Author: Manuela Lunati

WORKGROUP ON ENVIRONMENT AND
SEA PROTECTION

SECRETARIAT: Anna Rita Delle Vergini 

In consideration of the European Union enlargement, "Proximity" appears as an instrument for territorial partnerships as well as an opportunity for cross-border cooperation based on joint solutions to common problems of neighbouring countries: urban, rural and coastal development, the increase in economic exchanges and the establishment of SMEs networks.
Sustainable management of resources represent an integral part of the harmonisation strategy aimed at the affirmation of stability and prosperity values along European border areas.
With this aim, the European Commission elaborated the VI Environmental Action Programme (COM 31 1/24/2001 EC), outlining priority issues which were already critical in the Europe of fifteen: wastes, protection of water resources, air quality. 
This document contains the main challenges to be coped with by the enlarged European Union:
- sustainable economic development;
- public transport;
- planned urban development;
- sensitisation to environmental issues.
On the other hand, as concerns measures to be undertaken with respect to neighbouring countries, the Commission hopes that the European Community will collaborate in the process of increasing citizens' and politicians' sensitiveness towards environmental issues for the implementation of coordinated actions aimed at protecting the environment.
Therefore, it is not only possible but also necessary to promote territorial and proximity cooperation in the Adriatic and Ionian area, so as to allow environmental issues to be included in the agenda of at different development levels (industrial, rural and energetic production, transports, tourism).
Problems originate from the following main sources:
- non environmentally sustainable industrial and urban development (dangerous wastes, polluted soil, highly polluting atmospheric emissions);
-  inconsistencies in the food and agricultural sector;
- adequate management and treatment of solid and liquid wastes in coastal areas, particularly with regard to current (and planned) tourist settlements.
The objectives of partnership initiatives can be achieved by taking advantage of project planning skills of both public and private subjects; at the same time, real commitment is required in order to stop the transfer, from the North to the South of the basin, of obsolete, polluting and dangerous (for workers) technologies. As regards the tourism sector in particular, a preventive and innovative choice would be based on a multidisciplinary approach as well as on a strong interaction aiming at: 
•	maximizing maritime passenger and goods traffic, by means of environment-oriented procedures, and limiting and controlling traffic of dangerous goods and wastes;
•	minimize aggressive settlements in coastal areas, at the same time promoting the restoration of abandoned historic buildings and villages close to dunes and coasts;
•	maximizing a cultural approach based on local resources, ranging from material and architectonic technologies to the food sector;
•	utilisation of advanced techniques, even natural, for the treatment of solid and liquid emissions, at the same time maximizing the recycling of water, organic wastes, residual energy-provider products;
•	establishing an advanced network for sea monitoring from mainland, sea and sky (satellite).   

Evidently, all these objectives can be achieved only by means of significant training initiatives and utilisation of new information technologies. 
In this context, the FORUM is a proper candidate to promote pioneering and concrete actions aimed to experiment, through the new proximity instruments, paths and methodologies of cross-border territorial cooperation.
Financing opportunities to foster interregional and cross-border cooperation can be classified according to different typologies of instruments, as follows:
European Commission international cooperation programmes:

•	MEDA II: the programme Meda is the most important financial instrument made available by the European Union for the establishment of a Euromediterranean partnership. Actually, MEDA stands for "technical-financial measures supporting the reform of socio-economic structures in Mediterranean countries outside the European Community". The programme's objective is to promote cooperation in the Mediterranean area based on free trade and financed by bilateral and regional initiatives, as well as the undersigning of association agreements.

•	CARDS: the programme's objective is to foster the participation of beneficiary countries in the stabilization and association process.

•	TACIS: the programme's objective is to support the transition process towards market economy as well as the strengthening of democracy.

•	LIFE III (Third countries): the programme's objective is to contribute to the development of skills and administrative structures required by the environmental sector as well as the development of policies and action programmes in the environmental sector in third Mediterranean or Baltic countries other than PECO.

•	E-CONTENT: the programme E-Content promotes the access to European digital contents, its use and distribution. It aims to improve access to high quality digital contents available on global networks, in a multi language context. E-Content is part of the action plan eEurope 2002 for speeding the development of information society in Europe. E-content also significantly contributes to the objectives of the new action plan eEurope 2005: establish a favourable environment to private investments and job creation, increase productivity, modernise public services, ensure participation off all citizens in the information society, including those with particular needs, i.e. handicapped people. 

•	YOUTH: the programme's objective is to promote intercultural dialogue and  defend minorities’ right in the Mediterranean and South Eastern European countries.

•	MARCO POLO: the programme's objective is to transfer the whole growth in road transport of goods to railway, short sea and internal navigation.
 
•	EIE - Intelligent Energy - Europe

•	VI Framework programmes R&ST

Community initiatives for internal territorial cooperation
•	Interreg III A
•	Interreg III B
•	Interreg III C – Regional Frame Operative
The Interreg new phase's objective is to strengthen economic and social cohesion within the European Union, promoting both cross-border, transnational and interregional cooperation and territorial balanced development. Particular attention is given to ultra periphery and external border regions along countries candidate to membership.

Support measures by international organisations:
•	European Investment Bank (EIB) financing

Italian financial measures for inter institutional partnership
•	Law n. 212/1992
•	Law n. 84/2001
•	Support programme for regional Euromediterranean and proximity cooperation
	(Deliberation CIPE n.17 and n.83/2003).
This Forum is considered an opportune occasion to start a Coordination action among Workgroup’s components in order to elaborate a programme of measures and assign tasks to members. Such Coordination is aimed at elaborating a project for the protection of environment to be promoted and possibly financed by European programmes.
Therefore, the identification of project initiatives, already in progress or to be implemented, is necessary for establishing a possible cooperation programme through the following fundamental and complementary methodological principles: participative or bottom-up methodology for the identification of required needs and actions; identification of areas (either territorial or thematic) of intervention.
To this aim, during this consultation phase, Strong and Weak Points (see attached schedule) should be identified through an analysis of the macro-framework of reference, in order to list objectives to be pursued by a territorial partnership programme on Sustainable Development issues.