Report on Governance of the Macro-Regional Strategies
27 May 2014 04:12 PM
Why do we need a Report on
Governance of Macro‑Regional Strategies?
The Macro-Regional Strategies
(EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the EU Strategy for the Danube
Region) are bringing concrete results on the ground1, but experience has also
revealed obstacles to implementation and changes are needed to improve impact,
results and the sustainability of existing and future strategies, in
particularly:
-
Stronger political
leadership and decision making from countries and regions
concerned: Ministers and national authorities coordinating the work need to
take full ownership, and more clearly direct what is happening on the
ground;
-
Greater clarity in the
organisation of work: For authorities working on
day-to-day implementation, there is a need for explicit lines of
responsibility, effective coordination and sufficient
resources.
What will change as a result of
this report?
Each Macro-Region now has to
decide how to respond to the report, which offers recommendations (applicable
to all regions) and options that may or may not be relevant in each case.
Tailor made solutions are needed for each macro-region, taking into account the
regional specifics. Good use should be made of already existing regional
organisations, complementing work already done in other formats. It is hoped
the result will be better management of the strategies to deliver more results
more efficiently.
What does the report
cover?
This Report looks at the
existing Strategies at the following levels:
-
Political leadership and
ownership: Who gives strategic direction? Who takes the major
decisions? How to ensure identification with, and communication and
accountability of the Strategies?
-
Coordination:&nb
sp;Who is responsible for overall administrative coordination at participating
country (or region) level?
-
Implementation:&
nbsp;Who should lead day-to-day implementation, who needs to be associated and
how should it be supported? How can full involvement of non-EU countries
participating in the Strategies be ensured?
What exactly is proposed at
political level?
-
Countries and regions involved
should take general strategic leadership at ministerial
level.Ministers hosting the National Contact Point should be the
ultimate decision makers, and together, constitute a regular decision making
formation. They should be responsible for evaluating progress, guiding
implementation, and seeking breakthroughs when stalemates occur. Meetings
should coincide with the Annual Forum.
-
Other options to ensure
strategic leadership could include:
-
a rotating
chair for each Strategy for a given period, with an agreed rotation
principle.2 Holding the chair could also
imply hosting and organising the Annual Forum, ensuring direct links to
implementation;
-
the nomination of
a special representative for a Strategy, approved by the
countries concerned. S/he could be given the role of steering implementation,
trouble shooting, and reporting back to the ministerial level. S/he might be
ministerial level or equivalent, following the experience of European
Coordinators for TEN-T3. S/he could be financed by the
transnational cooperation programme, or by other means;
-
Sectorial
ministers should drive progress in their thematic areas. In each
area of work, leadership at ministerial level should be assumed by the country
leading the priority area in question. Meetings could be scheduled regularly
and consideration should be given to meetings in the margins of Council
meetings. The special representative would be expected to take a proactive role
in such meetings;
-
Ministers hosting the
National Contact Point should have a strategic coordination
function within their national or regional
government, regularly informing the government of on-going
initiatives, and ensuring the alignment of policies and
funding.
What is proposed to improve
co-ordination?
-
National Contact
Points should have the lead in coordination and operational
leadership.
-
The High Level
Group4 should become
more active in ensuring coherence between Macro-Regional Strategies, and with
EU actions and objectives overall. This group should share good practice on
issues such as governance, the setting of targets and indicators, monitoring
and evaluation, and on raising public awareness. It should be the forum
where the approaches and practices in each Region are compared, with a view to
maximising leverage and impact;
-
The
relevant transnational cooperation
programmes and INTERACT should provide
targeted facilitation to this key coordination level. Tasks could include
conceptual and further developmental work on projects (existing, on-going,
planned, and proposed), funding sources, and targets. They should facilitate
reporting and publicity.
-
It is important to ensure the
Macro-Regions are covered by debates at EU 28 level, including in the European
Parliament, the Committee of the Regions and the Economic and Social
Committee.
What is proposed to improve
implementation?
-
Sector
Ministers (or where relevant, leaders of other organisations
leading Priority Areas) should be fully accountable for the work in the
thematic areas, and for the conditions offered to thematic experts and Steering
Group members. These should be officially appointed and receive a clear
mandate, along with sufficient resources;
-
Thematic experts and
Steering Groups should be the expert drivers of day-to-day
implementation. Steering Groups, with members from all involved countries,
should be established for all areas. Their role, capacities, resources and
engagement is key to success. The Commission should provide equivalent thematic
expertise. Information and communication technologies could facilitate good
communication flows between meetings;
-
Integration
of non-EU countries and regions participating in the
Strategies should be facilitated, based on the good approach developed in the
Danube Region with regard to participation to Steering Group meetings, and
making use of communications technology;
-
Transnational
cooperation programmes, while retaining current objectives, should
also be used effectively to support coordination and implementation of the
Strategies. They should exploit innovative approaches to networking and
discussions. Platforms or points, where appropriate to be hosted by existing
regional institutions, could include tasks such as:
-
supporting the work of key
implementers, both in practical ways, and in terms of data collection, analysis
and advice;
-
providing a platform for the
involvement of civil society, regional and multi-governance levels, and
parliamentary debate;
-
facilitating the Annual
Forum.
-
Building on experiences, skills
and networks already developed in its initial support work, INTERACT should
provide overall conceptual and developmental assistance. Tasks should
include:
-
providing overall services
across Macro-Regional Strategies, such as communication, and capitalising on
cooperation results;
-
exchange of good practice
between existing and upcoming Macro-Regional Strategies;
-
facilitating links between
Macro-Regional Strategies and funding programmes;
-
facilitating
thematic synergies
So what is the role of the
Commission?
-
The Commission should
continue to offer strategic support. It will facilitate the
evaluation of progress, identify shortcomings that need to be addressed at
political level, as well suggest resolution of implementation stalemates. It
should ensure coherence with EU policies and positions, especially the
integration of the Macro‑Regional approach into EU policies;
-
On co-ordination,
the Commission should continue playing a key role,
where there is a clear added value for its involvement. In addition to the role
outlined above this includes, in partnership with National Contact Points,
addressing issues, such as insufficient staffing, insufficient synergies with
existing institutions or uneven commitment of government authorities. Where
these lead to concern about progress on performance and the added value of
Priority Areas, joint decisions on future viability should be
taken.
Report on Governance of Macro-Regional
Strategies
1 :
Communication concerning the
European Union Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region, 23 March 2012 COM (2012)128
final; Report on the implementation of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, 8
April 2013 COM (2013) 181 Final. Report concerning the added value of
Macro-Regional Strategies, 27 June 2013 COM (2013) 468 Final; Conclusions of
the General Affairs Council, 22 October 2013.
2 :
As currently in the EU Strategy
for the Baltic Sea Region, the rotation principle for the chair of a Strategy
could take into account EU Presidencies in the Council, presidencies in other
macro-regional institutions, or be on a voluntary basis.
4 :
Representatives (National
Contact Point or equivalent) of all 28 EU Member States, and non-EU countries,
for all Macro-Regional Strategies.