On 14 February 2023, the EUSBSR National Coordinators Group (NCG) met for the fourth time under the Swedish Presidency. The National Coordinators Group is the core decision-making body within the governance structure of the EUSBSR, acting as its executive board. On the agenda, among other things, were the European Commission Report on the implementation of the Macro-regional Strategies and rotation of the EUSBSR Annual Fora.
The Presidency informed on the timeline for the adoption of the Council Conclusions concerning the European Commission’s fourth Report on the implementation of the EU macro-regional strategies. The report was published in December 2022 and it will be presented by the European Commission to the Council Working Party on Structural Measures and Outermost Regions (SMOR) on 28 March. The Working Party is responsible for issues concerning the development and conduct of cohesion policy. The rounds of reviews will thereafter be held on 24 April and on 23 May, and Council Conclusions of the report is expected to be adopted at the General Affairs Council in June 2023. During the process, Sweden holds both the EU and the EUSBSR Presidencies.
The National Coordinators Group provisionally agreed on aligning the Annual Fora rotation with the EUSBSR Presidency. The final decision will be taken by means of silence procedure. The alignment would start from 2025, when Poland holds the Presidency of the Strategy. The rotating Presidency lasts for one year starting from July and ending in June, and the National Goordinators Group provisionally agreed that the Annual Forum would always be organised towards the end of the Presidency. There would, however, be flexibility to organize the Forum in autumn following the end of the Presidency.
The Annual Forum 2023 preparations are ongoing and will not be affected by this discussion. The 2023 Annual Forum will be organised 4-5 October in Riga.
See the full minutes of the National Coordinators meeting here.
The next NCG meeting takes place on 3 April 2023 online.