Sustainable Tourism Law

SUSTAINABLE TOURISM DEVELOPMENT IN THE DANUBE REGION 697 sustainable development. In order to reinforce the integration of the whole Region, the Strategy aims to strengthen EU policies and legislation implementation in the area. It provides political support to current initiatives and raises their visibility. In particular, some actions decided in the framework of existing bodies are part of the Action Plan. In addition, Europe 2020 is the key EU commitment to jobs and smart, sustainable, inclusive growth, which the Strategy will consolidate. It has five headline targets. These are: promoting employment; improving the conditions for innovation, research and development; meeting climate change and energy objectives; improving education levels; and promoting social inclusion in particular through the reduction of poverty and addressing the challenges of ageing. The Strategy, with its vision for the Danube Region in 2020, reinforces this. It supports sustainable growth, aiming to reduce energy consumption, increase the use of renewable energies, modernise the transport sector by making it more environmentally friendly and more efficient, and to promote “green” tourism. It helps remove internal market bottlenecks and improves the business environment 39 . Consistency with EU legislation and policies is at the core of the Strategy. It addresses implementation gaps, and practical or organisational difficulties leading to lack of results. It supports better implementation of EU legal obligations, especially in relation to the Single Market and the environment. It also contributes to policies such as transport (TEN-T currently under revision, as well as the future transport policy for countries), energy (TEN-E) networks, the strategy for the Single Market (Single Market Act) and the Digital Agenda. The EU post-2010 biodiversity target and strategy, with its 2050 vision and a 2020 target, is also reinforced. As the gateway to neighbours in Europe and onwards to Asia, the Region is crucial in supporting other EU external policies, in line with the European Neighbourhood Policy and its regional initiatives (e.g. the Eastern Partnership) 40 . The Danube Region Strategy addresses a wide range of issues which are divided among 4 pillars (Connecting the Danube Region, Protecting the Environment in the Danube Region, Building Prosperity in the Danube Region, Strengthening the Danube Region) and 11 functional Priority Areas focused on improving transport and energy connections, environment, socio-economic development, security. 39 European Union Strategy for Danube Region, p. 12. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/regional_policy/ sources/docoffic/official/communic/danube/com2010_715_danube_en.pdf. 40 Ibidem.