EU STRATEGY FOR THE ADRIATIC AND IONIAN REGION Communication: COM(2014 ) 357 of 17 June 2014

• EU STRATEGY FOR THEADRIATIC AND IONIAN REGION

• Communication: COM(2014) 357 of 17 June 2014• Action Plan: SWD(2014) 190 of 17 June 2014

Requested by the European Council of Dec 2012, the Adriatic-Ionian macro-regional strategy builds on:

• Intergovernmental Adriatic Ionian Initiative, which covers 8 countries: AL, BA, GR, HR, IT, ME, RS, SI

• EU Maritime strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Seas (30 Nov 2012)

• Evaluation of the added value of macro–regional strategies (June 2013)

Consultation of Stakeholders

By pillar carried out under the responsibility of participating countries (Sept-Dec 2013)

Contributions from: • CoR – A-I Interregional Group• EESC – Exploratory opinion

Large Stakeholders Conference in Athens, 6-7 February 2014

On-line public consultation carried out by the European Commission (Oct '13 – Jan '14)

General objective

Promote sustainable economic and social prosperity of the Region through growth and jobs creation, by improving its attractiveness, competitiveness and connectivity.

Contribute to the EU integration of the participating Western Balkan candidate and potential candidate countries.

Thematic scope of the Strategy

Blue Growth – (coordinated by

Greece and Montenegro)

Connecting the Region –

(coordinated by Italy and Serbia)

Environmental quality –

(coordinated by Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina)

Sustainable tourism –

(coordinated by Croatia and

Albania)

Cross-cutting aspects1. Capacity building including communication

2. Research and Innovation and SME developmentHorizontal principles

Climate change mitigation and adaptation; disaster risk management

Pillar 1 Pillar 2 Pillar 3 Pillar 4

1. Blue GrowthDriving innovative maritime and marine growth in the Region by promoting sustainable economic growth, jobs and business

opportunities in the blue economy

Blue technologies

Fisheries and

aquaculture

Maritime and marine

governance and services

2. Connecting the RegionImproving transport and energy connectivity in the Region

and with rest of Europe

Maritime transport

Intermodal connections to the hinterland

Energy networks

3. Environmental qualityAddressing environmental quality through cooperation at the

level of the Region

The marine environment

a) Threats to coastal and marine biodiversity

b) Pollution of the sea

Transnational terrestrial habitats and biodiversity

4. Sustainable tourismDeveloping the full potential of the Region in terms of

innovative, sustainable, responsible and quality tourism

Diversified tourism offer(products and services)

Sustainable and responsible tourism

management(innovation and quality)

Implementation

• Actions and projects identification: Strategy's governance structures (national, regional authorities)

• Funding: EU funds and programmes (ESIF, IPA, Horizon 2020, Connecting Europe Facility, LIFE, COSME, …; International Financial Institutions (Western Balkans Investment Framework, EIB, EBRD, WB, …; national public funds; private funds.

• Support to governance and implementation: ETC Adriatic Ionian transnational programme

Next steps

6-7 Feb

October

2014

November

Endorsement by the European Council

Launching Conference

Stakeholder Conference

START implementation

17 June

Strategy adopted by European

Commission

Start exam in the

Council

July

Thank you for your attention!

Further information:

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/cooperate/adriat_ionian/index_en.cfm