BRATISLAVA, July 13, (WEBNOVINY) — Slovakia, together with Hungary, should coordinate renewal and preservation of water quality via the Environment Ministry within the EU Strategy for the Danube Region. Slovakia together with Serbia should also steer another area within the strategy – development of the information society by means of research, education and information technologies – which the Slovak Academy of Science will take charge of. The Cabinet passed on Wednesday the system update of project plans in priority areas of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region. The Danube Strategy that the European Council passed on June 24 should bolster cooperation of countries in the Danube Region and strengthen sustainable development and competitiveness of this part of Europe. The approved structure of the Danube Strategy is based on four pillars and eleven priority areas. The pillars include interconnection of the Danube Region and its consolidation.
A position of the national contact points have been established in all Danube Region member states. The Cabinet Office has been assigned to be Slovakia’s contact point. Besides the contract points and coordinators, eleven managing groups for individual areas, where every state has representation will operate within the strategy.
With regard to Slovakia’s priorities in individual pillars of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, some concrete project areas should be implemented. The pillar Connecting the Danube Region comprises a north-south transport connection with a link to the Danube (preferentially the Vah water route), support to the integrated intermodal transport – construction of terminals with a link to multimodal transport corridors, promotion of non-motorized (e.g. bicycle) transport in cities and city regions, utilization of the Danube as a source of renewable energy and as a transport route for energy materials, encouragement of a dialogue between individual cultures of the Danube Region and boosting construction cycling routes across the whole region. The pillar Protecting the Environment in the Danube Region focuses on environment protection in the whole region integrated water management. i.e. maintenance of underground and surface water sources, their rational use, protection against floods, use of groundwater as a source of drinking water, protection and preservation of water quality in the region and protection of biodiversity and the countryside, and risk management in the area of the environment. The pillar Building Prosperity in the Danube Region emphasizes support to construction of information clusters and science and technological parks. Financially secured projects or those with realistic potential sources of financing, of whose projects are ready, or are important with regard to their significance and accordance with strategy priorities, with a potential synergy with other initiative in the region and backed by foreign partners will be preferred.
No new sources, legislation or institutions should be used in the strategy. The European Union does not earmark special funds for the strategy but the region can draw them from already available sources in various EU programs to a large degree.
SITA
