The Steering Group is an essential component of each Priority Area. It usually consists of representatives of every country in the Danube Region. The purpose of the Steering Group is to implement the EUSDR and to support and advise the PACs in certain concerns such as projects.
In Priority Area 8, the Ministries of Economy of all EUSDR countries are connected to each other through the Steering Group. This is a good basis for productive collaboration and productive Steering Group meetings.
With this post, we would like to give a short overview of the Steering Group meetings held in 2023.
The 22nd Steering Group Meeting of the PA 8 and the first meeting in 2023 was held in the framework of the event “The Danube Region at the Turn of Times – actively shaping the transformation. Solution approaches for politics and business” on July 10th 2023 in Stuttgart.
Many Steering Group members, Working Group coordinators, as well as two Danube Youth Council (DYC) members participated.
At this meeting, the Seed Money Facility (SMF) was introduced to the members and the general procedure was presented. The SMF call was just launched on November 27th 2023, and more information will be shared in a general webinar organized by the MA/JS on December 7th, 2023!
The Danube Strategy Point, as well as DG Regio reported about their current activities and the Working Group coordinators informed the Steering Group members about the activities of their Working Groups.
Moreover, the new PA 8 flagship projects “Danube Transfer Centres” (https://competitiveness.danube-region.eu/working-groups/dtc/) and “BrAIn – Bringing Artificial Intelligence towards SMEs” (https://competitiveness.danube-region.eu/brain/), were presented.
See the photos of the Steering Group Meeting here: PA 8 Steering Group Meeting on July 10th, 2023 in Stuttgart – PA 08 (danube-region.eu)
On September 21st, 2023, the 23rd Steering Group Meeting of the PA 8 took place in a hybrid format, online as well as on site in Zagreb. It was hosted within the framework of a bilateral visit of a Baden-Württemberg delegation led by State Secretary Dr. Patrick Rapp from the Ministry of Economic Affairs, Labour and Tourism Baden-Württemberg.
The intention of the Steering Group meeting was, among other topics, to establish a new Working Group called “Circular Bioeconomy as a tool to increase the competitiveness of enterprises” of which Ms. Ana Dijan is the new Working Group coordinator. The steering group meeting was followed by a conference on the topic of “Future of the Danube Region: Green Transition and Circular Bioeconomy – enhancing the competitiveness of enterprises” which was organized by EUSDR PA 8, the Croatian Ministry of Economy and Sustainable Development in cooperation with Ms. Dijan and was to mark the kick-off of the new working group.
If you’re interested in the content of the conference, you can find all information and the documentation here: Documentation Circular Bioeconomy Event on Sept 21, 2023, in Zagreb – PA 08 (danube-region.eu).
Mr. Pejo Bosnić, a member of the Danube Youth Council also took part in this meeting and reported on the work and activities of the DYC. He talked about the DYC member’s impressions of the cooperation with the different Priority Areas and stated that the impression of PA 8 is really good and the inclusion of the DYC members works very well in PA 8.
See the pictures of the Steering Group Meeting here: 23rd EUSDR PA 8 Steering Group Meeting on Sept. 21st, 2023, in Zagreb – PA 08 (danube-region.eu)
Unfortunately, not all Steering Group members take part in the meetings and most of the time, not all Danube countries are represented at the meetings. As a result, the concept of the Steering Group is unfortunately not entirely effective and the potential isn’t fully exploited. As a result, important information is often not passed on and doesn’t reach the key stakeholders and SMEs in the respective countries.
Just recently, it has turned out, that for some Steering Group members, their roles and the role of the Steering Group as a whole are not entirely clear. Here we will inform soon!
