madam president since two thousand and seven we have acknowledged the importance of the black sea region yet the impact of our approach has been modest to say the least no concrete projects no concrete results
we need a realistic and financially sound action plan with clear objectives priority actions and benchmarks and a better division of tasks and coordination with the eastern partnership and the danube strategy
we need to launch the energy and transport partnership alongside the environment partnership
only through such a project-based approach focused on small-scale specific projects can we overcome the issue of the very diverse and complex interests in the region
we need to get past our fragmented approach in terms of finance as well
so far we have had various financial instruments and little visibility
that is why we should make the black sea joint operational programme our central instrument for implementing the black sea strategy using it as seed money to attract institutions ready to invest in the region and hence promote cooperation
