2-3 June, 2008 Portorož, Slovenia ESPON SEMINAR Narciza Adela NICA Director,

1. Cross-border Cooperation and Needs for Territorial Information Challenges and opportunities in Territorial Cross Border Cooperation at the EU Eastern bordersCase of Romania 2-3 June, 2008 Portorož, Slovenia ESPON SEMINAR Narciza Adela NICA Director, General Directorate of Strategies and Policies for Territorial Cohesion

2. Content – a policy maker’s perspective • ROMANIA WITHIN THE EUROPEAN NEIGHBOURHOOD POLICY CONTEXT • BUILDING TERRITORIAL COHESION THROUGH INTEGRATING STRATEGIES AT EUROPEAN, NATIONAL AND LOCAL LEVELS • EUROPEAN NEIGHBORHOOD POLICY AND ROMANIAN POSITION • ESPON 2006 RESULTS IN SUPPORT OF CBC PROGRAMS’ SUBSTANTIATION 5. FINDINGS FOR ESPON 2013

3. 1. ROMANIA WITHIN THE ENP CONTEXT

4. Romania in a changing and challenging context – as EU MS situated at the European eastern border • New context: EUmember state • New perspectiveupon the borders of the enlarged EU: European Territorial CBC under the Cohesion policy 2007-2013 3. New principles and concepts: economic, social and territorial cohesion and competitiveness 4. New strategic framework: EUstrategic guidelines and approaches (renewed Lisbon and Gothenburg agenda, EU Territorial Agenda, Leipzig Charter) 5. New financial instruments and rules- ERDF, ENPI, IPA 6. New challenges:strategic approach for cohesion aim and integrated development planning (multi-sectoral, economic, social, territorial, financial) 7. New roles and ambitions: cooperation engine at the EU external borders

5. Romania under the external and internal structuring driving forcesStrategic concepts in territorial development, impact on CBC programs: from EU to local level COMMUNITY STRATEGIC GUIDELINES EUROPEAN TERRITORIAL AGENDA ESPON STUDIES & SPATIAL INFORMATION LEIPZIG CHARTER FOR URBAN SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

6. Territorial Cross Border Cooperation - Oportunities for Romania Romania as part of EU Eastern border • 1/4 of the EU Eastern border • 1/3 of the Baltic Sea-Black Sea border • the longest national border in the Eastern side of the EU • combined border – terrestrial, river, Black Sea Role of Romania according with its geo-strategic position • Pillarof ENP and the EU Eastern cross-border cooperation • Hub (terrestrial and maritime) for trans-national relationships, between West (EU) and East, access to the Black Sea basin • potential of developing cross-border and trans-national cooperation due to the balanced localities network and polycentric development potential

7. Rationale and responsability • Romania is involved in 4 CBC programmes concerning relationships with non-EU states • Romania-Ukraine-Rep of Moldova (MA) • Hungary-Slovakia-Romania-Ukraine • Black Sea Basin (multilateral cbc programme) (MA) • Romania-Serbia (MA) • Romania manages 3 CBC programmes as Managing Authority Romania is highly interested in ensuring the CBC approaching, preparation and implementation with a credible and coherent methodological base The acquired experience and results of the ongoing management of CBC activities are parts of programme continuous improvement process

8. HU - RO HU- SLVK-RO-UKR RO-UKR-MO BLACK SEA RO-BG Eligible Area for Romanian Cross-border Cooperation RO-SE

9. 2. BUILDING TERRITORIAL COHESION THROUGH INTEGRATING STRATEGIES AT EUROPEAN, NATIONAL AND LOCAL LEVELS

10. Developing the cross-border cooperation programs and ensuring their territorial dimension 2004 2020 2013 2014 2006 2007 TERRITORIAL COHESION AND SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT STRATEGIC CONCEPT OF TERRITORIAL DEVELOPMENT ROMANIA 2030 2004- 2006 CBC Programs 2007-2013 CBC Programs post 2013 Programming Programming Implementation Implementation Implementation

11. Building and implementing the CBC programs – use of territorial information EU LEVEL NATIONAL LEVEL ROMANIA INFORMATION INFORMATION NDP LOCAL PLANS OFFICIAL STATISTICS (NATIONAL + EU) WORKING GROUPS EUROPEAN TERRITORIAL COOPERATION PROGRAM/ CBC EU EXTERNALBORDERS CROSS BORDER COOPERATON –ROMANIA CBC PROGRAMMING ESPON STUDIES, ANALYSIS AND SPATIAL INFORMATION STRATEGIC CONCEPT FOR TERITORIAL DEVELOPMENT ROMANIA 2030 TERRITORIAL INFO. PLANS (National, Regional, Local) INTERSECT. INFORMATION CBC IMPLEMENTING

12. The interaction of territorial driving forces, among EU, national, cross-borders and local levels ESPON Comparing scenarios: Spatial structure and urban hierarchy in 2030

13. Romania’s interests in the region National Strategic Concept of territorial development Romania 2030 Based on ESPON 2006 territorial research results, in Romania is in process of elaboration the National Strategic Concept of territorial development Romania 2030 which explores and counts on potential spatial position in Europe: - Latin axis: Romania – Italy - Spain • Western-Eastern Europe axis: Pentagon – Romania – Rep of Moldova - Ukraine – Russia • Balkans area • Baltic Sea – Black Sea axis • Black Sea area

14. National and cross-border cooperation strategy

15. National and cross-border cooperation strategy

16. 3.EUROPEAN NEIGHBORHOOD POLICY AND ROMANIAN POSITION

17. EU Strategy for Eastern border cooperation The 4 ENPobjectives • Promoting sustainable economic and social development in cross-border areas • Solving in common issues in domains of common interest : environment, public health, prevention and fighting against crime; • Ensuring efficient and well organized borders; • Promoting the ‘people to people’ type of activities Wise integration of twoapparently contradictory needs: • buildingsecurity at the EU Eastern border, • reducing barriers at EU borders through facilitating the mobility of goods and people, increasing the economic CBC The border area potential should be mobilized in order to generate growth, networks, strengthen cooperation relationships General European duty becomes Romanian local duty

18. Eastern Romanian cross-border areas Border with former soviet territory was considerably stronger in keeping separate the two sides, and the ‘wall effect’ resulted in a low level of communication, cooperation and development The Romania’s Eastern territories could be included in following categories: • Natural handicaped (mountaineous areas, Danube Delta) areas • Areas with deficit of accessibility - internal roads and external natural border(Rivers of Prut and Dunare, and the Black Sea) • Rural/ rustic peripheral border areas • Low level of development Geographic matters influence cooperation.

19. Romanian cross-border areas typology The cross-border cooperation areas with non EU states is facing with all ESPON themes: • demography – population decreasing because the emigration for jobs • climate change – big floods affecting Romanian, Moldavian and Serbian sides as well • social inequality and poverty Main part of Romanian Eastern border ( NUTS III)belong to thehandicapped for integration and other part tothe candidates for integration (according to the ESPON 1.1.3 project)

20. Geographical-physical border typology

21. Socio - economicborder typology

22. Metropolitan poles as actors in cbc • Metropolitan area role: bridging cross-border areas, building and strengthening polycentric networks, expanding development corridors, • Metropolitan areas of Iaşi and Constanţa are highlighted as Functional Urban Areas in ESPON project 1.1.1. Polycentricity • Metropolitan areas active in fostering and developing their roles: • Iasi initiate a dialogue with Kishinew regarding metropolitan development (could be a “neighbour-dependent growth”, Espon project 1.1.1) – strategic potential in the relationship with Moscow, St Petersburg • Constanta envisages further strengthening position within the Black Sea (strengthen the relationship towards Istanbul) • Braila and Galati (on Danube) have great potential to become the second metropolitan pole of Romania(in terms of surface and population) –towards R. Moldova, Ukraine and Black Sea

23. 2004-2006 – a learning to cooperate periodin the ENP context • First cooperation programmes under the Phare CBC and ENPI • Transition from sporadic cooperation towards systematic and sustainable links over the border andfinancial assisted • Apprentice for genuine strategic CBC • Working together and building the mutual trust • Testing the programming and implementing capabilities, at national and local level • Connecting and bringing together local authorities, communities and people

24. Lessons learned from previous 2004-2006 • No clear image regarding the impact – the financing process is not finished • The 2004-2006 cooperation programs with R. Moldova and Ukraine are close to implementation finalizing and have a substantial harvest of projects • Conclusions: • potential for cooperation of all parts involved • domains of common interest in cross-border cooperation (infrastructure,environment, business environmet and local economy, culture) show that, in this period, the preconditions for the further developing the cross-border contacts are prepared • ‘growing together’ potential and optimism for the local communities • programmes contributs to the public administration capacity development

25. Local administrative capacity for cooperation • European Neighborhood Policy- implemented by the local governments and individuals • European policy goals achievement depends on • public administration`s capability for cooperation: programming skillsand implementing capacity • economic actors capability to react under a new market economy • There is a willingness of the neighbour communities to cooperate: • good absorption capacity, through a large amount of projects • local authorities well involved in the 2004-2006 CBC projects (main part of the applicants/stakeholders ) • The cooperation is still facing birocratic barriers (quite centralised system in the Eastern countries) that burdens the CB cooperation

26. 2007- 2013 programmes -shift in cooperation paradigm • The EU strategy shifts from the cooperation based on ‘face to face’ geographical criteria (bilateral programs Ro-Ua,Ro-Mo) towards strategic based cooperation • The complexity of new cooperation relationships and programmes • Polyvalency – Romania is involved in multiple programs on EU Eastern border, according to the area’s specific and the functional relationships (Romania-Ukraine, Romania-Rep of Moldova, Romania/ Black Sea Basin) • Multilateral – Romania has multiple partners to cooperate in the same program • Maturity – requires greater managerial abilities and capacity and specific statistic tools The new ENP changes the cross-borders relationships pattern and creates conditions for joint development, described as the growing together (1.1.3 ESPON project)

27. ENP CBC Programs’ Objectives on Ro borders • Each programme’s joint strategy • are in line with the ENP aims • reflect local needs and development level : improving infrastructure, joint economic activities, harmonising environment protection, cultural & education cooperation, economic growth and job creation • are in accordance with the specific of border’s areas specificity (economic and geographyc) • The main measures of the programmes concentrate on two complementary directions • facilitating convergence , integration (infrastructure) • boosting regional competitiveness within European context and decreasing the internal disparities • Programmes’ strategies for the cooperation area - coherent with each partner national strategies and other programmes envisaging the area

28. Black Sea Basin – a special challenge for Eastern CBC • EU Black Sea area brings two crucial issues: energy and hard security • Cooperation among Black Sea area countries articulates the regional territorial cohesion issue and European level • Within the CBC program, the Black Sea area is approached as a region with its diversity of features, cultural and economic relationships, level of understanding and involvement in cooperation, institutional frameworks etc • A large diversity of cooperation initiatives and associations rise in the Black Sea area (between countries, between public and private institutions etc.), aiming to create awareness regarding the advantages of cooperation in the area (headquarters of various associations are established all over the area: Bucharest, Istanbul, Thessaloniki etc.) • The CBC programme focuses on the civil society as the main engine able to boost cooperation in the Black Sea area • The actors in the Black Sea region need deep understanding of the environmental issues, economic and social dynamics and trends in the area, in order to approach a long and delicate process of structuring cooperation, mutually beneficial

29. CONCLUSIONS (3.1.) Weakness of cbc programmes - territorial dimension insufficiently explored • Difficulty in analysing the whole eligible area of a CBC programme in a coherent manner because of the lack of ESPON studies on the non EU countries; • Lack of more detailed studies regarding the territorial development vectors in cross-border regions, significant for larger development scenarios (ex: the territorial vectors acting on the EU Eastern borders , approaching polycentric development at a larger scale than the CB areas etc) • Lack of other liable studies on territorial dynamics and trends information to substantiate the CBC programmes strategy; • Poor involvement in the programming process of the relevant specialists that may lead to “projects for money” type of applications instead of “money for addressing real territorial needs” for strategic projectswith impact on integration of the area

30. CONCLUSIONS (3.2.) Weakness of the data and tools • Missing the regional delineation similar to NUTS on the outside of the border • Lack of statistically coherent comparable data and information (for NUTS II, III) regarding the territories on the two sides of the border • Modest structuring and collection of statistic data neded in the analysis phaze (information for the non EU countries from “non EU” sources: World Bank, IMF, UNO, etc.); • Lack of tools for coherent mapping of the eligible area’s features; • Difficulties in ensuring a coherent ‘joint’ approach in CBC programmes and projects;

31. CONCLUSIONS (3.3.) Weakness of data management • Centralized management of information and data in the non EU countries; • Not sufficient of reliable and effective cross-border communication system among specialized institutions in order to ensure the quality of data and information; • Information about Romania in some of ESPON studies was not precise because the data on Romanian territory was provided by a foreign body; • Lead-partners in ESPON projects contracted institutions that are not familiar with the specific of region / country, and to which extent the data and information sources are reliable/official; • Some regional indicators in Romania are still not in line with Eurostat

32. 4. ESPON 2006 RESULTS IN SUPPORT OF CBC PROGRAMS’ SUBSTANTIATION

33. List of ESPON studies on which rely National Strategic Concept of Territorial Development Romania 2030 • ESPON Synthesis Report II, In search of territorial potentials • 1.1.1. Polycentricity • 1.1.2. Urban-Rural • 1.1.3. Enlargement and Polycentricity • 1.1.4. Demographic Trends • 1.1.5. Transport Trends • 1.3.1. Natural Hazards • 1.3.2. Natural Heritage • 1.3.3. Cultural Heritage • 3.4.1. Europe in the World • ESPON Scenarios Reports (Scenarios on the territorial future of Europe, Territorial futures - Spatial scenarios for Europe) • ESPON Europe in the World Report • ESPON Synthesis Report III, Territory matters for competitiveness and cohesion • ESPON Atlas, Mapping the structure of the European territory

34. 5. FINDINGS FOR ESPON 2013

35. 1. Strengthening of territorial approaching in ENP/ CBC programs • To stress that ENP/ CBC Programmes are tools for the cohesion policy; • The territorial dimension is crucial in approaching ENP/CBC; • The need of territorial strategic approaching and development vision; • CBC Programmes provide the opportunity to shift from the ‘sewing’ peripheral areas towards bridging territories and communities, developing networks, developing territorial partnerships, becoming rather spatial articulation than a strip; • The need of partnership among national, regional and local level in approaching and implementing CBC: gathering territorial information, development and implementation of common agreed plans, sharing their benefit; • Local communities play core roles in implementing CBC: they bring the local needs and potential within the regional, national, cross-border and transnational context, strategies and policies.

36. 2. Territorial information in CBC Programmes • Providing CBC Programmes with territorial dimension: develop new research projects, according to the CBC programmes needs; • Stimulate the development of strategic territorial approaches on the cbc areas; • Awareness-rising of local relevant specialists and stakeholders in the neighbouring countries a by a pro-active attitude of ESPON programme; • Providing the local policy makers, practitioners and other stakeholders with relevant materials, documents and instruments; • The need of development of national territorial strategy in connection to the EU territorial strategies; • Identifying ways to decrease the bureaucratic impediments in the process of programmes’ planning and implementation;

37. 3. Ideas for EC and DG REGIO • The CBC Programmes need a strategic conceptual framework at territorial level and specific governance, taking into account complex and integrated territorial dynamics of EU, neighboring regions and international context; • The cohesion policy envisaged for 21st century should rely on the EU context and aim to maximize the impact of investments outside the EU borders; • A greater cooperation among the DG’s involved in the cross-border cooperation in order to create synergy of the EU CBC financing programmes; • CBC Programmes provide the basis for a coherent approaching of data and information structuring, according to the EU/EUROSTAT requirements; • Create synergy among ENP, cohesion and competitiveness policies, based on strategic projects; • Help obtaining comparable data and information on similar statistical area (NUTS II, III) on both sides of the border with CBC partners, cooperation with EUROSTAT in developing a framework for territorial data and information coherence (currently missing data, unreliable data quality, different administrative levels, etc.)

38. 4. Development & diversification of ESPON activities in support of the territorial component of the CBC EU funded programs • Screening at EU Institutions level on the existing territorial development research programmes and related financing sources, in order to ensure coordination and concentration of the efforts; • Develop new research projects, according to the CBC programmes needs • more detailed studies regarding scenarios of CB cooperation at territorial level and territorial potential for cooperation (ex:within EU, in the Eastern and South-Eastern areas, and also the territorial vectors acting on the EU Eastern borders) • articulate the territorial perspectives at regional, national and transnational levels from the CBC programmes perspective • Monitoring and territorial impact assessment systems of the CBC programmes

39. 5. ESPON studies based ideas for exploring future territorial partnerships:Seminar on “North-Central-South cooperation at the EU Eastern borders” Bucharest, Romania, September 2008 Background: • European Neighborhood, Cohesion and Competitiveness policies; • Visegrad 4+2 initiative; • Balkans area cooperation. Purpose of the seminar • Sharing of information regarding strategic development plans articulation aiming at improving territorial cooperation in the area.

40. Thank you!