AII - Adriatic & Ionian Initiative

WHAT IS THE ADRIATIC- IONIAN MACROREGION?

‘Many objectives cannot be attained through individual initiatives; to success we need a collective action in which the EU, Member States, the regions and the municipalities share duties and function.’

According to this spirit, the Macroregion represents an innovative mode of territorial cooperation of different regions and nations, with balanced and sustainable development as a shared goal.

The Macroregion is not a geographical region with predefined boundaries; it is a functional area, composed of national, regional, and local bodies coming together to tackle a number of shares issues and it involves in territories in Albania, Bosnia- Herzegovina, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Montenegro, Serbia and Slovenia.

Also, the Macroregion is not a further institutional level within the European Union( like states, regions, municipalities, etc.) but rather network, an operating mode or, more precisely, a joint Initiative  involving several European, national, regional and stakeholders, policies and funding programmes.

For this reason, the Macroregion does not affect all public sector intervention sectors, but rather focuses on a number of challenges identified and shares by the partners who are part of it.

In particular, the Adriatic- Ionian Macroregion is a meaningful factor of reconciliation among territories east of the Adriatic and Ionian seas and, at the same time, of acknowledgment and rediscovery of unifying values that have characterized the two shores for centuries.

The basic task of the Adriatic- Ionian Macroregion is the connecting the territories, it includes to promote their sustainable development and, at the same time, to protect the fragile sea, coastal and inland environment.

The operating sectors of the Adriatic- Ionian Macroregion will by the partners; at any rate, a number of priority sectors can already be identified: environment conservation, improvement of accessibility and communications( sea motorways, fishing, navigation and port safety), with a clear reference to a choices made by European Commission as regards to environment policy.

In this respect, the Macroregion may became an effective instrument for the integrated management of specific sector, inherently local policies, such as, for example, transport, economic development, healthcare, the environment, culture, agricultural and rural policies.

Together with to other two European macro- regions, the Baltic Sea and Danube, the Adriatic- Ionian Macroregion is the ideal connection between Northern and Southern Europe because, since it also includes the central eastern Mediterranean area, it can relieve the congestion of the south- eastern access to Europe.

TIMING OF THE ADRIATIC- IONIAN MACROREGION 

Since the beginning of 2010, in close collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Adriatic- Ionian Initiative, the Marche Region started a series of initiatives aimed at raising awareness among the main European Institutions on the acknowledgment of the Adriatic- Ionian Macroregion.

On  March 3, 2011, in Brussels, the COTER( Territorial Cooperation) Commission of the Committee of the Regions entrusted the Marche Region with the drafting of an opinion on “ Territorial Cooperation in the Mediterranean basin through the Adriatic- Ionian Macroregion”.

The opinion approval process involved a first step on July 4, which has a successful outcome, and wasl completed on October 12 when, during the plenary assembly of the Committee of the Regions, the final validation was given.

Council of  June 23 and 24: in the Conclusions, member States were invited “to keep working, in collaboration with the Commission, at possible future Macroregions, with the particular reference to the Adriatic- Ionian Macroregion”.

The procedure for the final approval of the Adriatic Ionian Macroregion should be concluded by 2013, in order to benefit from the financial interventions included in the new EU programming 2014- 2020. 

ADVANTAGES OF THE FUTURE ADRIATIC- IONIAN MACROREGION

The added value stemming from the institution of a Macroregion lies in the integrated and coordinated approach by a different institutions, committed to solve shared  problems; a common initiative, involving various stakeholders, different policies and several funding programmes.

This common initiative implies an actual will to collaborate of different power and the possibility to coordinate different funding sources.

The Macroregion, as cooperation mode, is peculiar because is capable of strengthening the coherence and the coordination of political actions, of strengthening the use of financial resources and of enhancing the role regional ad local bodies, strongly involving civil society organizations.

A further added value of the Adriatic- Ionian Macroregion is the new attention of the EU as regards the western Balkans.

In this regard, the Macroregion may also facilitate the accession to the EU of the Countries interested in the pre- accession procedures; furthermore, it represent an opportunity to realize and promote the strengthening of democratic process among the territories belonging to the wider Mediterranean area.

ACTORS INVOLVED IN THE INSTITUTION OF THE ADRIATIC- IONIAN MACROREGION 

The relevant geographical area for the Adriatic- Ionian Macroregion includes three Member States( Italy, with Adriatic- Ionian regions, Greece and Slovenia), and the countries on the Adriatic Sea, i. e. Croatia will become part in July 1, 2013, Bosnia- Herzogovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Albania, which are undergoing procedures to become part of the EU. All those countries are connected not only by the shared historical, economic and culture features, by also by long standing, important integration and cooperation  initiatives. The Adriatic- Ionian basin around which it revolves is almost a “ closed area” and, in the future perspective, an “ inland sea” of the EU. A circumscribed sea, which connects( now) member states and other countries and, at same time, represent the natural access to the sea of the Danube Macroregion.

In view of an accession of western Balkan countries, the Adriatic and Ionian Seas will be even more affected by the circulation of people, good and services which be added to the sharing of the common heritage.

The Macroregion goes beyond the sea basin and, thanks to its very nature of territory connector, of joining links of people and  institutions, it is an ideal instrument to foster an exchange of ideas, people, goods and services, with a natural control of migration flows.

For its characterizing features and, in particular, for the attention of its member states to the protection of sea water and coast, the Adriatic Ionian Macroregion may undertake a more strictly Mediterranean dimension, fostering the stabilization process in the area.