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EU 'macro-regions' could get own funding from 2014
EU "macro-regions" such as the one surrounding the Baltic Sea could by 2014 be granted their own budget line from the Union's common coffers, the Swedish EU presidency said on Tuesday.
"The Baltic Sea Strategy is fantastic, but it has its limitations. It mainly focuses on projects and won't solve all the problems of the region," Swedish minister for EU affairs Cecilia Malmstrom said at a press panel during the "Open Days", a marathon of events in Brussels dedicated to regions and cities.
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The Baltic Sea Strategy is the EU's pilot project for so-called macro-regions comprising several member states featuring a common geographical characteristic. As with the states bordering the Baltic Sea, the EU could soon see a strategy for the Danube region, one for the Alps and another for the Carpathian mountains.
In the case of the Baltic Sea Strategy, the main aims are to clean up the highly polluted waters, to connect the transport and energy networks of the bordering countries and to spur research and exchange among different universities.
Adopted by the European Commission in June, the strategy still needs the endorsement of all member states – something the Swedish EU presidency is hoping to achieve by the end of October.
The strategy does not provide for new funds, only how to better co-ordinate existing projects among the eight countries concerned – Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania and Latvia.
As discussions on the next seven-year EU budget (2014-2021) are about to begin, Ms Malmstrom was asked if the so-called macro-regions could get their own financing in the future.
"I could imagine, within the cohesion funds, one headline for macro-regional co-operation," she said. "It is not on the agenda so far, but it could very well come up," she added.
EU regional affairs commissioner Pawel Samecki said that discussions on this matter had already started last month in Stockholm, when foreign ministers gathered for an informal meeting on the Baltic Sea strategy.
"The question was raised whether we should have a separate budget line for macro-regions. It is a relevant question, which would have other implications as well, as to who will manage this money – the EU commission, existing structures or a new body?"
Carsten-Ludwig Ludemann, a local official with the German city of Hamburg, said it was actually good that the commission did not attach a specific sum to the Baltic Sea strategy, as it was still facing "acceptance" issues with the member states not concerned.
"We are a federal state and all 16 Bundeslaender [regions] had to approve the strategy, which they did. But no land said they wanted a Danube or another strategy now," he noted.
The Baltic Sea strategy is due for review in 2011, under the Polish EU presidency, when countries and regional organisations responsible for specific projects will report about the actual implementation of the measures.
"It is very important to make states responsible," Finnish EU affairs minister Astrid Thors said. "I hope we won't need to name and shame countries in two years time," she added.