europe, latin america and the...

EUROPE, LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN:

shar ing exper iences in reg ional development pol ic ies

Regional and Urban Policy

Brussels, 10-11 June 2015

A report presented on the occasion of the Second EU-CELAC Summit

"Shaping our common future: working for prosperous, cohesive and

sustainable societies for our citizens",

E U R O P E , L A T I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N : s h a r i n g e x p e r i e n c e s i n

r e g i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t p o l i c i e s

European Commission, Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy Communication Unit Mrs Ana-Paula LaissyAvenue de Beaulieu 1 – 1160 Brussels – BELGIUMEmail: [email protected]: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index_en.htm

Editors: Ronald Hall; Ramon Lopez Sanchez

More information on the European Union is available on the Internet (http://europa.eu).

Cataloguing data can be found at the end of this publication.

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union, 2015

ISBN: 978-92-79-48224-3 (print)ISBN: 978-92-79-48221-2 (online)doi 10.2776/996313 (print)doi 10.2776/8364 (online

© European Union, 2015Reproduction is authorised provided the source is acknowledged.

The opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the European Commission.

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Table of contents

1. INTRODUCTION p.7

2. THE REGIONAL POLICY DIALOGUE WITH BRAZIL p.8

3. BUILDING REGIONAL INNOVATION STRATEGIES IN CHILE p.10

Regional Innovation Systems across borders p.11

4. BUILDING REGIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEMS IN PERU p.13

5. CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION PROJECTS IN LATIN AMERICA p.15

Examples of EU-LA actions in cross-border cooperation p.15

EU-Argentina-Brazil-Uruguay p.15

EU cross-border and transnational programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean p.16

EU-Brazil-Peru p.17

Central America p.17

General lessons p.18

6. OTHER PROJECTS AND DEVELOPMENTS p.20

EU-LA cooperation in sustainable urban development p.20

Collaboration with the Regional Programme for Social Cohesion (EUROsociAL) p.20

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"In the European Union, we attach major importance to the territorial dimension of economic development and economic development policy. Clearly, this is shared by our partners in Latin America as reflected in the inclusion of this issue as an agenda point in the EU-CELAC Summit in Brussels of June 2015. I look forward to the next phase in our cooperation on territorial policy issues, building on our successful exchanges over recent years on key topics such as sustainable regional and urban development, innovation systems and cross-border cooperation."

Corina Creţu, Commissioner for Regional Policy

E U R O P E , L A T I N A M E R I C A A N D T H E C A R I B B E A N : s h a r i n g e x p e r i e n c e s i n r e g i o n a l d e v e l o p m e n t p o l i c i e s

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Gaining greater insight into the aims and methods of European Regional Policy has become particularly important in recent years for Latin American countries. It is enabling the latter to develop and implement policies to promote a more even pat-tern of economic development, thereby helping to boost nation-al competitiveness and levels of employment, while improving cross-border cooperation. Such is the importance of this field on the South American continent that a Red Latinoamericana de Políticas Públicas de Desarrollo Regional (Latin American Network of Public Policies on Regional Development) has been established, with EU support, bringing together 17 countries to exchange experience and best practices. And in the context of the broader Europe-Latin America relationship, the June 2015 Summit of the EU and the Community of Latin America and Caribbean States (CELAC) is themed on "Shaping our common future: working for prosperous, cohesive and sustainable socie-ties for our citizens", which as the title suggests, has a strong territorial development dimension.

Since 2006, DG REGIO, representing the European Union, has been implementing a cooperation programme with emerging countries, supported to a very significant degree since 2009 by the European Parliament. This work has offered more than 25 years of European experience, through dialogue and exchange of good practice, to countries across the globe. At the centre of this cooperation is the interest outside the EU in the Euro-pean model of regional development, a model which is market-based, with tight rules to preserve competition and promote open public procurement, and which respects key principles such as good governance, equal opportunities, sustainable

development and a widely-drawn participation in the concep-tion and implementation of development actions.

Increasingly, the international dialogues involve the cities and regions on each side in a form of decentralized cooperation, involving the best in international expertise. In this way, the dia-logues are a networking opportunity for regional actors, while creating new business links and trading relations.

For Latin American countries, a major part of the appeal of such cooperation lies in the possibility, through regional policy, to provide a new impetus to their policies and actions to reduce their wide internal income disparities, while addressing specific challenges such as under-performing multi-level governance systems, unsustainable urbanization, the relative under-de-velopment of many rural and border areas, and the European experience in territorial development in post-conflict situations (Colombia).

There is particular interest in improved understanding of Euro-pean ideas in the field of regional innovation systems, in the light of the need to promote new opportunities in value-added sectors, and in that way to reduce the traditional dependence on primary products and extractive industries.

1. INTRODUCTION

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Brazil, a country of nearly twice the geographical size of the EU, and with 200 million of population, shares with the EU the political objective of reducing regional disparities, an aim which is provided for in Article 3 of the Brazilian Federal Constitution similar to the provisions of Article 174 of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union.

On 29 November 2007, the Ministry for National Integration (MIN) and the European Commission signed a cooperation agreement in order to establish a structured dialogue on re-gional policy to promote the exchange of information and best practice. This makes this the longest standing partnership on regional policy between the EU and a Latin American country. This relationship has been particularly intensive over the years and, since 2007, successive annual work programmes have been implemented covering areas of mutual interest. On the Brazilian side, the cooperation has been particularly focused on the design of the new generation regional policy, the second National Policy for Regional Development (PNDR II). The ba-sis for this new generation of regional policy emerged from a broadly-based First National Conference on Regional Develop-ment – organized by MIN in March 2013, and which resulted in a set of principles and guidelines agreed upon by both govern-ment and wider society, and providing the basis for the draft Law that has been sent to the Presidency for approval.

As soon as the National Congress passes the PNDR legal frame-work, it becomes a state policy, greatly facilitating its coordina-tion vis-à-vis other federal and state government policies.

Within the framework of the Brazil-EU partnership, capacity-building within the different levels of the administration has been a particular priority on the Brazilian side and experts from the Ministry of National Integration, employees of other federal agencies in Brazil with an interest in regional and territorial poli-cies and local and regional stakeholders, including representa-tives from municipalities, states, the university and private sec-tors have participated in several technical workshops on themes relating to the management of EU regional programmes.

The cooperation has promoted exchanges of best practice and experience-sharing on both sides. Brazilian regional ac-tors have visited EU programmes in action in different EU re-gions such as France, Italy, Portugal, Spain and Germany. One Brazilian delegation, drawn from nine "mesoregions", the border area and the Brazilian semi-arid region, visited EU regional pro-gramme areas with a view to learning about the promotion of the productive sector under EU regional programmes as well as about the multi-level management system that applies to European investment funds.

Innovation, which plays a fundamental and increasingly im-portant role in EU regional policy, has also been important in the Brazil-EU relationship, as reflected in the multi-country ac-tion study of "Regional Innovation Systems" involving Santa Catarina (Brazil) and Cordoba (Argentina)). The study provided a detailed overview of the economic and institutional aspects related to innovation, including public policies and stakeholders in the regions concerned.

2. THE REGIONAL POLICY DIALOGUE WITH BRAZIL


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The publication went beyond the descriptive, examining cases in Europe and suggesting opportunities for cooperation be-tween regional stakeholders and the European Union. The study was immediately followed by a cooperation project involving Santa Catarina, Cordoba, Emilia-Romagna (Italy) and Baden-Württemberg (Germany) which focused on two major priorities of the participating regions: how to enable the region-al authorities to establish an efficient governance involving the actors working on innovation and how to enlarge SMEs’ access

to innovation. The result has been that more than 40 firms from both sides have been involved, and several EU agencies have-provided services to the Latin American market.

Under the Brazil-EU relationship particular attention is currently being devoted to cross-border policy, where, as of 2015, the EU has 25 years of experience. A number of actions involving Brazilian border regions have been conducted (see section be-low on cross-border cooperation).

"Since 2007, the Ministry of National Integration (MIN) and the European Commission through its DG REGIO have maintained a structured dialogue aimed at promoting mutual understanding and bilateral cooperation in the field of regional policies. The results of this cooperation can be clearly seen in impor-tant EU technical assistance for regional policies implemented by my Ministry with a view to reducing socioeconomic disparities between regions, and strengthening territorial cohesion in this country, as set out in the Brazilian National Policy for Regional Development (NPRD). MIN therefore is fully committed to maintaining the EU-Brazil regional policy dialogue, especially at the present moment as the NPRD enters, this year, into a second phase through the anticipated approval in the National Congress of the law to turn it into official state policy".

Gilberto Magalhães Occhi, Minister for National Integration (BRAZIL)

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The ambition to promote new opportunities in value-added sectors at the regional level, and to reduce dependence on the primary sector, is particularly strong in Chile, a country of near-ly 18 million people. This represents a new direction for the country which traditionally has been relatively centralized. The regions of Chile were originally created in the mid-1970s. As a result of a number of decisions and reforms, the country now has 15 regions, the largest of which in population terms is the Metropolitan Region of Santiago.

Each has a regional government led by the regional intendant, directly appointed by the President of the Republic, and report-ing to her. With the exception of the Ministry of the Interior, National Defense and Foreign Affairs, national ministries are present at the regional level through Regional Secretaries who together make up a regional body chaired by the mayor. The administration of the region, meanwhile, is under the Regional Government, formed by the intendant and the regional council.

The "RED" project (2011-2012), co-financed by the European Union, enabled seven of the fifteen regions to construct re-gional innovation strategies (RIS) based on a European meth-odology of the same name. The project had a positive impact and on the basis of the results, the EU awarded complementary financial support for the implementation of the strategies in the regions concerned, including the establishment of monitoring systems. In addition, the government of Chile took the decision in 2013 to extend the project to four other regions, funded en-tirely through national resources.

These innovation strategies have promoted a new dynamic, based on consensus and cooperation in the Chilean regions, as well as in both business and academic sectors, and in public institutions. They have also strengthened professional knowl-edge in the regions due to intensive training and education pro-grammes. In turn, European support has helped to strengthen regional governance and has been recognized as an important contribution to the ongoing regional decentralisation process, the latter being a major priority for the national government.

In tackling the issues of innovation and competitiveness, the RED Project addressed three main, interrelated themes: build-ing regional capacities; embedding innovation in the process of decentralisation; finding responses to the challenges in facing global competition.

By the end of 2012, under the project the seven initial regional innovation strategies had been approved by the steering com-mittees ('Directorios') created in each region, each composed of representatives of the public and private sector, and then at the level of the respective Regional Councils by end-2013. The approval of the strategies in turn provided the basis for the approval of priorities for action by each Regional Government, serving as a guide for the use of regional funds in support of innovation ("FIC-R"). The project had many positive outcomes. First, it helped to gen-erate a cultural shift in the regions resulting in the recognition of the need for a more central role for innovation in regional development policy.

Second, the sustained nature of EU support over several years underlined the longer-term nature of actions in this field, if they are to be successful, with clear implications for political choices regarding the allocation of public resources over time. Third, the

3. BUILDING REGIONAL INNOVATION STRATEGIES IN CHILE


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project promoted the acquisition of new executive and admin-istrative capacities, and in that way helped the key regional actors to gain greater self-confidence. This applied not only at the technical level, but also at the level of the regional political representatives.

Fourth, the project opened up Chilean regions, in many cases for the first time, to new (European) sources of technical expertise while introducing them to European regional authorities who have been addressing precisely the same challenges. Under the RED project, more than 200 technical and political representa-tives of Chilean regions undertook study visits to European re-gions, also generating networks and new opportunities for the public and private sector on each side. Meanwhile, the project brought more than 30 European experts into direct contact with their counterparts in Chile which both sides fully expect to continue well beyond the end of the project. Indeed, European experts are now involved in the implementation phase of the new regional innovation strategies in Chile. The EU now enjoys much greater visibility in Chile than in the past at the level of both its institutions and public and private sectors

REGIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEMS ACROSS BORDERS:

Chile-Peru

The new capacities gained under the RED Project had positive spill-over effects into other key aspects of Chilean economic development policy at the regional level. This facilitated new and important work in the promotion of regional innovation sys-tems operating across the border between Chile and Peru and

in developing a new cross-border partnership for development in sectors such as agro-industry, tourism and water supply.The project, which was largely implemented during 2014, rep-resented a pilot action, focusing on developing capacities in the field of the construction of innovation strategies across nation-al frontiers. It involved the regions immediately on the fron-tier, Tacna and Arica, supported by the regions of Biobío in the Metropolitan region of Santiago and by the city of Lima. It ad-dressed issues of concern to both countries. First, it responded to the concerns of the government of Peru to improve execu-tive and administrative capacities at both the regional level and among relevant national agencies, and in that way to strength-en regional institutions in the context of efforts to promote a greater decentralization of economic activity.

Second, the project sought to introduce a new dynamic into cross-border relations in an area which had been subject to a decision of the International Court of Justice in 2014, defining the maritime border.

The project also allowed the recently acquired experience under the RED project in Chile to be transferred to this new context, and to maintain the momentum in favour of regional innovation and competitiveness in the broader Pacific region.

It allowed Chilean regions, which had earlier participated in the RED project, to contribute directly to different training and knowledge-transfer actions organized in Peru by Peruvian re-gions and national agencies.

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"Chile, and in particular our Biobío Region, maintain close relations with European countries, regions and institutions and during recent years this work has become much more intense, for example, through cooperation on the theme of so-called Regional Innovation Strategies. This cooperation has contributed to the generation of a new dynamic in our region, not only in defining innovation policies, but also in the improved use of regional funds while strengthening capacities in both our Government and our regional institutions. This is now a key element in the success of efforts to promote more regional decentralization which this administration has established as a priority."

Rodrigo Díaz Worner, Intendente, Biobío Region (CHILE)

The project resulted in an agreement on a common innovation strategy for Tacna and Arica defining joint actions to overcome the historic disadvantages of the border area, and to exploit new opportunities and synergies across the zone.

The direct involvement of the institutions and agencies centred in the capital cities on each side added additional expertise and momentum to the process, as did the European regions that contributed to the project.


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Peru, a country with over 30 million inhabitants, has 25 regions under the authority of elected regional governments. Their principle responsibilities include those of policy design and im-plementation in the field of regional development in accord-ance with the national law on decentralization (Ley de Bases de la Descentralización y a la Ley Orgánica de Gobiernos Re-gionales).

Though only recent (2013), EU cooperation with Peru in the field of regional policy has already resulted in some notable achievements. Apart from the EU-Chile-Peru cross-border pro-ject described in the previous section, a key project in Peru was the pilot study on regional innovation implemented in 2013-14

using EU methodology. The project was supported by the na-tional Peruvian Ministry for External Relations and involved the regions of Cusco and Tacna.

Cusco occupies some 5.6% of the national territory and can be divided into different areas facing different territorial de-velopment challenges: the high Andes which is dependent on traditional agriculture and which contains remote concentra-tions of poverty and social exclusion; the inter-Andean valley area which has a developing tourist industry; the Amazon basin which possesses rich, if under-exploited, natural resources in-cluding in energy and for tourism. Tacna, on the border with Chile, represents 1.25% of national territory divided among coastal and mountain areas with mining and services as its principle productive sectors.

The EU-Peru cooperation project in the field of regional innova-tion systems included, at the outset, a scoping analysis in order to identify the main actors engaged in innovation in the two regions and then to work with them to assess already-existing capacity, and future potential, that would be of particular help in the conception and implementation of regional innovation strategies. This involved specific training in the EU's regional innovation strategy methodology.

In all, the project facilitated the organization of 8 national and regional seminars, 4 specialist workshops and a national level

4. BUILDING REGIONAL INNOVATION SYSTEMS IN PERU

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"It is extremely important that the Peruvian nation takes full advantage of the EU's experience and knowledge, in the context of efforts to boost economic growth, as well as sustainable and inclusive development in Peru. This knowledge is proffered via a cooperative relationship with the European Commission's Directorate-General for Regional and Urban Policy, it is helping to promote increased competition, particularly in the interior of the country and the border regions."

Ana María Sánchez Vargas de Ríos, Minister for External Relations (PERU)

conference and is estimated to have involved a total of more than 1200 representatives drawn from international organiza-tions, national institutions and agencies, regional government, the universities, research centres, chambers of commerce, the business sector, etc. The identification of opportunities for public-private sector cooperation was especially important. The project led to the publication of a manual by the European Commission and University of the Pacific of Lima ("Sistemas regionales de innovación: lecciones de política") for use in future actions of this kind in Peruvian regions.

In similar manner, an EU-Peru-Brazil cross-border cooperation project has been developing joint projects in the Peruvian and Brazilian Amazon basin, particularly in the aquaculture sector. As a result of this project, the necessary concrete steps are be-ing defined that would allow more effective public policy in the Amazon basin for the sustainable and competitive develop-ment of the aquaculture sector.


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In the European Union, nearly 40% of the EU population lives in border areas, along some 40 internal borders which include many with topographic, linguistic or other barriers and more than a few bear the scars of a history of successive European wars. Initially, a somewhat secondary, if important, element in EU regional policy, cross-border cooperation was formally rec-ognized as one of the (three) major priorities in the year 2006.

European cross-border cooperation is very much a part of the Union's efforts to promote territorial cohesion. The programmes under this heading have a key role to play in breaking down the geographical barriers that would otherwise stand in the way of the free movement of labour and capital, goods and services, the so-called 'four freedoms' that underpin the European single market. It is based on a method which starts from the crea-tion of a single vision shared by both sides for the future of the border area, leading to a common medium-term strategy which addresses the main challenges and opportunities and an implementation method based on a single cross-border author-ity which, among other things, selects the priority projects by common agreement.

Equally, the promotion of cross-border cooperation is seen as a major part of efforts to promote cohesion on the territory of Latin America. The latter has a population of 500 million, iden-tical to the EU, extending from the Mexican border with the USA in the north to Tierra del Fuego in Argentina in the South. There are 41,000 kilometres of borders separating 18 Latin Ameri-can countries. There also exist many valuable studies and other sources of information on opportunities, expectations, interests and challenges for the border regions in Latin America, and this has been an important contribution to the dialogue.

Of course, there is no institutional equivalent in Latin America to the European Union at the supra-national level, although there integration organizations combining states including, notably, the Central American Integration (SICA), the Southern Common Market (MERCOSUR) and the Andean Community (CAN). These organizations, among other things, act to promote the cross-border integration agenda. Cross-border cooperation is also actively pursued between individual countries on a bi-lateral basis, often involving the regional and local authorities, which in turn has had implications for national discussions on political and administrative reform in the field of decentralization.

This has therefore proven to be a fertile ground for coopera-tion and exchange of experience between the EU and Latin America, and over recent years various policy-oriented studies, workshops, seminars and study visits (see box) on the theme of cross-border cooperation have taken place involving partici-

pants from 9 major Latin America countries: Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, and Uruguay.

Examples of EU-LA actions in cross-border cooperation

EU-ARGENTINA-BRAZIL-URUGUAY

The first cooperative action in this field was a study which led to the selection of a sub-group of what were regarded as dy-namic areas of cross-border cooperation in Latin America1. This study identified a number of cross-border cooperation areas before concentrating on two: the tri-border area between Bra-zil, Argentina and Paraguay; the bilateral border area between Brazil and Uruguay.

The study began with a SWOT analysis regarding their socio-economic situation, their territorial divisions, challenges and op-portunities and the internal and external factors that were held to either help or hinder cross-border cooperation. The result was the creation of an action plan and a roadmap, including the identification of specific key projects. The study also made suggestions as to how its recommendations might apply to other Latin American borders areas.

By way of illustration, the projects identified different sectors that are key to territorial development in cross-border areas, such as: tourism (developing the cross-border tourist route known as Reducciones Jesuíticas based on the existing national

5. CROSS-BORDER COOPERATION PROJECTS IN LATIN AMERICA

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The second is the CARIBBEAN PROGRAMME which includes the French regions of Martinique, Guadeloupe, French Gui-ana and Saint Martin and an additional 40 countries and territories of the ACS, northern Brazil, Porto Rico, all of the Overseas Territories in the Caribbean of the UK and the Neth-erlands as well as St Barthélémy. The total budget amounts to 85.7 million euros of which 64.3 million euros from the ERDF (75%). It has two dimensions: a cross-border coopera-tion dimension involving, firstly, Martinique and Guadeloupe and, secondly and separately, the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States countries with financial resources of 41.1 million euros; a transnational dimension involving the four French regions in Antilles-Guiana and the 40 pays referred to above, with 23.2 million from the ERDF. The programme will support actions in the fields of enterprise competitive-ness; reacting to natural risks; protecting and developing the natural and cultural environment; shared public health is-sues; renewable energies in the eastern Caribbean; human capital development.

The third is the entirely new cross-border PROGRAMME FOR SAINT MARTIN-SINT MAARTEN. The budget for this pro-gramme amounts to a total of 12 million euros of which 10 million euros from the ERDF. The programme will support actions in the fields of natural risk prevention and environ-mental protection. It includes plans for a project on Sint Maarten for water purification, which is notable in that it will bring together funding streams from the ERDF and the European Development Fund.

Importantly, for all three programmes, EU resources are available for investments outside EU the regions involved which for 2014-2020 has been set at a record high of up to 30% of the ERDF available. This equates to up to 5.6 million euros in the Amazon, up to 19.3 million euros in the Carib-bean and up to 3 million euros in Saint-Martin-Sint-Maarten.

The EU regions in the vicinity of Latin America and Caribbean have enjoyed close cooperation over many years, including notably under EU regional policy, specifically, under the Am-azonian and Caribbean programmes. The 2007-2013 gen-eration of these programmes is reaching a conclusion, and has produced many results in key development fields for the areas concerned.

Building on this experience, a new generation of coopera-tion programmes, or 'INTERREG' programmes, for the period 2014-2020 is just beginning.

The first is the AMAZONIA PROGRAMME which encom-passes French Guiana, Suriname and Guyana as well as the states in Brazil of Amapa, Para and Amazonas. The to-tal budget for the programme is almost 28 million euros of which almost 19 million euros come from the European Regional Development Fund (68%). There are two main dimensions to the programme: a cross-border programme involving French Guiana, Suriname and Amapa (14,1 mil-lion euros from the ERDF) and a wider transnational coop-eration dimension involving Guyana, Suriname and French Guiana, Amapa, Para and Amazonas (4,8 million euros from the ERDF). The programme will support actions in the field of transport, protecting and deriving value from biodiversity, health and social issues and economic development and trade.

EU cross-border and transnational programmes in Latin America and the Caribbean


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CENTRAL AMERICA

The purpose of the study was to identify the potential for improved cross-border cooperation in Central America in the framework of the actions of the Central American Integration System (SICA) in this field.

It began with a general analysis of the Central American con-text, with an emphasis on obstacles to, and opportunities for, enhanced integrated and sustainable cooperation programmes. It identified the need for improved multi-level governance in-volving local, national and supranational institutions based on a clear definition of roles, while opening up the process to other non-public actors such as NGOs and the business sector. The study noted the positive contribution of existing initiatives such as "PRESANCA" (regional programme for food and nutritional se-curity in Central America) and PRESISIAN (regional programme on information systems in food security and nutrition in Central America), while identifying the need for greater involvement of the local level.

The study focused in more detail on three illustrative cross-bor-der zones with a high potential for cooperation, where a more systematic approach to cooperation was held to be required.

routes in Paraguay and Argentina; cross-border tourist routes in Brazil-Bolivia, which was accompanied by a joint administra-tive structure to develop and define opportunities for worldwide marketing of local products and tourism for the cross-border zone); river management (supporting the Joint Commission for the Parana river involving Argentina and Paraguay in order to deepen existing political and strategic cooperation and in-volving partners drawn from the river communities and other stakeholders along the river Paraná); frontier city develop-ment (covering the border between Brazil and Uruguay using a twinning methodology, in order to improve connectivity and promote new, small-scale economic activities in the border economy); transnational (multi-lateral) cooperation (in the triangle of Rio de la Plata involving the border regions of Ar-gentina, Brazil and Uruguay to help it become a pilot area in cross-border and transnational cooperation. This involves the development of the Región Metropolitana de la Plata at the centre of a network of medium-sized cities and rural communi-ties, regional centres based on urban-rural partnerships).

EU-BRAZIL-PERU

A similarly-conceived project, involving both regional innovation systems and cross-border methodologies, was that involving the regions of Loreto and San Martín in Peru and the State of Amazonas in Brazil.

After preparatory work consisting of visits to the area by Eu-ropean experts, including interviews and meetings with under-takings and representatives of the regions, aquaculture was identified as an economic activity of mutual interest with sig-nificant potential and as a basis for boosting cross-border co-operation through the creation of an interregional aquaculture value chain.

Through cooperation, aquaculture and the related value chain can achieve economies of scale in relation to the provision of training, investment in the latest technology, in distribution, in the 'cold' chain and in international marketing to access global markets. An additional dimension in favour of cooperation is to ensure that through joint management, both sides of the border can ensure respect for environmental sustainability on each side in this critical ecosystem of Amazonia which is also of global significance. The study involved intense exchanges between the regions directly involved in Brazil and Peru and also via a working visit to various European regions and to the Assembly of European Border Regions.

The key result of the work has been the definition of a common strategic plan for what is expected to become a new cross-

border aquaculture cluster in the Amazonia region.

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The areas concerned were: • The Gulf of Fonseca (El Salvador, Honduras-Nicaragua)• Trifinio (El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras) • Sixaola basin (Costa Rica, Panama)

The study made an assessment of the experience in coopera-tion in the three cases selected including the obstacles encoun-tered and lessons learned as well as identifying best practices examples. It made a number of recommendations in each case and set out a roadmap for the consideration of the SICA sec-retariat.

GENERAL LESSONS

The studies and other actions carried out on cross-border coop-eration have revealed a number of lessons.

First, they have identified the role played by mutual confidence and trust in building productive, cooperative links across bor-ders. Among other things, this can come about through promot-ing joint participation in training and in the creation of a joint strategic vision for the border zone.

Second, successful cross-border development is not a short-term process, and needs a longer-term vision and sustained support. This is equally important in the case of strategies and programmes supported by supranational institutions such as the Andean Community, Mercosur and SICA, or the EU itself. The existence of the Convergence Fund under Mercosur (FOCEM) represents a particular opportunity to develop longer-term strategies based on a supranational vision.

Third, there appears to be an absence of cross-border associa-tions involving local and regional authorities in Latin America. Greater networking and diplomacy would be helpful in this re-gard, in order to build stable platforms for cross-border consul-tation and exchanges of information.

Fourth, as EU experience has illustrated, the capacity to al-locate funds on a multi-annual basis to finance or co-finance cross-border programmes and projects helps to ensure ongoing commitment to the development process.

Fifth, there are many actors at all levels involved in developing cross-border initiatives in Latin America, but which require more coordination.

Sixth, it is very important to build on existing cooperation structures and some of the most successful cross-border pro-grammes in Europe are those with a pre-established tradition of joint action.


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Seventh, the management of cross-border cooperation is a complex challenge, in the EU and Latin America. Building new management models requires capacity building and the creation of space for participation and dialogue of all the rel-evant actors perhaps, in particular, local authorities. It also re-quires the support of national governments who need to ensure that such cooperation is fully incorporated, or consolidated, into the national political agendas.

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EU-LA COOPERATION IN SUSTAINABLE URBAN DEVELOP-MENT

Since 2010, DG REGIO and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) have supported European, Latin American and Car-ibbean cities in pursuit of more integrated and sustainable ur-ban development (URBELAC), where the objective is to support sustainable urban development on both sides of the Atlantic, by establishing networks to enable the various public players fac-ing similar challenges to exchange experiences relating to best

6. OTHER PROJECTS AND DEVELOPMENTS

practice, as well as lessons learned in relation to sustainable and integrated urban policies and measures. Since its creation, 22 cities from both sides of the Atlantic have joined this network.

Unlike other networks, and in recognition of the fact that ‘good ideas’ need a ‘good promoter’ if they are to be put into prac-tice, one of its special features is that this network addressed directly the municipal politicians, experts and administrators. It focused on developing measures that could be applied in the short-term, to take advantage of the interest and commitment of the municipal political representatives, recognizing that the political cycle is relatively short and cities often change mayor every three or four years, perhaps especially in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The main outputs from URBELAC include: the analysis, evalua-tion of performance and identification of strategies and concrete best-practice solutions implemented by other cities; the provi-sion of tools and knowledge useful for identifying measures with integrated approaches to development; and access to interna-tional cooperation programmes, such as the IDB’s Emerging and Sustainable Cities Initiative. To have access to these benefits, the cities involved in the network were organised into the roles of 'beneficiaries' and 'tutors'. Beneficiary cities were those that sought information and best practice in relation to specific is-sues. Tutor cities provided that information. The URBELAC net-work developed into a genuine two-way exchange and in its sec-ond edition, URBELAC II, the roles became more interchangeable among the cities on each side. In the light of the experience, a third edition, URBELAC III, is under preparation for 2015-2016.

COLLABORATION WITH THE REGIONAL PROGRAMME FOR SOCIAL COHESION (EUROSOCIAL)

This important long-term programme of European and Latin American Cooperation prioritises support for Public Regional De-velopment Policy. The EU lends its support by organising and participating in workshops, seminars, and by welcoming visits from national and regional Latin American authorities. It also supports the work of the Latin American Network of Public Poli-cies for Regional Development referred to above.

Two new dialogues were agreed in the recent past, first, with Mexico (October 2014), where the new administration has given high political priority to the establishment of regional develop-ment policy at the federal level, and, secondly, in January 2015, with the supra-national organization of 8 Central American countries, "SICA" (the Central American Integration System).


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Working with SICA, which since 2013 has a wide-ranging As-sociation Agreement with the European Union, the EU's goal is to exchange information on good practices in cross-border cooperation. An initial study, described above, has already been carried out.

Mexico, which is presently President of the Latin-American Network of Public Policies for Regional De-velopment, is a country undergoing transformation and in the course of this process it has to deal with major regional inequalities. Aware of the importance of learning from other experiences which help to enrich its National Policy and Programmes for Regional Development, Mexico signed a letter of Intent with the European Union in 2014 which seeks to strengthen the dialogue in the field of regional policy and integration. Closing the gaps in inequality is a global challenge which requires the forces at local level; sharing experiences is fundamental to achieving this goal and in the least time."

Jesús Murillo Karam, Minister, Secretariat for Agrarian, Territorial and Urban Development (SEDATU - MEXICO)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/index.cfm/en/policy/cooperation/international/latin-america/

HOW TO OBTAIN EU PUBLICATIONS

Free publications: • one copy:

via EU Bookshop (http://bookshop.europa.eu);

• more than one copy or posters/maps: from the European Union’s representations (http://ec.europa.eu/represent_en.htm); from the delegations in non-EU countries (http://eeas.europa.eu/delegations/index_en.htm); by contacting the Europe Direct service (http://europa.eu/europedirect/index_en.htm) or calling 00 800 6 7 8 9 10 11 (freephone number from anywhere in the EU) (*). (*) The information given is free, as are most calls (though some operators, phone boxes or hotels may charge you).

Priced publications: • via EU Bookshop (http://bookshop.europa.eu).

EUROPE, LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN: sharing experiences in regional development policies

Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union

2015 — 24 pp. — 21 × 29.7 cm

doi 10.2776/996313

KN-04-15-331-EN

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