The European Union strategy for the Danube – Preliminaries, mechanisms, positions, priorities and effects –

The European Union Strategy for the Danube is an internal EU strategy where all river-side countries are invited to take part, complying with the three principles applied also in the case of the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region.The three pillars proposed by the European Commission and which the Strategy centers round are: connectivity (transport, energy, telecommunication), environmental protection and water management, as well as the socio-economic development (culture, education, tourism, rural development). The European Commission proposed to launch and organize a public debate in all river-side countries, conferences, seminars and round tables. The outcome of these debates will lie in the European Commission working out and bringing up, together with the river states, a paper on the theme of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region, and also a Plan of Action. This will comprise the detailed analysis of the present state and will propose a list of strategic projects. The implementation of the Plan of Action will be monitored by the European Commission and will be periodically up-dated, according to the economic conditions and the social trends in the region.