A debate in the European Parliament held on 20 January revealed that the campaign to put in place a 'Danube Strategy', led by Romanian MEP Silvia-Adriana Ţicău (S&D), has attracted massive support across party lines from parliamentarians from Germany, Austria, Slovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria and Romania, which are the EU countries through which the longest river in Europe flows, as well as MPs from Croatia.
MEPs insist that the strategy for the Danube region should develop a coherent approach, concentrating on priority areas such as social and economic development, environmental protection (especially protected nature areas and healthy drinking water), transport (including the connection with the Rhine, through the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal) and sustainable tourism, scientific exchange, cultural heritage and linguistic diversity in the Danube basin.
A motion for a resolution, to be voted upon today (21 January) and supported by all political groups, says that a European strategy for the Danube region would be an instrument for more intense territorial development, and would strengthen cooperation on the basis of well-defined priorities, in areas where the region's governments have identified European added value.
Speaking in plenary, MEP Petru Luhan (EPP; Romania) said that a strategy with adequate funding could significantly improve the quality of life for people in the Danube basin.
On behalf of the liberal group ALDE, MEP Michael Theurer (Germany) stressed the importance of involving local authorities in the project, adding that 80 million people live in the Danube basin region.
This view was echoed by MEP Evgeni Kirilov (S&D; Bulgaria), who said that the priorities of the future strategy should be determined by a bottom-up approach, involving local communities and civil society, which should see the strategy as "their instrument" for better cooperation.
EU Enlargement Commissioner Olli Rehn, who represented the Commission at the debate, informed MEPs that the EU executive had established a working group, which would propose priorities for the EU's future Danube Strategy. However, he added that the process was still at an initial stage.
MEPs insisted that the strategy should be put in place by the end of 2010.
According to Parliament sources, MEP Victor Boştinaru (S&D; Romania) is expected to be the rapporteur for the Danube Strategy, on behalf of the EU assembly's regional development committee.
