HEADQUARTER PULA
Flanatička 29, 52100 Pula, Croatia

PRESIDENCY: REGION OF MOLISE

President:
Paolo di Laura Frattura

Contact person:
Francesco Cocco, Secretary General

C/o Regione Molise
Via Genova, 11
86100 Campobasso (Italy)

Phone: +39 0874 314 674
E-mail: f.cocco66@hotmail.com

The Adriatic-Ionian Euroregion (AIE) is an important international project in which the Region of Istria takes part. On 30 June 2006, the Congress of Regional and Local Authorities of the Council of Europe, the Italian Region of Molise and the Region of Istria initiated the process of founding the Adriatic-Ionian Euroregion, with the presence of the then President of the Republic of Croatia, Stjepan Mesić, President of the Presidency of the Republic Bosnia and Herzegovina Sulejman Tihić and the representatives of the governments of Italy, Albania, Romania, Croatia, representatives of the Council of Europe and of the Committee of Regions of the European Union. Ivan Jakovčić, who was the president of the Region of Istria at that time, was appointed President of the Adriatic-Ionian Euroregion and he performed this duty until 2011. In that period, the Region of Istria coordinated the work of the Adriatic-Ionian Euroregion.

The Adriatic-Ionian Euroregion represents a new model of cooperation in the Adriatic area. It functions as a type of association consisting of 26 regional and local authorities from the area of Italy, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Albania and Greece and national and international institutions, and it represents an institutional frame for identifying and resolving the most important joint issues. This is a cooperation model that integrates transnational, trans-border and interregional cooperation in accordance with modern standards and various examples throughout Europe.

The Adriatic-Ionian Euroregion deals with the following issues:

• to develop an area of peace, stability and cooperation,
• to protect cultural heritage,
• environmental protection,
• sustainable economic development, especially in the fields of tourism, fishery and agriculture,
• to solve traffic and infrastructure issues,
• to support all Adriatic states in the accession to the EU.

At the Assembly of the Adriatic-Ionian Macroregion held on 22 October 2009 in Split, the Initiative for the adoption of the EU Strategy for the Adriatic was launched, which led to the actual process of preparing the EU Strategy for the Adriatic-Ionian Region. It should be adopted following the example of the already implemented strategies: the EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region and the EU Strategy for the Danube Region and it should represent an integrated development strategy that includes the participation of the local, regional, state and European level of authority, as a prerequisite for, among other things, a more efficient use of the European funds.

After the approval by the European Commission, the EU Strategy for Adriatic-Ionian Region (EUSAIR) was officially launched on 18 November 2014 at the inaugural conference held in Brussels. The main EUSAIR objectives are to promote sustainable economic and social prosperity in the region through growth and creation of work posts and, more important, to contribute to the integration of the EU countries of the Western Balkans that are recognised candidates and potential candidates for the accession to the EU.

More information:

Adriatic-Ionian Euroregion - https://www.adriaticionianeuroregion.eu/
EU Strategy for Adriatic-Ionian Region - https://www.adriatic-ionian.eu/