MedCruise participated at the Stakeholder Conference on the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region jointly organised by the European Commission and the Hellenic Presidency of the Council of the European Union and took place at in Athens Greece on 6-7 February 2014.
The European Commission and the participating countries are proceeding to draw up a EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region. The new Strategy is expected to integrate the Maritime Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Seas adopted by the Commission on 30 November 2012.
The EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region will cover eight countries: four EU Member States (Croatia Greece Italy Slovenia) and four non-EU countries (Albania Bosnia and Herzegovina Montenegro Serbia). It focuses on areas of regional mutual interest; these are based around four main “pillars”:
- Driving innovative maritime and marine growth
- Connecting the Region
- Preserving protecting and improving the quality of the environment and
- Increasing regional attractiveness
MedCruise represented by Aimilia Papachristou participated during the second day of the conference in the thematic workshop of the forth pillar of the strategy under the theme “Increasing regional attractiveness”.
During the workshop the participants encouraged to reflect on the proposed scope priority topics and potential actions in this particular Pillar of the future EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region. After a presentation of the outcomes of the stakeholders’ consultation by the representatives of the coordinating countries for this Pillar (Croatia and Albania) the expert engaged by the Commission gave his view on the challenges and opportunities for cooperation in the Adriatic and Ionian region.
The Conference promoted a debate with the participants on the future challenges that can be tackled following a macro-regional approach. This will support the preparation of the future Communication and Action Plan of the Strategy which the Commission is due to present before the end of 2014.
For CLIA Europe & MedCruise Joint Statement on Coastal and Maritime Tourism for Blue Growth contact:
Thanos Pallis (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ) or Aimilia Papachristou (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. ).
