The EU Strategy for the Adriatic and Ionian Region (EUSAIR) was adopted by the the European Council in 2014, making it the third macro-regional strategy in the EU.
The Strategy encompasses 8 countries – 4 EU Member States and 4 EU candidate or potential candidate countries – covering an area which ishome to 70 million people: 4 EU Member States: Croatia, Greece, Italy (Abruzzo, Basilicata, Provincia Autonoma di Bolzano/Bozen, Calabria, Emilia-Romagna,Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Lombardia, Marche, Molise, Puglia, Sicilia, Provincia Autonoma di Trento, Umbria, Veneto) and Slovenia.
4 non-EU countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia.
The EUSAIR is built on four thematic pillars:1) Blue Growth2) Connecting the Region3) Environmental Quality4) Sustainable Tourism
In addition, there are two cross-cutting issues:
- Research, innovation and SMEs
- Capacity building, including communication