Cross-border meeting for EU Strategy for the Danube Region was held at Iași

Dozens of representatives of local authorities, universities and civil society met in Iasi on Friday to take part in the meeting of the transnational cooperation between Romania and Moldova, in the framework of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (UESDR). The meeting was attended by Liviu Oboroc, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Construction, and the Directors of Regional Development Agencies in North, Central and South, as well as members of the Regional Councils for Development from the Republic of Moldova.

The event, part of a pilot project, aimed to increase the absorption of the European funds within the grant program which will be carried out in the financial perspective for 2014-2020, by capitalizing on new mechanisms of cooperation offered by the Danube Strategy.

According to the organizers, a prime target oat this stage is stimulating and improving cooperation between institutions of Central and local government, academia, business and non-governmental organizations from Romania and Republic of Moldova, by providing a better understanding of the institutional framework of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region.

For several hours the participants from Romania and Moldova held talks on issues of common interest, including the initiative to create the mechanisms of cooperation that would facilitate the identification of partners in projects and their impact on the responsible macro-regional objectives of EUSDR.

The agenda of the meeting in Iasi included topics relating to cross-border and transnational cooperation within the framework of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, as well as the debate on the role of regional structures in attracting European funds, strengthening the governance at the national level and across borders, and proposals for integrated solutions for financing the projects.

  "Transnational cooperation within the framework of the EU strategy for the Danube Region" it is part of a pilot project that is considering strengthening the administrative capacity of Romania and the Republic of Moldova in the process of putting into practice the objectives of the EUSDR. The project addresses one of the recommendations from the EUSDR Annual Forum (Bucharest, 28-29 October 2013) to "establish a mechanism for follow-up work for the National Coordinators of EUSDR, targeting the implementation of policy decisions and identify common strands to increase the efficiency of strategy implementation. Thus, it was proposed to establish working mechanisms between the Central and local administration, as well as a functional framework for inter-regional cooperation, including academia, business and civil society involved in the practical application of EUSDR.

The event was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the Consulate General of Romania in Cahul and Bilateral Business Center Romania-Republic of Moldova and benefited from the support of the Ministry of Regional Development and Public Administration, the coordinating institution of cross-border cooperation and transnational cooperation program "Danube", as well as European Funding Ministry, coordinator of operational programs.