TERRITORIAL AGENDA OF THE EUROPEAN UNION 2020. IMPLICATION FOR ROMANIA

In the past more than 50 years, Europe has witnessed an ever deepening co-operation among its countries on behalf of solidarity, to achieve a common goal: to establish a closer union among the people of Europe where overall harmonious development embodies economic, social and territorial cohesion. A strong Europe needs strong regions and strong integration between them. The objective of the Territorial Agenda of the European Union 2020 (TA2020) is to provide strategic orientations for territorial development, fostering integration of territorial dimension within different policies at all governance levels and to ensure implementation of the Europe 2020 Strategy according to territorial cohesion principles. TA 2020 define the following six territorial priorities for the European Union: 1. promoting polycentric and balanced territorial development, 2. encouraging integrated development in cities, rural and specific regions, 3. territorial integration in cross-border and transnational functional regions, 4. ensuring the global competitiveness of regions based on strong local economies, 5. improving territorial connectivity for individuals, communities and enterprises, 6. managing and connecting the ecological, landscape and cultural values of regions. The principles and priorities of the TA2020 should be disseminated, promoted and taken into account at European, national, regional and local level.