2018 02 22 EUSBSR BSPC Meeting Clean

EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea RegionBSPC Standing Committee MeetingBrussels, 22 February2018Peter SchenkEuropean CommissionDirectorateGeneral for Regionaland UrbanPolicyEU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region –key facts•First macro-regional strategy in the EU (launched 2009)•8 EU Member States; 80 million people (16% of EU population)•Joint challenges/opportunities•Threeobjectives: 'Save the Sea', 'Connectthe region', 'IncreaseProsperity'•13 Policy Areas, 4 Horizontal Actions•Better and more effective use of existing policies, funding, institutions and legislationFirst Commission report on the implementation of all four macro-regional strategies, COM(2016)805•Takingstock: Achievementsand challenges•Council Conclusions (April 2017), Committeeof the Regionsopinion (November2017), European Parliamentresolution(January2018)Study: "Macro-regional strategies and their links with cohesion policy" (Dec 2017)•EUSBSR set the relevant objectives and addressesrelevant needs•Achievements both in terms of content and process•Funding: mainlyInterreg, but alsootherEU fundingsources•Need for more strategic alignment between the MRSs and ESIF (regulatory framework and programming stages)•Recommendations: e.g. requirementfor cross-sectoral and cross-territorial coordination in any new EU policy and in EU funds; better support for matchmaking between transnational collaboration proposals and funding (MA-networks)Developments•Evaluation: Study contracted by DG Regioon ‘Macro-regional strategies and their links with cohesion policy’ (December 2017)•Monitoring: ESPON "European and Macro-regionalTerritorial Monitoring Tool" (kick-off Jan 2018)•High-levelGroup meeting on Macro-regionalStrategieson 1st March 2017•Reporting: 2ndCommission report on the implementation of all four macro-regional strategies (by end 2018)•Funding: ERDF Managing Authorities’ Network in the Baltic Sea region in support of the EUSBSR (ongoing)•Communication: Update and implementation of the Communication Strategy for the EUSBSR (ongoing)•EUSBSR AnnualForum 4/5 June2018 in Tallinn: https://www.balticsea-region-strategy.eu/9th-annual-forum•9th Annual Forum of the EUSBSR•www.baltic–sea-region-strategy.eu•Thank you for your attention!