Within the forthcoming 2007-2013 period, TREK appointed by the CIP INTERREG the design of the Strategic Plan for cross border/common area intiative between Greece and Bulgaria.
Within the forthcoming 2007-2013 period, TREK appointed by the CIP INTERREG the design of the Strategic Plan for cross border/common area intiative between Greece and Bulgaria. The program consists of situation analysis, common area SWOT, risk assesment and evaluation, as well as definition of areas of intervention, geographical coverage, budget allocation, cash flow analysis and required operational structures for program realization. Characteristic of this new "cross border" cooperation is the fact that common interest initiatives are to be performed as if it were a unified and single Region of intervention. It is expected that Southern Bulgaria and Macedonia & Thrace will benefit from this initiative, both on the Public interest and the Private SME & Innovation side. Submission of the Plan for approval by the Commission is expected early summer this year. Project sponsors are the Ministry of Economy (GR), the Ministry of Regional Development (BG) and the DG Regio (E.C).
The strategy elaborated in the framework of the Cross-Border Programme Greece-Bulgaria 2007-2013, aims at setting the framework of cooperation for promoting
and enhancing the strategic role of the cross-border region.
The strategy that has been developed, builds on a number of policies researched and thorough analyses undertaken in the framework of the Programming Document,
namely:
1. EU policies, more specifically: Lisbon and Gothenburg Agendas, Community
Strategic Guidelines for Cohesion Policy 2007-2013
2. National policies: National Strategic Reference Framework Greece 2007-2013,
National Strategic Reference Framework Bulgaria 2007-2013, Regional
Development Plans
3. The actual needs of the cross-border area, as identified by the Existing Situation
Analysis
4. The SWOT Analyses provided above
5. The remarks of the Ex-Ante Evaluation performed in the current programming
document.
The overall aim of the strategy formulated is to help overcome the weaknesses identified
and build on the opportunities of the cross-border region, so as to achieve convergence
to the Lisbon objectives, the Gothenburg priorities and the goals set at the national levels
for the participating areas. The cohesion of the strategy both to the EU strategies and the
National Strategies is further analyzed.
The Cross-Border Cooperation Area is an area with many needs and great potential; the
strategy of the Programme aspires to convert it to a logistics, energy and
entrepreneurship center for the wider Balkan and Black Sea area so as to ensure its
innovative, balanced and sustainable development.