“Enhancing business cooperation within the framework of the EU Danube Strategy”

Overview or the Danube Strategy Priority Area 8

"To support the competitiveness of enterprises, including cluster development"

Bruxelles, 26 May 2011

Intervention of Mr. Andrej Plenković

National coordinator for the Danube Strategy

State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European integration of the Republic of Croatia

Ladies and Gentlemen,

At the outset, I would like to thank the organizers of the conference - Mr Nadan Vidošević, President of the Croatian Chamber of Economy, Mr Peter Dunai, Secretary General of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Mr Alessandro Barberis, President of Eurochambers, for having invited me, and I would also like to express my appreciation for the warm hospitality and congratulate on the excellent organization of this very important event. It is a true pleasure to be here today and to have the opportunity to speak about the main challenges and opportunities in the Danube region, and how we are going to make this region more competitive for the benefit of the whole of Europe.

The Danube Strategy is an important, fresh tool in defining priorities, projects and resources, which will enable significant, balanced, integral and fast improvement of living conditions in the Danube River Basin. What we are witnessing here is the emerging of a new paradigm, a new method of multilateral cooperation. The Baltic Strategy introduced a concept. Now, taking the valuable experience of this effort, we are creating a process which could contribute to the overall well being beyond the Danube region.Macro-regional strategies are prime test cases of what territorial cohesion means in practical terms. The objective is clear. We have highly contrasting living standards in the Danube macro-region. The essence of the EU regional policy – to bring those differing standards to a similar level – is at hand here as well.

The idea behind the Danube strategy is to create an integrated European trans-national approach that will facilitate the prosperity of the Region, and improve handling of its cross-border challenges. But primarily, the Danube strategy is an effort that reflects the specific circumstances and need of the Danube River area, and offers a framework to identify main challenges and issues related to this region and what needs to be done to effectively address them. Macro-regions represent a new model of integration, a strong binding force, and as such, they can have a tremendous positive effect on the nature and modalities of European territorial cooperation. With the aim to act trans-nationally, such comprehensive long-term strategy should take into account the positions of all interested stakeholders: supranational, national and local; public and private.

I would like to emphasise here the importance and need for a strong involvement of the local community. Since the decentralization is a permanent political process in Croatia, we see the Strategy as an excellent opportunity for further emancipation and revitalisation of the local community role in regional cooperation. The specific local values - natural, human, economic, or others could be presented regionally, get the needful attention and be further developed. This could be the first steady benefit of the Danube Strategy. By working together and through coordinated endeavours we would be able to promote a more harmonized and stable development of the Region. This would inevitably lead to a better structured economic development, as outlined in the Lisbon Agenda, and add to its goals which, as we all know, are to make the EU the most competitive and dynamic, knowledge-based economy in the world, all the while preserving and improving social cohesion and maintaining ever important environmental sustainability.

The Seamless Europe is our common ambition. In that sense, the Danube Basin has natural and social prospective, therefore we just have to take benefit and make the most of such a generous predisposition. The Action Plan of the Danube Strategy is a “rolling” document and in the forthcoming period we will have a chance to amend it along the way. The actions Croatia is insisting on are: to improve transport and energy connectivity, to ensure a better management of natural and man-made risks, to support the development of SMEs, and to promote tourism. The development of the energy sector is a very important part of the general economic development strategy of this part of Europe. The principal objective of the energy policy of Croatia is to improve energy efficiency by encouraging the process of gas pipeline installation.

Equally important is to ensure safe energy provision and supply, by inclusion in the international energy market, ensuring several lines of connection to international networks and provision of energy from several directions for all energy network systems. As a state on the Danube, Sava and Drava Rivers, for Croatia is immensely important the full development of multi-modal transport in the Danube Region. This means effectively connecting ports on the Danube with road and railway corridors, particularly the TEN-T network. Transport by rivers and canals is not only the most cost effective and safest way of transporting goods, it is also the most ecologically acceptable. Given the full potential of railway corridors and waterways that pass through Croatia, combined with our well-developed road infrastructure; we can create a vital connection between the Central Europe and the ports of the Adriatic Sea.

I would like to point out that Croatia has the privilege to be the only country in Europe that lies on the shores of both the Danube and the Adriatic Sea, and thus the Mediterranean.

We are all aware of the extent to which transport cooperation is closely intertwined with the improvement of our economic cooperation. Moreover, it is our belief that a well-developed economic cooperation is an essential dimension of good-neighbourly relations and stability in the region. Therefore, we find that intensifying cooperation between small and medium-size enterprises and strengthening the ties between the representatives of the business community will provide prerequisites to further economic progress of the whole Danube region.

The Republic of Croatia has undertaken, jointly with Baden-Württemberg, the Coordination of the Priority Area 8 - Competitiveness of enterprises, including cluster development. Activities grouped under this Priority Area include:

− To foster cooperation and exchange of knowledge between SMEs, academia and the public sector in areas of competence in the Danube Region

− To improve business support services to strengthen the skills of SMEs for cooperation and trade

− To support enterprises through high performing training and qualification schemes

− To prioritise the effective implementation of measures provided for under the Small Business Act for Europe72

− To improve the competitiveness of rural areas and in particular of the agricultural sector by facilitating rural entrepreneurship, supporting innovation and cooperation in the agricultural industry and supporting the diversification of rural economies.

− To eliminate cross border barriers and bottlenecks to people and business – Seamless Europe for a livable Danube region".

We are of the opinion that horizontal collaboration among businesses is one of the most important preconditions for the full implementation of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region Action Plan. In this area, there is a huge potential in further cluster development.

In Croatia, steps in cluster development were taken back in 2005, also in co-operation with Baden-Württemberg, and upon examination of their experiences with clusters.

Following initial advances in the wood and metal sectors, today there are 47 cluster initiatives in Croatia, extending to all major branches of industry.

On the international and macro-regional level, there are 3 cluster networks in South Eastern Europe, covering wood processing, automobile parts production, and ECO-Ruralnet, which is a network of organic food producers.

Croatian expectations in this priority area can be summed up as

Ø strengthening of existing capacities,

Ø development of new areas of co-operation,

Ø advancement of manufacturing and processing industries, and

Ø expanding business training in the framework of the South East European Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning (SECEL).

SEECEL South East European Centre for Entrepreneurial Learning) is an initiative providing for structured co-operation amongst the countries of South Eastern Europe on lifelong entrepreneurial learning. The establishment of SEECEL, as a unique example of successful co-operation of the SEE countries in the area of entrepreneurial learning directly supported by the European Commission (IPA multi beneficiary funds 2009-2010) and the Croatian Government and Croatian Chamber of Economy, has created the platform for further development and institutionalization.

The Centre is functional since October 2009. SEECEL’s main activities are grouped into 4 main pillars:

Ø Development of the entrepreneurship key competence (ISCED 2 level);

Ø Promotion of entrepreneurship at the third level education (ISCED 5/6 level) within non-business disciplines;

Ø Enterprise-driven training needs analysis;

Ø Dissemination and promotion of good policy and good practice

Intensifying cooperation in small and medium-sized entrepreneurship and consolidating connections between business communities will undoubtedly create conditions for continuous economic progress and stronger business activities in the Danube area at large.

This endeavour is in full compliance with the flagship initiatives of the Europe 2020 Strategy, by virtue of promoting exchange of know-how, sustainable economic growth and social inclusiveness. As is the case with the Europe 2020 Strategy, the Danube Strategy relies primarily on existing EU policies and instruments in order to boost economic growth.

By developing regional projects in our Danube Area, we see an opportunity to achieve synergy with the macro-regional goals, covered by the idea of the Danube Strategy. Particular interest visible and present in the development plans in Croatian eastern counties, County of Vukovar-Srijem and County of Osijek-Baranja, could be implemented and fitted in accomplishments of wider Strategy in the Danube Region.

I would like to mention that cross-border cooperation between Croatia and Hungary could be considered as a very good example. As its result twelve joint statements, protocols and agreements were adopted, among others, on the linking of the two countries' power supply systems, on a highway junction on the border on Corridor Vc, on the establishment of the Regional coordinating forum on cross-border cooperation and a joint statement on the establishment of the Croatian-Hungarian Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere Reserve.

Through the interwork between Croatia and Hungary it has become clearly visible that there is no substitution for the cross-border cooperation. For the sustainable future of the Danube Region cross-border connectivity has to become its cornerstone and good neighbourly relations its inherent characteristic.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Danube River has for centuries united lands and peoples along its banks, and brought them closer to one another, promoting cultural links, as it was wonderfully depicted in literary works on Danube, by Claudio Magris and the Croatian author Pavao Pavličić. It has served our peoples, not only as one of the most crucial transport and commerce routes, but also as an instrument of cultural exchange. More than 115 million people live and work in this dynamic area, which is also one of the most important European traffic corridors.

Within a relatively short period of time, the whole stretch of the Danube River will be located within the European Union. Croatia will be the next to join the Union, and I believe the other countries of the Danube Region will follow us on our path.

We live in a time when interconnectivity and interdependence among the people are stronger than ever. The imperative of the moment is to improve our business cooperation, to reconnect our entrepreneurs and to strengthen international transportation routes. To be able to respond quickly and efficiently to the challenges of contemporary dynamics of the modern world, we have to communicate and cooperate with no dilemma. The Danube Strategy should be decisive and right-a-way usable document in that prospective.

Thank you for your attention.