Richard Seeber is a Member of the European Parliament, and water is a special focus of his work. He founded the first Intergroup on Water of the European Parliament in 2010, and serves as its President.

Richard Seeber, Member of the European Parliament and Founder and President of the Intergroup on Water, speaks about the European Strategy for the Danube Region, and how the river and the people living in its basin will benefit from such a strategy.

Danube Watch: What are 'macro-regions' for and how can the Danube region benefit from such a strategy?
Seeber: The region along the Danube River is one of the most important nature areas in Western Europe. To protect the natural diversity and to strengthen the economy and competitiveness, the European Commission presented, in collaboration with the Committee of the Regions, the 'European Strategy for the Danube Region'. The strategy is an example of a European macro-region, which will increase efficient and effective cooperation between countries along the Danube River, and provide an appropriate use of European Funding. The European Council approved the strategy in June.

Danube Watch: Will the Danube Strategy encourage cross-border partnership?
Seeber: Macro-regions are characterised by countries or regions that share certain key challenges, brought about by similar geographical circumstances. The Danube Region encompasses 14 countries, of which eight are EU member states, and most of them are facing the same challenges such as economic, social and infrastructure disparities. Optimised cross-border cooperation is needed to address these challenges and to provide strong and ongoing development in all sectors. Therefore, the Danube Strategy focuses on four main issues within these countries: environment, competitiveness, connectivity and security.

As six countries participating in the Danube Strategy are non-EU countries (namely Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia and the Ukraine), the strategy also shows the European efforts for greater cooperation with EU neighbour states. Cross-border partnership is one of the main objectives of EU regional policy. While some of these countries are already candidates for membership of the European Union, others maintain strong relations in the fields of economy and industry with the European Union.

Danube Watch: What are the financial challenges of the Danube Strategy?
Seeber: We also have to take into consideration that the formation of macro-regions is based on a common set of objectives and measures, which require a certain standard in economical and political stability. Macro-regions can be an innovative framework to support the development in various sectors, but it has to be ensured that the financial resources are used efficiently and equitably. Therefore, an intensified interaction with local players for better incorporation of European funds is essential. The important role that local and regional authorities must play in such a process has to be underlined, and the important question of the principle of subsidiarity must be taken into account.

To find a balance between the EU level and the local level, and to solve the questions of division of tasks between the various actors, is one of the most important challenges within regional and cohesion policy. Decentralisation and regional self-government has to be supported by the Danube Strategy and all stakeholders which take part in the implementing process.

There has been an increasing recognition at political and policy-making level of the need to use the resources given by the European Union more efficiently. The implementation of the European Strategy for the Danube Region will not be accompanied by additional EU finance. There has already been a considerable amount of funding in the programming period between 2007 and 2013. More than 100 billion Euros have been allocated from the European Regional Development Fund, Cohesion Fund and European Social Fund. The Strategy will focus on coordinating and strengthening the use of existing financing instruments, but no extra money, new institutions or new rules will be implemented. That's not necessary, as within the region there is already quite a lot of money available, provided through the various funds of the European Union. The Danube Strategy's aim is to provide optimised coordination and implementation of regional development programmes within the regions and countries through which the Danube flows. A bottom-up approach on this Strategy is one of the instruments needed to achieve greater effect and to show how European macro-regional programmes can help tackle local problems.

Danube Watch: What role can environmental protection play in economic growth?
Seeber: As the coordinator of the committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety, as President of the Intergroup Water and as a member in the Committee on Regional Development in the European Parliament, I would like to underline the increasing importance of the protection of natural resources in the Danube Region. The main objectives of the European Strategy for the Danube Region are to boost the economy and competitiveness as well as environmental protection. The use of renewable energy sources will have a positive impact on regional development and economic growth within the Danube area. The European Strategy for the Danube Region is strongly influenced by the aims of the EU2020 Strategy. Growth and employment, joint concepts for sustainable environment protection, development of infrastructure, the involvement of local authorities and cross-border cooperation in security issues are the objectives to be pursued in this regard.

The Danube Region has an enormous economic, environmental and social potential, and I am convinced that the European Strategy for the Danube Region is an innovative project with ambitious goals. To achieve these, the Strategy must go hand in hand with the principle of subsidiarity and a strong focus on sustainable environmental protection.

Kirstie Shepherd is a freelance journalist living in Vienna and has called the Danube River Basin home since 2000.