ATHENS, 11-12 April 2019
The 9th Meeting of the Thematic Steering Group for Pillar 1 “Blue Growth” (TSG 1) was a success. All Pillar 1 representatives from the eight participating EUSAIR countries gathered together at the premises of the Hellenic Ministry of Economy and Development, to carve out last year’s resolutions and prepare the next steps for upcoming obligations and activities. The meeting was also attended by the representatives of the European Commission (DG MARE and DG REGIO) and the expert consultants on Monitoring and Evaluation for the EUSAIR.
The Greek EUSAIR Facility Point project partner took care for all practicalities in the organisation of the meeting.
The 9th meeting of TSG1 was a great chance to recapitulate on previous activities, discuss about the outcomes of the 8th meeting of TSG1 in Budva (Montenegro), take a look on the outcomes of the EUSAIR Governing Board meeting held in February 2019 in Brussels and define further activities related to Blue Growth. Pillar Coordinators focused on the deadline for submitting the necessary pillar priorities based on Catania Declaration and re-opened discussions on procedures and possibilities for labeling EUSAIR projects. The highlight of the meeting was the expert consultant's presentation on the scope, the objectives, the key components and the deliverables needed for a successful monitoring and evaluation of the EUSAIR Strategy.
The ultimate goal of the meeting was to deepen co-operation among all the representatives of the EUSAIR Strategy (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Italy, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia and Greece). The participants also had the chance to discuss the Pillar 1 priorities in relation to strategic documents for the period 2021-2027 and share concrete ideas on the future prospects of the EUSAIR Strategy.
