engleski

EU macro regional strategies as the answer to the flaws of EU widening/deepening dichotomy

Recently launched EU macro-regional strategies for the Baltic Sea and the Danube region represent innovative governance scheme in the EU due to twofold reasons. Firstly, they blur the difference between the EU internal and external policy domains by embracing countries included in the EU enlargement and European Neighbourhood Policy. Secondly, they represent functional integration of the relevant EU's sectoral policies and stakeholders in the given regions, aiming to better utilize available EU funds and programmes. In addition, EU macro-regional strategies are developed on the flux of two interlinked trends, first one being internal governance dynamics within the EU itself while the second one consisting of external challenges posed by globalization, economic crisis and the need to restore the EU's attractiveness for its neighbours. In that regard, they aim to consolidate the EU governance and at the same time project EU's external power that is particularly important given the current EU's internal disturbances and the enlargement stalemate.

EU Strategy for the Baltic Sea Region; EU Strategy for the Danube Region; EU governance; EU cohesion policy; EU enlargement process

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