2nd Meeting of the Advisory Council of the National Forum for the Implementation of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region

On February 24, 2012, The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hosted the second meeting of the Advisory Board of the National Forum for the Implementation of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, chaired by the National Coordinator for EUSDR, Mr. Viorel Ardeleanu. The meeting was attended by representatives of the central and local authorities, academic and private sectors and civil society.

The agenda of the Advisory Board included issues concerning the functioning of the established national matrix, the challenges to be tackled for a successful implementation of the Strategy including macro regional aspects, financing, project development, management and communication of the Strategy.

Furthermore, the participants acknowledged the state of affairs of the activity of the Priority Area Coordinator and the Steering Groups, as well as the political monitoring assured by Romania and Austria, the active involvement of Romania in the High Level Group and the coordination of the 3 Priority Areas at macro regional level and last but not least, the outcomes of the second meeting of the National Contact Points and Priority Area Coordinators that took place in Bucharest, at the end of January 2012.

A series of financing proposals was presented: a national budgetary line of 20 mil euro, technical assistance for small projects – Jaspers, a new funding line for SMEs within the Jeremie program of 100 mil euro, public and private partnerships or tertiary funds from South Korea, Japan, China, Brazil of the Gulf.

By March 12, the members of the Advisory Board can come up with 2-3 project proposals targeting the development of platforms within the region; these projects will be presented within the second National Forum in March 2012 The following meeting of the Advisory Board will be held in April 2012.

Following the recommendations of the European Commission to stimulate cooperation between the regional and local institutions, the academia, the business sector, the financing networks and other representatives of the civil society, as a key element for a successful implementation of the Strategy, the Council of Danube Cities and Regions proposed to establish task force groups as generators of projects.

The task force groups would act at local and regional levels and involve experts from the member states along the Danube in order to share expertise and build a solid background to be used in implementing common projects in some of the key fields targeted by the Strategy: infrastructure, urban development, public management and institutional capacity. Their structure will be validated within the Second National Forum for the Implementation of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, in March 2012.