EUSAIR - Final Report

ELISA FERREIRA, EU COMMISSIONER
FOR COHESION AND REFORMS
Cooperation among the countries around the Adriatic and Ionian Seas today is
more important than ever before. Let me quote an old proverb that says:
“If you want to travel fast – go alone. But if you want to travel far – go together.”
The trade-off between the quick wins of working alone and the long-term
accomplishments of cooperation should always be kept in mind.Our Europe is
experiencing far-reaching changes: Covid, first crisis and now recovery; the digital
revolution; the transition to a circular and carbon-neutral economy. And we
want to go far in meeting these challenges. So we must go together. There is no
better way. You have achieved a great deal in the Adriatic and Ionian Strategy,
but you should strive for even more cooperation.
I am very pleased about the inclusion of new members: North Macedonia in
2020; and today’s initiative to bring in San Marino. Today’s meeting is about
going further, though. I would like to challenge you to do this in 3 ways.
First, in your revision of the Strategy.
The communication and action plan must take account of the new, post-Covid reality.
This means leaving no region behind in the digital revolution. Since we are now
doing our conferences and meetings online, we should also strive hard to digitalize
as many other services as possible. The digital revolution has a long way to go and
it is essential that we do this leaving no region behind. A revision of the strategy
must also build on the European Green Deal. This is Europe’s new growth strategy.
We need more Sustainable Tourism, more nature protection, and more green
mobility in local development and cross-border cooperation. Your joint project to
build a cycling route along the coasts and beyond is a very good starting point.
The second way I challenge you to go further is in the embedding process.
For a Macro-regional Strategy to be successful, there must be functioning
networks of Governing Authorities. Across the various EU funded programmes:
the European Regional Development Fund; the European Maritime and Fisheries
Fund; the pre-accession instrument (IPA); and, of course, Interreg programmes.
These networks are a key prerequisite for success. So I urge you to mobilize all
relevant administrations and stakeholders. The message that we are stronger
together is central to Macro-regional Cooperation and to Interreg. We are not just
implementing policies and projects, we are creating a real sense of European unity.
This brings me to the third challenge: preparing the path for our partner
countries to take the next steps towards EU membership.This must
of course be based on progress in all relevant fields, economic, social and political,
and with a strong focus on the rule of law. I believe that working together
at the various levels provided by this forum, will contribute to the European
integration of the whole macro-region. In conclusion, let me again underline the
importance of going together in order to achieve our goals. Working alone is
not an option. I want to encourage you to strive at far-reaching changes to your
Macro-regional Strategy. Changes that prepare the Adriatic and Ionian Region
for the green and digital revolution.
Let us go far. Let us go – together.
52 | EUSAIR Slovene Presidency