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Assessing the rise of macro-regionalism in Europe: the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR)

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Abstract

This article investigates the rationale and activities of the European Union Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) established in 2014 with the objective of addressing macro-regional challenges—most importantly, the attempt to couple the protection of the Adriatic and Ionian seas with the area’s economic development—while progressively integrating Southeastern European states into the European Union through multi-level governance programmes. The results of this scheme, however, have been so far unsatisfactory. Through an examination of two highly salient issues pertaining to its development, oil and gas exploration in the Adriatic Sea and the building of a highway linking Greece to Italy, this article shows how the EUSAIR influences only marginally, if at all, states’ priorities and it does not yet contribute significantly to the building of cross-border cooperation and trust. Accordingly, the EUSAIR risks becoming irrelevant vis-à-vis the challenges that the macro-region is expected to confront.

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Notes

  1. The Union of Baltic Cities and the Northern Development Plan testify to the existence of bottom-up efforts to influence post-Cold War cross-border relations (Deas and Lord 2006, p. 1851).

  2. Much empirical information on the cases analysed in this article can be found on the website of the Osservatorio Balcani and Caucaso (www.balcanicaucaso.org), the only think-tank and media outlet that has provided extensive and consistent coverage of macro-regional issues.

  3. As confirmed by the interviews conducted for this article.

  4. Interview with Luca Fraticelli, EUSAIR National Contact Point, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rome, 19 June 2017.

  5. The Final Declaration of the EUSAIR Ministerial Meeting in Dubrovnik (12 May, 2016) and Ioannina (11 May, 2017) mentioned the migration problem and even planned to ‘strengthen governance mechanisms relative to migration and refugees’. However, transit countries in the Western Balkans have different priorities from the arrival countries like Italy. These differences greatly limit states’ effectiveness in addressing the problem. Interview with Lodovico Gherardi, Interreg Adrion Projects, Emilia-Romagna Region, Bologna, 11 May 2017.

  6. Interview with Luca Fraticelli, EUSAIR National Contact Point, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rome, 19 June 2017.

  7. Interview with Mira Morović, Institute of Oceanography and Fisheries, Split, 13 November 2015. See also Morović et al. (2016).

  8. Interview with Senad Oprasić, Pillar Coordinator for Environmental Quality, Sarajevo, 27 June 2017.

  9. Interview with Midhat Džemić, Head of Department, Directorate for European Integration of Council of Ministers of BH, Sarajevo, 28 June 2017.

  10. Interview with Senad Oprasić, Pillar Coordinator for Environmental Quality, Sarajevo, 27 June 2017.

  11. Confidential interview with Croatian public official, Split, 5 July 2016.

  12. Interview with Midhat Džemić, Head of Department, Directorate for European Integration of Council of Ministers of BH, Sarajevo, 28 June 2017.

  13. Interview with Luca Fraticelli, EUSAIR National Contact Point, Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Rome, 19 June 2017.

  14. Interview with Lodovico Gherardi, Interreg Adrion Projects, Emilia-Romagna Region, Bologna, 11 May 2017.

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  1. Dipartimento di Sociologia e Ricerca Sociale, Università di Trento, Via Verdi 26, 38122, Trento, Italy

    Roberto Belloni

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Belloni, R. Assessing the rise of macro-regionalism in Europe: the EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR). J Int Relat Dev 23, 814–839 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41268-019-00170-y

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