Third Conference on the EU Strategy for the Danube Region
Transport, energy and environmental issues
Vienna (Austria) - Bratislava (Slovakia) 19/21 April 2010
The objective of this conference was to discuss the issues of transport, energy, urban areas, environment and information society. Indeed, these are high overall on the agenda of the EU as confirmed by the recently proposed strategy ‘EU2020’ (“A European strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth”).
The audience of the conference was made up of representatives of authorities at EU, national and regional level, as well as a wide range of stakeholders of the Danube Region. Although the conference was held in the middle of the flight ban in Europe due to the volcanic ashes in the air, the majority of the participants and also the speakers from different parts of Europe made the efforts and came to the conference.
Through the discussions, challenges of the Danube region in the area of transport, energy and environment were discussed, as well as potential actions to overcome these challenges. Some areas of agreement and disagreement between parties (and the possible ways forward) were established. The participant´s views were noted by the representatives of the European Commission who are in charge of drafting the Communication and the Action plan for the Strategy. The programme of the conference allowed for considering the interaction between different perspectives (e.g. between transport, environment, economy,...) and underlined the integrated approach of the Strategy.
19 April 2010 - Vienna
Opening Plenary Session
Chair: Mr Walther Stöckl, Managing Authority, Central Europe transnational cooperation programme 
Mr Michael Häupl, Governor of the City of Vienna (welcome speech)
Mr Dušan Čaplovič, Deputy Prime Minister of the Slovak Republic
Mr Michael Spindelegger, Federal Minister for European and International Affairs
of Austria
Mr José Palma Andres, Director at the Directorate General for Regional Policy
Mr Matthias Kollatz-Ahnen, Vice-President of the European Investment Bank
Mr Colin Wolfe, Directorate General for Regional Policy delivering the message of Ms Karla Peijs, European Coordinator for Inland Waterways
- “A journey through the Danube Region: territorial cooperation shaping our joint future” (Movie made by the INTERACT programme)
Connectivity and environmental challenges of the Danube Region - Panel discussion
Moderator: Ms Martina Mašková, journalist
Mr Serban Cucu, Director General, Ministry of Transport of Romania
Mr Phillip Weller, International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River 
Mr Manfred Seitz, Chairman of the Executive Board of PLATINA project
Mr Andreas Beckmann, WWF
Mr Igor Jakomin, State Secretary for Transport, Slovenia
20 April 2010 - Bratislava
Mr Andrej Ďurkovský, Mayor of Bratislava (welcome speech)
Resource Efficient Danube Region - Panel discussion
Moderator: Ms Martina Mašková, journalist
Mr László Miklós, Member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, former Minister of the Environment
Mr Tibor Mikuš, Governor of Trnava Self-governmental Region
Mr Otto Pirker, Verbund – Austrian Hydropower Company
Mr Milovan Božinovič, Ambassador of Serbia in Austria
Ms Zaneta Ostojic Barjaktarevic, “Plovput” Internal Waterways Agency of Serbia
Workshop 1 : Mobility – smart solutions for the Danube Region
Moderator: Mr Colin Wolfe, European Commission, Directorate General for Regional Policy
a) Mr Otto Schwetz + Mr Markus Simoner, Corridor VII and Via Donau -
Austrian waterway infrastructure management and development enterprise
b) Mr Thomas Wimroither, Corridor X
c) Project examples:
- Mr Juraj Jančina, Jančina Architects, Slovakia – "Transnational Transport Terminal" project
- Mr Jan Kareis, Waterways company, Czech Republic – "Danube-Odra-Labe Connectivity" project
- Mr Alexandru Capatu, Port of Constanta
Rapporteur: Ms Irina Cruceru, Directorate General for Regional Policy
Workshop 2 : Clean and secure energy – Danube Region realities
Moderator: Mr José Palma Andres, European Commission, Directorate General for Regional Policy
a) Mr Wolfgang Ernst, OMV 
b) MrJohann Binder, Technology Promotion Burgenland ltd. Part 1 - Part 2
c) Project example:
- Ms Yvonna Gaillyová, Ecological institute Veronica – "Energy efficiency for urban and rural areas"
Rapporteur: Mr Eva Lieber, Directorate General for Regional Policy
Workshop 3 : Risk prevention – living with all sides of nature
Moderator: Mr Georges Kremlis, European Commission, Directorate General for Environment
a) Mr Peter Bakonyi, ICPDR Flood Expert Group
b) Mr László Miklós, Member of the National Council of the Slovak Republic, former Minister of the Environment - Integrated Basin management - flood protection
c) Ms Deana Hirnerová, Slovak Water Management Enterprise: - Flood protection of Bratislava city
c) Project examples:
- Ms Deana Hirnerová, Slovak Water Management Enterprise - Flood protection of Bratislava
- Ms Michaela Popovici, International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River
- Mr Wolfram Mauser, "GLOWA - Danube: An Integrative Research Project on the Future of Water in the Upper Danube Basin"
Rapporteur: Mr Johann Sollgruber, Directorate General for Regional Policy
21 April 2010 - Vienna
Workshop 4 : Biodiversity – economic pressures, ecological aspirations
Moderator: Mr Georges Kremlis, European Commission, Directorate General for Environment
a) Mr Harald Egerer, Carpathian Convention Programme UNEP Vienna
b) Mr Dejan Komatina, International Sava River Basin Commission
c) Project example:
- Ms Meglena Plugtschieva, National Assembly of Bulgaria – "Lower Danube Green Corridor" project
Rapporteur: Ms Simona Pohlová, Directorate General for Regional Policy
Workshop 5 : Water quality – fighting pollution, applying modern standards
Moderator: Mr José Palma Andres, European Commission, Directorate General for Regional Policy
a) Mr Phillip Weller, International Commission for the Protection of the Danube River, replacing Ms Marieke Van Nood, DG Environment
b) Project example:
- Mr Slobodan Miko + Mr Gerhard Kuschnig, Kater I+II CC Waters
c) Mr Hans Sailer, Environmental Technologies
d) Mr Igor Mucha, Common environmental monitoring at HU and SK border area
Rapporteur: Ms Irina Cruceru, Directorate General for Regional Policy
Workshop 6 : Digital agenda for the Danube Region
Moderator: Mr Colin Wolfe, European Commission, Directorate General for Regional Policy
a) Mr Johann Sollgrüber, European Commission, Directorate General for Regional Policy
b) Mr Christian Kittl, ALADIN network, Austria
c) Mr Rainer Haselberger, City of Vienna
d) Mr Peter Druga, Ministry for Information Society, Slovakia
Rapporteur: Ms Eva Lieber, Directorate General for Regional Policy
Workshop 7 : Partner search Forum – Development of Flagship projects during the conference
Moderator: Mr Leo Baumfeld, Regional Consultants ltd -
Conclusions of the workshops
Integration of environment and mobility issues in regions and cities - Panel discussion
Moderator: Ms Christiane Breznik, Department for EU-Strategy and Economic Development, City of Vienna
Mr Rudolf Schicker, City of Vienna, Austria
Ms Johanna Mikl-Leitner, Government of Lower Austria, Austria
Mr Ivo Nesrovnal, Bratislava Self-governing region
Mr Jose Palma Andres, European Commission, Directorate General for Regional Policy
Closing Plenary Session
Chair: Mr Walther Stöckl, Managing Authority, Central Europe transnational cooperation programme
Mr Johannes Hahn, Commissioner for Regional Policy