The conference, organised as part of the Adriatic Action Plan 2002 project, brought together about 50 experts from member states of the Adriatic-Ionian Charter and the Union of Baltic Cities.
The meeting was greeted by the Mayor of Split, Miroslav Bulicic, the President of the Split County Chamber of Commerce, Jadranka Radovanic, and the Italian Consul in Split, Marco Nobilli.
The Assistant Director of the European Parliament Office in Italy, Paolo Meucci, spoke of the challenges and the budget of the enlarged European Union from 2007 to 2013 and the role of the European Parliament.
The main topic discussed on the first day of the conference was the future of territorial cooperation of the European Union, the role of Eastern Adriatic countries and Adriatic towns and regions, and the prevention of accidents at sea.
The first stage of the action plan, which is to be completed by 2020, will cost about a million euros. It includes examination of the situation in towns and regions of the seven member countries.
The City of Split has prepared comprehensive documentation on air and water pollution, the number and species of birds, and the number of passengers using bus services in the general area of the city as an indicator of growing traffic pollution.
The Adriatic Action Plan is a sub-project of the EU INTERREG III C programme, which is financed from EU regional development funds and is co-financed by the Italian government.