Representatives of the Poland – Ukraine Programme, together with other Center of European Projects representatives, participated in the conference ‘Development in a European way. What Development Policy for a Secure, Resilient and Globally Competitive European Union?’, which took place on 30th and 31st January 2025 in Cracow, Poland, as part of the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union. The opening speech was delivered by the Speaker of the Sejm, Szymon Hołownia, followed by the Minister of Development Funds and Regional Policy, Katarzyna Pełczyńska-Nałęcz, who emphasised the importance of the EU’s cohesion policy and the subjective role of regions in the effective use of European Funds. A report on the conference is available on the Ministry’s website: link1; link 2. Event website: link.
During the conference, projects implemented under the Cross-border Cooperation Programme Poland-(Belarus)-Ukraine 2014-2020 were presented, including the project: ‘Bug Unites Us – creation of two cross-border touristic kayak trails’ (acronym BugUnitesUs), represented i.a. by Mr Rafał Siwek, director of the Municipal and Communal Cultural Centre in Drohiczyn, and the project ‘Invisible heritage: exchange and implementation of good practice in access to culture for persons with a visual impairment’ (acronym TouchingThePast), represented i.a. by Mr Bogusław Marek a professor emeritus from The Catholic University of Lublin.
On the second day of the event, a discussion panel ‘Think Europe, do Interreg!’ was also held, with the participation of representatives of the authorities of the Poland-Ukraine Programme: Mr Rafał Baliński, Director of the Territorial Cooperation Department of the Ministry of Development Funds and Regional Policy (a representative of the Managing Authority) and Ms Olena Feleniuk from the Secretariat of the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine (a representative of the National Authority). The panel was also attended by other guests – Mr Hynek Böhm from the University of Opole, Mr Nils Chresten Andersen from the Bornholm Regional Municipality, Ms Irene McMaster from University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, and Mr Sławomir Tokarski, Director for European Territorial Cooperation, Macro-regions, Interreg and Programme Implementation I, European Commission. The panel was preceded by speeches from the beneficiaries. The effects of cooperation between rescue services on the Polish-Ukrainian border were presented by Ms Karolina Kiwior, President of the SOS-Rescue Foundation, who presented the achievements of the project ‘SOS-Rescue – the training centre for organizing and operating cross-border rescue actions’ (acronym SOSRescue).
The conference was dominated by discussions on the role of cohesion policy in the context of increasing the competitiveness of the European economy, where cohesion policy is the main tool for ensuring socio-economic cohesion in the EU and contributes to resilience, a sense of security. It is also a motor for European integration, has a positive impact on the development of democracy, reinforces European values in the social sphere, its effectiveness stems from its territorial focus. However, it requires adaptation to new circumstances, which will continue to be addressed by governments and the European institutions.