Incorporation of the objectives of the Danube Region Strategy into Partnership Agreements and mainstream and cross-border operational programmes is a crucial tool for embedding and achieving a meaningful integration of the Strategy on national level.

 

EUSDR National and Priority Area Coordinators met to exchange on latest developments within the Danube Region Strategy on 2nd March 2021 in the framework of the 2nd EU Macro-Regional Strategies Week organised online by the European Commission.

 

Following the first meeting of representatives of Danube Region ERDF/CF managing authorities in January 2021, NCs and PACs discussed further steps of the EUSDR embedding process: In order to provide overall transnational support for the embedding process, in particular as regards synchronised calls, it is necessary to set up formal and informal networks of managing authorities. This will allow communication and coordination of individual steps as well as the exchange of knowledge and experience. In this respect, a further meeting of managing and programming authorities, this time  from the five EU candidate and neighbouring countries (IPA and NDICI funds) within the Danube Region Strategy, is foreseen for April 2021. Read more on the current state of play of the EUSDR embedding process in the discussion paper EUSDR Embedding – From Words to Action by Slovak EUSDR Presidency.

 

Also in the context of preparations for the new programming period 2021-2027, the Interreg Danube Transnational Programme presented its main objectives of future EUSDR governance support, considering previously collected information from EUSDR NCs. Further exchange on this issue between the programme and the Strategy is ongoing.

 

A further point on the agenda was a first discussion with PACs on the idea to update the EUSDR Priority Area’s roadmaps as laid down in the EUSDR Governance Paper. This first exchange marked the beginning of a discussion process among PACs to follow in the upcoming months.

 

In view of the upcoming EUSDR Presidency 2022 to be taken on by Ukraine, Vasyl Lozynsky (NC UA) expressed Ukraine’s full readiness to take over the chairmanship of the Strategy and to bring the Strategy forward in cooperation with EUSDR stakeholders. Ukraine is considering to dedicate the EUSDR chairmanship to the themes of innovation, risk prevention, water quality and renewable energy/energy efficiency.