an evaluation of its contribution to strengthening the territorial cohesion objective of the EU. Task 2 is divided into the following four sub- tasks: › Task 2a: Review of the EUSALP › Task 2b: Achievements of the EUSALP › Task 2c: Comparison of objectives of the EUSALP with achievements › Task 2d: EUSALP and ESIF 1.1 The EUSALP – Background The EU Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP) was developed by the European Commission together with countries and stakeholders of the Danube region. The strategy builds on a high level of existing cooperation, for instance the Alpine 10 STUDY ON MACROREGIONAL STRATEGIES AND THEIR LINKS WITH COHESION POLICY Convention. The EUSALP aims to both extend and deepen this existing regional cooperation. Three broad thematic policy areas – economic growth and innovation, mobility and connectivity, and environment and energy – are specified in the strategy. Each of these areas includes a number of Actions that should contribute to the EUSALP's main objective, namely "to ensure that this region remains one of the most attractive areas in Europe, taking better advantage of its assets and seizing its opportunities for sustainable and innovative development in a European context".1 The EUSALP is the youngest of the four macro-regional