The office will seek funds from the European Union for concrete economic and environmental programs.
The Adriatic Euroregion was established on June 30, 2006 in Pula, where it has its headquarters. It consists of seven Croatian counties, seven Italian regions, a Slovene municipality, a Bosnian canton, five Albanian local self-government units, and a Montenegrin municipality. The Adriatic Euroregion has a population of some 22 million.
"By opening this office we have completed the first stage of establishment and presentation of the Adriatic Euroregion," said the region's president, Istria County Prefect Ivan Jakovcic. He added that it was time to start implementing concrete programs that would be partially financed with EU funds.
"As a Euroregion, we can now participate in important programs of the Instrument for Pre-Accession Assistance (IPA), and we will try to cooperate in different programs such as the establishment of a joint Adriatic tourist brand and production of sea food to be marketed as an Adriatic brand. There are also projects that concern environmental protection, infrastructure and traffic in the Adriatic," Jakovcic said.
"We want to become a kind of Adriatic parliament, to decide jointly about the financing of projects and issues that are considered important on both sides of the Adriatic coast," Jakovcic said.
The projects would be financed by the EU and regions and countries with access to the Adriatic, he added.
The office of the Adriatic Euroregion, which is housed in the offices of the Italian region Molise, was opened in the presence of government representatives from Croatia, Italy, Slovenia, Albania, Montenegro and Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Croatia is also a member of two other Euroregions - Danube-Sava-Drava and Drava-Mura.
The opening ceremony included a round table discussion on the integration of East Adriatic countries into the EU, which was also attended by EU Regional Policy Commissioner Danuta Huebner and representatives of the European Parliament and the Committee of the Regions.