The official opening of the 2024 edition of the event took place on 18 September with speeches delivered by high-level guests Milan Bogatič, Mayor of the Municipality of Izola, Dr Aleksander Jevšek, Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development, and Marko Štucin, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.

Mr Bogatič underlined that, over the years, the event has evolved into a key platform for bringing together local and international stakeholders and allowing their exchange on relevant topics. Indeed, the European Commission recognised the Mediterranean Coast and Macro-Regional Strategies Week as a good example of integration of macro-regions in its recent report. Mr Bogatič drew particular attention to the event on construction activities in the sea and on the seashore. The event, planned for 19 September under the EUSAIR Thematic Steering Group on Environmental Quality and the National Decade Committee, was designed by Robert Turk, chair of the Environment and Spatial Planning Committee of the Municipality of Izola and professor Dušan Žagar from the Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering in partnership with the Public Agency for the Promotion of Entrepreneurship and Development Projects of the Municipality of Izola and coordinator of EUSAR pillar 3 on Environmental Quality Dr Mitja Bricelj. ‘’We wish to spark the debate on preventing or minimising negative impacts of construction activities in the sea and on the seashore on the marine and coastal ecosystems, which is a very topical issue also for the coastal zone between Koper and Izola. In addition to Union funding, we would like to see a more active role of the state in this respect, including by providing co-financing. This project of national importance should not lie solely on the shoulders of local authorities and Union funding whose share has been decreasing as Slovenia progresses. We have led the whole process in line with best practices and Slovenia should be proud that the EUSAIR recognises this area as a role model of integrated land and sea management,’’ said Mayor Bogatič, stressing that this approach perfectly illustrated the importance of bringing together experts at local, regional and international level and served as an example of good practice in finding solutions to common challenges in all four macro-regions, especially in the Adriatic-Ionian macro-region.  

The Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development Dr Aleksander Jevšek thanked all partners for making the Mediterranean Coast and Macro-Regional Strategies Week a success and for turning it into a platform for exchange of good practices between the four macro-regional strategies in the EU. According to Dr Jevšek, Slovenia has a unique geostrategic location at the crossroads of three macro-regional strategies and forms part of energy, transport, and other connections in the EU, which makes further cooperation easier. Minister Jevšek said: ‘’Regions and countries in the same macro-region share challenges they can successfully overcome only if working together. The same goes for the protection of the sea that would not have been successful without the countries coming and working together, and this is where the framework of cooperation, offered by macro-regions, comes in. Also, the successful joint candidacy of Nova Gorica from Slovenia and Gorizia from Italy for the title of the European Capital of Culture 2025 and joint implementation of activities, co-financed by the EU, would not have been possible without the successful cross-border cooperation between the two cities.’’

Marko Štucin, State Secretary at the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs highlighted that macro-regional cooperation offered opportunity to advance cooperation with the Western Balkan countries on the one hand and on the other facilitated the exchange of good practice with the EU’s most developed countries in the framework of the Alpine macro-region. ‘’Slovenia holds the Presidency of the EU Strategy for the Alpine Region (EUSALP) in 2024 and we are happy to see the first results of our presidency delivered. A letter of intent to establish a macro-regional centre for circular economy in the Alps, led by Slovenian institutions, will be signed during our presidency at the initiative of Slovenian stakeholders. Slovenia is thus assuming huge responsibility in an area that will be one of the future priorities of the macro-region. Besides circular economy, Slovenian EUSALP Presidency also focuses on the quality of life of young people in the Alps and sustainable water management. ‘’In this context, we organised a special event where young people got to know more about the impact of last year’s devastating floods and the progress in reconstruction. Together, we formulated recommendations for raising awareness of the importance of sustainable water management in the Alpine space among young people,‘’ said State Secretary Štucin and invited all participants to attend the closing ceremony of the Slovenian EUSALP Presidency in November in Brdo pri Kranju, Slovenia.

The opening was followed by a high-level political panel ''Cohesion policy post-2027: macro-regions and EU programmes – coordinating approaches in addressing common challenges’’ featuring distinguished speakers, including Dr Aleksander Jevšek, Minister of Cohesion and Regional Development of the Republic of Slovenia, Domagoj Mikulić, State Secretary at the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds of the Republic of Croatia, and Sławomir Tokarski, DG Regio. The panelists focused on the future of cohesion policy and the coordination of EU sustainable development programmes in all four macro-regions.

Domagoj Mikulić expressed his gratitude for the past and future opportunities in the field of cohesion policy and macro-regional cooperation. He said that the Ministry of Regional Development and EU Funds of the Republic of Croatia launched consultations with key stakeholders already in 2023 to develop the national position on the future of cohesion policy. Mr Mikulić stressed that cohesion policy must remain focused on reducing disparities between EU regions, promoting long-term convergence and narrowing the gap between less and more developed EU regions and member states. He also highlighted the important role of macro-regional strategies, which contribute to cohesion objectives through institutional cooperation and knowledge transfer, while praising the successful cooperation with Slovenia in the framework of the Interreg Programme Slovenia-Croatia.

‘’This year’s panel on the future of cohesion policy is important for the public; now, half-way through the programming period, we must sit together with the people and listen to them to be able to develop the objectives of the future multiannual financial framework so that EU citizens get the most out of EU money. EU citizens are increasingly aware of the importance of integrations and collaboration, including macro-regional strategies, especially in times of crises,’’ said Dr Sławomir Tokarski, Director at European Commission’s DG Regio. ‘’I would like to congratulate the organisers for this event and its perfect timing – it coincides with the presentation of the new college of commissioners for the 2024-2029 term and the work on the future budget. This is the perfect time to discuss joint projects in the macro-region and beyond, with Slovenia continuing to play an important role,’’ said Dr Tokarski.

The Mediterranean Coast and Macro-Regional Strategies Week offers a varied programme of events open to the public until Friday, 20 September, covering topics on post-2027 cohesion policy, circular economy, digitalisation, smart specialisation, soft skills, and construction activities in the sea and on the seashore.

Over the years, the event has grown and become recognized as one of the central occasions where all four EU macro-regional strategies meet and exchange on relevant topics. Such exchange of experiences enables faster development in macro-regional cooperation, generates new ideas and approaches, builds synergies, and ultimately delivers better results and greater added value to macro-regional cooperation.

The events for the general public will take place at the Manzioli Palace and the InnoRenew CoE Research Institute. Over 300 participants from 20 European countries are expected to come to Izola during the week.