2nd General Assembly of the Black Sea Euroregion

Varna (Bulgaria), 25-26 March 2009

Speech by Ludmila Sfirloaga, President of the Chamber of Regions of the Congress

Distinguished Members, Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am pleased to be here in Varna today, in the city where the Black Sea Euroregion was born. I know that the Bulgarian local authorities strongly believe in this project and are very active partner members of the Euroregion.

The Congress, that I have the honour to represent today, officially presented the Black Sea Euroregion during its Plenary Session in Strasbourg at the beginning of this month. An information stand on the Euroregion was set-up, and if we consider the interest shown by the personalities present, we have to acknowledge that this Black Sea communication initiative was a success!

In addition, the debate devoted to the “Activities of the Black Sea Euroregion”, organised on 5 March during the last Session of the Chamber of Regions, gave us a series of indications and useful suggestions for the way forward.

Mr. Doric, Member of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe; Mrs Romanova, President of the Chernihiv Regional Council and Vice-President of the Congress; Mr. Nersisyan, Mayor of Yerevan, Mr. Vasilache, President of the Cahul Region; Mr. Zambakhidze, Member of the Supreme Council of Ajara and Mr. Yenice, Member of the Executive Committee of the Union of Municipalities of the Marmara Region, frankly presented their views on the first steps of the Euroregion. They suggested some opportunities for the future work of the Euroregion. In his absence, I also red a message sent by Mr. Constantinescu, President of the Euroregion, to present the new initiatives discussed and decided at the first General Assembly in Constanta. I must say that these projects were welcome by local and regional authorities participating at our Session in Strasbourg: the Black Sea Cruise, the Ports’ network, the intercultural initiatives and the “Tradition preserving”. We can consider that these actions are very good starting points.

Another important point that deserves our attention is the fact that an eminent member of the Russian Delegation to the Congress, Mr. Kadokhov, who participated in all of the conferences on the Black Sea, launched the idea that local or regional authorities of his country could examine the possibility to become observers of the Euroregion.

Also, the suggestion of creating a network of associations of local and regional authorities, along the lines of the NALAS network built in South East of Europe by the Congress, can be taken into consideration.

As far as the functioning of the Black Sea Euroregion structure is concerned, I am pleased to acknowledge the broad interest expressed by local and regional authorities in becoming members of it. However, an effort is still required to ensure these potential partners join the Euroregion as soon as possible. The draft decisions of today’s General Assembly go in this direction: I am convinced these important partners, such as the city and the Region of Odessa, the Turkish Black Sea local and regional authorities, and some Russian authorities (possibly as observers as I mentioned earlier) will soon become new members.

Finally, allow me to welcome the draft policy recommendation in the field of energy efficiency and climate change submitted to this 2nd General Assembly.

Since the beginning, The Black Sea Euroregion initiative has been based on the idea that environmental risks represent a major challenge for the regions and the cities in the area.

I am happy to note that the Euroregion, since its first policy recommendation, plans to make this challenge a priority.

I wish you every success for this 2nd General Assembly and can assure you that the Congress, which has been the initiator of this Euroregion, is following as closely as possible the new developments of the Black Sea Euroregion. Needless to say that we, as Congress, are ready to assist so that the circle of full members of the Euroregion will continue to grow. You can, of course, rely on our political support as far as we can, and do not forget that your initiative of co-operation at local and regional level is followed very closely by other intergovernemental bodies like BSEC and PABSEC. It is also the case for important NGOs of European regions like the European Association of Border Regions (AEBR) which, at our Session of the Congress in March, gave its full support to the Euroregion as did the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe on several occasions.

My last words will be to encourage the Euroregion to launch and implement audacious but very concrete projects of co-operation with a view to convincing new partners to become active members.

Thank you for your attention.