CoR Working Document on “Territorial cooperation in the Mediterranean through an Adriatic and Ionian Macro-region”

COR – WORKING DOCUMENT of the Commission for Territorial Cohesion Policy on Territorial cooperation in the Mediterranean through the Adriatic-Ionian Macroregion (7th Commission Meeting 19 May 2011)
General comments – Original text provided by CoR

Since the European Council adopted the European strategy for the Baltic Sea macroregion in October 2009, a number of European regions have already recognised (or are recognising) macroregional strategies as a possible response to the challenge of achieving balanced and sustainable development.

From the very outset, the Committee of the Regions welcomed initiatives to recognise a European macroregional strategy, since it promotes the involvement of regional and local entities.

Many of Europe’s regions confirmed their interest in the idea at the forum entitled “Macroregions – Integration via Territorial Cooperation”, held by the Committee of the Regions on 13 April 2010, and it is clear from the discussion at the event and the further exploration it provoked that:

Macroregions have the potential to be a new mode of territorial cooperation at the interregional and transnational level that can i) bolster the coherence and coordination of policy action in various sectors, ii) make sound use of financial resources, and iii) boost the role of regional and local authorities in line with the principles of multilevel governance, while at the same time getting civil society organisations extensively involved.

The nature and scope of the macroregional approach tie in with other EU strategic policies, such as the Europe 2020 strategy, cohesion policy and the integrated maritime policy.

By its very nature, the macroregional strategy cannot operate in all areas, but must focus on challenges and issues that the partners identify in a joint assessment, wedding principles of cooperation with the principle of subsidiarity.

As functional areas, macroregions have no predefined borders, but are very much shaped by the nature and number of shared issues chosen to be tackled.

Seen in these terms, they can become a prime way of giving substance to the territorial objective so robustly espoused by the Treaty of Lisbon, namely to facilitate the entry of third countries into the European Union by drawing on the shared interests of regions and of “old” and “new” Member States, as the Baltic Sea and Danube area are already demonstrating.

Macroregions are not an extra institutional tier within the European Union, but a network, a modus operandi or, rather, a form of joint action that involves various European, national, regional and local players, various policies and various funding programmes.

A strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian region

Background to the opinion

The region of the Adriatic and the Ionian Seas is an international sea basin and an international region. Whether viewed historically, geographically, economically, environmentally or socially, the interactions between countries have always been one of its key features. The Adriatic and the Ionian Seas are major maritime and marine (eco) regions in Europe, contiguous and flowing into the central Mediterranean Sea, which is an enclosed sea with a low water renewal rate.

The Adriatic-Ionian Macroregion (AIMR) includes coastal EU Member States, candidate and potential candidate countries. It is a highly heterogeneous area in economic, environmental and cultural terms. With the forthcoming accession of countries in the Western Balkans, the Adriatic and the Ionian Seas will not just share a common heritage, but will be even more affected by the free movement of people, goods and services.

The geographical area covered by the strategy takes in three EU Member States (Italy – with its regions bordering the Adriatic and Ionian Seas –, Greece and Slovenia) and the countries on the other side of the Adriatic (Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Albania), which are involved in the EU pre-accession process. The area, excluding waters, extends to just under 450 000 km2 and has a population of around sixty million.

A sea basin, which by its very nature is a link between territories, a connecting hub between people and institutions, is better equipped to work out a joint strategy capable of creating opportunities for sustainable development.

The Adriatic-Ionian basin is almost a “closed sea” and is set to increasingly become a European Union “internal sea”. It has something in common with the Baltic area, both being bounded seas with similar difficulties and challenges. Both are “lynchpins” between Member States and third countries and, at the same time, the natural maritime outlet of the Danube area.

The Adriatic-Ionian region is involved in various organisations and initiatives, of which the more important are:

– the Association Forum of Adriatic and Ionian Cities and Towns, where interest focuses on sharing a common administrative model in order to bring about a more balanced development of the (around fifty) administrative areas;
– the Forum of the Adriatic and Ionian Chambers of Commerce (around thirty members), where socio-economic issues and the protection of resources take on particular importance;
– the UniAdrion network of universities (around thirty-two members), where the ambition is to achieve a permanent link between universities and research centres of the Adriatic and Ionian Seas to create joint multimedia products;
– the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative (members: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Slovenia and Serbia), which was set up in Ancona in May 2000 following the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia with the specific goal of guaranteeing security and cooperation in the Adriatic and Ionian seas;
– the Adriatic-Ionian Euroregion, which brings together institutions of all the coastal areas at the immediate subnational level.

To these can be added numerous cultural networks (museums, theatres, music, cinema, education, and training).

This vast network of affiliations is an important reference point for fostering the European dimension of local and regional policies. Supporting international partnership systems acquires strategic importance at territorial level and helps structure mechanisms of dialogue and collaboration between local and regional bodies and central administrations, in line with the goals of the Lisbon and Gothenburg strategies to boost economic growth, employment and sustainable development.

Because of the features that distinguish it, and especially because of the interest its member countries have in maritime waters and coastal issues, the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative is well equipped to operate in the Mediterranean dimension. At the same time, by virtue of its geographical location and the concerns intrinsic to this, it is destined to provide an added value to the stabilisation processes in the area and, more particularly, to the dynamics of integration in the European ambit, without duplicating the work of other institutions, which have different competences and scope.

Meeting in Ancona on 5 May 2010, the Adriatic Ionian Council, made up of foreign ministers from the member countries, adopted a declaration endorsing the proposal for a macroregional strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian area and called on its members countries in the EU (Italy, Greece and Slovenia) to work for its adoption by the Community institutions.

The area also benefits from major European Union schemes funded from territorial cooperation programmes (Interreg IV A and Interreg IV B) and the Instrument for Pre‑Accession Assistance (IPA).

The territories involved in the strategy border the Adriatic Sea or the Ionian Sea. The landscape and environmental differences between the two coasts of the Adriatic basin are important because of their geomorphologic characteristics, the high pressure of urban development and demographic differences.

Some costal areas are affected by a high level of urbanisation, with peaks around manufacturing areas as well as areas with a high rate of tourism. Excessive pressure of productive use, localised demand and the consequent transformations of coastal habitat have caused widespread congestion and a constant reduction of the natural environment. There are nonetheless excellent environmental sites and national and regional protected areas.

Some costal areas present a continuity of landscape and environmental heritage, now increasingly threatened by development processes. Challenges detected in these areas include a lack of sewage and waste disposal systems, increasing urbanisation of the coast, continuing atmospheric emissions of pollutants from transport and industrial processes and, in particular, emissions of combustible fuels for energy production.

On a broader scale, the AISMS intends to be a valuable asset not only for the macroregion, but for the EU as a whole. It will be fully in line with EU strategic development, with growth and stability aims and, in particular, with the EU 2020 strategy. Implementation of the AIS is expected to start in 2013, which will allow time for this alignment to take place and assure maximum coherence with the priorities of the next financial perspective.

If a mission for the AIS were to be defined, it would be “connecting and protecting”: connecting the territories of the macroregion to foster its sustainable development while protecting the fragile maritime and costal environment. Existing EU macrostrategies and the EU Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Macroregion should present an ideal axis from the north to the south of Europe, with the AIMR being Europe’s south-eastern gateway to the world.

A macroregion revolving around its natural axis: the sea

A sea basin is by definition a common resource connecting the countries and regions bordering it, as well as a common asset for them to safeguard. Yet the sea also needs joint interventions in order to generate wealth and development. The sea is a fragile system and this is particularly true of the Adriatic, which is almost an internal sea basin with a low water renewal rate, connected by the Ionian Sea to the Mediterranean, which in its turn is an enclosed sea. Marine strategies should be incorporated into the AIS to preserve the Adriatic and Ionian environment.

From this perspective, the AIMR can be seen as a maritime community. The strategy will therefore produce not only planning documents, but actions – concrete, visible actions to overcome the challenges facing the region. States, regions and other stakeholders will take responsibility as lead partners for specific priority areas and flagship projects inspired by an integrated approach to maritime policy.

There is a maritime dimension in every major issue facing the AIMR today, including environmental protection and conservation, energy, climate change, research and innovation, preservation of underwater and cultural resources, competitiveness and job creation, trade, transport and logistics.

Given the experience acquired with the Baltic Sea strategy, the European Commission’s rigid “no new funding” stance must be reconsidered and thought be given – when it comes to the Adriatic-Ionian Macroregion – to the allocation of a range of international, Community, national and local resources based on a revision and greater harmonisation of goals and the instruments to carry them out.

Moreover, if the European Council decides that the full extent of macroregional strategy to be launched in 2014 must be decided upon by the end of 2013, there is every chance of constructing a framework of highly mutually compatible initiatives that can be included in operational programmes for the 2014-2020 period.

On the matter of subsidiarity and proportionality: It is possible – for the Adriatic-Ionian area as for the Baltic Sea – to hit upon a European strategy that i) capitalises on the many cooperation networks already in existence and on the array of initiatives, programmes and projects already in train, ii) adapts and coordinates the instruments available to different players, and iii) contributes to consolidating the integration process, both between and within states, through greater involvement of civil society in the decision-making process and in the implementation of particular measures.

If this is achieved, the macroregional strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian area will be seen as an excellent example of multi-level governance in practice, since it creates the context for the cooperation and interaction of all the stakeholders grappling with the major challenges in this area.

At this stage, in which most of the measures rest on legal bases relating to EU and Member State spheres of competence, the Commission will initially have to restrict itself to supporting agreed initiatives. All levels of government involved will then cooperate to pursue these in line with their respective competences and responsibilities, after which the Commission will assume a role of coordinating, monitoring and facilitating the strategy’s implementation and follow-up.

Conclusions

Given the pressing problems and the current challenges, a start must be made immediately on drawing up a strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian area. The Committee of the Regions therefore calls on the European Council to task the Commission with drafting this strategy and the European Parliament to offer its own cooperation.

The macroregional strategy should be fully incorporated into the territorial cooperation dimensions of the post-2013 cohesion policy, especially where crossborder cooperation from 2013 is concerned, so that regional operational programmes in the next programming period (2014-2020) can assist the effective implementation of this strategy.

The strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian area is based on the application of the subsidiarity principle. It will address a range of issues and problems that cannot be solved at local, regional and national levels alone.

The drafting of this strategy must be accompanied by a broad public consultation exercise. This must be conducted in close collaboration with existing networks and organisations in the area, with the Committee of the Regions as the representative of local and regional authorities, and with other key partners.

Glossary:
AIS: Adriatic and Ionian Strategy
AIMR: Adriatic-Ionian Macroregion
AII: Adriatic-Ionian Initiative
IMP: Integrated Maritime Policy
AISMS: Maritime Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Seas