Officially launched in 2011, EUSDR it is one of the four macro-strategies existing at the level of the European Union, being co-initiated by Romania and Austria and representing a mechanism for the cooperation of the Danube basin countries for the economic, social and territorial development of the macro- the Danube region. Fourteen states are participating in the EU Strategy for the Danube Region: nine Member States of the European Union (Austria, Romania, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Croatia, Germany as Federal State and the Länder of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary) and five non-EU countries (Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro, Serbia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine).

As Presidency of the EUSDR (November 2018-October 2019), Romania is doing its best to reach consensus among the participating countries for ensuring full implementation of the Danube Strategy main objectives. Romanian Presidency proposed the goal to relaunch the Strategy by bringing it higher on the political agendas of EUSDR states and by stimulating further involvement at the technical level.

The ongoing revision process of the EUSDR Action Plan represents a very important step in the direction of the making the Strategy more inclusive, more efficient and better corelated to EU policies. This complex process requires both political and technical inputs from all involved countries and stakeholders. Romania plays its role as facilitator of consensus within the Revision Process of the EUSDR Action Plan.

Throughout its mandate, Romania promotes four priority topics and directions of actions:

• Improving connectivity and mobility in the Danube region by promoting transport, tourism, digitization and people-to-people contacts;
• Relaunching the Strategy within the process of updating the Action Plan of EUSDR by creating synergies between key-stakeholders in the Danube region and the European Commission;
• Promoting good practices regarding legal and administrative matters within EUSDR Priority Areas in close collaboration with the public administration, the academic and the business community, social actors;
• Fostering transnational cluster development by supporting an exchange of best practices among various entities taking part in the EUSDR.

Read more about the Romanian Presidency of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region here.