At the invitation of European Commissioner for regional policy Danuta Hübner and the president of the Committee of the Regions Luc van den Brande, Minister for local self-government and regional policy dr. Ivan Žagar attended the conference "Building European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation". The main issue of the conference was how to promote the use of the newest instrument of cohesion policy (EGTC). Minister dr. Ivan Žagar underlined that cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation supplements and additionally fosters economic development and contributes to sustainable development of the regions and that we cannot imagine realising the objectives of the EU cohesion policy without territorial cohesion.

Minister dr. Ivan Žagar said that the relatively slow implementation of the Regulation on EGTC in the Member States opened several questions of joint interest including the possibility of establishing the Euroregion, coordinating local and trans-European networks, cooperating to overcome the burdens of historical memory in the border areas as well as cooperation of the urban centres.  The territorial aspect of cohesion enables the Member States, regions and local communities to exceed their borders and join efforts in fostering growth and competitiveness of the European economy. Furthermore, the established regional aspect of the EU structural policy creates a suitable framework for the mobilisation of partnerships at the regional and local level. In the 2000-2006 period 64 cross-border programmes were concluded throughout the EU – INTERREG IIIA, each of which developed its own personality, characteristics due to the diversity of the areas included in the cooperation. The same can be said for Slovenia which took part in the cross-border cooperation with Italy, Austria, Hungary and Croatia (the last three in the trilateral agreement).

Minister dr. Ivan Žagar also presented the cooperation of the Republic of Slovenia within the Alps-Adriatic Working Group from 1978 onwards was a unique and historically important political step towards European integration due to the fact that this involved the cooperation of counties, counties and regions from different political and social systems. Now – 30 years after the establishment of the Alps-Adriatic Working Group – all partners are expressing readiness to upgrade the stable relationships between the responsible political representatives as the basis for a peaceful coexistence in the part of Europe heavily marked by regional and cultural differences.

Despite its long tradition the Alps-Adriatic Working Group did not fully make use of the available resources from the EU funds for a more efficient reduction of the differences for the good of its people and was probably not successful enough in including all of its levels in the formation and implementation of joint ambitions. For this purpose we actively enrolled in the transnational project MATRIOSCA in 2005, putting special emphasis on the opportunity to reorganise the Working Group by using the new legal form on the European grouping of territorial cooperation.

The Republic of Slovenia supports the integration on the regional level and is aware of the relevance of good neighbouring cooperation which guided us in our activities from our first steps in the framework of the Phare CBC programmes to the later initiatives in the framework of the Objective 3 in the present financial perspective. The Republic of Slovenia has gathered a lot of experience at all levels and can use these experiences for further cooperation and enhancement of the development potentials. The previous cross-border and transnational programmes and several hundred carried out projects in the neighbouring area on the Slovenian side offer open opportunities for professional cooperation in the discussions and the creation of future join institutional connections. It is important that the connections are formed on the basis of jointly agreed subjects and not just for the form itself. The subjects are numerous: from joint logistic hubs to joint nature parks, Nature 2000 networks, entrepreneurial networks, formation of joint tourist products.

One of the priorities of all the EU Member States where we can all find the opportunity for new challenges is the effort to implement the Lisbon Strategy at the regional level with emphasis being put on the concrete measures and policies which have given good results in the individual regions. Through institutional cooperation between the potential partners for the implementation of individual development projects – emphasis being put on the regional cooperation of central Europe with the countries of the South-Eastern Europe, we will be able to form an efficient network of business contacts and successful examples which would benefit development and economic growth of the neighbouring area. The Republic of Slovenia has actively contributed to the realisation of balanced and sustainable development in the Alps-Adriatic-Pannonic area with the objective of strengthening the visibility of this macro-region in the wider European area as well as the future Euroregional integration with a durable organisational structure. Strengthening the strategic advantages of the Alps-Adriatic-Pannonic area on the basis of territorial cooperation to reach the critical mass for utilizing the spatial, social and economic potentials is in the development interest of Slovenia – this would enhance the competitiveness and visibility of this area in the wider European area. This calls for further planning of the new organisational form in the Alps-Adriatic-Pannonic area to be coordinated also in the framework of the working bodies of the Alps-Adriatic Working Group which represent the traditional form of cross-border cooperation. Wider integration on the level of the present Alps-Adriatic WG by using the new Regulation on EGTC, advocated by Slovenia, brings in our judgement an opportunity to form such Euroregion which would enable the visibility of this macro-region on the EU border as well as the future Euroregional integration with a durable organisational structure.

On 17 January 2008 the First meeting of the Committee of the Regions Expert group on European Grouping of Territorial Cooperation titled "Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats of activating an EGTC" took place at Brdo Congress centre. The Committee of the Regions’ initiative to form an expert group got an exceptional response from the regions as over 160 regions expressed readiness to participate. These regions see the EGTC instrument as an important and useful initiative to strengthen territorial cooperation. Minister dr. Ivan Žagar underlined that the future of the EU and its territories depends on stronger synergy between the cohesion policies and the strategies of promoting competitiveness by using cross-border, transnational and inter-regional approach. The formation of European groupings of territorial cooperation will create networks which will enhance the visibility of the European integration processes among the EU citizens. Minister dr. ivan Žagar also said that this will also give an important contribution to the consolidation of the acquis communautaire.

Speech by minister dr. Ivan Žagar