News

The EU Commission adopted, on Friday 30th November, the "Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions" on "A Maritime Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Seas" (see attachment).

The Communication is a first step towards the approval of a Maritime Strategy that will be spelled out in details in an Action Plan to be approved in the second half of 2013.

The Maritime Strategy might constitute a first and founding pillar of the wider EU macro-regional strategy covering an higher number of fields which is under consideration by EU institutions.

Upon invitation by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly President , the Hon. Riccardo Migliori , the AII Secretary General attended the Fall meeting which was held in Tirana on 5-7 October.

The Session was devoted to the OSCE promoting good governance and integration as a basis for stability and security.

During his stay in Tirana, the AII Secretary General Ambassador Pigliapoco had a meeting with the Albanian Foreign Minister Edmond PANARITI.

The present activity of the Initiative Under Slovenian Chairmanship and the future events scheduled by Ljubljana during the year of its Presidency were the focus of the first part of the discussion . Minister Panariti also expressed his satisfaction for the launching of the Regional Cooperation Program which has definitely transformed the AII into a real Project oriented Initiative.

Minister Panariti and Ambassador Pigliapoco also examined the perspectives of the future Albanian Chairmanship of the Adriatic and Ionian Initiative (june2013-may 2014 ) stressing that Tirana will have the responsibility of the Chair in the most delicate period for the Initiative , a period which will hopefully mark the formal approval of the Adriatic Ionian Macro-Region.

The second Committee of Senior officials under Slovenian Chairmanship took place in Ancona on November 22nd at the seat of the Adriatic Ionian Forum of Chambers of Commerce.

Items discussed in the agenda were many and very significant. Among them, the latest update about the process of construction of the Adriatic Ionian Macro-Region. The representative of the AII Governments have been informed about the high level meeting between Commissioner Hahn and the 8 AII Ministers of Foreign Affairs. In that occasion full commitment by 8 AII Countries has been expressed, while Commissioner Hahn appreciated their effort for the common aim in reaching the common goal of getting the EU Strategy for the Adriatic Ionian Macro-Region approved by 2014.

During the meeting a Statement (see annex) was delivered by the CSO approving the ranking list of the Regional Cooperation Programme 2012 (see annex). Nine projects will be co-financed accordingly for a total disbursement by the AII Permanent Secretariat of 204.069,90€ and an overall value of the projects of more than 500.000€.

The representatives of the three Adriatic Ionian Fora of the civil society (Chambers of Commerce, Universities and Cities) also participated to the meeting informing the Senior Officials with the latest updates of their international activity also in support of the Adriatic Ionian Macro-Region.

Finally, the Rector of the "Università Politecnica delle Marche", Marco Pacetti officially announced that University of Primorska (Slovenia) and his Rector, Dragan Marusic, will take over the Presidency of UniAdrion.

The third "Workshop on Maritime Affairs in the Adriatic Ionian Macro-Region" took place last September 17 in Portoroz (Slovenia).

The meeting had a wide audience of stakeholders and institutions coming from Slovenia and from the Countries of the Adriatic Ionian Area.

The involved stakeholders presented their proposals on how to reap the benefits of maritime activities in terms of employment, sustainable growth, accessibility and better quality of life in coastal area and discussed about "blue growth", sustainable and secure maritime transport, protection of the marine environment and fisheries.

For further information please visit this link http://de.amiando.com/Third-Adriatic-Ionian-Workshop-Portoroz.html