Report concerning the added value of macro-regional strategies

Summary:

Report published by the European Commission in May 2013 concerning the added value of macro-regional strategies.

Further information:

The objective is a coordinated response to issues better handled together than separately. The two strategies aim to overcome obstacles holding up development, and unlock the potential of the regions. They seek to place issues in a multilateral setting, and to reach out beyond current EU borders to work as equals with neighbours. The approach encourages participants to overcome not only national frontiers, but also barriers to thinking more strategically and imaginatively about the opportunities available.

The aim of a macro-regional strategy is to mobilise new projects and initiatives, creating a sense of common responsibility. They are an important innovation in territorial cooperation and cohesion. Nevertheless, this approach has to be judged by results, and success measured against effort required. While the approach itself enjoys a certain popularity, implementation is challenging, with improvements needed to deliver real value added in the most efficient and sustainable way.

The Council asked the Commission to ‘clarify the concept of macro-regional strategies, to evaluate their value added and submit the outcomes to the Council and the European Parliament by June 2013’.

This Report seeks to clarify the concept; evaluates the added value of existing macro-regional strategies; and provides recommendations for future work. It considers achievements to date, both advantages and difficulties, against the overall EU policy framework, including the Europe 2020 Strategy, and the territorial perspective now present in the Treaties.

• Primary Source

• Alternative Source

Official

EUR-Lex: SWD(2013)233: Commission Staff Working Document accompanying the report http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=SWD:2013:233:FIN

European Commission: Press Release, 01/07/2013: Europe's Macroregional Experiment: the first Evaluation http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-13-628_en.htm

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