During the 4th Annual Forum of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), Ministers in charge of EU Funds, European Affairs or European Integration from the participating States and Regions and the European Commissioner for Regional Policy gathered in Ulm and agreed on a joint statement.
”Ministers emphasised that EUSDR countries should put all efforts in using other possible funding sources on national, regional or local level and called upon the European Commission to further enable stronger synergies between EU Macro-Regional Strategies, regional multilateral agreements and EU Programmes directly managed by the European Commission such as Horizon 2020, Erasmus+, Creative Europe, COSME, LIFE, CEF and the EU Fund for Strategic Investments.”
Ministers agreed that the link between the European Territorial Cooperation Programmes (known as Interreg) and the EUSDR is crucial. These Programmes play an important role in fostering territorial cooperation in the Danube Region and in developing new transnational and cross-border projects. By including non-EU Countries, they can also contribute to enhance cohesion and cooperation and foster economic development and European integration within the Danube Region. In this respect, Ministers welcomed the recent adoption of the Danube Transnational Programme by the European Commission. At the same time the role of the Investment for Growth and Jobs Programmes in the Danube Region needs to be more emphasized and promoted where appropriate.
Ministers agreed to take further steps to improve the exchange of information, to enhance coordination, to streamline project selection, to consider EUSDR related calls and to facilitate exchange of experience and development of joint solutions within the Danube Region.
Photo: Grasshopper Films/ Eva Oswald
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