Report from the commission to the European Parliament, the council, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the regions on the implementation of EU macro-regional strategies.

Abstract

EU macro-regional strategies (‘MRS’) are policy frameworks initiated by EU and non-EU countries located in a defined geographical area to jointly address challenges and opportunities they have in common through setting shared, long-term objectives.The four MRS involve 19 EU and 9 non-EU countries. They are:the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region (EUSBSR, 2009);the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR, 2011);theEU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR, 2014); andthe EU Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP, 2016).From 2016, as agreed with the Council1, the Commission has published a report every 2 years on the implementation of the four MRS. This is the third such report, covering the period from mid-2018 to mid-2020. It assesses the state of play and progress on implementing the MRS and examines possible ways forward. It is complemented by a staff working document (SWD) which provides more details on each MRS. Both documents are based on contributions from the MRS national and thematic coordinators (‘MRS key implementers’) and experts.