European Parliament
Francesco De Angelis  (S&D ).
(IT)
Mr President, ladies and gentlemen, now that the European Union’s first two macro-regional strategies in the Baltic and Danube regions have materialised, there has been growing interest in this aspect of development. A macro-regional strategy ensures better cooperation among the EU’s various intervention mechanisms, going beyond the appropriations allocated to cohesion policy.
I believe that the regions of the Mediterranean basin that share the same natural environment and the same history and culture have every interest in cooperating in this way. Significant opportunities exist in southern Europe, which can best be seized with the coordination and overview permitted by the definition of a macro-regional strategy. I am referring to the proposal for an Adriatic-Ionian macro-region in particular.

