Sustainable Tourism Law

696 SUSTAINABLE TOURISM LAW (EUSDR) 33 . As one of the four EU macro-regional strategies 34 , the EUSDR was designed to take advantage of synergies and coordination between existing policies and initiatives across the Danube region and thus improve connectivity within the region as well as with the rest of Europe 35 . The Strategy provides no new EU funds (there could be additional international, national, regional or private funds, although better use of existing funds is emphasized), no changes to EU legislation (the EU legislates for the EU28 and not for a macro-region alone, but if agreed, there could be changes at national or other levels, to address specific objectives), no additional structures (the implementation is through existing bodies, whose complementarity must be maximized). Although the EUSDR is not accompanied by the establishment of new institutions, legislation and funding (the so-called three “No’s”), it influences both existing macro- -regional institutions as well as the implementation of EU legislation and require the alignment of projects funded through the EU Structural Funds 36 . Like other macro-regional strategies 37 , the EUSDR incorporates principles of integration, coordination, cooperation, multi-level governance, partnership 38 . Among these principles, the EUSDR underlines an integrated approach to 33 Teutsch, E., Construction of a Sustainable Destination: The Danube Region , in: Tarrósy, I., Milford, S., (eds.) EU Strategy for the Danube Region – Perspectives for the future, p. 97. 34 Macro-regional strategies have consequences at EU and national level. At EU level, macro-regional strategies require a closer cooperation of the different European Commission’s Directorate Generals. At national level the most important impacts result from the fact that sub-regions become involved in transnational activities in the macro- -regions. See: Gänzle, S., Kern, K., Macro-regional cooperation’ as a New Form of European Governance: The European Union’s Strategies for the Baltic Sea and the Danube Region, in: Sielker, F., Vonhoff, F., (ed.) Conference Proceedings on the EU Strategy for the Danube Region: Challenges and Chances 2014 – 2020, p. 18-19. 35 Nyikos, G., EUSDR as a new development tool, in: Sielker, F., Vonhoff, F., (ed.) Conference Proceedings on the EU Strategy for the Danube Region: Challenges and Chances 2014 – 2020, p. 110. 36 Gänzle, S., Kern, K., ‘Macro-regional cooperation’ as a New Form of European Governance: The European Union’s Strategies for the Baltic Sea and the Danube Region , in: Sielker, F., Vonhoff, F., (ed.) Conference Proceedings on the EU Strategy for the Danube Region: Challenges and Chances 2014 – 2020, p. 13. 37 Macro-regional strategies, such as EUSDR, are becoming increasingly important since the EU is on the way towards an macro-regionalization, e,g. towards the regions of West, North, South, East and (the emerging) South- -East or Balkans.The functional macro-regions are the best ways of bridging them for facilitating the implementation of the EU2020 Strategy. The EUSDR concerns three regions, West, East and South-East and aims to integrate these regions into one functional macro-region. Some authors assume that the EU may be pro futuro completely regionalized in the form of partly overlapping functional macro-regions. It is estimated that EUSDR will play a pioneering role in this process. See: Àgh, A., The EU Strategy for the Danube Region: challenges and chances, in: Sielker, F., Vonhoff, F., (ed.) Conference Proceedings on the EU Strategy for the Danube Region: Challenges and Chances 2014 – 2020, p. 29. 38 Report from the Commission to the European Parliament, the European Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions concerning the added value of macro-regional strategies (COM(2013) 468 final). See: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/sources/docoffic/official/communic/baltic/com_added_value_ macro_region_strategy_en.pdf, p. 3.