Dozens of representatives of local authorities, universities and civil society met on Friday in Iasi to take part in the meeting aimed at transnational cooperation between Romania and the Republic of Moldova, within the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR). The meeting was attended by Liviu Oboroc, Deputy Minister of Regional Development and Construction, directors of RDAs North, Center and South, as well as members of the Regional Development Councils from the Republic of Moldova.
The event, part of a pilot project that aims to increase the absorption of European funding within financing programmes, is to be implemented in the 2014-2020 financial perspective, making use of the new cooperation mechanism offered by the Danube Strategy.
According to the organizers, the first stage objective is to stimulate and make effective the cooperation between central and local government institutions, academic environment, businesses and NGOs in Romania and the 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 the Republic of Moldova have discussed the topics of common interest, including the initiative to create cooperation mechanisms to facilitate identification of partners in macro-regional impact projects that meet the objectives of EUSDR.
The agenda of Iasi meeting included topics on transnational and cross-border cooperation within the EU Strategy for the Danube Region and debates on the role of regional structures in attraction of the European funds, strengthening governance at national and cross-border level and proposals of integrated solutions for project funding.
The meeting ‘Transnational cooperation within the EU Strategy for the Danube Region ‘ is part of a pilot project which aims to strengthen the administrative capacity of Romania and the Republic of Moldova in the implementation of the EUSDR objectives. The project addresses one of the recommendations of EUSDR’s Annual Forum (Bucharest, 28-29 October 2013) for ‘establishing a follow -up mechanism, at work level, of the EUSDR National Coordinators, targeting the implementation of policy decisions and identify common activity directions to increase the efficiency of strategy’s implementation’. Thus, there are proposed working mechanisms between central and local government, as well as a functional framework for inter-county and inter-regional cooperation, including academic environment, businesses 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, coordinating institution of CBC programmes and the transnational cooperation programme ‘Danube’, and the Ministry of European Funds, coordinator of operational programmes.
