Europe's macro-regions - trend or real added value for the regions?

Policy Background:

Macro-regions were developed in the middle of the current programming period, in order to facilitate and improve cooperation in specific geographical areas taking into accound the specific territorial characteristics and historical links of a wider territory.  The Baltic Sea strategy set the example of how a macro-regional strategy could look like, the Danube strategy followed soon after together with many other proposals for macro-regional strategies such as the Adriatic-Ionian macro-region. 

Key questions:

• Are macro-regions a trendy concept to give new impetus to interregional cooperation?
• Do they mainly benefit member states or can they bring added value to the regions?
• What does it mean that “existing funds have to be aligned to the new strategies” and which implications does it have for the regions?

Speaker:

• Olivier Baudelet, DG REGIO - European Commission

Key issues addressed:

• Latest developments of macro-regional strategy policy making
• The new EC regulations on Structural Funds and macro regions
• EC view on macro regions in the new programming period
• Problems and challenges from EC perspective
• Future perspective and involvement of European regions